Moutasem al-Hameedy – What to Do in the Last Few Nights of Ramadan
AI: Summary ©
The importance of worshiping Allah is emphasized, with speakers advising on staying at his presence during the last 10 nights of the year, avoiding wasting one's time, and not to be obsessed with the rising sun. The importance of doing a tikaf and staying at Allah's mercy during the last 10 nights of the year is also emphasized, along with the need to avoid negative influence on oneself and others. Prayer and sharing the message of Islam is also emphasized, and the importance of forgiveness and learning the Quran is emphasized. The um salm of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is also highlighted, and individuals are encouraged to donate and support the um carrier's brother and sister. The um carrier's history and potential for empowerment are also emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
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 evils
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
worship and devotion but the Almighty
Allah
alone.
And I testify that Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi
wa sallam is his servant
and his messenger.
Oh you who believe
fear Allah as he should be feared and
die not,
except
as Muslims.
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 words of Allah,
and the best guidance
is the guidance of prophet Muhammad
And the worst things in the religion are
the newly invented matters.
For all the newly invented matters in religion
are heretical innovation
and bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance.
As Ramadan started
at one time
in the life of the prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam,
he addresses the companions
saying to them,
This month has
presented itself to you. It has arrived.
In this month there is a night
that is better than a 1000 months.
He who misses out on its
goodness and its blessings,
then he has missed out
on all good.
And none will be denied its blessings
except
those who are denied the mercy of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And we are living the the peak of
Ramadan,
the last 10 nights
when everyone now feels
exhausted,
tired,
they have given what they have
and the temptation is to slow down now.
The temptation is to take a break
but that's the that's that's the time to
give your best and offer your best to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
You can't afford to lose this. The Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says
No one is denied the blessings of the
night
of Al Qadr, the night of power,
except those who are truly deprived.
Those who are truly denied because they deserve
to be denied.
He who misses out on the blessings. He
who is denied
the blessings of the night of Al Qadr,
the night of power,
then he has been denied or she has
been denied.
All good.
All good that means if you miss out
on naylatalqadr,
You will miss out on all good. You've
been denied.
There's no good for you, that's what it
means.
So what that means a person who truly
worships Allah,
a person who truly values Allah
will seize seize these nights
and make sure do their best.
Make this sacrifice
for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to guarantee that they never miss out on
this night.
That is worth a lifetime.
Where do you get an opportunity like this?
That's why as we mentioned previously the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would exert himself
in the last 10 nights of Ramadan.
He would perform a tikaf, meaning stay at
the masjid all the time.
Worshipping Allah,
staying away from the duniya, even from the
halal. Staying away from it because the halal
in these times could become a distraction.
Eat only as much as necessary. Sleep only
as much as necessary.
You can't miss out every minute of this
night is precious.
And there is no point getting into the
guesswork of which night it is.
Is it gonna be the 25th,
the 27th,
or was it the 21st,
or the 23rd?
Or which Ramadan
as people started it this year, which one
got it right?
The last 10 nights catch them, all of
them. You can't afford to miss out on
Laylatul Qadr.
That's why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said,
seek it desperately. Seek laylatul qadr in the
last 10 nights. And that's the sunnah of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his
companions.
And that is to
exert oneself and do your best in the
last 10 nights
without wasting your time and all of these
calculations and all of this guesswork,
and you don't you know, avoid all of
those trends. People who are, you know, getting
online.
In the last few years people have become
obsessed with watching the rising of the sun,
and everyone says, oh that's a bright sun.
Oh this is a mild sun. Oh maybe
it was this night and that night.
And these people then get into fights,
Each one trying to them to prove themselves
to be right.
You know this time you should be spending
it seeking Allah's forgiveness.
Reading Quran,
making dua,
performing prayer rather than wasting time with all
of these
futile arguments.
We can't afford to miss around these. All
of us have our sins. All of us
have our weaknesses.
All of us are in desperate need
of Allah's forgiveness and Allah's mercy.
We can't afford to miss out on this
night.
And I'm addressing everyone here,
and there are so many things that we
can do.
The most important thing is for those who
are able to perform a tikaf, the masjid
perform a tikaf.
Stay at the masjid.
You can't perform atikaf for all of the
10 nights, at least as many nights as
you can.
If you can't stay the whole day or
the 24 hours at least, stay part of
the day.
Consider you stay in the masjid. Come here.
Open your fast here.
When the moment you step into the masjid,
consider this, have the intention that this is
Ithikaf,
and stay in the masjid.
Open your fast here.
Pray talawihir, and if you are able to
pray the tahajjud later later at the night,
do that as well and stay at the
masjid. Consider this to be I tikaf,
then pray fajarir.
Then if you have to go for work
or you have to get some sleep and
you have some other obligations,
now you terminate your I tikaf at least
for that day. So hopefully you get the
reward of performing iitikaf and fulfilling the sunnah
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Cancel
social media from your life these few days.
Now half of these days are gone. We
only have 5 days left.
5 days left of Ramadan, that's the time
to show Allah your best.
Cancel social media. We can't live without social
media.
We can't without watching videos or reading nonsense
all the time.
We can't do that for 5 days for
the sake of Allah and the reward is
what?
If you get forgiven, it's worth it.
If you guarantee a place in paradise, it's
worth it. Don't waste these great opportunities
for just reading some nonsense, or watching some
videos.
Truly if you are able to put your
phone on the side,
you know lock it up somewhere.
For the last few days make the sacrifice
wallahi you will discover
some things about yourself and about your heart
and about your and about life
you never thought were possible.
We are so
we're so ruined by these devices
and the negative influence they have on us.
And it's so beautiful to see the youth,
mashAllah, feeling the masjid.
Our teenagers and our youth, it's so beautiful
to have them in the masjid.
To see them
in Tawawih,
to see them at tahajjud,
to see them opening their fast here, to
see them volunteering in the masjid,
to feed
people who are opening their fast.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to write
to write their reward in full. And it's
beautiful
to see the recitation and the
jama'ah here, and people coming together to worship
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And don't underestimate
this,
don't underestimate it. That's the way of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his companions.
When you leave the dunya,
you could waste your time, you could be
spending your time watching stuff online or on
TV, or having good time with your family.
There are people that they have this culture
in many Muslim back home cultures
of layali Ramadan, the nights of Ramadan,
where they listen to music and watch
TV series and films and movies, and smoke
shisha, and just have sweets and food all
night. And it's not about Allah,
and it's not about Islam, and it's not
about the Quran.
These are the nights of the devil.
These are laiyali
shaitan. They are not laiyali ramadan. Laiyali ramadan
are spent with you standing before Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. And people ask what can I
do during these nights?
1st and foremost,
if you can pray salatul Isha
at the masjid in congregation,
that would be the most important thing to
do. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
He who prays
Fajr Isha in congregation,
It is as if he prayed half of
the night. Half of the night just by
praying Isha in Jemaah.
And if the person prays also Fajr
in congregation,
then it is as if this person has
prayed the whole night.
So make sure you don't miss out on
isha and fajr in jama'ah.
That's the first and foremost.
Number 2, pray the tawawih with the imam.
Until the imam finishes,
He who prays with their imam. The prophet
said the baqa yam Ramadan about standing up
in prayer in Ramadan.
Whoever prays with their imam with the imam.
Until the imam completes the salah,
completes the set that they are praying,
then it is as if this person prayed
the whole night.
These are opportunities from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
He's offering the offering us these things.
So should I pray the whole night? There
are so many other things to do.
You can always read Quran
and you should have your Mus'haf with you,
or at least have the app on your
phone and read.
If you have the Mus'haf, it's better because
the if you have your phone, it's a
temptation for you to check social media.
So hold your Mushaf.
Allah, in many masajid you go and sometimes
I I give a lecture here and there
in a masjid,
and sometimes I need the Mus'haf to be
in front of me to be talking about
some verses. And I find most of the
Masahif that I hold are brand new. Never
been touched.
Never been touched. You know it's beautiful to
find the masahif in the masjid worn out
because that means people are reading,
people are connected to the Quran.
So hold your musthaf and read.
What else can you do? Remember Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Enjoy the sweetness and the beauty
of being with Allah and remembering Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Be from
Be
from those who remember Allah often.
La Illaha Illallah. Have you given yourself the
opportunity
to taste the sweetness of saying La Illaha
Illallah.
The word that you were created for.
The word that this universe,
existence itself was created for it.
When you engage in this word and in
this word and allow yourself to enjoy its
sweetness,
to delve into the depth of its meaning,
you will discover a sweetness you won't find
in anything in this world.
You won't find it in food, you won't
find it in entertainment,
you won't find it in the things you
love. It is way more profound than that.
It's the sweetness of the heart.
To connect with your Lord.
Do you have a special special relationship with
La ilaha illallah
and the unique relationship with subhanAllah?
Have you felt the
unique meaning of saying Alhamdulillah
many times?
Each one of them has its own taste.
Why do we miss out on these?
These are treasures from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
These are albatiya
tu salihad. This is the good that remains
remains with us for good for eternity.
What else can we do if you are
able to help others, for example?
Help others open their fast.
Help others in their affairs, in whatever they
need. We have elderly people, we have
people who are ill, and they might need
our help, they might need our support,
So offer that to them.
Our mothers and our wives and our sisters
who are preparing food for their family, don't
underestimate underestimate what you're doing.
Don't underestimate what you're doing. If people don't
value what you do, Allah knows what you're
doing.
Because if you don't do that,
how do you think life is gonna go?
And we have swallowed a lot of this
negative influence where we look down upon some
great
things and great tasks that if they are
performed for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, they can be an act of nearness
to Allah. A great act of worship.
And one of the greatest things that we
can do in the last 10 nights is
Tawbah.
All of us we need to to turn
back to Allah.
All of us need to ask Allah for
forgiveness.
All of us are in need of this.
All all of us are this person who
has committed grave sins against Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Knowingly and unknowingly, we are in desperate
need of Allah's forgiveness and Allah's pardon.
And we all know the hadith.
And I asked the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam
O Messenger of Allah if I recognize if
I know which Laylatul Qadr it is, what
should I say? The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
said, Oli Allauma innaqafuwuntohibulafwafa'ani.
Oh Allah, you are forgiving.
You are pardoning.
Forgive me.
Forgive me. Free me from my sins.
From the
consequences of my from the repercussions of my
sins.
And that's Tawba,
That's tawba we need to cleanse our things,
our our souls we need to cleanse our
hearts.
We commit sins,
we violate the rights of Allah
left and right and center all the time
and we need to repent to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
We need to ask Allah for forgiveness
and that's an important thing to do in
these night in these nights. So make sure
you don't waste this time.
Make sure you don't waste this time
and don't get involved in arguments
about how many rak'ahs we should pray or
we shouldn't pray. Should I pray after wither
or I shouldn't these issues have been discussed
by the scholars and there are differences.
There are differences among the scholars. If there
is a matter of disagreement among the scholars,
there is a rule that is agreed upon
by all Muslim scholars unanimously.
There should be
no issue, no grudge.
And
there should be we should not reprimand one
another when it comes to matters where the
Muslim scholars have disagreements,
valid disagreements.
And these are valid disagreements.
So it's okay. Leave it.
You're not gonna solve these problems.
Your priority should be to connect to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in these nights and seize
them and never miss out on them.
So
there's nothing else to do these nights
but it requires
love of Allah but you know because what
keeps people going these nights is the love
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
The love of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the
worship of Allah, the devotion.
They seek it, the the genuine and honest
and authentic seeking of Allah's mercy and Allah's
love. We ask Allah to make us from
among those.
Muhammad. Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
made dua to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and he mentioned that in a few occasions.
And he talks about how Allah responds to
him.
And in one of the ahadith
collected by Imam Ahmed and his Muslim, and
it's authentic.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says to Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
And I have guaranteed to your Ummah, oh
Muhammad that I will never destroy them with
famine.
Meaning famine will never wipe out this Ummah.
It might hit some pockets
but it will never destroy this Ummah because
there were nations in the past
that disappeared
that were wiped out because of famine.
And I shall not send an enemy
upon them from other than them
that would be able to wipe them out
or destroy them.
That's a guarantee from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
that this Ummah will survive.
This Ummah will survive. Wallahi, if you look
at history
and if you collectively bring all of the
conspiracies and the attacks
and the campaigns
that took place against the Muslim Ummah
and if you take 10% of that
and direct it to any other nation
it would be ruined destroyed forever.
And we have nations that have been wiped
out with far less than what was leveled
at the Muslim Ummah.
Yet
from the time of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam and the time of the Khalifa
of Rashidun, the attacks upon the Muslims.
Then after that
the Crusades,
then the the Mongols and all of their
attacks on the Muslims,
then the years of colonialism,
then the incessant attacks,
ideological
attacks,
psychological
attacks,
military attacks,
political attacks. Umde Muslim Ummah until this day,
until now with what is happening in Gaza.
They will never be able to wipe out
this Ummah it will remain strong And the
same hadith the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
he he says,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala revealed to me.
Allah folded up the whole earth to me,
everything in it was brought near so I
could see it.
And the dominion
of my ummah,
the power of my ummah shall cover everything
that I saw.
That's a promise from the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
This ummah will remain strong.
It will never be defeated
no matter what they do.
And yes we live at times of deception
where where the most heinous crimes
are committed,
yet they are beautified,
yet they are camouflaged.
Even with all of the imagery that we
are getting there is a lot of deception
going around.
Yet this Ummah will remain strong and Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala chooses from his servants
people
that he takes as martyrs.
This is how we see the loss that
hits the Muslim Ummah. But as Muslims
everyone,
every individual one of us
in our capacity, in what we can do
we should do what we can.
And part of what we can is obviously
financial support.
And the collection of this jum'ah is going
to the people of Ghazabi illahu ta'ala.
He had the Human Concern International today, the
brothers from there Jazahumullah Khayr,
they are making the collection today
for the people of Ghazal. Alhamdulillah so far
I was told that this Masjid has contributed
what is more than $70,000
for Ghazal.
So may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala accept from
everyone who donated. InshaAllah we want to top
this up. Hopefully InshaAllah we can reach at
least a 100,000 today bi'inlata'ala.
For our brothers and sisters,
no better gift to give them or at
least
show the least support
for these brothers who are in the front
lines, who are taking all of the heat
on behalf of the whole Umma.
That we support them with what we can
financially.
But that's not the end of it.
And here I speak to parents and I
speak to the youth.
The youth, our future.
You were not created to play.
You were not created to waste your time
on social media
and following all of these
silly trends
that take the world by storm
and waste your time in video games
and waste your time
on all of the nonsense
that you know about.
You were created for something great. You are
part of an Ummah that has the best
history ever in humanity.
You come
from a nation that had made the best
contributions to humanity in every sense.
This is the Ummah that holds the right
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
It's the fit It's the safety valve for
humanity.
It is the only Ummah that fulfills Allah's
right to be worshipped alone.
Humanity even the the most wicked among humanity
are protected by the Muslim Ummah. Why? From
the punishment of Allah because the Muslim Ummah
is the one that holds the punishment of
Allah at bay by obeying Him.
You are part of a glorious Ummah, don't
be don't be brainwashed.
Don't ever think that you are insignificant.
You have so much to say, and you
have so much to do for the sake
of this ummah,
and you can do much.
But through all of that influence they try
to make you feel insignificant
that you can't do anything.
But the fact is when you come to
the Quran,
our youth,
when you come to the Quran,
when you learn the book of Allah,
when you are the one leading us in
salah here,
the future of this umma will be bright.
What makes us weak, we our umma is
that we did not hold on to the
book of Allah well. We don't have enough
critical mass among us to uphold
the rule of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and
the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and
that's why we are suffering.
This land, this world belongs to Allah He
gives it to whomever He wills.
We have not fulfilled the condition.
But maybe with you we can do that.
You are the hope of this ummah and
Ramadan is the start.
You should take this Ramadan as the beginning,
the beginning of a new life. Don't waste
your life
with all of these video games.
Don't waste your time. Come and learn the
Quran. Come to the masjid.
We don't wanna see you only in Ramadan.
Come to the masjid here, learn the Quran.
There are programs
where you can start to learn the Quran,
memorize it, learn the tafsir,
learn how to practice it. There are fiqh
classes,
there are classes dedicated for the youth, there
are classes for the sisters,
there are classes for memorizing the Quran, there
are classes for tafsir,
there are classes for spirituality.
Don't waste your life with all of these
trivial things.
There are great things that you can do
and you hold a responsibility
for the ummah. Because when we are weak
our brothers suffer,
and our sisters are killed,
and our ill our elders are massacred,
our children are violated
when we ourselves
don't hold on to the rope of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. That's a responsibility that we
shoulder and we hold.
We can't stay helpless.
We can't afford to stay helpless.
And why? Why are we helpless? Because we
hold on to this dunya and the prophet
made it clear in the hadith.
Allah shall take from the hearts
of your enemies their fear of you.
And Allah shall place in your heart, throw
in your heart, Al Wahan, the weakness. They
said what is Al Wahan what is this
weakness?
He said hubudunya
waqarahi
atulmoun. Love of this dunya is what destroys
us.
Love of this dunya is what destroys it.
It holds us captive. It makes you a
slave for the dunya. A slave for shaitan.
Allah created you at a level higher high
above that.
So don't stoop to that level. And finally,
you know, don't forget Zakat al Futtar. The
Prophet
made it an obligation, followed Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
Said, that the prophet prescribed
as a purification
for all of the blemishes of your fast,
the imperfections of your fast, and the flows
that we have. And in in worship, we
always
seal our worship with seeking forgiveness and doing
something good. We do that after salah. We
do this after hajj as well.
So after Ramadan, there is sadaqatil futr, and
it should be given before salatil Eid.
And there are, alhamdulillah, the organizations
that collected. And today as well, the Human
Concern International,
they have a special
account for Sadaqatul Futtar and most of it
is going to be Insha'Allah and Ghazabi
So make sure that you give Sadaqatul Futtar
for each member of your family.
Each
single one in your family they have to
give that shayra. And I'm not sure what
the what the estimate today is. Some said
$10, some said $15.
Do your best bi'yinillahi ta'ala and consider this
to be an act of nearness to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.