Friday Halaqa – Getting Ready For Ramadan

Smilla Rahmanir Rahim hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu salam ala Sayidina Muhammad and Muhammad Ali he was heavy he remained Morgado Welcome to the Friday Halaqaat at Abu Hurayrah center in Toronto. So we

Ramadan is just around the corner and

I've been thinking about what to do and inshallah we are working on a series for Ramadan so we will have

maybe three three meetings during every week three weekly meetings in Ramadan in order to talk about something that will help us inshallah benefit from the month and

grow religiously spiritually and draw closer to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah.

And

before Ramadan arrives I thought it's it's probably good now to put

our series on the Quran on the thematic approach to the Quran on hold

till inshallah after Ramadan Bethany later Allah, I thought it's actually good and suitable now to talk about how we should get ourselves ready for Ramadan. Try to give some practical tips in sha Allah Who tan

generally speaking, the Prophet saw some of the Companions would actually look forward to Ramadan we have in the authentic hadith the Prophet SAW Allah Salam before Ramadan was just at the beginning of Ramadan, he said to the Companions, he said, Joe accom, shahada, Ramadan, shahada and mobilock to photography Why would you know to Allah cough we will neuron so the prophets also approach the Companions just prior to the beginning of Ramadan he would say Ramadan has come from Milan has arrived as come to you. It's a blessed month, during which the gates of paradise are open, the gates of the Hellfire are locked. So it seemed that it was obvious from this how the prophets of Islam was

happy about the arrival of Ramadan. The same was the case with the Companions actually, some scholars took from this hadith, the permissibility of congratulations, congratulating people at the beginning of Ramadan saying, you know,

saying anything and there's no specific way to say that, to congratulate but just to express one's happiness, that

that we are witnessing the month of Ramadan. And obviously as the last point that it says, In Surah, Jonas will be familiar, he will be out of committee, he will be there Lika fully afar who are helping me manage my own see, with the blessings of Allah and His mercy, let them rejoice let them find happiness. This is way better than you know all of the things people gather and collect and hoard.

So, and again we see the Prophet sallallahu sallam was the best what was at his best in Ramadan, and we know that Gibreel would come down to the prophets of Salaam and study the Quran with him or review the Quran with him every round on once. And the last Ramadan in the life of the Prophet salallahu Salam Gibreel came twice. And this shows that Ramadan is such a special time for good deeds, and especially the deeds that really matter the most, because the message of Prophet Mohammed Salam is the heart of it is the Quran he was sent to convey the Quran and explain it. And Gibreel towards the end of the life of the person, he came in Ramadan to review the Quran twice with the

Prophet sallallahu so many he chose Ramadan to do this. And it shows you know, what importance is attached to Ramadan. And we know the famous narration from NSW medical the Allah one where he said that the Prophet sallallahu sallam was can I do with the NES, the process was the most generous of all people, what can I do with them a quantity of Milan and the profit so send them would be more generous even in Ramadan during Ramadan. So it shows that it's time for the Muslim for a believer to show their best to do their best in Ramadan. That's the time that's the time to you know, move on to the next level to you know, raise the bar for, for our performance for our connection with Allah

subhanaw taala. But this is not possible without some kind of preparation and conditioning. And we don't want to fall into the trap that many people fall into that they get excited at the beginning of Ramadan, then this fades away after the first week is passed. And people reach a point of burnout so it's better to prepare ourselves and not actually go there. So share with you some tips that I believe could really

help every one of us benefit or maximize or benefit from Ramadan. So we have first and foremost I would say repentance and maybe many of you

Hold on take this seriously, or they take it more as a ritual as an empty ritual or some kind of lip service. But the reality is, repentance tilbyr is has as a real effect on the heart, because what really stands between us and of las pantallas, or since what holds us back is always says what makes a bad on worship. burdensome and hard for us is our worship. Sorry, is our sins, because the sins are more like contamination, they compromise the health of our heart. And when the health is compromised, and the health of the heart is compromised, when you try to draw on your heart to do more acts of worship, you don't find energy, you don't find you find yourself depleted.

And that's because, again, the sins have taken away from the energy of the heart, they have contaminated it, they have compromised its health and it's stamina. So very important thing to do, is to actually start by cleaning ourselves, clearing our heart of any kind of contamination. And that's by repenting sincerely to Las Panatela. And repenting is not a one event thing. It's not like a one instance, kind of acts of worship, it's a constant. And it's a beginning of a process. So

so in order to do repentance properly, I would recommend

that you review your past here and look at your weaknesses look at where you have stumbled where you have fallen, for your own weaknesses and mistakes and committed a sin against Allah subhanaw taala. Specifically, if you have committed a major sin or a big sin, this is what you have to deal with. This would be the your biggest enemy, in benefiting from Ramadan. So what you need to do is, you know, escape, break free from that,

from that enemy, so that you will have the freedom your heart would have the spiritual freedom to connect to Allah Subhanallah on water. And so if you have made any major sin you have committed any major sin or a big sin doesn't have to be one of the major but a really serious sin. I definitely invite you to consider repenting to Allah repenting to Allah means you're giving a lot of covenant, a promise that I'm not going to do that again, that I really in this moment. And I mean it, that I ain't I am that I have the resolve, I'm determined not to go back to this anymore. And then you seek the help of Allah subhanaw taala. But sincerity of intention is of upmost importance here. And also

another thing you want to repent from is your continuous since your recurring sense, there are sins that we commit regularly, that we come back every now and then come back to every now and then. And these are the things that got ahold of you and, and they've become more of a habit. These are the ones you need to start repenting from in his you need to start seeking forgiveness for and you need to start breaking from and trying to again, break free from their grip, because they are a very serious hindrance. So and the way to go about this out, I definitely recommend you start with deep reflection. Many people do this mechanically, and this unfortunately doesn't really

doesn't produce its effect. Because it's not that real, it's not genuine, the level of sincerity is low and compromised. So you need to start with

a lot of sincerity, contemplation, reflection, deep reflection on your relationship with Allah subhanaw taala and your life and what it means. This is a very powerful place to begin your your repentance or your tilba Fromm, because that takes you deeper within far from the Sin Far from the the the captivating nature of the sin where your soul your heart is free. And then your your connection with Allah is bolstered is heightened. And you connect to it. And from there, you'll make the covenant and you see yourself free from the sin. And then you draw on Allah's help you call upon a lot for help and for support.

And then you make a promise that no matter what, even when you win, even in moments of weakness, you promise a lot to hold on to his promise to preserve it. And to observe the rights of Allah subhanaw taala it's going to be challenging, but that's the sweetness of it. And that's the that's the beauty of it. And that's what we are meant to do. And this is the real meaning of Mujahid striving against our own weaknesses.

And since it's it's a specific time you're talking about Ramadan

because it's a specific timeframe, a specific time bracket, it makes it easier for you to commit. And then let the rest for for inshallah for how Allah's parliament and sha Allah is going to help you out in Ramadan. So starting with

repentance.

Number two, I would say starting with more voluntary actions like fasting and

fasting faster, a little bit more like fast one week, one day a week in the I mean, it's about it's less than two weeks till Ramadan. So what I would say fast, at least once a week or twice a week, till Ramadan comes about.

And again, as as a preparation breaking from the pattern and from, you know, the pattern of just eating everyday normally, it's just sort of, you're shaking your pattern making it easy and shallow and normal long combs. But I don't recommend if you're not someone who's used to come to regular fasting, I don't recommend you, you fast like many days, like four or five days every week, it might be a little bit of it might just might start drawing on your reserves and maybe you won't be able to sustain it in Ramadan.

So that's actually a good thing. And I would say to start with so there are many people keep their soda for for Ramadan. And I understand because they want more rewards, but look at it strategically.

When you give sadaqa a wipes away sins, and that has an impact on your heart, it has a cleansing effect, and this will help you actually do better in Ramadan. So it's a completely different type than, you know, giving sadaqa unexpecting reward and Ramadan is just a completely different thing.

So so this is one another one which, which is voluntary acts, I would say start with the Quran.

A lot of the earlier generations, many of them would actually start the relationship up there, we'll start intensifying the relationship with the Quran at the beginning of Shabbat, which means a month before Ramadan. And that's a very good strategy. Again, because you don't want to overwhelm yourself and make a huge change. Just starting with Ramadan, this might actually mean that you might not be able to sustain it, you reach a burnout because Ramadan will become a huge shift for you without any kind of conditioning or preparation. And then you cannot sustain it. So you'll start losing your energy, you start losing the excitement and the drive to do more for the sake of Allah subhanho wa

taala. So start slowly start a little bit. So you know, some of the, in the last few days, these remaining days of shanann start raising the bar a little bit higher, in a way, consider it to be some kind of a warm up for Ramadan with some good deeds, pray maybe to raka even if it's just five minutes every night, after Isha after your prayers, pray to raka or if you are able to wake up before Fajr because it's a very good idea in Ramadan to have this whole the pre Dawn meal. So start, you know getting used to waking up just before Fajr where you are able to fit in to squeeze in to halacha of the family. It would be a beautiful thing and it will definitely you know, get you warmed

up for Ramadan. And hopefully inshallah this will help you sustain you know, your effort and your performance during Ramadan.

Okay, so that's the second point that I want to share with you.

A third Good point, I would say maybe draw on some social support.

And maybe this might be a challenge this year because of the lockdowns in different countries and different places and the limitations, but still, I mean, we can do that some of it online

at home hamdulillah in many of the places as far as I know, in Canada hamdulillah we're able to have about maybe 30% of messages capacity, which is it's good it's definitely better than nothing so we are able to have slotted tarawih at the masjid and I would say if there is like some kind of registration booking system, I would say you know rush to book your spots and make sure you're diligent with this so you don't miss out on the opportunity.

And

and I might have another point to add on this but let's leave it at that here with with with the Brookings.

So drawing on social benefit is better

sickly few your friends, your circle of friends, if you guys encourage each other, and remind each other and

and

I would say remind each other we, you know, call each other to wake you up, wake up your friend before Fajr tell him Hey man, you know, pre talk for rocker before sorry before federal

if you have one person, call the whole group something like this, and, and maybe pray together at the masjid. And if it's safe, you know, opening your fast together, these are things that are actually that are helpful. Having this kind of social support, the team spirit is a huge boost for our performance in Ramadan. This is one of the reasons why Allah spent animates a lot of gems, like a big part of Islam that Muslims pray in congregation, because it's, it's a huge part, along with other benefits. But this is one part because we humans are social creatures. And we get influenced a lot, we pick up the spirit of the group or the social entity. And that's a good site. That's a very

good side of this of this phenomenon.

So this is something that is good to do. And what I'd recommend as well is maybe you can start preparing something, maybe you start you can, that's number four, you can start shifting your daily routine. And I know with Ramadan and Hamdulillah. This year in the northern hemisphere, it's not too bad for most for most cities.

The days are not too long, like they were six or seven years ago, or maybe five years ago, again, in the middle of the summer, when the days are the longest. Now it's a little bit more manageable, I think these around the Toronto area will probably be around 16 hours.

Towards the end of Ramadan, they might be 17 hours, which is handler manageable. But I would say still, there will be a challenge when you're getting enough sleep. Because after Isha, you're gonna have to Oh, we then you want to wake up before Fajr for Sehore or better even for maybe more prayer. But again, it means you you might not have enough sleep or you might have interrupted sleep, if you want to sleep, some people have to sleep off to fidget so that they can manage because they have a job or they have other commitments.

So I would say start working on shifting your patterns slowly, maybe from now start introducing some changes, not all the changes, but some changes. So it doesn't become a huge discomfort at the beginning of Ramadan to have many things changing at the same time.

And some of it might be putting in place some kind of system, maybe shifting your work your working hours, if you're able to do this, maybe, you know, start working on some tasks that in advance so that you can

you know, get them done before Ramadan comes in. Or at least maybe you get some of them done. So it lessens your work burden during Ramadan, whatever kind of arrangement that in your capacity you're able to make, in order to give yourself a bit more time, a bit more time to rest as well. And reduce the complexity of you know, and the number of things like simplicity resort to simplicity and Ramadan. This makes it way way easier rather than having to manage too many things. And too many variables at the same time.

Yeah, so this is this kind of arrangement, as well. And I think parents as well will need to look at some kind of arrangement for arrangements for the kids.

Maybe sleep times will start changing, shifting, study hours, school hours, you know, homework, etc. You might want to start making an arrangement again, there's no universal arrangement or one size fits all.

You know, just use common sense and wisdom insha Allah to Allah. And this also leads us to number five, it's good if you're a parent to start, you know,

preparing your kids for Ramadan. And again, having if your kids are able to fast whether a full day or half a day or two thirds of the day, that's a good thing.

Again, just be careful Be observant when it comes to their health and and that they're getting good nutrition at the time of f bar and maybe before Fajr as well and that they are hydrated very well. Especially at these times when there is you know the viruses around

and we know

the immune system with fast and could get suppressed

First, but again with hydration, proper hydration and a good meal after maghrib and a good meal before Fajr, this insha Allah could, again minimize the any kind of impact on the immune system. But kids as well need to be prepared psychologically. They need the reminder the and they actually get excited about it. And I see this every year, the kids just look forward to Ramadan, they look forward to change. It's a big change. And it's also beautiful. It's a fresh form of devotion, and somehow freshens up the whole concept of worship for the kids. So in this sense, is very helpful, they look forward to it. And they also have a sense of achievement and accomplishment when they are

able to fast. So that's very profound. And but again, be careful because some kids might not be able to happen. I'm speaking about younger kids, not the ones who are religiously accountable.

The younger kids is just training them putting them in the spirit make Ramadan a very beautiful time for them

as it should be.

And remember, for us being kids Ramadan was such a wonderful time we look forward to it, because yeah, lifestyle has changed. But again, there was a beautiful spirit for Ramadan. We felt it from our elders, and it remained with us. So it's a wonderful way it's a wonderful bonus and bringing up your kids and you know, again, strengthening their Muslim emphasizing their Muslim identity, which is a very important thing to to do.

In terms of preparation, something comes to mind. And I'm going to talk about the Allahu Anhu was the first actually to put lights or torches or lanterns in the domestic and Ramadan. That was his way of preparing domestic for van so that people could spend more time at night at the masjid. So he will he's the one who started this practice and Aleve. Nabil Talib. When they entered the masjid later on.

After the time of honorable thought he entered the masjid, I saw the Mr. was lit with these, you know, torches and

and he said like he said that hammock along with and Hatami Allah have mercy on your May Allah

bring light to your grave as you have brought light to the houses of Allah where people are able to pray and recite the Quran and so on and so forth. So this was a more there was

a huge step that he made, where masajid people could stay the masjid at night, they could they could recite they could

pray stay longer, etcetera more comfortably with the lights being there. So this was a preparation.

We said many of the elder generations which actually there would be merchants that would have a shop in the market in the marketplace and they would have to actually close the shop for Shaban and Ramadan.

Again, not everyone can do that and we understand. So

just you know use common sense and be wise about these things. Imam Malik Remo, longtime Ramadan started he would close all of his classes. And he will say this is the time this is the month of the Quran. He was just read read the Quran contemplate.

I remember Sherif, you're gonna have a lot of time that we read the Quran so many times in in the month of Ramadan. So we can see that this it was like it's a very special season. And it was a very special time. And these were people who appreciated and understood the value of Ramadan and they were not willing to sacrifice that or waste it at all. And we should be mindful of this and I believe in hamdulillah many of the practicing Muslims I see this, they actually take Ramadan Seriously though, they look forward to it. And that's a very good sign and hamdulillah it's a blessing from ALLAH SubhanA wits and we ask Allah to maintain that keep it and even make it grow,

make more Muslims, you know, wake up to the beauty of Ramadan and help them utilize it and benefit from it. And we know from the Hadith of the prophets, I send them they're benefiting and Ramadan is just so easy, that even the prophets of salaam came to him and he made two and he said, Anyone who witnesses the month of Ramadan and this person doesn't get his or her sins forgiven. May Allah distance them from the measure may they be taken away from the Mercy of Allah. Why? Because it's so easy. It's so easy that someone who's not paying attention completely who's indifferent completely to Ramadan will actually miss out on Ramadan, or someone who doesn't care about Ramadan, which isn't

shouldn't be the case for someone who really looks forward to meeting the last opponent and returning to him.

Some of the things as well that we can do in in order to prepare ourselves for Ramadan. I would

Say,

although we spoke about arrangements, but

social media, cuz it's this is just a different

type of arrangement

you know, observation and research shows that social media takes a huge chunk of

the average person's time,

up to five, six hours a day. And that's a lot

this time could be utilized, it could be utilized. So I would say, use it as a means to, for example, learn something about Ramadan, or get yourself motivated. Or as we said, with a social support circle, maybe that's it. But other than that, I recommend you put your social media on hold. Really, I recommend you sort of fast do some, you know, phone fasting, if that's possible, I definitely think Ramadan is a good time for this, or at least social media

fasting. So I think you can sign out of your accounts, you don't have oh, you put them on hold you freeze them, whatever.

I would recommend this. And if you are looking forward to social support, etcetera, whatever, just choose one of the applications or one of the those social media platforms, that doesn't distract you this specifically for the Salesforce specific kinds of messages, or reminders, or groups, etc. Where you don't get this all of these messages and notifications, I definitely recommend you do this. And

usually people when they seek some kind of benefit, etc. Usually people will watch a video, so they would go to YouTube, and they would watch that video.

But again, don't keep and I think YouTube allows you some kind of mechanism to limit your time. So it gives you a reminder, right, you put a time limit allowed recommend you do this. So whatever measures you can take with social media, because it's a huge challenge. And it's it's a very subtle distraction. Most people don't realize how much time they put in social media, and how much time they waste. So I recommend you take all the necessary measures in order to

again, not get trapped in social media or distracted by it. And then you will see that you have a lot of time, a lot of time that usually goes waste on social media. So that's an important arrangement as well inshallah to do and I say, start doing it from now on maybe in the next few days.

Don't wait until the beginning of Ramadan, because once one is on starts, so many things are changing, so many things are shifting, and it just becomes you know, a burden to have one more shift there. So do it from now, or do it in the next few days before Ramadan so that you enter Ramadan without having to change too many things at once.

So this would be my recommendation, I would I want to give a special recommendation for Roma for the Quran.

Put a plan for yourself in the Quran, those who already have a good relationship with the Quran, who read the Quran who have like enjoy reading of Quran, I would say put a plan to recite the Quran maybe once or twice or three times, at least, if you are able to, you know, most of us have the time but it's just a matter of time management to here or putting some kind of a plan.

If you devise a good plan shall a lot. A lot of people found it easy to you know, have a specific portion to read before and after every slot. So before the slot, they would read a page, let's say and after slot they would read a page for example, or two pages before and two pages after Salah. So and if you do this, that means whatever is the line reciting Are you reading four pages five Salah every day, that's 20 pages of juice.

And it doesn't take that much time because it's spread out throughout the day.

For some people that they love to read in big chunks, so maybe the beginning of the day read for one or two hours. So whatever works for you, I would definitely recommend you start putting the plan and working on it.

For some people it might not be the recitation may be listening. And it's good to actually put a plan together and utilize whatever comes comes comes. comes easy in your in your in your practice on your approach. Some people love to read maybe some kind of explanation, a commentary on the Quran. Fine if if you don't, if you're unable to sustain recitation of the Quran or listening to the Quran and you find that you get more

motivated reading next year okay fine do it if this is the open door for you, whatever door is open for you utilize it and benefit from it and wherever you find more joy

is more likely to be the area where you are able to sustain so I would say do more of that utilize it benefit from take advantage of it

what else we can say in order to try to benefit from Ramadan

I don't want to I don't want to make this longest just because sometimes just mentioning too many tips might make us you know, forget about them and not utilize them. So I wanted to emphasize them the ones that I see to be the most

the most important one final thing I would say and this is to Window Milan really starts make your relationship with a lot more personal and until I probably expound on this inshallah when we get closer to Ramadan or when we meet during Ramadan but it allowed me to add so I think it's a good now it's about half an hour so it's good time to close and I hope this serves as a good reminder and I hope you find some of the tips helpful there and they will help you inshallah benefit from Ramadan and utilize it and get more reward get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala Inshallah, we'll meet you once before Ramadan and we will need the evening Allah if Allah allows. Inshallah we will meet you

three times a week and Ramadan later and discuss something talk about something that inshallah should help us benefit more and get closer to Allah subhana wa Taala Joseph from Lafayette and for joining us and wish you all great Ramadan and Ramadan that is full of blessings and forgiveness from Allah subhanho wa Taala add one final thing we say Allama Salim sent a message from Eduardo Savio, so no. So Hanukkah llama we have the cashew Allegra Highlander stuff to worry

about