Welcome Ramadan

In Alhamdulillah

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salatu salam honey.

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My dear beloved brothers and sisters

are Muslims of this beautiful community.

The guest

that we have been waiting for, for an entire year

is approaching.

This is the last Friday

last Juma

of the month of Shaban

and tomorrow is sha Allah to Allah you and I will be experiencing the fast of the month of Ramadan.

And as we welcome

the beloved crescent of the month of Ramadan tonight

I wanted to

share some thoughts with you.

You see, contrary

to that attitude some Muslims have

people who know the value of the month of Ramadan, know that the month of Ramadan is not about self deprivation.

It's not meant to make us miserable.

It is not just a set of restrictions, but rather it is a golden opportunity for us to gain and attain

gain what we are not able to gain in any other part of the year.

And attain what Allah azza wa jal

intends for us to attain, as Allah mentioned in the Quran, that the objective

of fasting

is none other than

the highest

station

and a status which is taqwa

taqwa, which is the key to the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala into earning

Jana.

Allah told us that Jana is dedicated to unmute again. People have taqwa, Allah subhanaw taala also told us that it is a pain who find guidance in the Quran, delicate Kitab udara EBV who didn't want to clean

so in order for us or one of the steps and one of the opportunities that help you and I attain Taqwa

is this very act of worship that we've been waiting for?

That we call fasting in the month of Ramadan? Allah azza wa jal in the Quran says yeah, you're Latina M and no quotevalet promo cm or you believe fasting was prescribed for you come back with eval and leadin I mean, utterly come in. You're not the only ones in history, even those who are before you those who received guidance and a scripture from ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada before you also were obligated to fast.

What is the objective La La Quinta Poon so that you may attain Taqwa.

So, fasting

is our gateway to Taqwa.

Then on top of that, it's actually a great opportunity for us to discover

the power of self control and self discipline.

And as they say,

that self discipline and self control

Raul is the epitome of

success

and independence.

It comes to show us that we don't need as much as we otherwise, we think we need

that we are in control, not the food.

That we are in control, not the desires

that we are in control, not the popular culture.

That ultimately we have the willpower

to abstain from what we believe our Lord wants us to abstain from.

That we actually by the Grace of Allah subhanho wa Taala have the ability to engage whenever we have to.

And to distance ourselves whenever we have to.

This is what this month is all about.

It is also my dear brothers and sisters,

the month

of doing good deeds.

And we all know what good deeds are good deeds have to be something that we do sincerely for the sake of Allah and there is no act of worship that can be more sincere than fasting because no one else no one other than Allah knows that you're fasting. So it doesn't make sense for you to fast for any other reason other than to please Allah subhanaw taala.

So, you know, so we know that good deeds are these that are done for the sake of Allah azza wa jal where their sincerity in accordance to in a way that conforms with the prophetic tradition. But on top of that, my dear brothers and sisters, good deeds or deeds, through which we seek the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala what is the question that you have to ask yourself? What is the most pleasing Act?

The most pleasing decision, the most pleasing choice for me

to do at this particular moment? And if Allah Subhana Allah gives me another moment in the next moment. And tonight and tomorrow.

In every situation, you find yourself what is the most pleasing Act, or choice for me to make? That's a question that as a believer, that's a question that we have to be able to answer to ourself.

So

and the most pleasing Act may not necessarily be what you desire.

You may not be, you know, what you desire.

This morning, I came upon an amazing story

that illustrates this,

just for us to see the power of doing what we believe is most pleasing to Allah not most pleasing to Me, or anyone else.

Because you and I will find ourselves sometimes even sometimes we have two good choices. One that you are leaning towards you desire or you're connected to emotionally, and then another one that you believe may be most pleasing to Allah subhanho wa taala.

I'm not even talking about

right, choices where we, we know a wrong

I'm talking about which one is most pleasing to Allah Subhanallah so today, I came upon a story and I said, somehow Allah, amazing men,

when a believer gets to a point where he or she are able to fully submit to the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala and pursue what is most pleasing to Allah azza wa jal, there is nothing more powerful than that individual.

I came upon this story in the writing of a good friend of mine, who mentioned in the beginning of his book, a story of a brother

from a Muslim country.

A medical someone who works in the health care

who saved for 30 years he saved money so that he could perform Hajj

you know, I like you know, many of us who have been privileged with the ability to perform Hajj more frequently in many countries in the Muslim world, you only have one shot or one chance and people have to save up. There are people who save who start saving from their teenage years.

For 1020 and 30 years, for 30 years. He had been saving money to perform hedge

the day he was going to go pay for the package.

He runs into a woman whose child was receiving

treatment at the medical facility this person works for

she came to

thank him for what he had done for her son.

And she came to inform him that she's not going to be able to see him again. And she just wanted to say farewell.

So he asked as to why they're stopping medical treatment when the child needs desperately.

She declined to reveal the reason and she left.

So he went to the administration of the hospital, or the medical facility to find out why the family is seizing or stopping care for this child. He found out that the father lost his job and is no longer able to pay for his son's desperately needed medical treatment.

And that's when he started having internal conflict. He has the cash in his pocket, he was on his way to go pay for his dream package.

And at that moment,

he asked himself what would be the most pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala.

And he decided to deposit that money

and inform them not to tell the family where the money came from. And he walked away

with a broken heart.

His dream was to perform hajj for 30 years. And when the day came, where he thought he's able to fulfill that dream. Allah subhanaw taala had other plans for him. This man was pursuing the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala not the title Hajji or not the experience because some people, some of us also nowadays there is this growing trend of people considering acts of worship, or Umrah, Hajj, Ramadan, fasting and experience as spiritual experience. I'm trying to get an experience out of it.

So he went home. That night, he had a dream.

In the dream he saw himself performing tawaf and performing hedge, and people congratulating him for a hedge that was accepted.

And he heard a voice saying that you have made hedged to heaven before you made hedge on Earth,

how he woke up from that dream, not not sure what to make of it, was it just me and when he went to the hospital,

his boss asked him to come to his office, and he informed him that the owner of the hospital,

who frequently went to Hajj

needed

someone to go with him.

And his doctor that usually comes with him was not available to go with him for hedging. And since he had already taken time off to perform hedge, they asked him if he is interested to go.

Of course, he went,

fully paid for. And not only that, but He bonded during this Hajj trip with the owner of the hospital. And when he shared his story, the man was so moved by what this man, this employee of his did, when he came back,

he ordered that all the money that he paid to be refunded to him.

And he decided to treat that child to fully take care of the expenses of the treatment of that child. And he offered the child's father a job.

And he started a fund to treat children whose parents are whose family is cannot afford to provide necessary medical treatment for them.

All of this was accomplished by a moment by this person in a moment where he was pursuing what is most pleasing to Allah subhanho wa taala.

But this can only happen

right to someone whose heart is attached to again pleasing Allah azza wa jal so the month of Ramadan

is month where we are trained to do what is most pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala ask yourself, How does Allah azza wa jal want me to behave and act

every single night and every single day of this golden opportunity we call the blessed month of Ramadan Akuto has a cold was soft for Allah Hi, Lea welcome First of all, we have to look them in the hula for Rahim.

Stop

stop

hamdulillah haka wa Salatu was Salam ala Abadi living in a stutter

as we approach the month of Ramadan, the month about which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and said at that point shahada Ramadan. The month of Ramadan has arrived.

Chateau Mobarak is a blessed month

follow the Allahu Allah from Ciana Allah subhanaw taala obligated you to fast during this month

to photography here at Web Summit

the gates of heaven are opened

and another narration to fight the Hovi here at work wearable Jana the gates of Jana are all wide open and not a single one will be shut.

What two will apathy hit a wearable Jehane

and the gates of hellfire are shut. Not a single one will be opened.

What to what Luffy Hemara to show your team

and devils and it's our change and restrained lillahi Hilah in it. There is a night for Allah subhanho wa Taala Hagerman Alpha better than 1000 months, that is later to paddle men hurry Mahira half Orchidarium whoever is deprived from the blessings of that night is really the most deprived person, there can be. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us that anyone who is able or anyone who achieves

and gets the opportunity to fast the month of Ramadan does not manage to get his or her sins forgiven by the end of the month is a loser.

So this is the month where

those who are the seekers of good should roll up their sleeves

and work hard. That season has arrived. So what should we be focusing on?

Obviously, the month of Ramadan is a month of fasting. So we should be fasting. But we should make sure that we fast at the highest level of fasting not only

to stay away from eating and drinking but to stay away from anything that is not only anything that invalidates your fast but also stay away from anything that will diminish the reward of your fast anything that is in conflict with the spirit of fasting.

Right. So make sure that your eyes fast from home make sure let's let's make sure that we our ears fast from listening to nonsense, our tongues fast from saying things that we regret. So let's fast at the highest level of fasting. Let's make sure that our hearts fast. So fasting obviously, is the primary act of worship of the month of Ramadan. But besides that, the month of Ramadan, my dear brothers and sisters is a month of the Quran. We have to engage the Quran, listen to it, read it, reflect upon it, ponder act upon it. This is the month of the Quran.

Number three, the month of Ramadan is the month of July.

And if you haven't prepared your atlas, you still have few hours left.

Right? Prepare a list.

Even if it's one drop that you repeat, ALLAH Gemma, and I'm telling you this and I asked, I asked the person for permission few years ago, I went to the wedding of a cousin of mine.

It was you know before before Ramadan

and at that wedding, someone came in, you know sister came and approached me she said Do you remember me? She said no. She said I'm so and so I said Masha Allah and it was someone that used to be part of my youth group in my Masjid more than 20 years ago. She accepted Islam at the age of 12.

And she remained Muslim mashallah she remained Muslim and she remained strong. She said I'm so I'm so sorry. Mashallah. She's totally different from what I remember.

So we we reconnected, right. So I said, if you need anything, here's my contact, I introduce her to my wife and my children. And I went home.

After Ramadan. I received a phone call from a hedge company that said, this, they told me that that year they're starting a scholarship program for people who want to perform hedge but cannot afford to perform hedge.

And they extended that first invitation to me, they said if you have someone that you can nominate with an interesting story, we will take we will take that person. Right we will consider taking that person no promises made.

Well, and we only have one spot.

Do you have someone with an interesting story? So I started thinking someone with an interesting story him. No, I said let me think.

Right.

After I hung up with him, I remember so so.

I sent a message. Are you interested?

When performing Hajj, are you serious? was the reply. I said, Well, I don't know. I can't make any promises. But are you interested in are you ready to perform Hajj? This was my dua every single night in the month of Ramadan Sheikh.

I called her. I said, Are you serious? He said yes, every single night I was crying and I asked him lots of data to facilitate fasting for me. I came up with half of what the cheapest package cost. And I didn't know where the other half was coming from.

I said,

Keep praying.

The sister.

Couple of months later, she sent me a message in a picture of her passport and her visa and at the city of her judge in Jeddah.

Allah's promises true Allah subhanaw taala in the middle of the verses that talk about fasting, Allah subhanaw taala says we eat so eloquently by the attorney, if my servants asked you about me for me, I am close Would you die today?

Let them pray to Me turn to Allah subhanho wa Taala and, and see wonders happening. Either Allah azza wa jal will give you whatever you're asking for if it's good for you, or Allah azza wa jal will give you something even better than you imagined.

So take advantage of the month of Ramadan, maybe two hours every single night prepare a list of drugs and take, take care of your needs in this life, and, most importantly, our needs in the hereafter. So ask Allah azza wa jal, one of the best jobs we can make is Robina attina for dunya Hassan Hassan Okinawa nap. Oh Allah Subhana Allah grant us genuine protects us from hellfire.

So make sure that you take advantage of the month of Ramadan, the month of Ramadan is also the month of Vic. And it's also the month for us to rebind and connect with our family members, my dear brothers and sisters, we can have a very powerful impact on the members of our family. And inshallah we'll talk about this topic more. But have you started preparing yourself and your family for the month of Ramadan? And I'm not talking about food. I'm not talking about

whatever you're going to be having on the menu. I'm talking about the spirit of the month of from what Ramadan is all about. Right? So it's time for us. If we haven't done this today before it's too late. Start preparing your kids Ramadan. Are you planning to fast? How are we going to welcome Ramadan, decorate and adorn and purify and clean up and cleanse your hearts to welcome Ramadan as well as our homes. We have to create a beautiful environment for us and for our children.

One thing though, I will close with my dear brothers and sisters. I have seen a growing trend of people sometimes trying to, to imitate

people have other traditions, right? We have to make sure that whatever we do is

within the bounds of our religion, whatever we do is Islamic. So by all means I'm all for decorating the house and preparing it for the month of Ramadan. But make sure that your decoration

is not in violation of Islamic guidelines. Right? So we don't we don't put statues we don't put anything or any images that are not appropriate. Or that can be questionable. We don't have any particular Ramadan tree or a tree. Right? We don't do stuff like this. That's not us. When Musa alayhis salam and his people were passing by a group of people who had an idol. They were worshipping. They said, Allah Allah Tanka myeloma and why don't you designate for us something that we can, something physical that we can image and Musa alayhis salam scolded them for that in the heart when I'm attacked, borrow my home feel no, we don't imitate. We're, we're independent, we

receive our guidance from Allah. And we receive our teachings from our Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. We have our own tradition. Now our own way of doing it, the most important of which is to make sure that we cleanse and purify ourselves, we reach out to our, our family members and we ask people for forgiveness and we extend forgiveness to other people, and that we engage everyone in the family. Right? So take care of these of these important things in May Allah subhanaw taala grant you and I and our family members our loved ones, a blessed month of Ramadan. Robina Taco Bell Mina in the Kansas City Yola, Lima to Ballina in Atlanta to La Rahim, Allah Who manana solocom Would you bet

your automatic Why is there a microphone article salami demichelis, one time equilibrium Waldfogel genuine legitimate and now Allahumma Salli ala Muhammad Abdul Rasulullah Can you tell me why the ad he was watching? It? Come on Selita. Brahim? Oh, Ali Ibrahim. Well glad to cut out Mohammed Abdullah Sulochana below me while Ali who was when he was already come out Dr. Ibrahim Al Al Ibrahim in academia Majeed from the bottom of my heart on behalf of the Board

Out of the Muslim

Memphis Islamic center on behalf of all the volunteers and the people working in the Ramadan program I wish you and your family members Ramadan Mubarak blessings Ramadan Taco Bell Allah Homina amico May Allah subhanaw taala you know inspire us to take full advantage of the month of Ramadan Wahaca Nila Hua Yang Fe model Datu subhanho wa Taala Welcome to Salah.

Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar

Illa Hallo law as headworn now Mohammad Rasool Allah Hi yah La Salette yeah hi yah land Fela Almighty Salah because comet is Allah. Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. The ILA Hallo law.

Okay.

Five seconds. Okay. Shall

we have plenty of space in the main

prayer hall? So please make your way inside the masala

you're making the announcement