The last 10 – An Opportunity of a Lifetime
Date:
Channel: Moutasem al-Hameedy
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AI Generated Summary ©
The importance of trusting Allah and not letting fear and anxiety control one's actions is emphasized. It is crucial to be prepared for the future and work towards a predictable future, not losing faith and not allowing suffering to destroy one's heart. It is also important to pray with Jesus and not to overburden oneself. Prayer and devotionals are essential for achieving Islam's goal of building brotherhood and building a healthy future.AI Generated Transcript ©
All praise is due to Allah.
We praise
him, we seek his aid and we ask
for his forgiveness.
We seek refuge in Allah from the evil
of ourselves and the evil consequences of our
actions.
Whomsoever
Allah guides, none can lead astray.
And whomsoever
Allah leaves to go astray, none can guide.
I testify that there is none worthy of
our worship and devotion but the almighty
Allah
alone.
And I testify that Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam is his servant and his messenger.
Oh, you who believe,
fear Allah as he should be feared and
die not,
except in a state of surrender and submission
to your lord.
Oh mankind,
be dutiful to your 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 kin. Surely
Allah is ever and all watcher 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
your sins.
And whoever
obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed attained
a great achievement.
The best words are the divine words of
Allah,
and the best guidance
is that of prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa'alehi wasallam.
And the worst things in the religion are
the newly invented matters, for all the newly
invented matters in religion are considered to be
heretical innovation and bida,
and every bida is misguidance.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says to prophet to
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
You are going to die and they will
and they will die.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also says,
every soul
shall taste death.
And you will
be recompensed.
You will be given what you put forth
on the day of judgment.
So those
who managed to be pushed away from the
hellfire
and admitted into paradise,
those are the successful ones.
That's the reality of this life that we
live.
We wake up full of hopes everyday,
we have plans for life,
we have long term plans,
we have plans for our children,
we have plans for the house we wanna
buy,
the car we wanna get,
the vacations we wanna go on, the glory
we wanna build in this life,
but the most inevitable and sure thing is
death, that we are going to leave this
world.
The grudges,
the pains,
the joys are all gonna go away.
The only thing that remains,
the only thing that remains is your actions.
The actions of your heart,
the love of Allah,
the fear of Allah,
the hope in Allah,
the trust in Allah,
your sincerity for the sake of Allah,
Choosing Allah above all else.
All the things we fought for in this
life
are gonna go in vain. If they are
not for Allah they're going to go in
vain. Look at your past life,
look at your past life 5 years ago,
10 years ago,
there were things in your life you were
fighting for,
you were so desperate to get,
you were competing with others over and now
they don't even exist.
They don't have a reality.
The only thing that remains until today is
the good that you have done for the
sake of Allah.
All the damage that you have caused your
heart and your soul, and you will face
that on the day of judgment.
And that's what we should be concerned about
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Says to Abdullah ibn Umar radiAllahu anhu one
day.
Be in this life as a wayfarer,
as a traveler, a state a stranger,
as if you are passing through a town
or a city.
That's how you are in this life. And
the prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam said in
another hadith,
What
is the connection between me and this life?
I have nothing to do with this life.
It has nothing to do with me.
The example of my relationship with this life
or the relationship of this life with me
is just like someone
who found a tree
and he rested, he took a nap in
the shade of the tree then he left
it and moved on with his life.
That's the relationship between us and this life.
It's temporary. It's short.
We are here for a utility.
We're here to get as many good deeds
as possible.
For the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
then we leave, the real life is in
the hereafter, the real life starts after death.
The real life
is the life of the hereafter.
That's what we are created for.
We are brought here to take provisions.
Allah said, Take provision.
Meaning take provision from this life.
Build some assets in this life for the
real. Take some assets from this stage of
your existence,
for the real life that you are moving
to.
That's what you should get ready for. That's
the future to plan for.
And we should never grow heedless of this,
this is why Abdullah ibn Umar radhiallahu an
uma, he used to say because of the
advice of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
to be as a stranger in this life,
as a traveler in this life.
He said, When you go to sleep, don't
expect to wake up in the morning. Be
ready to meet Allah that night.
Because one day you'll be right.
And when you wake up in the morning,
don't ever expect
to make it till the tonight.
And take advantage
of the times of your health, the prime
of your health, when you are
healthy.
When you are able to act, when you
are able to praise Allah, when you are
able to remember Allah,
when you are able to pray, when you
are able to read the Quran, when you
are able to give sadaqa,
when you are able to cry out of
the fear of Allah,
when you are able
to keep your heart
preoccupied with Allah before the pain and the
illness and the discomfort comes to your life,
distracts you, and you wanna prostrate and you
can't, You wanna pray and you can't. You
wanna remember Allah and you can't.
Take from your health till the time
that your health is gone. And take from
your life
for the time of your death, because everyone
who dies,
wishes that they come back into this life
to do more for the sake of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's what we should
be aware of.
This is what we should work for.
This should be the future that we really
work for, that's the brightest future ever. Because
any future you're working for is gonna come
to an end. Whether it's a career, whether
it's wealth, whether it's business, whether it's sports,
whether it's reputation,
whether it's social status, it's gonna come to
an end. So work for something that is
eternal.
The reward that you get from Allah on
the day of judgment.
If you do well in this life, will
never perish,
will never come to an end.
It will be said to the people in
paradise,
You will live forever and there will be
no death.
It will be said to the people in
the hellfire,
There will be life forever and there is
no death
from this point on.
For that future you have to work.
For that kind of future that we should
work,
the future that never diminishes,
that never goes away, no one can take
it away from you.
There is no expiry date on that reward,
it goes on forever. That's the future that
we should work for. But you know what
holds us back from that?
Is Turul Amal, hope in a long life.
Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu anhu, he said,
Having hope in a long life in this
in this world
is the weapon of Iblis, of Satan with
which
he destroys humanity.
He makes you forget
preparing for the next day
and it seems that the older we grow
the more attached to this life we become.
But we should always remember Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, you're here
to take provisions for the hereafter,
that's the reality of this life.
This is why Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
Oh you who believe, fear Allah
and
look forward,
be careful,
be concerned about what you put forth for
tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the real life.
And today we have one of our mothers
in the community,
passed away. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have
mercy on her and forgive her, and accept
her among the righteous and grant her the
highest ranks in paradise.
She's a member of the community,
She prayed here and she mixed with the
community,
but you know when the time comes,
you will have to answer.
All of us will go through this.
All of us will face this day
when we will no longer be in this
world.
But you know if we are ready, if
we get ourselves prepared for the hereafter that
would be a beautiful moment,
That would be a moment of meeting Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, as Aisha radiAllahu anha was listening,
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, man,
ahab balika allahi, ahab balahu alaihi wa sallam.
He who loves to meet Allah, Allah would
love to meet them.
He who looks forward to the meeting of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the moment they return
to Allah.
Allah would look forward to meeting them, to
receiving them.
Because for the believer it's returning home.
It's the end of all pain,
it's the end of all suffering,
it's the end of all disappointment,
and is the beginning
of returning to Allah.
Being with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forever.
Where there is no fear, no sadness
and no pain.
Whereas if we are not prepared
and that moment comes upon us, that would
be the beginning of misery and abyss for
forever.
Pain and suffering
that never ends.
For that moment we should be prepared.
For that moment we should work, and Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has blessed us with this beautiful
month of Ramadan.
You know what? People who are dying at
the moment of death,
when they realize the angels are in their
presence,
to pull their soul and take it forever,
and that there is no return from now
on.
There's no coming back to this world.
There's no more time in this world. It's
over.
When they realize this,
they have one wish.
One wish, they cry out to Allah return
us back,
Give us a short break, a short time
in this world.
Oh my Lord send me back, Keep me
here just for a few minutes, so I
can do righteousness.
So make sure that when you reach that
moment,
that you are prepared and it's not too
late, you're not so preoccupied
with this life.
Leave this life with your heart
before your soul leaves it.
Let your heart travel to the hereafter.
Let your heart live in the hereafter with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
before your body leaves this world, then you
will be prepared. Allah gave us this beautiful
month of Ramadan, and we are upon, we
are about to enter
the most important
and the most
fruitful
nights and days of the year, the last
10 days of Ramadan.
The last 10 days of Ramadan, the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam realized their value.
Aisha says,
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam when the
last 10 nights fell upon him,
he would exert himself in worship,
Exert himself in worship.
And he would
do atikaaf, stay in the masjid
to worship, so that he spends all of
his time worshiping Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
Shaddal Mizzar, and in one narration,
and he would fold his mattress.
Why? Because he would only take naps.
Sleep only as much as necessary.
And then he would utilize the time. Why?
Because these are the last 10 nights.
And in the last 10 nights, there is
the best night ever.
That is worth a 1000 months.
Imagine,
one night,
a few
hours, is worth a lifetime.
It's worth a lifetime.
So if you are someone who has fallen
short in your life,
your youth maybe was not in worshiping Allah
or practicing Allah,
your past years were not sincere,
That's the time for you to make it
up.
A lifetime by spending a night sincerely worshiping
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It is something not to be missed.
It's an indispensable
opportunity
that none of us should do away with.
And this is why the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said,
Seek little Qadr
in the odd nights of the last in
the odd nights in the last 10.
It's worth it.
It's worth it and if you have not
done enough even in this Ramadan.
The reality of actions is with how you
close them, how you seal
them. Allah has given us this opportunity, the
last 10 nights, they should not they are
not usual nights, they are extraordinary.
And your performance,
your actions, your state in these 10 nights
should also be extraordinary.
It's a huge loss for someone to go
through these 10 nights as they go about
any other night in the year or even
in Ramadan.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told,
because the companions
understood the value.
They understood the value of these nights,
the value of worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
These are opportunities that Allah gives us. Allah
knows that we fall short. Allah knows our
weakness.
Allah knows our flows.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps giving us
opportunities,
so we can make it up.
So he can magnify the reward.
So the companions were so concerned about Laylatul
Qadr Aisha radiAllahu and her asks the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
and she says,
That if I happen to fall upon the
night of Al Qadr,
what should I say?
What is the best thing that I can
do?
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
he taught her the dua, Allahummainuuli
Allahummain nakaafoo woon tuhibbul afwafaAAani.
Oh Allah, You are merciful, You are forgiving.
Pardon me, forgive me. That's all. Because if
Allah forgives you,
there's nothing to worry about.
There is nothing to worry about.
Regardless of your circumstances in this life, whether
you have an easy life or a difficult
life, a challenging life,
difficult childhood,
a challenging marriage,
you know, a difficult career,
and an impossible financial
situation, if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is pleased
with you, Allahi nothing else matters.
You'll be alright.
You will be alright because you're here to
take provisions for the hereafter.
And Allah tests us in different ways.
So don't waste the last 10 nights.
And if you have if you are suffering
in life, don't let your suffering
destroy you, don't let your suffering hold you
back from this great opportunity from Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Don't let shaitan poison your heart
and tell you, you know, you're not fortunate.
Nothing works with you. Everything goes wrong. So
why even worry about this? No. Allah is
merciful.
Shaitan will bring despair and put despair
and helplessness in your heart, and Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala wants good for you.
You read Allahu liubayin Allahum wa yadayakaumsuonanaladeenaminqabliyatubaalaykum.
Allah wants to clarify to you the truth,
And Allah wants to guide you.
And Allah wants mercy for you, and Allah
wants ease for you. You read,
Allah wants ease for you, Allah doesn't want
to place hardship on you. It's shaitaan that
makes us feel so.
Allah is merciful,
Allah is kind,
and Allah is compassionate,
but it is us who fall short worshiping
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So make sure that you don't
waste these last 10 nights
and don't fight about Laylatul Qadr, oh was
it the 21st or 20 3rd, or 25th,
or 27th, or this night, or that night?
Put your focus on worshiping Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta'ala and doing your best every night. You
know, can't you really put your foot down
for the last 10 nights?
Can't you go through this challenge?
And the payoff
is unlimited.
Unlimited.
One night that is worth a lifetime more
than 80 years,
that's a great investment.
No one should miss out on this. We
ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us
from
the winners in Laylatul Qadr and in this
Ramadan.
I would recommend putting a plan for those
who are busy and those who have the
time.
But again,
it's important to have a plan. Put a
plan in place
and don't make it so sophisticated and elaborated
very simple,
very simple. What do you need to do?
Make sure that you observe your fast properly
and you preserve it. Don't waste it. Don't
waste it in any kind of sins.
Anything that violates,
you know, your commitment and your humility before
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Preserve your fasting.
Keep reading the Quran.
Increase in your recitation of the Quran the
words of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah loves
it when you read His words.
Allah loves it. He rewards it. He appreciates
it.
Read more of the Quran
during the nights.
If you are able, people have different circumstances.
If you are able to minimize the hours
of work,
do that by all means, without putting yourself
in in hardship.
If you are able to take a break,
if you are able to take some days
off,
especially the odd nights do that,
where you are able
to have the time, to take the time,
to be able to focus
on the new worship.
Now, if you
can't, fine. Do your best. Laa yukalifullahu
nafsanillahu
saha. Allah does not overburden any soul,
but always do your best.
So put some kind of plan.
Make sure you pray with the Imam at
the Masjid, Isha and Fajr,
and the tawaih until
the end of it.
So, for example at this masjid they pray
2 sets, tawaih and they pray tahajjud towards
the end.
If you can't pray both,
at least start with the imam at the
beginning with Isha, and end with them at
the end of the first set.
If you can't make it for this, pray
with them to Hajjud, start at the beginning
and stay with the imam until you're done.
Because the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
whoever prays
isha and fajr in jama'a, faqaaannna maqamal layla
kullahu. That as if you have prayed the
whole night, if you pray isha and fajr
with the imam.
Imagine when you add to this as well
salatulawiyyah
and salatul tahajjud.
Whoever prays with their imam, this prophet said,
this in Ramadan.
In Tawawi,
whoever prays with their imam until the imam
finishes the salah, and here we're talking about
this set.
Then as if you prayed the whole night,
let's say the imam prayed for 1 hour,
2 hours,
one set, and they're done.
You pray with them from begin the beginning
till the end as if you prayed the
whole night.
And if this happens and it happens to
be laylatulqadr,
imagine the reward you get from Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Stick to the dua, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam taught Aisha radiAllahu anha, Allahumma innaqafoo
wafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaafaaani.
Seek forgiveness.
Astaghfirullah,
Astaghfirullah. Seek forgiveness, make du'a for your loved
ones,
for your parents, for your family, for your
spouse,
for your children,
for
the Muslims, for the Muslim Ummah, for our
brothers and sisters who are suffering, especially in
Gaza and Palestine,
and in Islam, and in Sudan, and in
other areas.
Pray for them, don't forget them.
Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bring victory
upon them, to bring relief to their lives.
Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to strengthen this
ummah and bring the truth and make it
make it prevalent and dominant.
Cry out to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, open
up your heart to Allah and ask Him
for the things that you want in this
life as long as you are going to
put them to good use. Ask them, ask
Allah for wealth, ask Allah for ease, ask
Allah for a good spouse, ask Allah for
good children, ask Allah for a good life,
nothing wrong with that but make sure that
you are asking for these things in order
to what? To worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
with them.
And at the end don't forget sadaqah.
Don't forget sadaqah, the Prophet was the most
generous in Ramadan,
knowing that Allah rewards immensely for that. And
here I will close with one call and
one invitation.
And again, Alhamdulillahi
rabbil alamin.
Those who
are able to congregate with the JAMA'ah, to
be with the JAMA'ah,
and to experience
living a Muslim life
in this ocean of corruption, and disbelief, and
immorality,
that's a blessing that we don't really appreciate.
That's a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa'ala to
be able to come here
and build brotherhood,
the bond of brotherhood,
to be able to pray in congregation, to
be able to learn our religion, to be
able to bring our children here, to live
as proud Muslims.
In the ocean of all of this disbelief
and corruption, that's a great blessing from Allah
that we should be thankful for, and we
should be appreciative,
and we should do all we can
to keep projects like that,
and institutions like this running smoothly.
And we should consider this to be one
of the greatest contributions that we can support
and offer for the sake of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Because the reward doesn't go to
yourself and your family only, but it goes
to the whole community.
Imagine the children
who are educated here, who eventually grew up
to be committed Muslims.
Muslims who hold the word of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
and when we contribute in any form or
fashion that we are able to, you get
a reward for that, and it's a continuous
sadaqa, it's an ongoing sadaqa, sadaqa jariyah for
the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And you realize running a Masjid like this,
a center like this, with all of the
activities and
all of the classes and all of the
education and the school and the memorization of
the Quran and all of the activities and
even offering our youth opportunities to contribute
where they can volunteer.
You know, most of the work that you
see with the iftaar is volunteered
by members, young members of our community and
our mothers.
It's contributed by this community.
They get this opportunity to live a Muslim
life
in the midst of all of this darkness.
This is no small feat, this is such
a great thing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and we should be thankful by contributing to
this.
And the one day the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam,
he was with the companions and a group
of Muslims from outside of Madinah came in
a very bad state like their clothes were
worn out, they were extremely poor. The Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's face grew angry when
he saw that.
And it was Duhu time so he calls
Bilal, he says to Bilal, make the adhan.
Then he calls for the prayer, then the
Uqamat, then they pray, then the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam stands among the Muslims.
And he invites them to sadaqah.
He said, from your wealth, from your food,
from your clothing,
contribute for the sake of Allah.
Until a man from the Ansar went home
and came back, a weak man from the
Ansar, he came in, he yield in his
hand a bag that he could hardly hold
or carry, and he put it in front
of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Then when the companions saw this, all of
them followed suit.
All of them were inspired by that, until
2 huge
heaps
of food and clothing
were gathered in front of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, and the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam was delighted for that. Then he
says,
Whoever sets a good example, that is to
be followed.
In Islam, he will get its reward, and
the reward of everyone who follows him without
diminishing their rewards.
So what I would say, the masjid needs
your support,
and we need to keep it going. And
what I would say, today make sure you
don't leave this masjid without giving a good
contribution as much as you can. And I
would say those who work, and those who
have a job, and those who earn money,
I would say don't leave without offering the
Masjid today
at least $100.
And you know what? I'll be the first
one to do it.
Bismillah,
give me the bag.
And I'm hoping that this would be
set the example
and get you to do the same.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept
from us.
Again, this is money that is hopefully goes
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala multiplies it.
And this is very little,
but you know what? Give what you can.
Give what you can.
Given the hopes that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
would give you in return. And you know
what a good way to start the last
10 nights with a good deed.
Because sometimes, we want to do something in
the last 10 nights, but we don't find
it within ourselves.
And you know, the early generations, they used
to inspire themselves and get themselves to do
more actions.
How? By doing actions.
Because they said, min alaha matiqabuulil
hasanati alhasanatubadah
A sign
that your hasanah, your good deed is accepted,
is that you are inspired to do more
good deeds. So when they could not get
committed to an act of worship, they would
do some other deeds that they could do,
so that it facilitates the way, Allah opens
the way. This is how Allah inspires us
to worship.
So consider the sadaqa you give today,
as a good way to kick start your
last 10 nights, in the hopes, give it
with the intention.
Oh Allah, I am giving this to your
house
with the intention
and with the hopes that you help me
reach laylatulqadr
this year,
and that you bless me and make me
from the winners in Laylatul Qadr. We ask
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept from all
of us, to forgive our sins. Don't forget
inshaAllah. After the salah, we're gonna pray Janazah
have mercy on her.
have mercy on her.