Unity in Ramadan

hamdulillah salat wa salam ala Rasulillah Allah Allah He was savage Marine.

We begin the name of Allah All Praise and Glory be to Allah and mais find his peace and blessings be upon His messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi salam and his family in his companions and all those who tried his path. May Allah grant us and do life upon his path and a death while adhering to his guidance and our union around him. And they drink from his hand and an opportunity to look upon the face of his Lord and ours Allah Subhana Allah Tala alarm me May Allah deliver us to the month of Ramadan and help us

optimally perform in this month and realize the greatness of this opportunity.

I was asked to speak about unity in Ramadan

and Ramadan, of course, the primary objective is becoming more conscious of Allah subhanho wa Taala re centralizing you know, the Almighty in our in our lives, because that is our purpose. And that is our

optimal functionality. If I can borrow Dr. Seuss is his word.

But

is there a

an objective of Ramadan that

that involves unity? Let's just stay to the thesis from the beginning is the unity of the community the unity of the Muslims, one of the objectives of Ramadan? Absolutely, I mean, it's so obvious like if you just inductively Think of how the law Zilla Jen could have obligated us to fast 30 days out of the year, meaning each of us has to find their 30 days and fast right but he obligated that Ramadan be the month of fast that we all have to observe fast at the same time. Furthermore, to prove that this is not just wishful thinking, we know that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to us so Muqaam yo Mata so moon, that your fasting is to be on the day that you all fest,

meaning this is a social event, this is a community, a collective act of worship that we do together. This is why Subhanallah the scholars that differed in our history regarding how we should understand the obligation to moon site, right to start the fast and to end the fast that regardless of what your personal conviction is, you should not rock the boat, you know, rebelled against the community because of your personal convictions. So for example, if the community does not accept your testimony, but you are positive, they spoke about this, that you saw the moon, then you're obligated to fast because you saw the moon. But if no one's believing you for whatever reasons, you

shouldn't go out and say I'm fasting, and you guys are all wrong, and so on and so forth. And likewise, if you believe you had to fast, you had to break your fast because you saw the morning. So tomorrow is eight, but the rest of the community is not observing eight,

then you feel free to hold yourself to your personal convictions. And you actually do not feel free, you'd be obligated, you know, in that sense, but you should not bring that out to the community in a way that would compromise their unity. The scholars always spoke about this. And that is why you know, all Muslim majority countries and all throughout Islamic history, the announcement for when are we officially recognizing Ramadan was left to the administrators of that municipality, that country that states that community. And by extension, by extension that's why the fifth assemblies they're always saying it's all the same rule that follow your local masjid and I say that because

you know, there's always these debates that we carry into Ramadan about is it Ramadan? Or is it not Ramadan? Those debates should not be happening at the individual level in the public sphere because Ramadan was intended to be Yom with also Moni the day that you fast. And you know, By Allah's grace, you know, some of the massages in the community, as we announced, decided to come to a principled compromise regarding

how to widen that sphere of when you fast right. But at the same time, we make it a point and we want to continue to make it a point to say to those who are not on board with this methodology just yet. Those who belong to their masjid, we're telling them follow your local Masjid at least outwardly follow your local Masjid because the community that is the primary objective of Ramadan which is the Taqwa of Allah subhanho wa taala. And then unity is consider it just for all intensive purposes today, the secondary objective of Ramadan. If you let this fill out wider, you will compromise both the primary and the secondary. You're going to become consumed in these debates

you'll be consumed in this

Uh, you know, this bickering, these polemics, these arguments and citations and news articles here and fatality there and, you know, standoff issue, you know, behavior here and, and you just missed out on everything. Like some, you know, scholars or writers pointed out. Why is it

that there's a hadith about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? It's controversial in its authenticity, but there is some substantiation you know, it is arguably traceable to the Prophet alayhi salatu salam.

We're in he is reported to have said, when it is halfway through Shaban meaning a full two weeks before Ramadan, Allah azza wa jal forgives everyone look at this huge incentive. Right? Allah forgives everyone except the machinic. Someone who is at odds with Allah right sets up rivals equals to Allah subhanho wa Taala or a machete and someone that carries grudges towards others. Meaning you have to be someone that has made amends with Allah to hate right at the most fundamental level, and also made amends with each other to get this perk. Why is it then why is it the 15th of Shabbat and they said Perhaps Allah azza wa jal, and, you know, is giving us more and more reason to full weeks

before Ramadan, that you clear out your heart of anything, but seeking Him in the sacred month in this beautiful month. And then you need your brothers. Also, you can't be obsessed with your bickering with your brothers and your sisters. Because it's a communal event. And so you need to feed off of each other, inspire each other, motivate each other to do your bit your optimal best in Ramadan. And you notice that we don't fast the way we fast or prayed thought we thought oh, yeah, except when you look around and you're like, oh, man, that guy's much older than me. And he's, you know, he's powering through and this one is much younger than me and they're not quitting yet. And

it is

so motivating. And so we need each other. And we need to have Allah fixated on Allah and not obsessed with our, you know, hard feelings towards each other heading into the month, two weeks before the month. And then you can also go to the to the fact that

you know, when they speak about the levels of fasting in the month of Ramadan or beyond as an azalea Rahim, Allah and others, right, they say that you're supposed to get to a place in your fast where you are, with Allah with Allah as they say, My Allah, he'd be the Hulk, with Allah without any obstruction, you know, by way of the creation, meaning it's not your your attachment to the creation, or your hostility with the creation there nonfactor the creation is a nonfactor in your relationship relationship with Allah subhanaw taala when you get to that point, that is where you want to be. And you know if you think about the Sahaba or the luevano Many people don't know this.

This is a habit deferred over Moon sighting right

you know, when they told us it's like most of them when they told Abdullah had not Bestival the Allahumma they didn't a sham in like the Levant or the greater Syria area. You know, more Alia who was the ruler there?

Mark Debussy, Sofia. And may Allah be pleased with him. When he was the ruler there they started Ramadan, and that have not invested reached him news that of course, you know, different part of the world, different region. And so he said, Well, we didn't see it. And he told they told him Allah, Dr. Fauna Bureau at Mahalia, will you not accept the sighting of morality? He said, No. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to us so little at first when you cite it, so if not best is understanding of the law. And that's the argument at least of those who say local months, I think they say that if not best are the other one who took it from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

that you must fast when you yourself, your town, basically sites, your region sites it and the majority, you know, later on it became the majority of schools of Islamic law. They said no, that was the understanding of not best. He didn't actually tell us the wording of the province also lamp. So it is not clear that he took it straight from him that when you locally cite it, he said when you cite it so anyway, the point is they didn't accept this. I think they fasted on their day and they fasted on their day, and it did not affect their brotherhood in the least that's what I want to get to.

One of them understood that this is a universal fast when you meaning any of you cite it, and others understood it as fast when you in your locality cite it, that did not detract from their regard for one another, their love for one another their support of one another in the least. In fact, this habit didn't even just disagree over fast the time, the time to fast the the move the start date, they disagreed over something more important than the fast which is the five prayers

and not just after the death of the prophets of Allah, Allah he was suddenly this hadith in the life of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he told them hurry up and march out to Benin Corolla, you know, this tribe that had basically betrayed it.

The covenant of peace and they invited Qureshi to come over and Medina kill all the Muslims in Medina. And so he said march out to benaco and let no one pray Asad except in general Cordova. So that statement Nobody's allowed to pray awesome, except in general Cordova also have actually different than the Prophet mean, make sure under any circumstances no excuse you get to bento carova Before Maghreb, like by us at a time, or did he actually mean that your Salah will not be valid, unless you pray it in bento Cordoba, even if that means praying it the next day or that night or whatever it is. So one group said, Oh, man Muslim is coming in, we're going to stop and pray because

he just meant get there fast.

He didn't mean actually delayed beyond melody and other groups had no he meant we must pray to there no matter what time it may be. And so when they both came to the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, he didn't tell them which one was correct, in a sense that which one did what he intended, they both did their best to understand his word. So he said, You have done well, you have both done well,

qualified people trying their best to understand his words, and that's it. And so likewise, everyone who is following a scholarly position, they are qualified to try their best independently research come to a conclusion. That's it, you have done well.

So they have understood this and they understood that the people of the book before them, Allah said about them in the Quran, that they did not become divided 11 by the major human being at except after the clear proofs came to them. Meaning the real problem is when you differ, you break away from the clear proofs. But when a proof is speculative, it could mean this way it could mean that way. How do we know that because the scholars didn't understand it all the same way. The qualified scholars who respectful answer Nussle habit, right? If it's not one of the big unit, one of the definitive matters of the deen then if they differ on it, that is their right. independent

researchers are gonna have to have their own conclusions that should not affect the Brotherhood. They understood that very well. And so they never allowed a speculative matter which was not from the bayonet, not from, you know, Allah is One Muhammad is his final prophet Alayhi Salatu was Salam. Prayer five times a day is mandatory. Wine is forbidden. Kindness appearance is necessary. Not those matters, right. But these sorts of things. What was intended by this hadith or this idea, right.

They never allowed that to bleed into their brotherhood bleed into their unity. You know, among the scholars, I think of Unisys saw the fee Rahim a whole lot. He says, and I love this story. He says mount on a two alpha lamina Sheffy I never saw someone who is more intelligent than a Shephard. Remember shefford Rahim Allah Allah, He says, Now vital to who Yeoman famous Allah thumb after Athena. I debated with him on an issue like what's the correct interpretation like the scholarly debate and academic debates? And then we sent that we sent we went our separate ways, fella TNF alpha via DNS. So he met me later on at some point, and he took me by the hand he pulled me over.

And he said to me, yeah, Musa Oh Abu Musa, this is Jonas. Salafi selling Oh, Abu Musa. Allah is the team and Hakuna Juan were eliminative. Famous Ella. Doesn't it stand that we remain brothers, even if we don't agree on an issue, one issue or another?

Just like it's common sense. But same time you feel like it's genius, because who does this anymore? Right? Because if you think about it, you want to be consistent on

disagreeing with someone is going to affect my Brotherhood is going to interest them down or up the totem pole of my love for them, my loyalty to them, my Brotherhood or sisterhood with them, then you will not have any brothers or sisters left. You would have taken something that's speculative, like interpretation and undermined within something that's not which is the brotherhood and sanctity of the Muslims, which is greater than the sanctity of the Kaaba, the Prophet alayhi salatu salam told us that and so a very heavy Imam a very heavy Rahim Allah He said about this story between units with Salafi and Imam Shafi. He said, have a du loup Allah camellia aka chef fairy, this is you know

one of this is one of the stories that really illustrates for you like how intelligent how perfect the intelligence of this great Imam was, remember chef very well 15 FCT and his understanding about himself. I want you to be meaning his self awareness. He realized that if you didn't nip this in the bud if you didn't go and reassure his brother that listen, this, you know, Moon sighting thing, it's nothing to do with it. You're 110% my brother before and after this conversation as much as you ever were and more. You what you need to do that fast. Who is that and also to grow resentment inside of you, as you just want to go in and squash it, as they say.

Or they used to say in high school, he says and this shows you the intelligence

As a chef, and his self awareness, you know, his his keeping his ego at bay.

He said, What was the third thing he said is his superior intelligence and his self awareness. He said for Amazon overall of telephone, because like researchers are always going to differ, like if the matter is really subject to research subject to interpretation, it's always gonna have different conclusions that should never affect our sanctity, and are better. betterments from each other, feeding off of each other's energy, spiritual energy, spiritual strength. And then the last thing I want to say very quickly, is that

our Islam

united the world, in a, you know, in record speeds in those early generations, it brought the east and the west together from Spain to China. How did it do that, because it was not too rigid with the requirements of unity, right, like faith, equal opportunity for everybody to become of the people of faith. Of course, it recognizes, like the brotherhood of humanity also. But then there's this extra layer for like the fraternity of faith extra special, the same way I love everybody, when my family to have an extra layer of rights on me. So the family of faith has an extra layer, that family of faith grew so fast. And that was the requirements in them and what we knew, and the believers are

truly a brotherhood, and that's how it brought it didn't require them to speak the same language. It didn't require them to agree on all of the interpretations of Islam, right, the schools of law were blossoming respectively in different places. And, you know, lmm Amador and Allah use us to speak up he was in Baghdad and he would speak about like, the the schools basically and hotels and elsewhere in Iran, Afghanistan, and he would say no body crossed the street the bridge is just to horizen like it's half the middle hallway like Islam reached this place and no one over there is like is how come that a hallway another great scholar, when can you find it when fer Shia even if he disagrees with

us on on stuff? He said because people will never stop disagreeing with each other. And so Islam through that perspective, through that threshold, that reasonable threshold that just an equitable threshold, it was able to bring Islam to the east and west so fast our deen did that. And so we can't like let go of the tools that allow us to do that. Also Islam when you when the OMA is fasting the same month, every single year, even if there's a tweak in the date, it's still the same month it will never become five days and this has been going on for 1400 years. That by itself by the way is amazing. You know, you may say Muslims disagree but we you know, we are unlike other communities,

and we should appreciate that like, you don't really check what kind of Masjid This is much compared with other religious communities. There is really a huge contrast. You basically Google it's a masjid, those are my brothers. These are Muslims are you going in pray? That is something very special you want to recognize, and we want to proliferate, we want to bring back like in its best form ever. Islam through Ramadan has shown us that the world can be changed overnight. It can throw Allah's religion tomorrow, the almost fasting within a day or two the whole omits fasting within a day or two, the whole OMA celebrating. Also, finally, one of the, I guess,

the reflections you can have about the importance of unity in Ramadan, is the fact that even our fasting ends with

the impermissibility of going to their Eid prayer without putting out yours, I guess will fit through your mandatory filter federal charity. Why? Because Ramadan is about unity in many different ways, including not leaving anyone behind, right, you're not allowed to go to eat with that, except after you've ensured that even the poorest sectors of the community don't have to worry about food at least for today, at least for today. And so you put all of these meanings together all these concepts together, and I hope that it will really like diet and restrict and chain up

many of the opportunities shaitan tries to capitalize on before Ramadan before he is chained up right and stir tensions and stir problems and break up family units and community units and communities from each other that are you know, a few blocks and a few miles away so that we can truly you know, benefit from this galvanized synergize momentum we have as a unified OMA locally and abroad in sha Allah azza wa jal May Allah allow us to see it as like a local Aidan's Chronicle and we have to make sure that Allah Allah, Allah and Mr. photocatalytic