Sikander Hashmi – PostRamadan Protection KMA Friday Message
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Okay. And, we are back.
And, this time we are on YouTube.
Sorry about that. We got quite a few
viewers, on YouTube because that's the player that's
embedded on our website as well. So that's
why it's important to have YouTube on stream.
So,
that that seems to be fixed. So my
brothers and sisters, as I was saying, what
changes for us after Ramadan? So that is
the question.
In the month of Ramadan, we know that,
alhamdulillah, the, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has increased
the, his mercy. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has
increased the rewards for us, in the month
of Ramadan, the ajer for doing good deeds.
And at the same time, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala has protected us, given us immunity
to a large part. And, of course, this
is a term that we are using now
is,
for due to COVID 19 and vaccines.
So in Ramadan, Allah
had given us immunity
from the shayateen,
Allah
for the for for to a large degree.
Right? Even if not all the shayateen are
totally,
you know, totally taken away, At least, they're
chained up as the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam,
has has told us that,
that they are basically they are they are
made weaker in the month of Ramadan, and
they are not able to do what they
are able to do in times outside of
Ramadan. But now that we are now outside
of Ramadan,
they're basically out of the penalty box. Right?
So if you use the analogy of, of
sports,
then basically, Shayat Din, the the devils were
in the penalty box during the month of
Ramadan, and now they have been let free.
They have been let go,
and they're back at full strength. And that
means that when, you know, your opponents
are out at full strength when you're playing
a game, right, they're back. You lose the
man advantage and you're, you know, back to
regular. Then that means you have to work
extra hard compared to when they were in
the penalty box. Right? Because they were shorthanded
and you had the advantage. But now it's
a level playing field, not really level, but
it's basically
back to the default or back to how
it was normally.
So
Allah
now has,
you know, has has warned us
about the shayateen and repeatedly.
And Allah
says,
That all you who believe do not follow
the footsteps of Shaitan.
Whoever follows the footsteps of Shaitan should know
that he orders 1 to commit shameful acts
and evil deeds. So that is something that
shaitan does. Right? That's basically what his mission
is now, unfortunately,
in this in this world.
It is to to lead people
to disobey Allah
to lead people to become ungrateful, Allah
And when that happens,
of course, Allah
is displeased
and Shaitan is pleased. Right? So that is
what he is trying to do and trying
to get us,
to follow him in that way.
And
he basically commands us the opposite of what
Allah likes. And you know the backstory. He's
basically trying to get Allah
back, which, like, makes no sense because Allah
is the Quran
and Allah
is the greatest.
And, you know, if anyone tries to get
Allah back or tries to get some sort
of revenge against Allah
they're just fooling themselves and they're deluding themselves.
And at the end of the day, you
know, shaitan knows that he himself is not
gonna gain anything from that. It's only gonna
harm him, but he's basically considered himself to
be written off. And his way of trying
to get the law back is to try
to get as many human beings to follow
him as well as well. As if that
is going to hurt Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
in some way, it is absolutely not going
to hurt Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala or his
honor, or his being in any way.
So when Shaitan orders us
to to do the opposite of what the
Allah likes, he does it in different ways.
He has different approaches.
Because as we know in life, not everything
works on everyone because people are different. Right?
Every single person is different, and different things
work on different people. Right? Even psychologically as
well, like, you know, not every approach works
on everyone. Right? Some people like to understand
things or do things one way. Other people
understand and do things another way. So he
uses different different,
avenues and methods for people who are,
you know, who are devout worshipers of Allah
who are the people of Taqwa. He's gonna
use a different approach. You know, for people
who are not so firm in their faith
or who are not, you know, so practicing
or not so close to Allah who are
feeling a bit distant, he's gonna use different
approaches. Right? For people who will stay up,
who wake up at night to worship even
after Ramadan, he's gonna use a different approach.
Right? So he has a different approach. I'm
just giving some examples, but there's a different
approach for each type of person, for each
person. Okay?
As, he has promised Allah,
You know, I'm gonna come to them from
the front, from the back, from the right,
from the left, from all sides, you know,
to try to try to delude us and
try to deceive us away from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So, you know, one of the simplest things
we can do for protection
against,
Shaitan is, of course, to recite the tawood,
awwood billahi mashaitanirbadim,
especially when we feel that we are being
tempted,
especially when we feel that we are being,
you know, taken
or being pushed in a direction
which
is taking us to something which is or
in a direction which is displeasing to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala or a direction which is
taking us away from the sunnah of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, which is taking us
away from the pleasure of Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala. So whenever you get that feeling, right,
as soon as you realize and if you
have that consciousness and especially after Ramadan, maybe
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has granted you that
consciousness
that, you know, you notice that something is
different. You notice that you're starting to do
something now that you haven't done over the
past 30 days in the month of Ramadan.
You notice that you are, you know, making
a choice
even subconsciously
that may lead you
in a direction that is going further away
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So recite the
ta'awul. Say.
It's even in moments of anger as well.
Right? We're taught. Say.
So anything when you notice anything that is
sort of shifting you away from what is
pleasing to Allah or has a potential to,
say.
K? So that is the first thing.
So
okay. So that is the first thing.
Secondly, my brothers and sisters,
the, recitation of.
Right? So to recite Surah Al Falak and
Surah Al Nas. Right? Those are two things
which, or 2 Surahs, right, 2 duas that
we have discussed in the month of the
Ramadan, which are very, very powerful in terms
of their protection.
One second.
Sorry about that.
So
and
something that, you know, we can definitely we
should recite every morning and every evening as
talked about the prophet.
Again, whenever we feel that we're being tempted
or we are being led in a direction,
which is going away from Allah's and his
pleasure, then recite,
And also if you can, Surat Al Falak
and Surat Al Nas, seek the protection of
Allah
Also, my brothers and sisters, following the teachings
of Allah and his messenger
in as much detail as possible. Right? And
why is that detail possible?
Because
once you get more detailed into it, right,
scholars describe it as the layers of an
onion. Right? The fara'ev, the obligations, and haramat,
the things which are pro the prohibitions, they
are the core.
Right? They are the core of what needs
to be done and what needs to be
avoided.
But if you surround that core with layers
of protection,
then for shaitan
to get to the core is not so
easy because a person, for example, who is
used to offering their father prayers, is used
to offering their sunnah prayers, is used to
offering nawafil, right, extra optional prayers on top
of the sunnah prayers.
If shaitan were to get them to leave
if he wants to get to the Fard,
their Fard prayers, first, he has to go
through the nawafil. He has to tell them
to discard the nawafil or become careless about
the optional prayers. Then he has to get
them to become careless about the sunnah prayers.
Then he has to make them careless about
the Fard prayers. Right? So he has to
go through 3 layers. So if we follow
the teachings of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
and the guidance of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
with a lot of detail, then it becomes
harder and harder for Shaikhon to get to
the court, to attack the court, as opposed
to a person who, you know, perfectly fine,
from the Allah, they're just doing the fara'il,
the obligations, or they're just, you know, staying
away from the the the prohibitions, not avoiding
the the things which are discouraged or which
are disliked, which are. Then it becomes very
easy for shaitan to attack them and get
them to do that, which is haram, and
to leave that, which is obligatory because there's
no protection. Right? It's it's exposed. The core
is exposed. So if you cover it up,
in in layers of protection, then it offers,
you know, it it makes it difficult for
shaytan to be able to get to the
core and then get to the things which
matter most.
1st,
okay.
Now every time we worship Allah
every time we are,
do following the guidance of Allah, his messenger
salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
you know, we are actually working against
shaitan.
And every time we go against the teachings
of Allah and his messenger salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, we're following in the footsteps of shaitan.
And there's a clear example
of working
against shaitan.
And the prophet
has told us that
that when the son of Adam, when the
child of Adam recites a verse of sajda,
of of prostration in the Quran and prostrates,
the shaitan withdraws weeping.
Shaitan
withdraws,
goes from there
crying, weeping.
What did he say? Woe to me.
Woe be to me.
The son of Adam.
Right? The son of Adam was commanded
commanded.
The son of Adam was commanded to prostrate.
And he did or she did.
And paradise
will be his or hers.
And I was
commanded to prostrate,
and I disobeyed.
So the fire will be mine. Right? The
hellfire will be mine. So it is something
that is, it reminds. So when we obey
the commandments of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, it
hurts shaitan because it reminds him of his
own failure and it reminds him of the
fact that or it sends a signal to
him. It's basically like, you know, like a
punch in the face to him to say
that basically, we're saying that, no, we're not
gonna follow you, but rather we're gonna follow
Allah our
our rub, our true Lord. And, you know,
you go away from us. Right? And we
don't care about you and your message. And,
that is something that hurts shaitan and even
makes him cry as we see from this
hadith.
Also, my brothers and sisters, the remembrance of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
extremely powerful in helping protect a person
from the temptations and the tricks and the
traps of shaitan. And it is mentioned in
the hadith that Allah
commanded
Sayna Yahya, alayhis salam, Rafri Yahya, alayhis salam,
to enjoin 5 things upon the Bani Israel.
And one of which was, I command you
to remember Allah.
A man cannot save himself from his enemy
except by means of zikr, except by means
of the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And, of course, the the shaitan is the
greatest enemy for all of us. Right? The
the devil is the greatest enemy for all
human beings.
So he's the greatest enemy for all human
beings. So the remembrance of Allah
is something that can, is extremely powerful in
protecting a person. And Allah also tells us
in
And whoever turns away
blindly from the remembrance
of the most gracious, from the remembrance of
Ar Rahman, meaning Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, then
Allah says we appoint for him for her,
Shaikhan, to be an intimate companion to them.
And verily,
they, the devils, the shayatun, hinder them from
the path of Allah
but they think that they are guided right.
So what do they do? Then a person
turns away. So the key term here is
Then the person who turns away from the
remembrance of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, then shaitan
is made,
a devil is is made
an intimate companion for them. And what do
they do? They misguide them. They take them
away from the path of Allah, Subhanahu wa
ta'ala,
while making them feel that they are actually
guided and while making them feel that they're
actually doing something good. And this is why
we see that people will be committing,
they will be committing,
you know, indecent acts, but they would think
that they are actually doing something very noble,
that they are supporting a noble cause, that
they're doing something which is extremely,
commendable and and positive. But in reality, they're
actually following in the footsteps of shaitan. May
Allah
protect us all. The The recitation of Quran
also is a form of the decree of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as we discussed in
Ramadan, and it is also quite powerful in,
protecting a person.
And especially, I mentioned this in Ramadan as
well, especially Surat Al Baqarah, because the prophet
said
that happens in the Shaitan
That
the house in which Surah Al Baqarah is
recited is not approached by Shaitan. Rather, you
know, Shaitan flees from the house in which
the, Surah Al Baqarah is recited. So this
is something also which is incredibly powerful. Of
course, when a person is engaged in the
remembrance of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, whether it's
through afghar or whether it's through, you know,
sending salat upon the prophet
whether it is the recitation of Quran and,
you know, of course, insulah,
then that time in those moments, shaitan, of
course, kinda it it finds it very difficult
to approach that person. Of course, he still
could, but it makes it a lot more
difficult for him to try to deceive that
person when a person is in that state.
And when a person increasingly remembers Allah
more and more and more, then,
you know, subhanAllah, this this consciousness develops.
Right? This this mindfulness develops inside of their
spiritual
hearts that when they are tempted, you know,
when an evil thought comes, when a thought
when a temptation comes, when a whisper of
shaitan comes, immediately remember Allah
and immediately say,
because the thing is, you know, how do
you build that consciousness? Right? How do you
build build that mindfulness that when, like, so
that you realize that you're actually being tempted?
Because I know I mentioned this earlier, but
it's true. Not everyone will realize that they're
actually being tempted. So that means that you
have to have a very high level of
consciousness, right, of taqwa, of consciousness, of mindfulness
to know that, oh, yes, I am actually
to recognize that I am being tempted right
now. Right? So this remembrance of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, the recitation of Quran, these things,
help immensely in building that consciousness and that
mindfulness.
Another means
of, of, of of being protected against shaydhan
or lessing his impact is sticking together with
the with,
the believers. Right? So the prophet
said, from an
Whoever amongst you wants to attain the best
part of Jannah, who doesn't want the best
part of Jannah?
Whoever amongst you wants to attain the best
part of Jannah,
let them adhere to the main body of
the believers of the Muslims. Let them adhere
to the jama'a.
Don't be a a lone wolf. Don't be
someone who is separated from the community. Be
part of the jama'a.
Why? Because the shaitan is with the one
who is alone, but he's further away from
2. Okay? So just physically being I mean,
of course, during the pandemic, I know we
can't really gather, but just, you know, in
whichever way we can, trying to be part
of the jama'an and being committed,
or connected rather with, you know, our brothers
and sisters. That is extremely important because it
helps ward off, you know, a lot of
the traps and the temptations of shaitan when
a person is alone, and they don't have,
you know, their brothers and sisters around them
to support them, to guide them, to help
them, to remind them even. Right? Like, nicely
reminding one another. When we don't have that
mutual support for one another, then shaitan finds
it a lot easier
to go after that person. Right? Just like
a wolf goes after,
you know, a a lone sheep. Right? Actually,
that's the term I should have used earlier,
not a lone wolf, but rather don't be
a lone sheep. Right? Because the shaitan the
the shaitan are the wolves, and we are
the sheep. So, you know, don't be alone,
the sheep, because if you're alone, then you
are more likely to be attacked by the
wolves. If you're in a larger group, then,
you know, it becomes easier. And there's that,
you know, famous video,
from was it, I think, Kruger National Park
or somewhere, I think, in South Africa, you
know, where there's a group of buffalos.
And, the lions are trying to attack them,
and they do attack one of their cubs
or one of their babies, but, or a
couple of them. But, the buffalos actually come
back. Right? There's a whole group of them.
It's it's a mesmerizing video. You probably have
said before. But, you know, there's they they
actually come back, and they drive the lions
away, and they rescue, you know, their their
their member their member of their of their
pack or their their tribe, whatever it was.
You know? So there is strength in numbers.
The prophet
told us that you stick with the stick
with the Otherwise, you're gonna make yourself susceptible.
Whether it's at school, whether it's at work,
in community, you know, always try to stick
with the Regardless of how the is, you
know, no one's gonna be perfect. No community
is gonna be perfect. No leader is gonna
be perfect. Right? But try to find something,
you know, in in the community, in the
jamaah that you can align yourself with so
that you are with others who are people
of taqwa, who are, you know, like minded,
who are,
concerned about their iman. And, inshallah, Allah
will make that a means of protection against
shaitan.
The second thing I also wanna mention, my
brothers and sisters, as we are now after
Ramadan,
is keeping our Ramadan gains. You know, not
losing our gains due to laziness or carelessness,
and especially our prayers. Allah tells us
Right? Guard strictly
your prayers.
Guard strictly your your prayers. Do not mean
we talked about this before, you know, not
to be lazy with our prayers, not to
be careless, not to leave them for the
last moment, you know, but being proactive
and being concerned about our prayers because this
is the most important signal,
a barometer, you know, a gauge of our
relationship with Allah.
Strictly guarding our prayers, Allah
says, and especially
the middle prayer. Right? Normally understood as the
prayer or also the Fajr prayer. You know?
So so strictly guarding and especially paying attention
to the middle prayer,
because, you know, the these are times, especially
and according to some interpretations,
which can easily be lost, right, either due
to sleep or due to being busy with
family, with work. So pay special attention to
guarding your prayers, but especially the middle prayer.
And, of course, when possible, like, right now,
we do have the limit of 10 people,
but whenever
wants to lock down this, they're praying often
especially for the brothers. You know, more blessings
and rewards. Right? 25 to 27 times more,
and you're also raised in rank and degree,
you know, for each step that you take
towards the masjid, and the angels are invoking
blessings of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala on that
person. You know, so really trying to to
observe salah with jama'ah,
especially in the masjid, you know, whenever
possible, and try to push ourselves because I
know it's easy to get carried away and
to,
you know, and to just, sort of let
it go. And, yeah, of course, you can
pray your salah at home, but especially when
the masjid is nearby and especially,
you know, when there's there's no major impediments
to making it there and it's available, then
we should try our best, Insha'Allah,
to make it to the masjid, and that
is especially for the brothers. And, of course,
sisters are welcome as well.
Putting ourselves into the habit of extra prayers.
Just adding a sunnah prayer. If we were
not used to bring sunnah prayers before the
before Ramadan, maybe starting off with at least
1 sunnah prayer. Or if you're already doing
your sunnah prayers, maybe adding some Nawaf and
some extra prayers on top, you know, just
something to to keep that going,
so that after Ramadan, we don't lose our
gains, but we continue to build up on
them, Insha'Allah.
And finally, of course, charity. Right? It does
not diminish.
Our wealth does not diminish because of charity
as the prophet has told us, and also
offers us protection as well. May Allah
protect,
continue to bless us and protect us.
Protecting
our good deeds
because,
protecting our good deeds from losing them to
others. And how does that happen? Prophet
asked his companions,
do you know who is the bankrupt?
Who is the bankrupt? We know the person
who's not able to pay their debts.
So they said that's what they said. So
the bankrupt among us is the one who
neither has money with him nor any property.
And a person who doesn't have any wealth,
doesn't have any property. That's what they responded.
So the prophet
said that
the bankrupt
real bankrupt of my Ummah.
The real bankrupt of my Ummah would be
the one who would come on the day
of resurrection
with
prayers, with fasting, with zakat. SubhanAllah, it's so
relevant for us because, alhamdulillah, we prayed in
in Ramadan. We fasted in Ramadan, and maybe
you also gave your zakat in Ramadan or
at least you gave charity in Ramadan. So
the prophet said in
the
real bankrupt the real true bankrupt person of
my ummah is the one who comes with
prayers, with fasting,
So but the person find themselves
bankrupt on the day, on the day of
judgment, the most critical day, as
they will have, they'll find themselves bankrupt. Why?
Because they reviled
others. They brought calumny,
slander against others. They unlawfully devoured the wealth
of others. They shed the blood of others.
They hit others. They beat others. They hurt
others, Right? Verbally,
through physical actions. So what will happen? The
prophet
said,
That his good deeds would be credited to
the account of those who suffered at that
person's hands.
This is really, really scary, my brothers and
sisters. So we have to be very careful
about our conduct, especially with our family members,
with our spouse, with our children, with our
siblings, with our parents, with our relatives.
Right? Because they are the ones who are
closest to us, our colleagues, our neighbors. Right?
Because
I have to be on the day of
judgment. You know, they come with a long
list of complaints against us. And on that
day, there is no relationship. Everybody is on
their own. Right? Everyone's saying nefsy nefsy. Everyone's
worried about themselves.
Right? So everyone wants even one good deed
because that could save them on that date.
You know? So let's say you go with
all your good deed, but there's a long
lineup of people who are who have claims
against you. And what will happen? The prophet
tells us that his the good deeds will
be credited to them according to the wrong
that that person had done, according to the
claims of the victims. Right? According to the
injustices that have been done to them, the
the person's good deeds will be distributed because
they wronged others. So it's a day of
ultimate justice. So Allah
will will distribute this person's good deeds to
their victims
until they run out. And if they run
out, what happens?
Says, if their good deeds fall short, let's
say they'll go bankrupt, there's nothing left in
their account, all of their siyam, all their
fasting, their salah, their zakat, all their good
deeds, they've been distributed already, but there's still
people who have claims against them, then their
sins would be entered
into this person's account. So now it's the
reverse. Their sins, the victims' sins will come
into the account of the perpetrator
and then would be thrown into the fire.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us all.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for
all of our,
shortcomings towards others.
I mean, this opportunity, my brothers and sisters,
to protect the Ramadan gains, not to lose
them by wronging others, by falling into the
the traps of the shayateen and by committing
wrong,
against others and against the rights of Allah.
May Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, protect us from
shaitan.
We ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to to
protect us from his disobedience, to accept our
meager deeds, to guide us, to become better
servants of his. We ask Allah, subhanahu wa
ta'ala, to make us better people to those
around us, our families, our colleagues, our friends,
our neighbors, our fellow citizens. May Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala grant us His love and His
forgiveness and His mercy. Ameen.
Jazakumullah wa ta'ala my brothers and sisters. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless you all,
for all of your kindness and your support.
May Allah
always keep you well. I'm deeply, deeply touched,
from this Ramadan's experience. I've been, you know,
reflecting last night. It was very hard to
sleep for some reason after graduating, you know,
I barely got in sleep. And I was
so tired, but, you know, I've been thinking
how Ramadan went. And, of course, there's always
room for improvement, and we should always be
be, you know, giving looking for constructive criticism
to see how we can improve things. But,
like,
it was really, really touching. So I just
wanna say
for all of your support and your duas
and your well wishes and, the goodness,
that you have expressed and shown. Allah
always keep you happy. Allah always keep us
united.
My brothers and sisters and for those I
was not able to meet yesterday,
it was great seeing all of you even
briefly when I was doing my,
my daily,
Eid morning jog now as the tradition now
for the last couple of years.
So, for those I was not able to
see, it was great seeing everyone very briefly,
but,
bless you all. For those I was not
able to see, aye Mubarak, belated aye Mubarak
to you all.
Accept all of your good deeds and ours
as well. And then,
forgive us.
Always keep you well in, every year, every
day.
And doctor Muhammad Hanan and
for your comment. And
and to you as well and your family.
Take care, insha'Allah.
Go ahead and offer.
Insha'Allah, we still are limited to 10 people
for Friday prayer. We are selecting mostly by
by draws.
So but Inshallah, hopefully soon we will be
able to gather once again.