Nadim Bashir – Best Nights Of The Year
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I ask Allah
that just as he has gathered us here
today on this day of Jum'ah, in the
month of Ramadan, may
Allah gather us along with our families in
Jennifer Dusil Allah, in the companionship of Rasulullah,
he salallahu alaihi wa sallam, and his Sahaba
without any accountability,
Amin You Rabbil Alamin. May Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala accept our rakiyam, may Allah accept our
and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
grant us the nights of
Go back a month.
We were talking about
the month of Ramadan is coming.
And subhanallah,
in the blink of an eye,
we are almost 20 days into the month
of Ramadan.
Where am I today?
Where I where was I before Ramadan?
And where am I today in the month
of Ramadan?
Has my taqwa increased?
Because this is the month of taqwa.
Fasting develops taqwa.
Fasting is not the objective.
Taqwa is the objective.
Has my taqwa increased or not?
Do I find pleasure
in reading the Quran and connecting with the
Quran?
Do I feel guilty over the sins
that I have committed?
The that I have committed against myself.
Do I feel guilty about it? Have I
made istighfar to Allah
And am I finding any enjoyment
in the qiyam?
If the answer to any of these questions,
brothers and sisters, is no.
No. That I have not developed my taqwa,
or my taqwa has not increased,
and I'm not finding pleasure in the Quran,
I'm not finding enjoyment in qiyam, I've not
made istighfar,
then we have really
lost the first twenty days of Ramadan.
But at the same time, I have some
good news too.
The good news is
that the last part of Ramadan,
the most precious part of Ramadan,
is right upon us.
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
It is mentioned about him from our mother,
Aisha radhiallahu ta'ala Anha.
That, Karan Biyushalallahu alaihi wasallam
When the last 10 nights of Ramadan would
begin,
Shaddamizar.
That which means Technically speaking means that he
would tighten his waist belt. Meaning that in
our in our understanding, like you know when
a person gets serious,
they will try to roll up their sleeves
and so forth.
That is what the prophet is doing. He's
trying to create a psychological
awareness within us, that when the last 10
nights of Ramadan began,
whatever has been done has been done. Whatever
has not been done has not been done.
But we can make amends for the 1st
20 days of Ramadan, and the last 10
nights of Ramadan.
It is also mentioned that
that He would stay up
the night, all the night, because throughout the
entire year, there were portions of the night
where the prophet shalallahu alaihi wa sallam he
would pray, and there were portions of the
night he would take some rest. But in
these last 10 nights of Ramadan,
our mother says that
He will stay up all night.
And not only that,
He would wake up his family members
to engage in the worship of Allah
Brothers and sisters,
these last 10 nights of Ramadan
is the time where we need to push
ourselves to our limits.
I know that in Ramadan, we are sleep
deprived.
I know that in Ramadan our schedules are
all messed up. I know that in Ramadan
things are not that easy.
But this is the beauty of the month
of Ramadan.
Everyone is fasting,
everyone is performing qiyam,
everyone is connecting to the Quran. And then
the last 10 nights of Ramadan come, and
we're more tired, and we're more sleepy, and
we have more fatigue.
But the beauty of the last 10 nights
is that we push ourselves to the limit,
to the absolute maximum, because of the reward
that is promised to us by Allah
Has it ever come to our
imagination
that subhanallah,
in the past,
there were people who lived beyond a 1000
years.
Nuh
gave dawah only for 950
years. That was just his dawah time in
his life.
His life was beyond a 1000
years.
In the time of the prophet In the
in the in the ummah of rasulullah sallallahu
alaihi
wa sallam, our lifespan
compared to the lifespans of the past
is very very short.
Now someone may ask
that, what if I want to do a
lot of Ibadah?
What if I had a life of a
1000 years?
A 1200
years and so forth.
Is there any way in the ummah of
the prophet, our life is 60 to 70
years at an average.
Is there any way that I can do
enough?
And this is why there's a beautiful hadith
of Rasulullah
Because he says that,
Whoever is deprived
in these last 10 nights of Ramadan,
they are truly deprived.
Meaning that they have suffered a great loss.
They have suffered a great loss.
At the same time, keeping in mind that
if a person
is waking up in the nights of the
itul qadr, and they get the reward of
83 years
in one night, as Allah
says in the Quran,
Better than a 1000 months.
It comes out to be 83 years.
Then think about it for a moment.
If we go through 10 years of Ramadan
in our life, which many of us here,
we have probably experienced 20 Ramadans,
30 Ramadans, and in many cases, there might
be even 50 or 60 Ramadans.
But think about it. Every 10 years,
if we spend our Ramadan,
and we spend our layitulqadr,
the way it is to be spent,
The way it is to be utilized.
That's
830 years of Ibadah.
830 years. Only if you spend 10 years
of Layitul Qadr, and we find the night
the night of Layitul Qadr, and we spend
that night properly
Think about on the day of judgment.
People of the past, they may have lived
for 1500 years,
But the ummah of Rasulullah
alaihi wa sallam has been given
this honor
and this opportunity
that though we may live for 60 and
70 years,
but we can do enough that when we
appear before Allah on the day of judgment,
we can have almost 2 1000, 3000 years
of 'ibadah
This is something that was not given to
the ummah of the past. And this is
why once again, Rasulullah
says,
that anyone who loses the night of lateul
Qadr, anyone who is deprived from his khair,
they are truly deprived from Allah
Brothers and sisters, these last 10 nights which
are starting tomorrow night as
let's psychologically
prepare ourselves from now.
Let's talk to our families from now. Let's
try to create a situation at home,
and a schedule at home that where we
can be productive, where we can give each
other the opportunity
to maximize these last 10 nights of Ramadan.
Allah
in the Quran, he says,
What is this qadr?
Many ulama, they say that qadr is in
reference to the divine decree. The qadr, the
divine decree that we all believe in.
The divine decree that Allah
has already written for us, but we also
learn from the sunnah of the Prophet
that our duas can change the qadr of
Allah
Though it is written,
but it is also written if our decree
will also change. These are the nights that
we can pray to Allah
and change our decree. Hence, the ulama they
say that these are the nights of qadr.
Why? Because Allah
Allah he sees our duas, and he will
make changes if he needs to, and if
he wishes to our Qadr. And he tells
the angels about those changes.
Some of the ul Hammadi say that, No.
This is also in reference to the fact
that these are very prestigious nights. Just like
we say in Urdu also,
Likewise,
is to honor something. To believe in something
that it is highly honorable. It is prestigious.
These are the nights of prestige. These are
the nights of honor. So Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala he is saying that these are not
only the nights of qadr, and the nights
of honor, but a person who stands up
before Allah and they pray to Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala according to one hadith of the
Prophet
manqamalaylatalqaddariamanan
waitti7rufiyalahumataqaddar
minzambi. A person who stares before Allah on
the nights of baytulqaddar,
they will get the reward from Allah
But additionally,
in the eyes of Allah
Because of how honorable these nights are, this
person
who is standing before Allah, this person who's
reading Quran on these nights, This person who
finds the night of Daytul Qadr, they have
a high and honorable position in the eyes
of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Though we may not have an honorable position
amongst the people, but we will most certainly
have an honorable position in the eyes of
Allah
This is why once again, brothers and sisters,
we need to understand
the magnitude
of these last 10 nights of Ramadan.
Additionally,
how how honorable these nights are?
Allah He says,
tanazalulmalaaikatuwarruhofeeha
biivni rabbihim min kulliamrin
Allah he says, That on these nights, it
is not only the malaika that are coming
down, but the most honorable of all the
angels, Jibril
according to the opinion of many ulema. And
because of the Quran and the way the
wording of the Quran is, it is jibreel
himself
who comes down on these kind of nights.
Think about how great these nights are. That
it's not only the malaika that are coming
down. The most honorable of all the malaika.
Jibrael alaihis salam himself is coming down. Subhanallah,
brothers and sisters, think about if the malaika
are coming down, and you and I, we
are wasting these last 10 nights of Ramadan.
You and I are not taking the maximum
amount of benefit from these last 10 nights
of Ramadan.
Then honestly we need to ask ourselves that
Allah is setting us up for success.
Allah is giving us all the tools that
we need to be successful on these nights.
But if we are the ones who are
wasting our time,
there is no one to blame but ourselves.
Brothers and sisters,
what is to be done on these last
10 nights of Ramadan?
There are several things that we need to
do. First of all is,
as Allah
says,
Better than a 1000 months,
it is comes out to be 83 years.
And many of us, we have seen the
calculation.
1 night is equivalent to 83 years. However,
1 hour
on any night of late al Qadr
is equivalent to almost 10 years of ibadah.
1 hour. 10 years. Can you imagine if
you went to work,
and your boss said to you that you
work, and I'll give you 10 years of
pay.
We will not do anything else in that
1 hour
but work.
We will not look at our phones. We
will not look at anything. We will just
work and work and work because one night
because one hour and getting 10 years of
pay, this is a bargain that you will
not find anywhere around the world. Yet, Allah
is willing to give us this.
One minute
on the night of late Al Qadr
is equivalent
to is equivalent to
58
days. Think about that for a moment. One
minute.
58
days. Once again, think about it. If a
person says, work for 1 minute, and I'll
give you
60 days of pay.
What
an What a a great deal Allah is
giving us over here. And one second comes
out to be almost one day.
This is why we need to spend every
single second in the of Allah
when it come to these last 10 nights
of Ramadan.
What do we need to do in these
last 10 nights of Ramadan? Several things, as
I said earlier. Number 1 is
standing up before Allah
And before I get into this subject, I
do wanna make something very, very clear here.
Though today,
especially all over America, we have seen that
there is a culture
that has been created in the last ten
nights of Ramadan.
Every single masjid is
performing their qiyam.
Every single masjid has organized a qiyam. They
have organized lectures and so forth.
But brothers and sisters, and I especially especially
I want the youth to listen to me
very carefully here.
In the time of the prophet
the
way the prophet
would spend his last 10 nights at Ramadan
was not in the masjid giving lectures.
Lectures are for another time.
The prophet
he will stay at home,
stay in the confines of his home,
and he would do the ibadah of Allah
Now, am I saying that coming to the
masjid and engaging the qiyam is wrong? No.
I'm not saying that.
But the actual sunnah of the prophet
is
to stay at home and engage your own
Ibadah.
See, what's happening lately is
many people, and especially especially our youth,
they're running around from 1 masjid to another
masjid. From 1 organization to another organization.
Why? There's a very beautiful lecture that is
going on.
We have
350
days of the year,
If the lunar calendar You take the lunar
calendar into perspective.
355 days a year. We have 345
days
a year
that you can listen to as many lectures
as you want.
Sit on Youtube all day long, and listen
to lecture
after lecture after lecture.
There is a vault on YouTube about lectures.
But in these last 10 nights of Ramadan,
brothers and sisters,
instead of wasting time,
and going from one place to another place
to another place.
Why? Because I want to listen to a
lecture.
And we drive for 20 minutes.
Driving for 25 minutes.
And not only that, but when we get
there,
the only thing that is taking place is,
there might be a lecture taking place.
But let's be truly honest.
It's a lecture
but it is also because I want to
socialize with others.
This is why people are going around.
My friends are going.
Brothers and sisters, this is not how rasulullah
sallallahu alaihi wasallam will spend his last 10
nights.
Wallahi, we are drifting
from the actual sunnah of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam.
After Eid, listen to as many lectures as
you want. Sit down 247 and listen to
as many lectures as you want.
But if there's any lecture that we need
to hear, it is only the lecture of
Allah
that we will find in the Quran.
That is the only thing that we need
to be doing in the last 9th of
Ramadan.
Stay
at home. Do your qiyam.
Read the Quran.
Do your zikr.
Do du'a. Make du'a in these last 10
nights of Ramadan.
Make istighfar to Allah
This is how Rasulullah
will spend his nights.
Now we have people who are driving,
spending 3, 4 hours
socializing. Listen to a lecture.
And then they feel good about themselves. Why?
Because they prayed 2 rakaatiyam?
Because they read 10 minutes of Quran?
You see the priorities are changing.
And we have to come back to the
sunnah of the prophet
So in these last 10 nights of Ramadan,
besides,
besides qiyam,
besides Quran, these are things that we have
to do. And du'a,
and dhikr, and istighfar.
But in these last 10 nights of Ramadan,
let's also try to minimize
socializing with each other. I'm not saying that
someone comes and says, As salaamu alaykum.
I'm not socializing
with anyone. No. No. I'm not saying that.
But going around places,
and wasting our last 10 nights of Ramadan,
brothers and sisters, this is not the way
from the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
Additionally,
we try to also pray
fajr
and isha in the masjid.
We come to the masjid. A lot of
times we are tired all night long. Fajr
comes. We're so tired, I can just pray
at home and go to sleep. No. Especially
in the last 10 nights of the month,
we try to pray Isha with Jamara, and
we try to pray,
Fajr also with Jamara.
And lastly,
something that we all have all heard.
That in the month of Ramadan, the one
thing that the prophet he would always emphasize
on is
seeking delivery or deliverance
from the fire of Jahannam.
In these last 10 nights of Ramadan, if
we have not been making this dua, especially
in these last 10 nights of Ramadan, we
should be making this dua,
May Allah
save us and our families from fire of
jahannam.
But additionally, in these last 10 nights of
Mavan, one of the most
the one the one dua that the prophet
he would love to recite, as our mother
Aisha radiAllahu anha, she tells us is,
Oh, Allah. You are afu. Meaning that you
forgive. Not only do you forgive, you are
the one who amidst the sin from our
records. You Allah. On these last 10 nights
of Ramadan, we ask you to forgive us
in a way that it does not even
appear in our records on the day of
judgment. This dua, by the way, it is
a very,
very powerful dua. Because of time, I cannot
go into the explanation of this dua. But
in these last 10 nights of Ramadan, brothers
and sisters, make these kind of du'as. And
And additionally,
make dua. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the
Quran. In the passage regarding Ramadan, he says,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying, I respond
to the call
or to the du'a of the du'a maker
when he makes du'a.
What does Allah try and tell us? Make
du'a.
Wallahi, we know what is going on in
our own families.
People come to me all the time, Sheikh,
I'm struggling with this. Imam, I'm struggling with
that. Make du'a to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Make an abundance of istighfar
in these last 10 nights of Ramadan, because
making istighfar also removes challenges from our life.
But brothers and sisters, the most important thing
is, because of time we have to wrap
it up, the most important thing is that
these last 2 nights at Ramazan are nights
that cannot be wasted.
Go to the graveyard right now.
And if you were to ask any one
of them
that would they love to exchange places with
you right now,
Wallahi, they would give whatever they had to
exchange
and to be in your place right now.
Allah has given us an honor. Allah has
given us a gift.
Let's utilize the gift.
Let's show Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Let's show
our gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by
maximizing these last nights of Ramadan. I ask
Allah
to make us from amongst those who will
maximize these last 10 nights. We ask Allah
to make us from amongst those who are
forgiven on every single night. We ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us for amongst
those who will seek the night of Rayitul
Qadr. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
make us for amongst those who dua whose
duas are going to be accepted. We ask
Allah
to make us from amongst the Qani teen.
Ask Allah
to make us from amongst those who engage
in the worship of Allah and
we will not waste our time.
Allah
Straighten lines, fill in the gaps.
Sisters, straighten lines, fill in the gaps.
Please make sure the rows are straight.
Brothers in the back two rooms, please make
sure the the rows are straight, and please
make sure the rows are complete.
Brothers in the multiverse hall, if there is
space in the lobby area, please come into
the lobby area.
And if you choose to pray in the
multiverse hall, please make sure the rows are
straight. Please make sure the rows are complete.
Often, the rows are incomplete.
Assalamu alaikum Warahmatullah.
Assalamu alaikum Warahmatullah.
Inshallah, tonight after,
we have, a brief program inshallah here taking
place at the, at the Masjid. We have
7 imams from the local communities inshallah coming
here to EPIK tonight inshallah after Satoray'sha. We're
gonna have a panel discussion inshallah. And also
the sisters, they have a program also tonight
also. So please make sure you try to
be here for the programs.