Tips for the Road to Raman – Shabn

Bismillah Al Rahman Rahim Al hamdu lillahi rabbil aalameen or salat wa salam Marta should have Nambia even more saline Sayidina whenever you know Mowlana Mohammedan sallallahu alayhi wa sallam more either early or Safi, Germaine rubbished rock Ali surgery via silly me Rahul Okada. Minli Sani of Coco Lee Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

please and thanks to due solely to Allah subhanahu wa ala Teresa's peace blessings and salutations upon our Master and exemplar NaVi Mohammed salah, sallallahu alayhi, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam, we thank and praise Allah for the opportunity of Juma and more so, to be blessed with the opportunity to be in his house, to be in the masjid for Jumar.

With we take a special moment to ask Allah Subhana Allah Allah to grant all of those who are not in the houses of Allah to Allah today for Joomla even though they are meant to be even though they are supposed to be, but Allah has not afforded in the opportunity. And this may either be due to their own neglect or to an extraneous circumstance for which they have no control. For example, today, we must uncle Schreib, who is not well and has been hospitalized, we pray that Allah grant him complete Shiva. And while he's not able to be here, he's definitely wanting to be but there are those who are not here. But they have no interest in being here as well, even though they should be Allah grant

guidance to all of us Amin aerobill Alamy Alhamdulillah, the month of SHA burn has don't over us. Last night, the moon was cited for the month of SHA ban. This means that shortly we'll be welcoming the month of Ramadan Mineiro Bellami.

And SHA ban is a very important month for various reasons. For example, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam fasted in the month of SHA ban more than any other month except for the month of Ramadan.

There are many virtues attributed to SHA burn.

But we'll only mention a few of them in shallow data because the objective of today's discussion is not the virtues of Shaban per se. But how we can utilize the month of Shaban to prepare ourselves adequately and competently for the month of Ramadan so that we can achieve excellence in the month of Ramadan mean. So we have five tips for how we can maximize the benefit of Siobhan in order to reach an excellent Ramadan. Firstly, the prophet Alayhi Salatu was Salam has reported in the to sahih of Imam Al Bukhari and Muslim as been our best seller Hudaydah and Huma, that the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not fast any entire month apart from Ramadan. But say that I

shared your low and he also reported that she said he fasted the entire month. But the scholars have synthesized between these narrations stating that it was as though he fasted the entire month. And other generations clarify, he fasted so much that we thought he's going too fast perpetually, that he's going too fast for the entire month, every day.

And then there are Hadith that indicate the Prophet alayhi salat wa salam said, either Bucky or nice for minchah ban Fela de su mo Okemah. Allah Alayhi salat wa salam, when the half of of shadowbanned comes the 15th. In other words, they do not fast.

So all of these are Hadith, seemingly contradictory, but not so in reality, the scholars have been synthesized in saying that it is recommended to fast many of the days of SHA ban. However, once you reach the 15th of SHA ban, if you have not started a habit of fasting before that, then don't start now. Don't start with voluntary fasting. After the 15th followed fasts that is called DHA or for any other follow the reason that can still be done, but not voluntary fasting. So the idea of preparation

is interesting when it comes to fasting. The Prophet Alayhi Salatu was Salam set the precedent saying look, preparation well in advance is welcomed.

But the type of hasty preparation a day or two ahead of Ramadan is not welcomed. And perhaps one of the wisdoms and Allah knows best is that a person who is accustomed to fasting

will not find it strenuous to fast for days on end.

But a person who is not accustomed to fasting

and will find it difficult to fast perpetually, that person will extend the difficulty by adding to the month of Ramadan days before that, right? So this is the idea of what I believe is the wisdom in this regard and Allah knows best. But furthermore we asked the question, why did the Prophet alayhi salatu salam fast so frequently in the month of Shabbat and we know that he said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that of de Lucia amoeba Ramadan Chateau la Hilma haram at the beast fasting in the month after the month of Ramadan is the fasting in the month of Muharram.

And even Roger Bell humbly believes it to be available. Any fasting that takes place in the month of the article the sacred men's Shia Azurill Hurrem Muharram being one of them, that would be the best fast at the scholars have looked at the habit of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam showing that he fasted before Ramadan in sha ban as well as the six days of Shaohua indicating that the Sunnah fasts around Ramadan is akin to the raw tip of the Salah. I don't know it but but our Atiba what we call the Sunnah Salas that precede and follow a followed Salah. So for example, the her they are for soon as before the her for soon as after I know most people know only about two but

be that as it may the four before is what we call the roll it up and the four after as well. So any accompanying acts of a bear death. And one teacher explained this really beautiful he said you know when you when you exercise, it's always recommended before doing strenuous exercise to do a warm up to do a warm up. Right, not stretches not this is now fitness they don't do a stationary stage stretches before an exercise that's not recommended. You do stationary stretches after an exercise when the muscles are warm. But before an exercise, you do mobility, you just you know warm up your muscles by moving it. This gives you the maximal potential in that particular exercise and then the

stretches afterwards allows the muscles the base preparation to repair themselves so you don't suffer so much from what they call Dom's delayed onset muscle soreness and fitness the extra enjoy my job. However, we're not here to learn about fitness. We're here to learn about

it did anybody Dean right? Wrong fitness is part of Dean

Milka we hirundo I have Villa La Jolla alum in a minute but if of equal in height, aka McCall, Allison, it was the strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, even though there's goodness in both. So Dean is all encompassing. So why did the Prophet LSL actress and fast these are some of the wisdoms that we can ascertain from the rewire themselves however, Muhammad Rasulullah our beloved messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam also informed us he actually said, he actually told us what the reason happens to be. So sametha Benny xavion rhodiola, who died and whom I said, I said, O Messenger of Allah rasool Allah salAllahu Alaihe Salam, I do not see you

fasting in any other month, like you fast in the month of Shaban. So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that is a month to which people do not pay much attention.

He said use the way the half will Rafaela ruffler I think I've mentioned this before, offline is like the opposite of vicar.

vicar is to be in a state of remembrance. Today they call this mindfulness. Although mindfulness is technically being mindful of oneself, we vicar is being mindful of Allah. This is a big difference. This is why it's important for Muslims who, who want to adopt the best type of habits and trends to look first, in the legacy of Islam in the tradition of Islam before they look into other practices. Mindfulness actually finds its origin in Hinduism. But I'm not saying that it's a problem today because essentially, it just means being mindful of the present moment. What's better than being mindful of oneself and one's breathing and one's condition and one's feeling is being mindful of

Allah. Because if you are mindful of Allah, automatically, you will be mindful of your own actions and your own states before Allah subhanho wa Taala that vicar that's essentially what vicar is not just the repetition of certain words, but the opposite of that state is and mindfulness heedlessness. This in Arabic is termed the Hoffler Hoffler

So the Prophet alayhi salat wa salam used this term. He said, I fast in the month of Shaban because it is a month in which people are very heedless, the mindless zombies, right? They don't pay much attention to the virtue of Shaban and what I've seen and Allah knows base that I'm sure this differs from person to person, place to place in cultures etc. But I've seen growing up in this particular City of Cape Town, South Africa, that often

people have this notion of get it done before Ramadan. Like get it done before Ramadan, shop till you drop before Ramadan. Do your haram things before Ramadan, finish your haram things before Ramadan, eat you know people do this thing where they go on big lunch or big meal the family because you know after this we can eat something of that sort. And all of these practices even

decorating the home painting the home shopping for eat all of these things while they are not sinful necessarily all of them. They are certainly they are certainly going to cause a certain level of mindlessness, not taking advantage of the proper virtue of the month of Shaban right.

In La Masha Allah of course they are those who prepay. They prepare themselves adequately and competently for the month of Ramadan and US Shabbat and accordingly Allah Masha Allah Minami Allah make us of those. But the prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam added to the CC people are unmindful of this month between Rajab and Ramadan. And it is a month in which deeds are lifted to Rob will allow me to the Lord of all the walls, our deeds are lifted to Rabbil Alameen. What does this mean?

As we know, we are taught this when you are very young, we have angels, recording every deed that emanates from our limbs, from our tongues that we do with our eyes that we do with our ears, etc. every deed the good deeds as well as the bad deeds. We have rocky been at DEED, right people think that this is necessarily the names of these Malaika that is actually the attributes of these Manor aka rocky means they are ever watchful, it means they are ever ready. They are watching us all the time. And it's like if it really gives you that idea that they sitting with a pin and waiting for us to do something good or bad. And they record it that's the job. Okay, these records, these records,

if you think about it, are completely unnecessary.

And Allah, Allah doesn't need anyone or anything to take a record of what we do. Allah azza wa jal is all knowing, all knowledgeable. All are we all seen all yearning SubhanaHu wa Tada. So why does Allah azza wa jal have these instruments of record? The angels record our deeds, our limbs, record our deeds? alumina Timo for him. Why to Cali Muna ID him watashi wa do our Judo whom Bhima can only act Cebu and Surya sin. Allah says today we seal the mouths their hands will speak the feet will be testimony of what they used to do and earn in this dunya our skins will speak we will say Toughskins did have gamma Lima Shaheed to Mileena Why are you telling on us in Capetown they say who compete

javma Why are you telling why are you giving us up

and then a level cause the skins to speak and toppin Allah who led the UN takaku Lashay Allah the one who caused other things to speak is causing us to speak today the skins will speak the earth the very ground we are sitting on here. And this is one of the wisdoms for which when we make soon as far as what do people normally do after the father tsala They swap places right? People swap place I don't know about COVID now but generally speaking,

dudes. So NASA has is this just like a game of tag musical chairs you sit there acity now, the idea is we want to make Sala on as many pieces of ground as possible. So every piece of ground we prayed on will be will be testifying for us and the deaf gamma.

This is why in Surah Zelda

Allah Subhana Allah tells us that the earth will speak the earth will speak right? Yo, yo ma even two hot diesel Baraha be an Arab Baca. Oh holla on that day the earth will bring forth its news because it's load at inspired it to do so.

Write this means that the earth is also why all of these things taking place. It is not because Allah needs these records to know what we do. And remember what we do now all the will, that Allah is, as we said, all knowledgeable, but these records, are they as evidence either for us or against us on the Day of Kiama.

As evidence, you know, in a courtroom, imagine they just told the person on trial, you're guilty, the person will say, Where's the evidence, I don't remember doing that. I didn't do that whatever the case may be. But if solid evidence is provided, and through that evidence, the case is proven either this way or that way. The person has nothing left to say. And of course, courts have weaknesses. But Allah's code is perfect. So these, these matters are brought as evidence. But for our purposes, for our purposes, imagine we were away of the points, the critical points at which the evidence is filed. Right. So imagine the point at which the evidence is filed. I heard recently of

somebody who had a very, not a nice court case against him. And they had to appear several times and eventually they appeared. And then they said the documents have been lost. And apparently this happens quite frequently. Allah knows best, right? The only documents they don't seem to lose is the documents that contain the increases of the petrol prices and the electricity prices. They don't lose that, or the loadshedding schedules but important stuff like court documents, they lose that. So imagine we knew when the documents are being filed, so we could do something about getting them lost. Right? Wouldn't that be helpful, to be able to erase what was written of bad to be able to

just, you know,

slip through the cracks of the system? Allah Subhana Allah gives us a system we don't need to slip through any cracks. Allah teaches us via his Prophet Muhammad SAW assalam that our deeds are raised to Allah at certain occasions. The reason for informing us about this so that we have an opportunity to do something about it. Every Monday and Thursday, what did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam do he fasted Why did he fast because your weekly deeds are lifted at those times? Albert every day,

every day of the Fajr and after acid according to a hadith Vimala Aika who we spoke about rocky but it to ever watch for and everybody, they swap shifts, the Malacca take shifts so you have the Malacca of the of the morning coming for the day at budget time and the melodica of the evening coming for the night at a certain time. And the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad SAW Sam, he noticed they are no sooner Salas after fajr know after acid, what is soon at that time to engage in Victrola. Rasulullah sallallahu is and I'm engaging the remembrance of Allah Subhana Allah, so that the wisdom is the Malaika that leave the last thing they wrote down was he was remembering Allah and

the Malacca that arrived, the first thing they write down is he's in remembrance of Allah, the wisdom and the system of the Sunnah of Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So these are regular occurrences of the presentation of our deeds, then you have an annual representation, right? So you have the smaller documents that are filed, but annually, you know, like you have your financial year we all of the documents need to be submitted and then it gets audited and so forth. We have something like that going on. Well, Illa Hill method will Allah to Allah belongs the best of examples only for our understanding. We know because of this hadith, that it takes place this month,

in the month of Shabbat. And for this reason, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, I would love to be in the state of fasting, while my deeds are being raised Allah subhanho wa Taala

and on the night of the 15th of Shaban Laila to nice minchah Orisha burn Misha Harsha Oban.

Allah will Azzawajal grants humanity grants creation, a special genital forgiveness, we will hear much about this as the month proceeds. In sha Allah. It's sometimes called Laylatul Barah. And short and customarily traditionally year it's called Rua Brewer and what happens on that night there are various understandings of people about what happens on that night and so with you spoken about that before

However, what we know is that Allah gives general forgiveness on that night. There are certain people who are excluded from that. And we'll talk a bit about that today and we will leave the race to the main component of that later on. Insha Allah Allah. So now we can understanding the significance and the importance of the month of Shaban. I would like to stay at this point, that Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam his emphasis in practice was on fasting, but it's not limited to fasting. It is not limited to fasting. We know that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was consistent in his Amal in his good deeds towards Allah subhanho wa Taala fasting we can

use as a yardstick that if he's increasing in this Alayhi Salatu was Salam then this means that is a general increase in good deeds. And it is based on this that we look at the five tips today in JAMA insha. Allah Allah How can you and I prepare for the month of Ramadan now in this month of Shabbat in a very practical way, number one, remove the obstacles number two, if possible, start voluntary fasting number three search your heart for your feelings and get rid of it number four

improve an excel in your Salah and number five very new your relationship with the Quran. These are the five tips let's look at them individually inshallah Allah number one remove the obstacles what are we talking about? before one can increase in good deeds, one must seal the holes from which those those good deeds and the goodness of those good deeds will seep through. I've made this example here before not too long ago.

We can imagine our hearts like vessels or like bags, right this big leather bag. Imagine that for a second and you want to pour zamzam into that bag. Because zamzam is good. It's pure. It's great stuff right? Pour the zamzam into the bag Alhamdulillah you have a nice bag full of zamzam. But what happens if underneath the bag, you've got 567, massive holes, these rips in the bag and you're putting zamzam at the top. Are you gonna have a bag of zamzam? No, you're going to have a bag of nothing.

And this is akin to the person who wants to increase the good deeds, while at the same time. perpetrating crimes against themselves and Allah subhanho wa Taala and others the bad deeds Bs is a holes within our within our hearts. And this makes all our efforts of goodness fall away. One on Wednesday night at the class, the flip of Vickery said

an example of this is acid. A person can be extraordinarily good. Every day five times a day in the masjid sila da had vicar sadhaka Zakka not, you know, not doing anything outwardly bad. Obviously everybody's a sinner in some way or the other. But the one weakness of this person is that they have an incredible amount of hazard in them. They are they wanting others to be deprived of Allah's goodness, what happens to that person's good deeds

hassad eats good deeds like fire eats firewood, said the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And of course this is just an example. So before we can fill our bags with zamzam before we can increase the good deeds, increase the fasting, increase the size that whatever it is, we want to increase in we first we first need to seal the holes, remove the obstacles, right, each dinner bull Kava is what we are speaking about abstinence from the major sins. So removing the obstacles before increasing in good deeds includes

that we should make the Oba repent to Allah subhanho wa taala. Now in this month right now, today as we sitting here, in fact, any major sins, what are major sins, those sins that we know are very, very bad because it's mentioned in the Quran when the Sunnah and punishments for the MA mentioned as well. Some of the very ubiquitous common major sins that we find prevalent today is haram relationships, right? The sins of the eyes looking at haram, whether that be via pornography or movies that have these types of imagery in it, whether this be through the harm relationship just on a social media level, whether this be

in usurping the wealth of others and justly the consumption of riba ill treatment of the parents ill treatment of one spouse, oppression, there are many, but these are some of the very common ones and I think one of the most common of the major sins is right backbiting about one

Another speaking about others, things that they wouldn't like in the absence, that's a major sin. Dubai is required and amends are required for all of these things. But today to make things simple, my recommendation for this tip is list right now in your mind in your hearts list three major obstacles between you and Allah. Three obstacles which you know, if you remove those sins, your relationship with Allah will profoundly increase. List them in your heart today, if you can write them down, write them down, it will be better. Don't let other people see you though.

And turn to Allah Subhana Allah Allah in Toba, if you need assistance with how to rid yourself of those sins, there are many books written but you can also consult right those who are close to Allah subhanaw taala and knowledgeable about his Deen. Right?

So repentance, but make it productive, active and accurate. How so? Often we make though by ALLAH forgive me of all of my sins, etc. But what sins are you talking about? Right? Oh is the a secret Nia that later on, I'm going to do it again. And tomorrow. I'm gonna do it again tonight. And you know, when I go by again tomorrow, right? This is what we mean, not just the general Allah forgive me, but a real leukemia.

These three things, these three, these three things could potentially take me to jahannam if I continue them, in fact, don't make amends for them. And when we identify them, eradicate them physically, with a plan with steps systematically, not just hypothetically or theoretically now we actually tackle them one by one.

So that was the first one. In addition to this, making a list in our hearts and minds. Remove the obstacles also includes mending broken family ties.

No and I remind myself and others as well. Don't expect Allah to forgive you if you are not willing to forgive others, especially those about whom Allah will Allah azza wa jal had commanded we have ties with him, our family, Silla to run and family ties and mending your family ties is not about being cheerful and jolly with those who are cheerful and jolly with you. It is about going out of your way to be good and kind and make amends with those who are not so good unkind to you. And yeah, it doesn't matter whose fault it is, how long the dispute has been happening for how it started, why it's not working. No, it is your responsibility before Allah subhana wa, to your birth, like it is

mine. Right?

So in addition to this paying our outstanding debts to Allah, what do we mean by this? Not that we owe Allah money maybe we do if we haven't been paying out Zakah it means we owe Allah actually the poor money but it's a duty by Allah subhanaw taala similarly, if you have outstanding fasts

make sure to pay that before the month of Ramadan if we had the opportunity to pay back our fault fast but did not do so. And we leave it till after the next Ramadan we oh that day plus a video according to the mother of Imam Shafi Rahim Allah Allah for each day each day, and then if we leave it again for another year, we owe that day plus two videos for each day. So it gets it gets difficult.

And lastly, this is still part of number one, right? Stop the, the small sins which we call bad habits. Oh, you know, I've got a bad habit of this. I've got a bad habit, we laugh it away, because we consider them small sins. Whenever we think about small sins, remember, don't look at the smallness of the sin but the greatness of the one against whom the sin is perpetrated.

Don't look at the smallness of the sin, but the magnitude of His Majesty subhanho wa taala. So that was number one, remove the obstacles what was number two,

if possible, increase or start voluntary fasting for the sake of Allah subhana wa ADA. However, this must begin before the 15th of Shaban, you cannot start It's haram. According to our mother, again, that we practice the agenda to start fasting, voluntary fasts after the 15th of Shabbat far advanced code offers must be done anytime.

After doesn't matter, but for those who do not have a habit of fasting, you can't start after the 15th if you have a habit, you can continue after the 15th you can continue after the 15th so if for example, you say I'm gonna fast every second day or every Monday and Thursday, or every third day, you can continue if you start now you can continue after that.

15th But you cannot start this after the 15th. We started our Joomla talk today with this point. So of course you could devise it from there. So that was number two. Why is this a point on its own because this was very apparent in the practice of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He fasted more in the month of Shaban than in any other month. So it would be a direct emulation of his example. Alayhi Salatu was Salam and what better example can they be than the example of Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, right? Often Subhan Allah I find that often as, as,

I don't know if this is a human phenomenon, or if it's traditional, or if it's cultural, but often people look for ways and means to do things or to be good to be pious. So we think okay, let me join this. So let me start doing this. So what can I and we reach far and wide for all these things? Without looking directly at the practice of interview Mohammed Sal, Allahu Allah was asking, What did our beloved prophet do? And I said that was salam. So number one, remove the obstacles. Number two, increase voluntary fasting, if possible. Number three, this is an important one, because it's directly related to the virtues of Shabbat can search your heart for any ill feelings harbored

against fellow believers and do what every Tech's have permissible means to get rid of them, especially before the 15th Night of Shaban imagine a night in which Allah's Mercy encompasses everyone and everything. And two categories of people are just lift, they are ignored. They don't receive any of his mercy Subhanallah Who are they? The machinic

and the Musha, the machinic, the idolater, the most shocking the one who harbors rancor and ill feelings against fellow believers, Allah protect us having these feelings for others, it's like holding poison in your mouth hoping that somebody else is going to die of that poison.

Allah protect us, right? So search your heart, we have to be brutally honest with ourselves and you can sit and say I don't have any ill feelings for anybody. But just go through your phone book. Go through your phone book, go through your contact list in other words, right and go and just look at names and see how you feel with each name that comes up. What type of feelings or thoughts come to mind when you see that name when you see that person when you hear the voice?

This is this is very very important because

Allah is giving us preparation for Ramadan.

What better preparation for Ramadan can they be than the preparation given by Allah?

But he doesn't give it to those who harbored ill feelings in their hearts. It's a serious matter I believe. I believe that this virtue is because Allah wants us to not have ill feelings as we enter into the month of Ramadan Our hearts must be clean. He must go into Ramadan with a clean slate not being bothered by petty things with other people. We living in a time of pettiness right, we knowledgeable people can be the most pity. The most pity. This one is a coffee that one is a mushrik this one is a Muna fake, this one is going to jahannam this one La hawla wala Quwata illa biLlah la de la

it's, it's crazy. I cannot speak for others. But I can encourage myself in those listening. Never ever get involved in this type of pettiness. There's no benefit in it. The remainder of the profits SMC if you add to the word of Cofer on somebody, and by Allah it is not justified that word comes right back at you.

The whole level acuity level right? And that's not just about gopher we entering into the season of what disputes about the moon

Subhanallah

it's, it's it's said. But the wisdom of Allah shines through in that those who abstain from these things and focus on the connection with Allah they are saved Allah make us of those.

Number four, so he said number three was search your hearts for your feelings and get rid of him. Get rid of them for the sake of Allah azza wa jal number four. A few nights ago we gathered for the commemoration of the Iran the Mirage the miraculous Night Journey and Ascension of Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, at the at the tail end of my talk on that night, I said, What was the point of all of this? What was the pinnacle of that night journey? Was it all about the Buraq? Was it all about the speed? Was it all about the sites? The sites were important Allah

is in two different places in the Quran, Lee Nuria whom in a patina to show him of our signs, that was for who Lemuria who? Muhammad? Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And of course he then conveys it to us. But what was the pinnacle? What was the objective of that journey as far as we are concerned? And the answer was salah,

Salah. No one can claim to go into Ramadan wanting an excellent Ramadan and excellent fasting wanting forgiveness of Allah. But the fundamental pillar of deen is not established in their lives.

Without sila without improving your Salah without the connection to Allah in your Salah. Without obedience and diligence in your timing and your execution of those braise. There is no chance zero chance of having an excellent Ramadan.

It is beyond me that you still have people who wake up in the morning. If so, hold in Ramadan, go back to sleep and don't pray Fudger

what kind of thing is that? It's like I'm going to jump to the third pillar of Islam. Nevermind, you know, the first one not so important. Or the second one.

This is this is not this is not the purpose of Rama. It's not just about hunger. Rupa saw in Malay seminary me he'll do well as many of us think person receives nothing but hunger and thirst, or Rupa call him in many a person standing at night for sada in Ramadan. Lay Semin PME he Illa Sir, there's nothing for them in a standing except fatigue. So that can be we can fast for 30 days and stand for 50 nights and have nothing but hunger thirst and fatigue. How so? If the pillars the most fundamental elements of our day as believers is not prison. Salah is the ultimate yardstick in the life of a believer. Improve your Salah improve your deen improve your Salah, improve your

relationship with Allah improve your Salah. be better able to control your nafs improve your Salah be stronger again shaitan improve your Salah you have the keys to Jannah improve your Salah you pass the first question on the Deaf Kiama after which all Christians will be passed improve yours I can carry on. The rest of our Hurtubise for the next year can just be about sila and we know this. We know this. But it's it's not enough to just knowing it and to just speaking about it. We have to do it and implement it. And here I'm going to take a moment to speak to the parents parents, it is not mercy to allow your children not to pray. That is not mercy at all. It's tantamount to sending your

children to stand in a fire every time you allow them not to make Salah no parent would do that. It is not a fully

fledged is through oh they must go to school or whatever the case or eliminate young they're still young, whatever type of cliches we make up this is not Merci, merci is making sure that on the day when it matters most you did your job as a parent to make them successful. Allah grant us the freakin understanding. So number four is about our sila, improving our Salah throughout Shabbat and we can make that intention today that we will consciously work on our Salah number one that we pray five times a day. First point of order, type

point of order. It's not a phrase that I like to use all year because of living in South Africa.

First point of action is praying five times a day,

every day no matter what. Second that we play on time, because it is only valid on time anything that we missed without a valid excuse in the very few, very, very few. That is a sin making up for it later doesn't remove the sin the sin is 30 number three, doing our utmost with all of the Sooners around the salah to ensure that we have the greatest chance of acceptance by Allah and the best connection with Allah this includes Salah in the masjid This includes salah and the first Soph This includes making the Sooners before the Sooners after sitting for I've got making dua This includes preparing for the salah before the time waiting for the more I've been listening to the words of the

other than repeating the words of the more I've been saying the dua after the other and praying making dua between the soon as in the fall. All of that which is regarded as sooner will enhance our pray and our relationship with Allah subhanho wa Taala and lastly, certainly not least, we know this this is something that I think every preparing for Ramadan talk or course or lecture is going to highlight that is very new

Your relationship with the Quran. Why? Ramadan is the month of the Quran, the revelation of the speech of Allah commenced in Ramadan, the Prophet Muhammad, Salah Salem and Jibreel la sera, sera. They spent the nights of Ramadan revising what was what was the reveal of the Quran with one another every year in Ramadan. We know that every year, millions upon millions of items of the Quran are recited around the world by the OMA of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa, early, he was tough, he was selling them. We don't want to be deprived of those blessings. But the person who starts the first day of Ramadan, thinking they can dust off the most have a copy of the Quran from the shelf, and

then read a Jews

and still come to the masjid that night and stand for another Jews or Jews in a coat or whatever amount is decided, and then do that consecutively for 30 days while enjoying it and actually concentrating in it and not feeling like you know, you're going to die of exhaustion.

It's not going to happen. It's like the person who wants to run a marathon without training. It doesn't work that way. It just can't. Impossible. So renewing our relationship with Quran means reciting the Quran every day, and spending a bit of time with the Quran to develop our relationship with it, studying the book of Allah, reading the translation and reflecting on the book of Allah memorizing some of the verses of the Quran. And also, as I mentioned previously, listening to the kalam of Allah being cited beautifuly correctly properly with Dadri. Sometimes if you don't recite really well, then your experience of recitation is always going to be yet Atari Delphi, aka hacker

status data, and you don't necessarily get to enjoy the sweetness of the kalam of Allah. But listen to a story who is a Who is a God fearing Cory, right? Not just the quarry with a nice voice, according to His heart is connected to Allah, and whose character displays and demonstrates the beauty of the Quran and you hear the sweet voices with a column of Allah nothing can be more rejuvenating and relaxing and calming than that, but not his background music or driving driving sounds and talking about intently, sitting down and focusing on listening to the column of Allah subhanho data, it can transform you, you fall in love with it. Allah allowed him to fall in love

with it. So those are the five tips for maximizing the potential of Shaban to get an excellent Ramadan. Let's revise and conclude in sha Allah number one remove the obstacles meaning get rid of the Cabaye to make Toba make amends number two, if possible, increase or start your voluntary fasting in the month of Shaban so that we can emulate the Sunnah of Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the city God but not after the 15th number three, search your heart for any ill feelings rank in VA tremendous spite, jealousy, whatever it may be for other believers and get rid of that so that we don't deprive ourselves of the Mercy of Allah number four, enhanced your salah

the quality they have and the envy the physical nature they have in the month of Shabaan so that when we enter Ramadan, we have a good solid connection with Allah and number five, renew, renew your relationship with the Quran so that when the month of the Quran arrives, we are ready for action. Amina your Akbar Allah mean I pray that these tips are beneficial and Allah grant us the dough feet and he died to implement them to follow through with him to be sincere in them that he accept them from us, that inspire us, all of us with a Tofik to not only do these but to do the best that we possibly can to maximize the month of Ramadan coming. We don't know if Allah is going to allow us to

reach this month of Ramadan but we pray that he does. And we don't know if Allah is going to make this the last Ramadan of our lives. But we pray that if it is that would be enough to take us to Jana, and we pray that Allah azza wa jal forgive all of those who had not made it through to this Ramadan because they passed away in the course of this year that Allah Quran in the highest places in Jannah. And all of those who are undergoing difficulties and obstacles that are keeping them busy and occupied from Allah that Allah ease the way for them and facilitate guidance so that they can once again reach Allah Subhana Allah, we pray for all the ill at home and in hospital, especially

uncle Shuaib. As I mentioned at the beginning, who is not experiencing very good health, he's been hospitalized. May Allah grant him complete shifa, and complete recovery, speedy recovery and for all of those who are suffering and all of those were passed on genetically though SallAllahu ala Sayidina Muhammad Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh