Yahya Ibrahim – Ending Ramadan Strong
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the season of the Quran and the importance of finding a personal connection to it. They emphasize the need for a personal connection to the Quran and offer help in finding a parking spot. The speakers also emphasize the importance of fasting and rethinking behavior to improve one's life and reach their potential. They stress the importance of using the essential elements of worship, including fasting, to keep in touch with the Lord, and the use of du compressed words to reflect on the blessings of living in the present. The speakers also offer guidance on becoming an "meditation" person.
AI: Summary ©
Always we begin with the praise of Allah
We pray that Allah
grants us
in all of our endeavors,
that Allah
makes you and I from those who are
seeking goodness in this life.
For our families, for our communities,
for those who are a part and parcel
of us,
and those who are extended,
to us. We pray that Allah
allows the month of Ramadan as it began
for us that it ends with peace and
harmony
for us inshallah. I'm just gonna switch this
microphone quickly. I think there's a little bit
of an echo on this one.
Hopefully,
this is a little bit better insha'Allah.
So Alhamdulillah,
as the month of Ramadan comes to a
close, Muslims by nature get a little bit
more anxious.
We begin to think about what it is
that we have achieved and what it is
that we could achieve
and what it is that we might have
missed out on in our relationship with Allah,
with our families, with our community,
and with those who are external to us.
And subhanAllah, we want to end Ramadan
strong. We want to end Ramadan
with the same vigor
as we began it. I remember when we
had our first night of tarawiyah here,
Masha'Allah,
the hall was completely packed.
By about the 5th day, Masha'Allah, which is
a natural human trend,
with the busyness of our schedules, with the
tiredness, with the kids' school, with all of
the different things, the jama'ah begins to shrink.
But the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
his example was
that this human condition
of laxity that happens with familiarity
of some of the routines you do, you
take it for granted.
He would then
accelerate his pace in the final 10 nights.
And subhanAllah,
for many of us, sometimes we hold our
sadaqa or zakah and we say I'm going
to give these laylat alqadr.
I'm gonna wait till 27th or 25th or
23rd or 29th night. I want it to
be something that's extra special.
Sometimes
we commit ourselves to tahajjud prayers at Masjid
Al Rahman or Masjid Ibrahim.
Some may go to Iritikaaf, masha'Allah.
And we try to establish some of the
traditions of the prophet that
show as the scarcity of time arrives
that there is an increase in pace.
And therefore I have 2 questions for you
insha'Allah
as we get closer to the time for
Adhan al Maghrib.
Does your day in Ramadan
feel and look similar
to your days outside Ramadan?
And this is an important question to ask
ourselves.
What has changed with the month of Ramadan
in our character,
in our habits? I'm not speaking about routines.
Things like,
when we eat or where we go to
work or things of that nature.
I'm speaking about how we view our relationship
with Allah,
How we try to become builders of peace
even within our home.
How we try to find avenues of expressing
our frustration
in a lighter capacity than we would in
the month of, before Ramadan or after Ramadan.
How do we seek to
connect those who we disconnected from
whether it was for,
financial reasons or family problems or whatever it
was
that kind of made us lose touch with
even some who are cousins or family.
Has a divorce that we've endured caused us
to become more bitter and more hostile,
to become more selective
in our love with our children and even
our former spouse?
Is it something that is important for us
to comprehend
that the month of Ramadan is meant to
be a month of change?
And as the cycles of life change
as we went from summer into autumn I
know it didn't feel like autumn today or
yesterday
it's still masha'Allah autumn as it's still, alhamdulillah,
quite warm. But as the cycle changes, you
notice that the day goes longer or shorter.
The
the the landmarks around you begin to take
on different colors and shapes, that there's a
different mood in the people.
All of this is also a part and
product
of the temperament
of a believer.
And I want this to be something that
you you kind of go away with it.
As the month of Ramadan comes to an
end
and as I have begun to settle into
a pattern of going to the Masjid every
night,
coming to Al Amin College for my evening
prayers,
I've I've been watching Omar Suleiman's Yaqeen series.
I don't know if that's,
something that you're watching.
You've set for yourself a pace and a
temple.
Does that end the moment we say Eid
Mubarak?
Or are there things that you want to
keep
outside Ramadan
that you found now are valuable?
For many of us, we've proven
that I can get up from my home.
I can bring my sons,
I can bring my family to the masjid
for salatul isha consistently
for 30 days in a row.
And I can be a person who's patient
trying to find a parking spot.
And I'm willing to endure that because salah
is important to me
and I've made that change in myself.
Is that something that will stay with me?
Is that something that I'm going to hold
on to?
I've committed myself to struggle
each and every day
to continue with the hathm of the Quran.
And even if I don't finish the whole
Quran, I've committed to try to read as
much as I can every day
hoping to achieve it.
Does that bring it to an end?
Or is the Quran still a partner in
our life?
The sound of the Quran for our children
to hear
bringing them to the masjid even if they
run around outside a little bit.
Having that family connection where you call up
your friend. Do you want me to pick
you up or are you going to pick
me up today?
Carpooling
in righteousness.
Carpooling to the House of Allah.
Thinking about where I'm going to give my
charity.
Like in the month of Ramadan everybody gets
very picky.
Sheikh, where will this charity go?
Is this Zakat al Fit
going to the people of,
Burma? Where is it going? I want to
know. You become really invested
in wanting to do good for others.
And you ask, subhanAllah, all of the imams
in our own private WhatsApp groups. Yes, we
have our own.
We talk about your questions
when we need help with each other.
A brother asked, a sister said
what do you what are your thoughts? What's
your man have view on this?
The questions you're asking are quite technical
because you want to be very precise.
Can I give my zakah? Can it be
in money or are they going to give
it in food over there brother Yahya? Zakat
al Fitr. You want to know more
and this energy of being invested in your
aman,
in your good deeds
is a sign of iman,
is a sign of an awakening heart
that brings you to a place of trust
and love with Allah
that you want to do your due diligence.
You want to be sure
that I'm committed to a path that was
is is pleasing to Allah and is a
benefit to the community I live in and
abroad.
So that's the first aspect.
The first change that I want you to
think about the fasting that carried us forward
and what we are going to take and
keep behind with us. And that
subtly,
implicitly
is what Allah says to us, la'ala kuntattapun.
Perhaps
you will recognize
where your taqwa lies.
And that's the second message I have for
you.
Where my taqwa is does not necessarily need
to be where your taqwa is.
And what you are conscious of Allah for
may be different to what I am conscious
of Allah for.
There are certain challenges that I have that
certain things
may be easy for me or easier for
me and harder for you.
And there are other things that are harder
for you but easier for me.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is not judging
your siyam with my siyam with ex siyam.
Every one of us is fasting
in their own lane, in their own race.
That the consciousness
that I seek between me and Allah
is meant to be personal. The Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, he indicated to his heart
and he said, Ataqa
hoonah.
Your consciousness,
your piety,
your fear of God
is here. It begins in your heart. It's
internal.
It's something that is personal
to you and Allah. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam, he says to us
Allah does not look to your physicality
or to the body type or mane.
Allah is not concerned if you are tall
or short or dark or light or male
or female.
But rather
the almighty looks into the depth of your
heart
and whatever actions follow from it.
And therefore, the month of Ramadan, one of
its terms and titles is that it is
shahrul
It is the month of the healing of
the heart and the cleansing of the heart
and the preparation of the heart.
It is where you and I seek to
find
a nearness to Allah
and a closeness to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So as you exit the month of Ramadan,
look within your heart
as to where are the things that now
you know can be improved
weaknesses
that we need to take avertive action
immediately?
One of the essential and final messages that
I leave you with as we get ready
for our Ithaar, insha'Allah and the adhan in
the next 7 minutes or 8 minutes, insha'Allah,
is that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
the Almighty
has tied
certain acts of worship with fasting.
So when you hear that verse that all
of us are familiar with even though we
are not knowing of all of Surat Al
Baqarah.
When My slaves ask you, O Muhammad, about
Me,
tell them I'm near I'm near them.
I answer the call of the one who
summons me, invokes me, prays to me.
Let them respond to me.
And show their commitment of faith to me
and I will answer them.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
puts the verse of his response to our
prayers
in the middle of the verses of fasting
and the regulations of fasting. And the reason
for that is as the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam said
The essential element of any worship
is your supplication,
invocation,
request and petition of Allah
magnifying
Allah,
extolling praise upon the Almighty,
acknowledging the greatness of the Creator and the
Maker who we are all accountable for.
Every act of worship necessitates
in a dua.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
allow the dua that you keep in your
heart
that at times we might even be too
shy to ask of Allah.
Zakariyah alayhis salam, Allah describes his du'a, that
when he would make du'a for for Allah
Almighty to bless him with a son, after
so many years of not having a child,
he's asking with a hushed tone. And the
mufasreen, they say it's almost as if he
is shy to keep asking Allah, although he
knows Allah will respond.
Never have I been let down by you,
O Allah. You've always answered my dua. But
there's this humility at times we keep it.
You aalamuha
inatal aayum wamato fisudur.
Allah knows what eyes may not have seen
and what is kept deep in your heart,
in your breast.
As you sit before Allah
and as you stand in your prayers
and as you go about your day,
let your
whole remaining days of the month of Ramadan
be filled with du'a,
be filled with requests and asking.
Oh Allah, accept for me. Oh Allah, guide
me. Oh Allah, help me. Oh Allah, assist
me. Oh Allah, help them. Oh Allah, protect
them. Oh Allah, increase me. Oh Allah don't
deprive me. Oh Allah my family, my daughter,
my son, my children, my husband, my wife,
my father, the living, the dead.
Oh Allah, my future, my past, my present.
Oh Allah, my debts.
There is so much
in our life
that you don't just simply stand behind myself
or Sheikh Mu'taz and just simply say Amin
when we make Kunut.
Dua is is is you and Allah
in seclusion
that in the midst of all of the
world
Allah answers you. And I conclude with this
beautiful Hadith where Allah speaks to us in
a Hadith Qudsi.
He said,
If the first of you, oh, mankind till
the last of you,
from the first till the end,
stood in one place,
all humanity in its entirety,
from the beginning of time till the end.
If you stood alaasa'idinwahil,
in one place, in one location,
And each of you asked me for what
you wanted individually,
personally to yourself and I was to give
each and every one of you your request.
It would not deplete my kingdom of might
with even an iota. In one narration it
says, it would not take from my stores
of provision
the movement of a needle in an ocean.
Allahu Akbar.
Your dua is not
given to one who is absent
or one who is unable
or one who is uncaring.
And therefore, as you commit yourself to Aba,
commit yourself with your hunger and your thirst
in feeling the pain of others. As I
fast in front of you today, I fast
for the people of Gaza.
As they hunger, you and I hunger.
As they thirst, you and I thirst.
As they need, you and I need. As
they line up for their food, remember as
they line up for their food.
Remember the images of those young children without
stretched
plastic bags, not even plates or pots,
seeking not food for themselves
but something for their brother or their sister
or their neighbor.
As you fast
and you make du'a,
don't make it just for yourself
but reflect on the blessings we've been afforded
in this blessed city and land that we
call home that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has
given us at times what we may not
have shown that we are deserving of in
terms of our character and habits.
May Allah increase us all in good. Allahumma
ameen. Shail Abdullah has arrived. That means the
adhan is imminent, I believe.
Let me check on my phone insha'Allah.
Now we are a little bit more cautious
with the adhan. I know there's a few
timetables.
I'm a little bit more strict than your
app
because sometimes your app is set to a
default setting that uses the Muslim World League,
which is set at 16 degrees.
And there is a difference in the delineation
of the sun for us so far south.
It is more accurate
to be a little bit further.
So we are in the extreme
areas of the world. There is a 4
to 5 degree variance.
You will see in your phone apps, it
does allow you to
see the default setting that you can make
the incremental change. And if you,
consider,
the Malaysian standard and the Indonesian standard,
I believe that they would be closer
to where you and I should lie, Insha'Allah.
Insha'Allah.
So don't just simply follow the equatorial standard
that comes from Riyadh. There is a variance
in the 4 minutes, insha'Allah. So I know
maybe at home you broke your fast at
67, 607. We're gonna break 2 minutes later.
Bi idlindahi
ta'ala. Allahhibareqbikum.
I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants
you the higher and barakah of this dunya
and afarah that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants
you a good close to your fast today.
Remember that dua before you break your fast
and at the time you break your fast
and after you break your fast, all of
it is answerable. The Prophet
said,
at the time before you break,
he na nuftr, when he is breaking and
she is breaking
and after they have broken their fast. So
this is a time of Istijaba
I
make dua for myself and you say Ameen.
I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives
us our sins
and opens to us the doors of Barakah
and Khayyood.
Oh Allah, we ask You to give us
the good of this life and the good
of the next and protect us from the
punishment of Jahannam.
Oh Allah, don't hold us accountable on account
of the foolish conduct of others. Oh Allah,
we ask you not to burden us with
more than we can withstand.
And You Allah, we ask you to send
peace and harmony in our homes, in our
hearts, with our families and our community.
We pray that you light up our life
so that we can be illumination to others
in the dark. We pray that Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'ala grants us His light.
We ask you, Arham al Rahimi, to send
your choices, blessings
and benedictions and salutations
and peace upon our
if we can align ourselves, fill the gaps,
Inshallah, optimist.
Humble yourself to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.
Sisters come forward complete the lines Insha'Allah.
Humble yourself to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allah
Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
We can ask for extra care and caution
as people are doing their sunnah and so
on. For those who are departing upstairs, may
Allah grant you ease.
Be careful as we are heading down the
staircase insha'Allah.
May Allah grant you an accepted,
suyaam for today and for the days to
come.
As you could see,
thousands of people here with us today.
I know there's a few of you watching
from the US.
The sisters as well.