Ramadan and Tawheed

Brothers and sisters, Ramadan is upon us.

Ramadan is a special time of year.

Partly because everything changes.

The two most basic things in our lives. food and sleep are completely changed. During Ramadan we eat at different times than we're used to.

We eat less than we're used to hopefully, many of us have special foods from our cultures that we eat only in Ramadan

are asleep.

We sleep less than we would normally we take naps at strange times we stay up late into the night. Everything is different. Everything has changed. And despite all of these changes, despite the fact that Ramadan is so different from the rest of the year, Ramadan also brings back into focus, the most essential teaching of Islam, that we are called to bear witness to every single second of every single day. And that is the tail feed of Allah subhanho wa taala. How does that? How does Ramadan teaches Tawheed because Ramadan pushes us to our limits. And it forces us to acknowledge those limits. Outside the farm along, you eat whenever you're hungry. If you have the means. After a while

it becomes automatic, we begin to assume that food will always be there for us.

We stop being grateful for it. We begin to take it for granted.

Ramadan changes all of this it shakes us up now we can't eat whenever we want. We're limited to certain days a handful of hours at night. What ends up happening, we get hungry but we can't reach for the food. Yet. We end up getting hungrier. We might get tired, we might end up with a headache, we might get a little bit irritable. We can't take food for granted anymore.

But beyond that, we see how weak we are. We see how dependent we are. How long can we last without food? A few weeks? How long can we last without water a few days? How long can we last without air? Just a few minutes.

It's the same thing with sleep human beings absolutely need sleep to function. Medical researchers are now showing that driving a car. Without enough sleep is like driving a car under the influence of alcohol. Your reaction time is slower. Your decision making is not as good. That's why sleep deprivation where prisoners like those in Guantanamo Bay are kept awake for days and days on end. This is torture. That's how much we need sleep Allah says vagina no McCollum Sugata. Would you lay that? If so, which are unhealed on our Ayesha? Haven't we make your sleep restful for you? Haven't we made the night for a covering for you and made the day for your livelihood?

The night is for rest because we are in need of it. But all along forces us to recognize that as humans, we are hopelessly dependent. We require constant maintenance and upkeep far worse than any piece of property. If you neglect a piece of property, a land or a building,

it might take months or even years until it really becomes a problem not us who were much weaker than that you can't turn your back on us for even a few minutes, or else we will fall apart. Allah azza wa jal gave us this month as a reminder, first to remind us of our constant dependence upon him.

A lot Isaiah would have says was the number item in US Bahama or macabre for me, yep, tea can be made in marine. Say, Have you considered what would happen if your water was to become sunken into the earth who could possibly bring it back to you?

Imagine you're a farmer, working in the fields all day under the hot sun, hard labor, constantly on your feet. And on top of that, it's Ramadan, and you're fasting

You get home your mouth is so dry, it feels like you're chewing on coffee balls. And the sun is just about to go down. You get a glass of a glass from the cupboard and you go to the sink, you reach to turn the faucet on, and you expect water to come out. But what if nothing came out? What if it stopped working? And what if it stopped working not just for you, but for all of you to cook for all of New York who could bring you back water other than Allah? Allah azza wa jal says Atim in general, a lot a lot equal in the house. I'm a mother, I'm neither young men either. Oh, well, he had to come and be laid in Tesco Nona feet tall. So you

say Have you considered this? If Allah azza wa jal were to make the daytime constant until the Day of Resurrection what God other than Allah azza wa jal could bring you night in which you may rest. Won't you see?

Imagine you come home from work you clean up you break your fast at sundown. You come to the masjid for Tada, week. By the time you get home, you're beat, you're tired. You're ready for rest. Now imagine it's the middle of the night. But you look out the window and the sun is shining just like it's the afternoon.

You want to pull the shades you want to turn the lights off you go to flick the switch. But guess what? No matter how much you flick that switch, the lights stay on and they're bright.

You try to go to the circuit breaker you try to cut the wire too bad. Allah azza wa jal has decided it's going to be bright.

Imagine how poor your sleep would be. Imagine how little rescue would get and who was the only one who could make the lights go out so you could sleep in peace.

The reality is Allah azza wa jal made the entire creation suitable and comfortable for you. And I every single thing about it. He made the Earth mostly flat so that we could move around easily. But he also made it stationary and firm so that we could build homes and cities on top of it. He made the water so we could float on it with boats he made the atmosphere so we wouldn't get Burnt by the Sun and so we wouldn't be too hot or too cold. He made the air perfect, a perfect mixture for our lungs. He filled the earth with more kinds of plants and animals that we can count.

In our food. We have the full range of all the vitamins and minerals we need, but also the flavors and the textures that we love. Allah azza wa jal took care of every single need and the wants that we have. And beyond all of this, he made it all beautiful,

which he did not have to do. The sunrise in the morning is beautiful. The sunset in the evening is beautiful. The moon and the stars at night are beautiful. The flowers, the swaying trees, the waterfalls, the rivers, even the clouds, the rain, the snow,

beyond serving a purpose, beyond making life livable. It's all beautiful. So how,

in this economy, Summer, wealthy, wealthy wealthy, anyone heard that I had, that I actually believe that underneath cruel law, the end of the Rhoden wild engine will be him were to come if you have

not been a man to have a belt.

Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternate the alternation of the night and the day are signs for people who understand those who remember a law standing or sitting or lying on their sides, and give thoughts to the creation of the heavens and earth, saying, Our Lord, you did not create all of this without a purpose.

The way that the creation was made.

It deserves acknowledgments. It deserves gratitude, it deserves obedience.

Most people are asleep.

That's the most generous thing that we can say most people take the creation for granted. Because if they really registered how dependent and indebted to Allah azza wa jal if they were

anyone with a half decent part would never deny Allah. Rather most people are asleep Muslim or non Muslim. It doesn't matter. Ramadan is a gift

sent to wake us up.

The only thing that could possibly go wrong after we wake up, after we recognize and acknowledge our depth to ALLAH SubhanA is shipped.

Some people today are in doubt. They say that there are more important issues at hand, we have war, we have genocide, we have oppression,

shift is worse, and all of that, because it completely hijacks the sense of gratitude and devotion that a person has worked so hard to develop, and it ruins it by putting it in the wrong place by applying it in the wrong direction by giving it to other creatures that don't deserve it. Allah azza wa jal gives us a hypothetical situation. Yeah, you had Miss bourita method and estimator left in number one, I mean, do the nanny layer for Google Drive and whatever HTML Rola what es look for moto Babel Shaden less than the rule make bar of authority over the globe map or the ruler

in Allah Naka, human disease, oh people An example is presented to you so listen up. Indeed, those who you call out to besides Allah azza wa jal will never be able to even create a fly, even if all of them worked together to do it. And if that fly, were to take something from you and fly away with it, there's nothing you could do to get it back. Weak are the pursuer and the pursued. They have underestimated Allah. Indeed, Allah is powerful and Exalted in Might. All those who do you call out to and years ago it was the statues of wood and the statues of stone today. It's astrology. It's crystals. It's magic, it's amulets, its luck, whatever you want to call out and depend upon, it

cannot even create a fly. And if a fly took something away from you or from it, none of those things could bring you back. Anything. No one else can help only Allah and Ramadan is the reminder of that we depend upon a lot to get us through Ramadan.

We depend upon Allah in Ramadan and every month and he alone deserves our devotion our worship and our allegiance of glucose he has a list of people a lot of the other communities that the Muslim in them equally than the stuff below me in a world before he.

Hungary that certainly was shocking to you wanting anyone to shadow and

shadow or shadow in Vienna was so you didn't Mohammed and I have to assume that when he saw the lottery.

He was having he by the way, was sending to Steven cathedral.

There are always a few technical things to go over before Ramadan, so we will try to address the major ones here briefly. First, no child is required to fast Ramadan before puberty. However, the suddath used to encourage their children to fast parts of the day or parts of Ramadan to allow them to get used to fasting. In a Shafi Rahim Allah said that it was a good idea to begin this around age seven, human Achmed or human the law set around age 10. But every parents will know their own child's situation best but the idea is to prepare them for a successful fast once they hit puberty, and it becomes a requirements for them. If they've never fasted a day in their lives before they hit

puberty, fasting is going to be very very difficult for them and they might get discouraged. Second, people who are traveling who are temporarily ill are not required to fast a lot as widow says the man can I mean Kumar, you're gonna go on SFM infinity they told me a Yemen, Guha, whoever amongst you is ill or traveling can make it up at another time. As Allah azza wa jal says, people who are temporarily ill, or traveling are allowed to break their fast and do not have to do anything except to make up the missed fasting

In days outside of Ramadan, most scholars say that a temporary illness is more than just a common cold. And more than the things that you feel from fasting itself such as hunger, such as tiredness, even a headache. Most scholars say that the illness, the illness must make it significantly difficult to fast in order for someone to excuse themselves from the day of fasting. In the show, pregnancy, and nursing are treated like temporary illness, since they can make fasting exceptionally difficult for a limited period of time. If a woman is afraid for her own health, or the health of her child, she is allowed to break her fast. If fasting is likely to harm her for the child, then

she is not allowed to fast. What should she do instead, I will tell you what the Imams said and you can decide for yourself the Hanafi Maliki schools say that she only has to make up the fast outside of Ramadan. The Shafi read and humbly schools say that she must make up the fast outside of Ramadan, and also pay in the fifth year for each fasting and they missed. The third opinion which is held by a very small minority of scholars, but traced back to some of the companions is that she only has to pay the physio, and is not required to make up the fast each of these three opinions are acceptable to follow. They each have sound evidence, all of that covers temporary illnesses or similar

situations. When it comes to breaking the fast when you're traveling. What counts as traveling. There are many different opinions. On one end of the spectrum, there are scholars who say that anything's defined as traveling within your culture and language counts as a day in which you do not have to fast. On the other end of the spectrum is the opinion of Abu Hanifa Rahim Allah who said that travel is any trip that takes more than three days of traveling, and is accompanied by the intention to stay in that place for less than 15 days. In between those two opinions on the spectrum, are the majority of scholars who said that travel is anything farther than about 55 miles

away, accompanied with the intention to stay there for less than four days. That's about the distance between Utica and Syracuse, 55 miles. So if you weren't planning on spending one week in Syracuse, during Ramadan, most scholars would not consider you a traveler, the Hanafi scholars would say you're not a traveler because the distance is too short. And the other scholars would say that you're not a traveler, because you're staying there for too long to be considered a traveler.

What happens if you begin a fasting day

and then you travel during the daylight hours, the majority of scholars say that you must complete your fast for that day, and it counts, meaning you do not have to make it up after Ramadan. The minority opinion held by Imam Ashman and some of us have is that you are allowed to break your fast on that day. If you take this opinion, you must not break your fast until you begin traveling. So if you're planning a trip, you don't just break your fast in the morning at home and then go traveling you start fasting and upon traveling you break your fast.

What about the opposite situation? What if you're not fasting because you're traveling but then you arrive home during the day in Ramadan. Everyone agreed that no matter what that fasting day has to be made up after Ramadan. Some scholars like Imam Abu Hanifa Imam Ahmed said, You must fast the rest of the day anyway, even though it doesn't count, but other scholars such as Maddock and a Shafi said that you do not have to and both opinions are legitimate.

All of that covers temporary illnesses and traveling. What about chronic illnesses? chronic illnesses are a completely different situation. People with chronic illnesses that affect their ability to fast are not required to fast at all. If fasting puts their life at risk, then they again are not allowed to fast. Instead of fasting they are required to pay the fibia that is to feed

One poor person, one meal for each day of Ramadan. Being old is not a chronic illness, but it is treated like someone with a chronic illness in the city. Because the difficulty they experienced fasting is not a temporary situation. Don't try to tough it out, feed one poor person, one meal for each day of Ramadan. When we consider all of the exceptions that allow as widow has made, we noticed that there is a balance between being two lakhs on one hand and too strict. On the other hand, on one hand, no one should pressure someone too fast, who has an excuse that the city are treats as legitimate, very young children and pregnant women and nursing women and the elderly. Those who are

temporarily sick or those who are chronically ill should not be guilted into thinking that they are not relying upon Allah azza wa jal by taking the allowance that ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada himself gave. This is wrong.

Friends and family should actually encourage such people not to fast, if it is going to be too difficult for them. Allah azza wa jal does not demand that we put ourselves or others in danger. Allah azza wa jal says, What I totally believe be at home at that time, and do not throw yourselves into destruction. On the other hand, we have to take the challenge of going along seriously, exams, sports class, work headaches from not having your normal caffeine rush, these are not valid reasons to break the fast. This is the person that you should encourage to keep fasting even if they experience a little bit of difficulty. Hakeem Olajuwon one of the bad the best basketball players of

all time, used to fast the entire month of Ramadan. Throughout his career. People tried to tell him not to, but he wouldn't listen to them. He made a plan. He made adjustments to his diet and his sleep and then he relied on Allah eyes.

That is exactly the mixture of action and faith that all of us need.