Sadullah Khan – Jumuah 1 Ramadaan 1444 24 March 2023
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On behalf of Islamia College,
and the extended family, I would like to
wish all.
It serves me great great pleasure to introduce
our guest speaker for today who is none
other than Sheikh Saadullah Khan, the CEO of
Islamic College.
Without any further ado, I present to you
Sheikh Saadullah Khan.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most
merciful,
all praise is due to our creator, our
cherisher,
our nourisher, and our sustainer.
We bear witness that none worthy of worship
but Allah.
We bear witness, we believe in all the
prophets who came throughout history,
and we bear witness that prophet Muhammad ibn
Abdullah.
Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Alihi Wa Ashab e Wasallam
is the final of all the studies of
Allah.
Respirited
elders, educators,
brothers and sisters, respected youth,
I greet you with the Islamic universal greeting
of peace.
May the peace, the mercy, and the blessings
of Allah
be upon each and every one present.
This auspicious hour of Jum'ah.
In this first Friday, 1st Jum'ah of Ramadan,
we bid each one of you in Ramadan
Kareem and Ramadan Mubarak.
In Islam,
the
social, the economic, the political, the private, the
public,
the psychological,
the physical,
the spiritual aspects
of our existence
intermingle,
and they intermingle
in consistent synergy
in a cohesive manner.
And
they synergize with our iman or with our
faith.
Because for a Muslim,
no part of our lives
are divorced from our faith.
No part of our lives
are divorced from our
faith. So when it comes to our worship,
to Ibadah,
whether people can observe our worship
such
as standing in prayer for salah
or the giving of charity through Zakah
or the performing of the rituals of the
pilgrimage of Hajj,
or whether people cannot observe
our
ibadah such as fasting,
all of these are done
in obedience
to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
At the outset,
let me
emphasize
the verse of the holy Quran with which
I began
and acknowledge the fact
that
the pursuit of taqwa is the primary objective
of our fasting.
And Allah says in the holy Quran in
Surah Baqarah,
Oh you who believe,
fasting has been prescribed for you
as it was prescribed
to those before you in order that you
may attain
Allah consciousness.
In order that you may and pursue righteousness.
In order that you may attain unto Taqwa.
Now the pursuance of taqwa, as we admit,
is the primary objective of our fasting according
to this verse of the holy Quran.
However,
for today,
I want us to reflect on the multi
dimensional benefits
of fasting.
And I do so
specific specifically
to conscientize ourselves
about how siyam
is not only
religiously obligatory
but also a uniquely
physical model and spiritual treatment
for improving
ourselves,
in fact all aspects of ourselves.
And for that reason I look
at the other dimensions of fasting, remembering that
the pursuit of fatwa is the primary objective.
But the other benefits, the multidimensional
benefits,
I have broken it down into 4 brief
categories.
And of course, this is not comprehensive.
It's not exhaustive,
but just some dimensions thereof.
When you look at the spiritual
and moral dimension,
spiritual
and moral elements of fasting,
we begin by realizing that above all,
fasting is after all an act of obedience
of
and done in submission
as to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And submission and commitment
is based upon sincerity of intention
because actions by themselves
avoid of any blessings or any value
unless the intention
is sincere.
And we do our ibadah,
we do our fasting as one of the
ibadah
to gain the pleasure of Allah, to gain
the
riddle of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And if that is the only reason and
was to be the only reason for fasting,
it would have been sufficient as a motivation
for us to fast.
But also under the spiritual and moral dimension
of fasting benefits,
fasting is an act of acknowledging Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala is the only master and also
the sustainer of the universe.
As we always remind ourselves,
when we fast, there are 3 primary things
we abstain from. Food,
drink, and intimacy.
If you stop if everyone stop eating and
drinking all the time, we'll all die because
of starvation or thirst.
And if everyone was not to have intimacy,
the generation after us won't come into existence.
So that's why fasting is abstaining from basic,
absolute basic fundamentals
of human existence.
So when we stay away, it's not clothing
or driving,
It is abstaining for in daylight, from sunrise
to sunset, from the basic fundamentals of life.
And therefore,
in doing so, we're acknowledging
that we are keeping away from that which
keeps us alive because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is the one who provides us that sustenance,
and he has asked us to abstain from
that, for that period of time.
Fasting is also an atonement.
A kafar if you wish for our errors
and our mistakes. An opportunity for tawba. And
as the prophet said,
and conviction, with the belief that Allah will
reward
him or her for that fast,
such a person will have all his or
her past since forgiven, may Allah count us,
among such people.
Fasting also trains the believer to act in
a way conscious of Allah. One of the
dimension of Taqwa is the fear
of displeasing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because
the pleasure of Allah gains reward. The displeasure
of Allah has the consequence of the possibility
of punishment.
So if we volunteer
because don't forget it's obligatory but I still
choose to fast. That's why
That's
why we read the near. Allah knows we're
gonna fast.
But why do we read the near to
to
internalize
that intention
that I'm doing this as an act of
Ibadah.
That I'm intending to fast with all its
rules and regulations, and therefore it trains us
to be conscious of Allah, but at the
same time to abstain from things and to
realize that we can abstain from fundamentals of
life,
why can't we abstain from those things that
are forbidden
after fast or even during fast or in
the month of fasting and the months beyond?
But fasting is also a
training in
enhancing our capacity for sincerity.
As we mentioned, unlike
other acts of worship,
you cannot observe the fasting person fasting.
It's entirely based on self restraint,
on self discipline. It's based on sincerity, on
Iqwas. It's based on honesty, siddiq, and on
faithfulness.
It also teaches virtues and values.
It does not exclusively mean refraining from food
and drink,
but it also means refraining from wrongful acts.
Some people
said
He said that there are different levels of
fasting.
There are those who fast and just stay
away from food and drink, and they do
everything else. There are those who abstain from
food and drink, but they also abstain from
wrongful
That's a real fast. And the highest level
of fasting, they they abstain from food and
drink, and not only do they abstain from
halal, from haram rather, but they
also abstain from even entertaining the idea
of engaging the halal
or the haram.
So in other words, though they can eat
the halal food in the day, they don't
eat it. They shouldn't do haram at any
time, they abstain from that
even while they are able to do that
as an act, a physical act if they
so wish.
So that's why it's very important. It's not
only abstaining from food and drink.
A very famous hadith documented the Sahih of
Imam al Bukhari. If a person does not
abandon lying
and falsifying things or cheating or undermining or
backbiting
and gossiping,
Allah sees no reason why such a person
gives up food and drink.
In other words, it's not the abstention for
food and drink, but also the abstention from
wrongfulness.
This spirit of Ramadan with its voluntary qiyam
that we do
and the frequent increased recitation of the Quran,
of course we supposedly said Quran throughout the
year, it provides a chance and an opportunity
for spiritual revival.
A kind of a spiritual overhaul, a period
of spiritual upliftment but a spiritual overhaul, a
month training at least
to rejuvenate ourselves.
And also, fasting is a form of jihad,
of
striving in the cause of Allah. A
heightened level of discipline is required for fasting
and it grants us the ability, it enhances
our ability to master our needs, subdue our
desires
and bring about takinah or tranquility
in our lives.
That is spiritual and moral dimension and of
course I've only mentioned 7 or 8 of
them, there are many.
When you look at the psychological elements of
psychological
benefits of fasting,
Fasting enhances the feeling of inner peace,
the sakinah which you're talking about. Contentment
of optimism, of of having hopefulness, of amal.
Those
feelings
result from realization of Allah's pleasure that whatever
we go through life, ultimately we are accountable
to Allah and through whom and to whom
our deeds will be reported and to whom
we'll be accountable
and answerable.
So the difficulty we endure is a temporary
period. The goodness that we endure, the joy,
is also temporary. Whatever situation we find ourselves,
we find ourselves
in the world of Allah
being nourished and sustained
by the bounties of Allah.
It teaches us patience and perseverance,
enhancing the feeling of moral accomplishment.
You may have certain traits.
Maybe
you gamble or maybe you have a bad
habit and you say this is one thing
I'm gonna remove this year.
And it grants you the capacity
to
achieve a degree of
moral accomplishment. A moral accomplishment provided you don't
go back
to the wrong that you have done before.
It's also a means of voluntary abstinence.
Don't forget you have a choice. You are
Muslim, you're supposed to fast, but you do
it out of choice. You choose to fast,
that voluntary abstinence of lawful appetites,
it leads you to appreciate the bounties of
Allah.
I can have water normally whenever I want.
We got jugs of water. I was in
Sheikh Ismail's office. They got like 50 trays
of water there, for example. They don't touch
it.
Though it's there, but you abstain from it.
But you realize all of this, the water
and he has some juice also there by
the way.
It's all niyam of Allah. So even when
you break fast, it's niyam of Allah. But
also conscious of the reality, social consciousness
that there are people for whom even when
the time for fasting,
when iftar comes, there's never an iftar for
some people.
So So keep that also in mind.
And also for the whole month of the
year, Muslims go through different experiences.
That breaks a normal routine.
And you can say what you want, however
we pray,
however
weak our iman may be, there's a different
consciousness, different mindset when you enter Ramadan. You
find people who may have different levels.
But somehow Ramadan just the ambiance, the atmosphere
of Ramadan, you can go to any mosque
anywhere in the world, in any community.
And you find there's something different about Ramadan,
something special.
And that
different from the norm. In other words, it
gives you a a opportunity for
in other words, for adaptation.
How you can adapt.
Sunday, we have at a at a wedding.
Saturday, we had a at a at a,
engagement.
Suddenly this week, we are fasting.
So you can adjust
from a mode where you are feasting to
a mode where you go into abstinence management,
for
those
who
are
in
charge of
is to change. Whether you're in management, for
those who are in charge of institutions or
businesses,
the most difficult thing for staff is to
change something. They'd rather do it the way
it was. Don't change. Change is difficult.
But this grants you the capacity to realize
your cap your ability
to adapt.
These are 4 or 5 of the psychological
elements. Then comes to the social dimensions which
are numerous.
One is
fasting promotes a spirit of unity
and a sense of belonging
with greater with the larger Muslim community. I
wish we all fasted in the whole region
together but that's another matter. I don't know.
Go into the faith debate.
I just believe if people in the area
saw the moon, whether in Zimbabwe or so,
we should all agree upon it. Those boundaries
which we have were not created by us,
they are colonial boundaries.
So but then we set a point, may
Allah grant,
you know, blessing to all the all the
mind, may we come together and come to
some sensible agreements about these things. But nonetheless,
may Allah accept how fast and and all
all those who are fasting whenever they started.
But it's a sense of belonging, the fact
that all over the world,
Muslims are in a state of fasting. It's
a month of Ramadan.
You see?
We may be now it's
morning here, Monday here, it's nighttime,
in in in America, maybe the other night
in India, we may be apart for early
morning or late afternoon,
but we are in the month of fasting.
We make maghrib, they're not making maghrib over
there, but when Ramadan we're all in Ramadan
together.
We're all in Ramadan together. It's a month
of unity and month of togetherness. Millions of
Muslims all over the world fast during the
phases,
the fasting month of Ramadan, the 9th month
of the Islamic lunar calendar,
following the same rules of observances for the
same reason according to the same command of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in following the same
mission of the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
It also promotes a spirit of human equality.
Fasting promotes a spirit of human equality before
Allah. Whether you're male or female, whether you're
rich or poor because even the poor fast.
Whether you're from whatever ethnic background,
whether you experience deprivation or not,
There are no special privileges to any group
or any class.
A sense of human equality.
And therefore,
charity is so important. They asked Mullen
Rumi once,
which music is haram?
So Rumi said, the poet, he said,
the sound of the spoons of the rich
when they are eating and the poor can
hear the sound of the spoons. That music
that is haram.
Fasting promotes the spirit of charity and sympathy
towards the poor and the needy.
A rich person may be able to imagine
the suffering of the poor, or think of
the hunger.
Yet, you somewhat, somewhat appreciate
the thirst of the thirsty and the hunger
of the hungry during the month of Ramadan
due to abstention for a period of time.
And fasting promotes
Islamic sociability.
You are invite you are urged to invite
others to break the fast, whether it be
the orphans, whatever it may be.
And you gather together at sunset. You can
do it any time of the year but
there's some kind of a spirit of Ramadan
that we motivate us to do this.
And this provides the opportunity for socialization
in a brotherly and as well in a
spiritual atmosphere.
Sometimes we gather but it's more like a
party mode.
Here, it's a spiritual atmosphere. A socialization
in a brotherly and a spiritual atmosphere.
And therefore the Rasulullah
said,
the one who feeds the fasting person that
he was for the feeding the fasting person.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Except the dua of
the one
Allah doesn't refuse the dua of the one
who prays for the one who has fed
him at the time of iftar.
Then the physical and medical dimensions.
A great deal had been written about the
medical and health benefits of fasting,
and scholars from all over, from different religious
backgrounds have written about this.
But one of the things is by the
fasting and even intermittent fasting,
part of the benefits is the elimination of
harmful
fatty substances from the bloodstream.
Helping to cure
certain types of
intestinal and stomach ailments, and of course, providing
an opportunity for the renewal of body tissues.
So it can be kind of a month
long detox
provided you don't overindulge
the iftar.
With the digestive system on a month long
overhaul,
your body naturally somewhat detoxifies,
giving you the opportunity for a month long
detox and perhaps a continuous
year
of a healthier lifestyle beyond Ramadan.
It also boosts
people's mood. Because sometimes when you're overeating,
you tend to be moody and irritable.
And it also provides a degree of mental
clarity.
Fasting can be a method of supercharging the
brain, increasing the growth and development of brain
cells,
sharpening responses to information in the world around
us, and studies have shown that fasting can
also make the brain more resilient to stress,
more adaptable to change and can improve mood,
memory and even learning capacity.
Mental function,
you're likely to notice a mental change.
Try to keep your your temper in control
by the way. So the Rasool said, when
anybody irritates you when you are in fasting,
rather say I'm fasting. Don't engage them in,
in an angry mode.
Fasting puts your body through a rejuvenation experience.
And, and that rejuvenation
provides an opportunity
for precious
vitamins and minerals
to be digested when you do ingest
them. And get rid of old tissues and
toxins
or undesirable
materials.
But it also improves
increases your willpower.
Choosing to fast requires a mental strength
and the ability to resist
short term gratification
for long term goals.
When you choose to participate
in such a challenging
exercise and you succeed,
you are likely to experience enormous gratification
and a renewed sense
of accomplishment.
All of this
with physical,
psychological,
and spiritual benefits, and of course,
the eternal reward for your ibadah.
I conclude by reminding of the hadith
rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasallam
authenticated by Imam Suyuti.
But in pursuance of the ultimate objective of
fasting which is taqwa,
it's not to lose weight, not to detoxify.
These are the by products.
But the pursuance of the ultimate objective of
fasting,
taqwa,
it is also a model and spiritual and
a protective shield for us.
Fasting is a spiritual
model and a
psychological
shield for us. And there are also certain
Hadith which I leave you with.
Fasting is a shield.
Fasting is a mode of protection.
And it's like a fortress
among the fortresses
for the believers.
And that's where the hadith of the Rasool
said. The same hadith.
And for each person, they'll be rewarded
according to what they have done.
But fasting
that was done for me,
and I'll personally
reward you for that.
May Allah accept our fast and grant us
to achieve the objectives of fasting. May Allah
enhance our capacity.
We say shukran to Sheikh Saadullah Khan for
delivering such a beautiful khutbah discussing the different
aspects of fasting and inspiring us to be
conscious of our actions during this blessed month.
We ask Allah to grant that we all
benefit from this holy month, inshallah. Amen.
The first Adhan will be led by Abdullah
Palika and the second by Ahmed Mukaddam.
Bashirful will then lead the Jamasala.
Read out the notes.
Not too long. Alhamdulillah. We have started, last
night with our first rahat at Taraweeh. Today
being the first of our Ramadan, Siyam, the
fasting,
the day is almost done. 1st done, 1st
night is done.
It's countable days, and so the days will
go on. And, if you see again the
month's done, you know. So inshallah,
it went well last night smoothly.
Every night inshallah. Allah grants his strength and
health inshallah to be a benefit for us
and inspiration for us for many more years
to come.
And
as many of the know that the Masjid
do not go out for any donations or
collections.
We depend on the community
to donate the generosity towards the upkeeping of
the Masjid. You know, the ID department, the
WhatsApp messages, the YouTube, the salaries,
amongst others.
So the masjid do accept the sadaqah in,
form of a lila,
and, any cash donations or best to,
to deposit in the bank account inshallah. The
banking details is all over the media,
inshallah. And also your zakah as well. The
zakah will be distributed if it is donated
towards the masjid. The masjid will make sure
that the Zakah is donated to the proper
recipients inshallah. The arrangements will be made inshallah
with a few people. So I'm thinking I
think the is open
already online. The IT man is, indicated it
is open inshallah.
So they can book the Iqtaqav
online also now
inshallah. And, our
Hafiz Sofiaan Bolat, and Hafiz Majay Dali.
May Allah
grant them the health and the strength.
And may they make it easy for them.
It's not an easy thing to stand in
front of about, 3,400,
or 1,000 people, or 300, or a 1000,
33,000 people. It's not easy. For me speaking
in front of these people is not easy,
that's why I'm stuttering all the time also.
So the fitra also as well, we ask
the people to
time this day, give the fitra so that
we can
purchase the parcels and distribute it inshallah.
Even if it is a few days or
a week before Eid, inshallah, we'd like to
give it to the recipients inshallah before the
time.
And just ask the brothers to stand inshallah,
and to allow the people standing outside to
come in. There's quite a few spaces inside
in between, so can we fill the gaps?
Then the people standing outside can come to
the front.
Straighten the road, you're putting for all the
gaps.
Send shoulder to shoulder.