Mufti Menk – Dhul Hijjah – Reconnect With Allah Through Fasting
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of fasting during the month of Easter, as it is necessary to reconnect with Allah and learn about the spiritual nature of the fast. The speaker emphasizes the importance of restraining oneself and controlling one's anger to achieve the reward of the fast. The speaker also encourages individuals to take advantage of opportunities to pursue forgiveness of Allah through praising him and seeking forgiveness.AI: Transcript ©
My brothers and sisters, the first 10 days
of Dhul Hijjah
are an opportunity
to reconnect with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
During the month of Ramadan,
we feel the connection between us and Allah
because
we're fasting during the day and at night
we're engaging in acts of worship. We become
more conscious of our character and conduct because
the hadith of the prophet peace be upon
him says, fasting is not only about staying
away from food and drink etcetera, but even
staying away from foul language, staying away from
that which is hurtful, harmful, abusive, etcetera.
Cleansing your heart from enmity, from hate, and
so
on. All this is a part of the
fasting. So when it comes to these 10
days and the fasting that we are supposed
to be engaging in with the first 9
days,
we must understand
it's an opportunity
to reconnect
with Allah.
And every time we reconnect with Allah, Allah
gives us a day of joy at the
end.
And this is why take it seriously.
Try your best to fast during these 9
days. It is not compulsory.
It is sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and in fact, it is derived from
the hadith that says
that Allah
does not
love good deeds
more than he does during these 10 days.
So that's the reason why we would engage
in all sorts of acts of worship. Now,
if you look at the fasting,
if you were to fast say as a
family or if you were to fast a
group of friends and so on, it starts
reminding you of Ramadan
and Ramadan has a unique
feel. It has a spirituality and
it has this feel that is amazing.
SubhanAllah. So during these 9 days,
you would get a little bit of that
feeling. Imagine staying away from something
in order to earn the pleasure of Allah.
That is discipline.
Islam is all about discipline.
It's about
practicing
restraint,
staying away,
being able to control your nafs, yourself, your
soul
from doing things. You must be in charge
of yourself. You must take charge or be
in control
of what you want to do, what you
don't want to do
to the degree
that
that Allah has allowed
or to the degree that Allah has given
you that capacity.
So every time you stay away from food
or drink for the sake of Allah
or your fasting, you stay away from venting
your frustrations
from becoming angry in a way that you
start swearing at others. Tell yourself, I'm restraining
myself, controlling myself for the pleasure of Allah.
Yes. I will get a reward for it,
full reward for it, but
becoming a better person, leaving behind the legacy,
teaching and training the people who look up
to you or who look at you. Those
around you, those whom you interact with, they
learn great lessons by watching you
restrain yourself, control your anger.
You're not supposed to be getting angry when
you're fasting.
Similarly,
fasting is prescribed in order to develop taqwa
Allah says to
develop a connection with Allah, to become more
conscious of the do's and don'ts.
That's what fasting is all about. So this
is the reason why it's very rewarding to
fast.
You know, when you fast in the Ramadan,
yes, you fulfilled the obligatory
fast.
But when you do it now in Dhul
Hijjah, it's voluntary.
It's your own.
You want to do it. And Allah says
every deed that the son of Adam does
or human beings do is for them. The
benefit will come to them and it's for
them in the sense that they will have
a fixed reward for it when it comes
to fast. Allah says it's for me. I
alone
would deal with it and will reward it
and will multiply
that reward.
SubhanAllah.
10 times, 70 times, 700 times and whatever
Allah wills and wishes. So my brothers, my
sisters,
it is amazing.
Let's try our best. Some of you may
not have already started the fast, but even
if you don't do all of the days
and just a few days, not forgetting
the day of Arafa for those who are
not in Hajj. So if you're not in
Hajj, the day of Arafa has such a
great reward. We've said it, we repeat it.
It will wipe out the of
the current year
and the following year. So the year that
has just passed by
and the year that is about to come,
my innocence wiped out when you fast for
the sake of Allah, bearing Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala in mind. And this is a chance
to reconnect with Allah.
At the end of every fast, you have
goodness, the goodness of opening your fast with
beautiful food that will taste a little bit
different because of the spirituality
of the fast. Secondly,
the opportunity to supplicate to Allah, the dua
and istilfar meaning seeking forgiveness of Allah. So
my brothers and sisters, let's engage in a
lot of supplication,
a lot of remembrance of Allah through good
words,
through praising him and lots and lots of
repentance and seeking forgiveness of Allah because he
loves that so much. May Allah forgive us
all.
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