Nouman Ali Khan – Finding Gratitude Through Worship

			So the first thing I want to remind myself of and hopefully all of you have is one of the or two of
the main goals behind Ramadan and the one those two goals I extract them from the ayat of Ramadan
itself that belong to certain macabre the words at the end of the Ayat of Ramadan, I have lambda in
them and lambda in Arabic means so that or hopefully, so Allah gave us the month of Ramadan, so and
there's a long discourse on Ramadan and at the end of that discourse, he says, so that what's the
purpose and he says landownership karoun. So you can be grateful so that all of you can be grateful
so one of the if you want to juice the entire quote, you know, course of Ramadan at the end of it,
		

			what do you come out as one goal is definitely you come out and I come out more grateful to Allah
than we were before Ramadan. And that's a that's an incredible thing to think about. Because I'm not
just saying you're grateful because when Ramadan is over, you know, and you sit there for lunch, and
before you'd like it my supposed to eat right now. Oh, yeah. hamdulillah it's over. And I'm grateful
I can eat not just that kind of grateful. I actually mean something more than that, like, are we
really grateful for being given this gift of Revelation, this gift of the Quran? Are we really
appreciative of that you know, just like you're appreciative of food that you get to eat on whatever
		

			schedule after Ramadan is over, you know that that your body's needs are being met, there's
something else inside you that also had needs. And those needs were supposed to be met in this
Ramadan and Allah in a humanity has Allah gave each and every human being some light inside them,
this room inside of us, and that light was incomplete. And it could only have been completed by the
light sent down by Allah. This is what he calls neuron, Allah newer light on top of light, Light
upon light, and that the fact that Allah sent us that light so we can complete the goodness that we
have incomplete inside of ourselves that we could do that we should be grateful for that that's
		

			actually the purpose of Ramadan, that we become grateful for Allah giving us the Quran, grateful for
Allah giving us this guidance. The other thing about the Ayat of Ramadan is that Allah azza wa jal
meet tells us to make dua way that's allocated by the need for iniquity would you Buddha, Allah day
is at the end. He says, you know, they should they should I will respond to whatever dua you make.
So this is a month to talk to Allah, Allah Quran is Allah talking to us, dua is us talking to Allah
and that's how a conversation becomes complete. someone talks to you, you talk about back with them,
Allah talking to us as Quran that's why we're reciting Quran, listening to Quran engaging with the
		

			Quran, that's Allah speaking with us, and then we're making dua to Allah. We're asking Allah, all
kinds of things, and that's us talking to Allah and thus our connection with Allah becomes whole.
And so he says, asked me whenever asked me at whatever time and whoever you are, just ask, and I
will respond immediately. But at the end of that, he actually said something, he said for you
Failure study, Bulli,
		

			then they should respond to me to I make dua to Allah, he responds. And he says, I will respond, but
I'm asking you, you should try to respond to me also, for the SDG bully, then they should respond to
me, or at least they should try to respond to me. Now the thing about that, it's very simple. If you
don't understand what I'm saying to you, and I asked you something in a foreign language, then you
won't be able to respond to me. If I asked you for water, if I asked you for help. If I asked you
for directions in a language you don't speak, then there's no way you can even begin to respond to
me. And so when Allah says they should try to respond to me, it actually includes in it that I need
		

			to make an effort to understand what is it that Allah is asking me? I know what I'm asking Allah, I
know exactly what I want. I know exactly what problems I have that I need solving. I know exactly
what desires I have that I need to get fulfilled. I know exactly what goals I have that I'm hoping
Allah helps me accomplish. I know exactly what I want. But I'm not exactly sure what Allah wants.
And if I'm not sure, well, that's exactly why he gave us his words, to let us know what he wants.
And he asks, you're gonna ask me but I'm asking you also. I'm also talking I'm putting some demands
on you too. And are you going to respond to me well, you know what fell yesterday booty? Well, you
		

			know be and if that if that conversation can happen if you can start not doing but even if you can
start asking Allah for what you need, and you start listening to Allah for what he wants from you.
Then he says that Allah whom y'all should do at the end of that is so they can be set straight. How
do I become a better person? Somebody asks, How do I change my life? That Ira has in one phrase, the
entire solution, the entire How do you become how do you get your straightened out your life you
should do literally, I would translate it as a figurative expression, so that they may straighten
their lives out so they can become upright so they can be good. How do I become good? I become good
		

			when that conversation becomes real between me and Allah. That's That's what that purpose of Ramadan
is supposed to be.
		

			But now that these couple of weeks are left, I wanted to highlight that we're not the first people
that were given a book. And whenever Allah sent revelation, that revelation was supposed to turn
into a conversation between the servant of Allah, the human being, and Allah Himself, that is the
purpose of Revelation. But that purpose over time starts getting lost. The nations that weren't
received the book of Allah before us, they lost that purpose. So the book became something else. The
book just became something you recite with a beautiful voice. The book just became something that
some people know a lot about. And they look like their religious leadership, and they know a lot
		

			about it. But the rest of us don't have to know anything. And if we ever have a question, we can go
ask them, the book is not for all of us. The book is just for them. It's just for the scholar class.
It's for the priest class. It's for the share class. Those people know about the book, the rest of
us just have our normal lives. Just tell us when we can eat. And just tell us if it's if it's alien
or not. With us all we need to know. Allah describes this phenomenon. He says, Hola, Mia, Nealon
Latina Amanu and Tasha aku, homely Vickery, la Hui Ramadasa, La Mina, Huck, please listen to this is
a very carefully it's one of the scariest ayat of the Quran, describing a fear that we should have
		

			about a disease that hit people before us. They were given a book and they messed up. I know Allah
is saying You better not make their mistake with your book. Now, how does he say that? He said,
Isn't it already time right now? And I'm yet any little Latina. Amanu yakhni comes from an urn. And
an in Arabic actually means right now. Isn't it already time right now, for those who claim that
they believe and tuck Sha khulumani decree law, that their hearts should be filled with awe. They
should be overwhelmed with feelings of Allah's power because of remembering Allah. Allah says, Isn't
it your time yet that your heart felt something? Like, you know, when you're listening to a message
		

			when you're reading a message, your your mind processes it? You understand what's being said? Allah
says that's not enough. Allah wants your heart to feel something. Allah wants you to feel
overwhelmed by the remembrance of Allah, what remembrance of Allah is, does he mean he makes the
Breann of that himself? He says, Well, my Meza laminal Huck. That is to say, aren't their hearts
filled with awe? Aren't they overwhelmed by what they hear from what came down from the truth
meaning Quran itself? Isn't it already time right now that you should feel something in your heart
because of the Quran that's being read to you because of the Quran that you get to hear? Why hasn't
		

			that happened yet? He asked a really scary question. And I'm yet nearly Latina, Amanu and Tasha aku
homolytic Lila, the same Quran that we hear in Salah that we're standing in taraweeh and listening
to that you're meaning maybe you're in a super Islamic mode this month, and you're even playing some
recitation in the car when you're driving. But nothing's happening to my heart. I'm not feeling
anything. I don't feel tears coming down my eyes. I don't feel overwhelmed. You know, when somebody
else gives me good news, somebody calls me and says here graduated. You're overwhelmed with joy.
When somebody else says I have a car accident, you're overwhelmed with fear. These feelings happen
		

			when other people give us a message of good news or bad news. Or when the Lord gives good news and
bad news. When Allah gives advice when Allah counsels nothing happens, it's my heart is exactly
where it was. It's just pretty sounds that are going on and for some of us, look Quran is being
recited or you're you just hit play and look in the car and you're having a conversation and Quran
is playing in the background. It's like background music for you now, you know, this is pretty the
Korean Quran. Then, you know, Allah azza wa jal says was the ruler who answered to listen to it
carefully and silence, be quiet. Quran is being recited this is the word of Allah being recited.
		

			This is as soon as it's being recited, whether it's an mp3 or playing, or some app, or whatever.
It's not just a file that you just hit play on. These are the words of ALLAH, you're supposed to be
an on, say, SHA, ALLAH is talking. And if you really want to have that conversation, pause, and have
your conversation. You know, sometimes you go to restaurants and Ramadan. Usually they're playing
music in the background. Right? And Ramadan, they're playing Quran in the background. And every time
I read a restaurant that sprinkled on in the background, I literally respectfully go and ask, can
you please turn that off? Now? Like when you're the you're the guy with the beard, you're supposed
		

			to say turn that up, yo.
		

			But you know, if people are talking in the restaurant, people are engaged in conversation, people
are socializing, how they're socializing with the words of ALLAH, just background noise. This is the
Kalina Tila here. This is the word of Allah that it's in the highest place. If we can't give it that
respect, then we shouldn't be listening to it at the time. If you're gonna listen to it and drop
everything else, drop everything else be silent.