There is no Better time for Change

Salam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah the haka for silver one lady Katara Haider. shadow on a hula hoop level Esma will her center or shadow Mohammed Abu Mara Soto, so

I'm about to follow the wilhemina shaytani r rajim Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Allah let me know let me know and tuckshop Hello boom Li karela he womaniser Amina,

what are your kuhnhackl Idina O'Toole? kita bombing Babu Fatah, Allah Allah him will Emma do for Casa Paulo boom, work se ramen home for sipo and sakalava. Alvin, honorable Allah respected brothers, mothers and sisters, it is a fact of life, that everything has an effect.

Everything has an effect. And you and I, we are very familiar with the effects of especially worldly things and worldly phenomenon. But the one thing that we have forgotten, the one thing that has kind of faded into the background in our lives is that sin also has an effect. Sin also has an effect in order to they say Guna say insaan, nada Ahmed, pata, Hai, or neki say Salamat pata, that sin brings a regret to your life

and virtue brings peace, contentment, tranquility, satisfaction to your life, sin has an effect either in this world or in the year after or in both and as this month of Ramadan commences, and as we soak in the moment of the first Juma in this glorious and auspicious month, we must understand that the most urgent requirement is for us to give up sin.

recitation of Quran is wonderful, fasting, we all do. Salatu tarawih is meritorious, but after the for the most important thing is to give up sin. Many of us we approach Ramadan, with the mindset of what am I going to do? I'm going to read or earn, I'm going to dispense my soccer. I'm going to give additional charity, I will perform my thorough way I will sit for at the caf, but very few of us approach Ramadan from the perspective of what what should I not be doing? What should I not be doing. And that's why we may put a pause on the sings in our lives. But we don't press the delete button when it comes to the sins that have become prevalent in our lives, which is press pause for

the duration of 30 days. And after Ramadan, we go back to the things that we were involved in. So the urgent requirement this Ramadan, the urgent change that is required is for us to expel sin from our lives, to remove sin from our lives. And to stop with the excuses. And one of the excuses we give oh but it's a small sin. It's a minus in the skull is so beautiful. It tells us that that distinction between Kaaba era and saga era kaviraj zawiera. That is for academic purposes, that is to show the gravity of some sins over others. But in reality, sin is major all of it and any form of it. Because don't look at whether the sin is smaller not look at how big is the being whose command

you are breaking. Look at the greatness of that Allah whose limit you are transgressing. So anything which Allah has forbidden, or anything which Allah has instructed and we are not doing, it is great. It is major, it is severe. We should not let the devil beguile us that this is a minus sin. It's not a major sin. And even minor sins. You know, they have this beautiful proverb they say Don't underestimate the pebble. Don't underestimate the pebble because in the end of the day, a mountain is button accumulation of pebbles.

Don't look at a stone and say this is a small stone. Because when you take many of those small stones and put it together you get a mountain. So don't look at a sin and say this is a small sin if it becomes part of your life. Allah forbid Allah forbid and the DFP ama it is brought before us at the size of a mountain.

Simply because we thought that this was a minus. And another point of caution that the scholars found out is that even if it's a minus, and if you do it continuously, your continuous perpetration of A minus sin makes it major.

By making it by allowing it to become a routine, a standard a norm in your life that escalates it from being a minus into a major sin. So the one excuse that we create to kind of soothe and pacify our own conscience is that no, it's a may it's a minus one. The other excuse is this, that everyone is doing it. Everyone is doing it. Everyone will not lie with you in your grave.

Everyone will not stand next to you, when you will have to account before Allah. No one will be there when it will be said it Tara Akita buck cafr be enough sickle yamaneika Seba read your book, you can say well ah but his book looks similar. His problem is his problem Your problem is your problem. Illuminati mala for him to come at him with a shadow Judo home America, New York, Cebu. And when these hands and these legs and these eyes start to testify against us, it will not be a valid excuse in the court of law. There are law, everyone else was also doing it.

Another excuse that we use for our indulgence in sin and we have become very indulging in sin. Is that a it's very difficult to abstain. Of course it's difficult. That's the test of life. It's difficult, but it's not impossible. It's difficult, but it is not impossible.

If it was impossible to abstain and Allah would not have made in haram and forbidden in the first place. Now you can live Allahu nevsun illa usaha Allah has given you the capacity you just need to muster up the courage, you need to develop the willpower to be able to say enough is enough. Let's say Allah Coronavirus can Oh,

my pronunciation might be a little out you know, I come from that part of the country with is a little bit more water and hungry law

will alleviate the difficulty and that hardship that you people have. So, those are some of the excuses that we make. But the time is now the time is now there is no better time for change. The reason why I have consciously, deliberately, with thought decided to talk on this topic during the first Juma Ramadan is because I find increasingly many of us look at Ramadan as an opportunity to accumulate reward. Very few of us look at Ramadan as an opportunity to change our lives for the better

to remove sin from our lives to become better Muslims. Because that's difficult. It is more difficult to give up one cent than to perform 20 records of Serato taraweeh. It is more difficult to give up one cent than to give 1000s of rands in charity, it is more difficult to give up one cent than to spend 10 nights away from the comfort of your bed in your family in the house of Allah. But that is more important than the Salatu tarawih and the optional charity and the Sunnah ethic off because sin is haram. It is forbidden, it is outlawed. You and You earn the anger, the wrath, the displeasure of Alex de Barco dahlem. Another excuse that we use for sin is that no, I know what I'm

doing is wrong but Allah is most forgiving Allah is most merciful. Indeed, indeed. That is our belief that is our Akita. Allah is most forgiving, Allah is most merciful. There is no sin and there is no accumulation of sin that is beyond the mercy of Allah. But one scholar is so beautiful. He writes under the commentary of the verse of Surah Rahman, we Allah says, William and her former perma Rob, be He, Jonathan, that that person who fears the day when he will have to stand before Allah, for him is double the reward. And the scholars say, even if Allah forgives you, Don't you feel ashamed? That one day you have to stand before Allah, knowing what Allah did for you. And

knowing how many of Allah's commands you broke in return.

You know, as a kid, as a youngster, you knew that ultimately, my father will forgive me. No matter what I do, I can smash the scar. I can break something that's valuable to him. But ultimately he'll forgive me because he loves me and I'm a son. But the fact that you would disappointing him is what discouraged you in the first place. That even if my father forgives me, how do I stand in front of my father

Say, Dad, I have failed, that I smashed your car, or scratched your car, that look of disappointment will break my heart more than the anger and the outburst or even the hiding that my father was likely to give me.

So even if I'm not forgives us, we need to contemplate and think with what face do we stand before long the day of pm and knowing that we were sending in a wanton way sin had become part of our routine, sin had become so part of our lives that we did not even realize To what extent we were sinning. Somebody gave an example. It's a crude example, but it hits home very hard. He says,

when an average person goes to the toilet, he gets the foul smell. But when the toilet cleaner is in the toilet, he's become so accustomed to the environment, that he doesn't get the foul smell.

When a person in whose life sin is an exception, as soon as he sins, he feels that guilty conscience, he feels that precut his heart. But you and I, we have sinned so regularly. Sin has become so part of our integral routine, that we no longer realize that we are sinning. We no longer realize that we are breaking the commands of Allah subhanho wa Taala the transgressions of the tongue, the lies that we speak, the exaggerations, the gossip, the slander, the transgressions of the eye, we don't control our gaze, we look at that which is not permissible for us to look at the transgressions of the hearts, what we think about the hatred, the jealousy, the animosity, the lack

of empathy, technology has made since so accessible. You can be sitting in the house of Allah, and you can have a direct connection to that which is sinful.

These talks are not meant for us to judge the next man. It is meant for us to judge ourselves. It is a great bounty of Allah upon us that Allah is making sectary Allah has put a veil over our wrongdoings. If people had to know what is truly in our hearts, and what we do when we are away from the gaze of others, we wouldn't have the courage to show faces in public. We wouldn't allow through his benevolence through His grace through His mercy as kept the veil on our wrongdoings. But when are we going to start feeling embarrassed? When are we going to start feeling some tinge of regret and remorse?

Who knows this could be the last Ramadan in our lives, are we going to seize the moment and say, there is no better time for change? The time has come. The time is now when I need to abandon sin, when I need to unshackle myself from the burdens of sin,

when I need to remove myself from the ruts and the routine of sin one day, I've been

asked, and I've been case, the Tell me Oh fnf who is a hill? Who is an ignorant person who is a fool.

Right? So I kind of said, and listen to the definition that I kind of gave. You said that man, that man who destroys his Ark era for some material gain for himself.

In order for you to achieve some worldly item or some material progress, you destroy your aka, that person is a jail because this world is temporary and Acura is everlasting.

But then, on top of the lava, Antonia McAnuff good definition, but let me tell you who is agile,

who is a bigger fool, that person who destroys is a Hara for somebody else's dunya

that person who destroys his own ophira for somebody else's dunya

how many sins don't we perpetrate to keep the wife happy to keep the husband happy to keep the children happy to keep up with the Joneses to sustain peer pressure to fit in to blend in to be one of the guys to be one of the click to be one of the group? Oh, Marvin satara. Ilan said that man is the biggest fool when he destroys his Acura for somebody else's dunya

one skull is so beautiful. He said one day, there are four things that are worse than sin. There are four things that are worse than sin. The first to trivialize the sin, that act it's not a major thing. It's a small sin, the second to commit a sin and then become happy. You know what I did? Where I was last night. How we enjoyed ourselves.

So you've committed a sin, you broke a command of Allah and then you become happy of it. The third is to allow that sin to become a continuous habit in your life. And the fourth is to commit a sin and then boast about it, to commit a sin and go in public, and put it out there for everyone to see that this is what I did. This is what I was involved in. These four things are worse than

the realization with regards the harm of sin has left our lives. Sin makes you ungrateful to Allah, the height of ingratitude is we use the bounties which Allah has given us, including our limbs, and our bodies and our life, to break the commands of Allah. One sin leads to another. Sin breeds disobedience. It takes you further away from the serrata muster team, and further away from the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala. The biggest irony in life is we commit sin to bring ourselves happiness, but sin will never bring you through happiness. Allah says, woman arada and victory for in Allahumma schatten bunker. No matter what you do, you'll only get superficial enjoyment. If

you're breaking the command of Allah. That's why you see today, you have these movie stars, these superstars, they have all the money, all the women, all the glory, they have palatial homes, they have private jets, yet they can't sleep at night. Yet they are suicidal. They are popping polls. Why? Why there is no inner contentment that can only come when you are an obedient servant of Allah. So giving up sin will bring us benefit in this world as well. Apart from the fact that in the ACA, it will lead to salvation. When you sin, your relationship suffers. There's a hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam, when mbf Allah says that if you see this turbulence in your relationships with

others, feed your spouse or your children or your siblings or your employer, your employees, it's time to check the state of your relationship with Allah. The stronger your relationship with Allah the more Allah will put Baraka in your other relationships, but when you are breaking the commands of Allah, then no matter how in love you are with your spouse or what a good parent you are or an obedient child you are, that turbulence is bound to set in because there is no Baraka. You know, if Nicosia is made mention of this narration, and generally we only like positive thoughts. And in the main we also deliver positive discourses, but every now and again, we all need a wake up call myself

included. We all need to be frank, and we need to be brutally honest with ourselves. You know, Malik, the gatekeeper of hell. It is mentioned in the 25th juice of the Quran, one Murli kuliah toda la narrow book, the inmates of hell will call out unto Malik and say, Tell Allah, we want nothing. We don't want agenda. We just want death, so that the punishment can stop.

And Malik will say, no, it can happen in the murky zone, you have to remain. That's the decree of Allah. So the people of hell will cry. And they'll cry to such an extent that rivers will flow with the tears if Nicosia has made mention of this narration.

And after crying, rubies of tears, you know is the description goes, they look up to Moloch you know, like the kid when the father says no, and they cry so much to soften the heart of the Father. Now they look up to him and say that Okay, is there any mercy? Or do you see how we cry and how much we regret? How much remorse we have? We only want death. We don't want gentlemen to stop the torment and the punishment. And then Malik will say those words that send a shiver down the back, my eyes and a hurdle Booker, you're crying is so touching. It's so sincere. It's so laden and filled with regret and remorse, local and that with dunya If only you were crying like this in the world, why

did you leave it for now? Why did you leave it for now? So this Ramadan is a moment of introspection,

the To what extent Am I sending in my life? And how do I start eradicating and expelling and removing sin from my life? That's the greatest need this Ramadan, there is no better time for change then now we should not only be changing in terms of doing optional good deeds, that's that's meritorious. But change means you need to stop giving up those sins which have crept into your life. And the beauty of Islam is as much as this hope and fear. There is much more Raja and hope. The doors of repentance are wide open, especially in this month of Ramadan. We know Allah sees you take one baby step in my direction. I'll come running to you and embrace you.

Collectively the doors of repentance are

Open Tetlow, ashram Swami, McGreevy her until just before kiama. Individually had her there until you are in the final moments of your life you turn to Allah with sincere regret, and Allah is willing to forgive. Under the commentary of the Hadith whenever you said Allah He was seldom says look at the mercy of Allah. At Evo mina thembi. Come Allah, Allah. Allah says, when you repent sincerely from a sin, it is as if you never committed the sin in the first place. The scholars right when you make sincere Toba, Allah removes that sin from the book of deeds. Allah removes it from the memory of the angels who wrote it. Allah removes it from the memory of the heavens that witnessed

it. Allah removes it from the memory of the earth upon which it was perpetrated. Only you and Allah know that you committed that sin, the slate is wiped totally clean. Come back to Allah. Come back to Allah. There is no better time to change our lives and now in the month of Ramadan. The hearts are soft, the devil is shackled. The nurse is subdued, the environment is conducive. Make this Ramadan that moment in your life when you change for the better. a stepping stone towards through in genuine repentance were to bow in Allah hegemony and a yo Han Menon. Allah Allah come to flow and Allah says you want to be successful, then tend to Allah in through repentance. Why am I ever Pharaoh though?

No but Illa Allah, Who is there to forgive sin except Allah. Allah says knock on my door. Knock on my door. Well yeah, Eva de la Vina Ashraf Juana and fusi him. Latina to Mira Mattila in a la jolla Nova Jamia in who who Allah for him, no matter what sin you have committed or how many sins you have committed, never become despondent of the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sin, every sin and the greatest accumulation of sin allies willing to forgive. There are 66 verses in the Quran where Allah is calling us towards repentance and forgiveness. Allah has 99 names, not one of those names talk directly about punishment, but multiple of the attribute of names of a lotta Baraka with Allah. Talk

about the mercy, the forgiveness, the tolerance of a lack of Baraka with Allah, it is for us to tap into it. It's there all the time, but it's found more so in the month of Ramadan. Actually, the mercy of Allah is so great that this this narration in cancer Amal so Han Allah in Allah tala layin Pharaoh lived with them, they knew the neighbor who

Allah will benefit you.

Allah will benefit you through the sin that you have committed. There is another narration of hypno mobarak in the lab della youth NIV was

a servant of Allah will commit a sin for the Hulu he'll Jenna and as a result of that sin he will antigen. How so? When you commit a sin, but they after you showed genuine regret and remorse, it makes Allah so happy that not only is Allah willing to forgive you, Allah is willing to substitute in place of that sin a good deed that you never carried out in the first place. So your sin becomes a stepping stone for you entering Jenna if you make dough, but then the sohar if you are sincere in your regrets and in your remorse, Allah says yep and Adam Oh son of Adam in the kamada out any water Joe Tony Hoffer tala Cola, oh, barely. No matter what your sins are turned to me, I'll forgive it is

nothing. It's nothing for Allah to forgive. No, Baba, Baba, Karana sama. Even if we have committed so many sins, that it would fulfill the earth right up to the heavens. Turn to Allah turn to Allah and Allah is willing to forgive. Allah is looking for every excuse to forgive us. All it is required is for a few hot tears of regrets. A few moments of sincere repentance in the court of Allah. When you make the button so hard when you repent to Allah when you use Ramadan, as a moment to change your life to become a better Muslim to remove sin. You will see how much lighter you feel how much happier you are, how much more Baraka in blessings they will be in everything that you do. That's

why one youngster came one day to Rasulullah sallallahu wasallam and he was crying and he said you have a soul Allah azza wa jal Nova has so many sins, there'll be a full latonia make this drama Allah mama Farah Touka OSA ominto novena warahmatu Kannada Indian Amina Molina, Allah Your mercy is greater than our sins, and we have greater hope in your mercy than in our own good actions.

That is the mindset of Islam forgiveness is readily available. I'll conclude by mentioning one or two more things. Musa alayhis salam one day

asked Allah, that era. Oh Allah, how do you respond when somebody who's making dua to you calls out to you? So Allah says, I respond by saying lebay

He says, Oh Allah, when a person who is this aside, he's totally left the dunya totally focused on Iboga. When he calls out to you, how do you respond? Salah says I say look back and then Musashi Salam said the fasting person, when he calls out on to you and he says Allah, how do you respond? Allah says I say love bake. And then musante salaam says, when the sinful person tends to you over Allah, how do you respond? Allah says to the sinful person, I say lebay lebay lebay.

Susana Salam said, but that is a sinful person. And on the other hand, you've got a fasting person and you've got a supplicating person, and you've got a person who's totally engrossed in worship. Allah said, Musa, those people are turning to me, and having reliance on the good deeds. This sinful person is turning to me, and his reliance is on my mercy.

He's got no good deeds to rely on. He's relying solely wholly only and exclusively on my mercy that makes me so happy that for him, I say the bay club Bay club Bay. And mention one more story of musante salatu salam and I'll conclude there was a young man in the time of Musashi salatu salam, according to this narration of evening, Kodama, and this young man had sinned to such an extent that Allah had commanded Musashi Salaam to banish him from the town. And years later, Allah sends a revelation to Masonic Salaam, that one of my servants has passed away in the desert. Go and perform his Genesis salah and tell all the people that whoever accompanies Moosa to perform the genesis of

this man was alone in the desert, just by performing his generosity, your sins will be forgiven.

Musalia Sam went to the big contingent of followers and dissipating to see a great sage and pious person of the time. When they came they, they found the body of that very same boy who was banished for his sins. And Allah said Moosa, you know what happened when he was in the throes of death. He looked right he looked left, he looked everywhere. There's there was no one for him. There was no one to support him. Then he turned to alliance in our law. Everyone has forsaken me but you

Everyone has forsaken me but you, Allah says Moosa, he stole bow was so powerful. Not only that I forgive his sins, I instructed my nebby to perform his janazah and I put an offer on the table that whoever will participate in his janazah their entire life of sin will be forgiven.

Soto button so ha is what is the requirement of the time there is no better time than now. The hearts are soft, the devil is shackled. The nerves is subdued. Ramadan is about giving up sin and removing sin from our lives permanently, though, but then the suha is what? That you must have such hatred for the sin after committing it more than the desire that you had for the sin before you committed it. That is though button. So ha, let me leave you with this message of hope. One of the greatest personalities. One of the greatest personalities in the history of Islam is Abdullah bin Mubarak. But a buildup in Mubarak was not a pious person initially, like they say, every saint has a

past where every sinner has a future. He was a drunkard. He was a womanizer. And one day after he woke up from his drunken stupor, he had a verse of the Quran being recited the verse which I recited in my introduction, and that's the core of the message to myself and to you. My intention was not to depress you not to instill fear in you, but to give you hope and motivation, that there is no better time for change. What was the verse? Allah Mia Nini levena, Amano and tuckshop Hello, boom, Li karela he womanism in the Quran asks the question that all Muslims as the time not come for you to now change your lives to now become the true servants of Allah. To now truly subscribe to the Quran.

He was still drunk and he said balarabe Allah The time has come. The time is now there is no better time for change when you make Toba than the SWAT at Evo habibollah you become the Beloved of Allah at that evil minute them become a legend Bella when you make though but then the souhaite is like you never committed the sin in the first place when you make though but then the sohar Allah protects you from the devil in either the Lisa lock Allah himself on when you make dough but then the sohar then at the time of your death, the angels will come to you in a Latina call or a boon Allah wa Tomas Docomo the Xs Allah Allah, Allah, Allah subhanho wa Taala know whatever Shiro bilgin,

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May Allah make this the best Ramadan in my life and in your life. May this ramadan ramadan of true repentance and Toba. May we seize the moment for change and May this Ramadan effect as well.

lasting change for the better in our lives and make us truly obedient servants of Allah. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the understanding was that Allah Silla mobarak Allah and Vienna Muhammad, as always I will be failing in my duty if I would not to acknowledge all the trustees for being so kind to warmly extend an invitation to me to once again meeting with my brothers in Islam yet Mr. Lupo, it's always a pleasure. Until next time, inshallah Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh