Nadim Ali – Ramadan Aspirations
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Our 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 our
bad actions.
We're going to our guys, and there's no
one who can mislead him and whoever law
causes to go straight. There is no one
to guide him.
I've been witness we bear witness that there
is no duty to accept the law who's
unique with our partners, and I've been witness
that Mohammed is his worship and his messenger.
And then the decent lessons of a lobby
upon him and his family and his companions
and those who followed the followed them with
good intentions until the day of judgment.
What do you believe there a lot as
you should be feared and don't die
except as Muslims again? Oh, you will believe
there a lot as you should be feared
and don't die
except as Muslims.
For 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 spread forth many
men and women.
Be careful of your duty to allow whom
you demand with mutual rights and be careful
of your duty to the wounds that bore
you. Indeed, Allah is our 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 message, and
he has truly achieved
a tremendous account for
the the best speech is the book of
Allah and the best guidance is the guidance
of Mohammed. So the Lord, it was someone.
So
in the most evil of all affairs, a
new human that it matters, which has no
precedent in Islam. And indeed,
all innovations are strict, and it just strays
in the hellfire. All the same as from
it. All the
except our door.
I would be letting them to shift to
regime this.
The month of Ramadan
is that in which was real revealed the
Quran, the guidance for people, and clear proofs
of guidance and criteria.
So whoever cites the new moon of the
month, let him fast and whoever is ill
on a journey. Then an equal number of
days, other days. A lot of intents for
you ease and does not intend for your
hardship. And once you once for you to
complete
the period and to clarify a lot for
that
for that too, which he has guided you,
and perhaps that you might be grateful.
The messenger of the lost of the Lord
that was Salam said,
whoever gives a food,
whoever gives food for a fasting person to
break his fast, he will receive the same
reward as him, except that nothing will reduce
from the fasting person's reward.
Say, you know, deep.
And come to do that. We are on
the cusp of Ramadan. And, again, Ramadan is
based on
Monday night.
You know, for those who will be participating
for the first time in, you know, most
of people think that Muslims only fast from
sun sunrise to sunset. No. It's dawn
to sunset. In dawn, we have to look
on the calendar's when does dawn come in.
That's when you stop stop eating.
You know, so we have to look at
that. Look at the times of Fajr. Right
before Fajr, you're supposed to finish your meal
for your suhoor and do a light breakfast.
And
we have to look at our fast is
what's called a breatharian
fast. You have people who fast with juice,
fast with spring water,
you know, all types of fast. But, you
know, our fast is a breatharian fast where
we don't
eat any food or drink.
And also the the spiritual aspects of that
is that, you know, you don't engage in
any negativity.
You know, you know, it's about, you know,
no food, drink, or sexual relations with our
mates and also abstaining
from negativity.
I've already let what I knew. Said that
the prophet said,
whoever
does not give a forged speech,
it's evil actions
and forced speech that lying.
If you don't give a line and evil
actions, Allah is not in need of his
leading his food or drink. In other words,
the law will not accept the fasting. So
it's not just about
the food or the drink.
We have to basically change your behaviors. We
have to change your behavior. It's a solid
idea. It's a solid idea.
That we're already level and we also said
that the message of the law said when
the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of
heaven opened
and the gates of hellfire are closed,
and the devils are chained.
And you see people pontificating
over, oh, is it all the devils are
gonna be chained up as *. We didn't
lock down during the during the month of
Ramadan.
But, again, whether it's literal or figuratively,
what
the prophet was saying is
that during the month of Ramadan, you get
to see yourself. Don't get into
all the devils locked up. I'm still there's
still war going on. There's still murder. There's
still
crime. But the point here is that during
the month of Ramadan, you get see your
true self.
If you were lying to snake through Ramadan,
that's who you are outside of Ramadan.
If you're honest person and patient person doing
Ramadan, that's who you are doing Ramadan.
And what it does is say, okay. For
the next 11 months, I'm gonna work on
this snake is behavior.
I'm gonna basically try to do this
snake is still. It might take you years
to get over that because, again, some of
us come from
from the bottom.
You know, always tell people I come out
of the projects of Chester, and I learned
a lot of negative things. It took years
for me to get rid of the things
that I learned.
So coming to Islam
was my rehabilitation.
And for many of us and many of
you in this room,
Islam is is your rehabilitation
program.
You can't bring in the negative behaviors
to Islam. You can't keep them.
Because even
for 13 years, they were still grinding. They
were still drinking
until the the the soils came.
Said, okay. It's it's it's negative.
And don't come to pray high.
And then eventually, Cecil, this is they had
a 13 year detox.
I'm not saying,
oh, even your mom said that I could
still get high for 13 years.
No.
That was the best generation, the first generation.
They were all guaranteed gender.
But that's the lesson is that, you know,
we have to sincerely work on ourselves.
Work on ourselves and use Ramadan as a
means of of of change. This this is
the aspiration that we should have. What do
I need to change myself?
You know, again.
We have to take note and make a
commitment to get rid of the negative behaviors
and increase the positive behaviors.
Increase the positive behaviors because you get so
much reward.
Because on the day of
judgment, it's closed. Case is closed. Once that
last breath once you passed, it is the
dark sock. The barrier between life and death.
Yeah. People say, well, I was dead. I
was brought back alive. No. No. No.
When you did, you did.
Just because the the vital signs
are gone. It's just like you can extract
all of the blood out of your body
and your heart was still beat for a
while.
But if that soul is extracted from your
body,
that's it. You pass that barrier between life
and death. That's it.
So what are you going to take
to your retirement, your true retirement?
What did you gonna take to your true
retirement?
Are you gonna take a a bunch of
questionable deeds?
Are you going to take a bunch of
good things?
And when I work with clients that I
tell people all the time
that just when you have a negative experience
with someone,
you know, someone did you wrong.
It takes 2 positive experience
to raise every one negative experience.
And so, certainly,
you know, if we engage in negativity,
then around those best, how many positive
actions we need to engage in in an
effort to get rid of the negativity that
we have been engaging in. Because even the
fact that we become Muslim, you know, Chetan
just needs bad. Chetan goes through your system
like blood as the prophet
said.
You know, you you you you don't even
feel them. You won't you don't feel our
blood.
So that's how shaitan is. That's how slick
he is. And that's why we have to
stay in constant prayer. We have to basically
dicker a lot throughout the day
and be wary of the shaytay.
And just because he locked up,
you know, don't mean that we, you know,
could and we see what's left when when
you take down and get keeps
getting locked up for this next month.
You see what's in you in your heart?
This is the prophet of a song said
that everything will rest and even the heart
will rest in that which removes the rest
of the heart is to remember some of
the law.
We have to remember a lot consistent.
Not it was you Ramadan of the walk
in the park trying to get rid of
this week that I put on all over
the years. And I think when I first
got married, I I gave a whole another
person.
You know? And so
a lot of us use Ramadan just to
share the weight.
But it's not just about that.
It's about shedding the sins because that's heavier
than any weight that we can put on.
I mean, we can go into our grave,
you know, heavy as all get out physically.
But if we're having with good deeds,
that would be the the real accounting.
And so we don't that's not just you're
all done as a physical
physical,
concept. We have to use it as a
spiritual concept.
We have to use it to share sins
and not just share the weight.
You know, a lot gives us every opportunity.
It's called expiation when you do expiate sins.
So each prayer, between each prayer, we can
expiate sins.
Between each joint, we can expiate sins.
Between each Ramadan, we can expiate sins.
If we go into Umer, expiation of sins.
And Hajj to Hajj is an expiation of
sins. And so that's what we have to
really look at. How can we basically
expiate the sins that we pick up during
the course of the year? As the Sheikh
said last week, we have to
use Ramadan as a means to increase the
increase of taukwa.
And you you hear some people say taukwa
is translated into fearing a lot. Feeling that
I understand it as deference
to a loss upon what the * of
a deference to a lung deference is just
a high level of respect.
Just like many of us, we could in
the old days where we'd be sitting on
the corner just talking trash and using all
sorts of language.
And and grandma
walked by and then, miss Jones, we can
straighten out. We we we defer to the
elder.
We defer to the elder. So that's just
a microcosm
of of the talk with that we have
to have for a loss upon
with the Allah. You know, as the as
the great sheikh said that, you know, that
we have to worship a lot as if
we see him, although we see him not.
And that's every day and that's in every
place.
It's not about just being paranoid.
It's about being cautious.
About being cautious. And and again, the explanation
is it was given last week about tacos.
Like, you know, if you have
all sorts of glass and thorns all on
the road and you barefoot,
you will be real cautious in how you
get through that road. That's what taqwa is.
That's how we have to go through life,
brothers and sisters.
Be cautious so that we can get an
attainment of gender.
We have to work to get it.
Islam is based upon 5 to worship Allah
and to just believe
what is worship beside him, to establish prayer,
and to get charity, and to perform the
Hajj
to the house and to pass the month
of Ramadan.
And again, worshiping Allah and do not associate
with him, establishing the prescribed prayer, giving that
charity, performing the Hajj and Numa, fasting the
month of Ramadan. And again, you have to
look at the way, you know, you would
love people to treat you
and do so to them and whatever you
would hate for them to do to you.
You need to spare them over as well.
So in other words, treating people
like you wanna be treated
at where we're at level and who
said
that
barely, I have only been sent to perfect
righteous character. And that's
again, this is the proper piece before. This
is said, this is his main mission
to perfect character
and not just in himself,
but in the people who are around him
and the people
who came after him. So it's all about
improving our characters, brother and sister.
No. No matter how much,
we know. No matter how many had deep
we know. No matter how many prayers we
prayed,
if we're not changing
our character because changing character helps to change
your behavior.
The law says that he does not change
the condition of people until you change that,
which is in their heart.
So we have to work
to change our character because
we're gonna be needed.
The laws raising an army, a righteous army.
You have to ask yourself, will you be
a part of that?
The way you be apart from that, if
I've said anything that's inconsistent with the law
has given
us, then I take full responsibility for that.
And if I've said anything, what you have
gained, someone would say, as always, our praise
belongs to Allah.
For last and peace and blessings upon his
beloved
prophet.
Muhammad peace be upon him and his family
and his companions. Allah increase his honor and
elevate his station. Grant him the highest place
of paradise and
scholar from the states here.
Says it has a deeper meaning.
Meaning is
endurance or restraint,
not just patience.
Endurance
or restraint.
So so acceptance and sincerity and the babies.
And in in in the submission to the
plans of the of the most loving with
knowledge that.
The lives we live are by the design
of the lost of one of our dollar.
There's association being suffer
and practicing
press practicing it during challenging times because, again,
you we can tell who we are when
we are challenged,
faced with the challenge.
You know, again, for those of us who
are in this country, we'll be we'll be
facing
challenging times in the near future. You have
some people who verbally
how how did they now say they wanna
go back to 1950?
They wanna go back to, the how the
society was in 1950.
Because the 19
sixties caused an upheaval
in this society.
And so
they spent they're spending all of their time
and they they're spending 1,000,000,000 of dollars to
try to reverse
the society.
And as Muslims, we have to
be against that. We have to challenge that.
But the problem is we look at the
disarray
in the Muslim majority countries
and how they're helpless in alleviating what's going
on in Palestine.
We also look at the fact that white
supremacy has reared its ugly head in this
society.
And you have people who just they they
they they verbalize it. They don't care. They
don't
care. You know, they use cold words like
immigration and this and that, but we have
to basically
not
be
like the sheep or sheep.
You know, we have to be of those
who are going to challenge this this this
ignorance.
You know, just like you have people and
they hide,
and you they they engage in white supremacy,
but then they try to,
hide behind Christianity
with it, their version of Christianity.
Similarly, that's what the Zionists have been doing
with Judaism. They'll hide behind Judaism, but they're
promoting white supremacy, which is their form of
Zionism is another form of white supremacy.
You know? And so
and that's why I don't criticize all Jews
or all Christians
because as as the law says, some of
them
are righteous.
And so we have to join with those
who are righteous.
And those who are not righteous, we have
to deal with them accordingly.
This week, the Majlis and others will engage
in it it gives the press just to
let the political establishment that, you know, for
instance, they're earning for Muslim votes. They have
to earn Muslim votes.
You don't have to start by doing right
by Palestine.
And one tactic
that's at play right now is for those
of you who vote, those of us who
vote up vote,
vote blank this coming Tuesday. In other words,
just don't put nothing on it. You you
get your ballot and and just go blank.
So send a message because
you're getting this president,
Georgia, about a little over 11,000 votes. That's
why the previous I mean, president
asked for 11,000 votes.
You know? And so Muslims represent 10 times
that in Georgia.
You know? So we have to send a
message that there needs to be a ceasefire
in Palestine.
And again, they're trying to, you know, get
pacify
pacified the descent by announcing they're doing air
drops of of American made food nutrition. But
then they're secretly sending Israel American made munitions.
You know, they're still sending them arms and
sending them bombs. They speak as the Native
Americans say, they speak with fork tongue.
You know, we have to do what we
can do
to help facilitate the change
in this country's policy towards Palestine.
This professor was lumped as where we if
you see the wrong being committed, let let
me change it with his hands. If he's
unable to do that,
then with his tongue, and if he's unable
to do that with his heart. So at
this time, we are able to speak out
against it, and we can do something with
the the vote blank campaign by changing it
with our hands.
And we, again, we wanna use this blessed
one.
As a time, we're gonna pray for the
people of Palestine and for all the places
in Sudan and other countries where Muslims are
suffering at the hands of oppression,
at the hands of those who are addicted
to power.
You know, we want to be of those
who are the righteous the righteous tribe.
Was the Ross says you are the best
community
that raised humanity. You enjoying the good and
forbid the evil, and you believe in the
law. You're enjoying the good and you forbid
the evil and you believe in the law.
You have the people of the book believe
it would have been better for them. Some
of them are faithful, but most are rebellious.
So we have to recognize our affairs to
promote righteousness in ourselves
and all over the world.
Allah says, oh, you who believe fasting is
prescribed. And we look at prescribed or a
prescription.
It's like something that you get when there's
a sickness.
And so there's an infection, a spiritual infection
on the planet.
And so fasting is immune. There's one of
the antibiotics
to rid this spiritual infection that's that's it's
basically in the planet right now. It was
prescribed for you as it was prescribed
to those before you that you may learn
piety and righteousness. Abu Gura'a, already
said that a Bedouin came to the messenger
of Allah, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
and said, oh, messenger of Allah, show me
the show me a deed by which I
may enter paradise. And the prophet said,
worship Allah and never associate anything with him.
Establish prescribed prayers and give obligatory charity and
fast the month of Ramadan.
The man said, by him, in whose hand
is my soul, I will never add anything
to it nor will I lessen anything from
it. When when the man turns his back,
the prophet said,
whoever
whoever is pleased to sue a man from
people of paradise, let him look at this
one again.
Because the the losses fear Allah.
Your lord,
pray your 5 prayers, fast your month of
Ramadan, get charity from your wealth, and obey
those in authority over you. You will enter
paradise.
You will enter the paradise of your lord.
Our lord, lay not on us a burden
such as you did lay on those who
have gone before us. Our lord, lay 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 protected and grant us the victory
over the disbelieving people in common republic.