Ramadan 2018

Give me like one or two minutes so we'll wait about two minutes inshallah for people to make their way and then we'll get started

I believe this is also going to be streamed and recorded so if you have family members at home who would like to listen and watch you can give them the epic machine the YouTube channel link and they can watch this live in Sharla

get a cup with us here they will meet with just not possible.

Once again just like a one minute reminder, if you're in the building, if you're doing decaf, the youth that are doing that decaf if you can hear me please make Elsweyr down

there's some sisters asking about the divider if we can put them in here unfortunately because the brothers doing I think F in the back room. It's going to be logistically difficult to put a divider up and have y'all in here so I apologize for that.

Hopefully I can still

see and hear everything properly from upstairs.

Bismillah R Rahman Rahim.

hamdulillah

hamdulillah here waka wa salam ala Eva Stouffer.

Also another thank you to Lucidchart and Milan via

early Hill Ischia was having a minute and my bad.

Earlier today I was teaching at the alum seminary.

We were setting some chapters of Sahadi as the year wraps up,

and we came across this very beautiful rewire. And I wanted to spend some time reflecting over just a few words from this narration of the prophets of Allah one incident.

But before we actually focus on the words of the narration, I wanted to present them heat and introduction.

Many of us when the month of Ramadan comes when the season of a bother comes,

we see people around us excelling and taking off spiritually.

And then we doubt our own ability to spiritually Excel.

We think to ourselves that how can I grow like that person?

When I have a past that I'm fully aware of, and it anchors me down.

There are too many sins that I carry of my past. Too many mess ups, too many botch ups, how do I catch up to so and so assuming that person was born a body of Allah from their mother's womb?

messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

said in the Hadith to the Sahaba that he was speaking to

a slum that Allah has left them in height.

The translation of which is that he's speaking to this companion companion and he's saying to him, that you became Muslim. Allah granted you Islam, Allah granted you the light of hedaya as a result of the good that you did earlier on in your life. Yes, it's true.

We all carry a heavy weight of sin.

And understanding and acknowledging that

and not being self righteous and forgetting our own reality

is what saves us from being imposters. We're not fake, we're honest, we're real. This is where we are.

There was a one incident that our chef would always share with us. When we were students and Mother Teresa. He used to say that there was this man that was passing the lane. Before his death, he said to his children,

his son in particular, that I'm leaving behind very little wealth.

Among my assets is a cow. Don't sell this cow unless you absolutely have to.

The man died. Years passed by, they benefited from the cow. But eventually, at some point, the cow became an expense on them, because now though it wasn't providing milk anymore, became very lean. They had to put money into cleaning it, washing it, feeding it and all the rest of it. So now, rather than than being profitable, it became an expense.

So they gathered together and they consulted and they agreed that it was time to let this cow Go, sell it in the market for whatever value it has, cut your losses and move on.

So the sun took the cow to the market one day, he found a nice, elevated area, he stood there. And he called the people together and said everyone gathered together, I'm here selling this cow who wants to buy it.

Those who heard him looked at the cow briefly. And they saw the state of the cow. And they realized that it was a bad investment right off the bat, the car was rusted from all corners. So everyone turned away turned away. By evening, this person was coming back home with a total number of zero offers for that cow.

When he was heading home, he passed by this person and that person said to him, that I saw you standing in the market trying to sell your cow and no one gave any attention to it. So tomorrow, I want to come to the market with you. I will sell your cow for you. The condition is whatever profit we make on the car, we go 5050 Do you agree? This person said well, I had zero offers any profit we make, I'm more than willing to share it. Sure, let's do it.

The next morning they met early in the market, they found a nice elevated space where everyone can see they had good visibility where they could be heard from everywhere.

When the market picked up and there was a lot of foot traffic. This person that he met he raised his voice and said oh people of the market gathered together. Let me tell you of an offer that you will never find anywhere else.

The people gathered around. He said to them many years ago the British Consulate colonized our lands.

And when our forefathers kicked them out of this land, as a token of appreciation for some small things that the British offered like building the railway system and whatnot, they gave a gift to the royal family. And that gift was the Holy Cow from India because India they have great respect of cows so they give a cow as a gift. It's it has religious connotation.

So they then took this cow back home to England, and they had it made it with a bull, a royal bull, and it had so many offspring. And these offsprings were distributed through the world, to the royal kingdom's and families. And from that generation of the Royal bowl in the royal cow is this current here who wants to place an offer? He started 1000 2000 3000 10,000 20,000. The guy was hoping on day one, he'd get 1000 The offers were wearing at 70 80,000. So right when they were about to seal the deal. The original owner when he heard the auction are saying 70,000 Once 70,000 twice, the original owner jumped in and said guys sales off everyone go home.

So his buddy elbowed him and said, What are you doing?

So the owner said, I had no idea that QA was actually worth this much. I'm taking it back home with me.

And when we heard this from our shift, we started laughing in our shifts that if you laugh at this man, learn to laugh at yourself. Someone says a few false words of praise. And you forget your own reality. You forget your own worth, what you actually are, who you actually were, and where you'll be standing Alexa, unless you fix the path of your life today. If you'd like to laugh on this person, or shake, let's say could be house MySQL, learn to laugh at yourself. How easy is it for someone to come and say two words of praise and we become deluded that maybe I am worth something. Maybe my dress code will fool people into believing that I am a conscious person. I am a close

friend of Allah well then our heart we know of our sins and who we actually are. But on the other side, so that's one extreme delusion. On the other side. There's another extreme that we have that some people they're so aware of their sins, that they become despondent in spiritual growth, that growth isn't for me, I can't grow anywhere. I can't go anywhere to the next step because of my past.

So on that base the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said a slumped on me slipped them in there Yes, it is true that you have a lot of bad in your life but without doubt there was good and it was that good that Allah saw in your heart because of which he selected your heart to be a carrier of His love. That's why Allah selected your heart for Iman La Ilaha illa Allah Muhammad Rasul Allah. How many people are there in this world, that from the day they're born to the day they die, they'll never have the chance to say Allah's name with love even once.

They'll never have the one chance in their life. To do such that in front of Allah subhanho wa Taala they'll never have one chance to read the column of ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada. And Allah gave you this honor. Allah gave you the honor to say his Kadima, Allah gave you the honor to carry him on in your heart. Allah gave you the honor to sit here and listen to these words in the masjid to do such that in front of him. And if this isn't enough, then tell me what more do you want from Allah as a symbol and as a sign that you are from the friends of Allah subhanahu wa Tada. The Quran speaks and says, Allahu Allah, you're letting me know. And the person that says La Ilaha illa Allah is granted.

A portion of Wilaya rely means an intimate friendship with Allah, a close friendship with alone

moved into Korea with money, when commentating on this verse explained that there are various levels of Wilaya whereby again means friendship, friendship with Allah, He says there are various levels of Wilaya there is related to the AMA, which is a common Wilaya that every person shares by simply saying La ilaha illa Allah because Allah says in the Quran, Allahu Allah, you in Medina,

Manu, Allah is the friend of those who believe and then he says there is a reliable Hoss there is a hasa a special type of friendship. And this will I have ha saw is granted to people who are willing to go above and beyond who are willing to push their limits a little forward. You know, the Anima and machina for they say that there are two deeds, that if a person becomes punctual in them in sha Allah, they will gain the will I hasa that special intimate friendship of Allah. I remember I was in Haram once many years back with had this philosophy shift. You know, Rahim Allah.

He was one of the greatest scholars of Hadith of our time he passed away recently, in the past few months. I had the honor of doing had with him on a few occasions and one time we were sitting in the home together. And I remember asking him I said chef, how does a person gain Wilaya? How does a person gain close friendship of Allah?

He remained silent. He continued his a bother. He just kind of ignored me first. He heard the question but he ignored me. Then when time for Asia came close, he closed his most happiness was between McGraw Manisha he claimed he closed his most half, put it to the side.

He had a name for me that I won't say a nickname. He called me by that nickname. He said come here, Hussein. So I came here by he said you asked your question, take the answer. He said there are two things that by doing them any person can get Wilaya what are the two things he said, reading the Quran abundantly.

And the second thing he said is the 100 salah.

reading Quran is where you allow Allah to speak to you. And in the 100 Salah is where you speak to Allah. It's a two way conversation, Salah is you speaking to Allah and to our to the Quran is where you allow, allow the words of ALLAH to come onto your heart and come on to your ears and you allow the speech of Allah to penetrate into your heart. And that's where spirituality will come from. When you stand in front of Allah, and you speak to your Lord.

I remember one of my machines, one of my teachers one saying

that if a person really ever wants to gauge their level of spirituality, if you ever want to give yourself a litmus test and find out where you are spiritually, he would say there's one simple way. This will give you an answer, instant answer whether you're pregnant or not. If you want to know whether you are a friend of Allah or not, he will say what does that ask yourself how long you can go, making dua to Allah without getting tired. Because a friend never gets tired of speaking to a friend. Strangers, we get paranoid by being in each other's presence. Within a few moments, we don't feel comfortable anymore. Because we don't know each other. I go to a wedding right or know anyone I

look at my watch five times that I'm not wearing. And then I leave the room, because I'm just awkward. But if my friends are there, my parents would have to yank me out of there by my hand to get me out of that room because I'm sitting amongst people that I feel comfortable with. And if you want to know whether you have rely our friendship of Allah with Allah or not, the answer is simple. How long can you raise your hands and make dua to Allah without getting exhausted? And for many of us, the answer to this is a very sad answer.

Because we're foreigners.

Our relationship with Allah

isn't as intimate as we'd like for it to be.

We carry so many pains in our heart. But we don't realize that Allah is the One who we should be sharing those pains with. I met a sister and my Masjid today. Today we had a convert Iftar in many of the convert and revert brothers and sisters from across DFW had gathered, and I spoke to them and while I was speaking, there was one sister sitting at the back, just crying nonstop.

After the lecture was over, during taraweeh, I was sitting in the offices doing some office hours, that sister was passing by, I called her in and I said to her that while I was speaking, I noticed you were crying a lot.

And she said something interesting to me. But skipping what she said, what I said to her was, when you feel those tears come out, when your heart gets overwhelmed, and you feel like spilling out. Don't be afraid to let those tears flow.

Your job is to channel those tears. Don't let them flow in vain. Channel them to connect you with Allah subhanho wa Tada. Your tears are like a canal, like a river that you're establishing. It can go in any direction it wants to. Your tears can take you to disbelief. If you're hurt, your tears can take you to joy. Your tears can just take you to reflection over the pain that you've experienced. Or you can channel that energy in a direction where they take you directly to Allah subhanahu Madonna.

And you raise your hands and you say, Oh Allah.

I'm sorry, I'm late to the meeting. But I have so much to talk about. So much to share. This heart of mine has gone through so much. My parents have been away from me. My siblings have been away from me. How many times will I call the insaan and tell them of my problems? Yeah, Allah illegal moussaka. Let my complaints come to you. Yeah, Allah, let my speech come to you. Let my forehead bow and prostration in front of you. And if you can find those moments in Ramadan.

Don't let anyone tell you that Allah doesn't love you. Because these intimate moments are only granted to the most beloved servants of Allah. Allah only invites those to this chamber of sincerity, who he truly loves. It's our job to find a way into that chamber. Yeah, Allah. Let us hear flow from these eyes. That's only for you. Yeah, Allah let these hearts spill out in front of you. Now Allah How long will I continue to turn to the corners of the world without coming to you first? Yeah, Allah How wretched of a person am I that you've continued to love me and I've only continued to turn away from you.

You're Allah Who will you leave me abandoned to the hands of people to the tons of people who have no interest but to insult me and abused me to tear me apart? Yeah, Allah you are a rock man. You are Rahim. You've allowed me to believe in you I wasn't worthy of it. He allowed me to fast I wasn't worthy of it. Yeah, Allah How did you allow me to do such that when I was never worthy of it? Yeah, Allah you allow me to give sadaqa I wasn't worthy of it. You allowed me to love your Prophet I wasn't worthy of any of this. You continue to give me and here I was appreciating the world without ever turning to you and saying Allahu Allah Alhamdulillah Welaka chakra

you your Allah if you ask me why I betrayed you I have no answer. Let this Ramadan be that night that I raised my hands and forgiven ya Allah I apologize.

Even a dog when in a straight when it's strict when it strays from its owner. Ultimately it has to come back.

And with these words, we pray that Allah subhanahu Matata allows these nights of Ramadan.

To be those nights that we enter into that chamber of sincerely any class. It's very easy to get distracted by people, my friends.

Sometimes it might be your own family and friends that distract you from having that moment with Allah.

Sometimes you just have to be lost.

You have to lose yourself from people. And when they insaan no longer has anyone to support them or praise them, that's when they become vulnerable. And that's when you start asking yourself questions that genuinely you're afraid of asking that what is my true worth? What's my true value? When I'm with friends that cushion the cushion, then we distract each other. But when I'm walking in a crowd of millions of people doing the offer on the house of Allah, I realize that this is just the Day of Judgment. Every person carries their own deeds and no one carries mine and I carry no one's. Yola, what's my value?

Where do I stand with you? Chaka you and I'm satisfied. Which one of the groups Am I from? For Leila? Vinaya Rahim Allah Allah said, when I read the Quran, I read one ayah and it breaks my heart. I would sacrifice my life to know the answer of where I stand when this IO will be stated about Allah on the Day of Judgment. Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran that when mankind will be gathered for the hasher for hisab

accountable

will be on the Day of Judgment. The righteous and sinners will be standing in one plane together.

And the sinners will be hiding behind the righteous. shameful to show their face in front of the Lord.

Then Allah subhanahu wa Tada will announce, one does William Johann Majidi moon. Oh criminals, make yourself apparent. You've been hiding for too long.

Come in front of me. Then Allah describes on the Day of Judgment, how they will stand in front of their load in front of their Lord. On dazzle Yabba Johan Majidi moon come in front of me or criminals Let me see your faces, all of you lineup

and then the eye of the Quran while Otara either moody Moon anarchy su see him in the Rabin when these people will stand in front of their Lord with their heads tore down out of shame

or been upset with me for a Gianna nominal Saleh and in Milan. One more chance Yala. One more chance

along with the Quran says

oh taco Lahaina, Tara adamello Angelica rotten. Cool nominal. Merci, Nene. Bella Khadija Yachty forget up Debbie ha was stuck part were contaminated caffeine, you will ask for another turn and that turn will be rejected.

For that have been either him or her. Allah says, The Greatest other job on the Day of Judgment, greater than Jahannam will be for a servant to stand in front of Allah. And Allah will say to that servant, bring your left hand forward, when his book of deeds is given in his left hand. That will be the most painful moment of his existence. He says. Because that moment, there will be a theme that you've that you've somehow managed to displease your Harlequin master, you've displeased and Allah who wasn't willing to be displeased with you. For only one or two love You more and more and more, and somehow you find a way to displease him. How is that possible? How does someone displease

a lord that describes himself as a Rahmani Raheem? My fr Allah Who Jada become in Jakarta momentum, a Lord who has no interest in punishing you at all.

How did you end up displeasing him?

How wretched of a person must be. How distant and delusional must a person be that they find themselves standing in the group of people who are from the moon and I don't speak with any contentment or guarantee that I won't be in those people I pray to Allah every day and night that yeah, Allah don't let me be from those people. But there's a Doha needed for that. Yeah Allah protect us all. Ya Allah preserve us all.

The month of Ramadan it's odd nights are not nights for lectures and speeches. These are nights for Atmel it's for deeds, whatever needed to be said has been said.

Those of intelligence in this gathering will not pick up on those cues and do what needs to be done.

As it were, the poet said,

of just kidding me I will lay is Roshni hum nettop middle Khazaria, hombre Actaea.

Now whoever wishes let them come and take light from this. I'm just kidding me. I will is Roshni hamlet of Natal Cassandra, I've just filled my heart out in front of you. This is the feeling that I had when I came.

And I pray that Allah subhanahu wa that allows us to take these feelings, these words, these thoughts, and translate them into actions in sha Allah, every moment of sincerity you spend with Allah, every tear that comes out of your eye out of the love of Allah

will be your pathway to Jannah Mark my words.

Mark my words, the Messenger of Allah said,

there are two drops that are beloved to Allah.

One drop is a drop of blood that falls from the body of the martyr. before it touches the ground, all sins are forgiven.

And the second is the tear that falls from the eye of the servant when he cries in front of Allah when she cries in front of Allah. That one tear has the ability and capacity to extinguish, extinguish the fire of hell for this person. There is no Jahannam for you in sha Allah.

So look for that tear. Look for that sincerity. Look for that moment in the dunya while you can. For those of you who've tasted that moment of, of sincerity with Allah, you've entered into that chamber of purif, last Rajat on DACA, Allah Holly and for father Dinah, who, for those of you who have entered into that state of your life, you will tell me that there is nothing more pleasurable in the world to offer than to cry in front of your Lord to channel those emotions in front of your Allah. But for those of you who haven't tasted that yet,

you haven't tasted Joy yet, my friends. You haven't understood

Did your heart hasn't experienced the purpose it was actually created for? May Allah give me those moments? May Allah give you those moments. May Allah make our lives full of those moments. May Allah allow us to fulfill the purpose of our creation made me feel confidence and closest to our Lord made this from lung be a Ramadan that changes us. May these nights be nights that we are proud of in our Lord is proud of me these nights be the nights that Allah takes pride in us in front of his angels and says this is why I created my own son. May this land that we sit on today, this piece of Earth testify for the way our hearts feel. Crying is not of the eye, it's a state of the heart. It's where

the heart is broken, where it's desperate, where it has nowhere else to go. Let this place let this time let the city let this month. Let this later to call them insha Allah be a witness of the way we feel about our Lord. Allah whom a fresh head Allahu nefesh had Allahu

wa sallahu wa ala Sayidina Muhammad a Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Zach Lowe hidden to move DECA money for that beautiful talk in sha Allah at 2:45am we have Clem here in congregation so please do join us for that inshallah just like one little hit and slam Allegra