Nadim Ali – On The Cusp Of Ramadan
AI: Summary ©
The importance of control and forgiveness in Islam is emphasized, along with the need to represent the prophet's peace be upon him in all times and change behavior and character. The importance of promoting the message of peace be upon is also emphasized, as anger can cause behavior and behavior in character. The need to be mindful of one's actions and not to die except as Muslims is emphasized, along with educating not-insiderable individuals on the benefits of using the word "slow be upon" to change their behavior. The importance of fasting and learning to recognize one's actions as positive is emphasized, along with the need to be mindful of one's behavior and change their character.
AI: Summary ©
Indeed, all praise belongs to Allah, the most
high.
We thank him, and we seek his aid,
and we seek his forgiveness, and we seek
refuge with him from the evil of ourselves
and from the evil of our bad actions.
Whoever Allah guides, then there's no one who
can mislead him. And whoever Allah calls us
to go astray, then there's no one to
guide him. And I bear witness we bear
witness that there is no deity except Allah
who is unique and without partners, and I
bear witness that Mohammed is his worshiper and
his messenger. May the peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him and his companions and
his family and those who follow them with
good intentions
until the day of judgment.
All you who believe, fear Allah as he
should be feared, and don't die except as
Muslims. Again, all you who believe, fear Allah
as he should be feared, and don't die
except as Muslims.
And, oh, mankind, be careful of your duty
to your lab who created you from a
single soul and from it created its mate.
And from the 2 of them, he spread
forth many men and many women.
Be careful of your duty to Allah whom
you demand your mutual rights, and be careful
of your duty to the wounds that bore
you. Indeed, Allah is our old Akib over
you. For you who believe, fear Allah and
always speak the truth. He will cause your
deeds to be beneficial, and he will forgive
for you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah
and his messenger, then he has truly achieved
a tremendous accomplishment.
Indeed, the best speech is the book of
Allah, and the best guidance the guidance of
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and the most
evil of all affairs are newly invented matters
which has no precedent in Islam, and indeed
all innovations are astray, and each astray is
in the hellfire.
Oh, Allah, save us from it. Oh, Allah,
accept our dua.
Allah says in the Quran, and hasten to
forgiveness from your lord in a garden whose
wit is that of the heavens and the
earth. Prepare it for the god fearing, who
spend in times of ease and times of
hardship, who strain their anger, and who pardon
people. And Allah loves those who do good.
That's from Surah to Imran.
And when we look
at all the attributes
of Allah, the 99 attributes that we know
of,
none of them
are the angry one.
And so we have to look at the
fact that Allah and even in every chapter
of the Quran
talks about how it starts off
with every chapter except 1, the beneficent and
the merciful.
You know? And so we have to understand
that Allah calls us to that. The attributes
that he has given us, we want to
be at least a microcosm of each attribute.
We wanna be more merciful. We wanna be
forgiving. We wanna be patient. You know, we
wanna be of those who are basically being
the healthy servants of Allah.
And a part of that is controlling our
emotions
in all times. That's it's essential to control
our emotions.
Soleiman ibn Saad said,
I was sitting with the prophet
and 2 men were slandering one another.
1 of them was red in the face,
and the veins on his neck was standing
out. The prophet
said,
I know of a word that if he
were
to say it,
what what he feels would go away. If
he said it, I seek refuge with the
law from the shaytan.
What he feels in his heart of the
anger will go away, and that's, again, a
hadith from Bukhari.
And the prophet also said, peace be upon
him,
that if a man gets angry,
say, again,
I seek refuge with the law, you know,
from the shaytan. His anger will go away.
He also said, if one becomes angry,
let him keep silent. Let him keep silent.
These are all
sahi hadith. And these particular hadith, when you
look at them,
people
would have to get a PhD in anger
management today to
to to promote the wisdom that's that's printed
printed in these hadith that I've read today.
And so we have to recognize
that anger
is shaitan's intoxicate. He gets us drunk.
The messenger of Allah also said,
you know, when when when you get angry,
and if any of you one gets angry,
if he is standing, let him sit down
so this anger will go away. And then
some hadith just says that, you know, if
you're standing, sit down. And if you're sitting
down, lay down. If you're laying down, go
to sleep. You know, in other words, to
allow yourself to marinate
and take look at what you need to
be doing so that you can the anger
can subside. Because anger is, again,
in in anger management, what's taught it, there's
an adrenaline rush when you get angry.
And then when the anger subsides, there's an
endorphin release. And I tell some of my
clients that
that anger is like a person using meth
on one end and heroin on the other
end. And so people who have,
propensity for anger, they basically look for that
type of rush, and that's why it's easy
for people to get angry.
And and and, again, the scientists have talked
about this over the past 1000 years, and,
again, the prophet, peace be upon him, gave
it to us over 1400 years ago. And
so we have to learn to control our
emotions, and and
what we what we witnessed last week in
regards to the television show, the, the Oscars
with the the slap that was heard around
the world. It was an example of unchecked
anger, and it's also an example of a
lack of emotional intelligence. And emotional intelligence from
a psychological perspective
is controlling your emotions
in if any type of situation, in all
situations. And it gets its its ability to
control yourself, and it doesn't matter what's going
on. A person can be in the heat
of battle
and be able to check their emotions, you
know, or if a person is is getting
offended. And there was a, a a story
when the prophet, peace be upon him, was
sitting with a man, and the man was
another man was berating him, and the man
sat quietly.
And and the prophet, peace be upon him,
was smiling.
You know? And then the man started to
defend himself. And then all of a sudden,
the prophet, peace be upon him, he smiled.
He he frowned.
And
then the man talked to the prophet, peace
be upon him, later. And when he talked
to him, he said, well, when this man
was berating me, you know, you were smiling.
And but when I started to defend myself,
then, you know, you frowned and you left.
And he said, well, when you
remain quiet, there were angels. There were angels
surrounding you. They can do it for you
for the most part. And so and then
then when you started to defend yourself, they
they they they they left. And so that's
the importance of recognizing
how anger
can cause us to engage in behaviors
that are uncharacteristic
uncharacteristic.
You know, the man one of the men
they they're both known as, basically, general spirits
for the most part. You know? But then
Shaitan got in and became a worldwide
issue on on on dealing with anger. And
so we have to recognize that anger is
something that that that that is is is
can cause,
you know, people to, again, just jump out
of character. And the prophet, peace be upon
him, has said that he only came to
change character.
He says that whoever controls anger at the
time when he has the means to act
upon it, Allah will fill his heart with
contentment on the day of resurrection.
Again, whoever controls this anger at the time
when he has the means to act upon
it, Allah will fill his heart with contentment
on the day of resurrection.
And, also, he said that
you know, the man said, I thought about,
you know, what the prophet said,
and I recognize that anger combines all kinds
of evil.
You know? And so these are some of
the things that we have to recognize as
Muslims. In one great saying that we're all
familiar with, that the prophet
said that the strong man or the strong
person is not the one who can overpower
others and wrestling. Rather, the strong person is
the one who can control themselves when they
get angry. And, again, this is Sahih Hadith.
That's Ahmed Hadith. You know, as Muslims, you
know, we have a unique responsibility.
You know, we must represent the prophet, peace
be upon him, at all times. We have
to represent him in all times. And how
do we represent him through the character? I
remember
seeing,
a person who,
you know, he didn't he wasn't obviously Muslim.
You know, there's a there's a saying that
the prophet said, the best who, when seen,
remind of Allah. And I gave them he
was, you know, dressed up in a suit
and tie, and I gave him salaams. And
he looked at me and
said, how did you know I was a
Muslim? You know?
And I said, I saw the Noah in
your face. You know? And and he just
smiled. You know? And and that's the whole
thing is that no matter, you know, what
we do,
and and and we have to represent the
prophet, peace be upon him, in behavior and
in character and how we deal in business
and how we deal with each other, how
we deal with our families, how we deal
on the jobs. We have to be a
Muslim 247,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We all have the same 168
hours in a week. And even in sleeping,
we make the du'a. We make the du'a
when we go to sleep. We make the
du'a when we when we get up. You
know, we we measure our days,
you know, by the different prayers. I'll see
you after the door. I'll see you after
Fajr. I'll do this. You know, we basically
start to internalize
the concepts of Islam as we grow in
Islam, and we're on the cusp of Ramadan.
We're on the cusp of Ramadan.
And it's not so much about stopping
the the food, the intake of food and
water,
but we have to also
basically change our behaviors. The prophet, peace be
upon him, said, you know, if, again, a
person is still engaging in bad behaviors, Allah
is not in need of their fast. He's
not in need of their fast if you're
still engaging in the behaviors. So we look
at Ramadan as a means of allowing ourselves
to improve our character. These are some of
the things that we have to do in
representing the prophet's mission, peace be upon him.
You know, again, his mission
was to save as much of mankind
as possible from the hellfire.
You know? And, you know, the fire is
one that consumes fire. You know? And so
he said, you know, he will
change the character of the people, help change
the character of the people. And in essence,
you know, he he was dealing with people,
some of the worst people on the planet
at that time. You know, they were everything
was about intoxicants. They were they they were
derogatory towards women. You know, basically, they were
derogatory towards each other and and and and
people who didn't look like them. Because if
you look at the prophet's last sermon, peace
be upon them, he talked about racism. He
talked about, you know you know, how you
know, again, the black is no more superior
than the white, and the white no more
superior than than the than the black, and
the Arab is no more superior than the
non Arab, nor the non Arab no more
superior than the the Arab, except by Taqwa,
except by, you know, that that good conduct.
Good conduct. And so no matter what our
race because the scientists say that all of
the race,
the race is only, like, less than 1%
of who we are in humanity,
you know, biologically, from a scientific perspective. Just
1% is the difference between less than 1%
is the difference between all of of mankind.
Less than 1%. And so we have to
recognize that race is a social construct, so
we have to be of those who
are working on changing ourselves. And in essence,
we help to change the world. And if
I've said anything that's inconsistent with what Allah
has given us and the prophet, peace be
upon him, has told us to take responsibility
for that, and if I've said anything in
which you have gained some new insight, as
always, all praise belongs to Allah.
Again, the prophet's mission was to convince mankind
of the uniqueness, the oneness of Allah.
You know, his mission was also to teach,
again, that that what is codified in the
Quran what is codified in the Quran is
just as valid as the previous scriptures, the
old testament and the new testament. And you
have to recognize that the Quran is the
is the last testament. It's the last testament.
Mhmm. And so we have to be of
those to promote that message, you know, because,
again, we live in a society that's
primarily composed of I I say not yet
Muslims. Not yet Muslims. We live in a
diverse society living in this in this country,
and so we have to be able to
recognize the pluralism of the society
and recognize, you know, that we have family
members for the for the most part. I
know in my family. You know, we have
people who, are Christians,
and you have people who are people of
the Jewish faith, and you have people who
are of of different faiths. And so as
Muslims, we have to recognize that the prophet,
peace be upon him, lived in a similar
society. He lived in a very diverse society.
And so we can't be of those that
that recognize that we have the only way.
We are the only ones. You know, we
have to be of those who promote this
message. Be of those who promote this message.
And and, also, the prophet
said that, you know, that I only have
been sent to perfect good moral character good
moral character. And all the prophets, be be
upon, all of them taught this message. Whether
it was Moses, whether it's Jesus, peace be
upon him, whether it's Suleiman.
All of the prophets taught this message about,
you know, just being the best that we
can be as human beings. Again, we're on
the cusp of Ramadan. It's important for us
to to benefit from the the blessings of
Ramadan. And it was during Ramadan well over
1400 years ago that the Quran was revealed.
And so we're gonna fast for 29 or
30 days. If we get a sighting tonight,
you know, we'll start tomorrow. For many people,
if whether it's calculated, some people will start
tomorrow. Some people will start Sunday. You know?
So but we have to recognize that
it is not just an opportunity to lose
weight. It is an opportunity
to basically lose the weight of sins. It's
an opportunity to get rid of sins.
And, again, you know, the law says that
the month of Ramadan in which the Quran
was sent down as a guide to mankind
and a clear guidance and judgment so that
mankind will distinguish
between right and wrong, so that mankind can
distinguish between right and wrong. So if we're
not consumed with food and seeking food and
seeking water and and seeking the relationships
with our mates, then we can reflect on
on Allah
We can reflect and and basically direct our
energies to to changing ourselves.
Looking at Ramadan as a mirror, that we
it's an opportunity to look at ourselves without
being influenced by the shaitan because the shaitans
are locked up in in chains. And so
it gives us an opportunity to sue who
see who we really are, see who we
really are. Allah also says, oh, you believe
fasting is prescribed for you as it was
prescribed
for though to those who before you that
you may learn piety and righteousness.
You know, again,
you know, we have to work on character
reformation.
And, again, character reformation,
it it it means that we have to
make qualitative
changes in ourselves. None of us are ever
perfect. The only perfect entity in existence is
Allah.
All of us have faults. All of us
have faults. And so each year, we wanna
look at what we need to do, do
a inventory.
You know, there's a concept in the 12
step community. It talks about, making a a
fearless and personal inventory. And so we have
to do that, and this Ramadan is an
opportunity for us to take inventory. Okay. What
character defects do I need to get rid
of? You know, have I been getting angry?
Have I been less forgiving? You know? Have
I been less charitable? We have to be
of those who use Ramadan as an opportunity
to change ourselves.
And, again, one of the major rules of
the prophet, peace be upon him, was to
improve the character.
You know, again, you know, we have to,
you know, accomplish as much as we can
do Ramadan. It's not just an opportunity of
sleeping. I remember living, in the Middle East
and Saudi Arabia and especially the young people,
they would sleep all day. You know? They
would sleep all and then just wake up
just in time, you know, to to break
the fast and and and lose the benefits
of the of the whole fast. I remember
1 guy who worked in an addiction hospital
in Saudi Arabia, and, and one guy was
smoking in the closet during the the time
he was smoking fasting. And I looked at
him, I said, well, who are you hiding
from? Your fasting is for Allah. They love
to see you in that closet smoking cigarettes.
You know? And so we have to
not only just educate the not yet Muslims,
but sometime we have to educate the Muslims
on the the internal the importance of internalizing
this deen. You know? And so when we
learn the true concepts of and the and
the true benefits of Ramadan, you know, it
helps us to be more empathetic towards people.
You know, it helps us to be more
charitable. You know, it allows us to, again,
be more empathetic.
You know? It's and it also allows us
to recognize
the the people who are struggling throughout the
planet and be, again, more empathetic.
And so but it also allows us to
develop some some self restraint,
and, also, it is the fuel for that
character reformation. And so, again, let us use
this time
when Ramadan
comes to not only,
become more familiar with the Quran and not
just with the Salata Torah.
You know, we have to basically
read it and and and start to understand
it. And if we don't read Arabic, you
know, read the translations. They can give you
a good message. We don't it's not about
just memorization.
It's about internalization.
And so we we have to
once once we get the internalization,
it leads to actualization.
You'll see a change in your behavior.
Allah says,
likewise, we have sent unto you the messenger,
you know, from among ourselves from yourselves who
recites unto you our revelations
and purifies you and teaches you the what
the scripture and the wisdom and and teaches
you that which you did not know. Again,
it teaches you scripture and wisdom and teaches
you that which you did not know. That's
from from Bakariah
151.
Again, the only time we have the right
to just be angry. And as the prophet,
peace be upon him, said, when the man
said, advise me. He said 3 times, don't
get angry. Don't get angry. Don't get angry.
You know? He said, you know, unless we
see an injustice.
And so and we can use anger. I
always tell people that both Al Hajj, Malik
El Shabazz, and Malcolm X, and Martin Luther
King were probably equally angry.
You know? But
one went went towards,
passive resistance. Other one sought active resistance. And
so anger is a few. George Washington, he
was angry. You know? So people would you
have to use anger
as a fuel to to for change. And
you you don't you don't it don't it
doesn't have to be destructive. It's just like
with gasoline.
You know? We can use gasoline to fuel
our vehicles and go from one place to
another, or we can use gasoline to destroy
things. You know? So we have to, again,
recognize just anger is just a fuel, and
it allows us it teaches us that something
is wrong. And so during this month, we
want to learn how to, you know, recognize
anger within our own selves and then also
learn how to make it subside. Because, again,
as the law says, fasting is prescribed for
you as it was prescribed
for those who before you that you may
learn or attain taqwa, self restraint.
And, again, the most honored by Allah amongst
you are those best in taqwa, and it
is better for you that you fast if
you only knew if you only knew. And,
again, if I've said anything in which are
is inconsistent with what Allah has given us,
I take full responsibility for that. And if
I've said anything in which you have gained
some new knowledge or wisdom, then all praise
is due to Allah.
Our lord, take us not to task if
we forget or fall into error. Our lord,
lay not on us a burden such as
you did lay on those who have gone
before us. Our lord, lay not on us
a burden which we do not have the
power to bear and overlook our faults and
forgive us and have mercy on us. You
are our guardian and protector,
so grant us the victory over those who
disbelieve.