Ramadan Session – EP04 Quit Bad Habits

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			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah Ramadan prep and fellow Quran Weekly viewers as salaamu Alaikum wa
rahmatullah and I pray that Allah subhanaw taala blesses you before the days of Ramadan which are
upon us for about a week away. I personally am about to travel for overseas for some Ramadan prep
across the pond. So I'm here in the middle of New Jersey, New York headed overseas, making law that
the brothers and sisters their benefit as well. But in the few moments that we have together, I was
hoping to discuss how to break bad habits. When you think about Ramadan, you think about letting go
of that which is halal food and drink. And then you start thinking about if you can let go of which
		

			is halal, then you should be able to have an easier time working on those habits which fall into the
forbidden category. So what we're going to discuss today are four ways or four constructive ways to
not only ask Allah subhanho wa Taala but to consistently remove bad deeds. One of the things we
discussed last one of my lawn and as some of you might have caught, it was myself and brother Abdul
Rahman Murphy who did the Ramadan prep. During that discussion, we talked about quarantining or
finding things that you wanted to better yourself during this tournament. And we, myself, Milan,
Abdul Nasir, and of the rock man, we all sat together and we had that ramadan ramadan resolution
		

			program. So what I'd like you to do is first find out exactly what it is that Allah subhanho wa
Taala has given you a test as I had said last year YouTubing you know, sitting and watching endless
clips on YouTube about whatever but a lot of time passes that way. Some of us have the issue of
backbiting. Some of us may be using strong language, but more importantly, there are things that are
affecting our Iman that's missing the prayer that's not reading Hold on, that's maybe having
		

			a bit of a more a very stern tone with our parents. Allah subhanho wa Taala points out to us in
Surah Furqan, which is Surah number 25. In the last seven or eight is he talks about those who make
mistakes. Now the first point or the first step to breaking a bad habit is to quarantine it is to
realize that you are making a mistake. And this comes in acceptance and asking Allah subhana wa
dalis forgiveness and actually uttering the words this is wrong, what I've done or whether it's
backbiting when you go and speak to someone and say, Look, I crossed the bounds. I backbiting about
you. I told the lie. When you accept it, then you quarantine it. Most of us might not have these
		

			issues. I think some of us have more personal issues, whether it's the type of music that we're
listening to what we view on the internet, or even just hanging out with the friends what we do in
the evening times what type of conversations we have. So the first thing that we're going to tackle
is quarantining the mistake, understanding that this is something I'm dealing with, and I can't
bring myself more into this on a personal level. Until you are giving someone else advice you can
always feel high and mighty. But when you take your mistake your your ills that you have, either
with what you view or who you talk to, or the excuses you make to stay away from that which Allah
		

			has ordained for us prayer, that which Allah has ordained for us separation of the sexes. These are
the things that until you accept on your own, you won't go very far. So Allah subhanho wa Taala
reminds us he Lamin de la mano amilo, Elaine, Swanee her in the first tier, we're going to accept
that Oh Allah, I have made a mistake. I'm spending a lot of time I'm wasting a lot of time or I'm,
quite frankly, just not doing much. And this is not when you feel tired. But this is when you know
you have the energy. This is when you know you can control your language. This is you know, when you
know these words just don't fit on my tongue. I also say Allahu Akbar every day I praise Allah
		

			subhanho wa Taala. How can I use this type of language? So first off, we're going to quarantine the
mistake and this habit and say, You know what, this is my L. Once you accept that this is one of
your ills. Once you accept this is one of your issues.
		

			Then you're able
		

			to, to inform people around you. Now this is going to be within step one. Once you've accepted that
you have a bad habit. I'm going to encourage you to bring someone in bring someone into the picture
could be a best friend, a mentor could be a parent, trust me, your parents trust you a lot more than
you understand. If you feel like your parents are up to it, then you go ahead and inform them.
		

			I on a personal level and form a friend and say look man, I've been struggling with this recently,
I've been struggling with a loose tongue. I've been struggling with spending a lot of time.
		

			Watching clips on YouTube, I've been struggling a lot with just being lazy in general. Once you've
informed a friend you have that friend check in on you every once in a while. So that's the first
tier. The second phase that we need to bring Allah subhanho wa Taala into the picture is ask a lot
tell Allah. This is something you might not feel comfortable doing to a friend directly. So when
you're amid sin or when you're about to sit there and then shoot the breeze for another three or
four hours, raise your hands in front of Allah subhana wa Taala in Iowa 193 of Surah Al e Imran,
this is Ayah 193 of surah Allah and moron where Allah is telling us that if you make mistakes, it's
		

			okay but it's the process of turning back to Allah. And this is our banner feed Lana Zulu Ghana waka
Fira.
		

			Tina what was
		

			this do I 193 of Surah Al e Imran surah. Number three is we are turning to Allah and your first
accepting ally made a mistake. I might even be mid mistake right now. Oh a lot. Take those sins and
distance them from me, remove them from me and more importantly, turn what was a bad deed. Maybe I
was shooting breeze, the breeze and watching Justin Bieber videos on YouTube. Now a lot help me to
get closer maybe to listen to a lecture. Maybe if you're in a more relaxed mood, maybe watch a
documentary, but find something more effective to do what Kathy Rhonda? Say attina What are
phenomenal abroad. And this is a key factor that we have to realize in the second phase, we're
		

			bringing someone into the picture to quarantine our mistake, you're telling a friend and then you're
constantly telling a lot. It's not about eradicating or forgetting about your habit all at once.
It's about saying you know what a lot. I'm going to make the effort. You've given me everything else
perfect. I don't have a name the other bad habits that you don't have. I'm not drinking, I'm not
hanging out at the lounge. I'm not. I'm not doing the hot on things that could be done. I'm not
doing these things. This one thing, it's something I'm working on and a lot I want you to help me
break it down. So in the second phase, you're going to be asking Allah subhanho wa Taala with
		

			various GWAS various supplications that he's given us from the full on. But then if we could go a
step further into step two, Allah subhanho wa Taala says in Isaiah 135 of the same surah Allium, Ron
surah, number three, one levena either Farah lufa, heisha 1001, Mo, that they do wrong. They do
explicit deeds, they're involving themselves in either something illicit on the internet. They're
talking to a sister or to a brother. They're involving themselves in what we call passive Xena. As
above the radar of the Allahu Akbar, Allah I narrated that there is in awe of the eyes of the ears
and of the mouth, we realize that when we listen to the type of music that is genuinely mainstream
		

			genuinely out there, it is something that it was interesting. USA Today had a fact an article on 94%
of the top 100 songs. So the number one song for 100 weeks, that's 100 different songs, or 94% of
them, we're talking about sexuality talking about promiscuous pneus. So we want to realize that
there are passive ways there are passive things that affect that which Allah subhanho wa Taala has
told us to keep near and dear to keep covered. So in this ayah, Allah subhanho wa Taala says that
there is none but Allah Yoku, Nova Illa Allah, there's no one who can forgive you except a lot. And
I'm telling you this as it's this is the only part of advice that I'm giving on a personal level.
		

			Sometimes it feels like, you know what, if I rectify this, then this person will think better of me,
this person will forgive me, I want you to make the focus at home, that I'm not doing this habit.
Whether it's something as simple as the uncleanliness of biting your fingernails, or something
that's a little bit more serious. Whether you have you're addicted to some type of cigarette or
something, is something that goes through your lungs. And these are the type of things that you want
to now quarantine and constantly ask Allah subhanho wa Taala for the second phase, second step,
bring a loss of handwash Allah into the picture. In the first step, we quarantined it, we spoke
		

			about it in a negative fashion. I really think wasting time and the internet. I think it's bad. Make
it clear to your friends and when they talk about it in a light hearted way. say you know what, this
is something really important to me Don't take part in demeaning a sin, because once it becomes
light and easy to carry around, it's not a big deal. It's like something I read on the plane on the
way here, actually was a tweet someone said I really hate when people say Excuse My French
		

			They use aggressive language, a it's not a French word and B, that's just a it's a light mask to
say, Well, you know, pardon me, but I'm still going to do something that's deemed offensive. So no
matter how you see this, turn and accept only a law can forgive you don't look for forgiveness and
other people's in other people's mind. Don't look for Allah subhanaw taala to make you feel better
about your sin until you have rectified it with him. And this doesn't mean you're not going to make
it again This doesn't mean that you know midway through you're not going to fall. why we're doing
this exercise now is right before Ramadan. We're doing this now because we've pre Ramadan we want to
		

			get hyped up and revved towards the direction of making a change. Last Ramadan we were changed right
last Ramadan we came off on a spiritual high we had ongoing all Ramadan you have Maulana Abdul Nasir
taking his tafsir nights for you sir yacine Surah Maryam, what I'm asking you to do now be it's an
Allah is trying to get back to that state. Back to the last few days of Ramadan and don't start from
scratch. quarantine the mistake, bring Allah subhanho wa Taala into the picture with dogs with
supplications which you can look out for during radio Ramadan, I'll have a do our prayer everyday in
sha Allah. And the third step is going to be replacing that bad deed. Now you have to remember fofi
		

			to unova illa Allah that Allah forgives our bad deeds, and there's none other than him. So if we
don't realize this, we won't realize that this is empty advice unless you're going to replace it. If
you're having trouble with something on the internet, then find something else to watch. If you tend
to watch movies a lot, then try to quarantine and limit that time. So the third step is going to be
replacing the habit, I'm going to give you a smaller example. Some people who stay away from
smoking, they start to chew gum. So if you have the habit of listening to listening to something on
your stereo, replace it, I'm not gonna say necessarily initiate, but get into something a little bit
		

			more entertaining, whether it's the news, whether it's what's going on, whether it's talk radio, and
a lot of times there are a lot of gurus that you can listen to, I'm not going to be one to promote
listening to lectures all the time. But if you can start making a schedule, it helps to replace the
habit that you have. So step number three is going to be effectively replacing the habit that you
have with something more positive. And the only way you can do this is to definitely have a
schedule, not having and this is one of my bond. So if there's no other time that you're going to
make a schedule, be a little dorky, have a schedule for Ramadan. When you have a schedule in
		

			Ramadan, then you'll know okay, I'm getting up this time, 10 minutes after sore after I stuffed the
food in my mouth and I'm trying to go back to sleep. I'm going to read two or three, I'm going to
read a page three or four times. Remember if a law multiplies by 70 or 700. Don't get into the habit
of doing something once a good deed once in Ramadan. This is your chance perpetual do it again and
again. And again. Finally, during Ramadan, I want you to make an effort to not do things I know
there's a strong push to going out to see whatever movie is coming out in Ramadan, I want you to
this is your chance to say Allah, you've given us this month of Ramadan and I'm going to take it a
		

			step further. I'm not going to try to rationalize it and figure out I'm just not going to do it.
It's going to be that third, that third step, replacing it with a good deed and where you feel like
I can pretend to be religious. Remember the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam cry
when you make dua supplicate to Allah by weeping. And if you can cry, what should you do? Make a
face at least inclined the heart towards feeling like you're going to cry. So if you don't feel
religious throughout the year, and you don't look away when you see something inappropriate if you
talk about if you talk about anything without thinking about it, it's Ramadan, quarantine it,
		

			replace it with a good deed and try your best in shot law to have a schedule after suhoor I'm going
to do this I'm going to listen to one Quran Weekly lesson, I'm going to go to L to R q.com. And
learn my letters learn to read. I'm going to do an advanced passage every two or three days. I'm
going to
		

			say shake around my schedule because in Ramadan, Allah shook your whole schedule up anyway, he took
away food. So I want you to keep this in mind that ramen Lanza, it's like it's an opportunity for
you to take a step back and remove that one thing from your, from your repertoire from what you do.
Last but not least is the fourth step. Set up set up a way not to make this mistake again. speak to
someone have an internet guy don't hang out with the friends who encourage that mistake. I asked
Allah subhanaw taala to bless you much the battery actually ran out so we're out here I'm making dua
to Allah subhanaw taala to bless you all tremendously. Have a wonderful Ramadan. four steps to
		

			removing the bad habits is a gift from Allah subhana wa Tada. I hope to see you all soon. I'll try
to extend it when we get overseas Sokoloff later and have a beautiful
		

			Ramadan and from behalf of all of us at AQL online, and all of us who have been trying to advocate
Quranic literacy was Salam. aleikum wa rahmatullah. You can see me on reved for Ramadan. It's a
program we're doing this Ramadan to cover the first tenet za I'll see you there was Salam aleikum wa
rahmatullah peace Adios. Audio is brought to you by Muslim Central. please consider donating to help
cover our running costs and future projects by visiting www dot Muslim central.com forward slash
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