Farah Islam – Ramadan Reflections
![Farah Islam](https://artwork.muslimcentral.com/farah-islam-150x150.jpg)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
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.
TV
what God is no bigger
wouldn't be
working
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
for for future episodes inshallah cinema on equal to Lucky