Doha, Qatar
Mufti Menk – Ramadhaan Round the Corner
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the benefits of fasting during the month ofFinancial, including physical and mental health benefits, and the importance of technology for keeping in touch with others. They also emphasize the need for healthy eating and avoiding wasteful behavior during busy eating times. The speakers emphasize the importance of forgiveness and reaching out to others to see if people have made progress, and stress the need to manage one's food and stay within healthy limits. They also mention the potential forteen-day plans and the importance of finding a way to avoid cluttering radio.
AI: Summary ©
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah here.
smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala
nabina Muhammad Ali, he was a huge man.
We start by praising Allah subhanho wa Taala, sending blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household, all his companions, we ask Allah to bless them all, and to bless every single one of us, and to bless the beautiful children who have come to the masjid today. And to bless the mothers who are trying to look after them, we indeed reach out to you and like I said, we love him for the sake of Allah, we also have children and our children are also quite normally and naturally unruly sometimes. And at the same time, we are very tolerant to this and we pray that Allah grant these children great success in the dunya. And in the army, my mothers
and sisters just to commence with a little message for you. We really appreciate the fact that you have made the effort to come here, we know that you have so many responsibilities, perhaps more than us as men. And we also know that it is not easy to look after the children. And this is why we are praying for you at the beginning of this talk to say May Allah bless you. May Allah open your doors, may he make it easy for you? And May He grant you a smile on your face. There was there were a few children Mashallah, who were
wailing should I say or perhaps who were slightly vocal if I can word it more respectfully. We really asked Allah subhanho wa Taala to grant those children's success in this world and the next, and to grant their mothers a good reward for being patient with them, and continue to be patient with them. May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless you all. The reason why I started this way, is because we made an announcement a few moments ago, for the sisters, to be mindful of the children who might be vocal as I worded it. And the reason is not because we are not tolerant of it. But sometimes like I said, there is a limit of beyond which it would be within disturbance of the others. And for this
reason, we say we start off with a prayer for you because we know you really want to listen to the talk. And we know that you really would like to concentrate, but at the same time you have given preference to looking after your own child Subhana Allah, may Allah grant you and your children goodness and all of us I mean, brothers and sisters, Ramadan is on the corner, and we all know that which corner I don't know. Every time we say something is around the corner and I say which corner they say we don't know. But that's the terminology it means it's very near. It's very, very near, very near. So what is the month all about? The month is about rejuvenating and re invigorating and
perhaps restarting rekindling a relationship upon a very high level with Allah subhana wa Tada. So that is the month of Ramadan every year it returns it comes back and it is a gift for us so that we can rekindle that link with Allah upon a very high level. Why do I say a very high level because we all do have a link with Allah subhanho wa Taala but in Ramadan if you notice things are on sale, you know what that means? Sometimes people enter a supermarket it happens to me I know you know you walk into BHS or next door somewhere Mothercare and what have you and you look at something and it seems a little bit dear, slightly expensive. And you tell yourself I know when the sales will be then I
will come back. And as soon as the sale stop you are there the next day whatever you wanted is less than half the price sometimes 30% meaning 70% knocked off. So you are quick to buy whatever you need. And sometimes you even buy what you don't need. Why because it's very cheap. This is why it's dangerous to walk into a shop where things are very, very cheap because you might end up buying things you are going to stash away into your carpets never using them but you only bought it because it was very cheap. And that's not the proper etiquette of a Muslim. You don't just buy things because they are cheap. If you want to buy certain things you either make use of it or you give it
away. So when it comes to Ramadan, we all know that you earn bonus rewards bonus for one good deed it is multiplied so many for you give out the sadaqa in Ramadan it is multiplied so many for you do a good deed and a charitable deed It is really multiplied because you are in the condition of fasting and at the same time you have the softness of the heart that is brought about by Allah subhanho wa Taala in a miraculous way in the month of Ramadan. So many blessings that I guarantee you when you open your fasting the month of Ramadan, the food tastes different, amazing. The food there is something about it that makes you look forward to it. Do you know if I were to give you
some bread and yogurt with a date right now you may enjoy it. But to enjoy bread and yogurt with some dates at the time of if there is something unique sometimes people who do not really have yogurt on a regular basis cannot
Wait for a man to have that little yogurt and dip that piece of bread in it and have it it's the blessing of Allah beside me for Hatton and
he will
be the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says a person who is fasting has two points of happiness, happiness upon opening the fast meaning the completion of the fast and happiness when he meets Allah subhanho wa Taala she meets Allah subhanho wa Taala. So this would mean two things. One is on a daily basis when you're opening the fast your reward is plugged in and you have so much happiness and Baraka and blessings in so many different ways. And two is when the month is over, you have a day known as eat which is a day of happiness. So that too is a day that is a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala it is prohibited to fast on the day and we all know that. So Allah says you must eat you
have to have something you cannot we are instructing you to eat in the same way we instructed you not to eat before. This is the instruction of Allah. So a blessed month. How do we look forward to the month of Ramadan? Let's look at a pseudo last Allahu Allahu Allah come the month of Shabbat, which is the month just prior to the month of Ramadan. He started increasing his voluntary fasting, he was increasing his voluntary fasting. And if you take a look at his Suna and his path, he was not a person who fasted in the month of Ramadan. And that's it. But because fasting has so many benefits both physical as well as spiritual, he used to fast on a regular basis every week, Monday and
Thursday. He used to fast sooner or
something that medicine of today has confirmed the non Muslims have researched it and confirmed that your health is definitely positively impacted, including your emotional mental condition by fasting twice a week and they've spaced it out such that they arrived at the conclusion Monday and Thursday. Amazing. I actually have seen this on BBC myself. I don't know if some of you might have seen the clip as well.
And it's amazing when we say it's a tsunami of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam even the week from amongst us start thinking yeah, you know, it's just the sooner don't use the word just as soon as soon as is something magnificent it is a gift of Allah to us via Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam look at it studied see but when the non Muslims come about with the same in terms of discovery, we say wow, I'm going to start fasting twice a week. So now we have a bonus here because we have the sooner as well as the discoveries both are together. So let us start inshallah try it at least sometime like you know sooner is not for sooner, meaning that he was encouraged.
And it was not made compulsory. It is not compulsory, but it has its merits. It has benefits in it, which are amazing. So I'd like to promote it from this platform to say my brothers and sisters, including myself, try out this past Monday and Thursday. If not, every Monday and Thursday at sometimes, you know, try it out, see the benefit you have you fast you arrive at a new level of spirituality. Believe me, trust me, it is just like salata. 200 200 is the pre fudger prayer, which we always say if you have not engaged in it, try it out at least a few times in your life. Come on, try it out. I'm sure we can be strong enough to do that. We can try. So get up once a month and say
you know what, let me try to do it. See what happens to you, I promise you something will change in you permanently. You know, try it for the sake of Allah get up your clock only for Allah. And you know what, nowadays, it is quite early, especially in this country here. So a lot of us are awake up too late because that is the general norm in the weekends in the Middle East. You know, you're awake most of the time because it's so hot during the day. So now you'd rather fulfill your tahajjud at least you know, some people say okay, you must sleep before you eat. To be honest, it's not a condition. It's not a condition for the Todrick to be correct you can actually read it even though
you have not slept fulfill it and ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to accept it, try it out and then also try the fasting. The voluntary fasting and you see what will happen when Ramadan comes in clocks in smoothly and you have a beautiful high that you are starting upon. When I say hi here I'm talking about spiritual high Mashallah.
Also Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had something else which was extremely unique, extremely unique. He taught us that three days of the month in the middle, fast. If you can, it's as soon as soon the meaning again, encouraged by
he didn't and for us to emulate it, we would achieve a reward for him. So if you take a look at this 13th 14th and 15th of the lunar calendar he used to fast and the idea is every good deed is multiplied by
10. So panela So three multiplied by 10 would make it 33
Is the whole month you get a reward for the entire month. So, if you fast those three days it would be equivalent to having fasted the entire month, but you achieve such a big reward such a big reward and on top of that, your health you know physically mentally you have you have arrived at a new level which you will only pick up some time later.
This is the gift of Allah Subhana Allah. So inshallah I once again say my brothers and sisters, let us promise Allah subhanho wa Taala that we will try this out. You know, we know that it is not compulsory, and I reiterate, it's a tsunami.
But it's important, important meaning try it out. Let's see mela Make me strong as well. And all of us. I mean, my brothers and sisters, this is one way of looking forward to the month of Ramadan by promising Allah these things look, yeah Allah and going too fast, not only in Ramadan, but even outside Ramadan, because we have a problem. What is the problem?
The problem is, in a lot of cases, we tend to worship Allah correctly. Only in the month of Ramadan, Ramadan, the alcohol is thrown aside, the music CDs are thrown aside, everything else is thrown aside. The Xena is stopped, give us all and protect us. Everything bad is stopped and we become such a good person. Why? Because they saw the moon. They saw the moon so we become brilliant people and you know what happens? May Allah forgive us. As soon as the moon is sited everything comes back. It's like the day of eat means I am doing for the food that I did not have and I'm doing for all the sins that I abstained from during Ramadan. Here goes now you're on a roller coaster once again. If
that is the case, big self
waterbath nation who only worships Allah in the month of Ramadan, he is the same Allah. Do you know that contentment you feel in Ramadan can be prolonged even beyond for the next 11 months on condition that you just ensure that you are pleasing Allah in a similar fashion.
When I worship Allah in Ramadan, I made sure my Salah was in order, please continue to follow the compulsory Salah even after I make sure you are there. You know we have something known as tarawih, which is also a symbol of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the prolonged prayer wherein we listen to the entire Quran in most cases, and that is a pseudonym Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, it is prolonged. And one of the ideas here would also be for us to enjoy it. Imagine a prolonged Salah is known as a term we have if you look at the deep meaning of the Arabic language of that word, it is to do with your comfort. It has to do with something easygoing, it has to do with
something that is giving you a break, but it is Salah that is prolonged. How many of us truly receive comfort when we prolong in Salah. It's something unique. If you look at it, it shows that the way we look at Salah sometimes is actually wrong. Let's be honest, a lot of us look at Salah as a responsibility being a burden, rather than a responsibility being a gift that we should be honored to engage in.
Like I always say and I've said it's from this seat as well in the past. My brothers and sisters there is a difference between a person who fulfills Salah because he has to do it and another who fulfills it because he wants to fulfill it very big difference.
You know, there comes a time when someone says Why? Why are you reading your Salah? And the person will say because I have to duty? That's correct, the answer is not wrong. But there comes a time when a person wants to eat that salad they're looking forward they know it's a duty but they don't stop at that they really want to in that case they will start working on the quality of the salad rather than the quantity because if you're doing it because you have to you come in and you just down and up and down and up and you finish your Salah and you're out to sell hamdulillah and you know we are done Allahu Allah and you walk out and everything is gone. But if you read it because
you want to you come in and you take your time you stand correctly, you have made you do properly and Allahu Akbar, when you start your prayer, you are plugged in with Allah, nothing distracts you and you can lengthen it, the longer you prolong, the more you enjoy it is that what happens to us or make us that
make us that? You know, obviously this address is not to the email because the emails
are given instruction by Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam to consider the elderly and the weak who are behind them. So it doesn't mean that you know you need to just stand in Salah for so long Subhanallah and you are an Imam knowing that people are perhaps we can elderly sometimes even the children or perhaps crying and so on behind the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam his teaching is to shorten it slightly in that particular case, but sometimes and I know this has happened and I must mention it. You get some elderly I have had some elderly who've come to me they say you know what? I'm old.
My legs are so so please shorten the Salah, but my brother might you know I really respect you You are my elder brother. I have read something so short he says no you must show to me more because my legs are so that is also a misinterpretation, you do not shorten it beyond the sooner Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam where I just say you know, I start my salon I say okay, there's people who are weak at the back so every salon is in
every salon
by default, without even thinking about bottling.
It happens when does that happen? When you are worried about getting rid of the Salah, oh, let's wait the better when you are worried about just fulfilling it without actually wanting, your heart is not wanting to plug in. If you want to plug in you will make an effort to learn the Quran, you will make an effort to look at it. And this brings me to another point we want to welcome the month it is known as the month of the poor.
It is known as the month of the Quran. It is wrong for us just to start Ramadan and we open the Quran. You know people say okay, Ramadan started did you start your assessment? You say yes, I started it. So we start from the beginning from Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen we get to Elif la meme and we continue and everyday we put a marker and we say by the time 29 days up, I must be finished these 30 at least once. That's good, but it's not good enough to be honest with you. There is always room to improve. Why are we not reading the Quran? Nah, I mean, what's wrong? We might not see Ramadan? Do you agree? How many of you including myself have a guarantee that we are actually
going to see the first day of Ramadan? Can anyone raise their hand and say I'm definitely going to see the first day of Ramadan? Anyone?
No, not at all. So start from now and this is why the Hadees is in normal Amala Vinny yet you will be rewarded for your deeds according to your intention. So you start saying this is your color. It is your word, whether it's Ramadan or not. It is still your word. And Yama I'm starting to read it from today. And I want to encourage you, you see we have so many talks and Mashallah even at this venue. We've had so many talks and so many brilliant scholars from across the globe have come and spoken the reality is have we made an immediate resolution question.
Have you ever sat in a talk and made an immediate resolution to say here and now I'm starting this that is the winner? That is the winner? This is why I say we spoke about fasting and we said inshallah make a resolution. We spoke about the heads up said make a resolution Have you noticed so I hope you made one of the two we spoke now is speaking about the forum maker resolution start tonight. Tomorrow morning fasting I've started too late tomorrow you might not see tomorrow, I'm making an intention. As soon as I leave from here or before I leave I will pick up the foreigner from here one of the massage and I will read the Arabic one verse with its meaning then I will walk
out possible or today we have the gadget known as the phone. You choose the translation you want I prefer the Sahih International I find it to be very easy in language and Subhanallah read the Arabic text. Learn how to read it nowadays you have a little button on your phone depending on the application you are using. It will recite the verse for you and you can repeat it so you can correct your recitation and choose which recital you want. You want to have this recited the other side Mashallah, you will have the touch of the button, but we know how to use the application of the bank. Why? Because it's important. We know how to use the application. The other applications of
WhatsApp we know I asked someone a few moments ago Do you have WhatsApp? He says I have WhatsApp, not just me. But even my trouser has WhatsApp. So
if you don't have WhatsApp in this age, you are nobody. That's what some people say. I would like to think the idea is technology to keep in touch to keep in touch with with everyone else. Brothers and sisters keep in touch with your maker. You need him more desperately than anyone else.
And I am serious. Keep in touch with your maker. Allah subhanho wa Taala you need him more than anyone else. So you have WhatsApp. Do you have the Quran on your phone? Do you have it? And some people might say well, if I do, how can I go to the toilet and so on. They are rulings issued by the allama I can very quickly make mention, if your application is open. You should not use that phone to go into the toilet. But you close the application your screen is blank meaning it is closed completely. You can go in there is no harm. It is something digital. It's like a half of the Quran. If he's reciting the Quran, he cannot walk into the loo but he's quiet the Quran is in his heart he
can go in and he must not waste time in the toilet. That's another beautiful teaching of Islam. When we go to the loo we are not going there to have fun. You know if you go into some news, you see magazines, especially those in some places to play golf. I recall very clearly when I was a little bit younger, I entered one man's you know the loo in one man's role. And on the top, you know the Shanks the top he had the rules of golf.
And voila he won't believe what I'm telling you but some of you might have seen it
Because now they sell it on an international scale. They have a small golf green in the toilet, meaning a small little makeshift thing with a mini putter and a golf ball. And whilst you're sitting, you're busy putting it sitting, you're busy, but I'm not joking. I'm honest with you. You can Google it and check it, but please don't buy it.
So a party, why because they're wasting their time we are taught as Muslims, you go to the loo it is known as
in order to finish your business, you go in there, you relieve yourself and you come out, there is a two hour to read before you enter and as you exit, to ask Allah protection from the devil, because we are taught that sometimes shaytan invests those areas. So you go in and you come up, please don't play golf in the loo, and stop reading magazines and all that in the toilet. I know so much so that last week, someone sent me an image on WhatsApp, and I'm gonna share this with you because it just remembered it now. And it showed the man sitting on a pen. And he said, Oh, no, I forgot my phone.
You know what that means? That means people have made it their business that before you go to the loo look for your phone, so that you can spend time now you're sitting on WhatsApp messaging people and so on. You know what happened to me a few weeks ago, I can't remember which episode it was. But there was a man speaking inside the toilet. I was waiting to come out. And he's busy having a long conversation. And I wanted to tell him that, hey, finish up your business and get out there's a queue here. And he was like, if you offered him coffee, probably. Okay, thank you very much.
This is dangerous. The reason why I'm making mention of it, this is what is overtaking the globe at the moment, people are not understanding what their preferences are. And we were talking about developing the link with Allah, you need to get into the loop and come out of the loop. But remember something in the same way we get so excited when we have Skype when we have WhatsApp when we have so many other types of other formats in Far East Asia, they have WeChat, and they have lion and so on all these different, you know, Tango and Viber. And you name it, it's there. That is good. And Mashallah, you Let's hope we are using it for something beneficial and good. But ask yourself, have
I developed a small relation, at least with the one who made me when I go back to him, everything else will remain behind? Everything else will remain behind? You know, we look for the latest phones and so on. Have you even used technology to get closer to Allah? And I like to say, you know, today people don't like to read. Do you agree?
Do you agree? It's more difficult to read, if you give them a CD, it's easier. You give them a DVD, it's even more easier. And Subhanallah it's on your phone. So you have YouTube you have this it's easier, so good. You want to listen to a lecture, you want to know something about Ramadan. Instead of reading a book about Ramadan. Today, they say let's listen to a YouTuber, shall we meet and have been very good. Allah knows that slowly but surely we will change such that we become lazy to read. Yet we all know the importance of reading and underscoring this, it's important for us to read at the same time, what we need to know technology has developed such that it caters for our laziness
yet we don't use it.
You follow what I'm saying? Technology caters for our laziness, but we still don't use it. We will be asked by Allah, Allah He will be asked by Allah subhanho wa Taala How did you use this technology to get closer to me? and answer the question. So the Quran don't wait for the month of the Quran to come and Miss understand that that's the month of the Quran and the other 11 months are not the months of the Quran. So therefore we will be concentrating on Quran one month and the other 11 months the Quran is somewhere else we pack it away until it receives dust. May Allah subhanho wa Taala says goddess, take your phone tonight, download the beautiful App of the Quran. There are so
many apps ask your friends in Sharla for what is a good app that they have found beneficial. You have an application that has recycles, it has the meaning in so many languages. It has a brief explanation and at the same time it will help you to recite the Arabic because as Muslims we are responsible for two things. One is to recite in the Arabic language and two is to understand in whatever language we speak, these are two duties. They come hand in hand side by side. Not no one can substitute the other remember this? People ask me, is it more important to recycle to understand I say they are both important Subhanallah they come hand in hand? What's the point of reciting
without knowing the meaning? And what's the point of knowing the meaning without reciting some kind of recite to these are the words of Allah you should be proud to repeat them amazing. You know, I recently I visited one Middle Eastern country and amazingly, there was a man who spoke a little bit of Urdu but he did not understand it. And he started speaking to a certain person who knew the language and I asked him to speak with me. He said no, I just memorize this all by heart. And I told him luckily who
If I told you what it was spoke the truth. You know what that means? Sometimes they can lie to you teach you a swear word and say this means Good morning. So now you're looking at someone and swearing them and you think it means good morning and they look at
you wondering, What are you saying? So Alhamdulillah we thank Allah, Allah has blessed us, my brothers and sisters, we are all blessed. Without exception, everyone is blessed, but sometimes we do not realize the blessings of Allah upon us. So how are we going to develop inshallah the link with the Quran starting today?
And I hope we are true to our word, Willa, it's, it's not for me. It's for Allah, the sake of Allah. And it's for our benefit at large, each one will benefit himself. You know, the Quran also teaches us whoever does good is for himself. Manami lasagna, for the NFC woman.
Whoever does good is for himself, and whoever does bad, it's going to be against himself. Allah does not oppress, we are the ones who do wrong to ourselves. So the month of the Quran, we will this time in sha Allah welcome it in a way that if we were to die before it actually came, we would still be rewarded because we have made good intentions. Another very beautiful way of welcoming Ramadan and even over utilizing Ramadan.
We welcome Ramadan by Firstly, like I said, we increase our fasting we increase our acts of worship, we increase perhaps the connection with the Parana from now I will get to a few other pointers in a few moments but to plan what you are going to do in the month of Ramadan, because lunchtime you have almost an hour before we used to spend at lunchtime perhaps we go out to eat but this time we will be at lunchtime. And you know what we are not going to be using that for eating so can I tell you one way of using that our you go to the masjid you Rio Salado and you organize and arrange for someone in that hour to teach you the Quran to teach you something about the Quran such that when
the month finishes, you have benefited in a very big way. Very big way. And it continues with you throughout the other 11 months so that you are worshipped a lot in a beautiful way. You know, it's like a caterpillar. You know how it works. You have this Caterpillar and you have a stone, you put the stone in one part of it and you pull it back. How much do you pull it back a little bit.
If that
stone will actually shoot out of there very, very far. So to me, Ramadan is like a catapult you actually pulling back and you throw when you throw it helps you for the other 11 months. By the time the stone ends you already in another month of Ramadan, you follow what I'm saying? This is spirituality is one way of looking at it. There are so many other ways so it is so vigorous it requires energy such that you've used it so powerfully in this month that the rest of the 11 months you are just sailing you are flying you are cruising, cruising. And when by the time it comes to land, you already have the stone again and you pull it back and you are again moving for the other
11 months. So the discipline that is achieved through the month of Ramadan is unique and amazing. Let me mention to you one thing, there are certain things that are harder to eat. Do you agree? Like for example, you have pork you have alcohol, you have so many other things that which is not slow to correctly and whatever else. So many things are prohibited you're not allowed to. Now look for one whole month from dawn to dusk. We stay away from that which is Helen water is Hello I cannot have it in Ramadan. During that time from dawn to dusk while I discipline myself for the sake of Allah Allah said don't ever so if I managed to stay away from that which was for one whole month, then surely
after that, I can appreciate that which is halal by eating it and stay away from haram at least at least. So I did not drink water. I did not have relations with my own spouse which is otherwise Allah but in the daytime of Ramadan it is a big prohibition, no control yourself, discipline yourself, restrain yourself. That is what Ramadan is all about. You restrain yourself you control yourself somehow Allah so for one whole month I stayed away from that which was halaal for the other 11 months I can easily stay away from that which was haram I'll appreciate the Allah when you have a sip of water after a day when you have been quite thirsty because you are fasting that to us is the
hub of
technology Roku water bottle. Andrew insha Allah The Dow when you are opening your fast at the end of the day, you know where we are appreciating the gift of Allah for having quench our thirst with water
with water, this is why the sooner
either dates or water or both to open the fast at the end of the month, sorry at the end of the day. And if we have open the fast and we have had this water, don't you feel so good. So
there is you know the wetness has gone down and the veins and all the system has now achieved that wetness of the water after a day when we kept ourselves hungry for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala so you appreciate the quenching of your thirst Alhamdulillah and you've had beautiful water, you appreciate water Subhanallah we're not yet talking about fruit juice. We only started with what imagined in Ramadan, we are spoiled, where we have juices and fruit juices and fries and so many things. Some of them are actually unhealthy. Do you know that? very unhealthy? The worst way to break your fast is with savories Do you know that? You know what I savories some losers and pies and
fries. That's the worst way to break your fast waste from a health perspective.
I'm not saying it's prohibited No, no, you know people are looking at me. I don't know what's the story. I think we all used to eat what's wrong with the ship, you know, my PI I love my pies. But the truth is, I'm talking about health perspective. Go back to the sooner look at the benefit of the dates, the benefit of water. Look at the benefit of these things. That which is healthy remain in within the health there is another big problem that we have during the month of Ramadan what it is, at night we do have what we missed in the day. Sometimes with food, I promise you, we will eat all night until we dropped it. I don't know if you've seen the cartoon. I think it is done by Apple
productive if I'm not mistaken. But when it shows a man is fasting during the day and he eats so much at night that he cannot eat away and he's just like a dead person. And he's waiting for the next day and he's enjoying it so much. In fact the belly grew. People gain weight in omega mela protectors. Remember, it's about discipline. It's about your health. Allah has blessed you with this from now cut down a little bit on your food for in Canada Buddha for me was only shalabi was only necessity you know we eat the Prophet sallallahu Sallam has taught us you really want to have a nice meal so you really want to eat well remember the best way of doing it is a third of solids, a third
of liquids and the third of a when you get up from the lab tablecloth and you have now got off the what we would say the table cloth you would still have a of one third in your system you are not totally full Subhanallah you are not totally full because we are not living to eat
remember this we are getting to live the difference and we're not saying don't enjoy food enjoy Mashallah people like tasty food and so on. People like so many different things by the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala enjoy them thank Allah but within limits within limits meaning I'm not saying thank Allah within limits thank Allah Unlimited, but eat within limits. Because Say for example, you like some muscles, okay. And the ones which have the mincemeat in it because sometimes, you know, you see a beautiful samosa you bite into it and you just see these veggies and you say oh no, it should have had something better inside you know, there was a long time and they didn't have
all these veggies and health stuff inside the but say you like the mincemeat ones and you have one and two and five and 10 and 20 what will happen to
you get sick. Why because not because the samosa was bad it was very good the way you ate it was bad. How you chose to eat it was bad like red meat. People say that meat is bad no sometimes you need it but the way you eat it is bad. You have a little piece of
there's a problem
there's a problem.
So remember the discipline of food and drink during Ramadan should extend beyond Ramadan you eat and drink after Ramadan also But hang on. Remember to reach out to those who don't have Remember to reach out to those who don't have even if it is with one reality one little dollar Remember to reach out to them wherever and however you can even a small amount in
camera you know the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam encouraging us to do good he says fear the fire even if it means by a portion of the date.
So remember this when we eat sometimes we are wasteful. Yesterday we spoke about the fridge that some people have started Subhanallah putting outside their homes. Allah knows it works in some places, perhaps it might not work in other places, you might have a different mechanism that might work even better. But at the same time, the point here is don't be wasteful. It's very tempting to be wasteful when the food is remaining on that table after the people have finished eating.
Remember, do something constructive with it because there are others who do not have food period.
Others who safeguard us.
There are others who are busy eating that
which otherwise would not be permissible.
There are people across the globe in different places who are picking on grains, little children, I have seen snippets of our children in various parts of the world who are picking little grains and busy putting them in their mouths. And we are sitting here with so much and it's just thrown away, is that is that the case, I believe we can do better. Let's read it respectfully, we can do better, we can actually do something. And remember, when there is a will, there is a way if you are really serious about not wasting, you will manage. If you are really serious, you will manage you will succeed, something good will come out of it. And this is what we are taught as Muslims. And so by
the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala we hope from now
to hold back a bit of new food in China, you know, if you already have the discipline and hamdulillah If not, you can actually not just because Ramadan is coming, but because you want to be a more healthy person. You know, I find this is for myself. The day I have eaten a lot, I feel very lazy, very lazy. I think my system is busy digesting and so on. And by the time it's over, I'm tired because my system is working without me working even you're just sitting I start yawning and you start feeling lazy and you want to sleep and so on. It's your system operating, but the minute or the day I have eaten slightly less, I feel very active. I want to do something I've eaten a bit less
and I've chosen healthy food remember this. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala protectors may grant us good health and may He cure all those who are seeking el amin May He grant cure miraculously to those who are sick and Ill across the globe. Brothers and sisters. Another very important point to welcome the month of Ramadan is by engaging in a lot of esteem far as colors forgiveness. On a daily basis many of us take for granted the sooner Mohamed Salah he was in a beam he was a prophet of Allah, the best of creation, the most honored of all the messengers, he did not need to engage in seeking forgiveness of Allah subhanho wa Taala but he did it on a daily basis.
daily basis, not once, not 10 times, but between 70 and 100 times according to some of the narrations that are authentic. He used to say a stone feudal law. I seek your forgiveness Oh Allah. Let's be honest, sometimes we lead a life obviously that is very far from what the ideal is, but we forget to ask Allah forgiveness after Salah a Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah and we say,
you forgot what you said, You don't even know what you said it was lip service. You know what lip service means? Your lips moved your tongue said it but your concentration wasn't there. So you don't even know that you've actually asked Allah to forgive you because your heart was not present.
So this is one of become presidents. I said a lot of STL file ask us forgiveness Allah forgive me. And when you ask us forgiveness, constantly change your life. Start coming to the mastery to the house of Allah, you will find a great change in your life. If you tried your best to fulfill all your five Salah in the masjid in the house of Allah subhanho wa Taala come early and see what happens.
Now Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us ease and goodness, beautiful month of Ramadan, like we said,
develop your link with Allah subhanho wa Taala he is your maker, and he will open your doors one after the other.
Another thing is start reaching out to other people. It must not always only be about me, me and myself and I know it must be about us It must be about them. Sometimes look at others, reach out to them in a beautiful way. Pray for them go and visit the elderly visit the sickly you should be getting a feeling of goodness when you visit an old person. So panela you will find lots of wisdom they have seen the world they have seen so much you will find lots of goodness it is one of the teachings of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam go and visit the secret. go and visit your relatives solve problems and matters. Resolve matters a winner is He Who resolves problems. You have
a family matter a feud between the family. Try your best to solve it. Try to be easy, but you will be known in the eyes of Allah as a person who tried his best to maintain family ties. Ladies and gentlemen McAfee in number was
a person who is a maintainer of good family ties is not he who has a tit for tat relationship. You know what that means? They give me something I give him something. They give me something. I give him something. I remember I went to one country.
May Allah grant us forgiveness. I went to one country and someone invited me to a wedding.
Some of you will know this because it's the culture in some countries and as
As I was entering the venue, there is a man sitting outside with a book.
And he tells you, Chef, he asked me a question. Can I write your name? I said, No, no, no, thank you. Thank you. No. And he just looked at me He gave me such a dirty look, I didn't know what was the, what is the issue was I was unaware of the culture. Sure, if you want to write your name.
Really, it's okay. I don't need to write my name. And I went in.
And I went in and I had the meal and everything when I came out the same man, how did you enjoy the meal as a Mashallah was very nice. So would you like to write your name? I said, No, thank you.
Did me and he said, but I said, What's the problem? He said, Everyone is writing. So what are they writing? He says, you have to write your name. So I said, Okay, so writing. He said, so how much are you giving?
I was shocked. Because I was new to the culture. I guarantee you some of you know what I'm talking about. I guarantee you. So he he said, okay, right. I said, What do you mean? He said, you have to pay, you have to come, he said, You think we invited you for free?
At first time coming across the sculpture, you know, and then he wrote my name. And I'm looking that they said so much I won't say the currency because you know, it was so much so much so much. He said, you know what you are from abroad from outside, we expecting something better from you.
And you know what it so happened that that moment, I did not have cash in my hand.
And I was so embarrassed. I told him, You know what I can write, but I will have to send it to you. He said Don't make excuses, shift. People respect you. I said.
So then I had to talk to him to engage in for him to believe me, and this is a true story. The man, he then tells me, he said, You know what?
Let me explain. I said, Can you tell me the culture, I need to understand this, he said, Look, when we invite people, we as they coming in the gift towards the expenses of the bride, the groom, whatever it is, right, and they write their name and amount, and they give the amount. So we gather the amount and so on. And you know, it's considered a gift. And if you haven't given on the way in, you give on your way out. Normally, when you have a good meal, you can write your name twice, which means going in you wrote something and you had such a nice meal. When you came out, you said Mashallah, excellent. write my name. Again, I give you something more. So this has been what happens
the day there is a wedding in your family, even if it is 1020 years later, we take the book out, and we see what you gave when it came to our family while I'm not joking. And then we give a similar amount or something equivalent. And I said, Well, this is the furthest away that I know from Islam, it defeats the purpose of the walima. it defeats the purpose of brotherhood, and voila, here my brothers and sisters, I am using this platform to say Stop it. Stop it, don't do that. It's wrong. You want money, collect donations don't have such a big radio what's what's the big deal if you cannot afford it, have something simple, simple. And even if you can afford it, you can invite the
whole world but keep it simple. There is a difference between big and small and simple and complicated. So if you have a simple wedding, even if it is very big.
But if you have something that goes beyond the limits of Allah, even if it is a small wedding, it's wrong. And this type of culture that we have clung to in some areas. While I found this later on. Even in the UK, some of the people have a similar background who are doing the same thing. They have a home they invite you and they have a man with a book it's just as well that now I know what the book is all about.
Allah subhanho wa Taala benefit us we have a book of deeds that we are worried about they have a book of money that they're worried about.
However, the month of Ramadan is such that we become generous, generous to the degree that we give out
he was the most generous of people anyway, but he was even more generous, so much. So that I did describes it as can be masala masala means the wind that is moving that is you know, blowing, if the wind is blowing. Like now this fan is on for example, it comes to me and it comes to anyone who is in the path, anyone who's in the path of it. So, when that catches everyone, which means the generosity reaches everyone, I am generous to you with my smile. I'm generous to you with my time. I am generous to you with whatever Allah has blessed me with by the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So we will engage in this too far We will. We will try and welcome this beautiful man by turning to
Allah and by developing our character and conduct by improving the relationship we have in our homes and houses. A lot of us have a lot of room for improvement with our relations with our own children, in our relations with our wives and our husbands perhaps we have so much that needs
To be done, but sometimes we are. We couldn't be bothered. We are too busy doing some other things before you know it life will be over. You know nowadays Time Is Flying. That just Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has prophesized this year Takara, to summon one of the prophecies of towards the end of the time, time will begin to fly, it will be crumpled, comfortable meaning a month will pass as though it was just a day. Honestly.
You would recall the day you were married, the older ones from amongst us, and your child is already 20 years old. How did those 20 years ago, I can't remember, I don't know, what were the highlights of your 20 years, you can finish them in two sentences in fire.
Where did the time go? So we are wasting time somehow, it's seeping there is a leakage you know, if you have a water meter, and all your taps are closed in your house, and the water meter still keeps on flowing, you know, it still keeps on rotating and moving, there is a leakage somewhere you need an expert plumber to come in and identify where the leak is, unless you meet to this fault. So what would happen, he would come in if he cannot identify it, calling another expert, they will identify you know what, this is your problem. This is where the water is leaking under the ground, and you're paying a big bill for this water.
The same is happening to our time. It's seeping it's leaking. We using it sometimes for that which is not constructive. It's destructive. It's a waste. It's a waste of time. So look at it. And every minute should count ask yourself, How can I use it? This is why we say there is no room for laziness in Islam. No room for procrastination in Islam. Do not leave today's work for tomorrow, just because you feel you will be able to do it tomorrow. In fact, tomorrow's work if you can do it today, a productive Muslim will bring it in and do it now. So that tomorrow something else might come up and you can achieve.
This is why we say let's start benefiting for the month of Ramadan from Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us and grant us goodness nice.
So I hope and I pray the few words I've said it I just notice my 45 minutes are up by the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala I hope and I pray the few words I have said have actually touched some chords at least because you know when we speak of preparation from above, we could speak up to Ramadan and even into Ramadan. But the reality is we need to start getting closer to Allah bearing in mind, we might not see the beginning of the month, it really comes back and it comes back and it comes back every year. There will be one year when we will not see that. Because we will be gone. When it's going to happen. It's either this time or some other time. So bear in mind that this is
the gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala for us that we are seated here in his house may forgive us. May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us, May He grant us ease and goodness, may he open our doors May he make us from those who can really make resolutions that are current and here and now we've spoken about quite a few, quite a few of them. Let's hope that we can pledge right here right now that we will engage in at least one of the matters that we've discussed today as positive resolutions in order to enhance ourselves as good Muslim men to become better people so that when the month of Ramadan comes we will already be on a beautiful level and we will excel and improve and we will know
how to even welcome the months after Ramadan that are so beneficial and so beautiful. May Allah subhanho wa Taala Bless you all and may God bless the entire globe May Allah subhanho wa Taala guide us all until we meet again sometime in this beautiful city or elsewhere. a coup de la sala Baraka Allah Subhana Allah, Allah.
Allah, Allah Allah
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