Productive Ramadhan For Proactive Youth

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah hard early he will be here tomorrow in Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Time to relax in order for me to be here tonight I ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to make the time that we spend together beneficial, that whatever we learn, we learn only for his sake that Allah subhanho wa Taala makes us of those that will act upon what they know, the topic that we want to cover tonight is an important topic. I suppose that every person before the month of Ramadan, depending on your culture, I'm going to make a guess and say that regardless of where you come from in the world, Ramadan is very important. For those of us that

have grown up, you know, fasting, we were 567 years old when we started, you know, this is an exciting time, and we look forward to the month of Ramadan. But there's something that nags at the back of our minds at the end of every Ramadan and that is that feeling that we haven't made the most of it. That feeling that I could have done better, I should have done better would have could have the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said do not say if or should have or could have because that opens up the door for shaitaan. The Muslims Nagin is never negative is not a pessimist or she's not a pessimist, but rather we are positive and we are optimist you know optimistic about the future

optimistic about the present and we don't dwell on issues. So this Ramadan in sha Allah tala, we want to take stock of the last Ramadan and so this is what I will begin with. The first thing that I want us to do tonight is to take stock of the last Ramadan to talk about the good points to think about them. What did I do last Ramadan that was truly productive? That was truly beneficial. What is it that I did that I don't regret that I'm happy that I was doing? What was it about last Ramadan in terms of my relationship with the Quran? Was I attending taraweeh every night that I find myself very generous last Ramadan? Did I maximize my time? If not, then let's move on to the second part of

this this question or equation and that is what was I doing last Ramadan that I should not have been doing? What was it about last Ramadan where I fell short? What were my shortcomings in the last Ramadan? So this is we we need to be before we start we only a few days away four or five days, and now we have to take stock of the last year. What have I been doing? Think about this for a moment. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said what Ramadan is allowed Ramadan cafardo to Lima Bina, Houma that one Ramadan to the next, ease and expiation for whatever happened in between. So since last Ramadan, raise your hands if you have not sinned or disobey the law. Raise your hands if you

have not fallen short in what Allah has made compulsory upon you. Let's start with sila. How many of you have Mashallah have been praying five times a day regularly since the last Ramadan. How many of us have been fasting regularly on Mondays and Thursdays are many of us, you can see where this list is going. So in the last 12 months or 11 months, we have numerous shortcomings. It doesn't matter whether you weigh a job bar, you've grown your beard, your way and ABA, none of that matters. We all sin, regardless of who we are, and where we come from. whether we've studied Islam, or we haven't studied Islam, we all have our shortcomings. We all have our sins. The last, you know, 12 months

have, you know, I've proven that to be true. So now is an opportunity for us before we start this month of Ramadan, to look at it as an opportunity to wipe away everything that has happened in the last 12 months as if it never happened. But yes, something important that we need to think about as well, that even though this month that's coming is a month in which Allah subhanho wa Taala has increased the Baraka and the blessings of doing good deeds so that when you do good deeds in the month of Ramadan, they are not like the deeds that you do outside of Ramadan. At the same time, we need to remind ourselves that that applies to sins as well, that what we do in the month of Ramadan,

that is, you know, disobedience to Allah subhanho wa Taala it's not like the rest of the year. So for instance, if you're in for hydrofarm Allah and you found yourself in the masjid will harm unless you do gnabry How would you find yourself there? People are even scared, you know, they they bump into someone and they apologize profusely. I'm so sorry, you know, because they don't even want to hurt another Muslim or hurt the creature or you know, cut down a tree because it's so sacred, so holy, while the month of Ramadan is like that. And so before we enter this month, let us start to think about the sacredness of this month. That no we are supposed to be people that feel a loss of a

higher nostalgia that possess taqwa that are conscious and aware of Allah at you know all this

Time, but the month of Ramadan is more deserving of that consciousness. That's why we find Subhana Allah doesn't matter where you go in the world, you go to a machine on the first night or the night before the first day of Ramadan, what do you find? It's packed, is you can't even you can't even fit in and into that message. Am I right? People are praying outside of the masjid. Why? Why all of a sudden, where did this come from? You know, when I was growing up. And you know, yesterday, I was teaching a course in Kota damansara. And it was janaza course. And I was talking to them about, you know, thinking about death. And I was telling them that when I was younger, we were coming back from

the club, and we were hitting home, and the driver was speeding. And, you know, we drove into another car at 180 kilometres, and the person that was in the passenger seat, you know, was paralyzed, I broke my collarbone had a massive gash in my head. I was about 1617 at the time, and I thought I didn't become automatically, you know, a practicing Muslim after this incident. But I did ask myself this question, what if I died in this accident?

You know, what if I died? It wasn't a religious question. I wasn't thinking what would my relationship be with Allah, if I had died in that state? You know, half intoxicated, coming back from the club didn't pray a single prayer that day, or anything of the sort. So I asked myself this question. So many people in the audience of people that were coming back to Islam, many of them weigh in their 20s and 30s and older, they are not been practicing practicing Islam since they were young. And now they were coming back and they came to attend this course, they want to know more about, you know, the fake rulings about Salatu janaza. And many of them had questions and it was

important for me to connect with them, you know, regarding this very important question, because if the month of Ramadan is coming up, and we are going to take full advantage of it, then these are the kinds of questions that we need to that we need to be asking ourselves, or what if we met Allah subhana wa tada today? What if tonight molekule mode was to come and take our souls the angel of death? If we met Allah now before the month of Ramadan? Would we be able to feel content that Alhamdulillah I feel secure and safe regarding my future in the year after? That's a question we have to ask ourselves because we so focused on on now and our lives as we live them now that we

don't think about that often enough. So before the month of Ramadan comes, we really need to think about it. So the first of the three main points I want to make in this lecture is the following. The month of Ramadan is an amazing month, Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us in the Quran, that shadow Ramadan and lady on Zee Hill Quran, that the month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran has been revealed. And I want to spend with you and I want to share with you what is it about the Quran that makes it so amazing? What is it about the Quran that really, you know, makes it so special so that when we end off on the virtues of the Quran tonight, you can walk away out of this lecture

theater, and you're going to be focusing on these four things that I'm going to mention in sha Allah for the whole month as you read the Quran, the first of them, and it's not really accessible for us until we begin to learn the language is that the language of the Quran is miraculous. The language of the Quran is a language that Allah subhanho wa Taala challenged the people of Makkah and Arabia, the language, this language that they were so proud of that they competed with one another. No, we don't have really competitions like that, do we? poetry competitions, where people come in, they try to outdo one another in English or in Bahasa Melayu, or any of the languages that I know you speak.

Do you have this in your country, we poets come around from around your country, they gather in the capital, and they try to outdo one another thing poetry is not very common most most of our cultures don't have that. But the Arabs have that. And Allah subhanho wa Taala challenges people to bring something like it, which they couldn't do. The second thing that the Quran

points to when it talks about its miraculous nature is the fact that it gives us information about the past that we would not have had access to how many of you have made your own and qarun and Harmon and Moosa and Harun and Ibrahim and no, we don't know anything about them. We would not have known anything about them if Allah had not told us about them. The second part of this information that Allah gives us is that he tells us about matters of the unseen things that we would not have known about he tells us about himself. None of us here have seen a loss of a high no Tyler, none of us here have met him. We have not seen a law we have not seen jedna and jahannam paradise and how we

have not seen the angels and allow us have a handout that talks about that in great detail in the Quran. Number three, Allah tells us about future events, things that have not yet happened.

And perhaps the best example is the fact that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would be victorious at the Battle of butter. And so it was or the fact that the Romans would defeat the Persians. Allah tells us who he tells us when and he tells us where all of this in the Quran at the beginning of soda to room so we have information about the future that has become a reality. Is this not miraculous? They lost Li Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us about those issues that we would not have known about if Allah subhanaw taala had not told us about them. The what what am I talking about the thoughts and the emotions of the people that Allah subhana wa tada revealed the Quran to

them, they believe is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam reads these Ayah to the Sahaba. During the Battle of Allah, Allah speaks about their fear, while bender hottie lulubelle hanergy they were so fearful during that battle the Muslims, that their hearts were in their throats, how would we know what they were feeling if Allah subhanho wa Taala had not told us but also speaks about the emotions and the thoughts and the secret meetings of the hypocrites in Medina, we would not have known about this if Allah had not exposed them to us. And also Allah talks about fear own the pharaoh when Moosa came to him and threw down his stick and it became a snake. Allah says they saw

these signs, but and they believed it in their hearts, they had absolute certainty, because I'll let me be let me ask you this question. If I took this stand right now, and I threw it on the floor, and it became a slithering snake. And I then told you that I was a prophet of Allah, would you at least give it some consideration? You think about the drive. If I made that claim, I'm not saying because the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was the last prophet. But if something like that happened, you'd be like, Oh, well, that's, you know, I need to that's something strange and fulfilled. When he saw that in many other signs, they believed in their hearts, but with the

tongues, they rejected the message. So this is number two information in the Quran. Number three, is this amazing legal and moral and ethical code that we find in the Quran, something that we need to think about. And I encourage you throughout the month now, starting tonight, and throughout the month, and even after the month More importantly, I want you to think about these points that I've made tonight about the Quran. Because today when I teach my students about when I teach them Islamic Studies at the school where I teach, I don't go into I don't talk about, you know, praying five times a day, I don't talk to them about fasting the month of Ramadan or performing hajj. Why because

we as Muslims today, we don't recognize that the Quran is from Allah subhanho wa Taala we don't view it as being miraculous or divine. We just view it as a book that we take off the shelves in the month of Ramadan, something that if it falls on the ground, we pick it up and we kiss it then we touch it to our foreheads. It's a book that you know, you're supposed to respect equal do before you touch it. It means it's it's it as it says it has lost its significance in the hearts of the Muslims. And so this is why I want to talk to you about this today. So that when you open up this book, you pay attention to the language you pay attention to what Allah subhana wa tada is informing

you of. And then number three, you pay attention to the laws, the morals and the ethics and the ethics of this. Let me give you one example of many insalata gerat. Allah subhanho wa Taala prohibits us from backbiting. Think about a community with spying, suspicion, excessive suspicion, and backbiting was eradicated. Think about your campus. Think about all the scandals and the backbiting and the you know, people carrying tails between one another all the false accusations that happened between students will happen between people that are colleagues at work that happened in Communities and Local mustards. Think about a society with this was eradicated, we you could

leave this, you know, leave this lecture theater, and no one would back by two. Oh, did you see that brother? I can't believe he attended the lecture. Did you see that sisters have a hand Allah Who would have thought all of that backbiting? But you and I because we have taken this, you know, this, this amazing ruling from Allah subhanho wa Taala. We leave. And we have nothing bad to say about our brothers and sisters. We are not overly suspicious of what they do and they intentions and the actions and we definitely do not spy on them in any way shape, or form, or mock them or call them offensive names. All of this mentioned in only one surah and I'm only mentioning one aspect. Think

about a community with this isn't the case. Look at what we have on the internet right now. All these websites, all these YouTube channels, all they deal with is gossip isn't itself a look at how it destroys relationships and how it destroys people and what they think of others. One shift

martial law is amazing, everyone loves him. And then the next day, there's a an article about him, he did this or he did that. And many times, it's just a rumor and your interview, I have seen people leave Islam because a chef of theirs was accused of, you know, stealing funds or having an inappropriate relationship. And then after investigation is not true. Many they, you know, they, the opponents or the enemies wanted to tarnish their name. And if we had what Allah subhanho wa Taala mentions in this surah of not being overly suspicious, giving people the benefit of the doubt of verifying information when it comes to us, then we would be so much better for it. So this is this,

this, these are some of the laws. And lastly, number four, I want you to pay attention as students as people that are at university right now with access to amazing journals, and amazing you know, references a loss of a hand or blood in the Quran draws our attention to the signs. He draws our attention to the sun and the moon and the universe in general, the planets and the stars, he draws our attention to the embryo and his development in the womb of the mother. He draws our attention to the fact that everything that is living has been created from water, he draws our attention to the fact that the mountains have been placed as pegs to stabilize the earth. He draws our attention to

the seas and the oceans, he draws our attention does not say fly on Luna Island, he barely gave a wholecut do they not look at the camel and how it's being created? Have you ever spent time thinking about a camel?

I mean, the only time I thought about a camel is when I was eating it. But have you paid attention to a camel and how it's being created perfectly for its environment. For those of you that are studying biology and other related sciences, it is for you to pay attention to what Allah is, is calling you to ponder and think about it. So behind Allah, you know, I'm reading a book at the moment called basic economics. It's a book written by an American professor. And I've never thought about these concepts from an Islamic perspective, supply and demand price, the markets, fluctuation all of these types of things. And now I'm thinking about what does Islam really have to say, about

capitalism? Or socialism, communism? What does Islam have to say about the free market? And you and I, we have this amazing source of knowledge that the month of Ramadan it was revealed in this month. So let us turn to it. And let us ask these questions about our lives about what I'm feeling. You know, some of you might be saying at this moment, I miss home, I'm feeling depressed, I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm suffering from anxiety, what is the plan? And soon I have to say about these things, I'm going through financial difficulty, what is Allah and His Messenger have to say about these things? I'm having a relationship problem, what is a lie these messenger have to say about

these things. So the Quran if it's the source of amazing knowledge, then you and I in the month of Ramadan, and before he went off to eat, we need to turn back to it so that we can solve our problems and get answers that we desperately need. So this is the first thing that I want to remind you of the second thing is the month of Ramadan, is a month in which Allah subhanho wa Taala has opened up the doors of gender. And he's closed the doors of jahannam and Michelle teen have been chained and the deeds that you're doing this month they are multiplied. So if you know that, if you know that, would you not now start this month and it's preparation with hope in Allah subhanho wa Taala as

reward? Would you not be more motivated to make the most of this month if you knew that, and I can go on and on talking to you about the virtues of the month of Ramadan, but I'll share that in a later point inshallah not to share the details, but to encourage you to learn as much about Ramadan and fasting as you possibly can. Now that we've been we've introduced the topic, let us move now to our second question. And that is how can we make sure that Ramadan is more this Ramadan is more productive? The first thing that we want to mention is that we have to mentally prepare ourselves.

Many of the things I mentioned will be helpful to achieve that. How do we prepare ourselves for this month if you know that this is a special month, if you know about all these, all these verses in the Quran, and all of these are Hadith that motivate us to fast the month of Ramadan, if we know the rewards of fasting the month of Ramadan, if we know that being in the company of the believers is going to further encourage us then half of the half of the effort has already been made. We have all of this information, but we have to sit down and really prepare which brings me to the second point. The second point that we need to do is to make dua is to ask Allah subhana wa tada now before the

month starts, your Allah the month of Ramadan is upon us, you're allowed to make this Ramadan better than every other Ramadan that has preceded it. You're alive week and I make mistakes and I

I send daily but all along only you have the ability to change my heart to make me better so that I may be the best Muslim that I can be in this month and every other month off to eat until I need to Yeah, Allah. So what did what in preparation, what can you do? You can turn to Allah subhanho wa Taala because only he has the power and the ability to make you successful and productive in this month. Many times we rely upon ourselves, isn't it? So, you know, when you study and you get excellent results, and you are being headhunted by companies in sha Allah make do either this is going to happen for all of you. You get headhunted. And then you achieve this amazing position at

this new company or the startup or something similar, and you rise up the ranks and you become a senior executive or something higher than that. And you feel after 20 years Mashallah look at what I have achieved. It's so amazing. You go online, you check your bank account and you feel good. And you look at your home and you feel it's amazing. You think about your holiday house in Cape Town and I mentioned Cape Town because of course it's the most beautiful city in the world. But you have your holiday home your vacation home in Cape Town, you know it's on the ocean there, Masha, Allah with an amazing view, you think about all of that. And one of the things we fall victim to is that we think

all of that is because of us.

That Allah subhanho wa Taala had nothing to do with that. That is because when I was in Malaysia, Taylor Taylor's university, I put in the hours I worked hard, I made the sacrifice. I didn't go out I didn't party. I didn't. I didn't you know, waste any time I got that degree, I got that, you know, postgraduate degree, I did the work. And now all of this is me. All of this is me. But in reality is it

when someone passes away, what do we say? In alila? He was in LA he raggio we belong to Allah and to Him we will we will return when we when we give words of condolences to someone who's lost a loved one. What do we say? Lila he bajada what he lahemaa appa to Allah belongs what he has taken. And To Him belongs what he has given everything that we have, whether it be a lot or a little is from Allah Subhana Allah to Allah. So when you make do I think about that, think about the fact that your knowledge, your intelligence, everything that you have is a gift from Allah subhanho wa Taala you will do our will be more sincere, it will be more heartfelt it will come from the deepest recesses

of your soul, it won't just be something that you say with your tongue. So do Allah is the second thing. Number three, we need to clear our schedules as much as possible. I know that's difficult for you. The university exactly doesn't shut down just because we are having the month of Ramadan does it? Oh, Mashallah, let me see how many Muslims, okay, you know, students, we are going to end all classes, classes will be suspended for the next for me, and for June, we'll come back off their aid. That doesn't happen, right. And if you working, it doesn't happen either. Unless, of course, you know, you like myself, I used to be a student in Saudi Arabia. And being a student in Saudi Arabia

was awesome in the month of Ramadan, because classes would start at like 10 and 1230. Instead of being like, from 730 until 130. Right. Now, I'm going to say that in Saudi Arabia, that people are lazy, I'm just going to say that it was amazing. And many companies would, many companies would close, you know, early, etc, etc. But many countries don't have that. Like, if you're living in South Africa, or you're living, you know, in the West, no one really takes in a case about that. Like for us in Cape Town, we have to fight to be to be able to go for Juma every Friday. I mean, we have to threaten our employees, you know, with legal action, if they don't allow us to go for Juma.

It's like our legal right. Yeah, in Malaysia aid is a public holiday in South Africa. Your boss is like, No, you need to be at work tomorrow. We have this we have a meeting we we have a project deadline. You're like no, but it's aid. Yeah. So it's a religious holiday, not a public one. Right. So what I'm saying is that I understand as a father and as a husband, we all have and as someone who's employed, we have responsibilities, but what we should try to do is all the unnecessary commitments that we have all the things that distract us that are not necessary all the appointments that you know, you could possibly delay until after Ramadan, do so clear your schedule as much as

possible so that all of your free time can be dedicated to being as productive in this month as you possibly can. Well, I I wish that I could say to all of the people that you know I work for or work with, I'm like, you know, sorry. I think I'm gonna take a break this month in sha Allah right I'll see you all in author Ramadan you know, often like you

week, I was even telling the principal of the school today I said, Subhana Allah, I wish that I could take the next month and a half off and come back fresh in July. And he looked at me, he's like, Nah, that's not gonna happen. Right. So I'm gonna have to go to class every day and teach people and from eight to 920, etc, etc, I'm not going to get a break. But there are so many other things that in the month of Ramadan, we can lessen. And we can make sure that you know, they don't distract us from making the most of this month number four, and that is organizing your time with the schedule. You do that now as students, you do that now, you know, whether you're a student or

not, you have your schedule for the day. These are my classes, you have tutorials, you have other things that you need to get done. But what have you written in your calendars for Allah? subhanho? wa Taala? What have you written in your calendars for after 500 in the morning? What have you written regarding when you will help out feeding the poor and the refugees and those people that are in need? How much time have you set out to make sure that you are holding and keeping good family ties? The month of Ramadan? I don't know about you, but when I was a student, obviously we did not have. And now I am not sure I should I should mention this because you know, now you'll know how old

I am. But when I was a student at university, we did not have mobile phones. Okay, the first phone that I saw people using was a Nokia 3310. You know, those bricks, you could you could actually harm someone with with one of those things, right? They were massive. But the point is that I can only speak to my parents once a month, we get our stipend from the university, we'd go to you know, for those of you that come from the Gulf, in Saudi Arabia, specifically, they used to have this like, we call them cabanas, and you go in, you pick up the phone and you dial the number and then you speak for how long and then afterwards you go and you pay. That's how I that's how I kept in touch with my

parents with for many of you. It's you know, you sit in your room lying on your back, you're texting, you're Skyping facetiming that they do they call it facetiming because I've never had an Apple phone, FaceTime. All right, just making sure because I don't want to be like the other chef that said, you know, he wanted to say our tweets you and then he said I will forget you know, I forget what he said but it was embarrassing. I mean, even for me, I was like oh that's a mistake is like another shift that you know he was giving a football and he was saying that Imam Al Bukhari Rahim Allah had a very photogenic memory, and no one lost except me. Because I was thinking, Masha,

Allah, that memory must have been really beautiful, you know, to get great pictures, he meant to say what?

photographic memory, right and another shift once he gave a talk, and he said that this No, this shift, he was a suppository of knowledge. You get it, a suppository of knowledge. He meant to say a depository of knowledge. Anyway, that's the Let's Move on. So organize your time, make sure that you are specified your time, I'm going to sit off the pleasure every morning, I'm going to read the Quran, I am going to do my Vicar, I am going to do this or that so that you have organized your time as one of my my professors used to say, Baraka tool worked feet on the me. If you want to have blessings in your time, then you have to organize it, you have to make sure that it's organized that

it's scheduled. And you know that as students that the more organized you are in your time, the more productive you become. And so of course, the month of Ramadan is more deserving of this kind of productivity and organization of time and scheduling than any other time of the month. So this is the fourth issue. Number five,

something where we fall short in and we don't pay enough attention to and that is that we don't learn about the virtues and the merits of Ramadan. We don't learn about the fifth of Ramadan and fasting. And the only time we really pay attention to this is if something happens in the month and we're not sure. For instance, someone calls me and he says

I accidentally drank some water what's the ruling on my fasting? You know, I it was the first day of Ramadan this happens a lot, right? It's the first day of Ramadan, you fasting, but you're not accustomed to it. It's been a while. And then you start drinking like oh, no, someone tells you you know, or something happens and you're reminded, so is your fasting still valid?

Is it

You sure? Well, the only way you can be absolutely sure because I saw some people were not so sure. The only way you can be absolutely sure is if you have knowledge if you are studying and perhaps the best book that I can recommend on this topic, if you really want to get the most out of this is a book called provisions of the year after by Rahim Allah, it's available in one volume. It's the abridged version published by Dr. Salah. It's called provisions of the year after and it describes the guidance of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in Ramadan and in fasting, how would we

Know what the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to do? How would we know what's right and what's wrong in the month? If you want to get the most out of something you need to know as much as you can about that. How many of you study this university before you came here?

Did you just come? Like eeny? Meeny? Miney? Moe? Okay Taylor's hollows, right? And then maybe if it just you know, maybe if you if you had just missed your finger bet you would have gone to siggy or UI a or one of the other universities? No, you planned. You asked, maybe you had friends and family that came to this university, you asked how much is gonna cost to study? You wanted to know how you know how long it would take, you wanted to know where you would stay, you wanted to know how much it was going to cost you on a monthly basis? What's the price of the ticket? How do I get the visa is it going to be an easy, you know, easy process or not, is in itself. So if the month of Ramadan is

important to you, like you're studying was important to you and is important to you, then you will make the time to learn as much about it as you possibly can. There is no doubt in my mind that if we truly recognized how important this month is, we would leave no stone unturned learning as much about it as we possibly could. Now let's move on to the last of my questions. We discussed the virtues and the importance of the month of Ramadan, we spoke about how we can begin to prepare and get our affairs in order before the month begins. Let's talk about ourselves in the month of Ramadan. It's beautiful. We wake up in the morning, and I always find this amazing. every other time

of the year. It is super difficult to get people awake for fudger isn't itself. You're like, come on, come on. It's time for Sadat. And then people are like, No, I don't want to get up Wake me up later. But when you tell them come, it's time for Soho, they jump out of bed, they run to the kitchen. And you know some people they prepay so much that the night before everything is already laid out, isn't it so they got the cereals and the milks and the this and they that the jams and the cheeses, everything is ready. So that's amazing. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he tells us the Sahara inofficial harati Baraka have sold because in it, there is blessings. You all know the

difference between fasting without having soror and fasting, when you've had Soho, there's a major difference between the two. So we do that. And later in the day, when the time for if thought comes, you find that the people are absolutely, they are absolutely happy. You know, there's this very funny Nando's advert that used to play in Cape Town or in South Africa. And as it's a video of a guy, he's sitting and he's got the chicken in his hand, and his mouth is like, you know, he's just sitting like that. And then you thinking, what is this? What is this ad about? Like, why is this guy sitting, and then the, you know, the camera turns, and it's facing the horizon, and the sun's about

to set so and then they say Happy Ramadan, Muslims, you know, Muslims or South Africa or something similar. So you you and I alike that we make so much effort to have so hold to make sure that if thought is really look at the amount of effort that goes into the foods that are prepared. Now, you know, what we need to think about is how can I take

that same? That same goodness, and how can I channel channel into something that is going to be even more beneficial than that? That eagerness that you have? Just think about this support? You're doing it because it's the Sunnah is far with a date, if not what the date then would work if you're doing it because it's the sunlights the practice of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, you were doing these things, not because I told you to do them, but because your parents told you to do them, you are doing them is because this is what the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught, so this is something that I want us to feel in the month of Ramadan, that what we are doing is what Allah

subhana wa tada revealed to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to show him to teach us what to do. We are being created for the worship of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this month of Ramadan is one of those many forms of worship, and we do them and we do it the way that we do it. Because that is how Allah subhanaw taala wants us to do it. We now in the month of Ramadan, I want you to think that what you are doing is something beloved to Allah subhanho wa Taala listen to this hadith could see, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, well, Mercado de la mdbc in habla La Jolla be mustered to LA that is nothing that my slave does, which is more beloved to me than that which I

have made compulsory upon him or her. Think about that. In the next few days, you're going to start something which Allah has made compulsory upon you. And I want you to think that while you are doing it, this is what Allah has commanded me. And here I am fulfilling that command. This is something which Allah

Subhana wa tada has commanded me and the most beloved deeds to Allah are those that he has commanded and made compulsory. And here I am doing them

that one of the most important aspects of Islam is that we obey and follow the messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam, because he's the most perfect role model. And here I am in the month of Ramadan, following that man that Allah subhanho wa Taala has chosen and sin for us to follow and to obey, and to walk in his footsteps to do as he did, and to, you know, live our lives the way that he did. So this is the first of these preparations that we need to do in the month of February. I apologize. I mean, this is how we need to feel in the month. You know what we are doing something that is beloved to Allah subhanho wa Taala number two, and this is not difficult, because number two is the

intention or the media. And that's not something difficult, because if you are fasting in the month of Ramadan, and you are staying away from eating and drinking, then no one knows that you're doing that you guys go back to your dorm room, and you alone there, you open up your fridge, Mashallah. And you have all this this amazing things to eat and drink, open up your little cupboard. You've got these biscuits and you know, you can order pizza and no one will know, isn't it so?

You guys know what I'm talking about?

So you have all you have access to all of this food. But you're in your room alone, and you don't eat or drink. Why is that? Why would you not? You know what, what's the point of fasting. It's in this month, we truly understand. Lakota Dakota, perhaps you might have Taqwa you might be conscious and aware of Allah subhanho wa Taala. You might know that Allah subhanho wa Taala I am not seeing you, your parents are not seeing you, your spouse is not seeing you. No one sees you. No one knows what you are doing. But in the month of Ramadan, we begin to develop that idea that Allah subhanho wa Taala sees us that if I if I was if I was to eat or drink right now, it would nullify the whole

purpose. A few days ago, a couple came to me and said, Sure. Our son is contemplating thinking about leaving Islam. His young is in his 20s is a Malaysian he grew up as a Muslim, but he he believes that he doesn't want to be a Muslim anymore. And he has told his parents that he doesn't want to fast the month of Ramadan. You know, he's he has decided that he doesn't really believe in Allah, he has decided that you know, all this all this religious, you know, all this stuff, rituals, he doesn't want to do them anymore. And you know what, I admire that.

So these parents looked at me like you're looking at me now. And I do this a lot when I talk to two teenage my teenage students, because many of them, they come to my classes, they come unwillingly. You know, the, you know, that feeling, right? Yo, you don't want to go to an Islamic class with your parents, you are going or else. So I tell them listen, if you don't want to be, then tell me and I will convince your parents not to make you be not to bring you not to force you. eyes when I started memorizing the Quran, I was 18 years old, right? And I was just started to practice my religion just starting to pray, you know, just starting to stay away from my old friends. And so when the the

school that I went to, there was so many of of my of my colleagues, by classmates that were like me, but unlike me, they were still doing the things that I was trying to, to leave behind. So Monday mornings during break, they'll talk about clubbing they'll talk about the drugs that they you know, they had over the weekend, the drinking and remember, these are people doing what?

Studying accounting and finance and you know, and, and no, these were people memorizing karate,

they will memorize the Quran Mondays to Fridays, full time to feed students, but who was still no sila, no fasting in the month of Ramadan doing everything which Allah had prohibited.

What's the point? If we are doing it if we are not doing it for the sake of Allah? What's the point of doing it if it's done only because we don't want people we don't want our reputation to be swelled in some way. It only means anything if it is done with Ignace and sincerity. I'm only doing this because I love Allah subhanho wa Taala I hope for his reward. I want to I want to be able to reach those those guardians of genda because otherwise, you should do what I said. You know, to the to those parents, let him go.

Because ultimately, as a father, that will be probably that ever happened to me May Allah protect me and you but if that ever happened to me, it will be probably the most painful thing that could ever happen but my son or my daughter, they are responsible for themselves in the sight of Allah subhanho wa Taala

Yo Yo, ma Omen Aki on the Day of Judgment the man will flee from his brother will only be and his father and his mother was saw he bet he was he and his wife and his children, everyone will have only their own fear own affair that they will be dealing with on that day, you will run away from your own family members, your own children on the day of the AMA, because they are responsible for themselves. So to come back to the issue of Islam. There's just two things I want to mention in relation to that. The Hadith could see where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam says that a law said that all of the actions of the son of Adam, all of our actions, right are for us, except

fasting because that's for me.