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.