Do you wish to make Qur’an your lifelong companion? Want to know the importance of Qur’an in Ramadan? Listen to this talk.
2017-06-09 – Ramadan 2017 – Islamic Online University
Bilal Philips – Ramadan And The Quran
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the connection between the Quran and worshipers in the Muslim community, emphasizing the importance of reading and reciting the Quran for personal use. They stress the need to reflect on the nuances of the Quran and build a relationship with partners. The importance of practicing and following rules of Islam is emphasized, along with the need to handle various aspects of fasting, including physical and mental health. The segment emphasizes the importance of fasting as a culture practice and achieving the message of Islam.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah operations due to a lion meal as peace and blessings be on the last messenger of Allah.
Today we'll be looking at the Quran and Ramadan or Ramadan and the Quran.
These two in the minds of Muslims
are inseparable.
When we think of Ramadan, we think of the Quran
whether it is the Quran which is recited in Torah, we usually that's what we relate to, because that's what's unusual. Outside of Ramadan. We don't normally pray tahajjud in JAMA,
everybody prays their night prayers tahajjud
at home, mostly.
So this is a unique feature of Ramadan, that it is the tradition among Muslims to pray the night prayers. That's after the five times daily prayers to pray those night prayers, we call them Tara we're in Ramadan, today actually, that we do this
in the night in the masjid, together as the Gema. Now,
this
is usually a recitation of the Quran in
units of prayer,
which, most reciters will try to complete the whole Quran in Ramadan.
So, people will stay up for this prayer stay back after Asia. Usually it's done right after Asia.
They do so in order to
complete the Quran.
In Torah we
do usually they bring a half in one was memorized the whole Quran and he will recite the whole Quran during the tarawih prayers. So this is the norm
all over the Muslim world. So here it is. The whole Quran is being recited.
in Ramadan, it's not being done outside of Ramadan. So this is the connection that we see in the Muslim community. For common people, they will recite the Quran also reading it. During the days the daytime hours of Ramadan. Some people read it after every prayer they read a certain amount.
They the pace themselves so that by the time they reach the end of Ramadan, they have completed the reading of the Quran in Arabic
and this is considered to be a meritorious deed, one which would be rewarded by a last one with Allah. Now, the connection of the Quran to Ramadan actually exists in the Quran itself. And verse 185, of Surah Baqarah we do have a law they're saying Shahada, Ramadan and Lady zelophehad Quran. The month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed. So Allah has made a connection between the Quran and Ramadan.
However, that connection is one of
the goals of Ramadan achieving towards achieving the goals of Ramadan. and elsewhere in the Quran in verse 183. Allah does speak about the actual goals of Ramadan. And those goals are focused on the consciousness of Allah what we know in Arabic as taqwa. So we hear a law stating yeah even the denominator quotevalet camassia muka makuta Allah Nina Min publikum la la quinta taco Are you believe fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in orange?
That you may achieve God consciousness to come closer to Allah to be more aware of a law. So this month is a month of taqwa a month in which we seek to come closer to Allah.
Not that we don't do it outside of this month, but that this month is a month in which we focus on this. It's like a, you could say a kind of a retreat, or some kind of a special
a special way by which we rejuvenate ourselves. We strengthen our Eamon so that throughout the rest of the year, that consciousness would help us in our day to day lives. So the goal of Ramadan
is to come closer to Allah.
And
as we strive to come closer to Allah,
it should increase through that month and this is why the last 10 days of Ramadan.
Prophet Mohammed Salah Salam used to seclude himself in the masjid
in what is known as a calf,
he would spend the last 10 days his wives would also join him, others will join staying in the masjid for the last 10 days in which worship and those last 10 days are increased and intensified.
The idea being that when we leave Ramadan, we have been rejuvenated, we have been energized, you know, we're coming out of Ramadan, stronger than we went in
the coming Ramadan, we would repeat that again that same process. But
we should assume that we're not starting back from the same place we started this Ramadan. Next Ramadan, we should be on a higher level and we're starting and then we come out on yet a higher level. So you know, each year we're building are getting closer and closer to a law.
However,
for most of us, what we find instead, instead of building gradually moving up, coming closer and closer, we find ourselves starting Ramadan from the same point.
Meaning that
when Ramadan is over, we go back to where we were before
we started Ramadan,
or over the year, we weakened to such a degree that we start Ramadan again at the same point. So we keep doing the same process over and over again, we don't end up growing stronger.
So we need to revisit Ramadan, and the
other lectures during this month will focus on different aspects of Ramadan. In this presentation, we are focusing really on the Koran relative to Ramadan. And how does the Quran or how should the Quran help the worshipers to achieve the actual goals of Ramadan?
Well,
if we note in the very beginning of the Quran Surah Al Baqarah
where a lot mentions the purpose
of the Quran.
The book
where he said Alif Lam Meem dalla Kalki tabula rasa v.
This is the book in which there is no doubt
who then little Motrin guidance for those who fear a lot.
For Ramadan, we said the purpose was landler come to takuan in order for you to fear a law to increase in your fear of a law. So the Quran
is particularly guidance for those who fear a law and that's where the two of them meet.
This is why the verse that we talked about in the beginning connecting the Quran with Ramadan
It goes on to talk about the same guidance.
Most people stop their reading of this verse, where Allah says, the month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed. That's where they stop. However, a lot goes on to say, who then leanness
as guidance for people
by Anakin, Min alhuda well for gone
through clear evidences and the criterion for right and wrong.
So a law
talks about the revelation of the Quran in Ramadan and its purpose
in talking about Ramadan, he's talking about the purpose that it is guidance
houden God guidance for people.
And that guidance has been clarified in a series of proofs and evidences. A lot didn't just say believe, he gave us a series of evidences to reinforce that belief, as well as a clear distinction between right and wrong the forgone
so this is the
purpose of the Quran, which was revealed in Ramadan.
Therefore, we now need to ask ourselves,
as is our common practice today to read the Quran
and tarawih behind and how often
in the masjid throughout Ramadan,
or reading it, reciting it on our own
throughout Ramadan trying to finish it ourselves.
Where is this from? guidance? clear evidence is a distinction between right and wrong
listening to the Quran, and taraweeh
are we getting that? Or are we just struggling to stay awake, because we had a nice good
star
and a full when you get full, you get tired. So we are just struggling to stay awake.
No guidance happening here.
No for con being clarified.
And in our own personal readings.
Our practice is normally to take the Quran off the shelf
where it had remained for the last 11 months.
And of course, over 11 months, it got dusty if we didn't dust it off in between.
And then we blow off that dust. And we start to recite.
And our recitation is, of course, the recitation of the parrot.
We just recite a text that we have no idea what it actually says.
So this is an exercise that we go through every Ramadan.
We sit
in our homes, we recite the Quran in Arabic, for the vast majority of the Muslim world. We don't know Arabic
don't understand Arabic.
But that's the language of the Quran was revealed in
so we are seeking to keep that language alive. But
we are reading without understanding.
And there's a question
Is that allowed? Is that really permissible? Is that what the Quran was revealed? For? So the Quran was only revealed for the Arabs? Who when they read recite the Arabic they understand it.
But for the rest of us, majority the Muslim world 80% of the Muslim world, we don't understand Arabic so the Quran wasn't for us. Of course, nobody's gonna say that. We all understand that the Quran is for everybody.
How is our Salah sent as rahmatan in alameen a mercy for all worlds. So his message is a universal message. And that message has to be consistent
Can conveyed in the language of the people.
So there is a break here and the time of the Prophet matzah Salaam, time of his companions, early generations, as Islam spread out of Arabia into Egypt, it spread into Palestine. Moving in both of those directions. Those people learned Arabic. Today they are Arabs.
So the Koran had relevance to them. And as Islam spread, people were learning Arabic, and there was no problem.
But when a time came historically,
where that process of learning Arabic stopped,
most people attributed to the period of colonialism, when the colonial powers began the process of dismantling the Muslim Empire, chopping it up into pieces amongst themselves, grabbing different portions, and Arabic was sidelined. So
at that point, people started to become
disconnected with the Quran.
It was recited
on occasions,
ceremonies, etc.
For America, for the blessing,
not because people understood what it said,
it was not a book of guidance anymore. Even some people turned it into a book of fortune telling,
Book
of fortune telling in the sense that
when people had issues, they may open up the Quran, put their hand wherever the hand followed by looking at the verse and seeing other verses relevant to them.
A chef may be the interpreter, he may take the letters that your fingers fell on and given meanings to those letters, and whatever he tells you,
what's good for you, and what's not good for you, based on where your finger fell in the ground. Some people use it to find the names for the children. So they would just put their hand in the Koran finger, wherever it felt. So some people might be called Subhana Allah.
Some people might be called normal, and, or non be. I've met Muslims with these kinds of names, ask them where do you get these names from? They said, Well, you know,
parents did that. And that's where the names came from. So the Quran
became detached.
People actually became detached from the Quran. So there was a detachment between the Quran
and Muslim people. This is a historical process that's taking place. And result is here we are today.
Do we continue with that detachment? Or do we try to get back to the way it was in the time of the prophet SAW Salem, and his companions?
If the Quran
is to be, as a law said there in verse 185,
as guidance for people it was revealed in Ramadan as guidance for people through clear evidences and the criterion for right and wrong, if it is to become that in our lives, then we have to understand it.
We have to have complete contemplated on its meanings we have to have reflected
on what is being said.
Because how do you benefit if you don't understand?
So we are challenged today
with making the Quran relevant
for most of us to CRAN it's our holy book, but it's holy, meaning you put it on the highest shelf in your home. Some people say even if you're in a location where the Quran is, like in the masjid, walking out of the mustard, you should never turn your back on the ground.
So they'll walk out to the masjid backwards.
Or some people will say, if you're reading the Koran, you're sitting in the masjid
You put it on your lap and say, Oh, I would have been like you're putting the Quran on your outer.
No, you must have a
special holder to hold the Quran, like this special holder, you know, it's not allowed for you to put it on your lap. And people made up so many as you drop the Quran on the ground, okay? Now, you don't have to kiss it,
put it on your head, or some people before they even start to read it, they'll get it put on the head, then they start to read all kinds of rituals that we have developed around the
you know,
that this is the proper respect we're giving to the court
by treating it in this special way. We don't do that with any other book.
And we feel that
we are given the Quran That's right. But is that what Allah said in the Quran? For us to understand it.
To do that, No, he didn't.
Instead, he said, Of Elia to the barudan Quran? Will they not reflect on the Quran? Allah Lubin aka Fallujah? Or are their hearts locked up?
And I must say today, the vast majority of the Muslim world, their hearts are locked up from the Quran.
The Quran does not enter.
The hearts are locked.
We don't have the Arabic to understand. Now you find some people will listen to Quran, non Arabs and tears will start streaming down their eyes.
But what are they? Why are they crying?
They're crying because the way that the comedy reciter he recited in such a melodious way
that the melody has touched the hearts and people start to cry.
People do this, we do this in so many other occasions.
We cry.
But does this mean that the Koran has reached us? No, that is the voice of the comedy.
And this is how the Klan you know has become one in which they are competing for raw, different recitals of the Quran. They may not actually be competing amongst themselves, but amongst the people, they establish some form of competition. They speak about, you know, as today's they speak about men shall we?
Sorry, oh, Abdul Basit, whatever. There's no competition amongst the people as to who is the best curry? Who do they like the best? Why do they like the best than the best because of their voices. Not because they recite parts of the Quran which touched them the most. But because of the voices. And that's why before any event will have some party come the best one who can read, read some verses of the Quran, which may have no connection with the event at all. It's just for Baraka for the blessings that they believe will descend on the gathering, because the Quran was read. But this is not how the Quran was prescribed.
This is not what was understood by the early generations.
They understood the Koran. And when they heard the verses, and they cried, their hearts quivered, etc. This was because of the meanings what a lie is saying what the law has said. It touched their hearts when they heard the words of a law. So this is the
this is the Quran that we need to get back to to become reconnected.
Prophet Mohammed Salah Salam is quoted by Allah as speaking about our times. The times when people have abandoned laquan
he said,
we'll call our rasuluh
era be in a coma Taka do hadden core Anima juraj.
Prophet Mohammed Salah sanlam laments in these verses
He remains to a law
saying that his people had abandoned the Quran. Of course, when that verse was revealed, it was quoting a circumstance in which the people around him in Makkah, they abandoned the quad. They didn't want to have anything to do with it. They didn't want to hear it at all.
But
eventually they heard it, and they became Muslims.
That verse still has relevance. To us today. It describes
our times a time when we have in fact, abandoned the grant.
We now read it and do not understand it.
And those who do understand it, they read it quickly, and they don't contemplate.
So even the 20% of Muslims who do understand so many of them, recite it,
as wrote recitation quickly, they tried to finish it off Ramadan, whatever. They don't even reflect on it. And this is what the law has stressed that we must reflect on the meanings of the Quran so that it can impact on our hearts.
It can change us the Quran is the foundation of Islam.
Everything that there is in Islam is there.
The details may not be there we find the details from the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammed Salah. He has elaborated and demonstrated and all these different things but the essence the essence of Islam, is there in the Quran.
So connecting to that essence and remember this essence is direct Revelation, this is a law speaking to us,
directly
preserved in a way that none of the earlier books were preserved.
The earlier writings that we see attributed to the prophets etc. Whether it's the Prophet Isa or Moosa, or Ibrahim, others.
These
stories which we find in the Bible, the Old Testament, New Testament, you know, is a series of stories.
There are some messages in them not to say that they're without messages. But for the most part, they're stories recorded about the prophets.
When you read the Quran, the Quran
is different.
For some people who are not used to the way of the Quran, when they pick up the granite, they start to read it, they find it a bit strange.
It's not telling a story. It's not a storybook.
You know, it doesn't start off in the traditional ways of stories where you introduce your characters, then the storyline develops the plot, thickens, till they reach the climax. And then after that, conclusion, story's over.
The Quran is not like that. If you read from beginning to end, it will not fill the gap. Now, you have surah use of where there is a story. Almost all of the surah follows Prophet
Joseph Yusuf,
through his experience of being
put in a well by his brothers and escaping, taken as a slave and the old story
that surah is the only surah in the Quran.
Where a complete story is told,
you will not find outside of
surah Yusuf,
you're not find
bits and pieces of that story elsewhere. Maybe prophet user's name is mentioned
among the names of all of the other prophets. But the story is all in that one chapter.
That's the only one
everything else the story of profit moves
Prophet Moses,
much of his story is told throughout the Quran,
you will not find all of it in one
surah.
Instead, when you read the Quran,
you find a lot, I may start off with
something about a profit.
I might start off with
nature.
How nature functions, speaking about creation,
talking about people
talking about laws, how should people interact? Talking about worshiping along a variety of different topics we find coming in one than another than another, and another, even the
different
changes in speech, sometimes it's first person, sometimes it's second person, sometimes it's third person. So a person who is not used to this may find it very strange.
So why did the law follow that pattern?
Because the Quran is a law speaking to us.
Allies talking to us directly.
And when you carry on a conversation, if you listen to two people talking,
do they just talk one story?
Like the Way stories are written, they introduce characters, Stella tell a story line climax, conclusion, no, people don't talk like that, you start to talk about something, then something else comes to your head and you start to speak about this other thing. And, you know, and
it's not one person may talk about 510 different things in a conversation.
So the Quran follows the pattern of human speech, a law is talking directly to us.
He's talking directly to us. So that was, so he would listen.
So that we would reflect on the different issues and points etc, that he's bringing to us.
But in everything that is mentioned, though, it may differ in its form, etc. It is all bringing us to the point of understanding, a law,
our relationship to him,
this world that we're in, and our relationship to other human beings,
and to the world and all the things that have been granted to us, given us in this world.
So that is the Quran, a unique book, not like any other book.
So we need to now develop that relationship with the guy we need to become reconnected with the crime. And for us, the vast majority 80% who don't understand Arabic, we need to read the Quran. In our own languages.
I'm not saying give up Arabic, no, strive to read, to learn the Quran in Arabic
with the goal not being just able to recite the Arabic text. That's not a goal.
That is a means to a goal. The meet the goal is to read the Quran and understand it. That's what the goal is.
So that we won't have abandoned lucre on the grind has meaning if we stand in our way we understand what Allah is saying to us.
We're not just struggling to keep awake, because the point that we need to re adjust our goals with regards to the grind.
And keep in mind that Prophet Mohammed Salim did not tell us to read the whole Quran in Ramadan. Even though this has become like wajib an obligation on Muslims throughout the world once Ramadan comes you must complete reading the Quran if you didn't complete reading the Quran. You feel bad. I didn't complete
I'll try again next year. I didn't complete
problems or someone didn't say completed.
He didn't complete it himself until the last year of his life.
When all of the Quran was revealed
the vast majority of Sahaba did not recite the whole Quran in Ramadan. When the prophet SAW Selim died, only less than 10 of them had memorized the whole Quran.
So only
less than 10 could even recite the Quran Ramadan, it wasn't written down.
All of the Quran sections may have been written, but we didn't have the whole Quran so so somebody could sit in the time of his haba while the problems are Sam was alive and read out the Quran. It wasn't possible. It didn't exist.
The attitude that the Sahaba had towards the Quran and learning the Quran.
Because the prophet SAW Selim did say hi to comment Allah, Allah, Allah Lama. The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it to others.
They understood it in a different way than we understand it today.
Learning the Quran meant understanding and trying to implement the grant, as of the live in Missouri that said, we used to learn the Quran 10 verses at a time,
then that's it 10 verses at a time we used to learn.
And we would not move on to another 10 until we understood what was in that first 10 that we were learning. We understood it.
And after having understood its meaning
in its entirety, as much as they could grasp, then the next step was to try to implement it. So he said we used to learn the knowledge
and practice Amel at the same time.
So whatever ally instructed in the Quran, they tried to implement and that was the learning process.
They reflected, they understood, they sought understanding and then they try to implement, then they would move on to the next 10. That's how they used to learn.
And we need to get back to that.
He also clarified another point, which most of us today have no idea of, he said,
Whoever amongst us had memorized Surah Al Baqarah.
One who had memorized Surah Baqarah amongst us was called half if
he was called half if
you know for for us today the term half is only given to one who has memorized the whole Quran.
To give it to anyone who has not memorized the whole Quran is considered to be some kind of disrespect. You're disrespecting the Koran. You're calling this person off his and he has memorized the whole Quran
not appropriate. But that's the way things became
the time of this ABA, to have memorized the whole whole of swirl Baccarat that earned you the title of half is
well we understand half of this mean, meaning what? The memorizer the one who memorized But no, they were talking about half it in the sense of The Guardian.
He was now a guardian of the Quran.
He was guarding the meanings. Yes, memorization is a part of that process. But that really wasn't the goal. The goal was understanding and trying to implement the meanings.
So you guarded the crime because hef doesn't just mean to memorize,
have also means to protect, to guard.
So this was the understanding that they had
and this is what we need to get back to.
That is why I would recommend for you,
rather than trying to memorize the whole Quran as we used to
this Ramadan, let's make a change. Let's change our approach.
And let our goal be to understand the crime
to learn the crime,
to benefit from the reading of the crime,
instead of merely parroting
The text of the crime. So how do we do that? My advice is
you have an Arabic Quran, you have English translation or whatever your languages. And you also have that fear tafsir ibn katheer has been translated into so many different languages utilize that tafsir to get to the deeper meanings of the verses of the Quran. And if you set for yourself sua Baqarah, that will be plenty.
Try to go all the way through so Al Baqarah. And don't worry that you haven't completed the Quran.
That will be plenty. As we said, the one who memorized Baccarat in the time of the Sahaba was called half is.
So that has far more meaning than the term half is today. A person was memorized rote memorize the Quran, you might find him in jail, you might find him committing all kinds of crimes, but he was half with female rather grand people are shocked how he memorize all crime. And he did this he did that how?
Because
he didn't protect the Quran. He didn't guide it.
He only memorized the text. And anybody can do that. You can get a disbeliever to do that.
If you pay them enough, you may not want to do it normally. But if you pay them enough, yeah, you sit down and memorize just like we did. And he can learn it don't think oh, this is only for Muslims. No.
Simply because he doesn't believe doesn't mean he can't go through the mechanics because only mechanical, the mechanics of memorizing the text.
So what we have done today, instead of following the advice of the prophets on Sunday, I'm highly recommend Allah, Allah, the best of you are those who learned the ground and teach it to others. We have turned it into hydro comb, man, half an hour, half an hour. The best of you are those who memorize the Quran and
make other people memorize it.
That's not what the prophet SAW sent him said. So this is the challenge. This Ramadan. Let's change this fundamental practice in Ramadan so that the Ramadan can fulfill the goal of building our taqwa giving us greater consciousness of Allah.
Because obviously, it's going to be every element of Ramadan that has to come into play. It's not just one part and not the other.
So we can't say okay, if we just do this can we do and then we can achieve it? No, you still have five times daily prayers. How do you pray them? You know, you still have charity that you can give. How do you give it?
You still have Amara which you can make if you can, you can afford it. How do you make it? So
we have so many other things that we can do in Ramadan. Let's
begin to do them in a way which will increase our taqwa.
So, we advise our brothers
don't chain your women to the kitchen.
So Ramadan, they are just slaving in the kitchen. You know making the sweets and all this stuff. This becomes the focus the food. So instead of fasting, we end up feasting. That becomes Ramadan. The month of feasting
every year.
Muslims gain weight in Ramadan, we're famous for that.
People wonder non Muslims, you gain weight. five kilos 10 kilos you've added at the end of Ramadan. How do you do that? And now you fasted for 30 days.
Because they didn't really fast.
We are only feasting, enjoying.
So we need to turn all of this around how we do the fast. What do we do in the fast? How do we handle our prayers and everything. Everything has to fall into place for Ramadan to actually have the impact that it was designed for.
If we don't get all those aspects, right
Then we will not achieve the goal of Ramadan. It's as simple as that.
This is nothing
complex. It's not rocket science as they say. You don't need deep philosophical, reflection and
discussion to understand and to grasp is very simple, very straightforward.
Practice the Quran
as you read it, whatever you read the Quran, try to practice it. It is a practical book
is giving us guidance in terms of our day to day lives, how we should live, how we should conduct ourselves with regards to Allah, to society, to our fellow human beings, to nature, to the creatures.
All of that is there,
the guidance is there.
And if we're able to go back to the Quran,
and to now start to reflect on the meanings, believe me,
this Ramadan will be like no other Ramadan that you have experienced before.
Work on this aspect of the Quran, Quran and Ramadan work on this aspect, but I'm not saying that's it, that's gonna do it for you, it will help. It's a big element because as we said a lot combine these two.
But if we are doing that every day through Ramadan, for sure, it is going to impact on us and we should continue it out, of course outside of Ramadan. But that is a big step. But at the same time brothers and sisters, we have to deal with all aspects of the fast.
And the fast begins on a physical plane.
Don't eat from
dawn to sunset, that is a physical
set of limits that we are supposed to follow.
We all know Yes, problems are solved and used to break is fast with dates, and water.
So when the time comes to bake the fast
we'll have a little container with some dates and some water. But after eating the dates in the water, then we have soup we have rice, we have chicken we have you know everything else there. So we keep going.
Many of us eat and miss the Salah. So rather mother, we say but you know when the food is ready problems as Adam said, when food is ready, you should eat. Don't go and pray lots of food is already in place in front of you. So don't put the food in front of you. That's the point.
Not that you should go against the way of the prophets that salamati told us when he was talking in general terms.
All the foods are not laid out at the time of breaking of the fast
was laid out was just dates and water. So break your fast with the dates and the water. Go and pray.
Pray
a farewell prayer.
Try to pray as if this was the last prayer you had left to make
before leaving this world.
When you come back from the prayer,
now you try to eat something moderately.
Food may be put out, but in moderate amounts. What we tend to do again is we just overdo it.
Too much food you put enough food for 10 people but there's only two people sitting down to eat. What's the point?
say Okay, now we're giving it to the poor. But don't throw it away. That's good. That's a good thing.
But the point still remains that when you put up so much food, what are you tempted to do you want to eat from everything
and you're full and you still try to eat everything? Something a little bit of everything? Yeah, you're gonna give the rest of it to the poor, but you have overeating.
day in day out every day. So what do you expect at the end of Ramadan? And guess what?
most Muslims are not aware of the fact
that the prophet SAW Solomon said near Hamas who who real movement attempted
the best.
So
Hooray for the believer. Is that
what people say? No, no, no, that's that's a star. Eating dates and water, no promises and upset
and most of us never heard it before, is authentic ID
found in Abu Dhabi sunan Abu Dawood as well as an
authentic hadith, narrated by Abu huraira that Prophet mamzer somnomed said the best. So who
are the morning meal for the believer?
Is dates. Of course some people say well, okay, in our country, we don't have dates, but whatever is equivalent to it. What is similar to it? Could be prunes.
You have groans, could be raisins could be things along those lines.
But a very light sore.
Try that this Ramadan.
And believe me, you will have a Ramadan. Just on the physical level, the physical plane, quite different from any Ramadan you have ever done before.
What's gonna happen? You say, huh, I eat that few dates there three or fiver? Yeah, don't say okay, since it's dates now. And it's so I'm going to put in 15 or 20 days? No, no, again, once you go into access, the whole purpose is lost. So it's still 135 keep it in that range.
If you do sohar, that way,
it means your stomach will be empty.
You have put something in there dates, and dates have what they have, they're blessed by a law.
Whatever you can get that's like it, you've put something light in your stomach.
You have now began to eat, as the prophet SAW Selim ate
lightly
as needed.
So
what's gonna happen,
you're going to feel hungry.
Maybe you feel some pains in your stomach.
Throughout the fast train will come time to time.
You can eat anything, you have to bear it.
So what does that do?
That puts you in the same kind of category as those people who are starving.
Those people who have no food to eat,
you're not experiencing something of what they experience.
And that should motivate you to want to share with them. And this is part of the purpose of the fast to motivate us to be generous and to share what Allah has blessed us with with others. And that's what's iftaar isn't it?
They have thought at the end, the breaking of the fast for the month of fasting, what do we do before we
pray
the IED Salah was supposed to give away the carton fitter, helping out others
helping out others so that they can have a decent meal.
So,
if we take this approach, and I just mentioned the physical, there is also the psychological is also the emotional this all of these different aspects of the fast, others will speak about.
And we need to tackle all aspects because as fasting is a complete practice.
It's not just focused on one aspect of our being. It focused on the whole being.
So all aspects need to be tackled
sincerely
and consistently throughout the fast.
If we're able to achieve that.
Then for sure, we will attain taqwa for which the fast was prescribed.
As it was prescribed for those before us, that's why we find fasting in Christianity, fasting in Buddhism, fasting, Hinduism, all of the religions out there, which were originally revealed religions, but they became corrupted in time, still, the element of fasting has been carried down, you find it in virtually all religions.
A lot of prescribed it. Because we need too fast,
not too fast for a lot, meaning that a lot of needs are fast. So we're doing it and the benefits from it. No.
We fast for ally meaning that we do it in obedience to a law but knowing that
it's we who need to fast we do it for ourselves. So let us get back to the Quran.
Let's make the reading of the Quran. Real reading which is going to impact on our lives, change our lives.
Change this practice of fasting,
make it what it is supposed to be a game changer.
radically changing our lives every year, radically reorganizing, radically correcting, fixing, directing.
That's the purpose of the fast not just a tradition, custom habit that people do.
It's good to be a tradition. But it must be a tradition practiced according
to the way that a law has prescribed it.
We have to fast as the prophet SAW Selim fasted
as we have to pray as he prayed, we have to make Hijazi made Hajj,
we have to follow his way.
And the only way to do so
is to make sure we understand every aspect of the fast. So let us get back to the Quran. This Ramadan,
set a goal for ourselves, have the Tafseer to get that clarity. Read it in Arabic but read it in the language that we understand. Knowing that our goal is to be guided
to be shown the way that we should live. This is the goal of the fast of Ramadan.
And the reading of the Quran is for taqwa
and is for coming closer and closer to Allah. As our life comes to an end.
We should be journeying on a road bringing us closer and closer to Allah. I pray that Allah blesses
Ramadan, this Ramadan in particular
so that we can start a new way and that whatever Ramadan Allah gives us after this month
we will do it as he wanted us to do it in the way that the Messenger of Allah did it and the companions of the messenger did it.
Try to follow their way.
The way of the blessed generation
barakallahu Pico ceramide a Kumar Rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh