Farah Islam – Ramadan Reflections

Somewhere we go my dear being me sisters and welcome to Ramadan

reflections. We trying to bring you some words of inspiration and

wisdom during these beautiful and blessed last 10 nights of Ramadan

I'll be your host and celebrate tonight. Dr. Farah high stem

Samadhi coma Rahmatullah who better get to Bismillah

Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah

I really wanted to share with you tonight a surah that literally

changed my life. And maybe many of you know it, it's sort of Alamosa

mill or the the enshrouded one the one in folded, right? So we're

lovingly we're Allah lovingly calls out to the prophets Allah

who I know you will send them soon after he had received the first

revelation. And he calls out to him so lovingly, you know, oh, you

folded in your blankets you know, oh you the unfolded when the

enshrouded were in such a beautiful sort of way to call out

to the prophets alone it was setting them and honestly learning

that deaf seer of this surah literally changed my life and so I

want to I want us to just sort of

share I want to share some of that this year with you and we'll we'll

start out with listening to that to the recitation inshallah.

So, let me just share my screen so you can see it as well inshallah.

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what God is no bigger

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so, that's the part of those are the sort of the verses that I'd

really wanted to share with you inshallah. And so beautiful smile.

So let me just read the translation for you. So in the

Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate you Prophet

unfolded in your cloak, stay up throughout the night, all but a

small part of it, half or a little less, or a little more, recite the

Quran slowly and distinctly, we shall send a momentous message

down to you. night prayer makes a deeper impression and sharpens

words, night prayer.

You are kept busy for long periods of the day. So celebrate the Name

of your Lord and devote yourself wholeheartedly to him. So those

are the first eight verses that I've wanted to share, just so

beautiful SubhanAllah. And so what I want to share from the depths

here, so you can be different and that of syrup and kefir.

The first one of the first acts of worship, basically the first

commands, that the prophets Allah, who I knew was setting them was

given soon after he was called to prophethood was to cleanse himself

to purify himself to arise for prayer and to stand for night

prayer, specifically night prayer. Right. And I find that so

fascinating, right? You know, as as Muslims now of course, we have,

you know, the five obligatory, the 5/4 prayers, and those are sort of

the cornerstone of our faith, right? And that's what we kind of

think, is what we do as muslims we pray five times a day. But you

know, at the beginning of Islam, the Prophet SAW Allah who I mean

was said was sending him was called to prophet hood. He

actually was given the command for night prayer, he didn't have those

five prayers, but if that commandment came later, as we

know, of course, during the incident when Mirage when the

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam ascended to the heavens and

received that beautiful command to pray, to pray five times a day,

but to begin with starting out the early Muslims, they're obligatory

Prayer was night worship was the hardship that was standing in the

night for prayer which is so amazing I think we do have to sit

and stop and reflect on what that means, right?

This was the act of worship that all of us kind of with that I

commanded and cave to the prophets, Allah, why me with send

them peace and blessings be upon him, to initiate him into

prophethood and to initiate those first Muslims into Islam rights

Kamala. So it's actually narrated by I showed her the Allahu anha,

as she says that, you know, verily, Allah made standing at

night for prayer obligatory at the beginning of this surah

specifically, sort of wisdom mill. So the messenger of allah

sallallahu imeva, send them and his companions stood for an entire

year,

during the night in prayer until their feet swelled, right, imagine

that their feet swelling, because they're standing for so long

during prayer, you know, and then Allah held back the revelation at

the end of this surah for 12 months. This is continuing the

narration from Arusha rule one. And then Allah revealed the

lightening of this burden at the end of this surah. And so the

standing for night prayer became voluntary, after it used to be

obligatory, isn't that amazing? spinella. I, when I read that

pilot, I just imagined the companions and the prophets,

hello, I mean, was Saddam standing, you know, for half the

night for more than half the night or little less than that? Every

single night, in deep devotion and deep worship of Allah, so much, so

that their feet with us? Well, I mean, imagine if you had, if you

stood for hours and hours and hours praying, that would be the

state that we would be in Subhan Allah, right. So standing in

prayer was the first fourth prayer for Muslims. And it just makes you

stop and think about how important light worship must be. If this was

the only prayer, the one and only prayer that was commanded and

given

and prescribed at the beginning of Islam, right. That's what Allah

subhanaw taala

prescribed to the Prophet to initiate him into this very

difficult life of becoming a prophet Subhan Allah right. And so

think about then how night worship then prepares us right if it if he

could initiate the prophets, Allah who I knew was sending them into

prophethood if he could initiate those first Muslims into the

forest, very difficult years, you know, where

a boy caught now of being tortured and what it was like to be a

Muslim during that time. Subhan Allah, you know,

it makes it makes your heart really just shake Subhanallah you

know, I was listening to Gustavo Tamia Zubair is tafsir class and

she was saying how, you know, she said something along the lines of

You know, you build your spiritual stamina through night prayer

through km, right, your knifes, you know, your ego, your soul, the

you know, the the egotistical part of you is trampled by night

worship. And this is the only way you can tame your naps, the only

way you can lead your naps rather than having your knifes lead you.

I thought that was so profound. It's so true, right? When you

stand up for a night prayer, it kind of feels like you're being

beaten down. You know, you're so tired. You're so groggy. Maybe

you're feeling like that right now, as you've woken up to pray,

right? It's just you're battling with yourself to get up, and you

feel kind of beaten down. Subhanallah and it's so true. But

it's such a necessary exercise such a necessary spiritual

exercise exercise to sort of beat down on our necks, which kind of

leads us most of the day when we're so busy, right as a list as

in that in the beautiful sewer app, and I particularly love the

six the birth of the, of the Surah, which when Allah says, you

know, night prayer makes a deeper impression and sharpens words.

Right. That's how it prepares us. It. You know, the night allows us

this meditative space, this halwa this seclusion, you know, away

from everybody else. And it's really

that space can only be created when everybody else in the world

is asleep, you know, subhanAllah and it's, it's sort of the only

time when your soul has a chance that spiritual heart, your

spiritual heart has a chance to finally become a lie to awaken.

Right.

And that idea to have sharpening words is is such a lovely reminder

as well.

and particularly to as many of us are coming out, you know, in the

last 10 minutes of Ramadan, maybe we're trying to race through the

court and trying to finish our recitation of the Quran. And so

there's also in the tafsir, there's a beautiful Hadith where

the prophet solo I mean, we're sending them reminds us and this

is nearing from urban, Mr. Rhodes. He says, you know, do not scatter

the recitation of the Quran out loud out like the scattering of

sand and do not rush it like the hasty recitation of poetry, stop

at its amazing parts and make your heart move with it. None of you

should let it let his concern to be to reach the end of the

chapter. I love that right? Stop and it's amazing parts and make

your heart move with it. I think that's so beautiful. Right? Allow

the Qur'an to compel you to move you to change you. You know, stop,

take a breath, be amazed Subhanallah by the beauty of the

words and and stop. You know when

they're, you know, there are certain verses that just shake you

to shake you awake in Oh, my gosh, Subhan Allah, right? That's Allah

Spanos, Allah speaking to me speaking right to my spiritual

heart. You know, allow yourself to breathe in those moments, right?

pause and reflect. And honestly, you know, reading the Tafseer of

this, where I, you know, changed my life, you know, literally, you

know, I read it one from a bong, and it woke me up, you know,

and

it's part of like, you know, 100 100 Now, you know, be in the

lab, being able to stand for pm every night since then, since

reading this powerful tafsir it just meant so much to me, like I

couldn't read the tafsir couldn't learn that this was the one and

only, you know, prayer that the early Muslims had, and how long

they would stand. I just imagined their feet swelling. I just

couldn't read that, and not be moved by the weight of the

hatchet, and not have it in my life. Do you know what I mean?

It's kind of less so powerful. And and so I memorized Surah Anamosa

Minh, because it meant so much to me. You know, honestly, it was one

of those moments where, you know, you read a surah and it compels

you, it moves you and so I memorized it. And it's actually

one of my favorites was, of course, to read during the hatred

during when when I stand in a PM, and I honestly can't think of a

spiritual practice that is more soul cleansing, you know, that

idea of just beating down on your knifes of just taming it, telling

your naps, who is boss, right? reminding yourself that it is your

connection to your Lord, it is the worship of your Lord that is your

one and only

purpose of life and that is solely what you were created for. And to

to pray during the night when everybody else is warm and you

know, wrapped up in their blankets and all cozy. You know, that is

such a powerful reminder to our egos, span of love, you know, and

it's such an amazing way to to awaken ourselves, you know, after

a day, you know, we can be awake during the day, you know, doing

going about our work, and just, you know, engaged in all the

mental chatter and in and just all the regular duties of the day. But

our soul can be asleep. And so only when all of that around us

quiets down can our soul finally awaken and rise and say and

finally reach its full potential and meet its its actual true

purpose. Right when you can actually focus on your Lord. You

know, the Lord of the Night, the Lord of every star out in the sky

right now as you're watching this. Not right now. As as I'm obviously

out during the daytime 100

know the Lord of the night the Lord of every star in the sky, the

rub who holds your soul in his hands, reflect on this and now

rise over you wrapped in your blanket wrapped in your sweater

wrapped in your hijab rise and worship your Lord supersonic and

home behind the UK Nash Hello Andrea ILAHA in the end, still

firaga we need to be Lake salam Wa Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Josiah como lo que en for you know tuning in for joining me for this

for this Ramadan reflection. I really do hope that moved you and

compelled you and just remind you to have the beauty of night

worship.

I really appreciate everybody tuning in and really I hope

inshallah you can do

tune in

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