Ramaḍān is a month in which the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hellfire closed and the devils chained up. If we don’t take advantage of this blessed month to change ourselves, then when will we?
Lecture delivered at Abu Huraira Center in Toronto. Date: July 2, 2014 (Ramaḍān 5, 1435).
In Al hamdu, lillah, Allahu
Allah.
Allah,
Allah, Allah.
Allah, Allah.
Allah Allah Allah Allahu la sharika Mohammed Abu hoorah solo, solo sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi women, Tabby are homeless and Elijah Medina dad Salaam Alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Can you please have the brothers come closer?
Ramadan
is a time
for change.
And that's because
due to the wisdom of a loss of Hannah Hua Tyler, and due to his great mercy, he has made certain
acts of worship,
and certain days, certain times, more beloved than others.
And so we have certain times of the week that are better than other times, certain acts of worship that are done at those particular times that are better than other acts.
And then we have acts that are done throughout the month, certain days of the month, are better for certain acts. And then we have certain times of the year, certain times of the year, certain acts are better than others.
And in this way, we have the month of Ramadan
which is a time when acts of worship or in general better if they are done during the month of Ramadan, then outside of the month of Ramadan.
And one of the wisdoms behind that is that Allah subhanho wa Taala
forgives us the sins that occurred between those two timeframes. And so in the Hadith the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned that between astrological humps between the five daily prayers
and between one Juma and the next, and between one Ramadan, and the next
is expiation of the sins between these timeframes. So between each salah and the next Allah
or our sins are forgiven,
between one drummer and the next, our sins are forgiven, between one Ramadan and the next, our sins are forgiven, but for whom, for those who actually commit themselves to these acts of worship at these particular times. And so the one who does not, then there is no doubt that he's been deprived of great reward, and obviously of expiation of his sins.
And so Ramadan
is
a time when, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned,
the gates of Genesis are open
and the gates of Hellfire are closed
and the Shailene are chained or shackled.
And in this month of Ramadan, we have Laila terkadang, which is better than 1000 months.
And so these are just some of the many virtues of the month of Ramadan.
And so the one who does not take advantage of this month
in the worship of Allah subhanho wa Taala in getting nearer to Allah subhanahu wa tada then there is no doubt that he is deprived and he has deprived himself
and so we need to take advantage of this time
this month Ramadan
before it is too late. And so many of us were present, last Ramadan.
And there were among us,
those who are close to us, our friends, our classmates, our colleagues, our relatives, our loved ones who were present with us last Ramadan
but they are no longer present with us.
This Ramadan
so they've gone on.
They are now in their graves
and the only thing that can benefit them in their graves today is what they put forth yesterday.
And so
the loss of Hannah who had data has given us life
such that we are alive today. witnessing this year is Ramadan.
But the question is, how are we going to take advantage of it?
Are we going to pull it off? and say, you know, I have many Ramadan's to come.
I have many years of my life to come.
I'll take advantage of it next year, the year after that, and so on and so forth.
And so, this is from the deception from the deceptions of shaitan. And from the traps of shaitan that he uses against the sons of Adam,
to put off what we can do today until tomorrow
to put off the acts of today, until tomorrow.
And so Ramadan is an opportunity for many things.
Among the most important of which is
an opportunity for change. And what do I mean by change? Allah subhanho wa Taala says, In the Quran,
yeah, you have Latina M and quotevalet como suyama can akuti de la Latina Cabo de como la la quinta, taco, verse, this verse that we've heard time and time again.
Especially since Ramadan began, oh, you who believe.
Fasting has become prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you.
But what does the loss of Hannah who would Allah mention as the reason behind prescribing this great act of worship,
behind every act of worship is a wisdom is a reason of loss of Hannah who without it says La La Quinta takuan.
So that you may be among those who have achieved taqwa.
So that you become among the people of taqwa.
And so taqwa is something that exists in the heart, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned
and taqwa is something
that is achieved through fasting. How?
When we fast during the month of Ramadan,
we are changing our daily habit.
And so outside of Ramadan, we were not fasting.
We were eating and drinking, however we pleased.
We were not praying at night.
We were not staying away from certain things which became now held on during the month of Ramadan.
And so these things
help us to achieve taqwa.
How What is the meaning of taqwa? First of all? Who can tell us the meaning of a taqwa?
the consciousness of a loss of Hannah who without a God consciousness.
Who else can give us the meaning or the definition of taqwa?
Between
and the last.
The brother says that taqwa is
to make for yourself a barrier or protection.
Between jahannam the Hellfire and, and your own desires or your own lusts. Both of these answers are correct. And so I'm more of the Allahu and when he wanted to know the definition of a taqwa. He asked to obey, it been kept one of the well learned
Sahaba among the Sahaba he was one of the well versed in terms of the Quran.
So obey him and he said, he said to him are the Allahu, and
when you enter into a path,
you walk into a path, which is dangerous.
And you don't know. You know what you're going to face? What do you do?
So amaura the Allahu, and he said,
I make sure I watch my every step.
I'm careful
as to what faces me in this path. I look out for thorns for snakes, etc.
So obey even cabbie. He said, That is amazing.
have Taqwa
that is the meaning of a tequila. And so tequila means
to be conscious of a loss of Hannah who with data such that
you have put a barrier between
your desires and the hellfire.
And so you are watchful. And you know that Allah Subhana who Allah is watching you.
And so you fear of loss of Hannah with time. And so the end result of taqwa is the fear of a loss of Hannah who Allah and the fear of his punishment, the fear of the hellfire. And so you put for yourself a barrier
between
between your desires and the hellfire.
And so this is how Ramadan is an opportunity for change.
In the sense that
you are sacrificing
those things that are beloved to you, and you are changing your daily habits.
And so outside or Ramadan, you are eating and drinking, however you pleased. And now, during Ramadan, you're staying away from food and drink.
And so you're conscious of Allah subhanho wa Taala
you know, that you're not supposed to eat, you're not supposed to drink. Why? Because you're fasting. Why? Because Allah has commanded you to fast.
You stay away from from food and from drink, and you stay away from lustful desires.
And so you're conscious of a loss of Hannah, who what data.
So before we talk about
change, during the month of Ramadan, there's one very, very important point that we need to mention here.
And that is
the issue of animal hazard.
Bringing ourselves to account
as a member of the Allahu I'm he said, has he boo and fusa comb cobbler and to
bring yourself to account
today in this life, before the day in which you will be brought to account for what you have put forward.
And so the only ones who can take advantage of the month of Ramadan to change themselves
are those who first bring themselves to account.
What do I mean by this? What I mean by this is stopping for a second.
And looking over your past?
What have I done in the past?
Whether it be good or bad?
Where do I stand today? With regards to my relationship with the loss of Hannah, what data?
And what do I want to put forward for tomorrow?
These are the three questions we need to ask ourselves.
What have I done in the past?
Where do I stand today?
And what do I want to put forward for tomorrow.
And so we have to bring ourselves to account
before it is too late. And that was the very meaning of the statement of Omar Abdullah who when he said has he boo and fusa comb cobbler and
what he means by this is that at any moment you could die
and then it will be too late
to reflect over where I stand.
Stop for a second and ponder over your past
what have you done what have you not done? Where do I stand today? How should I improve myself for tomorrow?
And so, the question is how can we take advantage of the month of Ramadan
to change ourselves for the better?
First of all,
I want us to understand one very, very important point
and that is
that when we say change, what we mean is actually return not change.
And that is because the loss of Hannah who had data says in the Quran, in the law her now you have a you don't have your comb. Hector you have a euro nabee and fusi him
Allah subhanho wa Taala does not change the condition of people
Until they change what is in themselves. But what is the meaning of change here, this color is mentioned that this change is basically
from good to bad,
that Allah subhanho wa Taala does not change the good condition of a people
until they
change themselves, meaning they leave the good. And then they change to that.
And so Allah subhanahu, WA tada only changes our condition
to bad after we were once good because we ourselves changed from good to bad.
And so that is the meaning of this verse,
that Allah subhanho wa Taala has mentioned in two or three different places in the Quran.
And so change means
to change from good to bad. And so when we talk about changing from bad to good, what we mean, is returning back to the good.
And that's because Allah subhanho wa Taala. He mentioned here in this verse, that we were once good, and then we change to that. And so what do we want to do, we want to return back to the good. And so we need to take advantage of the month of Ramadan,
to go back to the good that we were once upon.
And so I'm going to mention a few points
that are practical points
that we can basically implement in our lives
during this month of Ramadan, to change ourselves or to return to the good that we were once upon.
the very, very first point that I want to mention is that we need to first and foremost, pinpoint exactly what we want to do.
So we need to have a clear goal in mind.
We need to have a clear goal in mind. The reason why many of us fail
in
basically planning on changing
and becoming good
is because we don't have that clear definition or that clear goal in mind. And so the very, very first point is to have that goal in mind. What exactly is your goal? What exactly is it that you want to do?
Is it your soul or what? Your prayers
you don't pray until you want to start praying?
Is it
certain bad habits
or certain addictions that you want to get rid of such as smoking?
or looking at her arm
or listening to her arm, whether it be music or otherwise?
What is it that you want to change? So, this is the first point that you need to keep in mind.
Once you have
put that in your mind,
you move on to the second point.
And that is that you mentioned the evil effects
of these
points that you want to change.
Try to recall the evil effects.
And so for example, not praying. What is the evil consequence of that?
remind yourself of the evil consequences of not praying.
Such as the one who does not pray. He's not even considered a Muslim. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
that the pledge or the contract between us and them between us and the machine. deikun is the sola so whoever leaves it, he has committed Kufa
think of the evil effects
of certain things that you want to change in your life. The evil effects of smoking
that it is not only
harmful for your body,
but also harmful with regards to your relationship with Allah subhana wa tada
and also, until you have from the evil effects of smoking, that it harms your body.
That it is something displeasing to Allah subhanho wa Taala also
that it is a waste of money. So we
We call the evil effects.
And, you know, write them down if you have to,
after that, move on to mentioning the positive effects of these things that you want to change.
So mentioned the positive effects of praying
that it gets you closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala
that it makes you a believer, and it makes you a Muslim.
Recall the good effects of quitting smoking.
that improves your health,
that it gets you closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala that it preserves your wealth.
Recall the good effects
of lowering your gaze from what is haram to look at.
That increases your ear man.
That it makes you to protect
what Allah has commanded you to protect of your eyes,
and your private parts.
And so on and so forth. Finally, after that, make a practical plan.
make for yourself a practical plan.
So for example, you want to preserve your son a lot. You want to make sure you're praying your five daily Salawat.
So make for yourself a practical plan.
And so for example, I'm going to take an alarm clock, and I'm going to make sure that I use something to wake me up for Salatin federal,
such that I don't miss my salado federal.
And I'm going to come to the masjid for each and every single Salah. Because this is going to help me to preserve my five daily Salawat.
And not only am I going to come to the masjid,
but I'm going to make it to the first row to a software firewall. And I'm going to be here for the event. And I'm going to be here early and so on and so forth. So you make for yourself a plan.
You make for yourself a plan that you abide by.
And the same for all everything else
for quitting on certain addictions that you may have.
And so on and so forth.
After that, the final point that I want to mention in this regard,
is persistence, persistence, through patience. And this is the key
that either makes individuals or breaks them.
And so many people they plan out well, and they have good intentions. And they have strong determinations to change themselves.
But what happens is that they don't persist, they don't last that long.
And this is the nature of man. This is the very nature of man. And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that every single son of Adam is a sinner. No one is perfect. We will stay away from sins and then we will return to them. This is normal.
This is normal. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the best of them are those who rush to adobo.
Those who are from among the terroir been those who don't just make repentance, but they are always making repentance, there are always turning to Allah in repentance after they have sinned.
And so this final point is the key.
The after you have made your intention to change, you have turned to Allah subhanho wa Taala.
And you have a strong determination that this Ramadan, I'm going to take advantage to change myself. And I'm not going to leave it for next Ramadan, or the one after that.
And then you make a plan, like we mentioned.
And then the implementation comes in.
And so you start implementing, but then you don't persist.
And somewhere along the line, you fall short.
And so this is where we need this is where we need patience.
Persistence, through patience as a loss of Hannah who Allah said yeah, you had Latina Amma and also biru while saw a beautiful we're all beautiful. What
Hola Hola. Hola.
Allah subhanho wa Taala mentions this verse at the end of surah, Allah and Ron.
And this verse is regarding the Mujahideen
on the field on the battlefield, who have gone out for jihad. Allah subhanho wa Taala commands them with patience. Yeah, you had lady Anna Anna nos Bureau to have patience.
But patience is something general
and something that many people are able to have.
And so Allah subhanho wa Taala did not suffice. We're just saying, Have patience. Allah subhanho wa Taala said, Yeah, you Hallelujah, Amen. Oh Spiro, will saw you
don't just have patience.
But advise one another with patience. And other scholars said that the meaning of sabido means
to have patience
in the face of somebody else, who is also being patient. And like I said, this verse was revealed regarding jihad. So what it means is that the mudra, Dune should have patience, when they are fighting in their jihad.
They should remain steadfast against the enemy.
But not only that, saw a bureau
they should have such patience as those
who they are facing their enemies. their enemies are also patient.
They're also fighting, and they're not giving up. And so Allah subhanho wa Taala said, that not only should we have patience, but we should also have the patience of those who are facing in battle.
And then Allah Subhana, who was Allah said, What are the two
and so not only on the battlefield,
but also after
the battle is finished.
The meaning of Robbie to it comes from a robot, which is to guard the frontiers
to be stationed at the outposts of the Muslim lands, to be stationed there.
In order to guard the lands from the outside enemy.
And then Allah subhana wa tada said, What dako law Allah Allah come to flee who Allah concludes the verse by giving that all encompassing piece of advice of a taqwa that we mentioned in the beginning.
And that is to make for yourself a barrier between you
and your desires and the Hellfire Laila come to flee Hoon, so that you may be successful. And so the key to success is implementing this verse.
But I'll take it a step further and say that this is not only on the battlefield.
And this is not only with regard to jihad, and the Mujahideen, yes, it was revealed for that purpose.
But we should also take this verse, and implement it in our lives.
And so jihad is of various types. We have the jihad against the enemies, and then we also have jihad against the knifes.
So use this verse to fight against units.
Yeah, you had Latina and managed to, oh, you who believe Be patient.
So when you plan for change in your life, and you've taken advantage of this month of Ramadan, to change yourself, and you've put a plan for that, and you start implementing it. Remember to have patience.
The only way that you will be successful
is by having patience. Why? Because Allah says at the end of the verse, that I like him to free so that you are successful, if you want success, then have patience.
And then have patience in the face of those who are also patient. What does that mean?
It means
that your neffs
It is also determined to fulfill its desires.
And so you know, he doesn't want to get up for Salatin federal.
And so you need to you need to face it.
You need to face it with determination and with persistence and with patience.
Certain addictions
your knifes wants to fulfill, it doesn't want to give up.
And so once again, you need to face off against you enough which is determined, which wants to fulfill its desires and doesn't want to give up what it is used to.
And so once again, you need to face it off with determination and patience.
What are these tools
and guard yourself.
And so just like the Mujahideen, they guard the frontiers of the Islamic State and the Muslim lands from outside enemies.
You need to guard
yourself
against the various enemies of your knifes.
Those evil desires that your knifes wants to fulfill, you need to put a barrier between that knifes of yours and fulfilling those desires.
And so if you're addicted to smoking,
you need to put your enough's far from cigarettes.
If you're enough's loves to look at her arm,
then you need to guard your eyes from looking at what is wrong. If your enough's has gotten used to listening to her arm, such as music, you need to put that music away and guard your neffs against fulfilling its desires.
So this is the very meaning of a taqwa.
To be conscious of the loss of Hannah who would to Allah is such that you put a barrier between your knifes and its desires, and the punishment of a loss of Hannah who, what.
And so that is the very meaning of a taqwa that we are supposed to achieve. During the month of Ramadan, I asked Allah subhana wa tada to help us to achieve that.
Before we conclude, I'm just going to give three pieces of advice
that are
suitable for this month of Ramadan, and will help us
to change ourselves for the better. And take advantage of this month of Ramadan for change.
The first piece of advice
is
determination.
Having a strong determination and a strong will for change.
And so many people, the month of Ramadan goes by without them even having noticed.
And that is because for them Ramadan is a tradition.
And so what I mean by having a strong determination
is
by saying to yourself, that this Ramadan,
I'm going to change myself.
And I'm not going to wait
until next year or the year that comes after that.
I'm going to change myself from now, this is the meaning of having a strong determination.
Not just an intention,
but a determination, a strong and honest determination, which is basically between yourself and the loss of Hannah, who with that, which is basically between yourself and a loss of Hannah, who what data.
And so
what will help you to have this strong determination
is by remembering that
if you're not going to take advantage of the month of Ramadan to change yourself,
then when are you
because most people who don't take advantage of such times as Ramadan,
then most likely,
most likely, there will be no other chance for them throughout the year.
Trust me, if you want to change yourself, then take advantage of the month of Ramadan
because as we mentioned, it is the month in which
the gates of gender open the gates of Hellfire clothes
and the shell team. They become chained and shackled.
But what does that mean? Many people they asked
that my condition doesn't change
During the month of Ramadan
even though they're showing up in their they're chained up and they're shackled.
Why is it that I'm still falling into sin? Why is it that shaitan is still tempting me?
The answer is
that the show you have been or chained up.
But the problem is that your knifes is not changing.
The problem is that your knifes
became so used to evil,
it became so used to
falling into the temptations or shaitan that now,
when the shackles are put on those shelves, that were tempting you
it doesn't make any difference for you.
Why because Uranus has gotten used to it.
It's similar.
It's similar to certain people
when they go to a different country.
And let's say they move to a Muslim country after having lived in a non Muslim country.
Now, this is obviously about those who don't go there for the sake of changing themselves.
They want those same habits of them of theirs to remain as they were in this non Muslim country.
And so when they go to that Muslim country, they find it difficult.
Why?
Because their knifes was used to a certain way
and they don't want to give that up.
And they don't want to give it up. And so your situation when Ramadan comes is no different.
The shayateen become chained up and shackled.
But your enough's
is not chained up.
It wants to continue as it was outside of Ramadan. Why? Because you had allowed it loose,
you did not chain up your knifes and so shaitan tempted it and you allow shaitan to tempt it such that when Ramadan came and the devils are chained up,
you cannot control that number of years because it is already used to a certain way a certain habit.
And so the first and foremost piece of advice that I have is
to take advantage of the month of Ramadan
by making a strong determination to change yourself
and having a strong determination
to use the motto Ramadan
in getting closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala How do you get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
in the Hadith which he narrates from his Lord so pan with Allah Hadees could see the loss of Hannah who without it says that my sleeve does not get closer to me except by that which I have made obligatory upon.
So if you want to get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala the first and foremost thing you need to look at
is that which Allah has made obligatory upon
so if Ramadan comes and you say, Okay, I'm gonna start praying today are we
gonna do such and such good deeds?
But then you're not getting up first a lot.
And then you wonder, why is it
that my situation hasn't changed?
It's because of this.
What did Allah subhanho wa Taala say? He said, The closest thing that my slave comes to me through are those which are those things which I have made obligatory upon.
And then after that, Allah subhanahu wa tada says, will matter called Robert Ely.
After that the slave doesn't get closer to me
except through a Noah.
So once you have taken care of the ferrario
you're praying, you're flying solo Are
you making sure you do everything that Allah has commanded you with? Then after that, you move on to the now after the tsunami which there are so many of
Torah we're in the month of Ramadan is an example.
And there are so many other now waffle and so on.
And so the first piece of advice is to have the strong determination
that this year and this Ramadan, I'm going to change.
And I'm going to take advantage of this month to get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And I'm not going to put it off for later. The second piece of advice is
related to fasting.
And that is
that fasting is something that many people think, is just
staying away from food and drink, staying away from our sexual desires, from dawn until sunset, this is what many people think.
This is what many people think.
And for most Muslims out there, this is what Ramadan is. This is what Ramadan is.
To simply stay away from food and drink and our lustful desires.
And that
but the reality is that the true meaning of fasting
is not just staying away from food and drink.
But rather, it is staying away from everything that Allah has made her on,
that Allah has forbidden us from.
And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
that whoever does not give up Hola, Zoo
evil speech, idle talk, lying, etc. Whoever does not give that up. Then Allah subhanho wa Taala is not in need
of him abandoning
of him abandoning food, and drink.
So most of us don't realize this. They think, Okay, I'm gonna fast, stay away from food and drink.
But my life is not gonna change.
I'm still going to speak evil,
I'm going to still lie, I'm still going to backbite spread falsehood, etc.
And so
the matter is more serious than that. Allah is not in need of you staying away from your food and drink, if you're not going to stay away
from evil talk if you're not going to protect your tongue. And the same can be said with regards to all other things. What is the point of staying away from food and drink if you're going to fall into her arm, and you're not going to change these evil habits of yours.
And so the second piece of advice is to remember
that the true meaning of fasting is not just staying away from food and drink and lustful desires. And if you think about it, these things are actually permissible. If you think about it,
these things food and drink,
having
relations with our wives is permissible.
But Allah subhanho wa Taala made it impermissible. Why?
In order to train us to stay away
from the impermissible things.
And so that brings us to the third piece of advice. What is the third piece of advice?
That is to take Ramadan
to take it as a school. Many of us just finished school yesterday. And now, you know, we're on our summer holidays.
But take Ramadan as a school for yourself. How?
First of all,
by remembering a loss bounty upon you.
And so fasting, what does it do? It reminds us
that Allah subhanho wa Taala His bounty and his favors upon us are so great.
And so when you become hungry during the day, and you become thirsty,
and you stay away from food and drink, it reminds you that you know awesome Hannah who God has given me food and drink
that, you know, I usually eat and drink so often whenever I'm hungry and whenever I'm thirsty.
But yet Allah subhanho wa Taala has not given the same bounty and the same favor for others who are suffering around the world.
And so fasting is a reminder
Trains us to remember the bounty of Allah subhanho wa Taala upon us. The second thing that Ramadan, it teaches us. And so in that sense it is a school
is that when we become thirsty during the day
it should remind us
of that day in which
we will be so thirsty
and we won't have any drink,
to quench our thirst.
And that is the day of judgment.
So when you become thirsty during the day,
remember that there is a day
there is a day in which
all of mankind will be gathered, and they will be thirsty.
And they will be blocked from having access to any drink.
Except the believers
except the believers who Allah subhanho wa Taala will allow them to drink from the hole. What is the hold, it is a fountain.
It is a fountain of or the pond of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
that whoever drinks from it, he will never be thirsty again after that.
And so this pond
the water
as a prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam described it in many different ways. Among the descriptions that he described it with
is that it is sweeter than honey and wider than milk.
And the pictures
the pictures that you use to pour this water
are so many they are like the the stars in the sky.
And so it is a massive pump pond. And it is the hold of our Prophet Sall Allahu Allah, you said
and the water the prophet SAW, Selim mentioned that it comes from it comes from gender. Where does it come from?
A natural cosa, the river alcocer. And so it comes from there and pours into this pot. And every single prophet will have a pond where their followers will come. But our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will have the largest of these pots as his own that will be the largest on the Day of Judgment.
But then remind yourself, remind yourself
when you are thirsty during these long summer days, remind yourself not only that, you know, on that day, you won't have anything to drink, except from the pond of the prophet SAW Selim. But then also remind yourself
that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned
that there will be people who will who will be blocked from having access to this part.
And so what did the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam say?
He mentioned
that on that day, he will see his followers coming to the pond.
They are in a state of thirst and they see the pond
of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and they are from this oma
and they will come racing to the pond
and then they will be blocked.
So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will say my rod
These are my own
Almighty almighty.
And then Allah subhana wa tada What will he say?
He will say, you do not know what they did after you.
You do not know
what innovations they invented after you.
You don't know what they did after you had passed away.
And so
fasting during the month of Ramadan.
When we feel thirsty during the day,
it should remind us of that day in which we will not be able to quench our thirst.
And as such, the only thing that we will be able to quench our thirst with is the held
the pond of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
However, we need to remember
that we won't be able to have access to it. If we had
committed innovations and introduced into the religion of Allah subhana wa tada what the Prophet salallahu alaihe was
selam never brought
among the things that Ramadan teaches us. And in that sense it is a school
is that fasting.
And also praying at night
is
a training, a training for what? A training for the rest of the year.
And so when we fast during the day, in the beginning, it's difficult, meaning the first few days of Ramadan, which were the last few days, I'm sure most of you found it extremely difficult.
But then as the days go by, we become used to it.
And that's the very nature of habits.
If you want to get used to something,
you need to do it over and over again. You need to become persistent in it. And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned that the most beloved, the most beloved deed to Allah subhanho wa Taala is that which a person remains persistent on.
So don't look at how big certain deeds are.
For example, don't think that, Okay, I'm going to spend all this money, and I'm going to go for Hajj, and I've done something huge. And then you come back after Hajj and you return to your old ways.
all your money and all your efforts have gone to waste.
But rather, look at those deeds, even if they're small.
and perform them and make them into a habit.
Make them persistent. Why, because these are the deeds that are most beloved to Allah subhanho wa Taala. Why, because a person becomes accustomed to them, it becomes a part of his daily habit. For example, something very small,
reset your car, after every solar,
reset the other car, before going to sleep, make it a habit. Not that you do it one day, and then you leave it off, but that you're doing it every single day,
pray to Raka salaat Aloha, every single morning, make it a habit.
And then we come to fasting and praying. And so fasting and praying taraweeh and pm at night.
Like I said in the beginning, it's difficult. But then as time goes by, we become used to it. And so when the end of Ramadan comes, we become so used to it, that we can continue. And so that is how
this is a training session.
And so
those who come out of Ramadan,
having that energy to continue, then know that you have benefitted from your fasting and from your praying.
Among those things that Ramadan teaches us, and in that sense it is a school
is that fasting trains us
to stay away from Iran,
faster trains us to stay away from that, which is how wrong.
And so if you're staying away from that which is permissible, such as food and drink, and having a lawful relations with your light with your wife.
If you're staying away from these permissible things,
then doesn't it make sense for you to stay away from those things which are impermissible.
And so in this way, Ramadan, and fasting, it trains us to stay away from that, which is how wrong.
And so when you're staying away from that which is permissible, this reminds you it doesn't make sense for me to stay away from food and drink, which is permissible.
And here, I'm not staying away from that which is impermissible.
It doesn't make sense that I'm fasting and staying away from food and drink which are permissible things. And yet I'm looking at her on. I'm listening to her arm. I'm using my tongue in her arm. It doesn't make sense. And so in this way, fasting trains us to stay away from Iran.
Finally, the last point I'm going to mention
regarding Ramadan, and how it is a school is that fasting
or rather than Ramadan.
It teaches us about brotherhood.
It teaches us about brother
and usually you see
At the time of his talk
in the massage,
you find your Muslim brothers from different races, different colors, different languages,
small, old, different backgrounds.
what unites them is this great Deen.
what unites them is the month of Ramadan.
And so some are rich, some are poor,
some are old, some are young, some are strong, some are weak.
And yet what unites them is this universal brotherhood of Islam.
And so if anything, Ramadan teaches us about brotherhood.
Finally, I'm going to end by mentioning one final point.
And that is
that the month of Ramadan
divides people into three categories.
And so I want you to put yourself in one of these in one of these categories.
The first category of people during the month of Ramadan
are those who look forward to this month
before the month began.
We were looking forward
we will we were full of energy.
We were determined
to take advantage of this month of Ramadan.
And when the month comes, they take advantage of it.
They take advantage of this month of Ramadan
to get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala. They take advantage of it to change themselves.
As many of the sellers were
many of the sellers, six months prior to Ramadan, they would pray to Allah subhanho wa Taala
to allow them to witness Ramadan.
And then after Ramadan, they would pray to Allah subhanho wa Taala for another six months for Allah subhanho wa Taala to accept their deeds during the month of Ramadan. This is the first category of people
those who look forward to the month of Ramadan.
And then during the month of Ramadan they take advantage of
the second category of people
are those
who fasts during the month of Ramadan.
They may even pray in the night.
But they take it as a custom
and a tradition
not benefiting from the real meaning
of fasting and praying as we have mentioned
as we have mentioned
those who simply fast because this is the way they were brought up.
And you know, this is the sad reality of many Muslims today.
To the point where many of them fast simply because they hope that you know they lose some weight out of fasting during the month of Ramadan.
And so for many people, for many Muslims, unfortunately, the month of Ramadan is more of a festive season. It is a custom, just like the Christians have their festive seasons. They have Christmas they have Easter, just like you know each religion has its own festivities. We have Ramadan as a festive season in which we have certain customs, certain traditions, fasting being one of them, praying at night being another for many Muslims. The sad reality is that this is what Ramadan is for them. And so this is the second category of people.
The third category of people during the month of Ramadan.
And this is the worst of categories
are those who neglect fasting
completely
or they don't faster in days. They don't fast, certain days.
And yet they claim to be Muslims.
Yet they ascribe themselves to Islam
although
This category of people are much, much smaller in number.
But yet they do exist.
And
their numbers are, are increasing.
And that is because of a loss of identity among many of these Muslims,
they don't realize the true meaning of being a Muslim. And so they don't even realize that fasting is a pillar of Islam.
And that's why
many of the scholars of Islam considered such a person as not even being a Muslim.
And so
if the one who breaks his fast during the month of Ramadan
without a valid excuse,
if he is committing a major sin by doing so.
Then how about he who doesn't even fast at all?
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned
that the one who breaks his fast in the month of Ramadan without a valid excuse, a valid excuse being a sickness,
traveling, and so on and so forth.
And so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned that the one who breaks is fast during the month of Ramadan, without a valid excuse. He does not have any way of compensating for that day he missed. Meaning that you can't come and say that, you know, now I'm going to make up this day that I purposely intentionally missed. I'm going to come now after Ramadan and make it up. It won't count.
There is no explanation for it as a prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned,
except the only explanation is that a person turns to align to repentance. But as we're making it up, you can't make it.
And so this is regarding one who starts fasting.
And then he breaks his fast in the middle.
So how about the one who doesn't fast at all? How about the one who doesn't fast at all?
And that's why,
Mr. mazahub, he says
that it is well established among the believers, meaning among the scholars of Islam, that whoever does not fast in the month of Ramadan without a valid excuse.
That he is worse than one who commits Zina
and one who drinks and adulterer and a drunkard.
He goes on to say they don't, whether he whether he is even a Muslim or not.
And so this is the grave danger
of not fasting during the month of Ramadan.
Although all of us are fasting, well, Illa Hill hemmed,
I'm sure some of us may know certain people who do not fast and so my hope is that you can at least advise those who you know, who do not fast during the month of Ramadan of the grave danger of not fasting, that you know such a person his Islam is doubtful. It is doubtful whether he is even a Muslim or not.
We ask Allah subhana wa tada to make us from among those who take advantage of this month of Ramadan, for change for for changing for the better. And we ask Allah Subhana who would the Allah to accept our deeds during this month of Ramadan? And we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to forgive us our sins and to pray and to protect us from the temptations of our knifes and the temptations of a shape on what's a little law who was said lemma highlanda Vienna Mohammed while early he also be he
was Salaam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh