Jumuah Khutbah at the Abu Huraira Center
2017-05-19
Moutasem al-Hameedy – The Beauty Of Ramadan
AI: Summary ©
The success of Islam and its importance in shaping behavior is highlighted, along with its impact on personal health and personal development. The importance of worship for personal growth and personal development is also emphasized, citing the success of people working towards their spiritual goals. The importance of fasting is emphasized, along with its benefits for weight reduction and healthy eating. The importance of thanking followers for their support is also discussed, along with a daily Star for the congregation.
AI: Summary ©
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all praises due to Allah, we praise Him, we seek his aid and we ask for his forgiveness. We seek refuge and protection in a law from the evils of ourselves and the evil consequences of our own actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can lead astray and whomsoever Allah leaves to go astray in and can guide I bear witness that no one has the right to be worshipped. None has the right to our ultimate love and devotion, but Allah alone who has no partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa early he was a lump is his servant and His messenger or you who believe fear Allah as he should be feared and die not except in a state of submission and Islam to your Lord. All
Mankind be dutiful to a Lord who created you from a single person. And from him he created his wife and from them both he created many men and women and fear Allah through whom you demand your mutual rights and observe the rights of your kins. Surely Allah is Ever and all water over you.
All you who believe. Keep your duty to Allah. fear him and speak the truth. He will direct you to righteous deeds and will forgive you your sins and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed attained a great achievement. The best speech are the words of Allah. And the best guidance is that of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa early he was a lump and the worst thing in the religion are the newly invented matters for all the newly invented matters and religion are considered to be innovation and bitter. Every bit is misguidance and it leads to the hellfire.
Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran in surah tillbaka
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all you who believe fasting has been prescribed upon you as an obligation
just as it was prescribed for the nations and the people who came before you, so that you may attain taqwa. So the main point behind the fasting of Ramadan is taqwa is the achievement of taqwa. And we will come to talk about the comprehensive and inclusive meaning of this beautiful term taqwa. And Allah subhanho wa Taala proceeds
shortly after this to say or to talk about Ramadan, Shahada, Ramadan and levy on zita fee he'll call an Shahada Ramadan Illa de unzila fee he'll know who the Lena Siva Gina T min alhuda. Well, for
the month of Ramadan in which the Koran was sent down, it was revealed
and it contains clear signs for the guidance and mercy of humanity.
That shows the importance of this beautiful month that is about a week away.
And one of the beautiful aspects of our own mother Alhamdulillah until today, despite the negative things that we are experiencing as an oma one beautiful aspect that you will see among Muslims across the globe is that they look forward anxiously for Ramadan. They're happy about Ramadan, they get ready for Ramadan, a few weeks sometimes a couple of months before they start looking forward to it. And that's a beautiful aspect of our own mind. hamdulillah we have been maintaining this and holding on to this beautifully.
So we ask Allah subhanaw taala to bless these efforts and these intentions and we ask Allah subhanaw taala to make us witness and live through the month of Ramadan and to make the best of it.
The month of Ramadan is the peak of this year and any year it's the best of all times during the year. And we know that the prophet SAW Selim and his companions would take this month seriously. Ramadan is not like any other month it's not like any other time. Ramadan is special. It's a golden opportunity for us to come closer to Allah subhana wa tada the things the beautiful and positive things that combined in Ramadan, they never combined anytime else.
Anytime else this is why Ramadan is so special. And Allah subhanaw taala gave it so much importance. And the act of worship that is specifically linked to the month of Ramadan is fasting a cm and Allah subhanaw taala praises this act of worship, and raises its position when he says in the divine Hadeeth additonal Odyssey Hulu Emily bunny Adam Allahu inla. So for him know who Li Zb, all of the acts of worship, everything that son of Adam does is for him, he will reap the reward for that.
Except for fasting, it is for me, Allah says it is for him alone. Fasting, there is something special, something specific about fasting, that no other act of worship shares. Only fasting holds this beauty that Allah claims that this act of worship is exclusively for a lot in the song for in hooni Zb, except for fasting, it is for me. And I will reward for it and I didn't name any kind of reward. And when Allah doesn't name a reward that means it is something beyond your imagination. something beyond your expectations. And there is a secret and the fact where Allah subhanaw taala says, fasting is for me.
So Allah singles out fasting,
from amongst all the acts of worship that we know that Allah says is for me. And there is a reason behind this. If you look at all the acts of worship, prayer, the prayer contains recitations of carland supplication and it includes oroku, bowing and sujood prostration.
It has been directed to other than Allah.
There are people who prostrate themselves before other than Allah. There are people who bow before other than Allah throughout the ages.
Zakah there are people who give their money for the sake of other gods for the sake of other things, other than a loss of an Alterna hedge, which contains balluff, and other acts of worship, a lot of them are directed to others you'll find in certain countries where there is ignorance of the pure Islamic belief, you find people making tawaf around graves, thinking this is part of Islam, when this is polytheism, this is shoot this is against Islam completely.
So any act of worship that you can think of, you will find that humans at any time, have directed it to other than Allah subhanho wa Taala, except for fasting.
It's not known in history that people would worship an object, or person or any type of God, through the act of fasting. It doesn't happen.
It doesn't happen.
Even other nations even talking about Christians or the Jews, when they fast, they're fast, you might say they are directing it to Jesus, for example. No, but we know they are directing it to Allah, although they have an issue with associating partners with Allah. And this is what Allah says in the Quran, what Allah
Allah commands us to address the People of the Book, that your God and our God is one. He's the same. He's Allah.
So the act of fasting is the only act of worship that has been exclusively directed for Allah.
Exclusively directed for Allah. No one worships any other thing through fasting.
It's only for Allah subhanho wa Taala. So this is why Allah subhanaw taala holds this beautiful act of worship in high esteem, and Allah we were rewards abundantly for it. And this is why we need to appreciate this when you're when you're fasting every day when you make the intention every day and the night before. When you make the intention to fast that day. Remember that Allah values this act of worship, that Allah loves it, that Allah appreciates it.
And this makes you appreciate this beautiful act of worship but not take it for granted. And not do it in an in a robotic way where you just go through the motions. No, you do it.
You do it because Allah loves it. And that's the meaning of worship that we do what Allah loves, out of our love for Allah subhana wa Tada. That's what worship needs. So when you do something Allah loves this is a profound state that you put yourself into, when you do what Allah Subhana Allah loves and what he appreciates most. So again, this is the month of Ramadan that is coming soon in sha Allah, and every year now this has become a recurring theme every time we talk about Ramadan. When was last Ramadan it seems like like last month, it doesn't seem to have been far away in the past. It doesn't seem that a whole year has gone by we all feel it, we all feel it. So this has been
a recurring theme that we all feel how time is passing on so quickly. And that means that our time is on this earth is running out. But this is a very good reminder, because Ramadan defies our definition of time as well. Because the prophets Allah sent them and he will we come to talk about the merits and the virtues and the beauties of this wonderful month of Ramadan. The Prophet sallallahu wasallam says it Agia Allah Medina Ramadan
bulgin Ababa na when Ramadan comes, the gates of Paradise are open and the gates of the Hellfire are closed and locked.
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and the devils and the tyrants among the jinn will be chained and will be locked.
Now this is for real. This is for real, the gates of Paradise open. Why because there is mercy from Allah subhana wa Tada. There are more people worshipping Allah. There are people putting more time for the sake of Allah. There are people who devoting themselves more for Allah reciting or on praying and fasting and making Vicar and doing all these great acts of acts of worship. So because of this, this is happening because of the mercy of Allah. We worship Allah because of his mercy, because he inspires us to do so. And he allows us to do so. And then this mercy leads to the gates of Paradise being open.
And the gates of the Hellfire being locked.
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this also has another meaning.
It has another meaning because because in this month, there are more people worshipping Allah subhanaw taala. And this leads to more mercy coming from Allah subhanho wa Taala as this as if there are more people qualifying themselves for the for paradise for entering paradise. So Allah opens the gates of paradise for them. And there are people who are distancing themselves from the Hellfire as who cares in the end at the end of this Hadith, where the Prophet sallallahu Sallam says, When Illa Hirotaka Amina nary fee with le kathakali Allah and Allah will free some people from the Hellfire and this is at every night, Allah will free some people from the Hellfire because they have done
something great and special for the sake of Allah.
So COVID al again says there are people who come to Allah who repents and start worshipping Allah subhanaw taala to the point where the gates of Paradise will need to be closed.
We will know the moon and the Hadith we know the moon again.
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and a call will be proclaimed.
Oh, you intend to do good, come forward, come forward. That's the time for it. If you have an intention, and all of us have intentions, but we always say next year next month, when I get this done, when I you know pay my house off, or when I you know retire, or when I graduate when I get married. When I get this thing done, I will start worshipping Allah subhanaw taala. When I'm done with this project, I will start focusing more on worshiping Allah subhanaw taala when my kids grow, I will start doing more for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala. But this caller when he proclaims, He's inviting you. He says if you have an intention, this is the time for it. Because if you're
waiting for the ideal time to do something good for Allah, this might never happen, and it might never come. You have to create the time.
And Allah has paved the way for you by offering you this beautiful month of Ramadan. And we all feel the surge of connection to Allah and taqwa through our hearts and through our bodies. That we find ourselves drawn to Allah drawn to the Quran drawn to the massage that we want to worship Allah. They want to feel the connection with us.
law that we want to detach a little bit more from this life, and its attractions, and the grip, the firm grip of our desires and the commitments of this life. We want to break loose from that. We want to experience the essence of our humanity. And that's our souls connecting to Allah and our hearts connecting to the words of Allah. We enjoy standing in the Presence of Allah as we pray the five daily prayers
and sometimes I draw your attention to something very important people pay more attention to salata, tarawih then the five daily prayers
and that's the wrong approach to Allah.
That's the wrong approach to Allah because there is a hype around praying telawi which is a great act of worship, but praying
to Gemma, praying in JAMA praying Arsenal in JAMA is far greater for you than praying 71 are banned straightaway.
Because Allah Spanish Allah says in the divine Hadith Odyssey, one at Aqaba, la de bishi in a booming laughter Oh,
my servant will never draw nearer to me
with anything
better than what I made obligatory upon him.
So the five daily prayers have more precedence than any other form of prayer.
But that doesn't mean we give up on taraweeh
if you find yourself drawn to the Torah, we use it utilize this, because if you find yourself drawn to throw away, this might be the gateway that will lead you to find the beauty of salah and this will help you to appreciate the five daily prayers more. But what I'm saying, Don't let this always be your end goal.
your end goal should be to connect to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah and fulfill the obligations towards Allah upon you. So you pray the five daily prayers and preferably in the masjid
in the congregation.
So you find people drawn to Allah subhanaw taala and this beautiful month.
And this is just a little bit of the beauty of this wonderful month.
It was narrated that the early generations, specifically the companions,
six months months before Ramadan arrives, they would start making dua to Allah to make them live long enough to witness Ramadan and fasted.
That shows how much they appreciate it.
It shows how important Ramadan is.
Because as the prophet SAW, Selim says in the same Hadith again, was he lay electron, Hiraman and Fisher and in this month, there is a night and that's a little further is better than 1000 months 80 to 83 years. One night, you worship Allah in that night, or through that night doesn't have to be completely through prayer could be reciting Quran, it could be making Vicar. It could be helping out someone. It could be any act of worship.
And it would be counted in your records as if you have worshipped Allah for 83 years.
We know that the nations that came before us though they used they lived 1000 years. They lived 1000 years whereas our prophet SAW Selim says not only at Medina city in a submarine, my own generally would live, the majority would live between their 60s and 70s. That's the average age average lifespan of us. But Allah Subhana Allah has given us a way to match and even exceed the nations that came before.
If you witness the month, only one little cuddle, and most likely a person who neglects Ramadan, a person who neglects Allah throughout the year, most likely these people will not be guided to that night.
And the thing with Ramadan is that it's not just a point where you switch things because we humans are not machines. You're not like a switch, you turn yourself on, you turn itself off, or you turn your heart on, you turn it off, it doesn't work like this. If you don't prepare yourself, it's more about a journey. It's more of a journey. When you grow your email your connection with Allah subhanho wa Taala you gain more grounds, you achieve more mastery. You have more taqwa and taqwa in Islam means the deeper meaning of turquoise that you develop more mastery over yourself. So you use yourself in a way that pleases Allah subhanaw taala in a way that benefits you in this life and in
the next, instead of yourself with its desires and whims leaving you here.
They're
where you tend to lose your life achieving nothing. That's the meaning of tequila. It means you take control full control over yourself and you are able to lead it and manage it in a way that is pleasing to Allah in a way that is fruitful and productive. That's what taco means. And that's why fasting has a lot of beautiful secrets that I will share with you. Shortly inshallah.
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hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa salatu salam ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa that
Allah says that fasting has been prescribed upon us because it leads to taqwa. It leads to this kind of mastery over ourselves. It leads to us being in the driver's seat in our lives. So we know where we heading. We know how to use our time, and that our desires, our whims and our enemy. shavonne does not take the lead, and does not drive us in ways that will destroy our hearts and destroy our future with Allah subhanho wa Taala. So how does fasting lead to this kind of self mastery? How does it get us there? Well, we know how to align our energies and our selves and our talents in a way that is pleasing to Allah in a way that Allah has prescribed for us. What does fasting do to us?
We develop a lot of dependency on our daily habits.
And food is one of the most important things for us. We get used to having breakfast, lunch,
and dinner and sometimes even more than that we have a brunch and we have supper we have five six meals a day.
But our buddies don't need that much.
The prophets of Salaam says mama
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has given me Adam and up Martin, you can assume it's enough for a human being to get a few mouthfuls, a little bit of food that will keep you alive and give you the energy to function through the day.
So food was there is a provision from Allah subhanaw taala to help us survive in this life, to help us thrive and be healthy. But what we do with food, we develop a dependency on food. We medicate ourselves with food, you feel down today, let me eat.
You feel upset? Let me eat. You want something to buy on? Let me drink something. So it has become more of an emotional psychological dependency on the food. We eat when we don't need. We don't even eat with a purpose. We eat to please up to feel good. We want to feel good.
Or we feel negative we feel a bit upset. We want to relieve that how do we how do we do it? Let's have a meal. Let's eat something let's have a bite, let's have a snack.
And the things that we This place is a burden on our bodies. It places a burden on our bodies because your your body is busy working your digestive system is busy, almost 24 hours digesting food that you don't need. And this is why we start piling up fat around your body.
If you pile fat around your body, that means you have eaten more than you need. That's it, your body's saying I've had enough. I don't know what to do with the surplus food you've given me. So I'm going to store it. And you're walking around with a few pounds or a few kgs sometimes so many cages, walk around, weighing yourself down with unnecessary food, why to feed good. But the problem is this kind of food and this kind of eating and drinking is actually an escape
is an escape. Because if you have an issue, deal with it head on. Fix the source of the problem, fix the root of the problem. You feel bad. There's a reason why you feel bad. You feel down there is a reason why you feel that you feel lonely. There's a reason as well. So don't medicate yourself with food
or drink because that's an escape.
When your feelings are not positive, this is a message that there's there's a problem that you need to fix.
And a lot of our feelings come a lot of our negative feelings come from one thing,
distancing ourselves from Allah, keeping our hearts busy with other than Allah. That's what
Allah says in nephelometric
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subida shakalaka. So there's a sense of loss, there's a feeling of loss in the hearts that cannot be medicated that cannot be solved, that cannot be treated, except with knowing Allah and loving him, enjoying his connected connection to him and longing to see his face. So a lot of our negative feelings are simply because we are disconnected from Allah. Because we have lost our purpose, we have lost our vision in life, not that we have lost direction,
then it takes different shapes. Someone said a word that offended me or went through this experience. And I felt really bad about it. That's true. But that's the surface reason or that's the immediate reason if you search behind it, you have a lot of discomfort inside because you're so distant from Allah, and your heart is yearning and crying out for Allah, but you're not offering your heart this connection and this rite of it.
So when fasting comes, it says no more medication. You don't medicate yourself with food, you don't run away from your problems. Now you have an issue face it.
The other side beautiful side of fasting here is that
when you don't consume a lot of food, your body starts to heal, you will feel light. Some people even feel you're euphoric.
You know, fasting gives you a beautiful, profound feeling you feel light, you feel free.
But when you are busy so much with missing your food and missing your coffee and missing your cigarette and missing other things. You do not allow yourself to enjoy this feeling. But fasting allows you or gives you a beautiful euphoric feeling of being light of being healthy because your body's medicating itself. Because the energy that you usually spend digesting this surplus and extra food that you're consuming. Now it's directing to rebuilding your body healing yourself. And that's why the scholars have always said one of the one of the things that kill your heart is excessive eating,
excessive eating.
So first thing, because people are falling into this excessive eating is because it's a culture. It's a way of life. And with a lot of, you know, publicity and a lot of marketing, we just keep consuming foods because the way food is presented is very attractive. And then what happens we lose connection with our soul because that energy that we have is supposed to take our attention to our hearts, to our soul, to Allah subhana wa to Anna and this is why those who read Quran more in Ramadan, those who pray that's why you find it you find it easier for you to pray more in Ramadan, you find it easier for you to recite more more Koran and Ramadan. One of the reasons is that the
energy that you used to spend to digest extra food now is saved and you find a lot of clarity in your mind. You have a lot of sense of focus.
And you are able to listen to your heart and it's yearning to Allah subhanaw taala when you read the Quran, your mind goes deeper into the meanings.
There are so many things that we can share about Ramadan, hopefully inshallah, in the halaqa Today I will be sharing more about Ramadan, how to pray, how to prepare ourselves for Ramadan, how to make the best of it, inshallah, how to utilize it in the best of ways. And one of the things I just want to mention now, because it's a bit relevant. The prophet SAW Selim says man, Fatah, amen Canada, whom is the one who offers food for a fasting person to break their fast or to open their fast Muslim time, they will get a similar reward. So we all have an opportunity as Muslims to double our reward for fasting and triple it multiple times. Just by offering someone when you invite this
person doesn't have to be a miskeen doesn't have to be a poor person or precedent need any fasting person a friend, you invite friends, your children and your family when you feed them.
You're getting similar reward to their fast that's the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala and we, you know, here we have a Daily Star for the for the congregation. So there's a lot of slots still available. A lot of these slots have been taken so people
people take I mean, people booked days where they fund the the farm and we have some slots left. So I encourage you before Ramadan starts to inshallah come forward, if you're not able to do it yourself, you know, team up with two three people and sponsor and iftaar one day in Ramadan, and usually it's around 300 to 500 people on a daily basis. So inshallah you will be getting the reward of a huge number of people fasting is such a great reward and don't forget last ones, Allah says Illa sown for in the Hollywood an exhibit except for fasting, it's for me and I reward for I give reward for it. And that shows and that means that a reward for fasting
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