Zia Sheikh – Blessing of Shaban

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The importance of practicing fasting during Sha'ban is discussed, as it is the month when many people focus on their daily activities. The need for regular fasting to improve mental health and well-being is emphasized, along with advice on praying for Allah's subhanahu wa ta ta "ala" and considering past hadiths. The importance of fasting for personal health and health-related issues is also emphasized, along with advice on avoiding activities that harm one's health and bodies.

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			Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest,
		
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			Allah is the Greatest.
		
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			I bear witness that there is no god
		
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			but Allah.
		
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			I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
		
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			of Allah.
		
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			I bear witness that
		
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			Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
		
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			Come to prayer.
		
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			Come to prayer.
		
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			Come to success.
		
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			Come to success.
		
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			Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
		
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			I bear witness that there is no god
		
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			but Allah.
		
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			I bear
		
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			witness
		
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			that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
		
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			My dear respected elders, brothers and sisters, I
		
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			think most of you are aware that the
		
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			month of Sha'ban has already started.
		
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			This is the month that comes between Rajab
		
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			and Ramadan.
		
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			I have just narrated a hadith in front
		
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			of you in which Usama ibn Zaid states
		
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			that he asked the Prophet of Allah a
		
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			question.
		
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			He says that I said to the Prophet
		
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			of Allah, O Prophet of Allah, I've
		
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			never seen you fasting in any other month
		
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			as much as you do in the month
		
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			of Sha'ban.
		
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			The Prophet of Allah responded by saying that
		
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			that is a month that many people are
		
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			ignorant about or they ignore it.
		
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			Why would they ignore it?
		
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			Because it comes between two great months.
		
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			Rajab is basically one of the Ashur-ul
		
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			-Hurum and Ramadan, we know the status of
		
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			Ramadan.
		
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			So because it comes between those two, it
		
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			kind of gets neglected and people forget about
		
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			its status.
		
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			So the Prophet of Allah said that people
		
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			are ignorant about or they ignore this blessed
		
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			month.
		
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			And this is the month in which the
		
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			A'mal are raised up to Allah subhanahu wa
		
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			ta'ala.
		
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			They are given to Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala.
		
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			Basically an audit takes place for all of
		
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			our A'mal in the month of Sha'ban.
		
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			And the Prophet of Allah goes on to
		
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			say, So I love that my deeds are
		
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			raised up to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			while I am fasting.
		
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			So there's a few things here that we
		
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			need to understand and pay attention to.
		
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			The ulema say that the raising of the
		
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			deeds to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they
		
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			take place on three specific occasions.
		
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			One is the daily raising of the A'mal.
		
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			This takes place on a daily basis.
		
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			It is mentioned in a hadith, There are
		
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			angels of the night and there are angels
		
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			of the day.
		
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			And they take turns.
		
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			They come one after the other.
		
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			And they gather at Salatul Fajr time and
		
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			Salatul Asr time.
		
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			Then the angels that are leaving their duty
		
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			and they are going up to Allah subhanahu
		
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			wa ta'ala, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			asks them, How did you leave my slaves?
		
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			Meaning what were they doing?
		
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			Were they engaged in sin?
		
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			Were they engaged in disobedience?
		
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			Or were they engaged in Ibadah?
		
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			We came to them.
		
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			We left them while they were praying and
		
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			we came to them while they were praying.
		
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			So basically, we left them at the time
		
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			of Fajr and they were praying.
		
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			And when we came back to them at
		
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			Salatul Asr, they were also praying.
		
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			So again, this shows the importance of the
		
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			times of Fajr and Asr.
		
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			The Salat time itself to pray the Salat
		
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			on a daily basis because it is the
		
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			time in which the angels are switching duties.
		
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			And also the time of Salatul Asr and
		
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			the Ibadah that takes place between Salatul Fajr
		
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			until sunrise and Salatul Asr until sunset.
		
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			It is an important time because of this
		
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			issue.
		
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			So this first example is the example of
		
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			the daily reporting of the a'mal of a
		
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			person that is done on a daily basis.
		
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			So this is one aspect of reporting of
		
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			our duties.
		
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			The second aspect is one which is done
		
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			on a weekly basis.
		
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			And that is Abu Hurairah radiallahu ta'ala
		
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			who he narrates, سمعت رسول الله صلى الله
		
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			عليه وسلم قال إِنَّ أَعْمَالَ بَنِ آدَم تُعَرَضُ
		
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			كُلَّ خَمِيسٍ لَيْلَةَ الْجُمْعَةِ فَلَا يُخْبَلُ عَمَلُ قَاطِيَ
		
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			الرَّحِيمِ The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that on Thursday
		
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			night, meaning the night between Thursday and Friday,
		
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			the a'mal are presented to Allah subhanahu wa
		
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			ta'ala and the only person whose deeds
		
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			are not accepted is the person who is
		
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			doing qat'ur rahim.
		
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			He is basically breaking relationships with his relatives
		
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			and he is not talking to them, so
		
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			his deeds are not accepted by Allah subhanahu
		
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			wa ta'ala.
		
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			So this is the second category of our
		
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			deeds being presented to Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala which is done on a weekly basis.
		
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			And then the third one is the one
		
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			that we've mentioned in this hadith that I
		
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			mentioned at the beginning of the khutbah in
		
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			which the Prophet ﷺ said that in the
		
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			month of Sha'ban the deeds are presented
		
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			to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so this
		
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			is the annual presentation that takes place.
		
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			So again, it could take place any time
		
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			during the month, so this is a month
		
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			in which we should be particular about being
		
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			observant and worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			and fasting as much as possible.
		
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			The other
		
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			thing is that because the month of Sha
		
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			'ban is coming before the month of Ramadan,
		
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			so this is the month in which we
		
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			get a chance to practice our fasting.
		
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			So what we say is, the word used
		
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			in the English language is, to go into
		
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			something called Turkey without practicing.
		
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			So that's why what happens is in the
		
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			beginning of Ramadan, everyone is kind of groggy
		
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			and have a headache because of not having
		
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			coffee in the morning and grouchy and don't
		
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			bother me right now, I don't want to
		
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			talk to you.
		
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			So this happens in the beginning of Ramadan,
		
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			why?
		
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			Because we haven't practiced the fasting before the
		
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			month of Ramadan itself.
		
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			So if we were to practice in the
		
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			month of Sha'ban the fasting, then the
		
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			beginning of Ramadan would become very easy for
		
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			us.
		
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			So this is one thing.
		
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			And the second thing is that you can
		
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			assume that the fasting in the month of
		
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			Sha'ban is just like the Sunnah before
		
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			the Salat.
		
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			When we come for Salat, why do we
		
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			pray the Sunnah?
		
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			Because we are mentally preparing ourselves for the
		
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			Fard, which is the most important Salat.
		
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			The Sunnah is also, we are conversing with
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we are talking
		
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			to Him, we are praying to Him.
		
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			But the Fard is the main component, the
		
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			main Ibadah, that is the obligatory part and
		
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			that is the Ibadah which we should do
		
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			it in the most perfect way.
		
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			So when a person is praying the Sunnah
		
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			before the Salat, he is actually getting into
		
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			the mindset of meeting Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala.
		
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			Just like a person who is preparing for
		
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			an interview, a very important interview which is
		
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			going to change his life, and it's an
		
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			important job, well-paying, and it's going to
		
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			be a very critical interview.
		
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			Just imagine how he is preparing in his
		
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			mind the different questions that are going to
		
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			come to him by the person who is
		
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			going to interview him and how he is
		
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			thinking and pondering.
		
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			And before he steps into that office where
		
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			the interview is going to take place, how
		
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			he is kind of prepared mentally to face
		
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			those questions.
		
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			So if you can imagine that kind of
		
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			mindset and now compare that with our meeting
		
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			five times daily with Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala, how we deal with it.
		
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			It's kind of we come to the prayer
		
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			quickly, pray the Salat, and then just go
		
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			as if it's just something that we needed
		
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			to shrug off, a responsibility that we wanted
		
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			to just shrug off.
		
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			The reality is that each and every Salat
		
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			should be prepared for.
		
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			Right from the time we make Wudu until
		
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			the time we actually complete the Salat, this
		
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			preparation is for the Salat itself.
		
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			So similar to the Sunnah that we pray
		
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			before the Salat, is the Nafl fasting before
		
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			the month of Ramadan in the month of
		
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			Sha'ban.
		
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			So this is, inshallah, one of the reasons
		
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			that we should do it.
		
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			Imam Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullah, he says about this
		
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			Hadith that I've mentioned that the Prophet, a
		
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			.s., he used to fast most in the
		
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			month of Sha'ban.
		
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			What does it mean?
		
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			One meaning is that he used to fast,
		
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			and this is a Sunnah of the Prophet,
		
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			a.s., that he used to fast three
		
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			days every single month, which is known as
		
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			Ayyamul Bidh, the 13th, 14th, and 15th of
		
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			the Hijri calendar.
		
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			The Prophet, a.s., used to fast.
		
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			So sometimes, if any of those fasts were
		
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			left for some reason, he used to make
		
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			up those fasts in the month of Sha
		
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			'ban.
		
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			So, for example, his three fasts were left
		
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			in Muharram and in Rajab.
		
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			So that means six fasts.
		
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			So before the month of Ramadan used to
		
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			come around, he used to try to make
		
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			up those fasts to complete the three days
		
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			of fasting that he had a habit of
		
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			doing.
		
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			So anything that was left, he used to
		
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			complete in the month of Sha'ban.
		
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			And the reason, basically, you can say, the
		
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			Prophet, a.s., used to fast three days,
		
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			and we should also try to do the
		
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			same thing, either Monday or Thursday, Monday and
		
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			Thursday is Sunnah, or fasting the three days
		
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			on the 13th, 14th, and 15th.
		
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			These are also Sunnah.
		
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			So we should do that, man ja'a
		
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			bil hasanati falahu ashru amthaliha Whoever does one
		
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			deed, it is multiplied ten times.
		
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			So you do three fasts, it's multiplied ten
		
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			times, that means 30 fasts.
		
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			It's as if you've been fasting the whole
		
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			month, the whole Hijri month.
		
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			So if we have a habit of doing
		
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			that, we will be basically fasting the whole
		
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			time.
		
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			The other thing is that the Prophet, a
		
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			.s., the other reason that the Prophet, a
		
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			.s., used to fast in the month of
		
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			Sha'ban, he used to do it da
		
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			'zeeman li Ramadan.
		
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			He used to do it out of respect
		
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			for Ramadan, wahadha sawm, this is again what
		
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			I mentioned earlier, Ibn al-Qayyim is repeating
		
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			the same thing, wahadha sawm yashbahu sunnata faradhi
		
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			salati qablaha da'zeeman li haqqiha That it
		
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			is similar to the fasting or the sunnah
		
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			that a person prays before the farad salah
		
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			in respect of the farad that a person
		
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			is about to pray.
		
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			And the third thing is the reason that
		
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			the Prophet, a.s., used to fast, because
		
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			he wanted, as he mentions himself in the
		
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			hadith, that he wanted his deeds to be
		
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			raised up to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
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			while he was in the state of fasting.
		
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			So if you can think a minute how
		
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			the Prophet, a.s., was constantly doing good
		
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			deeds, all the time, tahajjud and nawafil and
		
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			fasting and sadaqat and never committing a sin,
		
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			and yet he also wanted his deeds to
		
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			be raised up to Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala while he is doing good.
		
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			So where do we stand in comparison to
		
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			the Prophet, a.s., and what must we
		
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			be doing in this month of Sha'ban
		
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			to get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala is something that we need to reflect
		
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			upon and we need to think about.
		
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			If we think about our sins and how
		
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			we disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then
		
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			we should take full advantage of this blessed
		
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			month as much as possible.
		
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			There are general hadith about the month of
		
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			Sha'ban that are narrated from various sahaba
		
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			and sahabiyat that I'd just like to finish
		
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			the khutbah with.
		
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			Abi Salma, a.s., who says that Aisha,
		
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			a.s., on her she mentioned, The
		
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			Prophet, a.s., he didn't used to fast
		
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			in any other month other than the month
		
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			of Sha'ban and he used to fast
		
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			in all of the month of Sha'ban.
		
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			He didn't used to leave any days in
		
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			the month of Sha'ban.
		
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			And another hadith from Aisha, a.s., she
		
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			says, The Prophet, a.s., sometimes used to
		
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			fast continuously until we thought that he's not
		
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			going to take any break.
		
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			He's not going to take a break from
		
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			fasting.
		
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			Sometimes he used to go so many days
		
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			without fasting that we used to think that
		
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			he's not going to fast.
		
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			And she goes on to say, And I
		
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			never saw the Prophet, a.s., completing the
		
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			fasting of any other month except the month
		
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			of Ramadan.
		
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			And I never saw him fasting other than
		
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			Ramadan except in the month of Sha'ban.
		
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			So again, these are the hadith that talk
		
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			about the Prophet, a.s., fasting in the
		
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			month of Sha'ban.
		
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			Then there are other hadith which talk about
		
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			nafl fasting that we should also be aware
		
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			of.
		
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			Abu Sayyid al-Khudri, a.s.,
		
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			he says that the Prophet, a.s., said,
		
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			Whenever a person he fasts in the path
		
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			of Allah, a.s., which is nafl fast,
		
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			Allah, a.s., removes him and takes him
		
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			far away from Jahannam, the distance of 70
		
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			kharif.
		
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			So kharif is kind of like a distance.
		
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			So you can say 70 miles or 70
		
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			furlongs, whatever the amount is.
		
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			So 70 kharif, a person is removed from
		
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			Jahannam further away whenever he fasts, one fast,
		
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			nafl fast, in the path of Allah, a
		
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			.s. Abu Umamah, a.s., he says, Abu
		
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			Umamah, a.s., he said that I said
		
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			to the Prophet, a.s., Order me to
		
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			do something that is going to benefit me,
		
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			that Allah, a.s., is going to benefit
		
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			me through it.
		
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			He said, Make sure you fast because there
		
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			is nothing equal to it.
		
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			There is nothing equal to it.
		
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			According to another riwayah, the wording is mithl
		
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			instead of adl, which is basically the same
		
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			meaning, that hold fast to fasting, hold on
		
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			to fasting because there is nothing comparative to
		
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			it.
		
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			Hudayfah, a.s., he says that the Prophet,
		
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			a.s., said, That a person
		
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			who passes away while he is fasting, then
		
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			he will enter into paradise.
		
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			And there are so many other hadith.
		
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			And I would just like to finish off
		
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			with one point that the Prophet, a.s.,
		
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			mentioned in a hadith.
		
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			He mentions that a person should not fast
		
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			after the 15th of Sha'ban until Ramadan
		
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			starts.
		
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			There is a hadith in which the Prophet,
		
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			a.s., prohibits people from fasting after the
		
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			15th of Sha'ban.
		
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			So he himself used to fast a lot
		
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			throughout the month of Sha'ban, so much
		
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			so that Aisha, a.s., she says that
		
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			he, a.s., used to fast the whole
		
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			month.
		
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			But he used to advise others that after
		
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			the 15th of Sha'ban, do not fast.
		
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			And the reason for this, the scholars say,
		
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			is so that people do not physically become
		
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			tired before the main fasting of the month
		
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			of Ramadan.
		
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			So if that's the case, if a person
		
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			is going to fast in the month of
		
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			Sha'ban and he feels that he may
		
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			be too weak by the end of Sha
		
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			'ban to deal with Ramadan, then for him
		
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			it is better that he should not fast
		
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06
			after the 15th of Sha'ban.
		
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			But if a person has a habit, for
		
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			example, of fasting on Monday and Thursday, his
		
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			body is already used to it.
		
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			So it's OK for him.
		
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17
			He can fast on Monday and Thursday or
		
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			the 13th, 14th and 15th of the month
		
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			and it will be perfectly fine for him.
		
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23
			And even if he wants to do more
		
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			Nawafil fasts after the 15th of Sha'ban,
		
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			fulfilling the Sunnah of the Prophet, a.s.,
		
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			again, if he is physically able to do
		
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33
			so, then he can do it.
		
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35
			Otherwise, for the lay person, for the normal
		
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			person who is not used to it, then
		
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39
			this hadith applies.
		
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41
			After the 15th, a person should not be
		
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			fasting in preparation, physical preparation for the month
		
00:21:45 --> 00:21:45
			of Ramadan.
		
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			I pray that Allah gives us tawfiq to
		
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49
			understand and practice what has been said and
		
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			heard.
		
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			I say this and ask Allah's forgiveness for
		
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53
			you and for the rest of the Muslims.
		
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			So ask His forgiveness.
		
00:21:54 --> 00:21:56
			Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
		
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39
			O you who have believed, send blessings and
		
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40
			peace upon him.
		
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42
			Send blessings and peace upon Muhammad and the
		
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43
			family of Muhammad, the number of those who
		
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44
			prayed and fasted.
		
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46
			Send blessings and peace upon Muhammad and the
		
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47
			family of Muhammad, the number of those who
		
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48
			sat and stood.
		
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50
			Send blessings and peace upon all the Prophets
		
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52
			and Messengers, and upon the angels who are
		
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54
			near, and upon the righteous servants of Allah.
		
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56
			By Your mercy, O Most Merciful.
		
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59
			O Allah, honor Islam and the Muslims.
		
00:22:59 --> 00:23:01
			O Allah, shun polytheism and polytheists.
		
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03
			O Allah, help Islam and the Muslims.
		
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05
			O Allah, help those who helped the religion
		
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06
			of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,
		
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07
			and make us of them.
		
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09
			And abandon those who killed the religion of
		
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10
			Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and
		
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11
			do not make us with them.
		
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14
			O Allah, help us and do not help
		
00:23:14 --> 00:23:14
			us.
		
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16
			O Allah, deceive us and do not deceive
		
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16
			us.
		
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18
			O Allah, increase us and do not decrease
		
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18
			us.
		
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20
			O Allah, give us and do not deprive
		
00:23:20 --> 00:23:20
			us.
		
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22
			O Allah, our Lord, give us good in
		
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24
			this world, and good in the Hereafter, and
		
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25
			protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
		
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27
			And admit us into Paradise with the righteous.
		
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29
			O Almighty, O Forgiver.
		
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			Ameen, O Lord of the worlds.
		
00:23:30 --> 00:23:32
			Ameen, O Lord of the worlds.
		
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34
			Indeed, Allah commands justice and good, and to
		
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36
			give to those near to Him, and forbids
		
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38
			immorality and evil and transgression.
		
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40
			He warns you that you may remember.
		
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			Remember Allah, the Exalted in Might, and He
		
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43
			will remember you.
		
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44
			And call upon Him, and He will answer
		
00:23:44 --> 00:23:44
			you.
		
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46
			And the remembrance of Allah is higher and
		
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47
			higher and greater.
		
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48
			And Allah knows what you do.
		
00:23:49 --> 00:23:49
			Aqeem Salah.
		
00:24:35 --> 00:24:35
			Come to prayer.
		
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36
			Come to prayer.
		
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38
			Come to success.
		
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39
			Come to success.
		
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41
			Prayer has been established.
		
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42
			Prayer has been established.
		
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44
			Allah is the Greatest.
		
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45
			Allah is the Greatest.
		
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47
			There is no god but Allah.
		
00:25:10 --> 00:25:10
			Allah is the Greatest.
		
00:25:10 --> 00:25:10
			Allah is the Greatest.