Ramadan: A Way Of Life
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Channel: Bilal Philips
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AI Generated Summary ©
The speakers discuss the cultural aspect of fasting, including the importance of fasting for gaining weight and developing spirituality. They also touch on the negative effects of the pandemic on society, including the lack of social interaction and the lack of social interaction between people. The importance of reducing stress and avoiding distraction during busy days is emphasized, as well as praying for the upcoming month and finding opportunities for personal growth.AI Generated Transcript ©
Mija de la sala Moodle Allah,
Allah,
Allah Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah.
Allah Muhammad Rasul Allah.
Indeed a phrase due to law and as such, we should praise him
for his help and seek refuge in Him from the evil which is within ourselves, and the evil which results from our need.
To whomsoever Allah has guided, none can misguide
you Allah has allowed to go astray nun can guide
the witness that there is no god worthy of worship.
And that Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah.
The topic of this evening
presentation, as was mentioned, is fasting a way of life.
I mean, this topic
is most appropriate because of the fact that we are in the month of Ramadan, a month of fasting.
And, by this topic, I intended
to share with you some thoughts
I had on fasting, which I think we all need to reflect on.
I need to reflect on it.
And hopefully,
in our reflection,
it will produce
action inside of ourselves, which will need to transform ourselves into something which was in accordance with what Allah has intended for us from fasting.
And saying that
I'm implying that
perhaps
many of us if not most of us,
are missing out on the essence of fasting.
fasting for us,
has become
a cultural tradition,
which we do, every year.
We did in our country, the country that we came from
everybody shares in it, it's a time of festivity.
Nice food is such a it's such a
fun thing, having an impact,
a positive impact on our lives.
That we can say, when we turn and look at last year,
this year and
this year,
can you turn back and look at it and say
I have grown
from last year to this year.
There have been a tangible change in my personality, my spirituality,
my
character has really been a change.
These are the questions which I asked myself and I think that you need to ask yourself
because
informing us
Assemblymember Karima macadam, Allah was only sent to perfect for you the highest of character tree
in that statement that fasting
is intended
to change our character
experiencing a change.
When we are not achieving the actual goal of fasting, there is something missing
as a yearling
ritual, a cultural habit,
a traditional practice
these are the terms which are usually used to describe
shame so
that
we find people
quote unquote, Muslims.
And then
how can you faster? Why are you fasting?
fasting is just once a year,
everyday, everyday everyday.
So fasting is a lot easier because
I met my dad personally when I first came into Islam back in the 70s. And in Toronto, and we are in Toronto, and
you know,
most of them are immigrants like
explaining different things.
And I remember one friend of mine a Moroccan, same as
me,
many of his friends, many of
his friends
with hashish.
The State of Minnesota explained to me this thing of culture and really what Islam is about and how to be aware of that why because, you know, people come into town, they're very enthusiastic, you should really make a person
This one's from different parts of
Nigeria to the standard, you know, and it's, sometimes it can be very devastating emotionally, you know, psychologically spiritually devastating. So, he was trying to prepare me, you know, to be aware of these different cultural practices, you know, so fast men become that
Muslim saying, for example,
we gain weight in Ramadan.
You know,
a shocking thing
is that understanding, again, the 510 kilos
seems to contradict
what happened to the vine especially because
so severe to them? No, no food, no, nothing for them to
give them a chance to Catholics that they have lent
chocolate
for one week. So when they try
no food, no wrinkles, really harsh.
as something very shocking.
To see all of this is a reflection of this cultural aspect of the past amongst us today.
To look to see, what is it really
designed to develop? And what is this that I really wanted from us in the fall? We see it in the verse from the Quran.
Last month, Allah says,
fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those destroy you, in order that you would become pious
in order that you would fear
that it was described to us, as as described before us,
pointing to the concept, that fasting is not something unique in
Muslim tradition in Islam,
by the final messenger of Allah to humankind, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and if one goes to the scriptures of the Christians, and then
Exodus one of the Old Testament is considered to be a part of the Torah today
and describes when I went to receive the commandment from Allah.
And he was
40 days and 40 nights, he needed a
more drank water. And he wrote upon the table the words of the covenant, the 10 commandments
of Moses
fasted for 40 days and 40 nights,
without eating any brands or any food or drinking,
find in the New Testament, which is the documents or scriptures which are followed by the Christians in
describing Jesus
and He fasted 40 days and 40 nights. And afterwards, he was hungry.
This is showing that fasting
was a part of the way
the Sunnah of the Prophet
was today's with unite, complete fast
break in the past
to do the same kind of stuff
that
we saw before the fasting is forbidden for the followers of the Prophet
obedient for the followers because Allah provide sustenance from for them as explained, you know in ways that we cannot grasp and we don't obtain.
To try to fast in this way. We'd be dead after a few days,
obviously, is not something to be prescribed for fasting in our culture, but it is a complete fad
that is practiced amongst the Catholics today is in the shambles. fasting for them is nothing.
Nothing of the way of Jesus, they tend to follow Jesus
anywhere near what
they're showing us and this was the way of the Prophet alayhi salam.
This is something I describe. With the earliest and the prophets.
The prophets fasted and their followers the righteous followers are
fasting, to develop agonised
from time to time, to develop,
a consciousness of
a consciousness which will lead us
to righteousness.
Because taqwa is the heart of righteousness.
righteousness, is the heart of goodness.
It is missing,
then goodness,
like a body without a soul or without the heart. It's just
a shell.
It's not real.
And this is why when you find non Muslims,
atheists etc, who say,
we are good
because we believe in a God
is rewarded for being good and punishment for being bad. Because we know that
we can understand that it is good and that's why we do this good.
Because what they
promote this idea that your goodness is beyond this issue of reward and punishment, God is you know, being authorized.
Because we know we
can actually we can see
the reality
that
they do without taqwa
which they see is good.
As long as it is convenient.
When you get down to the realities of it, as long as it's convenient,
the when it becomes inconvenient.
That good night is gonna create problems for themselves.
Time around them. Everybody's been bad and getting away with it
anymore. So they're good do they say it
is because it is convenient to do it
or not? convenience. And you can see this
in people's lives in general, I wrote my own personal experience. When I visited New York City in 1981,
after there had been a blackout
the electric grid had gone down in New York City for about three years, three days, three days.
Of course, for many of you coming from Pakistan or India or Egypt, whatever, that's not unusual.
was a big deal with the idea of electricity gone in the city for three days. Something unheard of
what happened
two days after they got the electricity back on again. When I came into New York City, you know, anything Brooklyn, the Bronx,
I was shocked when I saw I was shocked the place looked like Berlin after world war two
place was just in shambles. I mean, you could not find a store you know, whose windows were not joking in all of the stores were broken in Boston and we didn't know what to do
with kneeling we just started
showing on television what was going on during those three nights?
Three days
fine, why? Because during the three days policemen were on patrol and you know to be a policeman in New York like here, when you have to be at least 16 you have to weigh at least 260 pounds.
Now, once the night came
when the night came when people came out of their houses
noticed men
smashing into individual stores and getting the big
guns of collecting
incredible
photographs much of this in the night of their cameras would license
and again people think the poor people in our poor people in the ghetto and
showing the people driving down with a Mercedes Benz
Mercedes going to the supermarket right. So the common people that hit the supermarket
go to the first you know grabbing you know
expensive
city was involved in Nazi looting
the most civilized country on Earth,
democracy's civilization
for three nights
because
time when people know you can
catch you.
When that opportunity came
to
the opportunity came for people to get away with bad then
there is no point in being good.
Because there is no fear of
I personally
when I went to study in Medina,
Medina university,
I spent six years there in Medina
and I when I first got there nice to see these policemen in Medina.
And Medina when the time for prayer comes in, close up all the stores and he would have jewelry stores and that you
No one
would just put a piece of cloth over.
Something
interesting enough in any Western city, you know, your store is finished in a minute.
The bags of plastic bags filled with money.
To do that New York City, Chicago, Toronto, New York,
I was shocked to see the policeman there.
tape is in the barrel of the gun to make sure that didn't come in.
Summary, something happened to take away the big guy
walking away with
the sense of security,
security, you know, that I experienced, there are many Westerners that I've known.
in itself a sense of security, there was the
same thing
I was involved in,
those were given down to the American troops, you know, after the Gulf War, for five and a half months, you know, before they were out of the country, more than 3000 of them accepted Islam.
in one area where I was documented, not just rumors spreading, I put their names on computer and sent it to me to the states to have to follow up for them.
Many of them have told me that, you know, this is what they experience, they come in from maneuver they come in late at night, you know, a lot of time o'clock at night, one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, they will be out in the streets,
Mr status and knowing that so many of these people were there. And they will be walking in the streets at two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning. They didn't feel
scared
among them, and then.
And they express to me the sense of security, I mean, normally go to the middle of a city, any of the big cities in America, you know, past 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, walking right in the street by yourself.
You'd be walking in checking your back.
There's no sense of security that
is one of the things that's caused them to really question you know, what is it that has made the society
so
that sense of taqwa even though I'm not to say, Saudi Arabia was the example the perfect example of Islam and
Islam is being implemented
in many other places, and it's had that effect on the society. And that's just the way things are in Arabia. Now.
You can read the stories of the travelers in the Arabian early days, people to come to the hubs, and they have to be
in the caravan to make sure that made him come and catch them in
dangerous
times.
That would
change a word with the establishment of Sharia, as the law of the country, you know, applying the law across the board and, you know,
promotion of Islam in the society education started with some such as it has no major impact on the society.
And again, as I said, it is ultimately in a tug of war, which is at the core of it.
When you look for example, at
the condition of alcohol, this is something which all of the major societies recognized as harmful. And America for 13 years, between 1920 and 1933, inhibited alcohol
prohibition instituted law prohibiting the production and the sale of alcohol.
13 years
fear of God was not behind it. The consciousness of God was not behind it. So
many people do
masses of the people who were
prevented from being able to consume alcohol.
A criminal element developed Al Capone,
the famous gangsters of that era, Capone was you know, he was making like 60 odd million a year from selling illegal alcohol,
anti
money
segments in the society, we still have access to alcohol
internationally. Not to say that it's the case of all Muslims, Cobra Muslims.
Without the pressure of law such as such a US do find that the mass of Muslims
Why? Because of
consciousness, it has to do with the consciousness of God.
And this is what the
focus is on developing that consciousness. We have two different levels, you know, having been raised or having come into Islam,
there is a degree of it.
And unfortunately, in the mass of Western cultures, that degree is very, very small.
And this is what I wanted us to reflect on this evening.
What
are we really working on?
When we look back at last Ramadan and Ramadan before it before that, can we see any kind of progression?
Or is it just the same thing every year? We did it last year, we did it the year before and before
that happens in our lives every year.
The thing that we need to reflect on because if
the issues of taqwa
were being developed
or been focused on then we shouldn't be from ramadan ramadan, they shouldn't be a progressive
spirituality in our ties to a cetera. But if we look at ourselves and ask ourselves,
do we feel a change? Then we have to admit that's really
just the same.
The same thing each year
we need to again
reflect on
the purposes of Ramadan
and find out what is missing.
What is missing, which is not allowing
to take its rightful place in our
consciousness of the left is not increasing.
We are not growing with each Ramadan What is
my observance in looking at
the method of fasting
I feel that to a large degree,
we are far away from the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu
whenever
it will be because they have left the center
because
then we will be on the right path. We will be getting some
what Allah has prescribed for us.
Now if we look
at the cinema, cinema,
we find that
to begin the fact and he emphasized, don't miss it. Even if it's only drinking a glass of water. Don't miss
us to begin
with.
Red, violet red or whatever
I'm wearing
it
For
three days,
drank some water to learn to pray and follow that you would have a moderate meal
a moderate meal
you can gain weight in Ramadan doing that
us to be gaining weight and it means we're not doing
what we find the tradition is when we begin the fast because we know we're gonna be fasting for the next so many hours
we prepare three course meals, you know again into the star eating you know, half a chicken and you know, some legendary rice in the Army or whatever, you know, whatever we just
we just tank up going in
what happens of course, is that our systems are overloaded. And I notice where I am you always see before Ramadan comes warnings from the doctor is threatening to the population to control the eating goes away because so many people are coming into the hospitals with the problems of overheating.
The point is that people you know, tank up
happening is that the system is just, you know, it's taking time to
digest this and it's working and it's working and it's working, you'll find that it's working all the way through to about an hour before sunset it finally finishes work
and then when the time comes to bake the fat instead of three days,
some water, some juice, whatever we're going to break
out all these foods you know this stuff, which starts with all the sugar and calories and you know we pile up and we eat and eat and eat. We eat
you feel something stuck in it is
that when you finally have to stop, stop when you reach that point.
When you go to stand for therapy
In this
video, we will look at it
in this way.
This is how we gain weight in Ramadan.
Because we're not
we're not following
the fast
which on one hand
is to develop a sense of control over our eating habits, eating drinking habits, the sense of control
Yes, we are not fasting during the daylight hours.
The test of control is at the time of the breaking of the
intestine
gain control as we learn control,
control realities.
Because the sooner that
we just let all the rain and
snow control there
is no control over anything.
He says he has one stomach and the disbelievers if he had seven
criteria
to judge the Muslims today in their factories.
We should eat, drink
and leave a
leave of
that you're never
gonna be without feeling
this way in between
the worst
the worst container that a person can save
In
the last container
identify the stomach as the source of most invasive
medical events.
Most of the sicknesses and illnesses that people suffer today
can be traced back to the king.
When he spoke of the sign of the last day,
he spoke of things to come, that would happen amongst Muslims, whether it is drink alcohol, calling it by other than its name, take interest and call it a different name is document a different thing. And you find them saying
they will appear among them amongst Muslim
glandular problems are normally
be known to be
amongst the many,
early
today,
unfortunately,
you find the most
religious leaders issue.
Because this over eating is
indicative of something,
it's indicative of a lifestyle which is not in keeping with
the way
we know where we eat enough to keep your back straight.
To keep your back straight in and out, you know, bent over from hunger.
This was three.
By
maintaining
this nightmare coming into the
modern, you're coming out of the past. A person then experiences hunger,
meaning that any day of fasting, he or she will feel hungry.
Unfortunately, today for us, we don't want to feel hungry. This is why we eating so much. You don't want to
remember that, you know, people used to tell me when I first came to slums first. You know you're fasting in a
fast growing Muslim.
Because you're Muslim, eventually, you know, you learn
that the whole issue of hunger is not
hungry.
Feeling hunger, hungry is a part of
we should feel hungry every day, we should feel pangs of hunger.
Why? Because that hunger and feeling of hunger. It reminds us of those who are hungry, because they've chosen to fast but because they have no food to eat. And this should then motivate us to be generous to seek out the needy and to help them and this is why we have
the celebration for breaking the stock is one of
the poor.
This is what is supposed to be generated. This is part of what is generated from the FAFSA, an empathy or sympathy for those people who are needy and generosity.
This characteristic should be valid in the course.
Unfortunately,
we're not considering that.
Somebody may say to us
if I eat, you know, extra, you know, how does that
That doesn't really affect my face. And okay, maybe I'm not complying with the
letter of the law. So the
reality is that
this attitude of overeating,
indicative of an attitude towards the dunya.
When you really get down to it, desire to eat, when we're eating is an expression of our general desire towards the dunya. We want to grab as much as we can.
Because when these habits when you make a habit, they're all interrelated.
You're not going to be uncontrolled in your eating habits or them controlling your other habits. No, it means uncontrolled, in general.
desire to want to grab as much of the money as possible, has caused them to be unaware of the purpose of life.
I desire to want to get as much money as possible.
This is overwhelming.
And naturally, how can one be spiritual in the midst of all
the role of spirituality and
spirituality only develops in
abstinence,
not trying to get all of it.
What has happened to
Muslims who suffer in different parts of the world, whether it's in Chechnya,
or in Kashmir, or Somalia, or wherever,
we don't find the rest of the Muslim world, rising to their
sacrificing, putting aside the dunya and coming to the fight alongside them, in defense of Western rights.
property.
Americans are coming to sit down, and all of a sudden, he was talking about jihad.
a political statement that leaders will fail to
promote their cause. It doesn't have the meaning that it's had in the past.
So we have to look at this far. You know, and its implications because when we speak of taqwa, when we speak of generosity, you know, control,
moderation. We, this is not something unique to Ramadan. This is something which throughout our lives, why I titled this presentation, fasting, a way of life. And you can see that from customer instructions to us, after about 256 days of chawan that it has the reward and our Ramadan is fast and the whole year is the past
three days 13 1415 certain days, in a year,
different days.
So that encouragement and fasting continues throughout the year.
reminding us that fasting
is a way of life.
And it shouldn't be helping us to grow.
aspect of this,
that we should also reflect on and that is the
the inner aspect in regards to how we communicate, how we
interact with other people because we live in society. And as such,
what you find is that
it's the norm
For
the people that
sit down with compensation, whichever compensation is involved in talking about other people
did you see what I'm
talking about?
Wi Fi and some
statements with regards to fasting.
Amanda abandon live and acting on them
during Ramadan
alone, we're not we weren't
even food and drink alone.
Hello, Mila hajra
Parma masaba
narrated by Mr. Mohan.
in Ramadan, we're not supposed to be
talking about people, spreading rumors about people, gossiping, backbiting all these kind of things, it destroys the value of the fact.
You know, had said,
Listen to me.
Listen to me.
In person, again, nothing, some is faster
than hunger.
At night,
we'll get nothing but tiredness.
As we know,
this control
is now psychological isn't the psychological aspect of
where we gain control over what is coming out of our mouth. Because we think the past is what is going in, you prevent things from coming in your mouth, but actually talking in the vegetation coming out of our mouth.
important part of
control,
destroy,
destroy, destroy, value and reward.
And this is something which we need throughout the year.
On the last day,
should be the speed or the silence
of what we say. Because, as you said, also, perhaps the person may say some things they think it's very small,
because of it,
when we consider
to some degree, the elements amongst us
have not restrained the tone
from speaking about others,
to the point where they have even spoken against the scholars etc.
We can see that the essence of the fact is missing.
Spirituality which should be gained from the past is missing.
They become shout.
Externally they appear to be practicing Islam, their fathers also, but internally, there's a vacuum there. So they don't see any kind of
any kind of reservation to warn, to stop themselves from speaking about others.
Rumors, spreading gossip
that Ross is the one who's constantly spreading did not enter Paradise so severe
that we find
very,
very anxious to talk about the honor of their fellow Muslim
being destroyed
our whole lives are being destroyed
that was missing we're not giving a
damn about Ramadan is not giving us any of the blessings that Salim spoke about when he said that from one path to the next to the next
sins in between
when Ramadan comes
meaning a chance to do good deeds which
is
given us this chance
of not taking anything from it
that we have amongst us today the phenomena are based on what they call the Ramadan Muslim.
In captivity the captain is not praying
only
in ramadan
ramadan
and I remember
been introduced to another concept
which was called
da
da
da. I've never heard about it before this
minister from Pakistan told me about
a loss when you're making Hudson
before you leave
in Ramadan
if you catch that last Ramadan, it makes up for the whole year of prayers.
never spoke of stasis in
the last five years
has no special lesson.
For those who are caught up and you have to go back to them there is
worth 1000 months of worship
calculated at 3.3 years
of worship
pray to Ramadan to just wait for the 27th of the night. I will stay up all night in terms of capital
you know you can see it in the last
10
years from year to year, year to year.
And if you think
that night the 27th of May you start to get faster days early on are
precise one night you can catch it and and in any case if you've not been praying all year long
mistaken cultural understanding now of Ramadan.
ramadan ramadan
no different.
purify the
deadly sin.
We just gained weight
from one to the next and gain weight.
I think we need to stop for a minute.
We're still
in the beginning of Ramadan. We need to stop for a minute
NASA
is one
reality,
then we need to stop here.
Let me not make the rest of the way.
Change it. Because we can change. We're not law as robots into a particular program where we can't change, we cannot do it in another way.
We have free will.
We know what is right.
remind him of what is right,
then we can do it.
sha Allah,
that all of you and myself
starting tomorrow, for the rest of this month,
that we will
try to change and go back to the
to do it in the way of the Prophet Muhammad Salah.
Because when we look at why it is that our Lord chose this month of fasting, we find a lot of focus in the fire. Nevada
This is the month in which
was received
holy mosque these people call this the holy month of Ramadan, like the Holy Prophet
this terminology is Christian terminology. You have the Holy Bible
you don't have any
Quranic
been magnificent
talking about
Jerusalem
Ramadan
from colonial times,
colonial masters and they were talking about the only Bible
the Holy Quran and
the point is that
this man is
chosen by law in honor of the revelation of God
and this is a reminder for us that should be the foundation of our lives, not the book that we keep on the highest shelf that we take down during Ramadan
and we needed to put it back on the shelf for the rest of the year.
on a regular basis
we should be memorizing,
we should be learning
to recite it correctly.
We should be learning the meanings reflecting on the meaning
should not be just ritualistically you know, as you can become among
children.
You know, our mind can be elsewhere doing all kinds of other things and you know, planning for breaking the fast and the
lips or going through the motions that we need.
sealed up Brian is recited to them
become
the Prime
Minister Cheers. Anytime we cry, you know is when a team loses, you know in a cricket game or soccer or something. tears come down our eyes you know how can the team lose?
For the sake of Allah
many of us experienced that in our lives.
tears coming to our eyes.
The position of
humidity before
the reading of the Quran in this month is supposed to help us to develop
a foundation
without
them
are hard to come. This is why we don't have any difficulty in speaking about other
people dishonouring people, we don't have a problem with it, because
no longer plays a major role in our life. So what happens unfortunately,
people will come into a slump
and instead of people sitting them down, teaching them to
memorize, so you can use it in your prayers and learn touch we need to go on regular source also converting to Islam and you find people will be drying them aside and telling them things
either
Watch out for so and so on.
Don't listen to this
tape, and also the person is just coming to know his
dishes.
This wonderful he's become the expert on defining his
knowledge with
you might have
become an expert in what they call him.
He knows specialists in identifying specialists and
foundation is completely missing.
There he is talking about people
and He will speak about you know people
maybe among the
statements and he will point fingers are people when you see these people see them in their own practice and the dean etc etc. You know, these people may be among the
close friends of a lot
about
if someone harms
one of my earlier
I declare war against
themselves the war unleashed by Allah
instead of focusing on the foundation of
needing that foundation learning establishing that connection with the
rich in guidance, which has enabled the society democracy, a cure for what is in the heart, what is in the chest, the ceiling is the psychological or spiritual illnesses the
Ramadan goes and the crime goes
we need to get back in touch with our Ramadan
we need to save Ramadan
because our law has no need.
When a man does not benefit in any way, Ramadan was prescribed for our benefit
and we wanted
if we want to grow
if we want Islam to have meaning in our lives,
then we must establish it in Ramadan
because Ramadan is the mini mini
element elements of Islam is condensed down into Ramadan packaged in a very tight package where we have a requirement all the way through that we have to do.
If we can't make it in Ramadan,
then we're not making it any other time. So we need to re establish our connection with Ramadan and
Ramadan becomes fasting becomes for us a way of life, a way of living.
affect all of our actions.
We will grow spiritually we can feel we will feel something
will come out of Ramadan.
feeling refreshed. We will learn for the next Ramadan I
will describe the taste alone for Ramadan we don't have that money
for the sweets and whatever the longing for Ramadan as Ramadan
in our hearts
a desire
to make Ramadan real in our lives
that we will spend some time in the morning the evening, the time when you're breaking our fast
which is made at the time of the breaking of the sock
which is guaranteed an answer
a thing if you managed to get out, you know normal custom two or more accurate one
lady
asked
and I pray that Allah would give us the proceeds to ask us these opportunities for special
blessings in Ramadan to transform them into a
religious
consequence in our lives, which would make us better human beings better Muslims and deserving of Allah's mercy and deserving ultimately of Paradise
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