The Devils Departure by Ustadh Bilal Assad

The Devil's Departure

Speaker: Ustadh Bilal Assad

Opening Greetings

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

(الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ - alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alameen, wassalatu wassalamu ala ashrafil anbiya'i wal mursaleen, nabiyyina muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een)

Many apologies for the delay in starting but alhamdulillah inshallah we'll start. Usually we have three people sitting at the front. We have the host, the speaker and a Qari. Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed us today with the speaker and the Qari two in one. So the Quran recitation will be done by the speaker inshallah himself.

So we'll start with the Quran inshallah and then we'll introduce the talk.

Introduction by Host

A guest that brings mercy and forgiveness. A guest that brings us closer to Allah and closer to his paradise and keeps us away from the shaitan and the hellfire. The guest that I'm talking about is obviously Ramadan. And as Muslims, we are advised that we should be generous to our guests. We should be good to our guests.

And why is it not that we should be the most best to the guest that we'll be receiving in about 12 days? That is the guest of Ramadan. The Salaf, they used to prepare for this 6 months in advance. 6 months in advance preparing and praying to Allah that he gives them life so that they may experience Ramadan.

And then they used to pray for another 6 months after Ramadan asking Allah to accept it from them. And one of the Sahabas of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said that let not be the day that you fast and the day that you do not fast be the same day. Meaning that when we fast, it should be completely different.

One of the scholars who has passed away, may Allah have mercy on him and grant him Jannah, he gave a comparison. He said that if you have a homeless man who used to smell, who has not had food for many days, who is hungry and you take him and you put him in a 5 star hotel and you tell him you can do what you like, you can eat whatever food you like, you can use the showers, you can use the bed, you can do anything you like for the next 30 days so that he can better himself, get away from the bad condition.

But 30 days later he comes back and he is lying in the bed. He is not taking a shower. He is not taking advantage of the food. He is not taking advantage of anything. This is like the person who when Ramadan

comes and it goes and they have not changed. They have not taken the benefits from Ramadan. They have not made it a lesson for them. And this is why we have to prepare for Ramadan. And this is what the topic today is going to be.

The devil's departure. As the shaitan leaves, how do we prepare for Ramadan so that Ramadan changes us? So that we can be closer to Allah. And to address this today, we have Sheikh Bilal Asad who has come all the way, all the way from Australia.

He was born in Williamstown. Did I say it right? Williamstown in Melbourne. He did his early education in Sharia in Lebanon. And then he did his tertiary education back in Australia in biomedical sciences. He I believe by profession is a teacher. And he has offered many children's books. One of them called the story of Adam (عليه السلام - alayhis salam). And that has been published. And he has also done many popular works on the internet.

Mainly titled Ahmad the repenter. Those who desire paradise. And the compassion of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam). And those who are lucky in the month of Ramadan flock to pray taraweeh behind him. And just as you have witnessed that Allah has blessed him with a beautiful voice.

So without any further ado, I want to start inshallah and give the mic to brother Bilal Asad to address us about the devil's departure.

Main Lecture

Opening Remarks

Yes it is my pleasure to be here. And I ask Allah to accept our good work. And to reward you. And I thank you for hosting me. The people of UK. The Muslims. My brothers and sisters.

Alhamdulillah we are brothers and sisters no matter where we are. And all the way from across the earth to here. We have a common bond. And I feel that I am actually among my family. Brothers and sisters in Islam. The devil's departure.

The Blessings of Ramadan

Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) told us that when Ramadan approaches, the eight doors of Jannah are open. The seven doors of hell fire are closed. The mercy of Allah is bestowed. The forgiveness of Allah is released. And the shayateen, the devils are locked up. All of this is out of the mercy of Allah upon us.

And imagine that it was showering rain which you are very used to. Perfect example. And the rain reaches every home. Except imagine that this rain had a specialty. Particular homes it won't reach. Imagine this rain are the drops of mercy from Allah. And they choose the homes on which they will drop. Allah's mercy. His forgiveness.

His rewards will drop on certain people. And there are certain people who will be chosen for this Ramadan to feel the mercy of Allah through it.

Imagine this Ramadan as an intensive course. A hurdle which you will jump this year on top of last year. And then next year another hurdle. And so on. Until you rise in your purity. And you grow and develop.

The Story of Adam and Iblis

Let me take you backwards first. I want to start, since the topic is the devil's departure, I want to take you back to the time when Allah created Adam (عليه السلام - alayhis salam). And a great debate broke out between the lord of the world, Allah, and one particular creature named Iblis, (عليه لعنة الله - alayhi la'natullah). The shaytaan. The king of all the shayateen.

We all know Iblis. We have to know who Iblis is. Because Allah says in the Quran:

The shaytaan is your enemy. So take him as an enemy. You've got to know your enemy. If you don't know your enemy, your enemy will get you. The Iblis is the king of your enemies.

When Allah said to the angels, when your lord said to the angels, I'm going to create a human being made out of clay, the angels were so surprised. They said, what's this creation? They thought to themselves, has Allah, is he angry at us? Have we shortcomings now towards our creator? Are we not worshipping Allah enough? Us, the angels.

Oh our lord they said, are you going to create on earth someone who will corrupt it and shed blood on earth, while we the angels, we glorify your name and worship you perfectly? If it's after worship, then we worship you ya rab. Have we done something wrong in our worship? So they want a reply. Sometimes you make a statement about yourself to get an answer.

These angels said ya rab, we worship you. We glorify you. As if they're saying, do we not worship you and glorify you enough? So Allah gave him a very simple answer. He said, I know that which you do not know. There's something about this human being that you cannot understand in your status, in your creation, in your nature as angels. You can't understand it.

These human beings are very special. I have valued them. And I'm going to nurture them. You worship me involuntarily. You can't disobey me. I've created you that way. But these human beings, there's something different than all my creations. I'm going to create him from clay.

The angels thought, well we're created from noor, from light, as in the hadith of Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam). And there was another creature there, Iblis. He was a jinn made out of the fire. And he had a status with the angels. Now Allah tested him.

So Allah created Adam (عليه السلام - alayhis salam). And when he fashioned him, Allah said to the angels, when I have fashioned him and created him, not at that point prostrate to him. Not at that point. And then I have placed into him from my soul. It's a special soul Allah created. He said, the letter Fa means immediately bow down in prostration to him.

The Special Soul

So therefore, we have been honoured with something called the soul. And Allah has valued us with that. Allah favoured us with that. And this soul, my dear brothers and sisters, I want you to remember it now throughout our topic tonight. I'm going to refer to it a lot. Because Ramadan and fasting has got so much to do with the soul.

And the second element that it has so much to do with is something called a nafs. And a nafs is made up of these three elements: the soul, the mind and the body. This nafs has got desires. It's got temptations. It has whims and desires. And you can nurture it until it becomes more valuable than the angels, so it goes in line with your soul. Or you can obey its desires and bring yourself down even lower than the animal.

The thing that we have that angels don't have is choice. And the thing that we have been valued with and honoured with is something called the special soul. Although the angels have a soul, we have a special soul which he did not share it with any other creation. So Allah has honoured us from the beginning.

Brothers and sisters, I want to emphasise this matter for a reason insha Allah that will insha Allah reveal itself as I speak about this topic. Allah says in the Quran: And we have truly honoured the son of Adam. And we made them rise and float above the sea and the land. And we made everything subjected to them. Do you not see? We made everything subjected to them. And made them favoured over every other creation that we have. Made favourable.

Allah has honoured us from the beginning. And he loves us tremendously. And his mercy is a nurturing like the nurturing of the mother, but beyond that insha Allah.

The Debate Between Allah and Iblis

So Allah said to the angels bow down to this. Fxcept one. Iblis. He wasn't among the angels. He bowed down to. He refused to bow down to Adam (عليه السلام - alayhis salam).

Now listen to this conversation. Allah said to him, why do you not want to bow down with one who I have created with my own hands? Iblis replied by saying, I am better than him. You created him from clay. And you created me from the fire.

Can anyone tell me what Iblis neglected here? What is he avoiding? He said I am better than him. And the reason he gave was, you made him from the clay and you made me from the fire. Is the reason that Allah

commanded the angels and Iblis to bow down to him because of the fact that he created Adam from clay? Or was it something else? So what is it that Iblis was avoiding to mention here?

It was, I mentioned just before. Can anyone tell me? The soul. Yes. It was the soul. This special soul. Why did Iblis want to avoid mentioning the soul? Because he knows that this is where our value lies. And when a person is envious of you and wants to put you down and raise himself up, they begin this thing called character assassination. And they begin to mention the lower qualities of yourselves and avoid the qualities which make you better than them. This is Iblis.

Iblis's Threat and Strategy

So then Allah and him began a debate. And he said to him, Iblis, do you see this one whom you have honoured above me? I am going to do this thing called Ihtinak on his offspring. What does Ihtinak mean? Literally it means to ride on top of a horse and steer it with its reins in any direction you please. A well tamed horse. And you climb on top of this horse and you are an excellent rider. And you begin to steer this horse in any direction you please. Whether the horse wants to go in that direction or not you steer it.

So Iblis made a promise and said I shall steer and ride on top of them to the point where I am going to move them in any direction I will, just like the excellent rider. He steers a well tamed horse. Such delicate and intricate description that Shaytan has made a huge threat.

In another verse the Shaytan said, see this one whom you have made me in error because of him, meaning Adam. Because of him now I am in error. He said to him and I want you to listen carefully to what he said here. It is very important for you to understand this. I shall come to them from in front of them and from behind them and from their right and from their left. You will not find the majority of them grateful.

You will not find the majority of them among the grateful. Does anyone know the opposite word in Arabic of shakir? It starts with a kaf. Opposite of shakir? Kafir. Correct. So shakir is when you notice and recognise and acknowledge the favours which someone has done for you. You appreciate them. Like when husband and wife are in good relationship. The husband mentions the good qualities in his wife and praises her. And the wife remembers her husband. And she appreciates the good he does for her. Rather than mentioning all the bad things every time. Mashallah some of them memorise it better than the Fatiha.

So we have to remember and appreciate the good things in each other. So this is a shakir. A kafir is somebody who denies the favours of others and neglects them. And avoids mentioning them. They know that they are there but they don't want to mention them out of pridefulness, out of arrogance, out of stubbornness.

So he said you are going to find the majority of his offspring not grateful. They will deny your favours. They will think that they are better than being guided by you. They are going to think that they are stronger than to need the guidance of the Quran or your messengers. They are going to think that they are self-sufficient. They are going to think that they are the lords of the world. In fact they are going to deny you.

Understanding Iblis's Directional Approach

Now I want you to analyse. He said I shall come to them from the front and from the back. The Arabic word used here by Iblis is (مِنْ أَيْدِيهِمْ - min aydihim) their front (مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ - min khalfihim) their back. But when he mentioned the right and the left he said (عَنْ - 'an) their right and (عَنْ - 'an) their left. (مِنْ - min) means directly with nothing in between. No barrier. So he is going to directly come towards us from the front and from the back with no barrier.

(عَنْ - 'an) means from a distance. Why from a distance from the right? And why from a distance from the left? Because of the two angels. There is an angel on the right and an angel on the left. Why have I mentioned this? I am emphasising Allah's nurturing and protection of you from this enemy. Allah is saying on the right and the left I have given them a protection. Shaytan will not be able to approach you except very subtly from a distance.

Because you see side, when someone hits you from the side it's like you get stunned by it. So the Shaytan can't get you from the side. From the back it means that he will deceive you. He will make you see something as if it was a reality but it is actually false.

Allah says in the Quran:

"The Shaytan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality. But Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty, and Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing."

The Shaytan always makes you afraid with a false promise that in the future you are going to get poor. So go ahead and earn your wealth from Haram. So that you don't get poor in the future. Your children, your family, you are going to be homeless. So go towards the Haram. And before you go there he tries to justify it for you. This is from the back.

From the front it is everything you see, you hear, your friends. How he entices people to come to you. He gets his allies who are the human Shayateen. Did anyone know or realise that there are actually human Shaytans? Right? There is Shayateen al-Ins and Shayateen al-Jinn.

Human Shaytans vs Jinn Shaytans

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) informed us that there are Jinns who are Shaytans and there are humans who are Shaytans. The word Shaytan literally means someone who has increased extreme in Kufr. Extreme in denial of truth. Extreme in denial of favours. So the Jinn who becomes a Shaytan is extreme in their Kufr. And the human being who becomes a Shaytan is extreme in his or her denial and Kufr and arrogance.

Who is worse?

The Jinn Shaytan or the human Shaytan do you think? The Jinn Shaytan. Hands up if you think the Jinn Shaytan. Hands up if you think the human Shaytan. Okay, hands up if you think the angel Shaytan. No, there is no angel Shaytan. There is no angel Shaytan. I was just tricking you there. The Jinn Shaytan and the human Shaytan.

The human Shaytan is worse than the Jinn Shaytan. Because there are words of dhikr that you can say that get rid of the Jinn Shaytan. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. He's gone.

My little daughter, she's about 5 or 6 years old now. I regret the day I told her, when you enter the toilet, say, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. Now she thinks every time she goes in there, there's a Shaytan waiting for her. So now she stands, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. I say, that's enough daughter. She's gone. He's gone. You've killed him. You've destroyed him. He's finished.

So you can get rid of the jinn Shaytan. You can recite Quran. Off he goes. You can call the Adhan and off he goes. You can say, Bismillah, when you enter your home. Off he goes. And you can come into the month of Ramadan and he is trapped.

As for the human Shaytan, you say, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. They're still in your face. Ya Ammi, say, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. They're still there. What are you saying? It doesn't go away.

Shaytan's Allies During Ramadan

So what does the Shaytan do when Ramadan comes? He prepares some allies to leave them behind, to represent him while he is trapped. So some people are wondering, how do you justify or reconcile this Hadith that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said that Allah, or that the Shayateen are, they are imprisoned and chained up during Ramadan, yet a lot of us, we get temptations and whispers during Ramadan. Isn't that right? We still get whispers in Ramadan.

The meaning of that is, number one, the Shaytan prepares allies before Ramadan comes. So bad friends, whom Allah's mercy does not reach them. Remember the rain that falls on the homes? The rain that falls on the homes. Well, this type of a person's heart is so dark and so full of rust and has neglected the Quran and Salat for so long during the year, that not even the month of Ramadan or any Quran or any Masjid can affect them anymore. Their soul is not nurtured.

So the Shaytan uses these people to do what? To influence the Muslims, the believers, the ones whose souls are strong. He leaves them behind during Ramadan. The other thing the Shaytan does is, he whispers to you, and puts in doubts in your minds on top of your desires before Ramadan comes.

The Importance of Early Preparation

So my brothers and sisters in Islam, let me mention one particular thing before I move on about the Shaytan. One thing that we must be aware of. A lot of people assume that, or a lot of people unfortunately today, they prepare for Ramadan exactly on the night of the eve of Ramadan. And the night when everybody is debating and arguing, is Ramadan today or tomorrow? This group does it this way, this group does it that way.

And then there is a disunity that happens on the eve of Ramadan. So the Shaytan is there right up to the eve of Ramadan. And then the person begins to fast Ramadan and tries to do all the good deeds. And then by the time Ramadan ends, it's like nothing happened. It's like as if it was a wave, a sudden wave that came and went. It's not a leap, it's not a hurdle for them.

But then there are people who prepare two months before Ramadan. Did you not hear the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) informing us about the virtue of Rajab? You know the month of Rajab? It comes, it's the second last month before Ramadan. It's the month before this one.

Rajab Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) used to increase in fasting. Then Shawwal came and Aisha used to say, I never saw the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) increasing in his worship, fasting more and donating more in charity, and doing actions of good deeds more than any other month other than Ramadan, more than the month of Shawwal.

Why is the Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) teaching us to prepare this way? Because the Shaytan is ready. The Shaytan is ready. And your desire, your nafs is going to get the better of you. So you need to train it just before Ramadan so that you can get the best, the best out of Ramadan.

My brother here mentioned the beautiful story about the Sahaba, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). When they used to prepare for Ramadan, it was six months in advance. And when Ramadan finished, they stayed for six months after it, worshipping Allah and making dua to Allah to specifically have accepted the rewards of Ramadan. So it's a whole year round. It's not just one month.

The Shaytan knows this. And he is your enemy. And the Shaytan knows that the month of Ramadan they're going to be away. So they have to prepare to make you lose. They have to prepare to make you lose. So we prepare a little bit before it.

Practical Preparation Steps

If you are still able to, we are still in the month of Shawwal, increase in your fasting. And there's no specific day in Shawwal where you should increase your fasting. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) used to increase his deeds in all of Shawwal. And Wallahi, Wallahi, it has its enormous effect on you by the time you reach Ramadan. You will be more prepared, more ready than anyone else.

And in fact, you'll be the type that will feel that secret mercy, which is bestowed upon an individual during Ramadan, of an enormous energy that no one else can feel. You'll find yourself being able to wake up in the

middle of the night without any problems. Your eyes will just open automatically at the time of Suhoor. And it's like you've slept all night. Your heart will continue pumping as though it is reading Quran.

Wallahi, I know of people who are so used to their words repeating the Quran during Ramadan, that when they go to sleep and they wake up, they feel that their lips were dry as though they were reading the Quran all night. These are people who have prepared themselves.

You know, if you want to run up a hill, a very steep hill, and there is a flat land before it, you don't wait until you get to the edge of the hill and start running upwards. That's going to take tremendous effort. But you start running a long pace beforehand on flat land, so that when you reach the high steep, at least you will get that extra strength to get you halfway there with ease, and only halfway you need to put the energy.

Because Ramadan is an uphill, and when you reach the top, Insha'Allah, Rasool (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) did say:

أَرْغَمَ اللَّهُ أَنْفَهُ أَرْغَمَ اللَّهُ أَنْفَهُ أَرْغَمَ اللَّهُ أَنْفَهُ مَنْ أَدْرَكَ رَمَضَانَ وَلَمْ يُغْفَرْ لَهُ

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

May his nose be rubbed in dust. Three times, and the Sahaba said, who? He said, the one who reaches Ramadan and hasn't been forgiven, so there is no greater opportunity than the time of Ramadan for our forgiveness.

O you who has regretted their sins, O you who knows of secret sins that no one else knows about, and you cry in the night, and you feel so guilty about it, and you've given up almost hope, this is your time Insha'Allah Ta'ala, to get rid of this burden off your shoulders, and for it to replace in your heart a sweetness, sweetness, sweetness, of happiness, of Iman that you've never felt before.

Why Iblis Cannot Approach from Above and Below

Brothers and sisters in Islam, the Shaytan comes directly from the front, directly from the back through his allies, and through his deception, and from the front through his allies, and leaving a seed in your desires before Ramadan, and from the sides, the Shaytan finds it difficult, the angels are there.

My question is, and here is where the Rahmah of Allah, and his love for you is really shown. Why didn't Iblis mention from above and from the bottom? He said, I will come to them from the front, the back, the sides, but he didn't mention, (وَمِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ وَمِنْ تَحْتِهِمْ - wa min fawqihim wa min tahtihim). Have you ever thought about that? (وَمِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ وَمِنْ تَحْتِهِمْ - wa min fawqihim wa min tahtihim) And I will approach them from above them and from beneath them. Why didn't he say that?

Because he knows, that above you, is Allah, whose mercy descends upon you. And when you lift your arms up to Allah in Dua, Allah does not allow any evil, any obstacle, any distraction, between you calling upon your dear Lord, and Allah responding to his beloved servant. It's a direct, direct connection.

And Allah says in the Quran:

"And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided."

And if My servants ask you about Allah, tell them, I am close, I am very close. You know like what a mother says to her child, when the child wakes up in the night, and the child is very scared, seeing a nightmare, Mom, Dad, and they come close to them, and they say, Don't worry, I'm here, I'm close, I'm with you.

You go to school, and they say, Don't worry, I'm with you. Just remember your mom, remember your dad. You know, I'm with you. When a dear friend tells you, wherever you go, just hold this, remember I'm with you. So Allah is telling you, like the nurturing mother, saying to its child, I am with you. (إِنِّي قَرِيبٌ - inni qareeb) I am close.

I will respond to the person who calls upon me when they call, so let them respond to my call. Let them respond to me. Because the way that I command you, Allah is saying, is the way to me, is the way to me. When Allah commands us something, or prohibits us something, He is actually drawing the line or the road for you in how to get close to Him. How to feel His presence.

To the point where, to the point where, you continue to do the compulsory actions, until you do the voluntary actions after that, until Allah says, I become your eye which you see with, your hearing which you hear with, your leg which you walk with, your hand which you touch with. And if you were to ask me for anything, I will give you. And if you seek refuge in me from anything, I will give you protection.

And there is nothing worse to me, Allah says, hated to me, than the time when I have to take the soul of that person out. And he is feeling the pain, while I hate to do so. But only to bring him back to me.

The Protection of Sujood

Brothers and sisters in Islam, Iblis said, I will not come, Iblis did not mention from the bottom. Why not from the bottom? Because, when you put your head down in sujood, and sujood is only to Allah, do we make sujood to anyone else? No we don't. It is forbidden to bow down, or make sujood to any creation, except to the creator.

So when you make that sujood, it is a special connection between you and Allah, and Iblis cannot, and the Shaytan cannot interfere, between you and Allah. So there are two very close connections. In your dua to Allah, when you are standing, sitting or on your side. And in your sujood, where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَهُوَ سَاجِدٌ

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 482)

The closest time a servant is to Allah, is when they are in prostration. So make your dua in prostration. The Shaytan understood that these are two avenues. But guess what? In order for the Shaytan not to come to you this way, there is one condition.

He said:

ARABIC TEXT (CRITICAL - PRESERVE EXACTLY)

1. ARABIC WITH FULL HARAKAT (CRITICAL):

2. Quranic verses - wrap in GREEN/EMERALD box WITH CLICKABLE REFERENCE:

"I shall deter them all and lead them astray, except your servants, not all of them, among them, who are sincere."

"Who are they? الْمُخْلَصِينَ Except your servants, not all of them, among them, who are sincere."

"The ones who when no one is looking, they worship Allah still very well. The ones who when no one is around them, they still abandon the Haram. They are not the ones who only in front of people, they act religious."

"But when they are alone, it makes no difference. Yes, some people are lazy when they are alone. Some people maybe feel motivated when they are around pious people. That's different. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that these people in front of others, they put on a show. And when they are alone, they don't care whatsoever."

"These people are not righteous, and the Shaytan has, doesn't care about them. Doesn't care about them. He doesn't care that they're going to, you know, be a problem for him. They are his allies. These are the people who will lead you astray, if you haven't prepared yourself."

The Power of the Nafs

"Brothers and sisters in Islam, having said this, the Shaytan went on his way. And what does he do? The only thing the Shaytan does, I mean, we all think that the Shaytan is this powerful strong being that makes us do things. No. The Shaytan cannot make you do anything. So when he is trapped, or chained up in Ramadan, why do you get whispers? Why do people get temptations? There is only one thing left. It is our desires. The Nafs."

"As the woman of the Aziz in Surah Yusuf, who seduced Yusuf عليه السلام when it was revealed that she was the guilty one, she said:"

"I do not say that my Nafs is innocent. إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي The Nafs truly likes to command you naturally to do bad things all the time, except whom Allah has given mercy."

"So my brothers and sisters in Islam, in Ramadan, the Shaytan is chained up, but our desires are left. Out of the mercy of Allah, he helps us, by taking the Shaytan's whispers away. And we do feel it. The whispers are much less during Ramadan. But when our desires are high, we get these human whispers."

"So Allah helps us to nurture our Nafs. When we don't eat and drink, our energy levels go down. When your energy levels are down, you don't feel like going out too much. You don't feel like being too active too much. If a haram thought comes to your mind, and possibly you do feel it. I mean I teach students, who are youth, 15 years old, 14 years old, 16 years old, they say, but I still feel like doing haram and being active in Ramadan."

"I say to them, but it's not exactly the same as when you are full of energy. When you are very hungry, it's different. You may feel like you want to do something haram, but your energy levels stop you at a certain point. You get tired of it. Because when the energy levels are down, then the level of desires is also down."

"My brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah says about this Nafs, He says, this Nafs and the way Allah fashioned it. He gave it the tendency to do evil, and He gave it the tendency to have piety. Whoever purifies this Nafs has succeeded, and whoever obeys this Nafs has lost and failed."

The Danger of Complacency

"If you leave a person alone, alone without food or water, they can become cannibals. Even though right now if I ask anyone over here, would you eat your friend? You would say, no I won't eat my friend, I wouldn't even dream of it. What do you mean cannibals? That's disgusting."

"You know some people, when they come to eat food, there's certain food they can't eat, they can't digest. Some people don't like tomato, some people don't like onions, some people don't like asparagus, or whatever you want. Some kids they get home from school, mum's cooked, I'll say it in Lebanese, Loubi again. Child says Loubi. The other day he made Malfuf. Loubi every day, why don't you make Malfuf today? And they start losing it at their mother. The husband comes back from work, why isn't the food ready yet? No desserts? Where's the Kahwa?"

"This person is trained to overcome this desire during Ramadan. But, if you left this person alone, without food or water, they will eat the asparagus, they will eat the onions, they will eat the Loubi again, they will eat that Malfuf, they will eat their friend. Yes they will. In fact they will murder, they will pillage, they will steal, they will even cheat and betray their own family members. They'll possibly put themselves before even their brother or sister, before their parents, before their children possibly."

"The human being can become the most evilest of evil if you were to let them go, because this Nafs, you don't know what it is capable of, brothers and sisters. Don't ever say to yourself, don't ever say to yourself, I'm strong, I can bear it. I can be alone with another girl in the room, alone for hours on end and I will be the most pious of pious. Don't fool yourself. Don't fool yourself. Don't be silly. Don't be silly."

"The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمfor example said about this Nafs:"

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2165)

"No man and woman who are not lawful for each other are alone in one room long enough except that the Shaytan is their third."

"Now we said that the Shaytan is not only the jinn, but the Shaytan is also your desires, the human Shaytan. So we have to be aware that this Nafs of ours can lead us astray to evil and therefore Ramadan and fasting is a way of nurturing it. The other thing we need to be aware of is this, this Nafs can also be nurtured and can be purified."

How to Nurture the Soul

"How do you purify this Nafs, this desire? Well, by nurturing your soul, by nurturing your soul. And the way we nurture our soul is with Dhikr, remembrance of Allah. You should start this Dhikr now, now. Start your night prayers now if you can. Night prayers means any prayer after Isha until Fajr."

"Why don't you start something called Salatul Dhuha from now. It's in the middle of the day, just before Dhuhr time, about 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 8 o'clock, after the sun rises, it's Dhuha prayer. 2, 4, 8, as many as you like."

"Why don't you from now start to train yourself and make a plan that every Asr, for example, of every day, I'm going to spend 20 minutes reading the Quran."

"Yes, maybe you don't know how to read the Quran. Maybe you don't know Arabic. Maybe when you read the Quran you stutter, you find it hard, it's difficult upon you. Then I say to you this, Rasul صلى الله عليه وسلم said you get double the reward. Double."

"Maybe you've memorized some Quran of my heart, you don't have to read it. Rasul صلى الله عليه وسلم was illiterate. How did he read it? He memorized it. So why don't you read Al-Fatiha or a few verses of Al-Jazaa Amma. What stops you from that? Read them over and over again. For every letter there is 10 Hasanat. And when you get that, automatically my dear brothers and sisters, don't think about it, don't think about it."

"Automatically your soul becomes nourished and you will feel a strength of spirituality that you haven't felt before. One brother said to me, and I shared this with him, he said, Subhanallah brother, I opened up this book called Fortress of the Muslim. Fortress of the Muslim. Hasan Al-Muslim. Hands up if you have that book. Very good. Mashallah. I'm so happy. You're doing your work very well brother. Mashallah."

"So Hasan Al-Muslim, you grab that book, and there are Adhkar, words of remembrance. For example, there is one which you can say 10 times a day or 100 times a day. It's very easy on the tongue. Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, Subhanallahi al-azheem. Let's all say it together. Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, Subhanallahi al-azheem, Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, Subhanallahi al-azheem. Sounds better than music, isn't it? Better than R&B. Right? They told me don't joke in the UK. They don't laugh too much. Alright. I'll stick to my natural self. Okay."

"So the Adhkar, which you say during the day, really nourish your soul immensely. Saying these words over and over again, Wallahi al-azheem, you start feeling yourself very special. You know why? Because you're nurturing your soul. You know when you nourish your body, and you change your diet, and you start doing exercise, suddenly you find that everything about your mentality, about your brain, about your system, starts to run much better. The bags under the eyes start going."

"You wake up in the morning a little bit more with fresher skin. You start to work in your day with a lot more energy. And you think, how did this happen? Well, you've changed your diet. Automatically. Similarly, when you change the diet for your soul, then it is prepared, inshaAllah, to feel the closeness to Allah. By the time you reach Ramadan, Allahu Akbar."

The Transformation During Ramadan

"The rahma of Allah descends upon you. The angels begin to make dua for you. The shaitans, off they go. The mercy of, the forgiveness of Allah is opened. The doors of Jannah are opened. The Quran, the month in which the Quran was sent down, begins to nurture your soul."

"The people and their congregations begin to grow. You go to pray taraweeh, men and women, yes. You go and pray taraweeh, and you feel the unity of the Muslims and the spirituality. And subhanAllah, you begin to feel this sudden energy, this surge of energy like you've never felt before. Tell me if I'm wrong, subhanAllah."

"Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Wallahi, brothers and sisters, for the person who has prepared for Ramadan and anticipates it, that's the condition, and loves it, and looks forward to it, and understands why Allah has commanded you to fast, then during Ramadan, you find that you have this special surge of energy, that you get up at suhoor, and you say to yourself, how am I able to do this right now? You go to the masjid, and you say to yourself, how am I able to stand 20 rakaat, praying taraweeh, how am I able to do that?"

"How am I able to abstain from food and drink? In any other day, I would, you know, if I see food and drink, I can't wait to eat my best, you know, whatever tickles my fancy. But in Ramadan, you look at yourself and no one's looking, and you're so thirsty, you see the tap in front of you, you see the fridge in front of you, you can easily grab a bit of water and drink it, but you abstain from it. There's this guilt inside you. Where did this come from? Where did this come from?"

"This is a secret rahmah from Allah bestowed upon you, O servant of Allah. Remember this. Your soul is being nourished, alhamdulillah. Your soul is being nourished."

The Special Rewards of Ramadan

"In Ramadan, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said every normal hasanah that you do, good deed, is multiplied by how many? Seventy. Good guess. But you were sixty hasanat off. Seventy hasanat, brother. Seventy hasanat."

"But, guess what? The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that Allah says, every action that you do is for you, except for fasting. It is for me, and I reward for it. What does it mean? It means that every action you do has a calculated amount of hasanat that you get."

"For example, if you recite the Quran, for every letter that you read, you have ten hasanat. But, in Ramadan, it's multiplied by seventy. The only difference is, there is extra reward in Ramadan, which only Allah knows how"

"much it's worth."

"These extra rewards, the angels don't even know about them. And on the Day of Judgment, after all your deeds are scaled, and weighed, and you think that you may enter hellfire because your deeds are not enough, Allah calls His angels and says, I have with me here, a reward for this servant of mine which I have kept and invested for him, on his behalf and her behalf, because they used to fast voluntarily for me, and put these on his or her scale, and enter my servant into Jannah."

"He left or she left the food and water and their temptation for me. And I am the only one who today will especially reward them for it. Not the angels. It is not calculated. In fact, it has no calculation."

"Why? Why all of this, brothers and sisters? Allah is nurturing you. Allah is looking after you. Allah is making you grow. Allah is making you stronger. Like when a parent makes their child stronger. They tell them, you have to do your homework. They punish them if they don't. You have to do your Salat. They will take away something from them if they don't do their Salat."

"Then you grow up a little bit more. They let you out into the workforce. They let go a little bit. They are training you. You go for your driving test. You have to drive by yourself. You have to go through it. You go through some burdens and through some suffering. You are only growing through that suffering. You are only growing through that suffering. And fasting creates for you an enormous, tremendous, unbelievable, conscious like you have never felt before."

Reflecting on the Pain of Fasting

"When you fast this Ramadan, inshaAllah, brothers and sisters, think about this. You see this pain that you go through, the fasting and the pain of thirst? I want you to think about it. Reflect upon this pain and say to yourself this, Subhanallah, I have chosen. I have chosen to fast for Allah in order for me to gain a growth for it. And I know what Allah wants from me is something great."

"When you see, when you feel this pain, think about this. For every pain that you are feeling, Allah is giving you rewards upon rewards for it. Allah is Rahim, He is forgiving. Think about this."

"When the day of judgment comes, you will look back at this life and think to yourself, Wallahi, it only seemed like one day. Allah says:"

"Ask those who can calculate and they will say, you know, all this life, from the beginning of Adam till the end of time will seem to us like it was only one day. And you will say to yourself الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ I did not waste it."

Don't be one of those who will say, Oh no, I can't believe I complained and I didn't use that one day, half a day, a speck of a speck of the time, it feels like it was nothing and I wasted it for this everlasting world in Jannah.

Brothers and sisters, think about what you are going to gain out of this abstinence from food. Think about the empathy that you will be developing. Think about the people who are fasting involuntarily around the world. Think about how grateful you are to what Allah has given you. We appreciate things when they are not with us, right?

First World Problems vs Real Struggles

Think about the fact that when you are fasting, you no longer think about what we call first world problems.

You know what first world problems are? First world problems? Damn man, I haven't had my coffee today. Do you have coffee here in UK? Is coffee a big thing for you? It's a big thing in Australia. Is it a big thing for you? Nod if it is. No? You are just staring at me. Okay. This is called the greasy in Aussie language. Greasy meaning you are just looking at me.

Okay. If coffee is a big thing and I worry, I've got a bad temperature and I haven't had my coffee. Or first world problems. Oh man, what's this? The shower is not hot enough for me. Mum, switch it off. The water has gone cold. Don't you know I'm in here? Don't you care about me? We lose this temper at our parents, at our brothers, at our sisters. First world problem issues, man.

When you are fasting, you look at yourself and you say, man, I don't care about the water. I don't care about the coffee. I don't care about this. I don't care about the blank. I don't care. I just want my food. I just want my water. Suddenly you find yourself that oh my God, you don't really need all of that stuff. All the stuff they advertise on television and try to make you want it, you don't need it. But they make us need it.

So fasting protects you against commercialised products. They make you feel like you need to do this. You need to be like that. You need to buy this. Subhanallah. And Ramadan is all about not wasting. So it's about saving. And it's about fixing your mentality and knowing that in this life it is only a temporary enjoyment and it is a deception.

When you fast in Ramadan, you look at yourself and you say, Subhanallah. Wallahi, truly, this life is nothing but a temporary deception. I am only a wayfarer. I am passing by. Inshallah, I can do this. And Inshallah, I will reap the benefits at the end of it. Inshallah ta'ala.

Closing

My brothers and sisters, I have been given the time to stop and we'll stop here, Inshallah, and give you some, maybe a few minutes, Inshallah, for any questions that are relevant to the topic. I thank you for listening and I ask Allah to help us reap the true benefits of this coming of Ramadan and to make us stronger against our nafs and our desires.

Make our families more stronger and together. I ask Allah to bring our hearts together more and to unite the cause of our Muslim brothers and sisters and to assist us against ourselves and against the shaytan. I ask Allah to make this Ramadan one in which He will heal our hearts and heal our souls.

May Allah forgive us and may Allah pardon us for our shortcomings.

"[I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and for you, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions altogether.]"

End of Lecture