Preparing for Ramadan #1

So are you

okay so.

Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu salam ala Ashraful, MBA or Mursaleen. Naveen I will put what's in a Muhammad Ali after Salah was gets a sneak a lot more than anything. In fact, Ron Allen found out that I limped Anna was in an arraignment. Yeah.

I said don't worry come off. So I look out to everybody. Welcome. It's Sunday evening. It's a little bit over a month until Ramadan.

And so,

other people come in and say,

and so this class is about preparing for Ebola.

We will ensure a lot of the goals of this class are to cover both the

inward outside aspect aspects excuse me, of preparing for Ramadan, such as motivation, inspiration, etc. And also to cover the outward aspects of preparing for Ramadan, which has to do with the fifth, the rulings, the exceptions, what to do, how to do it, etc.

As far as housekeeping goes, fasting is one of those things that usually generates a lot of questions.

I know more or less what I'm going to cover ahead of time, some of your questions will be answered in time. However, if you have any questions along the way, please avail yourself of the chat box

or send the question in through the WhatsApp group either the lady's Whatsapp group or the or the gentleman's Whatsapp group.

And what I'm going to do is in less because some fasting questions can get yes, there's a WhatsApp group for the message one of the sisters can

can personal message you

how to get involved in show off one of the sisters could take care of that system. I'll start off if she wants to join it.

If you want to submit a question, the default is I'm going to collect the questions and answer them the following week. Okay, unless I don't really know the answer off the top of my head just because some things can get a little tricky with fasting and so I want to make sure that I've got everything fully sighted and researched before just firing shooting from the hip as it were.

Okay, that has to do with questions. So yes, at any time during the week, you can submit a question either through email through the Facebook through WhatsApp or email whatever means you choose and I will get to it

either by the next lesson or in its due course if it's something that's going to come up I know a lot of the women were wondering about things specific to

to menstruation and fasting and the ruling about taking certain you know, birth control pills to try to delay ministration and things like this. We will cover all of these as well inshallah. But if you have specific questions, please don't be shy. I insha Allah Allah Adela Juan have praised the Ansari, the women of the unsolved because she said that their shyness did not prevent them from learning their religion. Right. So and Masha Allah, how beautiful of a statement she made because she did not say that modesty is wrong. She knows she actually affirmed the modesty is a virtue, but she said that modesty did not prevent them from learning and educating themselves about their

religion.

Good. So, um, the second order of business we can choose to have this class in the style of Imam Malik or in the style of Imam Abu Hanifa. Okay, Imam Malik.

When he had a lesson, he was the only one that was kind of speaking, or at least I should say, the recite of the thought was reciting. And then he would talk and everybody else wouldn't be silent. And he wouldn't really deal with any other sorts of issues. Whereas I will Hanifa his lessons were the opposite. He was always throwing things out. It was very interactive. He would gather the views of kind of everybody who was present, and then he would give his own commentary and perspective. So

It's up to you. How would you like how would you like this class to be run in the style of Hanifa? Or in the style of EVA Malik

you can answer in the chat box

one vote for Abu Hanifa.

To vote

many of there are 1234567

There's eight and we have two votes guys. That would be that's not how democracy works

three

laser lobby, right, we have to have tough See, there's there's tough sleep, and that

one vote for Matic. And we have many, Abu Hanifa. Okay, it looks like Abu Hanifa wins. Okay. So that means that we're going to be a little more interactive. Sorry, for whoever voted for emo Matic. Appreciate Medina, the support, but we're going to try to make it then a little bit more interactive, and the consequence. Okay, pros and cons, it will be more interesting. Inshallah. So you won't just hear me talk, but it's going to take a little bit longer, because it takes more time to gather everybody's

ideas. Okay. So

before we really get into it.

I already kind of mentioned but we're going to be dealing with inspiration first, what is fasting? What's the wisdom behind fasting? What are we trying to accomplish spiritually by fasting, and then we're going to get into some nuts and bolts do this, don't do that this is valid, that's not valid. You have to make this up, etc. Okay.

So

let's imagine

you

wake up in the morning,

and you roll out of bed, and you go downstairs or wherever your kitchen is, and you look for your favorite your box or your favorite cereal,

or pull out or whatever you eat for breakfast.

And you can't find anything.

And you open the fridge, you want some a glass of milk or something like this, and you can't find anything.

And you got to turn on the spigot for the water, you want a glass of water and you can't find anything.

And you spend the rest of your day kind of looking around trying to find some

whether it's food or whether it's water.

And just as the sunset it is setting you find something you find Oh, you forgot you had a chocolate bar tucked away and one of one of the drawers and the sun sets and you eat your chocolate bar. Have you fasted

that day?

Why or why not?

Let's gather the opinions before why have you fasted that day?

Okay.

Everybody's pretty much in agreement. They say no, you have that facet that Diane. May Have you had said there's no intention to it?

Yes, that's completely correct. This is the meaning of the province, Leigh Sutton who said in the vignette, that actions are only going to be judged and evaluated according to their intentions.

And so the difference between the difference between

being hungry

and fasting

is simply that of intention.

You can spend your day doing the exact same things. If you did not have the intention. It is not considered a fast

why

why would it not be considered a fast anybody who's looking from the outside they say you're doing the same exact same thing.

It's having the same benefits Ah, we're all about the health benefits of fasting now right intermittent fasting and you know blood sugars and all of this same exact physical benefits. Why does intention matter?

What's intention going to do for you

Okay, that's a somewhat of a formulaic answer, but it is correct. So worship needs intention plus it Tabak okay the two essential aspects of any act of worship. It needs intention, and it needs following. That's a very mashallah textbook answer and it is correct. But that doesn't ask that doesn't answer our question of Why does it need intention?

shahada family says for the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala.

Meaning if you haven't done it with intention,

it can't possibly be for the pleasure of Allah's power. Tada, that's very good.

Samantha says you didn't do it for a law, you did it by accident. Yes. And

you were searching all day for food. It was we could say Samantha circumstance, ah,

it wasn't even your choice.

It was forced upon you by forces out of out of your control.

So the importance of intention

is that this is an action that we are choosing of our own freewill.

If we choose an action out of our own freewill, it has an effect on our so it has an effect on our heart on our spirit, if we're simply forced into that action,

through circumstance,

pour through some sort of sense of duty even not to a lot with somebody else, maybe you want to make your parents happy, maybe you're young.

I've known people I've known Muslim Subhanallah, that they don't fast unless they're visiting their parents in Ramadan.

When they visit their parents and Ramadan, they fast because they know that they're under pressure.

If you haven't chosen the action of your own free will, it's not going to do the intended work. It's not going to affect your soul.

Because the wisdom behind or one of the pieces of wisdom or aspects of wisdom behind fasting is we are intentionally foregoing

something that is permissible to us.

When we leave and don't partake in something that is haram, something that's not allowed. This is a different kind of worship. It's a kind of worship, but it's a different kind of worship.

Now we're ratcheting up our level of intensity, one level higher in Ramadan, we're taking some things that are even allowed for us.

And we're choosing

to go without them for a certain amount of time.

And if we choose to do it under our own free will, then this is going to have a beneficial spiritual effect. And this is the Promise of Allah subhanaw taala

these things that are worship their prayer, your fasting, here's a cat, it's not just random tests.

To see who's going to obey and who's not that's there to

to see who's going to obey, but actually built into the act of worship is benefit for your soul.

And the law is the creator of that soul. And so he has informed us.

Just like if you take a calcium tablet, it's going to be good for your bones. Allah is telling you if you choose to fast, it's going to remove rust from your heart, it's going to soften your heart rejuvenates

your spirit and bring you closer to him. I lost pounds on it

that's the significance of intention.

What are the things very quickly

that we are giving up? Okay, we're giving up things certain things that are permissible to us under normal circumstances what are those things?

Come on, it's an easy question. I know but indulge me humor me.

What do we give up? What are we actually giving up? Is it like, let's like Christians, we give up chocolate. Or we give up cursing. We give up curse words.

Food drink intimacy. Good. Okay, you can also think sleep in a certain sense, though. It's not like a

required

airman's.

Right? If you don't give up sleep, if you sleep, your normal amounts, your fasting is still is still correct. Right? Backbiting that's always backbiting was not permissible to you before.

Right? So we're talking about things that are specifically indulgence and worldly things. Yes. Particularly those worldly things that we had mentioned that are permissible, not the not the impermissible ones. Good.

Let's focus in on the most precise, all of sudden music. Okay. Again, these are things that are, we're talking about things outside of Ramadan inside of Ramadan, let's just isolate the things that are specific to Ramadan. Because if we were going to say

things that are normally impermissible, we can have a huge, huge list and talk all night about that get into some nice debates about what's the difference between the sheet and this and that we don't want to go there.

Okay, so zeroing in on food, drink intimacy. Okay, let's zoom in on those three for a second.

What is the significance

abandoning or temporarily, not

partaking in those three things, food, drink, intimacy.

What's so special about those three things?

Okay, we have discipline of urges. Okay. I like where you're going. Somebody has attended the previous Sunday classes. MashAllah normally allowed Hala? Yes, depriving the body so that we can focus on nourishing the soul? Yes. Okay.

All true self control. Hey, you know,

also very true. Let me ask the question, is there a difference between our enjoyment of

food, drink and intimacy

and our enjoyment of other things that are permissible?

Such as having nice clothes, having a nice car, having a nice home? Is there a difference between those things?

And if so,

what is the difference? Why would Allah to Allah decide that we should fast from food and drink and intimacy instead of instead of fasting from our, our wardrobe? Our high heels, our dress shoes, our ties our

needs versus wants? Oh.

Oh, we're getting warm. Okay.

Allah subhanaw taala chose food drink? Yes, very good. Oh, that's I like that a lot. So the shahada family reminds us that

these are about needs versus once.

So at one level, at one level, these things are much more closer

to what it means to be human.

Right?

Food, Our survival depends upon it. Water Our survival depends upon our individual survival. Okay.

Intimacy, the survival, our collective survival depends upon it. Okay. These are the strongest urges that human beings can have.

strength No matter how much I like,

you know, Ferraris, for example, or anything else. These are non essential things. So it's not as meaningful

and it's not as immediately provocative to the human soul to give up luxuries, to give up things that aren't absolutely essential. It's easy to have patience with giving up something that's a luxury

First off, and we see this with kind of how lens is now you know, it's kind of I always poor I mean, Catholic upbringing, I kind of teased the Catholics because now for lens for many of them is just giving up something like luxury items. What's the benefit to the soul?

Very minimal compared to giving up things that are your you have instinct, you have hormones, you have all these things in your body that you don't even choose that are urging you all

On

to indulge or partake in these things, what's going to teach patients more effectively?

Obviously giving up your needs. The second point, which both Samantha and the sheikh family brought up is a very, very good point as well, because Islam

is not a it's not an elitist religion. We don't have

something so universal

as fasting that's only applicable to a small amount of people. This is about a big team building exercise. Ramadan, I remember one of the first Ramadan's I ever fasted. I was in Wisconsin, rural Wisconsin, okay. And I thought I was the only Muslim around. There was no Masjid in this small town.

I came across one other man who was from Morocco, his name was use a good friend of mine now. And when we both found that each other was fasting, we just gave it we didn't even know each other, we gave each other a huge hug, because the experience of fasting

is something that

everyone can participate in.

And everybody

is going to feel a similar thing.

It's an extremely eat egalitarian

act of worship. How much food can you eat for Sahara.

It's not like if you're very rich and wealthy, you can just pack it all in and Sahara and then not feel the fast you're gonna get sick.

There's only so much food your body can hold. And especially during the summertime, when the days are long, you are going to feel hungry.

So Ramadan is a very egalitarian act of worship.

So we have these two things going on, we have access and we have also immediacy, it's if it's really going to shake us, if it's really going to change us, it's really going to teach us patience. It has to touch the most core fundamental things that we have

food, drink intimacy.

And also now everybody else can

also take part.

A sister says hello activities and other months becomes haram and Ramadan. Yes, exactly.

Very good.

So a lot of chose to have us give up those things which we desire most instinctually most strongly, most automatically, because this is going to be much more effective, much more effective in teaching us patients than anything else.

Can anybody think of any other so that covers the good majority of what I wanted to cover, given the inspiration behind fasting? Anybody contribute any final thoughts, other sorts of

reflections as to the wisdom behind this activity, abandoning something that's so immediately essential to us?

Something we can't live without

something that on a normal day, have you ever had a day where you've missed a meal, but you weren't fasting? I don't know about you. But I particularly have experienced that those days are even much harder. Then days where I'm fasting the entire day

with the intention to fast

mashallah, so the shahada family brings up a very important point. Fasting

is a secret

nobody can really tell

if you're fasting or not, except for Allah subhanaw taala if I wanted to,

I could come out and I could, you know, act very weak, and then I could go back to my comfortable

my comfortable kitchen and make myself a snack and, you know, wipe my mouth, brush my teeth and then nobody would ever know.

Only Allah subhanaw taala knows who's actually truly fasting and who's not. We don't have that sort of accountability where we're seeing other people. The prayer Salah it's very different. So that happens in an SG the holder is at 1231

If you come here, I know it. If you don't come here, I know it. It's public. People see it.

Right? Fasting is the opposite. It's completely hidden.

A secret between you and Allah subhanaw taala.

It also in this I reminded from you save time, yes. Mashallah, you're right?

It saves us a lot of time.

Okay, good question about medications. I'll

touch on it very quickly. And then I'll also touch on it in a later class a little bit in more depth. So there are opinions all over the board about this, but the ones that I favor, they divide medication into what is nourishment and what is not nourishment. Okay, if you get a vaccine, is it nourishment?

No, a vaccine is not nourishment.

If you get an IV, is it nourishment?

Yes, you get an IV. It is nourishment. Right? This is not the only opinion out there. There are opinions that anything that passes the threshold of your

of your throat will break your fast. But there are other opinions out there, which Allah knows best, but I favor them divide things into nourishment and non nourishment. If you're taking vitamins, vitamins or nourishment, they're giving you your body minerals, calcium, vitamin C, this that the other.

If you're taking thyroid,

for example, my son has has

has hypothyroid hypothyroid

cannot be considered nourishment?

I don't believe so. And Allah knows best.

Okay, any other last thoughts? We have saving time? Yes, you realize how much of your time is spent in these kinds of activities about cooking, cleaning up after cooking, eating, etc. And all of a sudden your life is distilled.

Distilled to the bare minimum, the basics.

It also shows us our weakness as a species, Allah subhanaw taala

is Ella Vani. He is free from any sort of need whatsoever.

Well, who are you playing amo wala YUTAN. And he feeds and nourishes, but he is not fed or nourished.

And so for these small hours of the day, right? We go without our coffee, without our, our chai.

And we have a headache and we feel grumpy and we need a nap and all these sorts of things.

Then Margaret comes and we have our little snack and then Oh, we're back to life were revived.

So we see how dependent we are upon Allah, all those meals that we've been tallying throughout the year, we can lose track, we can lose sight of the fact that it is Allah subhanaw taala that that provides those meals to us. We can get caught up in the ASVAB. And the reasons right oh, I go to work, I make the money. I go to the grocery store, I buy the food, I eat the meal, without realizing Allah subhanaw taala is the one who is providing everything to us. All of a sudden you take it out and you say Alhamdulillah Wow. All this time. I've been doing this thing with such regularity.

And it's been all by the favor and blessing of Allah. Brother Mohammed says it makes us feel how poor people live their life without food I sent. Yes, it gives us Solidarity.

Solidarity. If somebody acts up in the message,

somebody causes a scene.

And that person is a poor person, that person has no food security, they don't know where their next meal is coming from. We have a little bit more understanding and compassion and mercy for that person. Because we spent 30 days where even though for most of us we know our meal is coming at sundown, we can appreciate how it changes your body, how it weakens your body, how it shortens your patience.

And so it should push us to want to give more and to sustain the poor of our community for and in our community. Yes, there are poor people.

shahada family says and in 30 days the reading of the Koran and walking the straight path is too

Only more concentrated than the rest of the Yes, Ramadan is a school. That's what the I might say. madrasa

because it's kind of like a, an intensive program, boot camp.

Right Ramadan, you're focused on

bringing yourself back to all of those good habits to reacquainting yourself with the Koran and insha Allah insha Allah starting new habits that are going to keep you through the rest of the year.

And finally, I would say and anybody else has any other reflections,

I would say, attempting to imitate

Allah subhanaw taala has become his generosity.

Because

isn't it true that the prophets of Allah Holliday, who was salam would give more in Ramadan than outside of Ramadan. And he would give more during the last 10 nights than he would give in the rest of Ramadan. So we have an example of striving to give. And not just any type of giving but giving when we're going without, to give in your moments of need to stand in the line and ladle food for other people when your stomach is rumbling. And you're the one that's hungry, that's

that is praiseworthy.

Ramadan brings Muslims closer to each other. Yes, there's the whole community aspect and we've been sorely sorely missing that last year. And we don't really know how this year is going to go. But yes, brings us back together. People mesh sheet attendance is up. People are more keen to make their prayers on time.

And in the messaging, all good things.

Mashallah, I feel ready for Ramadan already.

Or I should say inspired if not ready.

And if you have anything else, you can continue to add it to the chat.

We're nearing the end of this of the period for the first class. I'm glad that we talked more about motivation, the first class the remainder of the classes, we will be more focusing on the can the rules, right.

But what I want to give you in the remainder of the time for this class is a bird's eye view.

zoomed out of how the keytab a cm or the the book of fasting is kind of laid out. And if any of you are wondering, you know, where's this guy getting all this stuff? All of the kind of inspirational stuff I've taken from the hassle Islam by

the Abdullah Mohammed Ahmed Rockman and Buhari the other Sheaffer Buhari or many of them, but

I can't is rulings? I can't thank you very much. So rules. Usually I'll try to give some Arabic words because I know we have some Arabic folks here.

And then I'll usually say the same word in English right after. So I think when I said I kind of I said the rules. So that's all it is just the rules.

And welcome.

Anyway, okay, so, yes, everything that just passed, I've gotten from the hassle of Islam, a very, very nice short book about the wisdom

behind the behind the art camp. Okay, it's not talking about rules, per se, sorry about the wisdom behind the things that ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada asks us to do because we believe as part of our theology, that Allah is the most wise. And so if Allah asks us to do something, then we believe it is out of wisdom and has wisdom to it. And isn't merely an exercise in obedience, we're not just jumping through hoops. And so this book is concerned specifically with looking at and pondering and trying to ascertain those sorts of

pieces of wisdom.

Okay, someone sends me a question, what are the things we should do to start now to prepare for Ramadan? Very, very good.

The most important thing that you can do

to prepare for Ramadan is to start fasting.

Now,

right?

Imagine

that's okay. I'm gonna pick on somebody imagine that, Dana.

And I pick on her because she shares her first name as my sister's name. So it's very like familiar to me. Imagine that Dana wants to run a marathon.

Okay.

What's a marathon? 26 Miles well

lever 5k 10k Whatever kind of Marathon it is,

and the marathon is tomorrow

and she's never run a marathon before in her life. How do you think she's gonna do

it

barring a miracle, from the last Pousada and Allah is

Able to do anything it's going to be a little rough.

It's gonna be rough if she has to run a marathon tomorrow with no preparation.

horrible pain after.

But thank you for for being blunt and putting it the way it is. Yes, you're right.

I would be in the same situation. I've got my my winter weight, as we call it, right, I have no position to run any sort of anything. Right? But But who is the type of person that succeeds in a marathon? They they trained regularly, they stretch before they stretch after they you know, they have a whole regimen so that when they come to the actual race,

it's merely a thing that they've already done before.

Right, Ramadan, fasting is the same thing. And very much very much like a marathon because it's 30 days long. You don't want to be the kind of person that hasn't fasted a day until Ramadan. First, who, what's gonna happen?

The first Ramadan is just four weeks,

30 days, the first week of fasting is going to be miserable. It's going to be all about adjusting.

You're going to have a headache from your coffee that usually drink but now you're not drinking, you're gonna feel really, really tired and wiped out your schedule is all sort of, yeah, exactly.

Four or five, six, sometimes seven days your body's going to be fighting you and your new schedule. Are you benefiting from the time of Ramadan?

If you're spending your first week, incapacitated, because your body's adjusting? No, you're not benefiting from that time.

But if you hit Ramadan, the first of Ramadan, and you fasted a half, let's say let's say, half of the month before half of the month of shaman, or a third of the month of the shaman.

Or even even just like 234 days out of the last 10 days of shot Ben.

You're going to hit Ramadan first and you're going to be boom, you're going to hit the ground running. You're going to be

very successful, you're going to maximize

your time.

Sister Samantha Yes, the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is to fast on Mondays and Thursdays regularly.

Ask yourself how many of us have been doing that regularly. It's not a requirement, but it's a very good thing to do. I'll be the first one to say I have not been doing that regularly. I've been lazy. I'll make everybody feel better. I have been lazy about fasting since I've come back from Medina.

Full disclosure.

I know that okay, we're second half of Raja which is the month before Shabbat. Okay, now it's time to get into gear.

So

if you haven't been doing those extra fasts, now's the time to start.

We're in the month of Rajab, which is before Shabbat. So we're less that we're between

one and two months away. So if you start fasting these couple of weeks Monday Thursday,

you continue that into next month. You also fast the days of the of the full moon which is what the system is saying the white days are the days of the full moon.

Even if you're just doing Mondays and Thursdays you're going to be way way more capable of fasting on the first of Ramadan and somebody who hasn't fasted since last Ramadan.

The easiest way Samantha to know when the Islamic ones are just to get a just to get an app. If you have a smartphone, get an app Islamic finder or there's a million of them that have the Islamic calendar and it will show you and it'll have a correspondence the easiest way there's lots of ways

Oh, this is good shake fam. Okay, I was told

if you have not done regular fasting now

If you have not done regular fasting now is not the time to start something. Something. Now is not the time to start something about conserving energy.

Like this isn't a Shabbat.

This is a doubt, I would respectfully disagree. Because we believe in something called Baraka. Right? We believe in Allah.

So Allah subhanho wa Taala

is capable of making

things bless it. That's Baraka is blessing.

Some nights you get 10 hours of sleep, you wake up, it feels like you didn't sleep at all. You're tired.

Some nights you sleep six hours, you wake up you have energy.

That's because the law is in control. And the clock is not in control. Right? Every second is not like every second, every calorie is not like every calorie.

And so if the Sunnah of the Prophet of aloha to seven, if the practice of the Prophet alayhi salatu was set up, was too fast. I Isha said that the prophesy Saddam would fast nearly all of Shabbat,

the month before Ramadan.

If that's the way of our messenger, our goodwill,

our role model, then we would initially prefer that over

perhaps a different CloudWatch. And there's exceptions. If you're somebody who has illnesses or things like this, and you're liable to sort of these sorts of things diabetic maybe then that's something else we're talking about for the average person. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam showed us how to prepare the Companions It was said that they would prepare for Ramadan six months in advance

by fasting by reflecting on the Quran, and this is another thing to answer to let's bring this to a close because we're already over time I want to respect your time. But if we're looking for other things to do

if we're looking for other things to do to prepare for Ramadan, enhance your relationship with the Koran now.

And that doesn't just mean more.

Allah subhanaw taala did not say that he

wants to test us as to which of us does more.

Leah will overcome a Yukon accent or Amara, he said in the Quran and several different places he wants to test us as to which of us is best in our deeds. Sometimes less is more

take the Koran think about it ponder over it, examine it, try to build a connection and you will have a more rewarding Ramadan

Okay, any other questions? Send inshallah through the WhatsApp group even the men's Whatsapp group or the women's Whatsapp group Facebook

email anything

good quick question. Is there anything wrong or haram or problematic in decorating for Ramadan to excite the kids? No, there is not. No there is not anything wrong with that. Okay, this is a masala hot more Tabora Alright, this is a something that is

desired in the city to drum up excitement

about Ramadan, especially living in a place where Ramadan is out of the public eye. Okay, as long as the things that we're doing are not impermissible in and of themselves, you can't pop champagne. Okay, but I don't think anyone's doing that. As long as the things that you're doing themselves are not impermissible, that it is permissible. It serves a purpose of the Cydia

so we'll end with that inshallah. And any further questions please send to the respective the proper channels and we will get to the next time and we will get into the fifth Inshallah, into the rules.

Next time in sha Allah, Allahu Allah. I mean my icon, I said I'm Alikum warahmatu Allahi wa barakato