This lecture reframes the preparation for Ramadan from a focus on personal achievement to a singular pursuit of Allah's acceptance, emphasizing that Ramadan is about Allah, not the individual.
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First and foremost, I want to thank the
brothers from the ministry, from the
mazjid, the volunteers, the staff, the
imam, everyone that facilitated this
lecture tonight. I want to thank all of
you for coming out. I ask Allah subhana
tala to allow us to reach Ramadan and to
allow us to have an accepted Ramadan.
Allah I mean,
so I've been thinking a lot about this lecture,
lecture,
probably more so than any lecture I've
ever given on how to prepare for
Ramadan. And I'll tell you exactly why.
Two reasons. Number one, I always like
to tie the Ramadan prep to the series
that I'll be doing in Ramadan. And so
for those of you that are following, we
will do be doing a series
at Institute for Islamic Research, the
names of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and
tying in the names of Allah subhana wa
ta'ala to our daily lives and I named
the series the name I need to show the
universality of connection to Allah's
names across circumstances and so that's
the first thing number two
how do we not repeat the exact same
thing every single year you see if I was
to Ask everyone in here, how many times
have you heard a lecture about how to
prepare for Ramadan? I'm pretty sure
everyone in here has heard a lecture
about how to prepare for Ramadan tens of
times, if not hundreds of times. Because
every year the same thing happens. We
get excited. We make dua. We know what
the are going to be about. We make plans
and then next thing we know Ramadan is
over. and we say inshallah next year and
we don't know if there will be a next year.
year.
So I wanted to start off with a basic premise
premise
and it's actually something that I take
when we would go to Hajj and may Allahel
accept the Hajj of those who have gone
and may allahel accept the Hajj of those
who intend to go but have not been able
to physically go.
He would always start off our Hajj group
and he would say, "What is the reward
for Hajj?"
What is the reward for Hajj? I'm asking
you now, "What is the reward for Hajj?" Jah,
Jah, forgiveness,
purity,
all of you are wrong.
Why? Because the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam did not say there is a
reward for Hajj. He said
a Hajj that is accepted
has no
has no reward except for Jenna. You see
when we talk about the names of Allah
subhana wa tala the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam said Allah has 99 names.
He did not say whoever memorizes those names.
You memorize them, you act upon them,
you internalize them, you live with
those names of Allah subhana wa tala.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
did not simply say that attending
is the reward. Whoever comes early
before the sits down and listens
attentively to the im then he has the
reward. You see the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wasallam always
assigns an internal quality to an
external deed so that we do not become
obsessed with the performance and lose
the substance
and so if I was to ask you what's the
whoever fasts Ramadan is forgiven for
whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and
seeking the reward, Allah will forgive
them for all of their sins.
And so, Subhan Allah, if you think about
what we say when we finish the salah as
a habit, I'm not saying it's necessarily
the sunnah, it's not the sunnah, in
fact, to do it habitually, but you say
it's may Allah accept from you. Someone
finishes Hajj, you say, "May Allah
accept from you
it is and we say at the end of the month
of Ramadan, may Allah allow us to not
May Allah accept from you and from me."
You see, the profoundity of this is the
following that we are seeking Allah's
acceptance. And so I want to begin this
lecture tonight by completely flipping
the premise of what the average Ramadan
prep lecture looks like. And you know
what the premise of Ramadan is this
year? Not how can you read the most
Quran this Ramadan. Not how you can
change yourself this Ramadan. Not how
you can do this or how you can do that.
The premise is how can you be sure that
Allah has accepted your Ramadan?
How can you be sure that Allah has
accepted your Ramadan so that at the end
of this month
when we say
it is not just a wish but a realization
that indeed we hope that allahel has
accepted from us and from you and subhan
Allah if you look at the idea of
verily actions are but by intentions
the beginning is about Allah
It starts with something very basic.
Your Ramadan is not about you. It's not
about your habits. It's not about how
good you're going to feel. It's not
about your own upliftment. Your Ramadan
is about Allah, not you.
Connecting back to the names of Allah
subhana wa tala. It's about Allah, not
you. the end of Ramadan.
If you were to put yourself ahead
and you're standing in front of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala
and it is the last day of Ramadan
and this Ramadan has been presented.
You know, I remember the very first time
verily man sees himself even if he
presents his excuses.
You know, when you've prepared your
excuses in front of someone and they
might be really good excuses, but you
know that those excuses are not
legitimate. So, you know your teacher is
going to hold you account. you know that
your employer is going to hold you
account and you're looking at how to
arrange the timing, how to perfectly
But even as you're saying it, you know
that there's something illegitimate
about your excuse.
And when you're standing in front of
Allah subhana t on the day of judgment
and Allah says why did you do this or
why didn't you do this and you start
giving your excuses
you know and you know that he can see
subhanahu wa'ta as much as you see
yourself he sees you more than you see
yourself you know when they say he sees
right through you he sees right through
you. And so no matter how crisp the
voice is, no matter how you articulate
it, Allahel sees it through.
Even as you start to give your excuses,
you already know where the excuses fall
short. And Allah
knows more than what you know about yourself.
yourself.
So here's the premise. Your Ramadan is
not about you. It's about Allah.
And I want you to think about the end of
Ramadan. If you're doing an autopsy of
this Ramadan,
you have two trajectories.
If you live to see the end of Ramadan,
either it was an accepted Ramadan or it
was a rejected Ramadan. Those are the
two possibilities. If it was a rejected
Ramadan, I want you from now to put
yourself ahead of this Ramadan and to
read the autopsy of your Ramadan.
And if this isn't your first Ramadan,
then you probably have a lot of
experience in failure and success. And
so if you're reading through the autopsy
of your Ramadan, why it failed, what is
in that autopsy?
This is an experiment, a visualization.
By the way, something very powerful to
write down, right? Write it down for
yourself. Sit with yourself before
Ramadan starts and write the autopsy of
your Ramadan if it fails. And then on
the other hand, if it was accepted, if
it was a good Ramadan, why was it a good
Ramadan? Write it down.
You see, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives
us the beginning and the end. And look
how remarkable the consistency is.
It begins with the name of Allah and
with the intention of pleasing Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. It ends with
The end of Ramadan, Allah tells you
exactly what it should look like. What
the end of Ramadan should look like.
And you are glorifying Allah for what he
guided you to and you have become
grateful to him for that guidance and
every other blessing that follows. This
is what the end of Ramadan should look
like. like a successful Ramadan is that
by the way there's a legal
implementation of this which is rightbar
so there's a legal implementation to
this as that as you finish this period,
you should come out declaring the
greatness of Allah. But look at the
consistency here. I gave you the example of
when you finish your remember Allah
that when you finish your prayer
remember Allah standing sitting and
When you finish your
and you go back to your daily life,
remember Allah frequently so that you
When Allah gives you material victory,
when he gives you the victory of Islam,
say subhan Allah, say glorify Allah and
seek forgiveness. You see, the end of
every one of our
is remember Allah, remember Allah,
remember Allah, remember Allah. The
beginning of every single one of our
ibad is begin with Allah, begin with
Allah, begin with Allah, begin with Allah.
You start with the intention solely for
the sake of Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
Somewhere along the way your intention
might get chipped away at but you keep
going back to at least that my original
I fasted for you. Oh Allah I am fasting
for you. There's something so beautiful
about the affair of Islam in this
regard. You know what it is
that the Sahabah
understood as the scholars of Tuskia
said that their whole life
was merely worship of Allah subhana wa
ta'ala and so they did not distinguish
between their sleep and their waking up.
They did not distinguish between their
eating and their fasting because all of
in the obedience of Allah subhana wa
tala. You know what that means? Think of
it this way.
The last day of Ramadan, you are
commanded to fast. It is haram for you
to eat or drink.
The first day of Eid, it is haram for
you to fast.
The same Lord that commands you to eat
and drink is the same Lord that commands
you to withhold from eating and
drinking. And so the very first affair
of fasting is Allah what you tell me I do.
do.
It is between you and I. Oh Allah, this
is your affair. You command. I do not
command. You tell me when to start my
fast. You tell me when to end my fast. I
don't get to add or detract a minute of
that fasting.
you are my Lord. I am your slave.
And here's what I want you to think about.
When Ramadan starts,
there is a covenant that is going to be
made with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And the Sahabah,
they were very different from every
generation that came after them,
including the including the immediate
generation after them. And the best
generation after the companions of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was
the generation immediately after them.
The best generation after the Sahabah
was the generation of the
Sahaba were a people of quality.
The were a people of quantity, not
without substance,
but without the depth that the Sahaba
had of understanding of substance. The
Sahaba understood this affair in the
deepest sense.
Their felt deficient
in knowing the companions. I mean, how
would you act if you met Abu Bak?
How would you act if you knew Omar? How
would you act if you knew and and and
and
how would you act if you knew these
people? May Allahel be pleased with
them. How would you act like you would
feel so small? I met
what's my compared to his? I met
what's my compared to hers. So the they
felt like we need to catch up here and
that the secret the difference between
us and you
is not the amount of prayer. In fact the
if you took the number of Quran that
they made they made more of Quran. If
you took the number of that they prayed,
the prayed more than the if you took the feats
feats
of how much they would do, it was more
than the companions. But says that's not
the difference of the secret between us
It is smaller in your eyes than a strand
of hair. In
We the companions saw those same things
that you see smaller than a hair as of
the most destructive major sins.
We had greater reverence of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You treat sins very small.
We treat the same sins that you consider as
as
minor deeds as major sins.
It's a reverence of Allah that we have
that you don't have. Okay,
Okay,
which brings me to the next point here.
My lastb
was about
was about how early you get to salah and
the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam
giving the tears of rewards right that
who gets there first and how late is it
to prepare for something right
I'm going to tell you something which is
very important and please pay close attention
attention
when the halan of Ramadan shows
there is a certain closing of a book
and an opening of another book. It's
very serious how you welcome the hilal
of Ramadan.
It's not Ramadan is not something that
you get into it. Ramadan is something
that you've prepared for and when
Ramadan comes Ramadan when Ramadan comes,
right, the gates of paradise are opened,
the gates of hellfire are closed and the
There's something that happens at the
beginning of the month. That's the
equivalent of when the angels close
their role book as the starts. That's
the equivalent of
and those that caught in that's the
equivalent of getting to before.
It's the equivalent every one of these
they have that secret that ingredient.
The Sahabah,
they looked at
in a very special way. How they welcome
the month of Ramadan in a very special
way. And I want you to pay very close
Firstly, I want you to memorize this dua
with me.
And we're going to go into the details
and he was a young boy when uh his
parents embraced Islam. In fact, he has
a very beautiful narration. His mother
who I believe her name was Zan.
I know her name was Zan. Zan was his
mother. She brought him to the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam when he was a
child and she wanted her child abdah to
take ba with the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam
wasallam
and you know imagine when someone brings
their baby puts their baby by the way
some of you come to me to take pictures
with your baby I'm not a politician
number one number two there's no baraka
on my holding your baby or kissing your
baby and I'm and I'm being serious about
that by the way like I'm flattered
But your baby's probably going to cry
when you hand your baby to me. And I'd
rather spare myself and your baby the
embarrassment and the trauma. All right?
But imagine this woman bringing her ch
her baby to the prophet sallallahu
his hand on his head and he takes the
bea that way from him to validate the
mother that wanted her child. It's like
in Hajj where a woman holds up her baby
and goes, "What about this one? Does he
have does his count?" So,
So,
she brought Abdah to the prophet as that
baby for the prophet to take from him.
He says in an authentic narration that
the companions of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam
would say this dua the way that they
would say or recite the Quran
at the entrance of the hil.
By the way, the hil he's talking about
here is every month. So this is a dua
that I want you to learn that you will
say at the beginning of every single
month from now on. It's a good way to
plug ourselves into the Islamic calendar
as well, by the way, because most of the
time outside of Ramadan,
we have no idea what month of the year
we're in. So, it's a good way to
accustom yourself to welcoming the month.
month.
their narrations as well and their
disputes about them to the prophet
and I'll talk about the difference in
shah in a But this is an authentic
narration that we the companions would
say this the way that we would say a
surah from the Quran. The way we would
recite the Quran when the month would
Oh Allah let it come upon us with safety
Islam
and with pleasure from this is how they
renew the intention of the month.
Ramadan is no exception to this. And so
the dua that you will say with the first
night of Ramadan, how you will embrace
First and foremost, let it enter upon us.
us.
I'm going to share with you something
that is a rule
in Tuske,
a rule in Islamic spirituality.
It is a rule, a fundamental rule in how
we understand Allah subhana wa ta'ala. that
this is one everyone enters into
paradise through my um except for those
who refuse.
Number two, no one will enter Jenna
except by the mercy of Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
Please pay close attention to this.
You want your Ramadan to be accepted
first and foremost. Ramadan comes upon you
you
You do not come upon Ramadan. There's
something deeply profound about
if Ramadan comes upon you, dear brothers
and sisters
and you avoid what Allahel has commanded
you to avoid and you do what Allah has
commanded you to do, your Ramadan is accepted.
accepted.
Your is accepted.
The judgment of it goes back to what we mentioned.
mentioned.
How will you continue to be in a state
of Islam with allahel
as Ramadan comes and it goes? Because it
speaks to the fundamental nature of your
lord. Allahel does not look at it and
say oh well this much this much
you prayed this much on versus that. It
It comes upon us. It is from the
the births of mercy from the most
merciful. Therefore, so long as we
observe the season, the way that we are
supposed to observe the season, it is accepted.
accepted.
It's like when I tell people when we go to
to
Allah tells you everything not to do injah
injah
tells you what theam isam means what is
forbidden for you when you are in a
state ofam
your h is not going to be rejected
because you didn't make awesome dua and
your h is not going to be rejected
because you didn't cry in
Your h is a mercy that Allah sent upon you.
you.
Observe the season of Allahel upon you.
This incredible mercy, go where he tells
you to go. If you sat in, this is a bad
idea by the way, but if you sat in the
entire day
and you didn't sin, but you observe the
rights of and you didn't make dua,
your still counts.
Now, by the way, this is not an excuse
to sit around and smoke or go to four
different buffets and play cards, um,
backbite and gossip and talk to other
people. I'm saying that technically
speaking this is the mercy of Allah that
if you just went there when he told you
to go there sat there observed your
properly got to on time left on time
observed the it is Allah's upon you it's
Allah's grace upon you
that your is accepted
your is accepted so we start from this
place and Why do I say this? Cuz I bring
it back to what
said about reverence. The reverence of Allah's
Allah's
of Allah's commands, of Allah's seasons,
this incredible thing that he's put upon
us. And then I want you to imagine
sitting withdah.
How many do you think Abdah
would make in Ramadan? I mean this man
was the core recipients from the Sahabah
of the Quran from the mouth of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to
I took 70 suras from the mouth of the
fresh like it was recited to the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was the very first person to recite the
Quran in public. He went to the Kaa and
he recited what the imam beautifully
recited tonight and was beaten for it.
He loved the Quran. If you read the
authentic narrations about Quran, the
virtues of the Quran, so many of them
are from
so I want you to imagine you're sitting withdah
and you're asking him for a Ramadan tip.
Pretty amazing, right?
"How would you, oh companions of the
messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wasallam receive the month of Ramadan?"
Are you ready?
You ready for what he's going to say? He says,
No one of us would dare
to let the hilal of Ramadan come upon
us. And we have in our hearts a grudge
against any one of our Muslim brothers. Whoa.
That's something
you know. Subhan Allah. I think about
this and how about someone that has
against their parents.
I know it stings, but it should sting,
right? He's saying we would not dare, we
would not have the the audacity to let
the halal of Ramadan come upon us. And
we had that in our hearts. So I ask you,
do you have a grudge in your heart
against your brother Muslim?
You haven't cleared it yet. You've got a
Allahel does not burden a soul beyond
its scope. At least try
seek forgiveness for your brother. Seek
forgiveness for your sister. Do
everything you can to remove it from
your heart until Allah
the one who turns the hearts removes the
residue from it and he's the one who
controls your heart. Right? But take the
statement of
and from
when you see the you see the terms here
and is saying you guys are getting this
wrong. You're thinking about this the
wrong way.
This is not an affair of quantity. This
is an affair of depth with Allah
Ramadan the Lord of Ramadan. And so I
"Oh Allah, let it come upon us.
And of course in the famous
Safety and faith. Subh this Ramadan series.
series.
Um and I'm going to personally request
you all to help us beat the shadow bands
by watching it and sharing it because we
have throughout the Ramadan series. In
fact, the Ramadan series this year is
situated in
okay and we know exactly how these
algorithms deal with that.
And you will see a sister that's fleeing
bombings in the Ramadan series.
When you wake up in Ramadan, your
concern is let me not miss
so that I don't get dehydrated today. I
need to wake up on time, set my alarm
properly, get up, drink water, hydrate,
get some maybe some tam, some dates or
whatever else I eat so that I can be
sustained for the day of Ramadan. That's
your concern. And you know what it's
like when you miss and you wake up and
you have that dryness in your mouth.
Imagine the people of
when they sleep in their tents
and their concern is not whether or not
they will have bread on the table. It's
whether or not a bomb will fall on them
that night.
It's a different mindset.
When you're not in safety, you can't
think properly,
right? You can't think properly. And so,
oh Allah, let it enter upon us with
safety. Let us have safety this Ramadan
and and be able to exert ourselves in
faith. And when I say
I don't just mean me and my family. I
mean my brothers and sisters in I mean
all of this, every single part of it,
let it come upon us with safety
is and peace and submission.
Subhan Allah.
something very profound that the point
about this part of the hadith by the way
when you think of safety and you think
of salam
you're thinking about you as the
recipient but not as the giver
but you're not just asking allahel to
receive safety and salam and peace
you're asking Allah to give safety and peace
peace
I seek refuge in all in you, oh Allah,
from misguiding or being misguided, from
slipping or causing to slip, from
oppressing or being oppressed,
right? You're asking Allahel
to protect you from both. Look at this dua.
dua.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says
that the Muslim
the Muslim is the one from whom other
people feel
And the is the one from whom other
people have security
or trust in regards to their lives and
in regards to their property. You see
the connection is
is
im the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam
actually said the thing that you should
fear most is that you are not giving
that you are not giving salah because
then it's counterintuitive to ask
allahel for those things when you are
doing the opposite of them right and so
you're not just asking Allahh to let the
month of Ramadan come with and im and
you're asking allahel
to allow you to manifest
those things and to not violate them yourself.
and for the devils to be put aside for
protection from the
and for the pleasure of the most merciful.
merciful.
Your highest pursuit
is ya Allah. Are you pleased with this
Ramadan or not?
Ya Allah, allow me to observe this
Ramadan in a way that's pleasing to you.
Allow me to act in a way that's pleasing
to you.
Allow me to observe it in a way that's
Until you're pleased, ya Allah. That's
the point here. This is what I want from
this month. This is what I want you to
guide me to.
And so we now come to the very simple
hadith that you know
remember your Ramadan now is about
Allah. The whole premise of this lecture is
is
how to make sure Allah accepts your Ramadan.
May Allah accept it from us. Listen
carefully to this hadith from the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that
I know that you've heard many many many times.
whoever does not give up falsehood
falsehood
and acting upon it.
Allahel has no need of them to leave off
their food and their drink. For those of
you that attended the sessions on,
we talked about azour and we said azour
is a falsehood
that harms someone. Slander,
fake news, backbiting, a lie that's told
in court, a false testimony that's
given. Zur is a falsehood that harms.
But there are other narrations where the
prophet expands upon that. And so here's
an assignment for you.
And pay very close attention because
Allah has no need. Allah shuts the door.
Remember the hil of Ramadan comes
Mondays and Thursdays. The deeds are
presented to Allah. The prophet sallall
alaihi wasallam says Allah says I'm not
even going to look at the deeds of these
two people.
Don't even present their deeds to me
until they reconcile what's amongst
themselves. The of Ramadan is coming.
Ramadan is starting. The urgency I want
you to feel the urgency and the prophet
sallall alaihi wasallam is saying
whoever does not give up falsehood allahel
allahel
has no need of them giving up their food
and their drink it doesn't matter you're
just dieting at that point you're just
we have to have good expectation of
Allahh because that's a scary hadith So
is there a way to take this hadith and
to operationalize it for Ramadan? The
answer is yes. There's a principle in Islam
Islam
and it goes back to the statement of that
that
voluntary good deeds
do not expate
for repeated sin.
When the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam says
You follow up a sin with a good deed, it
will wipe it out. That doesn't mean that
you insist upon a sin and you commit a
good deed and hold them simultaneously together.
together.
whoever does not give up falsehood and
and
he compiled
a work on it's the most famous work in
Islam on major sins if you Google it and
you search major sins by
you'll see the list right it's the most
famous work that we have of categorizing alaba
alaba
some of them we might not even take
many of the they say
is all of the all the major sins.
So we ask Allah to protect us from
so you go and you search and you see am
I guilty of any one of these major sins.
there is no such thing as a major sin
if a person seeks forgiveness for those sins.
sins.
And there is no such thing as a minor
sin if a person insists on that sin.
Do you understand the premise here?
Whatever you have done, this is the
Allah will forgive it if you seek
forgiveness from him sincerely. Right?
But if you insist upon even the smallest sin,
sin,
it no longer is a it's now a why because
it shows a disregard to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala from whom you seek mercy.
So it's about Allah. So that's the first check.
check.
whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and
with seeking the reward, Allah will
forgive them for all of their sins. One
of the beautiful things about fasting Ramadan
Ramadan
is that all six of your articles of
faith are engaged
are engaged in Ramadan. How the first
pillar of faith?
To believe in Allah.
And the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam
says that allahel has said all of the
actions of the son of Adam are for him
Fasting is for me and I will reward accordingly.
accordingly.
Subhan Allah. How beautiful.
for the fasting person is two periods of
joy when they break their fast and when
they meet Allah with that fast. And so
the very first way to engage here is to
There is no month in which you think
more about the angels than Ramadan
alone. You want so badly for the angels
to come to you to write you down amongst
those that are pleasing to Allah subhana
wa ta'ala and you aim for the highest. Imagine
ya Allah
comes down on
what if comes to my house? What if comes
to my masjid? What if
what if the angels the best of the
angels Allah allows them to record in my
house my prayer of
you have the angels that record when
other people eat around you and you are
fasting and you get the reward you have
the angels that record when someone says
something to you and you sayan I'm
fasting and you don't respond and the
angels respond on your behalf and the
angels record and so you're engaging ing them
them
in what brings them into your presence
and what causes them to flee away in
His books Ramadan,
Ramadan,
the month of Ramadan is the month in
which the Quran was revealed. And in
fact, every single book the prophet
sallall alaihi wasallam said in
authentic hadith was revealed in
Ramadan. The Torah was revealed in
Ramadan. The Zabur was revealed in
Ramadan. The inj were revealed in
Ramadan. Ibraim were revealed in
Ramadan. The Quran was revealed in Ramadan.
Ramadan.
And this is the month of the Quran.
The guest of Ramadan is the Quran. If
Ramadan is the season, Ramadan hands you
So honor it that way. Honor the Quran
that way.
Fasting has been prescribed upon you as
it was prescribed on those who came
before you through whom the messengers.
In Ramadan, you try your best to be like
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
There is no time of the year in which
you are more like the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam than the month of Ramadan.
Ramadan.
The prophet sallall alaihi wasallam's
coming to this earth was a season.
How amazing for those that got to
witness those 23 years alongside him
sallallahu alaihi wasallam while he was
walking amongst them. How amazing. May
Allah grant us an eternity with him.
But you try your best. You're paying
attention to his sunnah. You're doing
things of his sunnah that you typically
don't do. So you're engaging the belief in
for the fasting person is two rewards.
The reward of breaking your fast but the
reward of the hereafter. You're seeking
the hereafter. You're directly giving up
something of this world seeking it in
the hereafter. The reward of the hereafter
is in Ramadan. On that night of
everything that will happen in that year
is going to be written. Whether or not
you will go to Hajj is going to be
written. Whether you will go to Omrah is
going to be written. Whether you will
live or die is going to be written.
Whether you will get that job or not is
going to be written. The prophet
sallallah.aihi alaihi wasallam mentions
to us all of the different writings and
says a person will be walking in the s
and his name came down with a death
certificate on
top of that the number one problem that
people have with is time ma ma when When when
Allah is the one who decrees when the
sun comes out, Allah is the one who
decrees when the sun goes down. Allah is
the one who decrees night and day. You
subject yourself to his timing.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala Ramadan.
This is to fast Ramadan with im belief
and engaging the belief in all six
articles of faith as you're fasting Ramadan.
and seeking the reward. You will seek
the reward of every moment in Ramadan.
You don't approach Ramadan
like any ordinary day or month. Sins are
worse in Ramadan than they are
throughout the year. Did you know that
sins are far more agrievous in the sight
of allahel agrievous in the sight of
allahel in Ramadan than any other time
of the year or than any other time of
the year. Why? Because when Allah offers
a season of expanded mercy and good
deeds are blessed with more, then to sin
Is to seek the reward of every moment, every
every
ayah of Quran that you read, every time
something that you don't like happens to you.
Right? As we're taught to say that the
thirst has gone and the veins are filled
in and the reward has been guaranteed.
Inshallah you're seeking a reward. What
This is the manifestation of oh Allah
you are the one who pardons you love to
pardon so pardon me forgive me ya Allah
I end with these two things dear
brothers and sisters inshallah and then
I want to give you just a couple of
fasting has been prescribed upon you as
it has been prescribed upon those that
came before you so that you may gain tawa
tawa
only accepts remember we say from the
people of tawa tawa is that you restrain
yourself from sin this is tawa asbd
Allah said tawa is not fasting long into
the day or praying long into the night.
Tawa is avoiding the things which are
displeasing to Allah subhana wa tala.
What is beyond that is extraan.
means to stop as well. The sun stopped.
We stop. We pause. We restrain
ourselves. You're restraining yourself
from the halal should make you that much
more aware of your restraining yourself
from the tawa is restraint.
But look how beautiful when he took me to
the end of fasting is the beginning is
tawa the end is why because in the
material sense when you hold back from
the blessing of food and drink and intimacy
intimacy
Allah subhana wa ta'ala allows you to
recognize the blessing of those that
don't have that food in that drink. Correct?
Correct?
You recognize it now. You become more
empathetic. You become more grateful to
Allah subhana t for those blessings. And
so there's a an awareness that comes as
a result of restraint. An awareness that
But tawa is restraint.
Shukur is recognition.
You recognize the blessing
of everything that Allah has given you.
And at the top of that list, guidance,
I want you to imagine that last hour of
Ramadan and you are not of those that
are doing an autopsy, a failure.
You're doing a record of success.
And you look back and you say alhamdulillah.
alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah for being Muslim. Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah for what this faith gives
Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah. I don't want to be
anything but Muslim. I'm so grateful
that you allowed me to experience
Ramadan. I'm so grateful that you
allowed me to experience. I'm so
grateful that you allowed me to
experience the Quran. I'm so grateful
that you allowed me. Ya Allah.
Taqua is pausing the sin.
Shuk is the gratitude that comes afterwards.
afterwards.
You can't get to recognition without restraint.
restraint.
You welcome Ramadan with tawa. You end
Ramadan with
what does that look like in the
practical sense, dear brothers and
sisters? And I end with this. It's super
important. Your Ramadan is about Allah.
It's not about you.
Number one,
Ask Allah to accept your Ramadan before
it even starts.
And ask Allah to guide you to what will
make your Ramadan acceptable before it
even starts. Haya
Haya requires
requires
you actually submitting your affair to
Allah subhana wa tala.
I don't know how many I'm supposed to
do. I don't know how much Quran I'm
going to be able to read. I don't know
if I'm going to be able to do this or be
able to do that. Ya Allah, you guide me
to what's going to make this Ramadan
pleasing to you. Start off on that note.
who died before the prophet sallallaihi
wasallam received revelation but he knew
he knew there was one god and he puts
his back to thea
oh Allah if only I knew what was the
most pleasing way to you I would worship
at you with that pleasing way. But I
don't know any better.
who died before the prophet received revelation.
We know we know. And so we start with
that recognition
and we channel that recognition into his
number two. Quran.
The Quran is Allah's letter to you. If
Ramadan is about Allah,
how dare you neglect the letter that
Allah gave you? How dare you neglect the
The rope of Allah.
The rope of Allah. Allah extended that
rope to you. The Quran. What does it
mean to engage the Quran? I want you to
read the Quran with a commitment to
follow the Quran with a love of the
Quran with of the Quran with
the Quran. Occupy your free moments with
the Quran. The Quran. The Quran. The Quran.
Quran.
Number three.
The greatest way
to prove
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that you want his acceptance
is to accept him subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Make the commitments that need to be made.
I answer your call. Do you answer mine?
They are pleased with Allah and Allah is
pleased with them.
Commit yourself to that. I want you and
I to look at our lives and to see where
the discrepancies are. Every single one
of us has a discrepancy. Every single
one of us. If you're intending from now
to go back to those discrepancies or to
not repent from them in the first place,
What's the point?
And so make that commitment from now of
what you intend to bring back into
uh view with Allah subhana tala.
Number four,
if Ramadan is the season, the Quran is
the guest, the masjid is the place. As
As
says, and I'm paraphrasing that whoever
wants to die upon Islam, then let them
hold tight to the massages of Allah
subhana wa tala.
This is your chance to renew your
the house of Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
Make the intention to come home. Come home.
home.
Make the mazjid the center of your life
once again.
let your tongue be moist with before,
remember Allah. Remember Allah. Remember Allah.
Allah.
And at the end of this Ramadan, dear
brothers and sisters, don't tap out
before allahel allowed you to tap out.
So many people after the 27th night,
they move on. So many people on the 30th
night of Ramadan if there's a 30th night
they treat it as if it's not from
until the last minute from now clear
your schedule so that the last hour of
Ramadan you are making dua for
acceptance from Allahh clear your
schedule the last hour of Ramadan I will
worship Allah until the last hour says
worship Allah until death comes to you
worship Allah until the death of Ramadan
comes to you. Meaning use Ramadan as
May Allahel accept from you and I. May
Allah subhana t allow us to live to see Ramadan.
Once again, to all of the organizers, to
this masjid, to those that made the
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