Mohammad Ali Hazratji – Receiving Ramadan
AI: Summary ©
The speakers emphasize the importance of not giving oneself credit for actions during the pandemic and setting goals for one's success. They stress the importance of guarding one's values and avoiding rushing. They also mention a woman who helped achieve this behavior and emphasize the importance of fasting as a means of protecting one's health and achieving the desired behavior.
AI: Summary ©
Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Bismillah
Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah while I Leakey wa
Sahbihi women who Allah,
I welcome all of you back to this session that we've decided to
have.
Just as a reminder about this great opportunity of Ramadan that
is coming ahead of us. And to remind each other
about the importance of Ramadan and how to take advantage of it as
much as possible. Because we don't know how many Ramadan is we have
left. And we want to make the most of it.
We will hear things about Ramadan that some of you may be hearing
every year. But to keep our hearts refreshed, we should hear these
things as if we are hearing it for the first time.
That helps us to feel enthusiasm and it just doesn't become a
routine. Another Ramadan, another Ramadan, another Ramadan. And we
don't feel any any difference. So I'm sure you're going to hear a
hadith and I ads and facts about Ramadan and reminders that you've
heard many times before, which I've heard many times before. I
like to, to approach it with the, with the idea that this is
something new for me.
And so that it gets my enthusiasm going.
So the first question that I asked myself, and I asked you is What
does Ramadan mean to you?
And everyone has to answer that. I mean, people would say, well, it's
the month of fasting, some would say it's the ninth month, say it's
a special month for each one Ramadan
means something and you have to answer that for yourself. And the
next question is, what emotions?
Does the approach of Ramadan evoke? in you? And in me?
Is it a longing? Is it excitement? Is it enthusiasm? Or it is a
feeling of you know, it's just another month? Or is it a feeling
of indifference? Or is it a feeling that oh, this is a month
of burden, I can't eat and so on so forth. So different emotions,
we have to look at ourselves will give us an idea of our level of
Eman and where we stand truly
with Allah subhanaw taala because all of these come to us and we
need to analyze and see where we stand.
So
the next question is, do I and do you each one of us need to change?
And is this Ramadan going to be the means and the catalyst of
bringing about that change?
Because sometimes we assess ourselves
very, very
improperly, we give ourselves credit, where it's not deserving.
We over assess ourselves. We should always be critical against
our own knifes our own actions, our own o'clock, we should be the
prosecuting attorney against our own nuts, not the defense.
So
that I remind myself and I remind you that I and you are just set an
ROI. We are a physical body and a metaphysical spirit. That is the
roar and ultimately, it is the roar, the soul that gives me the
humanity that distinguishes me from other creation. That gives me
the the honor of being the best of Allah's creation subhanho wa Taala
and that it was only once the roar was breathed into the form of our
father. Adam Alayhis Salam that Allah subhanaw taala ordered the
angels to prostrate to him. So that tells us the importance of
the roof. And if the roof and our insides our knifes
and our color of our hearts, the internal states are healthy.
Then it has an impact on our external actions and our words. So
if we are beautiful inside we project in the world that people
experience beauty
that animals experience from us beauty that the plants experience
from us beauty. Similarly, our external actions such as solar and
sound and acts of obedience also effect have a positive effect on
our internal states of our Kulu our hearts, our new flows and our
roads. So it's it's a loop that works both ways. So if the road is
healthy, our actions are beautiful. If the actions are
beautiful, our road gets better and strengthened. So hamdulillah
it's out of Allah's mercy and blessing that every year he grants
us the opportunity to witness and to experience and to take
advantage of this month of Ramadan. And once again, we are
approaching another month of Ramadan in our lives for some
people, maybe 20th Ramadan, we have young students from from
Mount Holyoke and elsewhere. And for some of us, I think I'm the
most senior most here
Ramadan 68 times for example. So
what does this Ramadan bring? What do I feel because the Ramadan of
Ramadan is just over the horizon is just a few days away. So
inshallah we hope if we are healthy inside that we feel the
excitement and anticipation as if we are waiting for a favorite
guest or a favorite uncle that comes every year bearing gifts,
special gifts, that Allah subhanaw taala has assigned a special value
to and there are great rewards in this month that we are going to
remind each other about.
And this is the month in which the the true slaves the bad of Allah
subhanaw taala aspire, and they compete with each other, to get
closer to him with their with an increase in their acts of
obedience. So the spirit of observance of Ramadan is to be
lovingly willingly and enthusiastically striving to
surrender to every act of every command of Allah subhanaw taala in
the best possible way, with full submission, with full awareness of
Allah subhanaw taala with full awareness of our shortcomings,
because it is through this these acts of a Baba of worship, that we
acknowledge the lordship of Allah subhanaw taala, the one and only,
and this is the Hadith Robo via who allies our rub. And we show
that by the head of a Buddha, how we worship Him and we show Allah
subhanaw taala our submission.
The month of Ramadan also gives us an opportunity to express our
gratitude for Allah subhanaw taala as infinite favor is on us. And it
is a reminder of the relationship of the creator and the created.
And therefore we must always keep that in mind. Now Allah subhanaw
taala tells us that He created everything in the universe to
serve us. He says this in the Quran, that I created everything,
whatever is in the heavens and the earth is subservient to you, to
serve you.
And as long as we see him in the creation and everything, and we
keep him as our goal, the laws that he has created in this
universe will keep everything subservient to us. However, when
we lose sight of him, and we make the created realm, our focus our
goal, then the laws become operative that drive us away from
him.
And there is no running away from Allah subhanaw taala because
everything belongs to him.
The only place to run from him is to him.
Allah subhanaw taala tells us that He created us not without a
purpose. He says well Maha love to ginawa Linser Illallah Abu doon I
have created you only for one purpose which is for my worship,
and what does worship mean? Which is to do that which he loves and
is pleased with and to refrain stay away from what he dislikes
and He forbids in every aspect of our lives every day of our lives.
To replace our desires, our inclination our Hala with what he
loves. We are created as the best of his creation. He says
send it up when the best creation as long as we fulfill the covenant
that we made with him, Allah subhanaw taala when he created our
souls, we had a meeting with him we had an assembly in front of
him, unless to be Rob Beckham, Allah subhanaw taala said, Am I
not your Lord, and our souls which we don't have recall of said,
Bella SHA, SHA hidden. Yes, indeed You are our Lord, we bear witness.
Now when we break that covenant, we lose our humanity, because it
is our souls that distinguish us. If that soul becomes corrupted,
then we become the worst of His creation. When that soul is kept
proper, then we are honored with the angelic Sajida and the angelic
the US. So Ramadan is a means of regaining our souls, as they were
meant to be, in perpetual sight. From the Kolob in perpetual or
reverence and consciousness of our Creator. What is called Taqwa that
is a manifestation of dough, heathen, all of its aspect. And
Allah subhanaw taala commanded us in certain acts of worship.
And the objective of the acts of worship that Allah has commanded
us are not for his benefit, because Allah does not need
anybody's worship, his Salah their fasting, there is a cat or
anything else. The whole objective of these acts of worship is that
it is through this that we draw nearer to him, because true, he is
the true source of all happiness. So if we want true happiness, it
will come from the source of all happiness. If we are looking for
peace, then he is the source of absolute peace. If we are looking
for solace and tranquility, then he is the source of all serenity.
If we are looking for safety, and security, then he is the source of
all security. If you are looking for blessings, then he is the
source of all gifts. So our Salah is to remember Allah subhanaw
taala or the carrot is to purify ourselves from our greed from our
attachment to wealth, so that we can feel that attachment to Allah
alone. Similarly, our fasting is to gain consciousness of Allah
subhanaw taala and to gain his forgiveness, and the Hajj is a
journey symbolic of our journey of our life back to him, leaving our
worldly possessions and attachments.
So, Ramadan, the fasting of Ramadan, the purpose of this is to
take us closer to Allah subhanaw taala to make us more aware of
Allah.
So when we look at Ramadan, we are reminded of our duties what are my
duties in Ramadan? What are my dues and what am I don'ts so we
have the external, what we call dues for example, most obviously,
that we are too fast in the day. Number two, we are to stand in
prayer in Korea in the night in Salah. We are to read and reflect
on the Quran because this is the month of the Quran. We are to do
extra neutrophil extra prayers, we have to do an abundance of vicar
and remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala we have to do a lot of the
art because there are special This is a special window of opportunity
of acceptance, we have to feed the hungry, we have to feed the saw
the moon the fasting, we have to be generous spending feasability
learn the power of online every way we can.
And we have to spend quiet time alone with ourselves in
communication with Allah subhanaw taala Mona jet, as in the last 10
nights of Ettercap are the last 10 days of Ethica. So those are some
of the do's of Ramadan. And the don'ts of Ramadan in our external
acts of course, are guarding my eyes, guarding them from watching
haram from looking at that which is my crew guarding my ears from
from listening to that which Allah is not pleased with. Whether it's
gossip backbiting, musical things, all kinds of things, guarding our
limbs, from disobedience, guarding our feet from going to places that
Allah is not pleased with specially guarding our tongues,
guarding our tongues from lies from backbiting from slander from
cursing foul
Language, being loud, being argumentative, fighting excessive,
unnecessary talk, boasting, gossip and even excessive laughter
because it hardens the heart. So, these are some of the don'ts that
we should try and eliminate from our, you know, our repertoire of
actions. And then we have certain internal actions that we need to
focus on in Ramadan, that deal with the health of the culture and
the knifes because the ultimate price of of Ramadan is taqwa as
Allah Subhana. Allah tells us that I have obligated made forth for
us. The fasting in Ramadan so that you may gain Taqwa.
And that Taqwa that consciousness of Allah subhanaw taala translates
into the perfection of my Tawheed. With increase in my Eman and in my
acts of obedience, and trying to fix my o'clock my conduct, my
manners, my behavior, cleansing, because there is forgiveness, what
is forgiveness of sins means we are cleaning our hearts, we are
cleaning our records, from sins that we have committed, knowingly
and unknowingly. And the negative effects of the sin because
everything that we do has an impact on in this dunya and in the
AHA.
And similarly, in our internal actions, forgiving others, we are
looking for forgiveness, Allah subhanaw taala forgive those who
forgive others. So cleansing our hearts from any ill feelings,
rancor grudge against others jealousies, hatred, all of those
things, and forgiving people, and who do you forgive those who have
wronged you, there is no one else to forgive. And then among the
internal acts that we must do, is guarding our culture. And our
minds are our thoughts and in our heart, from thoughts from desires,
from aspirations and goals and plans, which Allah does not like
because Allah knows what's going on. He knows the inner discourses,
he said, he knows the seer and the, for the hidden, which no one
knows yet Allah is Rocky, he is a semi quasi, he hears what's going
on inside us. So if we have thoughts that are not so pleasing,
that we wouldn't let anyone know, we should know that Allah knows
them. So we have to guard against that.
So this special month of Ramadan for us Muslims, comes bearing a
load of special gifts from Allah subhanaw taala. Because
everywhere, goodness abounds. And you can see the proof of that, as
it becomes for each one of us. And you I'm sure you have experienced
it becomes so much easier to do to do good deeds. Just look at the
massages, I'm not talking about the COVID time but before even in
COVID you will see that the massages that are empty in Siobhan
on the third yet are full the next day instantly.
And then they become empty again shall what can I can I? Can you
hear me? Yes I can.
The sound has become very distorted suddenly for the past
two minutes difficult to follow. I don't know from your end what you
can do is everybody
so Allah subhanaw taala has blessed us in this month with so
many rewards.
And he has facilitated for us
is in doing good, which we don't experience the rest of the year.
We give much more in charity in Ramadan, we pray much more in
Ramadan, we guard our tongues better and our eyes in Ramadan.
These are proofs of the fact as we are told by Rasulullah sallallahu
Sallam that in the month of Ramadan, the gates of Jannah are
opened wide and the gates of Jahannam are closed shut and the
evil Shayateen The devils are restrained in chains. So what does
it mean that the gates of Jannah are open wide it means all the
actions that lead to Jana the good deeds become facilitated and
easier to do.
And the meaning of the gates of Jahannam are closed means that
those actions that lead to jahannam become that much harder
to do.
And Allah subhanaw taala remove
wolves, the influence of the evil shayateen and the West was the
whispers that they suggest to us. So we are only left with our own
knifes to make the decision and this is a good way of also
assessing what kind of enough's do I have because they there is no
shaitan left to blame in Ramadan.
So Allah subhanaw taala makes it easy gives us opportunities to do
great good in this month. Allah subhanaw taala lifts during
Ramadan, the veils of heedlessness, you know that we
develop over over our hearts because of disobedience and sinful
acts that distance us from him. And it he helps us to focus on our
ultimate goal which is His pleasure and His nearness and his
paradise. So, just as the spiritual health manifests itself,
our words and actions as we said before will have an influence of
our internal state. So through this month of fasting, this
striving, we are to become more conscious of him. We it also helps
us to see things clearly.
Clearly such that we see the ACA clearly we see the reality of our
life, the purpose of our life clearly. And it provides a means
of forgiveness of our sins, which again improves the way we see
things. It energizes us to, to race and, and compete to get
closer to him. And it helps us to to obey Allah subhanaw taala.
Now, whenever a person gives up Allah subhanaw taala asks us to
give up certain things in Ramadan. So Allah subhanaw taala is rule is
that when a servant of Allah gives up something for Allah, he being
the Magnanimous, the most generous, replaces it with
something that is better. So we are not being deprived in any way
whatever we give up a food or drink will be given to us back in
many forms, in much better ways. So if we show gratitude in this
month to Allah subhanaw taala for his blessings, he will increase
his blessings upon us, because Allah subhanaw taala tells us that
if you thank me, I will increase my blessings on you.
Now the month of Ramadan, as we know was honored by the revelation
of Allah subhanaw taala was last Revelation, the Quran, which is
the means of guidance to the path to Allah subhanaw taala it is the
light of our hearts. And the only way back to Allah subhanaw taala
the words the actual words of Allah subhanaw taala
so when we read the Quran, we should feel that reverence Where
did these words come from?
These are words that my Rob said in his own way that we have no
way. These are the words that we're recording in Lack of food,
which we have no idea of what it is. These are the words that Al
Kalam wrote, that Allah created first, these are the words that
are lost one of the law sent down into the heavens. These are the
words that were carried by the best and greatest of ng angels
Gibreel es Salaam. These are the words that were imprinted in the
heart of the best of Allah's creation. So you're gonna
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam.
So we must feel all and reverence in weight of these words as Allah
Samantha says, if the Quran were to come down on a mountain, it
would crumble out of fear and awe and reverence and humility.
So Allah Swan tell us telling us
how
magnificent this is this month, which Allah honored by the
revelation of His Kalam and there are some narrations from from
previous I thought that all of the revelations of Allah subhanaw
taala came down in the month of Ramadan.
And Allah subhanaw taala started
the Quran with the story of our father, other Malay Salaam and our
mother, Hawala, acela.
And what happened where One act of disobedience under the deception
of shaitan our eternal enemy, made us lose all
or rank and placed in Jannah. And the rest of the Quran essentially
shows us the way to go back home to Jana.
Now as we said before, we don't know if we have this Ramadan
destined for us we hope we ask Allah Subhan Allah Allah Allah
Ramadan yeah Allah help us to reach Ramadan and not only reach
Ramadan but to complete Ramadan and to complete Ramadan in a way
that is accepted to
and we don't know if there is going to be another Ramadan, we
don't even know if this one is there, but let us take advantage
of this it is essential to maximize the benefits and rewards
of this Ramadan.
You see, just imagine if Allah subhanaw taala had not made
fasting an obligation in Ramadan and had just kept it optional.
You know, if you feel like you fast,
how many of us were infested?
You can get an idea because we can see how many of the novel acts we
do. How many fasts in the rest of the year we perform, where we know
it is good to fast on Mondays and Thursdays and the 1314 15 and
every other day and and show and show well and so on and so forth
and, and Ashura, how many of us do that. Now imagine if Allah
subhanaw taala had not obligated made for it for us fasting in
Ramadan, how many of us would have lost the opportunity to benefit
from all of the blessings of Ramadan. So this is as some have
said, there's actually a hadith about this that Allah subhanaw
taala is amazed at the people being dragged into Jannah by
chains
into Janna, by chains, yes, Janna by chains, in other words, they
were unwilling, but Allah is putting on them such things by
which they will come into Jannah. So, this fasting that he made an
obligation is one such thing that he made it an obligation. So you
have no choice now, and by doing it, you will get Jen. So this is
one way in which Allah subhanaw taala pulls us into Jannah by
making this an obligation and not leaving it as an option.
So now how do we maximize the benefits and of course that comes
with LM l knowledge is what our deen is based on. And knowledge is
only useful if it is put into actions and we stress this all the
time, what we learn we must put into action.
Because otherwise it becomes just accumulation of information and
data. And we can have computers that have more data than any human
being can can can accumulate yet there is no place for them in
general, because it is the translation into action that
ultimately matters. So
our the element that we acquire will be an evidence for us on the
Day of Judgment if we acted on it, and it will be evidence against us
if we did not act on them. After knowing we still didn't do it. As
someone has said that l one of our salons have said that l knocks on
the door of Amel of action. And if it does not get a response, it
leaves
Ramadan is the month of action where our focus should be more on
action than more ill.
As we said Allah subhanaw taala says, Yeah, are you here Levine?
Ermanno quotevalet como si amo Kamakoti bahala de numbing
publikum La La Quinta taco, that all you who have attained to
faith. Allah has made an obligation upon you to fast like
he did for people before you. La La Quinta tacos so that you may
gain Taqwa that is the ultimate goal and price of Ramadan.
Allah subhanaw taala says shahada Ramadan Allah the Uzi Luffy Hill
Khurana who the only nurse who will be iannetta Minella Huda will
fall upon for men Shahida Amin commercia Failure soon woman Kana
Marie then Oh ALLAH suffering for it that to mean a Yemen you read
the law Hubei Kemal Yusra Allah you read or become an officer.
While it took me a long time to Kabila Allah had come while I
couldn't touch Quran that Allah has made fasting in this month for
you. And he has made it
He has made this a guidance for all of mankind. And the guidance
that clarifies things, it's a full con. So whoever is present in this
month must fast and whoever has a concession is sick or is traveling
he needs to fast other days. And in the end Allah subhanaw taala
says he does not want difficulty for you. But he wants you to be
thankful to him. So this is the other thing that we must always
keep in mind.
So the goals of Ramadan, taqwa and sugar if Allah subhanaw taala,
both of these where are they? They are internal states as Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi salam said about taqwa, a Taqwa pointing to his
chest, it's inside. Sugar. Gratitude is inside. We show it by
actions, but we feel it inside. So it's all about actions. So we must
prepare to receive Ramadan because it's right around the corner. So
to receive it.
As we said, the focus is the heart we have to start with the heart of
the heart cleansing of the heart, from everything that Allah does
not like as we mentioned before, things like grudges, hatred,
greed, jealousy, anger, arrogance, all the diseases of the heart. So
we take an internal person
by doing Toba to Allah subhanaw taala before we enter Ramadan,
yeah, Allah Cleanse my heart so that it can benefit as as it
should. And we forgive everyone including those who wronged us so
that we ourselves become eligible for Allah subhanaw taala as
forgiveness
and this is also a month of Ramadan, so we should also feed
and sure Rama are merciful love for all of Allah's creatures, so
that Allah may have mercy on us as Allah Subhana Allah says that
whoever shows Rama on the earth, Allah with the one in the heavens
was shorter.
And then we need to practice the fasting with all of its internal
and external requirements in the mantra Shaban, as we know are sort
of Lausanne Allah Allah soon did not fast in any other months more
than the month of Shaban
outside of Ramadan. In Psalm He fasted almost the entire month,
except the last day or so. In some he fasted half. So we prepare
ourselves by practicing fasting in this month. Some days now there's
only a week left, tomorrow being thirsty, fast just to get into
that. So we get a running start, we are preparing. And in that fast
we also practice not just hunger and thirst, but guarding our
thoughts. You know, be in maraca guarding, watching our thoughts,
watching our words, watching our limbs, from any acts of
disobedience, so that we are ready to receive we get a running start
in Ramadan.
And the things that distract us that take a lot of our time we
have to start weaning off if we are addicted to these things, all
addictions have to be taken off
what are we addicted to these days social media, Netflix all other
addictions some people have the you know Bella of smoking, try and
get off of all of these things. So that we will have more time for
quality, high impact deeds, we need to reschedule our worldly
obligations that are halal paperwork, this that other things
to be completed before the month of Ramadan and the rest postponed
after Ramadan so that we can make the most out of this month of
Ramadan.
Now, as we said before, this is a month of the Quran. So how do we
show gratitude for this greatest of Allah's favor by increasing our
interaction in the Quran,
spending more time with the Quran, reading more Quran being focused
on it, and again being ready by the time Ramadan comes. Similarly,
we should also prepare by progressively spending more time
in Extra Salah Nova Finsler to raka for Raka 10 raka 14 aka 50
raka extra every day, so that we get into that rhythm because we
want to get the most out of Ramadan. Similarly we should start
spending more time in vicar in remembrance of Allah subhanaw
taala minister for in Lai la de la ilaha illallah Takbeer Allah that
means Alhamdulillah Allah Subhana Allah
Laos hamdulillah Allah Allah Allah Allah Allahu Akbar, spending more
time in salam ala Nabi, the rouge, Sharif and spending quality time
in Doha, because the month of the way it's accepted is coming. And
we need to practice and focus in our door and make our door
meaningful, not headless, because Allah subhanaw taala does not
answer a DA that is generated from a headless heart.
And we should also start restricting our desire for food,
start eating a little less starch having less sweets, less
pleasurable things, let's curtail that. So that in Ramadan, we
maintain that and we are Ramadan is not one of just staying hungry
and then coming back with a vengeance and eating more and
ending up Ramadan with weight that's gone up instead of gone
down, then it becomes a month of feasting rather than fasting. And
our focus is on Iftar and if thought and if thought, rather
than on the song itself. So start restricting our food desires.
Also,
if we prepare ahead, in this way, we will get a running start in
everything in the world that we participate in. We prepare like
for exams we study, if you're an athletics, you have a game, you
practice and you run and you get get get in shape,
everything we practice similarly in Ramadan, we want to be ready
from the time
the moon is sited, we are undergo for our salah, competing in among
the habit of Allah subhanaw taala in his obedience, doing extra
going that extra mile to distinguish ourselves from the
crowd
and to gain his pleasure subhanho wa Taala so we must prepare.
So this is the some of the things that we should do before Ramadan,
some extra fasting if we can extra Salawat you know, strengthening
our lives weaning off of those food with weaning off of social
media and so on and so forth. Now,
we also said just before Ramadan, we must set goals for us we set
conditions she wrote conditions mashallah data that this is what I
want to achieve in Ramadan and have an action plan for Ramadan
know how to achieve these goals. For example, you know, this is the
month of, of the Quran. So my goal of Quran is that minimum this
month, I will have one complete reading one hotma of the Quran.
Those who read more to hardmask, three Cosmos seven Hartman's of
Quran, every day, whatever Allah subhanaw taala inspires you.
And people do that.
People do that. So set a goal that is achievable for you
of how much Quran I'm going to read every day. Similarly, as we
said, this is the month of taqwa, which is awareness of Allah
subhanaw taala at all times, in all places, with a fear of
displeasing him, and a desire of pleasing Him by fulfilling all of
the obligations what he has made forth for us what he has
legislated and withholding and abstaining from all of his
prohibitions from his prescriptions. Don't do this, and
also know that Allah subhanaw taala says that the best provision
for your hair is that a Taqwa the best thing that you can take is
Taqwa.
And the best garment that we can wear is taqwa.
Because Taqwa also comes from, from something that shields that
protects it protects us from the hellfire, and it protects us from
Allah his displeasure and it protects us from His anger.
So we try in this month to gain curb to Allah subhanaw taala Allah
subhanaw taala tells us and Hadith codici that a person comes closer
to me by what I have made further an obligation for him, and then he
keeps coming closer and closer to me by Nawab filled by extra. So
make sure we got everything that is fun, and that we do more and
more neutrophil extracellular extra charity, more liquor by the
tongue more thicker in the heart and set a goal. I'm going to do 20
Extra every day 40 Extra raka whatever you can.
Again, Ramadan is also called the month of Sabra because we
patiently endure
We we go against enough's, we stay hungry. We go curb our desires, we
stay thirsty, we guard our eyes. We it's, it's Sabra on the
obedience of Allah subhanaw taala. And as we fight our desires,
against our lower knifes out of obedience of Allah subhanaw taala.
Remember that summer is a prerequisite of Ramadan. And it is
also a goal of Ramadan that Ramadan fasting should make you a
solver.
The more we persevere, the more it fortifies us. It strengthens us to
be more persistence in his obedience and to be more resilient
against temptations and his disobedience.
As we said, this is the month of generosity to set in a hadith
Ghana Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam as you were the nurse that he
crossed surah Allah salAllahu Alaihe Salam was the the most
generous of people. And then as your double hairy men are real
hair masala in this month of Ramadan, he was even more
generous.
So this is the example is so how can we be generous we can. We can
feed the hungry, we can feed those who are fasting, we can spend our
money as we said earlier feasability Allah to all needy
causes that are needy Muslims all over the world. People who have no
homes, people who are victims of war of persecution, homelessness,
living in refugee camps for decades and decades. People in in
Bangladesh, even the the refugees from Myanmar, they're there, tents
burned down, they have no place to go. There are many ways in which
we can spend. And remember that what we give to Allah subhanaw
taala is a loan to Allah in a way as he said, it will never diminish
the rewards. It will never diminish the wealth. So feed the
hungry, help the people in the month of Ramadan to make that also
a goal. Because even our bass Radi Allahu Anhu narrated that the
Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, as we mentioned, part of it was the
most generous of all people and you use to become more generous if
you if that's possible in Ramadan. When Gibreel Allah Salam used to
come to meet him and recite and review the Quran with him rehearse
the Quran. Every night he used to come in Ramadan to revise the
Quran with him. The Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam used to
celebrate that by being even more generous.
Then, as we said, this is the month of sugar. So how do we show
Shaka to Allah subhanaw taala for his blessings. We show gratitude
for the blessing of the time that he has given us. How do we show
gratitude for the time by using it wisely?
Give you an idea. Get off the cell phone and the social media and the
internet. This is the worst thing that we can spend our time and it
distracts us from our goal. Send a Message ahead of time not
available till 15th of May
finished that sentence Simple as that.
Because with it not only comes wastage of time with it comes
macro that which is disliked when it comes haram and mostly for
those extra superfluous wastage of time of your valuable acid, which
is time and time is life and in Ramadan. It is it is very, very
valuable.
The Prophet sallallahu Sallam taught us when horsnell Islam
mereta Itaca who Milea Yanni from the perfection of Islam is to
abstain from that which does not concern the person.
Also in the month of Ramadan, the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam
said the example of taking personal time quiet time alone
with Allah subhanaw taala with reflection with thee with worship,
and he used to take 10 days the last 10 days of every Ramadan in
Hatha calf away from his family away from everyone
in the masjid then has to cut off every Ramadan till he passed away
when he was not traveling, and in the last year of his life, the
last 20 days. And that was a hint to people that this might be his
last Ramadan and his wives Omaha to me Nene are the Allahu Anhu
Nina followed this practice after him so Melania
are we not more in need of this little calf? That
They were
this is another special intense opportunity intense concentrated
period of time to come closer to Allah subhanaw taala and we should
not ignore this those who are not in the habit of doing this should
do it and you will inshallah benefit and and you will reap the
rewards of it. So try and make your schedule so that you can
perform at the caf for the whole 10 days and if you can't at least
a few of those days, brothers and sisters sisters in their home
specially
the Prophet salallahu Salam is reported by our mother, Aisha Radi
Allahu Allah, that he used to strive more in worship extra
during Ramadan, then he strove in any other time of the year. And
then he would devote himself in the worship of Allah subhanaw
taala and the last 10 nights of Ramadan, more than he did in the
first 20. So it's coming on strong at the end. That's what we want.
Unfortunately, what you see in the massages towards the end of
Ramadan, the attendance starts to go down, and people start to feel
fatigue. So we have to prepare for that, that I'm not going to let
that happen.
Then, Allah subhanaw taala. Among the great blessings of this month
of Ramadan, Allah subhanaw taala has destined a Laila to coddle.
Last one Atala tells us in Anza Luffy Leila Qadr, they little
other Hiram mineral Fisher. It is a night in which the reward of
worship in this night is greater than a is more hair more, it's not
1000 months, but greater than 1000 months of worship, that's
approximately 83 years and four months of worship, you get the
reward of that in one night, with the condition that it is done with
iman, it is done with all the external internal etiquettes that
are required.
And Allah accepts that and it becomes easy to catch that because
it comes in the last 10 Nights by doing Attica, if you're an
autograph every night, could be a little crowded, you've got it
covered. So don't ignore that. And local cover is to be spent in
worship in vicar in Quran in Doha in Tila and Salah and not in
feasting, not more sweets and so on so forth. That's not what
little colonists there's plenty of time to celebrate after Ramadan.
And as we know, Ramadan is the month of cleansing of gaining
forgiveness by fasting during the day, with the right intention
Imana the sovereign to condition he man in as a man is belief in
Allah subhanaw taala along with our partners with all aspects of
history, believing in his books, believing in the engines believing
in the the in the prophets that came believing in the Destiny
believing in Yama after the day of judgment Jana, not the Archon of
iman believing in them firmly not just citing them or reciting them.
Having firm belief in that, that does happen having full confidence
in expectation of the reward that Allah will forgive me. If we do
that, and we fast observing all the internal and external
dimensions of fasting the tickets, then be sure that we our sins will
be forgiven Allah subhanaw taala says, one psalm Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi salam says in a hadith he says mon Samara Medina
Iman and rectus urban warfare Allahu Medaka at the moment them
be that whoever fast Ramadan but to condition Iman Akasaka as we
mentioned, the full expectation and confidence in the reward of
Allah subhanaw taala will have his previous sins forgiven.
So we must make sure that we observe all the etiquettes the
external ones are easy, no, no eating, no drinking, no
relationship with our spouses, but also specially to improve to guard
the quality of it. The eyes, the ears, the tongue with the limbs,
from everything that's forbidden, that may harm the quality of our
fast and we guard our hearts from being occupied by other than Allah
subhanaw taala and we also gain forgiveness in this month. When
karma Ramadan whoever same type of Hadith, whoever stands in the
nights which is the torah army, which is in the masjid or at home
for long hours in the night seeking Allah subhanaw taala is
countenance watch Allah in Salah at night with two conditions Imam
at the same time
will have his sins forgiven.
In this month, Allah Samantha has also attached special rewards to
the meal of support. So don't fall asleep at the time of support. Be
up before her for extra salah. And if you're sleeping, jump out of
bed. Otherwise you'll lose the baraka of rewards of support, even
if it's with one date or a sip of water, so is a blessed me and the
angels prayer for though pray for those who do support. And again,
support shouldn't be so elaborate and so heavy that the rest of the
day we are sleeping, it's the spirit of eating a little bit.
And as we stressed over and over and we can never stress enough
that the Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi salam said in a hadith is
that perhaps a person fasting will receive nothing from his fasting
except hunger and thirst.
Why? Because
he did not guard his tongue, he did not guard his eyes, he did not
guard his ears. So he kept hungry but got no reward and a loss. Why
not? Allah is not in need of that kind of fasting. So we must keep
that in mind.
Allah subhanaw taala says Falcone of course
remember me I will remember you.
And in the Hadith I could see Allah subhanaw taala tells us that
when My servants remember me, in their gatherings or alone, I
remember him alone or in my gathering with the angels that
Allah God gathers the angels. So what is the all forms of
remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala salah is the Quran and the
Quran, fasting is thicker. So when we are doing all of this, just
remember, projected into the the metaphysical world that we can see
that Allah Subhana Allah is looking down at us with pride and
talking to his angels with pride mentioning each one of us by name
and saying look at this Abdullah of mine
who is obeying Me? And in response the angels say to him, Ya Allah
please forgive him your love forgive him. So the angels are
deputed to make dua of forgiveness from the time of horror delay
Brexit is fast all the time yeah ALLAH forgive him ya Allah forgive
him and they are pure. So Allah subhanaw taala has given them this
duty and how many angels there are, we have no idea.
Hence, so do a lot of liquor and also do a lot of Salah Allah Nabi
darood, Sharif 100,000 times every day. Every time you do one, you
get 10 rewards for it. Allah sent Salam on you 10 times in Ramadan,
you multiply everything, multi fold.
Allah Subhana Allah says in an Allah you can put the well being
while your head will Matata herring last month I loves those
who do Talberth which is inner cleansing in our Wasson
and Matahari outer the hara, Moodle, so stay always in a state
of blue. When your model breaks renew the model, stay in a state
of outer purity and a state of inner purity by doing an abundance
of Easter for all the time. That way you will become among those
whom Allah loves.
And Allah subhanaw taala loves to him the most beloved acts are the
Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa I knew he was salam. So
in every aspect, we should diligently observe the Sunnah of
Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam and complete all of them especially
set out on him.
And as we said
that in the month of Ramadan, there are special windows of
acceptance of the app has also lost a lot of Islam teaches us
that the Tao of a fasting person is always accepted till he breaks
as fast as long as he's observing the song with all of its
prerequisites. So spend a lot of time in the art in Ramadan,
especially at the time of Sahara and before between acid and Magram
before the breaking before the Iftar
and also in the last third of the night as we know in Ramadan
outside of Ramadan. This is a special time of acceptance because
Allah in his own majestic way Billa cave descends into the the
lowest heaven and asks people, he asks who is looking for something
so I can give them who is looking for my forgiveness and so on so
forth. So we ask Allah subhanaw taala for his forgiveness, we ask
for our needs at that time. And as I said at the time before we break
first before between Maghrib and NASA after every first Salah These
are special opportunity, don't be in a hurry to rush after finishing
your first salah. Do your liquor after salah, sit in the ask
because this is the opportunity, it's all about this. Adore, who
will ever that this is the era This is the Holy Bible, this is
the head of worship. So ask Allah subhanaw taala talk to him in
moments of solitude by yourself, no Nyjah no rush and plead Allah
subhanaw taala for yourself, for your parents if they are alive if
they are gone, for them, for your families, for your children, for
your relatives, for your teachers, for the show you for your
community, the community leaders to guide them for this ummah
that's in great need to come back to last month Allah for all of
humanity for their guidance and guidance of our leaders. For the
common man for the special man for the oppressors that Allah guide
them to stop their oppression for the oppressed, that Allah helped
them and fortify them for the living.
That they die on Iman and Amal and for the dead that have gone that
ALLAH forgive them and elevate that the raja Rajat remember that
Allah is near and He will answer as he says the eye of the Quran is
right there. Were they the Ayat of Ramadan, this there is this
beautiful ayah that tells us that this is a special opportunity of
closeness Allah subhanaw taala says in near curry, who Ji Woo
doubt
they asked me, ya rasool Allah about about me tell them I'm
indeed near and I answer the the, the supplications of the
supplement, but let him also fulfill his deeds, his covenant
what he is asked to do.
And in Ramadan, and before Ramadan, we should practice what
is called Elvira, which is exercising reverent caution, or
what we can call out of devotion to Allah subhanaw taala abstinence
holding back from everything that is doubtful, I don't know about
this permissible not is right or wrong, I hold back. Not only that,
but even indulging in what is halal. There is beauty lot of
food.
And I indulge myself out of water I hold back that Allah subhanaw
taala wants me to restrain I'm not going to fill myself up with food.
I'm not going to do yes, it is permissible. But I'm going to
exercise restraint. That's what I out of reverence for.
So just remember that these are the things to do. And again, make
sure as we know, the shayateen have been made inoperative they
are in chains. So this is another way blessing of Ramadan, that
Allah subhanaw taala through this helps us to identify who we are
who I am. Because now if bad thoughts are coming to me, I still
have inclinations towards sin that tells me it's my knifes, I cannot
no longer blame the shaytan and therefore after identifying those
weaknesses, now I work on trying to fix those weaknesses, because
there are no more service. So similarly, because the Shah, Tina
change, let us not do their job of acting as their representative in
their absence by spreading evil and inviting to evil and assisting
in evil. So be the, the Khalifa of Allah subhanaw taala not the whole
of our off shouting.
And as we said,
at least in my house, and I hope in all your house, the TV, news
outlets, all of that gets shut off completely not to be opened not to
be turned on for any reason because that's how it comes.
And also plan on doing some good deeds that you do not normally do
besides the extra charity, if you've never met your neighbor go
and meet them and and get take a gift to them do something
different. And then all of these goals that we are setting up we
have to monitor our progress Am I achieving these on a daily basis
and on a weekly basis you know, I have daily actions that I have to
do so many Salah so much Quran so many, you know, charity, all of
that I do that which is called Maha Sabha taking account and
maraca always watching throughout the day. Am I fulfilling my
obligation the surest the conditions that I set for myself.
So if the promises and rewards of Ramadan do not energize us to act
and act enthusiastically, and to complete Ramadan with enthusiasm
to compete with each other in virtue, then it's an indication of
weakness of our iman which needs to be corrected.
Because the fasting of Ramadan is not a goal in itself, it is a
means of gaining the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala and His
nearness, the beauty of this month can only be experienced by one who
has observed the month of fasting and felt the Divine Blessings
experienced it. And when they feel it, the worldly burdens the
worldly worries and anxieties get lifted.
And it gives a special feeling of, of tranquility, peace of
happiness, which is similar to
that awaits us
goals
in
life
in general,
that I want to do now, is I'm going to recap briefly. Some of
I'm sorry for that
ringtone that disrupted us, which reminds us of some of the glorious
past of the the Omani caliphate
as portrayed in the series of Arturo
going back to some of the Hadith.
Just to recap, ALLAH SubhanA Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihe Salam
says
that whoever fast Ramadan with iman and Tessa will have his sins
forgiven.
surah Allah salAllahu Salam teaches us when Ramadan enters the
gates of paradise are open and the gates of hellfire are closed and
the devils are chained.
Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam taught us that my own might have
been given five special things in Ramadan, which were not given to
any previous Ummah before, that the smell from the mouth of a
fasting person is more beloved and sweeter to Allah subhanaw taala
than the fragrant smell of musk, even though physically it may not
seem very pleasing. Yet it's the the aroma of obedience as opposed
to
the order of disobedience even though the mouth may smell fresh,
by people who disobey, yet the aroma of them of a fasting person
is more beloved to Allah subhanaw taala then it says on on the on
the behalf of the fasting person, the fish in the sea, seek
forgiveness till the break that fast in another narration the
angels ask Allah subhanaw taala for their forgiveness, to
talk through till they break their fast every day and at the end of
Ramadan. And Allah subhanaw taala prepares and decorates a special
garden in Jana every day and says to it, the time is near, when my
faithful servants will cast off their burdens and trials in this
dunya and come to you.
In this month, as we said the evil minded Shayateen are chained so
that they do not reach us with their evil was versa.
And on the last night of Ramadan. Allah subhanaw taala forgives the
people. So one of the companions said Yara so Allah is this little
quarter he said love No. He said Do you not see that workers are
given the wages in full when they complete their job which means
this forgiveness is additional at the end of completing Ramadan. So
we have forgiveness daily from fasting. We have daily forgiveness
from preamble we have forgiveness on Lana Takada, and we have
forgiveness after completing all of Ramadan.
Now if somebody is let's Ramadan passed without forgiveness, He is
among the most despicable and deprived of people as in that
hadith of the three steps. When Jibreel Elisa Lam cursed the
person who lets Ramadan pass without gaining Allah's
forgiveness and Rasulullah sallallahu sallam said me
there is another beautiful Hadith and it's a currency where Allah
subhanaw taala says every action of the son of Adam will be
multiplied. A good action will be 10 times its value up to 700 times
and then he says
in less so except fasting.
Because, uh So moly, it is for me what I do
See me, I am going to reward for it accordingly means he has not
put a limit to the reward of fasting. This is the only act of
worship that Allah has said it belongs to me because there is a
class special. Then he says for one who abandons his desired
desire for food for my sake, there are two occasions of joy for the
fasting person one when he breaks his fast, hopefully not with too
much food, and the other when he meets his Lord.
In another Hadith,
Abdullah Abdullah hammer, Radi Allahu Anhu Ma said Rasulullah
sallallahu sallam said, fasting and the Quran will intercede on
behalf of the ibid of Allah subhanaw taala on the Day of
Judgment, fasting will say, Oh my lord, I prevented him from food
and desires during the day. So accept my intercession for him
forgive. similarly the Quran will say, Oh my lord, I prevented him
from sleeping by night so accept my intercession for him. And the
Hadith ends with the Bashara the intercession of both will be
accepted.
As we said, Whoever stands in that little corner outfit and an imam
at the sermon will have their previous sins forgiven. The
supplication the DA of a fasting person is answered.
In the month of Ramadan and every day and night those whom Allah
grants freedom from fire,
there is for every Muslim is supplication which he can make the
wise the job, which will be granted.
I will render out the Aloha narrates the Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi salam said that the five daily salawat and from one Friday
to one Friday when Joomla to one Joomla and from one Ramadan to the
next Ramadan is expiation of sins committed in between them,
provided the person stays away from major sins. So major sins
require Toba sincere repentance and everything that goes with
that, but all other sins
from one Salah to the next, they are forgiven from one Joomla to
the next as long as we are doing the salon as long as we are
fulfilling the Joomla has then as long as we are fulfilling the
rights of Ramana. Now imagine the forgiveness in Ramadan itself
between the salah has double imagine the forgiveness in Ramadan
in Juma between Salah has. So all of this is to cleanse our hearts
so that nothing remains we need to come out of Ramadan as pure as the
day our mother's gave us birth.
Allah subhanaw taala Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi salam informs us
that Allah subhanaw taala has created a gate of Paradise which
is called our Rayyan and on the Day of Resurrection, He says those
who fast
saw a moon who fast of course all of Ramadan and regularly fast will
enter through it and no one can enter it through one of these this
gate other than a saw a moon and when they have entered it will be
closed. No one else can enter
Okay, so
whoever enters it will drink and whoever drinks will never become
thirsty.
Fasting is also a shield as Rasul allah sallallahu Sallam taught us
so when one of you is fasting, he should neither indulge in obscene
language, nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks
him argues with them, or wants to fight with him or insults him you
should say in Esau in I am fasting. I'm not going to
take this bait and start arguing and fighting just remember that
controlling and fasting is a shield against the fire of Jana
Rasul Allah Salla Nelson taught us that.
He also said that anyone who fasts one day, fee Sabine Allah That's
the condition feasability Allah for the sake of Allah, Allah will
keep his face away from Jahannam the distance of 70 years distance
it takes to travel 70 years.
By light, by sound by horseback just imagine 70 years removed from
hellfire by one day of fasting properly
for Allah
not with any other goals. Not because of course
Still not for weight loss, not for health reason, fees are really
what it is. I mean, Allah subhanaw taala is so generous, he wrote
rewards out of proportion to these actions, what does it take to fast
one day, not much, and yet you get distant from the Janome by 70
years.
And the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam even encouraged the youth
who could not get married, to curb their best desires by fasting,
indicating by that, that fasting is also shield from our base
desires. So those are some of the Hadith, among many, many, are just
reviewing some, some a Hadith from a book in which 63 a hadith are
collected about Ramadan, my MO iBaby dunya 63 number as you know
a significant because that was the life of Rasulullah sallallahu
wasallam. So, there are many
other Hadith that we read to to give us enthusiasm that burst
forward to want to do in Ramadan what we have not done before. So I
ask Allah subhanaw taala to make this Ramadan. First of all, we ask
Allah subhanaw taala to help us by looking at Ramadan that we help
that we reach Ramadan, and that we complete Ramadan that did not
challenge us with sickness and other things. That prevents us
from fully gaining the benefit of Ramadan. And we ask Allah subhanaw
taala to help us observe Ramadan with every detail, internal and
external, with last only for his pleasure to help us to achieve
that which we have never achieved before and gain his CORB taqwa and
his pleasure and Allah subhanaw taala help us come out of this
Ramadan pure and cleansed of everything else. And then he
energizes us in our journey to him for the rest of our lives till the
day that he has decreed that we meet Subhana Allah Hama will be
hammock I shall do Allah Allah Hi, Lana Stouffer governor to Boulais.
Please pray for each other and pray for me and my family as well.
Because we are all in this boat together and we need each other's
die. A Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh