Zaid Shakir – Ramadan Q&A

			Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala seed and more
city say it in our Mohammed while early he was me he was send them to steam and kathira al hamdu
Lillahi Rabbil alameen Ramadan Mubarak Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. And so we'll
open up the lines for any questions or comments that our brothers and sisters might have out there
with jack ma Kiran, Allah bless you all Ramadan Mubarak coolamon want to be here, alpha higher work
here.
		

			So, while he comes to Nam Rahmatullah So, one of the online viewers asked, I know that hardships are
tests from God and our facts of life, but what vicars do as men recitations Do we have from God and
His messengers will allow them to help prevent calamitous hardships or succeed through tests.
Alhamdulillah we had the great opportunity last year to expound on and I think you can find it in
these atonal college archives on the saying of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam in the cabin and
Henry will happen when I when I when I became an adze, well, QSL went Ruby care. Mina Gibney
wallbottle when Urdu became invalidated, de mercado rigid. So Allah I seek and I switch to the
		

			plural for the last two, give me but it's all first person. I seek refuge with you from grief and
anxiety. And so calamities and those things, they're things that stress us. And so the calamities
are going to come not being overwhelmed by them, is what we pray for. A woman an adze will castle
and from incompetence, and laziness or slough. And so we have the capability to deal with the trials
that Allah tala sends our way, and allow will send us trials. And this is another aspect of Ramadan,
we start the month and it's hard, we're not used to going all day these long days. 18 hours, with no
food
		

			19 hours, and depending on how far north you are. And so the headaches and the cramps, and the
nausea and the bouts of dizziness, those those are, those are many calamities. And so we seek help
from Allah not being overwhelmed by those may give us strength and give us the capability and not to
become so accustomed to our normal physical routine, that it leads to laziness and sloth, which To
summarize, one meaning is the inability to challenge ourselves physically. So a slovenly person lays
in bed half the day, why? The inability to challenge himself or herself to get up out of the bed and
to get moving despite either the the comfort they're enjoying, or just the physical difficulty of
		

			getting up. So we seek refuge with that woman and it will castle one minute Geneva boho and from
cowardice, and from miserliness. And, again, a lot of times we fail to
		

			face the trials and tribulations that were confronted, because we were afraid we'll fail. And
because we're afraid we'll fail. We don't make the effort. So we can't fear failure, because we have
to understand for a true believer, there is no failure. There's Nia, and there's action. And then
the outcome, which might be perceived as success or failure, that's a laws department. That's not
our department. Our department is the intention and the act. And so we make a good intention, and we
act as positively as we can, with as much strength and as determined and determination as we can
muster in the face of trials and tribulations, then we've succeeded, there is no failure. If the
		

			outcome isn't favorable, that's something a lot decreed. And that's beyond our scope of endeavor. So
if we have a good pure Nia muslin, Nia citco Nia, and we have sincere action since
		

			then we've we've succeed,
		

			woman develops it, then we'll carry on from being overwhelmed.
		

			being overpowered, overwhelmed by debt are overpowered by humans. And so that's a prayer we can make
that helps us not to necessary
		

			To surely ward off calamities, but to deal with them in the very best of ways, and then we ask Allah
subhana wa Taala for his protection and in Ramadan.
		

			The greatest protection is the protection from hellfire. Because we one of the things we pray also
on E wallet on mostly betternet the de Nina will attach on musi that unathi de Nina don't make our
tribulations in our religious life. In other words, I'll take it in my worldly life is not desirable
and we don't pray for tribulations. You know, I'm tough. mm zaytsev we should take it I'm ready to
take it bring it on y'all law No.
		

			Letterman. No. The call I do was on the law Thea in the process. The context of physically physical
confrontation is don't long to meet any enemy asked a law for safety, security well being all of
those meanings encompassed in the term, Aafia ask a law for well being. And so we want well being.
But if we are challenged, we want to have the strength and the patience and the forbearance and the
confidence and the good that our laws decreed for us through this tribulation, to be able to deal
with it. So ask Allah for his protection, and Allahumma in the can 10, last 10 days of Ramadan, the
when I showed rhodiola Anna as the Prophet sallallahu Sallam was, she should say, he mentioned
		

			during this period Allahumma inika, a full one to Hezbollah for file for under your law, you're the
one who he faces sins, you love to efface in his face my sins, pardon my sins. And so ask Allah to
pardon our sins because we could be spared every physical calamity never had to deal with an
earthquake that flattened the house never had to deal with a hurricane tore the roof off the house,
everything got flooded and damaged inside, never had to deal with a car accident, never had to deal
with any, and some people are like that. But what is the value of all of that? If we meet a law with
a mountain of since
		

			that's the real calamity. And so May Allah protect us from that MLR protect us from those physical
calamities. But if Allah does choose to test us with them, May Allah give us the strength and the
patience and the forbearance to deal with them in the very best of ways as as our profits on the
line was seldom when the great calamity at
		

			all this calamity of these people, denying me and turning me away and stoning me and beating me with
their sandals and spitting on me and turning the Emperor sills and the the children of the city to
torture me and torment me into this way of all of those calamities
		

			are not a sign of your displeasure with me, I could care less for that bad, I could care less. And
so, Mel, spare us the real calamity, and may give us prophetic prophet like fortitude to deal with
those trials and tribulations that sell us and our worldly life.
		

			That's a long answer to a short question. Apologize to the asker for not being precise, I mean,
concise.
		

			So the next question that we have is, it seems that the physical fast in Ramadan can affect
individuals differently, with some finding the fast, enjoyable and easy and others while others may
find it. burdensome and difficult? Does our individual experience of the fast in the month of
Ramadan reflect our inward state or signify our personal journey throughout Ramadan? Not at all?
		

			And you're absolutely right, this particular brother or sister who asked this question, that the
fast does affect us all differently, and for some is very difficult. But if you find it difficult
yourself or someone you know the person asking, be hardened by the fact that the Messenger of Allah
or one of the principles of our religion based on many Hadith and various meanings in Quran, eduroam
Cotterill Masha, that the reward for an act is commensurate to the degree of difficulty is just like
the Olympics, and someone does a simple dive jumps off the board and
		

			with perfect form hits the water perfect, not even a splash it goes right through the water like a
knife, they get a five because the degree of difficulty was zero. Someone jumps up and does a
backflip and then twist around into a front flip and then goes into a pike and then hits the water
and they make a little splash, they get a 10 because the degree of difficulty was so great. And so
this is a general principle in life. And so the reward that we get for an act is commensurate to the
degree of difficulty. So those who fast and is very, very difficult for them and it's a great
struggle for them their reward is greater than those who are fasting and find it easy. Both have a
		

			great reward. And it's, it's beyond numerical extent. But the degree of difficulty is something
that's factored into our our rewards. The one who recites the Qur'an and stumbles and stutters and
struggles, has two rewards, who are the one who decides fluently has a single reward, the one who
recites fluently is rewarded for their beautiful, fluent recitation, the one who struggles and
recites is rewarded, rewarded for their recitation and they're rewarded for their struggle. And so
this is something that we should understand is reflected through all of our actions in the persons
who struggle and it's really difficult, be hardened by that.
		

			Brother was seem asks a song alaikum Can you please ask him say to advise the following? What was
the prophetic practice during the last days in particular, if any to the first 20 days, the last 10
days of Ramadan? Is there anything specific we should do to prepare for the blessing night of
whether or not the prophetic practice was at the cath during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the
Prophet sallallahu Sallam during the last part of Ramadan would isolate himself in the masjid for
intensive worship and intensive devotion and exclusive
		

			deep personal
		

			communion was the last time and so if we have an opportunity, we should we most of us have vacation
time don't spend all your vacation going to Yosemite beautiful place I've been there overwhelming
awesome, especially this year with all the rain and snow, the waterfalls booming off the chart, but
spend some of that vacation, save some of that vacation and make attic half isolate yourself in the
masjid for intensive worship
		

			of Allah subhana wa Tada. And also, as you mentioned, try to organize your time so that if you don't
make at the caf, you can block off large amounts of times to recite the core end. And so during the
last 10 days, or if we were just pretty much at our normal clip or a little bit more we should try
to really engage with flicker and during the last part of Ramadan and to make up for what we might
have missed earlier in the month to try to keep our tongues moist with the our rod and a car and the
remembrance of Allah subhanho wa Taala one of the things in Ramadan that's a source of forgiveness
that go to law he feel Ramadan more foreign law, the one will remember the law abundantly and
		

			Ramadan will be forgiven. One of the early generations I had to select the sila Rahim Allah tala
Paul, test b hattan wahida twinfield ramadaan. Can elfi test be Hatton female, see where that saying
supanova glorified arc Tao or LA one time in Ramadan is like saying that 1000 times outside of
Ramadan. And so during those last nights the last 10 nights we go and tensive Vicar quarter and
standing in prayer, listening to the recitation of the Quran. Those are the things we should be
doing during that time. And to prepare for them. The best preparation is arranging our schedules are
and Ramadan. One of the things we can mention is Ramadan is a challenge to the modern man and woman
		

			because modernity wants everything scheduled out and compartmentalized. And this is one of the
motivations for people relying on calculations to start in the month and I'm not knocking those
folks nor their position. I'm just saying and I don't think any of them who take this position will
deny it. One of the reasons is so we can
		

			Have Ramadan conformed to our modern schedule? We're embarrassed going to the kids school
		

			needs to take off next Wednesday and Thursday for their holiday. What day? Is it Wednesday or
Thursday? You don't know when your holiday is. And so if we calculate out on Mondays Wednesday off
is already calculated off. Now, when we see that question, we don't know when it's there's no
scientifically accurate method to determine exactly when and where that question is going to be
seen. We have a window.
		

			But within that window, we can say where and we can say exactly when. And so Ramadan is a challenge
to the rigidity timewise of modernity. And so we should, we should concede, and just try to schedule
things so that our schedule conforms with Ramadan, as opposed to trying to make Ramadan conform to
our schedules. So we during those last 10 days, I took some vacation days, I took an extra three
hour lunch break, and worked it out. So three hours, I'm reading the quarter end during those days,
I'm not eating anyway. And then I worked it out so I could stay later, I could come in an extra day
or something. And so I have this big window every day during these last 10 days, I'm engaging the
		

			core end. And so try to work it out, try to schedule things so that we're prepared. And so when this
great opportunity comes for all of these blessings, and all of this edger and the web we've prepared
for now I think that's the greatest preparation we can make. And then just engaging from our heart
and learning a few things. Aloma in Macau flew into LA for HANA. decision making is the forest stock
for stock flow with passion and feeling from our heart reading our code. So those are the things
that we do during this time.
		

			Yes, Mina asks, what are some things people that cannot fast due to pregnancy, etc. What can they do
to feel the spirit of Ramadan
		

			number one,
		

			break the fast with people. So you're not fasting but when you have to eat and nourish and nurture
do those things privately and publicly? Be with the people in the fast and break the fast sharing
the iftaar meals which naturally occurs, but and to experience that joy? Also to read the Quran
during its pregnancy and not
		

			not fast in giving up fast for reasons that will prevent the recitation read your quarter and engage
in our rod and simple Subhana Allah Alhamdulillah learn Hello Allah Allahu Akbar istockphoto la sala
watan the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad Ali he was on
he was headland make a lot of Salawat read as much core end when you can read in an English if a
sister might be prevented from reading it Rena in Arabic rather get an all English version and read
that following enrich yourselves with the meanings of the Quran. Listen to the recitation of the
Quran abundantly when during the times you're unable to fast is the month of court and as we
		

			mentioned earlier, so listen to the core end, as opposed to putting and not not to be negative as
opposed to putting your Snoop Dogg tapes in when you're riding around town. Not assuming you're
listening. Anyone who's listening to this is listening to snoop dogg tapes. I don't even know if
Snoop Dogg has any tapes these days. But as opposed to this and in the sheet,
		

			this into the quarter end it's the month of the quarter end. And so just as opposed to listening to
your net sheet and your tunnel bed, Rylan and listen to the quarter end it's the month of the
quarter end. When Ramadan came the aroma mat and magmatic Shafi mo hanifa Imam Ahmed they will put
all the Hadith aside teaching Hadith put the fifth aside and they give themselves to the Quran and
they recite the Quran is the month of the Quran and the Quran in terms of what we can do every
letter Ashura has an ad ordinarily letter called Alif Lam Meem. hard for lacking elefun hard for
lemon hard for me mon heartful has an ashram Dahlia and is an individual letter lamb is an
		

			Individual letter meme is an individual letter and each will be multiplied 10 times in this reward
that's outside of ramadan ramadan that reward is multiplied exponentially. So how much edgier is in
one page of the Quran how much as yours in a juice of the quarter end? How much edger is in and and
a third of fourth of the quarter end. So this is an opportunity allows given us for tremendous
blessings and Baraka and so those are some of the things we should be doing.
		

			Greg asks, this is Greg's first Ramadan, and he's in an area where there aren't many Muslims. So
he's surrounded by everything that he's told to eliminate or that we're told to eliminate during
this month. How does he or how do we shut these things out without secluding ourselves from
everything?
		

			Yeah, Greg, right.
		

			Yeah, Greg salaam aleikum and salaam aleikum, Yasmin song from West scene. Those are only names are
caught.
		

			Greg, listen, you're surrounded by those things when you outside of your home.
		

			When you're in your home,
		

			close the doors, turn off the television turn off the computer pick up the Quran. If you can read in
an Arabic reading in English when I was a new convert, I didn't know Arabic like you convert and you
automatically learn Arabic you take the Arabic pill
		

			Bismillahirrahmanirrahim hamdu Akiva halochem be here Masha Allah vertical of eco not didn't happen
like that. And so the first two or three or four years of being a Muslim, I did my cotterman
English, the use of volley translation, the 30th are marked off in English. And so Greg, you
surround yourself with a core and surround yourself with the remembrance of Allah. There's no one,
just pray to the best of your ability. If you're still learning the prayers, you go through the
messy movements of the prayer to say Lal * Allah fill the prayer with the vicar of Allah until
you learn the things that said the various positions so that you might be surrounded by an
		

			environment that has very few Muslims. So you construct your own little Islamic environment, where
Greg has his own mini Islamic atmosphere, if you will, and that's inside your house, your family's
not Muslim, I and you still living at home inside the privacy of your room, and turn off the
distractions turn off the television, turn off the the anti social media, don't don't read the
newspaper you got always wasn't new, someone got killed, someone got shot. You know, there's the
Trump and the Russians. You know, comi is what is not nice. It'll be there after Ramadan, believe
me, you're not gonna miss anything. Turn all of that out, off, especially during the last few days.
		

			Focus on your core and focus on the remembrance of Allah, focus on your spiritual development. And
you'll find that you don't you don't need what you think you might need to sustain yourself. And may
Allah give you tofik. And that's not necessarily easy. But it's on the other hand, it's not
necessarily difficult, and a lot of it is attitude. And so I encourage you, Greg, just or anyone
else in that feeling isolated in that sense, get on the Nike plan and just do it. Sometimes we we
overpromise things, and we set ups we make it so imposing that it seems overwhelming. But when we
just say you know what, I'm just doing this.
		

			And then all of a sudden it starts to shrink and it becomes manageable because our attitude
overwhelmed it. So if is I I don't know if I can do this. This is really overwhelming. This is a
daunting task. The our frame of mind the task is what it is.
		

			And it might be really challenging, but we're not helping ourselves. But I was so big, it's
overwhelming is daunting. It was like I'm doing this, it is what it is. But now I'm doing this
straight up. I'm doing it I don't care. Nothing's gonna stop me is still big and scary. But now, it
has to contend with us because I'm bringing something bigger. And that's a big positive attitude to
the task in sha Allah
		

			omarama asks, What can we
		

			Do to gain taqwa and Ramadan.
		

			Rama,
		

			Rama,
		

			Rama also, if your cornea is named for a child on Rama
		

			Ramadan is all about taco. And so
		

			the fasting itself is a source of taqwa. So make a sincere intention
		

			that your fast is accepted and that your fast is purely for a law that's a means to gain taqwa. Yeah
you holiday in Amman quotevalet camassia hemma kuchibhotla Medina mill publikum Allah Allah calm
Tatupu. So all you believers fasting has been prescribed for you as it was ordained for you as it
was ordained for those who preceded you in order that you will get more toccoa and so the fasting
itself the Quran is a source of taqwa barely Kalki tab This is the scripture the quarter end
neuropathy, no doubt concerning who Devlin Matata and guidance for the people of taqwa. And so is
the Quran itself is a source of increasing taqwa so fast and keep fasting and complete the appointed
		

			number of days and engage your core n. And remember Allah subhanho wa Taala because the remembrance
of Allah Allah be decree law, he taught me and Luca lube does not the remembrance of Allah bring
tranquility to the heart. And so that stillness in the heart makes the heart more receptive to taqwa
and the taqwa, the home of tacos, the heart of taqwa. hoonah. The talk was here with Sheila Savita,
Latham, Murat and he pointed to his breath, but meaning to his heart, three times. And so all of
those things that strengthen our heart, open a heart and make it more amenable to taqwa. Going
through the fast itself as a means to increase in taqwa engaging the core and as a means to increase
		

			in taqwa. And all of these things are mutually reinforcing the code the fast reinforces the
receptivity of the heart. The receptivity of the heart enhances the power of the core and the power
of the core and deepens the fast the deepening the fast opens the heart more open the heart more,
brings more core and into the heart because that's where it started. Conan cannot do well the
gibreel Nunez Allahu Allah. Alby cabbie isn't Allah. Allah sent the heart the Quran to the heart of
the prophets of the cellar. So Ramadan is about opening the heart so that the heart is more
receptive to taqwa. And the receptivity to taqwa, opens it up for the Quran open up for the grant
		

			makes it more minimal and agreeable for taqwa. And so the cycle just goes into this huge snowball of
taqwa
		

			waiting for you on Rama, and you're at the bottom of the hill waiting to be bowled over by that big
taqwa snowball.
		

			So we have time for one more question after all right?
		

			Random asks, those who make up fasts after Ramadan due to illness or natural cycles, do they miss
out on the spiritual flight? Absolutely not. Because you're you're still in Ramadan. And so you're
still
		

			wrong. Ramadan is more generous than any of us. Look at this great, great generosity of Ramadan the
forgiveness that it gives to us the liberation from the Hellfire that it gives us and of course,
this is an expression of this is an expression of a laws of generosity. Who's given us this gift? So
I'm speaking metaphorically in a sense Ramadan sojourner on laws. Kareem
		

			Olam Anika
		

			carrying indika our phone to bluff and Kareem tibble param. LA's generous in love generosity and
one. He's given us this great gift of Ramadan, but we're personifying Ramadan, we're bringing it to
life and comparing it to us. So we're, we're, when we're remembering Allah, we're giving gifts of
generosity to those around us. And
		

			what does the law say about those who sin in the company of those who are being generous with their
decoe Coleman, Lashkar jelly sukham there are people those sitting in the company are never sad. And
so just by sitting in the company of Ramadan, you will never be sad and so you're in Ramadan. And so
one aspect of
		

			of Ramadan you can engage in the fast but doesn't prevent you from book or an even listening to it
that doesn't prevent you from the remembrance of Allah doesn't prevent you from preparing something
for fasting people to break their fast with which now you get the joy of their breaking their fast
because you prepared something for them to enjoy that great blessing and to have that farha the saw
me far Hatton far how to end the fit three he will for Hatton en de la carrera be the joy they
experience when they break their fast and the joy they experience when they meet their Lord. And so
you're helping them to
		

			have that joy and so you share in that joy. So just being in Ramadan and being around people who are
fasting, and thanking Allah for the blessings, our Prophet sallallahu wasallam and we'll conclude
with this Hadith, he said Salalah and it was a tie Ms. Shakir at our mo Shakira,
		

			be female unzila to set aside masabi the one who is eating and thanking Allah, for the blessing of
food is in the same rank as one who is fasting and patiently and during the rigors of the fast at
times Shakir the one who's eating and thinking a lot so as you eat thank Allah for those blessings
for the blessing of food
		

			and thank Allah for the gift of being able to help share that food with the fasting people so they
can break their fast and enjoy and you're in the rank of the one patiently fasting and enduring its
rigors What a beautiful beautiful this is them brothers and sisters. This is beautiful. This is
powerful. That's why converted.
		

			Not seven, I need some of that in my life. And so you know, share that beauty. Don't let the news is
so bad. You be the news. That's the old same old stuff. You shouldn't even call it the news called
the old same old stuff. Same old stuff SOS. We'll leave it at stuff. We'll use another term
sometimes associated with SOS
		

			you'll be the news that's the old same old stuff. You'll be the new stuff you'll be the person show
the people the joy of being a Muslim. Muslim you ever see a happy Muslim? That's one of those tropes
right there all said new I'm new I've been around the Muslims I've been around
		

			Iran some happy Muslims
		

			happy
		

			Yeah, you know why cuz they're in love and all shook up. Yeah, in love with Allah we live in amorous
shed to her belly, let those who believe are more intense in their love for Allah. And they shook up
and they are happy. And you show people you'd be be a Muslim was all shook up. Because you are in
love with Allah, you'd be a Muslim, the show people, kindness and a gentle word. Now look right past
whatever you're wearing or dress in what your name is. What's your name? Mohammed. Ahmed, Mohammed.
		

			Mohammed, Well, listen, let me help you with those groceries. You know, you seem to be struggling a
little bit and you're having a good day. No one asked me that in 20 years. Okay, more hammer here.
You take the bag and keep talking. You'll be that person.
		

			You'll be the person to take the time to smile at the baby. You'll be the person that holds the
door. Shift chivalry isn't dead. People still appreciate that.
		

			You'll be the person that lets the people see through your character.
		

			That Islam isn't what they heard on the television, or what they read about in the newspaper. You'll
be the one that bring them beyond the headlines,
		

			which are what is our fantasy? You'll be the one you'll be the one who your beauty and through your
connection with the law and through your spirituality, your appreciation of the blessings that
allows be bestowed upon you, who shows them the reality of Islam, and that the reality is nothing
like that caricature that's been created for people to be distracted by you be that person. And if
you can't be that person and Ramadan.
		

			When are you going to be that person? So let's go out there. Let's have a positive impact on the
world. Let's Let's continue to internalize
		

			lies the deeper meanings of the fast so that the fast becomes an integral part of our very being.
And that the joy
		

			of breaking the fast and the joy of having the strength the fast and the joy of having food to eat
if we can't fast that we are joyous people called me fondly lei or Pura Murthy he fabbi daddy Kapha
Leah for who who are Hiram Maroon, say, in the grace of Allah and in His mercy and this let them
rejoice should be rejoice, we should be joyous people. It is better than anything they earn better
koloff equal malaita carbon minko
		

			Mela Bless you all sorry for taking so much time. And hopefully we get to do this again. And in the
meantime, go out there. Enjoy this last phase of Ramadan. let it fill you with the love and the
light of Islam and let it draw you closer to the source of that love and the source of that light
Almighty God Allah subhanho wa Taala Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh ramadan ramadan
Mubarak Kula amin wakulla, Yeoman wakulla love that in when to be here, As salam o Alaikum
warahmatullahi wabarakatuh