Saif Morad – The Prophetic Ramadan
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That I have and I'm abstaining from them.
This is indicative of the fact that it's
there. But we want to bring it to
the forefront to make sure that it's continuously
there in every situation
and not just while I'm fasting because that's
the goal that how can I train myself
where this taqwa comes out?
Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us throughout
the Quran, the reference for taqwa is there.
All you who believe
have the taqwa of Allah
the way that he's meant to have it,
the way that he deserves to have it,
and do not die except in the state
of submission.
That this taqwa, how can I bring it
to the forefront? But before that we have
to understand, okay, what exactly is taqwa?
The simplest definition is do what you're supposed
to, don't do what you're not supposed to
do. Do what Allah has commanded, stay away
from that which he has forbidden. That is
the simplest definition.
Ibn Masrud radiAllahu anhu he said that taqwa
is
and That Allah is obeyed and He is
not disobeyed.
That He is remembered and He is not
forgotten.
And that He is
shown gratitude
and not
kufr, or not to reject his blessings.
Now,
in which situations?
In the masjid only,
is that when I obey Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, but then when I'm outside, I can
do whatever I want.
When I'm in the masjid, I remember Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, but then when I'm outside,
I forget about it.
When things are going well in my life,
I remember the blessings that's there in front
of me, but then when they're not going
so well, I forget about them.
So we have to analyze this statement. What
is he referring to?
Is it possible to disobey Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala within our homes?
Is it possible to disobey Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala at work?
Is it possible to disobey Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala
when I'm hanging out with my buddies?
Is it possible to disobey Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala between
husband and wife,
between parents and children,
between children and parents,
between siblings.
So Allah
has laid out guidelines of how we are
supposed to behave with everyone
at every time
in any place.
So how can I implement that in every
situation?
That I remember him that when I'm speaking
to somebody, I don't let shaytaan overcome me
and then act on my own desires.
So I gotta hold myself.
When things are going difficult,
my brain focuses on that which is difficult,
that which is going wrong, but I have
to be able to look at all the
things that are going right as well.
If you were to count the blessings of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and try it right
now. Well, not right now, but when you
go home, just try it. Just see if
you can actually count the blessings, how many
there are that are very easily overlooked.
So the part of taqwa is that how
can I bring this to the forefront that
I obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in every
situation,
especially in those situations when
I know I have weaknesses there,
that I need to watch myself? Maybe it
could be at work,
I say the wrong thing at times, or
it could be with my family,
I get frustrated easily.
But we want to ask ourselves that how
does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala expect us to
behave and how can I bring that to
the forefront and do more of it? So
my measuring stick, there's no numbers that you
can say, okay, at in a scale from
1 to 10, a 8 of taqwa looks
like this, A 9 of taqwa looks like
that. A 5 of taqwa, you're over here.
4? Okay. This is what it looks like.
This is something that is personal that every
person has to look within themselves. They understand
their situation. They know
how their relationships are, where their ibadah lies,
and has to gauge and measure for themselves.
And
another definition of taqwa, taltaybibil Habib he said
that,
That you work in the obedience of Allah
upon light from Him. So it's based on
knowledge. So I have to understand, okay, what
does Allah
actually want me to do? What things am
I supposed to be doing?
And I'm hoping in the reward from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
that
That whoever fast the month of Ramadan with
iman and belief in Allah
and expecting the reward from him, all their
sins will be forgiven.
Everything will be wiped out.
And the other part of taqwa is to
stay away from the disobediences
of Allah upon
light from Allah. So to know that, okay,
what actually is it that he wants me
to stay away from?
Because
I'm afraid that of the punishment or the
evil or negative consequences of that action in
my life. And Allah
has given us this gift of Ramadan, which
is the perfect training ground for us to
enter into to develop that
to enhance that mindfulness of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that's already there, that we have it.
But we want to enhance that and bring
it more to the forefront. And the Prophet
said that when the first night of Ramadan
comes,
the night starts
at Maghrib time. So the night precedes the
day. 1st night of ramadan, as soon as
it comes in,
all the jinns are tied up, where at
least the big troublemakers, those are the ones
that are tied up.
And the doors of jahannam are closed, and
not a single door remains open.
The doors of Jannah are opened, and not
a single one is closed.
And a caller calls,
That, oh seeker of good, come forward. This
is your opportunity. This is the time to
step up. You have the playing ground in
front of you in order to do your
best. And, oh seeker of evil, stay back.
This is not the month. This is not
the month that you wanna show up. This
is the month where goodness needs to come
out. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he has
rutaka.
People he freeze from the hellfire, and that's
every single night of Ramadan.
That you have this tremendous bounty that's there.
Not only that, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said
that
every deed is multiplied.
It's not one for 1. Sin is one
for 1, but a deed that any deed
a person does is 10 to 700 times
multiplied.
Look at the generosity of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that you do one deed. Depending on
your intention
is multiply up to 700 times, and then
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, except for fasting.
That is for me,
and I am the one who takes the
responsibility
for rewarding it because this individual gives up
drink and food and their desires for my
sake.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes responsibility
for rewarding this person for that.
And every fasting person has 2 joyous moments.
The first one is when they actually break
their fast. This long
fast how many hours we've got? 12 hours
maybe? Something like that?
13 hour fast. This is long day, you're
tired, you're hungry, you're thirsty, and that joyous
moment comes where you get to break your
fast, you get to drink water, you get
to eat something, you get to fill your
fill your belly.
And the 2nd joyous moment is when they
stand in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
yumul qiyamah, and they get the reward of
their fast there. And they don't know what
they're gonna be expecting.
There's no number.
Only Allah knows the tremendous
reward that's waiting for them
and
the scent
from the mouth of the fasting person, You
know, you have you're abstaining from food for
so long, the gases are going within, so
there's this stench that comes out which most
people are turned away from.
That smell to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
more beloved than the scent of musk.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala loves that scent
more than the scent of musk itself.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said
that if one of you is fasting, then
let them not indulge in vulgar matters. Don't
talk about things that you're not supposed to
be talking about. Don't raise your voice. Don't
argue with people. And if somebody comes to
you and curses at you and tries to
argue with you and tries to fight you,
then you tell them
that I am fasting.
I'm not gonna
bother with you.
And there's a reason why you say in
Islam. It's not it's coming from a place
of weakness that I can't do anything or
I'm a person that doesn't have a backbone.
No.
I can defend myself if I need to,
but
there's a higher reward at stake over here.
The reward of fasting, the reward of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is at stake. So I'm
gonna try my best not to do it
because the point of restraining from food and
water is easy.
And that is actually the easiest part of
fasting,
which is to restrain from food and drink.
Imam Ghazali,
he mentioned that there is the fasting of
the general people, which is that they abstain
from food, drink, their desires.
So that's okay. That's what expected of you.
But then there's a special type of fasting
which a person abstains from looking at the
wrong thing, hearing the wrong thing, saying the
wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, and that
is a special type of fasting. And there's
a level even higher than that,
which is that even a person's heart
you know, thoughts are something that just happens,
but even their heart, their thinking,
they avoid thinking about useless things, about lowly
matters, about dunya related matters, and even their
heart is only connected with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
And Jabir radiAllahu anhu said that if one
of you fast, then let also their ears
fast.
Watch your ears, let their eyes fast,
withhold,
let their tongue fast as well.
Let them not harm other individuals and let
them be in a state of peace and
tranquility,
and the fasting day
cannot
resemble
the day any other day, The day of
fasting,
these days in Ramadan that's coming cannot resemble
a normal day.
It can't. This opportunity is there, the month
of mercy, the month of Quran, the month
where the doors of jannah is open, the
month of dua,
the month of Quran, the month of qiyaam.
This is a month where every single person
has to stretch themselves.
There's no excuse.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
the best of creation, the one who was
sent to show us how to worship Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, he himself already has so
much on his plate, and his Ibad level
is like 100.
Even he sallallahu alaihi wa sallam stretched himself.
He did more than what he would do
in normal months.
So no one here
and in
the world
can have their fasting day the same as
any other day. It just can't happen. We
have to stretch ourselves even by a little
bit to benefit from this month because the
Prophet
said
that perhaps there will be a fasting person
who the only thing that they gained from
their fasting was hunger. That's the only thing
they gained from it.
And perhaps there's a person who prayed qiyam,
and the only thing they gained from standing
in the prayer is
they lost sleep.
So they're not really getting the reward that's
there. And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
also said that whoever
does not give up awlazoor,
just false speech and engaging in it and
acting upon falsehood and things that don't bring
benefit
as if the day is you can do
whatever you want, there's no reward that's waiting.
If somebody does that and is engaging those
types of activities, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has no need for this person to give
up food and drink. That's not saying don't
like, you can break your fast just because
you don't want to play with the rules
that Allah has set. But the point is
that a person is losing out on the
purpose of Ramadan.
So if we look at our past Ramadan,
and this is where honesty comes in, that
every person has to look within themselves
and kinda look that, okay,
did I get better if I compare myself
to last Ramadan?
You know, did I improve even by 2%?
Did taqwa
transit
after the month of Ramadan into my life?
And sometimes we might feel that, hey, you
know what? A lot of things happen, it
didn't really go that way. But this time
we have the opportunity to renew that intention.
And number 1, we ask Allah
to allow us to actually witness the month
of Ramadan.
And then
how can I make this Ramadan different?
How will this Ramadan be different than previous
Ramadans?
The ummah needs us to step up.
The ummah needs us to strengthen ourselves,
to strengthen that connection with Allah
And the best way to do that is
to follow the guidance of the Prophet
That how did the Prophet
fill his schedule when it came to Ramadan?
What was he doing?
So if you look from the beginning, the
first thing when it comes to fasting when
it's confirmed that Ramadan is there, that the
intention is there that a person is aiming
to fast. And the purpose of fasting is
this is a prolonged
period of worship.
So that intention has to come in and
we have to feel this that I am
in the state of Ibadah.
I am in Ibadah.
Even though I'm going about my day, I'm
going to work, I'm going to school, I'm
doing all these things, I'm taking care of
my kids, I am in the state of
Ibadah,
that I have to feel that,
that I'm connecting with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
even though I might be doing certain things.
Because we have this misconception
that Ibadah means
when I pray,
or when I read Quran,
or when I pray qiyamul layl for example.
But the fact that you are fasting, that
we are fasting is ibadah by itself,
And with the intention that everything I'm going
to be doing throughout my day abstaining from
these kind of things is in accordance to
your command, O Allah. You're engaging in ibadah
continuously.
So we need to bring that intention there
all the time as much as we can.
We need to feel that I'm actually engaging
in ibadah.
And the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam, he
told the people to saharoo, that to have
suhoor because
that have the morning meal before
salatul fajr. That last hour before fajr comes
in, that is the time to eat this
pre dawn meal. Sometimes, you know, we might
pray tarawih and then go home and then
you have the big meal and then what's
the point? I don't need to get up
and eat, I'm already full.
But in suhoor there is barakah, so even
if a person can get up
and have dates,
a little bit of water, get that barakah,
and I don't know about you guys, but
I feel the barakah.
You could get up and have like a
banana
and a glass of water and the whole
day you're good. Anyone experienced something like that?
Or you need like oatmeal and this big
meal and 10 glasses of water?
But do you guys feel the barakah? You
eat something small, you drink a glass of
water, and you're like pretty good for the
whole
day.
So the example is to eat suhoor. And
then the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would
engage in different types of worship. One of
them is
the Quran.
This was the month that Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala sent down the Quran.
Now, just because He sent it down during
this month doesn't mean that we only engage
with the Quran during Ramadan
because the Quran is
guidance for people that they need to engage
with at every time for their own personal
benefit. But the prophet
in Ramadan, Jibril alayhi wasalam used to come
and review the Quran with him, the best
of men
and the best of the angels. Can you
imagine that halaqa that's going on there? Jibril
alaihis salam and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
sitting together
reviewing the Quran.
And we can only imagine how long it
would be
that they would sit together and review the
Quran together.
So that's one thing that how can I
bring the Quran into my schedule?
And somebody gave an advice that,
okay, the bare minimum somebody should aim for
doing this month is do a khatmah if
you can. Right? Finish the Quran.
Someone else said that, okay, you know what?
The more important thing is, okay, how can
I utilize the Quran to actually benefit myself?
How can it impact my heart? How can
I transform and change?
So set a time that, look, I'm gonna
read the Quran at these times, and don't
be really concerned about how much you read.
But the more thing is is it just
engaging in with the Quran. Because maybe within
that time, you could actually do, like, 3
khatms instead of 1.
But then also take out time to actually
understand that, okay, how is this impacting my
life? How can I
utilize the Quran
and act on what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is saying? Because any type of relationship you
have with the Quran is going to benefit
you. The more you recite, the more ajr
you get. Imam al Shafi'i,
they would finish the Quran sometimes
1 khatam in a day.
One khatam in a day, and then they
would take it up another level. We do
2 khatams in a day. That's like
crazy. But
circumstances also there. Maybe they didn't have the
9 to 5 kind of work,
or maybe they work from
7 till Duhr, and then the rest of
the time they have it free. But nonetheless,
to engage with the Quran
during this month.
And this is very important that we engage
in in different types of goodness whether it
be helping others, kindness to parents,
teaching,
engaging in dhikr, other types of worship
because this is an opportunity for forgiveness,
entry into Jannah, to get your name out
of the hellfire, and if a person does
not take advantage of it, there's a very
strong warning there. So it's not like, okay,
you know what? This Ramadan, I don't feel
like it.
Maybe next ramadan, I'm gonna try harder. No.
No. There's a very stern warning
of somebody who fails to take advantage
of ramadan. The prophet
he
on the mimbar, he went up one day.
So the first step he says, Amin. The
second step he says, Amin. This third step
he says, Amin.
And the companions are like, what just happened
here?
So they're curious. They want to know what's
going on. So they asked the prophet
hey, you did something which you haven't done
before, what just happened here? So he said,
Jibril
came to me and he made 3 duas.
Who's making the duas?
The best of angels.
And who's the one saying Ameen?
The best of mankind,
which means
guaranteed acceptance.
No way is not gonna accept it. And
Jibril alaihis salam came and he said,
may the person's face or nose
be rubbed in dust, or may they be
humiliated. That's what he's saying. That
they witness the month of Ramadan and they're
not forgiven.
They enter into the month of Ramadan
and the opportunity
is so much there that despite the fact
that how wonderful Ramadan is and the opportunity
is there, that they're not forgiven at the
end of it.
Just the coming of Ramadan is expiation for
our sins.
The Prophet
said the 5 daily prayers, Ramadan to Ramadan,
and umrah to umrah is a kafarah what
comes between them. So just the coming of
Ramadan is a means of forgiveness,
but then the one who goes through 30
days that has
the last 10 nights which has a day
that is or a night that is better
than a 1000 months, and then at the
end of it they are not forgiven.
That is
true loss
that a person
experiences this
and at the end of it, they're not
forgiven. And Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, he said
in his last khutbah
that
a person is a loser and he is
lost out,
who leaves this world and he does not
get the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
which
is greater than everything.
Allah is rahma wasiadkullashay.
It's
grander than everything that's there.
And Jannah,
which its width alone is greater than the
heavens and the earth.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in
the Quran, this should be our theme this
Ramadan.
That rush and hasten
to the forgiveness of your Lord.
The
width is greater than the heavens and the
earth. If the width is there, what about
the height?
Is the height mentioned in the Quran?
Is it mentioned?
The height is not mentioned.
Allah gives the width an example. So if
the width is like that,
7, which means we literally, like, don't even
exist. That's how tiny we are when it
comes to the heavens.
That's the width. So imagine the height,
and this is prepared for
the
the ones who have that taqwa. So this
is the perfect training ground for us to
develop
that taqwa. And then the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam his practice was also qiyamallayl
and he said,
that whoever stands during the night in Ramadan,
and one of that is.
Somebody doesn't want to pray, no problem. They
pray at nighttime
With belief in Allah and
expecting the reward from
him, their sins are forgiven.
Then also whoever stands the night of Laylatul
Qadr, maybe a person cannot do it, but
Laylatul Qadr, let me at least catch that
night,
And they do it, and they stand that
night believing in Allah
and expecting their reward from Him, then their
sins are forgiven as well.
You see how many hadith the Prophet is
telling us that shows the grand tremendous
mercy and opportunity that's there waiting in front
of us.
And
I'm sure all of us have heard these
hadith before.
It's not like I'm coming and giving you
something new. Every single person
has heard these hadith before, but there's a
difference between knowing something and then actually doing
something about it.
And
a way that the prophet will
also engage in
is that he was the most generous during
the month of Ramadan.
He was already the most generous of people,
but then in the month of Ramadan his
generosity will go up another level. That they
said when he used to meet Jibril alaihis
salam, there was so much that used to
come. It was more than
which means the fast win. It just comes
and overcomes everything. Right? It just comes and
brings
and touches everything. That's how it was. The
prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam will give so
much goodness,
and generosity does not necessarily restrict itself to
monetary spending.
But even with his time with his family,
with his companions, with teaching other individuals, whatever
a person can give, give that for the
sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And from
that is to be able to spend as
well.
And part of Ramadan also is the refinement
of character as well. And you see that
that when a person is fasting, you know,
they really hold themselves back. The kid is
irritating them. It's like, oh, my goodness. What's
going?
But the person holds himself. They might find
something annoying. They hold himself back.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's character,
he was sent to us to show us
this aspect as well. That Ibadah is not
just between me and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
but then a person is
Abu Bakr outside, but then they're Abu Jahl
inside.
That a person has to be the same
whether they're inside or outside doesn't matter because
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala sees everything anyway.
So we're not fooling anyone by being something
on the outside, but then on the inside
when we're at home, we're a completely different
person. So that refinement of character as well
that, hey, what shortcomings are there that I
have
that perhaps I need to work on?
Maybe I get upset easily. Maybe I get
frustrated easily. Maybe I snap easily.
This is the opportunity to
develop
restraint in those areas,
and a person can do it because in
Ramadan, for some reason, somehow, some certain bad
habits just automatically get left from Fajr till
sunset.
And then once we eat, then all of
a sudden they come back again,
which shows us we have the ability to
do it,
but the choice is ours at the end
of the day, whether I want to continue
doing it or not. And the prophet salallahu
alayhi was an example was that he would
aim the highest. There's something
that he used to do it which is
called wasal, which he used to continue his
fast
despite the fact that sunset has come, so
he would keep fasting.
And the companions, they notice this, so they're
very observable, they always see what the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam is doing. Anything he's doing
they notice it.
So they notice he's not breaking his fast
and they're like, okay he's continues, we're gonna
continue as well.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam tells
them that look I continue my fast but
you guys need to break it. They say,
Laia Rasulullah, we also want to do it.
He's like, no because you're not like me
because
Allah is nourishing me
as I'm continuing this fast.
But some of them are no. We want
to also get the ajir as well. You
know, they're high
achievers when it comes to getting hasanat.
So he tells them that look, if you're
going to be stubborn and do it, then
continue it till the morning,
but make sure you break it and then
eat in order to fast for the next
day. And then not only that, during the
month of ramadan as well, the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam also participated in jihad as well.
Ramadan was legislated the 2nd year. What else
happened during that year?
Badr also happened that year as well.
And, yes, you know, they're traveling so they
broke their fast.
But nonetheless, that this incident
that changed the course of history within Arabia,
these people who are looked as as lowlifes,
they have no power, nothing, they can't do
anything, the Meccans are the one beating their
chest. And during this month, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala legislated that they would engage in battle.
They're outnumbered 3 to 1. They had no
equipment, barely anything because their purpose was to
go raid a caravan.
But then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala willed that
they would engage in battle and they won
that battle with the help of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And that changed the course
of the,
the course of Islam from that moment that
they became legitimate players within Arabia and they
had to be taken seriously by everyone that
was there. And this happened during the month
of Ramadan.
And
the prophet
before this, he did everything he could possibly
do, and then the whole night he's standing
asking dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So much so that his upper garment fell
down, and Abu Bakr comes and he picks
it up and he puts it back on
him and he tells me, Allah
is not going to disappoint
you.
And Ramadan is also the month of dua.
The prophet
said that a fasting person has an accepted
du'a when they
have when they break their fast.
That is an accepted du'a there. Not only
that, he also said that the fasting person's
du'a is accepted until they break their fast.
So this is an opportunity
to take advantage
of. That what du'as am I going to
make during this month? And du'a doesn't have
to be that you come to the masjid
and you face a qibla and you raise
your hands and you make dua to Allah
That's good, but at any moment you can
make dua.
You're walking, make dua.
You're sitting down, make dua.
You're sitting at your desk at work, make
a dua, a short dua. It doesn't have
to be something that's prolonged, but this is
something that people can engage in throughout
the day,
at any time.
And if you look at Musa alaihi salaam
when he was running away from Egypt, he's
like continuously making all these duas.
Rubi and, what's it called?
Right? If you know, look at the context,
he did something, he went and he just
relaxed and he made a du'a. It's not
like he's facing the qibla raising his hands.
So at any time we can make du'a
and do something that is highly encouraged because
the du'a of the fasting person is accepted.
And then comes the last 10 nights.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
he's
doing
so much already,
and then Aisha says
that he would put an effort during the
last 10 nights which he never did before
that.
He's already
6th gear. There's another gear he shifts into
when it comes to the last 10 nights,
that he would make his nights come alive.
He would abstain from relations with his family,
and because he was doing I tikaf,
and he would encourage his family members also
to get up and pray and get their
share in this reward as well. And he
used to spend the last 10 nights in
I tikaf which is to restrict himself in
the masjid and only engage in ibadah. Nothing
else. No dunya. No concerns. The only thing
he would do is if he had to
go home to relieve himself, he would do
that. Or if there's something needed to be
addressed, he would do that. But then he
would go in his tent
and just devotion,
dedication to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And these scholars they mentioned that Iitikaf can
only be during Ramadan.
That's the majority view because the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam was not known to have
done Iitikaf
outside
of Ramadan except in one situation. And that
situation was that he had his tent set
up and then his wives, 1 by 1,
they came and they put a tent in
the masjid, another one put their tent, another
one wanted to get hasanat as well so
they put their tent, and then another one
put their tent as well. Then he came
and he saw, what is this? That this
is not what they're supposed to be doing,
so he
took his tent down and he went back
into his home.
But then he made up that during the
next month.
So this is something that he also did
and is recommended if people can do it,
but our schedules might not permit us to
do that. But nonetheless, when the last 10
nights come in, that's when it's our turn
to kick it up a notch.
You have a goal and you're stretching yourself.
When the last 10 nights come, you gotta
stretch yourself even more.
And after this is all said and done,
we're all gonna snap back because nobody's going
to be able to maintain the momentum
in Ramadan outside of Ramadan.
But the question is when you do snap
back, where are you gonna end up?
It has to be in a better place
than when you started Ramadan, and absolutely must
be in a better place.
So if there is something that I was
not doing, now I'm established that, even if
it be 5 minutes a day or 10
minutes a day.
What's up, buddy?
And once again,
the purpose of this blessed month when it
comes with all is
rahma and mercy and barakah and dua
and food as well,
but the ultimate goal is that closeness to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that taqoor.
Now we're gonna end this, but we're gonna
do a quick exercise inshallah.
Okay?
I want you to look at your date.
Just look at your date, your normal date,
your routine that's set,
and just see how it plays out.
Okay. So when you wake up,
what do you do? And if you wanna
act take it up a level, you can
actually write this down when you get a
chance.
But you wake up in the morning,
what do you do?
Okay.
You pray fidget.
Then after that, what do you do?
Make coffee. Okay. Great. I love that.
Then after that, what do you do?
So I get ready for work, start making
lunches for my kids, whatever it might be.
After that, what do you do?
I go drive to work, put the kids
in the car, I go back to sleep
for example, whatever it is, just kind of
notice what it is. How's the day playing
out? Okay. After that, what do you
do? Let's say we're at noontime right now.
Okay. I'm there. I have lunch at work.
I talk to some people. This person is
annoying me.
Then after that, what do you do?
Pray salah. Okay. Alhamdulillah. Salah is in there.
It's excellent.
Then what do you do after that?
Take a nap? Alright. That's good. Is good.
Naps are beneficial.
Okay. So everyone in their own head is
seeing their own day play out in front
of them. Okay? And look, you're not competing
with anyone else.
You're competing with yourself.
What you can do
is going to be different than what somebody
else can do based on their circumstances and
what Allah has put in their path.
And
Allah wants from us what we can do.
So if somebody has the opportunity because they're
retired, for example, they have the opportunity
to come to the masjid from fajr till
and just read Quran.
But somebody who's working does not have that
opportunity, so don't compare yourself to anyone else.
So if your mom comes and tells you
I did 3 khatams this month, and you
didn't do anything. Right?
Tell them,
my dear mother.
May Allah bless you and accept from you.
Thank you very much, and then just move
away.
So your
competition is against yourselves, not against anyone else,
but we're gonna take the prophetic principles and
implement it there. So now let's say you're
at Asar time. Okay. So after Asar, what
do you do? How's your day play out?
What is happening? What's your normal routine like?
Waiting for a thought. Okay. Nice.
So I'm waiting for a thought. Well, this
is normal day, not your fasting day right
now. So we're just looking at your normal
day unless you're, like, fasting in normal days
and that's really good, moshtama.
So
whatever
is happening,
time. Maybe you're coming back from work, or
you're done classes, you're going back home.
There's stuff going on at home.
Then, okay,
time comes in. What's going on in your
world? What's your routine like?
To Isha, what's going on? What are you
doing?
And then Isha comes in, and then after
Isha, what else is happening there?
Until you
go to bed.
Okay. Everyone has a kind of picture of
how their day looks?
Okay.
Now
Ramadan comes in. How is your day going
to look different in Ramadan?
I'm gonna wake up earlier, gonna have breakfast,
I'm gonna fast,
then everything else gonna be the same. Then
we come
home, I'm gonna prepare Iftar.
I'm gonna eat a lot. I'll be too
tired to go for taraweed.
I'll just pray at home, then I'll go
to bed.
Okay. So how do you envision your day
in ramadan to go?
I'm gonna help you out with this. Okay?
Look at your date
and see everything that you're doing
and notice the gaps that's there.
Stuff that's just random,
not really bringing you any benefit per se,
not
not really bringing you closer to Allah Subhanahu.
Just notice the gaps. For example, when I
drive to work,
am I what am I listening to? Am
I listening to the podcast? Am I listening
to news?
When I'm helping out at home, getting the
kids ready, is there something going on or
is just like empty space there?
Okay. So I want you to highlight within
your day
5
non productive actions that's there.
How many?
5. Just notice 5 non productive actions.
If you can pinpoint
5 things that's there, that's not really bringing
you much benefit.
So you have your regular day, you have
your ramadan, how you ideally want it to
look like,
and then you're looking at within your day,
and you have these gaps there. So you
can identify more, but for just for time
sake and to keep it simple, I want
to identify 5
non productive actions.
One big one is, like, you know, when
people are driving usually it's news or something
else that's playing there. So that's like,
okay, it gives me information, but maybe it
could be more productive. Or when,
we're preparing things at home, for example, getting
the kids ready,
those empty spaces, I'm not really doing anything
at that time.
When I come home just hanging out, you
know, maybe we're just sitting around, it's good,
but maybe it's not the most productive.
So, 5 things. You guys highlighted 5 things?
5 things? Okay. Now, those 5 things turn
it into a productive action.
How can you turn it into something that
is more productive? The simplest thing, when you're
driving and you have that empty space there
or the kids are even there, I can
listen to a talk.
Who has data on their phone here?
Come on. Don't act like you guys don't
have data on your phone.
Everyone has data on their phone. That's like
a library right there. You can go on
YouTube.
You plug it into the USB.
There's tons of things out there that you
can listen to. You can listen to Quran.
There's so many recordings that's there. IAR has
so many recordings that's up there. Yaqeen Institute
has tremendous amount of things from their past
ramadan that they have there and so on
and so forth. There's unlimited supply of content
that you can listen to.
And the best of them is the Quran.
That if I have a 15 minute commute,
even if I'm walking to school or somebody's
dropping me off and I walk in between
classes, I can put on my headphones. I
can listen to something very simple.
So how can I turn these things that
are just kind of empty space into something
that's going to get me closer to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala?
So
what else could you do?
Dua as well. Yeah. Why not? That's great.
Right? You're doing something. You have, like, 5
minutes. You're getting stuff ready. And that time,
usually, we're just focused on getting the task
done. In that, how can I put a
dua in there?
And then another thing that's there, what else
can I put in there?
As well.
So dhikr is,
although it's the easiest thing to do, it's
probably the most neglected thing as well, and
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he was asked
that
he was asked a whole bunch of things
that which Hajj is the best, which,
jihad is the best, which type of salah
is the best, not salah, but what type
of fast is the best. And he kept
saying,
the one that had the most remembrance of
Allah
in it. So even though that the the
action itself is great,
but who walks away with the most reward
from it is the one who is engaging
in the most
So that is something so simple that
as you're going between classes, as you're in
your home preparing something, as you're there helping
your kids, for example,
as you are even at work just sitting
maybe there's break right there or maybe there's
nothing to do I'm just waiting for something.
Those few minutes that you have can be
turned into an act of Ibadah to get
closer to Allah through dhikr,
through remembering Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
that I say, alhamdulillah, for example, say, astaghfirullah.
Right? How long does it take?
And you're not sitting there
and going,
astaghfirullah,
and everyone can hear you say that.
It's not like Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam is
sitting there and he's like, Astaghfirullah.
Astaghfirullah.
Look at me. Alright? He's not doing that,
but because they notice his lips are moving
and probably something is coming out, and usually
these are the younger sahaba. They're like the
ones who are curious.
The elder sahaba had this level of respect
from him that when they would look at
him, they would look down. They couldn't stare
at the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam for
too long. But the younger guys, you know,
they're like
they'd be watching him
and
they're the ones who would be narrating this
to us, that would count him saying Istaghfad
70 times. And he would even say that,
you know, I myself in a day I
make Istaghfad over 70, 100 times To just
show the importance of it, that has it's
not about the fact that, okay, your person
is making mistakes. We're all human beings. We
all make mistakes. But nonetheless, even the prophet
of Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam that Allah
has prevented from falling into sin and error
is making is staghfad, which shows the
the high level of this act of worship,
even though it's so simple to do.
But sometimes we might overlook it. So how
can I incorporate? This is so easy to
do that those gaps that are there in
my day, whatever they might be, there's this
kind of empty space that's there, maybe nothing's
even going through my mind. How can I
utilize that to bring this
into
it
so that I can benefit from that level
of worship?
And then if you notice another two things
that, okay, what else can it be? That
maybe
my schedule does not allow me
to be able to comfort our way.
But does that mean I lose out on
this act of worship?
How can I establish it within my house?
How can I get up a little bit
early maybe pray it then? And also the
game of intentions is very important
for everyone and especially for the sisters
because you have that responsibility
where the kids are there and brothers, please
help your your wives in this situation take
turns to come for taraweeh.
But when it's there, you know, we feel
restricted. I have to do this and I'm
unable to commit to certain types of ibadah
and so on and so forth, but this
is where intention comes in.
That if I had a clear schedule,
I didn't have these commitments,
I didn't have something preventing me
to go for tarawih, for example. If the
intention is there, this is the why intention
is so important. If you don't make the
intention, you don't get the reward.
But if you look at your schedule
and you see, okay, this is how my
day is playing out, this is what an
ideal
ramadan would look like. And, yes, it's not
I might not be able to actually do
it because of x y z that's in
my day, but if the intention is there
and a person is sincere, and Allah
knows those who are sincere or not, then
you walk away with that reward anyway.
You still get the reward as if you
prayed all night. You still get the reward
as if you engage with the Quran for
this many hours.
So intention is so crucial
that every day when you get up in
the morning you set that intention
that, You Allah, this is what I'm planning
to engage in. I'm in Ibadah, I'm gonna
continue doing it. And even if you didn't
do it, something happens, something came up, you're
unable to complete it, you still we all
still walk away with that reward.
But it comes down to
conscious
intention,
like conscious directly that I'm going to do
this or if I didn't have x y
z in my path, I would
want to do this. And if a person
is sincere in that, then they're rewarded based
on that as well.
And then if you look at the final
thing, okay, something that's unproductive,
what else could be there?
What is something that person can easily bring
there?
One very simple thing
is just be present as you do it.
Right? So as a person is doing an
act,
just be present.
So if I'm fasting, I just become present
to the idea that I'm fasting for the
sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That serves as a reminder to you. Or
if you are engaging with family,
then be present to the fact that
I'm doing this action.
And then put the intention there that I
also do this for the sake of Allah
and just allow yourself to enjoy that as
well.
Because if you are in the moment and
you engage that this is responsibility that
Allah has given me, you should feel a
level of contentment and gratitude that's there.
And then finally that if I
did all these things, if I look at
my day and my idea of Ramadan and
I look at these gaps that's there that
is not producing the best result
or something that is not really productive, it's
not harming me but at the same time
it's not really benefiting me, not bringing me
closer to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and I
change at least 5 things
within their simple things, it's not something that
is, big or difficult,
then how would my Ramadan play out?
Would this Ramadan look different than
every other Ramadan?
And then as I stretch myself and the
last 10 nights come in, may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala allow us to witness Laylatul Qadr.
And then when I
go back now,
how do I want my post Ramadan to
look as well?
So I have my pre ramadan,
my in ramadan, which I'm going to push
myself and I know I'm not going to
be able to maintain that level because the
prophet himself
had he stretched himself and then when ramadan
finished, he went back to what his normal
was. But his normal is also already pretty
high.
So what is my new normal going to
look like?
And this is the time to set that
intention
because then Ramadan becomes a training ground for
us to get to that level.
Because if we don't train ourselves, it's not
gonna really happen.
But if we make the intention, this is
where I want to be, this is how
I'm gonna utilize my time, I'm gonna set
my intention, I'm gonna get the reward as
much as I can. And one of the
things to get a lot of reward is
to help other people as well. You encourage
people, You're in the service of other people
that you put smiles on people's faces. That's
a way to get closer to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is through
serving
other people.
So to recap,
this is the month of mercy. This is
the month of opportunity.
This is the greatest month that Allah has
given a gift to us.
The best example is the example of the
prophet
He showed us what to do, how to
do it, and what is the things that
gets us closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Every one of us is different. Everyone's a
different life state. Everyone has their own challenges
that's there. We're in competition with ourselves, not
with anyone else. You want to encourage others?
That's different. But don't feel bad if somebody's
able to do this, this, this.
That's their circumstances. You have to look at
your own circumstances. So based on that,
how is my day currently looking?
How do I want it to look in
Ramadan?
What are the gaps that's there that can
transform into acts of worship?
Simple things I can make it that will
transform my Ramadan,
and then at the end of it, what
do I want my new norm to be?
After I go through this institute of taqwa
and I come out of it and I
graduate,
where do I want to see myself? May
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to witness
Ramadan.
The best Ramadan for us. May Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala make us people of and make
us transform and grow and change. May Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala bless
us, our families, our community, our ummah.
May Allah
be with our brothers and sisters in.
May Allah
ease their pain and their suffering. May Allah
put an end to this violence.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never allow it
to happen again to any of the Muslims
across the world. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
feed them, clothe them, protect them, give them
shelter
to the people in Gaza,
in Sudan,
in Yemen,
everywhere across the world where the Muslims are
struggling. May Allah
give them patience and resilience
and accept from them everything that they do
and enter them into the highest level of
firdos.
If anyone has any questions, we can give,
about 5 minutes if any questions are there.
If not, then we can
wrap it up for tonight. Anyone has any
questions?
Oh, you do have a question. You're supposed
to say no questions.
Go for it.
So in terms of Quran, it all depends
on you really. So what's your goal in
that? Right? This is, the Quran, any level
of engagement with it is going to be
beneficial. You're going to get hasanat, but one
of the key things that we don't want
to forget
is how can I be impacted from the
Quran?
That when I engage with it, even if
it might be I spend, like, say an
hour and I'm just I'm reading and I'm
trying to memorize, but within that, can I
take out 10 minutes
and just spend with 1 ayah and kinda
see how that impacts me? How can I
implement this? Reflect over it a little bit.
Because
that is, like, where it really impacts a
person's heart.
That, you know, how can I bring it
into my life? So even if you could
take out 5, 10 minutes
just to learn more about an ayah,
understand it deeper, see how it can be
implemented in your life, then that would be
great as well.
Anyone else?
Okay,
very
nice.
I'll
see you guys inshallah.