Sajid Ahmed Umar – Ramadan 20214 #18 Virtues of the Last 10 Nights
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We are in a season of worship
but we are about to enter a season
of worship
within a season of worship. And Allah throughout
Ramadan is freeing people from the hellfire. Can
you imagine what is happening during the last
10 nights of Ramadan? In Ramadan, we detached
from the dunya. In the last ten, we
detached even more. Bismillahrahmanir
Rahim Alhamdulillah wa salamu alaahu wa salaabihi
wa sahabihi wa salaabihi wa salaabihi wa salaabihi
wa salaabihi wa salaaba. We begin in the
name of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and we
request
praises and blessings upon Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
To my brothers and sisters in Islam, Assalamuallahu
Alaihi Wa'alaikum
peace. May His blessings. May His mercy be
upon you all and welcome to another episode
in our Ramadan
series. My dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
it's no secret that we are
on our way to the last 10 nights
of Ramadan. SubhanAllah. Already. And I remember in
earlier episodes telling you that before we know
it, a week will be done. 10 days
will be done, and we will be doing
this countdown to the last 10 nights.
And because of that countdown, the last 10
nights will just, you know, creep up upon
us so quickly.
And very soon, it will be the 21st
night of Ramadan.
So today's
reminder
is dedicated to these last 10 nights.
Why are these 10 nights important?
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he creates what he
wants, when he wants, how he wants and
ultimately everything belongs to him.
And accordingly he raises in rank parts of
his creation over others. He chooses SubhanAllah.
No one has a choice in this matter.
He has no partners in this matter. He
created
days of the week and he chose Friday.
He made it the greatest day of the
week. He did that himself.
He created the months of the year. He
chose Ramadan. He made it the greatest
month of the year. He did that himself
and he can. He's ultimately the creator. So
he ultimately decrees
and decides.
And he created the nights of the year
and he chose the last 10 nights of
Ramadan
and he made it the greatest nights of
the entire
year. It has virtues that no other nights
of the entire year has.
And within
these last 10 nights he chose 1 night.
One night and that night will be the
greatest
night
of the entire year. SubhanAllah. Now scholars have
differed. Is it a fixed night or does
it move from night to night within the
10
as per the decree of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala yearly?
And that discussion is beyond the scope of
this reminder.
What's important my dear brothers and sisters in
Islam is to recognize
that we are in a season of worship
but we are about to enter a season
of worship within a season of worship. Now
what does that mean?
Well, when Ramadan came and we discussed the
season of worship arriving we said we really
need to move the needle up in terms
of our relationship with Allah and our application
in connection
the accelerator
is pressed a little bit more.
You need to press it a little bit
more now. That's what it means. That needle
needs to go even more
further
up
Because we are entering a season of worship
within a season of worship. The last ten
of Ramadan
is a whole
new
matter.
SubhanAllah.
And it's from Allah's mercy. And we discussed
this also in previous episodes that Allah,
He rewards us based on the strength of
our endings, not the weaknesses of our beginnings.
It's his mercy that he made these best
nights of the year at the end of
Ramadan, not at the beginning. So alhamdulillah, we
have enough practice in terms of our fasting.
We We have enough practice in terms of
all these other ideals that we wanted to
get into in terms of the various voluntary
salah
targets with regards to our Quran. And we
spoke about quantitative versus qualitative
targets in previous episodes. Alhamdulillah.
Right? So we've got a lot of practice
and movement and momentum here. All we need
to do now is build on that momentum.
Go into the last ten and build on
it. So, what's required? Well,
what's required
is not to slow down during our day.
Because the pious before us used to teach
us if you want to have an amazing
night you need to have a good day.
It's a good day that gives birth to
an amazing night because the night and the
day are connected.
If your day is righteous, Allah will assist
your night to be a Righteous One. The
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was amazing during
Ramadan but even more amazing during the last
10 nights. His days were amazing throughout Ramadan
but his nights became even more amazing in
the last 10.
His wives tell us in particular Aisha radiaallahu
anha
that he used to spend the 1st 29th
of Ramadan in the worship of Allah. But
he used to worship and he used to
rest. But when the last 10 came,
his motives changed. Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He stayed
in the masjid and didn't come home. And
he would tighten his belt meaning
he separated from his family.
And he stayed awake throughout the night. It
wasn't a matter of worship and rest. It
was worship, worship, worship.
And he would encourage the sahadah
to
do the same. They would engage in this
act of worship called Itikaf
which is one of the value propositions
that Ramadan
brings to us. Dedicating oneself
to the Masjid.
Dedicating oneself to the Masjid to be dedicated
to Allah. And this is important because if
we go into itikaf with our mobile phones,
then yes our bodies are in the Masjid.
But itikaf is not just about the body
being in the Masjid but the heart,
the mind, the soul, the nafs.
All of you being dedicated to the masjid
for the sake of Allah. It's not that
you're in the masjid but business as usual
because you are coordinating with your mobile phone,
surfing the internet as usual, social
media
processes as usual, and so on and so
forth. It's about that isolation. That in Ramadan
we detached from the dunya. In the last
10 we detached even more. So if you
can, if your circumstances allow, no doubt tikaf
is one of the greatest acts that you
can engage in during the last 10 nights
of Ramadan. Now, the last 10 nights of
Ramadan are special. In particular, the odd nights
from
these last 10 nights. And as we go
further,
some of the Sahaba
considered the 27th night to be the night
of Raylatul Qadr.
The point is my dearest brothers and sisters
in Islam, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
He never wants us to worship Him based
on a tick box exercise and He never
ever wants us to worship Him just based
on
the minimal
viable requirement.
And it's from the tarbia of the Sharia.
The Sharia raises us just like we raise
a child with values. The Sharia raises us
in certain matters. And also with regards to
the last 10 that the last 10 is
the last 10 so that we don't just
engage Allah for one night and forget about
him during the rest. But it's a process
that brings to us a love to worship
him. So worship Allah throughout the last time.
Don't be picky. Don't be fussy. Right? But
if you can't manage your timetables then look
after especially the odd nights. But if you
can, throughout the entire 10. If you can't
then do as much as you can during
the even but make sure you
catch and capture
the odd.
And through this process you are engaging Allah
throughout the process and nobody
doubts this. That if you worship Allah throughout
the last 10 then you will indeed
catch the night of power and decree and
virtue.
And we speak about that just now. You
will catch this night insha'Allah.
So So it's not a case that you
have to know it was the night for
you to be rewarded for the night. No,
my dear brothers and sisters in Islam. It's
about the application.
Even if you didn't know that it was
the night, as long as you applied yourself
your rewards are safe. Now in terms of
Laylatul Qadr my brothers and sisters in Islam
then
it brings us the value proposition of being
able to worship Allah for more than 83
years for just living
a portion of a day. Meaning a night.
Imagine that.
Nuh alaihis salam lived for over a 1000
years and he built Jannah across that period.
Allah is giving us the ability and opportunity
to build Jannah spanning
1000 of years
for only still living between 60 or 70
years in Baitanya. How amazing is that? We
know how stressful life is. Let's be honest.
If we had to live for a 1000
years,
I mean today the mental health meter is
at an all time high. Imagine if you
had to live in this world for a
1,000 plus years. Allah is so merciful. He
is giving us the ability to build jannah
in an amazing way without
being consumed
by the difficulty of this life of having
to live over a 1000 years. That's the
value proposition of Laylatul Qadr. And Allah throughout
Ramadan is freeing people from the hellfire. Can
you imagine what is happening during the last
10 nights of Ramadan? So this is Laylatul
Qadr, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam.
If you haven't brought yourself together until now,
this is the time to do so. This
is the time. Do not look at the
past. We had an episode
dedicated to burn in, don't burn out.
Burn in and remain burned in. Remain
stationed.
Do not let the regrets of the 1st
weeks of Ramadan or the 1st
19 days of Ramadan
or 20 days of Ramadan affect you. Just
grab. Grab. If Ramadan came to us with
gifts in hands outstretched
brothers and sisters in islam, I don't know
what it was to use to describe what
Ramadan is presenting to us during these last
10 nights. So all power to you. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless you, bless me,
bless us all. Bless our Ramazan. Accept what
has passed and
make us inspirational
people that aspire for greatness in what remains.
We don't know whether we will witness another
Ramadan, and we won't know if we will
witness another laylatul Qadr. May Allah
bless us to witness the night of power
and decree and virtue.
Until next time.