Iqbal Gora – Increasing the Quality of our ‘Ibdah Leading up to Laylatul Qadr
AI: Summary ©
The importance of the ending month of dashboard in obtaining the best blessings of the season is discussed, including the hadith of the prophet sallavi alaihi wa sallam and the importance of limiting energy during the season. The speaker advises against leaving negative marks and not sharing negative information, emphasizes the importance of fasting, creating a community of Islam, and creating an universal message for parents and children. The importance of the blessed months ofams of the blessed nights ofhair and the final week of the month of Carrefour is also emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
We find ourselves at this point over the
halfway point of Ramadan
and coming close to the ending portion, which
is the portion of the month that as
we know contains the best blessing. The hadith
of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, it also mentions that
that your actions are in accordance with their
ending. And it could have been for yourself
that you didn't take full advantage of the
1st 20 days, but it's not all over
for you. The best chance you had was
yesterday. The second best chance you have is
today to ensure that you don't lose out
on the blessings of Ramadan in its entirety
and ensure that we go to the end
doing as much Ibadah it is that we
can.
When it comes to our Ibadah in this
blessed month of Ramadan, there's one hadith
that tells us about certain individuals
that don't get much out of this month.
Although they might be doing the external
aspects of the Ibad and the worship of
this blessed month, they don't actually get the
full benefit through them. In one hadith, Analisa
mawalahu alaihi wa sallam, he mentions
that
That there are some people that fast the
month of Ramadan and they don't get anything
out of it except for hunger. And there
are other individuals that that stand in the
night prayer in the month of Ramadan, and
they don't get anything out of the standing
except for a sleepless night.
Similarly, in another capacity as well, there are
other individuals that might make dua in this
month of Ramadan. And the only time that
they make dua in the month of Ramadan
is when the imam is performing the witr
prayer in the Qunud, and he says, allahumahadina
fimun haday, and this person is saying Amin.
And his heart is not even attached to
these words. They might not even know what
these words mean, but they're simply saying Amin,
and that is the extent of their dua
in the month of Ramadan.
In today's Khutba, we'll talk about the fact
that in this ending portion of this month,
which is blessed in and of itself, we'll
mention some of the virtues, some of the
of the last 10 nights of Ramadan and
specifically that of Laylatul Qadr. But prior to
this, let us mention some of the ways
by which we can increase in the quality
of our Ibadah, the quality of our salah,
the quality of our qiyam, the quality of
our dua, and the quality of all of
our other Ibadah to Allah
in this blessed month. When it comes to
the first portion of this hadith, and Nabi
salallahu alaihi wa sallam, he says
That there are many people that fast and
the only thing they get out of their
fasting is the fact that they are hungry.
Because although they are fasting, they are fasting
at level 1, and that is the fact
that they are only abstaining from food and
drink, and that is about it. But when
it comes to their tongue, they are still
speaking ill. There are still those that are
swearing and cursing and backbiting and committing all
of the other sins of the tongue. When
it comes to their ears, they are still
listening to haram. They are still engaging in
back biting and listening to back biting. And
there are those that are not lowering their
gaze, their limbs are not fasting although their,
their stomach is.
And for those individuals, it becomes important for
us to remember the hadith of the prophet
where
he tells us
that Whoever does not leave false speech, an
ill speech, and speaking ill, Allah has no
need for that person to leave that which
innately is halal, which is their eating and
their drinking. And to this point, let us
ensure that we
in this month of Ramadan, we have limited
energy, and we conserve this energy for saying
that which is good. As is mentioned
hadith of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
The one that does not speak, the one
that decides instead of saying something
wrong, they decide to remain quiet, that person
will be saved.
He said that when it came to my
speech, I regretted it many times. As for
my silence, I never regretted it. So let
us try to enact this principle
The one that believes in Allah
they should say that which is good or
remain silent. We also see from the meaning
of this word, som. The linguistic or etymological
meaning of this word som, it refers to
abstaining from something, whether it is kalam
or ta'am.
Avoiding something. And Mariam alayhi salaam, in fact,
when it's mentioned the word saum in the
Quran with respect to her. We're mentioning this
also because this is Good Friday, and we
know that Iyas alayhi salaam belongs to this
Umma. He was not crucified nor was he
killed when a man was made to take
his place, and he will come back as
well, as a believer. We believe this in
our deen of Islam. Nonetheless, going back to
Marima alayhi salam, Allah
says with respect to her, she took an
oath
that I take an oath by Allah
to fast, and this was an oath that
she took that she would not eat and
speak in the in the Quran as mentioned
in Surat So
let us ensure that we do this aspect
with respect to our fasting, that we're not
simply fasting with respect to our stomach, but
our limbs are fasting, and this is a
higher level, a higher daraj, a higher grade
of our fasting to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
so that we ensure we get the reward
of this, and we get more out of
this fast of the month of Ramadan than
just merely hunger. Another aspect of this as
well is with respect to our ears, ensuring
that we don't listen to that which is
haram. In fact, you know, when hadith of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he mentioned
something that very few people actually enact and
practice upon. And Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he
said that
The prophet, salallahu alaihi wa sallam, his quality
was that he said to his companions, none
of you should convey some information to me
about somebody else, some negative information,
something wrong about the person. You're speaking ill
of them. That one companion, he might have
done done something,
or he has a certain trait or a
negative characteristic. Don't convey this information to me.
None of you should do this because I
like to come out to you and I
have a pure heart, I have a clean
heart. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would not
entertain those types of conversations.
Naturally, when it comes to things that we
need to know about people that might harm
us, maybe he wants to get our daughter
married to someone or we need to do
business with someone, then it becomes important and
okay for us to understand what is happening
within their life or their qualities and characteristics.
But the general rule as a believer is
is. From the goodness of your Islam is
you leave things which do not concern you,
that from this month of Ramadan also try
to fast with your ears as much as
you're also trying to fast with your stomach
as well.
The second portion of this hadith, and Nabi
salallahu alaihi wa sallam
There are some people that stand the night
prayer and they don't get anything out of
it except for a sleepless night. That is
the only thing that they got out of
it. They might as well perhaps even have
gone to sleep if their heart is so
detached. In one narration from Ammar Yasser,
he mentions that with respect to your prayer,
some people get the full reward of the
prayer. Their heart is fully attached and connected
to the words of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Other individuals, they might get half. Other individuals,
they might get a third. Other individuals, they
might get a quarter. Others, a 5th, a
6th, a 7th, an 8th, a 9th, a
10th. Some people might only get 1 1
hundredth of the value of the entire prayer.
And it could be that a person is
performing
2 rakaat of taraweeh, and their heart is
fully attached to these words. They did some
tafsir translation of these verses of the Quran.
They know what they mean, that their heart
is,
is is is humble and it understands
and is connecting with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
These 2 raka'ats could be worthy and worth
more than a person performing the entire
20. 1 of the companions of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, his name was Khadaihbiyaman
radiAllahu an. He narrated the narrations pertaining to
the signs of the day of judgment. Asfraadu
sa'atulsurra
walqubra.
The minor and major signs of the day
of judgment. In one particular narration, he mentions
that the first thing that would
get removed from the Muslim Ummah would be
their Khushur, and the last thing would be
the salah itself. And he mentions that a
time could come where in a masjid, a
large masjid could be full of believers, and
there's not a single person's heart that has
khushur.
In our prayer, we're thinking about our iftar
and the and the biryania we ate. In
our in our prayer, we're thinking about after
the after the we're done, we're gonna go
home and eat our dessert. We're thinking about
our suhoor. We're thinking about our work. We're
thinking about sports games. We're thinking about entertainment.
We're thinking about the person we had to
fight with in the parking lot, but we're
not connected with the words of Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'la. Unfortunately,
What are what are the cures to this?
One of the ways that we can ensure
that we have more connection to Allah Subha'ala
in this prayer is understand what is meant
when you say Allahu Akbar. When you enter
into this prayer and you say Allahu Akbar,
Allah is greater, Allah is the greatest, The
thoughts that you were thinking about, your issues
that you had in your life, Allah is
greater than them. Allah is greater than the
sports game you're watching or thinking about. Allah
is greater than your iftar. Allah is greater
than the work that you have tomorrow and
your homework that you have yet to do.
Remind yourself of this.
When the imam is reciting the prayer, your
heart might get distracted once more. But understand
that again, after this point, once the imam
has finished with his recitation, you'll see Allahu
Akbar one more time when he goes into
lugar. Remind yourself in this moment that what
I was thinking about compares and is nothing
compared to the greatness of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Another way that we can increase in
the
the greatest way by which we can increase
our to
understand the words of the Quran. Not just
the sound of the Quran, but what is
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saying. And a person
with a basic understanding of the Arabic language
could understand that when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says,
in the Quran.
And he says,
you say, Alhamdulillah.
When Allah says, then you say,
then you say
When Allah says says
This is this is see about al Amr.
You say
when Allah
says then in this moment you say quietly
and silently to yourself, you say
These are ways that you can connect with
the Quran.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that
you say, Allah
Muhammad. When you come across an eye of
jahannam, you say,
And when you come across so you're asking
refuge from the fire of Jahannam. When you
come across an Ayah of Jannah, you say
quietly to yourself, this is as Allah says
in the Quran,
You gave in the Quran the right of
its recitation.
Those are those that truly believe in it.
That's one way that we can increase in
our concentration
in our salah among many other ways that
perhaps you could mention, but we'll stop here
with respect to that. Another element as well
is with respect to our dua. As we
reference, there are some people, the only dua
they make in the month of Ramadan is
when the iman when the iman is making
the
and you're saying Amin. You don't even know
what you're saying Amin to. You don't even
know sometimes what you're saying Amin to. And
Allah mentions in the Quran the dua of
some of the ambiya alaymus salatu salam.
I'll talk about one of them. And that
is the dua of Zakaria alayhis salam. Allah
mentions in the beginning of Surat Mariam. He
says
that That he's going to mention to you
the rahma, the mercy that he had to
a slave Zakaria alaihis salam. What does Zakaria
alaihis salam do?
That in the middle of the night, you
used to make a quiet secret dua to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And this is actually
more beloved to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala because
your heart is attached to it. When nobody
else sees you, this is a personal dua.
You're not simply calling out and just saying
Amin to something you don't understand, but it
is something that you actually yourself need, perhaps
even in your own language. And Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala as mentioned by Fatada, in the
tafsir of this ayah. He mentions that,
Allah
knows the heart, the
and he hears the quiet
Dua of the one that is and the
sound of the one that is calling out
to him. So ensure that your Dua is
at a higher caliber and a higher level
in these last 10 nights of Ramadan, and
remember that
Right after talking about the verses of Ramadan,
Allah says that if my slave calls out
to me, know that I am near.
I respond to the dua of the one
that calls out when he does so. Let
us her make our dua a higher caliber
within this month of Ramadan.
When it comes to going on with respect
to the dua zakiri alayhi salam,
Allah subhanahu wa'ala says,
He is saying that at this point when
he is making a dua, and the the
what he was making a dua will come
will come and and be known in a
little while here as well. He is saying
that he was one that his bones were
feeble and weak, and his hair became white.
This is a reminder for those that might
have some white hair as well, that to
look at the Duaazakaria
alaihis salam at this point in his life.
And he says that,
was never disappointed.
I never had done. I never thought ill
of the dua that I make to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. I know for certain that
it's going to be accepted. Is our dua
of this caliber or not? Ask yourself this
question. Now when you go further, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala mentions the Gua that he made.
He said,
He wanted a son, and Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala eventually granted to him Yahya. John the
Baptist, again, this is Good Friday. We believe
him to be one of the, mbr of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and one that was
close to Aesia alaihi salam as one of
his disciples and and helpers. Allah swata'ala, he
gave him eventually Yahya, which is John the
Baptist. This was the son of Zakariya alaihis
salam, and Zakariya was a caretaker of Mariam.
But the reason why he wanted a son
was not simply to have a son and
continue his lineage. What was the reason that
he gave? He said,
I fear my family and those relatives that
after I go, will they be misguided? When
do we ever, as a believer, make this
type of dua? That what is going to
happen to the community of Islam after we
go? And that is why Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala mentions that this was the Duaaz alaihi
salam, why he made it. He wanted to
ensure that the the propagation
of the teachings of Islam and the traditions
of Islam. What can you do in your
capacity to ensure that after you're gone, the
Muslims are still benefiting? Whether it's building Masajid,
and you will see this benefit in Jannah.
That whoever build builds a house for Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala this dunya, Allah will build
like for them a house in Jannah. Allah
He wants to see what are you going
to do to leave behind for the coming
generation, and this was the foresight that we
see in Zakaria, alaihis salam, and we need
to ask ourselves this question. It could also
be that we're making Dua for our children.
And to this, let us look at the
dua of Ibrahim alayhi salam. We all know
the famous story when he left the Kaaba
and he left the the place of the
Kaaba rather when Ismaeel alayhi salam was there
with with Hajar alayhi salam. Ibrahim alayhi salam,
he walked a short distance away, and when
he could no longer see them, then he
made a dua.
And when you look at the human
being, they have a hierarchy of needs as
as was mentioned by one of the,
non Muslims, the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. He
talks about the physiological
needs, the need of food and drink, the
need of shelter, then a step above this,
you have social needs as human beings. You
need a community, you need a family. People
that don't have this sometimes become sad and
depressed. We are social beings. Then once you
have this and you look and you think
about the highest point, which is self actualization
and thinking about your spiritual needs. This is
how we defined it. And you might think
that when Ibrahim alayhis salam is leaving Hajj
alayhis salam and Ismail in the valleys of
Mecca.
There's nothing there. What would the dua you
would think that you would make for those
people? Perhaps for those individuals, gaza, we might
make the dua, those that are starving, those
that are in need of food. What dua
do you think we would make? Oh, Allah
grants them food. You might this think this
to be the first dua. What did Ibrahim
alayhis salam start with? He flipped this pyramid
upside down because he starts off by
Oh, Allah, make them from those that establish
prayer. And think about this for your children,
you might want them to have a good
job, but what about their iman? Because if
they don't have food but they have their
iman, like our Muslim brothers and sisters in
Gaza,
That is the great victory. If you don't
have this iman, you are completely lost. What
was the first part of his dua?
The next part he says,
That after this point, make people's hearts attached
and inclined towards them when the tribe of
Joruhm came and they intermarried with Sime'il Alaihi
Salam
then
he
says, Only after this does he mention to
give them food and even this food is
connected back to their thanks of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. This was a dua that the
Anbi'i made.
Are we making this type of dua especially
for those that are parents and those that
have children? We make dua for this world,
but we do do we make dua for
the coming generations after we are no longer
here? And do we make dua for the
iman of our children?
It's an extremely important question and something that
we really need to focus more of our
attention on in this blessed month of Ramadan.
In the final portion of the Khutba, we'll
mention some of the virtues of the blessed
nights of Ramadan.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in the surah
that we all know, We
have brought down this Quran in the night
of
sometimes translated as the night of power. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, how did he do this?
The Quran was in it was in what
was called the
preserved tablet. Then it was brought down in
one go, Jumlahu Wahida,
into Baytul A'sa, the honored house in the
lowest heaven. Then over a period of 23
years, it was sent down to the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and some of the
ulama, they say that the first verses of
the Quran
also came down in.
What does the word mean? The word is
often translated as the night of power, but
this word Qadr has three meanings or three
definitions.
The first meaning is it means sharaf. If
you say someone is,
a person of honor. This knight is an
a knight which is honored, which has honor
within it. The second definition or explanation of
this word Qadr refers to the fact
that as Allah explains in another place of
the Quran,
That on the night of They
said Quran was sent down on a blessed
night.
All of the matters of the world, who
will live, who will die, who will be
happy, who will be sad, who will be
sick, who will be healthy, who will get
their job and who will lose their job,
this is in the preserved tablet, Alokhul Mahfood,
and the angels, they take this and they
write this down, and they enact this for
the coming year. This is referred to the
Qadr, the decree of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And the third explanation of why it's called
something which is restrained, something which is constrained.
As we see Allah subhanahu alaihi sometimes says
in the Quran,
Allah sometimes he gives risk and he expands
risk for certain people and sometimes he constrains
it and makes things difficult for people as
well. Why is it called this? Because there
are so many Malaika
that descend in this in this blessed nights.
As the hadith mentions,
The angels that are found to in this
earth on the night of Leila Al Qadr
are more than the number of pebbles and
stones that we see on the earth. And
that is why one of the signs of
Laylatul Qadr is the fact that the next
morning you will see the sun, and it
is red, and it does not have a
lot of beams. It is something which is
hamra daaifah. The shams is hamra daaifah. It
is red with limited rays, and this is
one of the signs of Laylat Badr after
the next morning. From this, you also understand
that Allah tells you and gives you a
sign after the night, not before it. Because
if it was before it, people would only
worship on this night and forget about actually
trying to worship all of these 10 nights
of Ramadan, and that is one of the
reasons and wisdom for which Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala did not tell us exactly when the
night of late at Qadar is, so that
we try to get reward in every single
one of them these nights, and we have
sincerity. And those that really wanted would truly
seek out the blessings of this blessed night
of Bay Al Qadr. May Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala make us from those that are able
to catch it. By the way, one of
the reasons for which the prophet was not
given the night of late Al Qadr, he
was about to come out and tell the
companions when exactly it happens. The reason why
he was restricted or he he forgot was
or was made to forget was because there
were 2 companions that were arguing with each
other.
This goes to show that one of those
things that we need to stop doing as
a community and as individuals
is being people that are argumentative.
As it is mentioned in the hadith of
the prophet where
he says,
that among the worst men, the ones that
Allah hates, are those individuals that love to
argue. We lost knowing the exact night of
Laylatul Qadr because of this type of argumentation.
May Allah
protect and preserve
us. This is what is meant by Laylatul
Qadr.
How do you know what Laylatul Qadr is?
Or what will make you know what it
is? Showing the greatness in Allah's repetition of
this.
This night is greater than 1,000 months of
worship, 83.3
years of worship.
In it, descend the angels of as we
have mentioned, and Jibril alayhi salam, Arruhul Amin
also comes down in this night. May Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from those that
are able to catch this blessed month and
this blessed night specifically of the month of
Ramadan. And we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to make us from those whose actions are
judged by its ending. We might have failed
in the first portion of Ramadan, but in
the last portion of Ramadan, let us ensure
everything that we can do, everything in our
capacity in terms of our Ibada, in terms
of our charity, in terms of our charity
to the people of Gaza, in terms of
our dua towards them as well, and ensuring
that we maximize our ibadah in these blessed
months and nights or blessed days of Ramadan
is insured.
Our actions are in accordance with their ending.