Ramadan 2015 – Eid Lecture

Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

smilla rahmanir rahim In the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen All praises indeed due to Allah subhanho wa Taala Lord of the worlds wa Salatu was Salam O Allah ashrafi lambier even more saline Nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi adjumani we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household, all his companions, we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to bless them all. And to bless every single one of the one of us on this beautiful day have read. And we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to make us from among those whom he has forgiven. Since we have engaged in beautiful acts of

worship during the month of Ramadan, the fasting, the

Salah, the extra voluntary prayer in the evening, as well as the recitation of the Quran and the listening of the beautiful baronne. We ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to accept it from us. My brothers and sisters, a very important question is, what did we achieve from the month of Ramadan? It comes every year, Allah gives us the opportunity to witness it. And Allah gives us this blessed day, every single year, we don't know whether we will see another one. So the question is, what are we meant to be achieving? And what should we have achieved from this beautiful month of Ramadan?

Primarily if we were to look at the Quran, and if we were to look at the verses, whereby Allah subhanho wa Taala has made mention of the fasting, he says quite clearly

levena Amano kuchibhotla como si mahkamah kuchibhotla la de

la, la La, qu. O you who believe fasting has been prescribed upon you, just like it was prescribed upon those before you, in order that you may achieve dupois

duck wha some have translated it as the fear of Allah, some have said it is the consciousness of Allah. And some have gone deeper into the precise meaning of toccoa because it is derived from Wikipedia, or should we say it has in it the meaning of a barrier. That barrier is actually a barrier that we are supposed to be creating between ourselves and the punishment of Allah subhanho wa Taala The Wrath of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So if I were to obey Allah instruction, and if I were to abstain from his prohibition, I would be helping myself to create this beautiful barrier.

If the punishment of Allah subhanho wa Taala is shown on the Day of Judgment, I would be one who would have a barrier between myself and the punishment because primarily the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala that allows the deeds we've engaged in to be accepted and the shortcomings to be forgiven. But I have tried, and we all would have tried May Allah granted to every single one of us, I mean, so if we take a look at how to achieve this, firstly, we worship none but Allah subhanho wa Taala. So no act of worship is ever allowed to be rendered to anyone or anything besides Allah subhanho wa Taala that is what Islam is based on. That is actually the primary difference between Islam and most

other faiths, where the concept of godhood and the concept of worship stands out very clearly. It's known as a monotheistic religion. The Prophet Abraham Ibrahim alayhi salatu was Salam May peace be upon him. If we take a look at his life, his life rotates around worshiping one Allah subhanho wa Taala, alone worshipping v maker. And this is what we believe in the primary method of achieving the salvation on the Day of Judgment is by worshipping Allah alone. And this is why Allah says, in Allah, Allah will shock me while

he can me.

Allah does not forgive. If a person dies without repenting from polytheism. Allah will not forgive that polytheism he will not forgive that Sheikh, but he can forgive any of the sins if a person dies without having sought the forgiveness from other sins. It's up to Allah to say, Okay, I forgive this person. But when it comes to Sheikh he says, if you've died, and you have not yet repented from that sin, then indeed I will punish you may Allah subhanho wa Taala not do that to us. May we be from amongst those who repent every day many times during the day

As well as the eve I mean, so that is something primary. The second thing we need to know is during the month of Ramadan, what we did we engaged in the voluntary prayer known as Tara we, we engaged in the recitation of the Quran, we fasted, we closed and opened our fast as per the instruction of Mohammed salatu salam. And that was the instruction of Allah, but it came to us through the messenger May peace be upon him. So anything we do in terms of acts of worship should be in accordance with the teachings of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So the first thing is, I will worship none but Allah. The second thing is, any act of worship that I render, I cannot come with an

act of worship that I've created on my own, because the entire purpose of sending the messengers to us was to show us how Allah wants to be worshipped, what he wants from us. That's why he sent the messengers. So if we were to come up with our own acts of worship, for example, stand on one leg and pretend like it's an act of worship, wave at the sky, perhaps jump around, you know, dance around all this if it has not been brought by Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, and we do it thinking that it's good, we are insulting the messenger and claiming that he did not do his job now the below May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us And forgive us. This is the primary reason why it is very important for

us to keep on asking ourselves what I'm doing, is it an innovation or not? Let's never become people who are hostile towards the word innovation, because we are meant to be looking into our acts of worship, take out anything that is doubtful, remove it, that which is clear cut unanimous that which is agreed upon is always that which is necessary and required, that which has dispute in it primarily, you probably would not need to do that, because it would not be a matter of dispute, may Allah subhanho wa Taala help us feel easy within ourselves to remove that from the acts of worship, we may be engaging, that was not taught by Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam like I said, it's an insult to

Mohammed Salah Salaam, his status and the finality of prophethood and the fact that he has delivered the message for us to think he hasn't because we know a little bit better. So these are the two primary things we should have achieved from the month of Ramadan. And we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to grant us all acceptance. Similarly, when it comes to the month of Ramadan, you and I know we've engaged in a lot of acts of worship that were extra over and above that, which we would be engaging in during the days outside Ramadan. And for this, it's important for us to realize that which is compulsory for us through the year becomes much easier. If I were engaging in so much voluntary

prayer during Ramadan, then at least a day like today Mashallah I should be here for Salah I've been getting up quite early Alhamdulillah perhaps the excuse might have been food in the case of some but Alhamdulillah at least we followed through a solid Wilfredo and so now it would be much easier for us to continue with that which is for that which is compulsory that which is required by Allah subhanho wa Taala. So I call on yourselves as well as myself to ensure that we do not miss that which is that which is compulsory. The five daily prayers that I am supposed to be engaging in should become much easier. It's important for me to arrive early for the Salah a few minutes before

it begins at least and at the same time remain and continue even further with the sun and the nephele and various other acts of worship. Similarly, what's important for us to know is this is known as hula the rights of Allah subhanho wa Taala when I fulfill my Salah, I'm doing it for the sake of Allah, another human being is not involved when it comes to the act of worship known as Salah prayer. another human being is not involved, it's me and my maker. So there are certain acts of worship that are between myself and my maker, I need to fulfill the rights of my maker worship none but my maker ensure that I do things according to the follow to the instruction of Muhammad

Sallallahu sallam, and at the same time Subhana Allah, I need to be a person who makes sure that everything my maker wants from me is done.

But there is another entire department that I need to fulfill and that is known as Rococo a bed

the rights of fellow human beings, I need to make sure I reach out to other people. I need to make sure my attitude towards others is purified rectified. If you take a look at Ramadan, it's not just the fasting, our hearts are softened, we give out a fitara at least some or a lot of people have chosen to give out their Zakah as well in the month of Ramadan. Although it's not a condition but because it is something that is good people do it in the month of Ramadan expecting a greater reward from Allah subhanho wa Taala so

To become charitable, this quality is such that you are reaching out to other people. Similarly, we need to ask ourselves if I am required to be charitable and to reach out to others with my wealth. What about with my character with my conduct? What is the point of giving a charity and yet your character and conduct is not even of an acceptable level? So Allah subhanho wa Taala makes it quite clear. Yeah.

levina Manohla totally Rosada partiko Roman numeral,

oh, you who believe, do not

render or nullify the reward of your charities, by bragging about it, by bragging about it and by harming so imagine a person gives you a charity

or gives a poor person a charity. And later on for the rest of their lives. They said you know what to remember I gave you the $100. Remember, I gave you the $100 if they keep on saying that, perhaps a person who has respect would take the $100 and give it back and say listen, you know what, keep your money and thank you so much. The reality is when we've given someone it should be such that the left hand does not really know what the right hand is spent. That's the most ideal way of doing it. Consider yourself fortunate that Allah has kept poor people for you to be able to reach out to in order to engage in that act of worship, the equation is not complete if there was no one to receive.

If the recipient is not there, the equation is not complete. This is something I need to know. So what we need to develop is our character as well we need to purify the heart. This is how taqwa will be achieved when you have removed jealousy from your heart. And that will come with an effort. Sometimes jealousy does not go away, unless you make an effort to remove it. Unless you work hard on yourself to say, Look, let me become happy at the success of someone else. Whether it is material or any other form of success. Let me become happy with the success of the others. When I see them, doing well, I must be happy, I must thank Allah, perhaps I can congratulate them and so on and feel

good about it. Maybe it's not wrong to ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to give you from from that as well or to give us from what we see others being bestowed with. That's a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So to remove jealousy, to remove hatred, to remove envy, to go out and resolve matters between the members of the oma, we should be starting with resolving matters within members of the family, and thereafter make that circle larger and larger, by going to perhaps members of the community and so on. Some people are not even bothered, they may see a problem they may be living within an issue and they never want to resolve it. the bare minimum is feel in your heart that I

really want to do something about this for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala. In this way, we will be able to resolve matters, we will be able to come together as an oma and fulfill what Allah wants us to fulfill. If we do not resolve matters and disputes between us how then would we be able to help the generations to come? If you take a look at those who struggled and strove from the very beginning. They continued in a way that today the dean has come to us we are seated here together, take a look at the companions of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam. It is very interesting to note that whenever we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam we mentioned

them, we say why Allah Allah He was happy. May Allah bless the family as well as the companions. Why do we speak about the companions? May Allah be pleased with them, because they are the ones who struggled from the very beginning and that's how the message got to us. So if we were to struggle in order to preserve the message, and to give it to others, especially our children, and expect and hope and pray that inshallah it will get to the next generations, we will be fulfilling a part of our duty, we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to make that easy for us. Similarly, when it comes to the achievement of the month of Ramadan, the softening of the heart, drawing closer to Allah, a

person should be loving, loving, to get to Allah subhanho wa Taala to become closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala we should be softened in a way that everything good that pleases Allah subhanho wa Taala we find ourselves there we find ourselves quick. For example, this is the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala and Allah subhanho wa Taala has definitely kept every one of us as the guests of his and this is why the masjid is not known as a person's bliss. It's known as the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala and this house of Allah subhanho wa Taala everyone who comes in should be feeling the warmth of the hearts of the rest of us. We should be feeling welcome. We should look at each

other and give

each other, did you know that if you start off only by greeting each other with a smile, a lot of your other problems would be resolved. Because soon the smile will become genuine. You know initially sometimes people have a little bit of animosity, they might smile at you without really meaning the smile, we hope that we can work on that type of smile and make it make it a bit more genuine by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala And when that happens, the hearts begin to warm up, we begin to reach out to others, we begin to feel good, you look forward to the next Salah yes for the sake of Allah but because your brothers are there and because Subhanallah you will be going

there and you will be feeling the bond with the rest of the oma. But if someone made you feel uncomfortable in the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala you would not want to go back. So let us not be from among those who make others feel uncomfortable when it comes to the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala

but what is of importance is to note that the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala is not only for Salah, there are so many other activities that take place in the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala various massages have various programs that they have in place in order to serve Allah through serving the oma, make sure we participate in some of these programs, at least, make sure that your heart is softened, to be able to feel that you are missing out when a tough scene happens and you're not there. Because that's the word of Allah. So sit in it, make sure you make an effort to sit it's 10 minutes, perhaps 20 minutes, even if it is 30 minutes a week. That's not much. If we sit and we

listen to the word of Allah, it may soften the hearts of ourselves as well as our offspring. Imagine when your children watch you dedicatedly sitting every week or every so often for an Islamic program, you show interest in it. It is automatic training for your own children, they will realize your dedication perhaps even after you've departed they will say my dad never missed this. I'm going to sit here how many of us have witnessed our parents, those who've passed on May Allah grant those parents, Rama and mercy May Allah grant them gentlemen, those who are alive May Allah grant him long and healthy lives in his obedience. I mean, how many of us have witnessed our parents doing certain

things religiously, and as a result, it has made us follow suit. It has made us feel that we want to do this. So why don't we do the same so that our children can also follow because remember, Our duty is to look after our children and to nurture them and to be able to give them a good upbringing as best as we can. One of the best ways of doing that is to lead by example, lead by example without even speaking they want you coming to the masjid enthusiastically every day with a smile on your face, they will want to be a part of it. But if we come to the masjid last minute, we are rushing only for Juma half the Juma is over, we come in and we are the first ones out and we have gone when

the children witnessed this, they will think that the house of Allah is a place where you go last minute and you come out quickly. And that's it. You have no link with Allah. Let us try and change this. This is what we are meant to have achieved from Ramadan. If we if we really think about it that taraweeh we engaged in in the month of Ramadan. It's not easy. It's actually quite difficult, especially for those who do not understand the Arabic language to be able to stand in prayer. We need to admit it's difficult it's not easy, because you are listening to words perhaps concentrating on the words without knowing the meanings. May Allah subhanho wa Taala reward every single one of us

and accept it from us. So if we managed to stand and listen to the entire Quran, Isn't it about time that we start wanting to read the Quran in a similar fashion in a beautiful way so make an effort. Ramadan is a month of the Quran one of the achievements I am supposed to have achieved is closeness to the Quran, the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala I heard it cover to cover. There are massages that don't have the honor or the privilege of listening to the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala from cover to cover, Mashallah, in this country, we have that privilege. It is made easy for us there are a farmer who make an effort to learn and and to render the Salah in such a way that by the end of

Ramadan, you've heard the whole Quran. It's not all about hearing alone. That's only one stage. It's only one part of it. We need to now go further. Let me try and learn how to read it. Let me understand the Quran. Let me try and attend the tough seal that what is the Tafseer it's understanding the Quran let me learn the Arabic language. Let me see how best I can become closer to Allah through becoming closer to his word. This is something very important. I want to get close to Allah The first thing I do, his words exists in our midst, I need to become close to them. And that is how I will become closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala. So if I were to make an effort to learn the

Quran correctly, if I were to make an effort to try and understand it, by the will of Allah I would be from among those who have achieved a lot from the month of Ramadan.

Similarly when it comes to the month of Ramadan

We learned a lot of control controlling ourselves we abstained abstain from things that are otherwise permissible. We abstain from food and drink and that which may have appeared delicious. Sometimes what happens is when a person is fasting, and the belly is empty, they look at food. Food looks good to them because they are hungry. And this is why they say when you go shopping, make sure you've eaten before you actually go because you will end up filling your trolley with unnecessary things simply because your belly is empty. We ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to grant us an understanding, but at the same time, that is a lesson for us because if we could stay away from

food, when it appeared beautiful for us, surely we would be able to stay away from haram and it would appear never ever beautiful to us or for us. Rather it would be made ugly, by Allah subhanho wa Taala because it's Haram, the fact that something is haram. Immediately we should feel this is no way. It has no beauty in it at all. It's Haram, we will stay away from it because Allah subhanho wa Taala detested and this is why the beautiful of Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam he says Allah Habibi. laindon imana was the Yin houfy albena. O Allah, make love to us. Amen. belief in Allah make the belief in Allah loves to us. This would include making easy for us the worship of Allah subhanho wa

Taala make it easy for us to come to the house of Allah. Whenever there is something good or Allah make it easy for us to do it. Whenever there is something that's going to achieve your pleasure, or Allah make it easy for us to achieve it. Remember, yes, we have the energy but make dua that Allah makes it easy for you to do something, continue making the dua and then you will be steered in that direction by the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And the drought continues. What can we Elena Kufa, woelfel suka wallacea ecn. And make detested for us which means make us hate, make us dislike, disbelief anything that is turning away from Allah make us Don't make us hate it make us from

amongst those who are not there. make us from those who realize that this is going to earn the anger of Allah so we are no we are not there. We are not found there and make detested for us all forms of sin. Anything that earns the Wrath of Allah, anything that is outside the obedience of Allah. Allah make it ugly for us make it such that we stay away from it with ease. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant that to us. This is known as taqwa primarily, this is the achievement we are meant to be feeling in our lives from this beautiful month of Ramadan. And the beauty is the dose of one month of the month of Ramadan is so beautiful that by the time we 11 months are up, we already back at

Ramadan. Imagine if Ramadan had to come after two years or three years, perhaps people's hearts may not have been softened as often to be able to keep them going for the rest of the year. But we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah has mercy and we thank him for everything that he has bestowed upon us.

The day of EAD Allah gives us not in order for us to go back to our sinful ways. But in order for us to consolidate the link that we've just made with Allah subhanho wa Taala I've just become close to Allah, let me consolidate it. This is why the day of eat, ensure that you are in the masjid for Salah ensure that you have worshipped Allah ensure that the sins that shaman may be making you want to plan are actually cut out. Many people come into the day of eat. And sadly, they forget that this is not a day of disobedience. It's a day of obedience. So the dress code is wrong. The links are wrong, the relationships are wrong, the social gatherings around the statements made are wrong. And

a lot of things that we do around those who for example, happened to engage in acts of worship and closeness to Allah subhanho wa Taala sometimes they go straight back into the sin. And there's like a person who's gambling before Ramadan, and Rama Ramadan comes in they tell you hey, I stopped gambling. It's Ramadan. We're not gambling, the day of it back in the gambling casino wherever else or the clubs or whatever else it may be. This is why they see and this is something obviously it's on a lighter note but it's beautiful. They say there is a strange wind that blows a strange wind that blows into the houses of the Muslims at times. Immediately after I'm Yvonne. What does he do?

It blows away all the beards and scars May Allah subhanho wa Taala not do that to us. This is the beard that was grown during the month of Ramadan. He is a wind that blew it away the scarf that was worn throughout the month of Ramadan. He the wind came and blew it off. So what happened? Sister you know you no longer recognizable of my brother What happened? So hon Allah May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us. That's just an example. But what it means is, do not allow shaytan to blow away your achievements, consolidate them, I became great

With my Salah, let me remain regular I became for example I changed my bad ways I quit my habit no matter what the bad habit is, I quit it I cut it let me consolidate Let me ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to be able to stay on that and to be able to grow by the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala in such a way that by the time the next one comes I'm already on a new level altogether you know when you for example and the children would probably understand this example a little bit more if you're playing a game you have stage one you don't want to stay on stage when it becomes boring, they will play it again and again and they will tell you that you know what this is a waste of time I now want

to another game you know the PSP now there's a six that's out I needed they going to tell you immediately look I cannot remain on stage one. I need to get to stage two stage three stage four now life is not a game the dean is not a game but that example we can learn from it that we should become upset with ourselves when every year Ramadan comes we still on stage one again, Ramadan comes again we're on stage one, come on, it's about time the next time a man comes I must be on stage to this time I'm reading the Quran properly myself. When the third Ramadan comes this time I can understand words from the Quran when the Imam says yeah, Allah moon to Allah, I know what he's

saying. When the Imam says For example, certain verses I can understand that because I'm trying to make an effort and this is where we would be achieving closeness to Allah subhanho wa Taala. So Alhamdulillah we've been given a blessed day, in order to praise Allah in order to declare the greatness of Allah in order to be able to thank Allah for the entire season of goodness has given us

at the same time we need to realize that Ramadan is no more for this year kamasan has gone by now we have kicked off with the month of Hajj, the month of Hajj have already commenced, Sha one is one of the months of Hajj and what we need to understand. This is Allah subhanho wa Taala telling us that if you are able and capable to engage in this act of worship, known as Hajj and if it is, first of all, you make an effort and find yourself there. My brothers and sisters in this part of the world in this country in particular, we are fortunate, it's not as difficult as other countries to go for Hajj, the population of Muslim men is not so big, but at the same time, we need to know if we do not

fulfill the duty of going for Hajj. If it is compulsory upon us. We are sinful we are actually sinful. We are leaving out a pillar of Islam. May Allah subhanahu wa Jalla make it easy for us all to engage in his worship and to fulfill the Hajj if it's compulsory upon us, and at the same time to change our lives to be able to fulfill the rights of Allah subhanho wa Taala as well as the rights of fellow human beings to be able to soften our hearts to be able to become better people to be able to be people who speak in a very good way with those whom we live with to begin with. And then the rest of our brothers and sisters in the oma. We ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to bless every one of

us, my brothers and sisters, what a beautiful day of eat. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa Jalla to really make it a day of happiness a day whereby not only do we achieve the joy and happiness but we make Allah subhanho wa Taala happy by engaging in extra acts of worship. We ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to grant us all ease and goodness was all Allahu wa salam ala nabina Muhammad Mohammed