The Power of Powerlessness

The Power of Powerlessness

Opening Greetings and Introduction

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barak ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman katheerah. Bismillahir rahmanir raheem.

Ibadallah, brothers and sisters, first of all, I want to thank you for taking your time, spend some time with me here online. Alhamdulillah, we're in the last days of Ramadan. This is the 25th today.

The Blessing of Few Days

So this is the month Allah says (أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ - ayyaman ma'dudat) - (Quran 2:184), that these are ayyam. In Arabic, ayyam is ala wazan af'al. It's called jama'u qilla. It's a plural of paucity.

In other words, these are few days. So if it feels like they went fast, they intentionally are there to do just that because this is an opportunity that we're being told not to squander. It's an opportunity of time in our tradition we have the concept of barakah, which in Arabic the word actually means to descend.

Understanding Barakah

So you have a camel, barakat al naqatu, like the camel alighted, descended on something. And so barakah is something that rain is called barakah. It's something that descends, and so I think the closest equivalent in the Western tradition is the idea of grace that you bless things.

People say grace before their meal. That's to add in that barakah. And so in our tradition we have barakah that inheres in time. We have barakah that inheres in space and we have barakah that inheres in people.

Barakah in Time

And so the barakah of time, for instance, there's an hour every day that is an hour of istijabah. And Allah hides these things. It's one of the things that He hides in time so that we pursue it fervently. (وَمَنْ أَسْلَمَ فَأُولَئِكَ تَحَرَّوْا رَشَدًا - Wa man aslama fa ulaika taharraw rashada) - (Quran 72:14). Taharri is to really fervently seek something, to seek it out.

And so Allah has hidden that time of barakah, of immense barakah in the day. And then Monday has a blessing and Thursday has a blessing. The Prophet was asked about fasting on Monday. He said (فِيهِ وُلِدْتُ - fihi wulidtu) - on that day I was born. In other words, it's a day of blessing because of the fact that he was born in it gives it an added blessing or barakah.

And the same is true for Thursdays because Mondays and Thursdays are the times when the angels take the actions of the servant. And so when you're fasting, they're taken in a state of incredible obedience because

fasting is one of the most rigorous types of obedience that we do.

The Blessed Seasons

And then you have the idea of Juma which is extra barakah on Friday and then the barakah of the Mawasim or the season. So for instance, the Hajj is an immense time of barakah. And then you have barakah in Ramadan.

You have barakah also according to some, not everybody agrees about this, Imam Malik differed, but the people of Sham, the nusf shaban, what they call Shab-e-Barat, is considered to be a night of barakah. And there is a khilaf. So when you see people say, oh, I don't celebrate that. That's fine. They don't have to celebrate it and those opinions stand. But the majority of scholars have seen it as a blessed night. And that's why in most places, especially in South Asia, that they have their own term for it, Shab-e-Barat. It's a very important night for them.

So these are times when there's an immense amount of barakah. And so again, you have barakah also in years. And the 17th of Ramadan is a day of barakah because it's a day of Badr. And traditionally Muslims would do the badriyya.

Laylatul Qadr: The Night of Decree

So this period that we have, these last 10 days, are considered to be an intense period of blessing. And it's difficult to translate the word Laylatul Qadr. It's often translated as the night of power, but it's actually the night of decrees. It's the night in which Allah yuqaddiru. And that's the dominant opinion that it's called Laylatul Qadr because Allah determines what is going to happen in that coming year.

And there's a lot of difference of opinion about when it is. In fact, some of the scholars actually argued that it was at any time during the year. And for that reason, they said that really the people of highest himmah, they consider every night to be possibly a night of qadr. But the common understanding is it's a night of power. In other words, it's a powerful night, which that is certainly true.

The Nature of Divine Power

And so I want to talk a little bit about power and the secret of powerlessness. In our tradition of qadr, Allah is Al-Qadir. He's Al-Muqtadir. He's Al-Qaadir. There are many words used to describe the different aspects of Allah's power, that Allah has absolute power.

We, on the other hand, have power that is granted to us. And there's differences of opinion about whether that power inheres in us, or is it something that is purely from Allah and all we earn is the action itself through kisab. These are what they call Daqeeq Al-Kalam, the particulars of Kalam.

And I was speaking last night with the great scholar Sheikh Salih Al-Ghorsi. He's really one of the great scholars of Ilm Al-Kalam. We were actually talking about this issue. He called me from Turkey. And because one of our students actually did a paper on this.

Our State of Powerlessness

So the idea of power, of human beings having power, we actually in the end, we express our powerlessness by saying (لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ - la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah). There is no power, there's no strength, no hawla, like you can't make any changes or actually affect anything. There's no strength or power except billah, through the means, the divine enablement.

This is the istitaa that Imam At-Tahawi mentions in his book, that He grants us. And so it's very important for us not to see power, even in the world, to see nations with power. They're actually, they don't have power in reality. And the people that understand this are actually the freest people because they're not afraid.

They're not afraid of people that are in power. They're not afraid. I mean, obviously we behave with the asbab. So we're not foolish people in that way. The Prophet said (الْمُؤْمِنُ لَا يُذِلُّ نَفْسَهُ - al-mu'minu la yudhillu nafsah), that a believer should never humiliate himself.

Wisdom in Dealing with Authority

And so Sidi Ahmed Zarouk and others mentioned that they should not ever put themselves in situations where they will be humiliated. And Ahmed Zarouk said (لَا يَتَعَرَّضُ لِلسُّلْطَانِ - la yata'aradu lissultan), that they don't oppose government in a way that the government will in turn humiliate them, put them in jail, and do these things. He said that was a type of idhlal that they did.

And in fact, in the famous hadith about the highest shaheed, which is the man who goes to unjust power and speaks the truth and is executed for it, Ahmad ibn Hanbal actually said that he shouldn't go knowingly, that he's going to do that, that if that happens, that's a shahada. But he shouldn't put himself in that type of position.

These are again khilaf issues.

The Natural State of the Servant

But the important point that I really want to drive home is that powerlessness is our state. It is the actual natural state of the servant of Allah. We are abd. And the thing about the abd, the abd is ajiz. He or she is powerless.

It's the abd and the ama that they are, they do what they're told by their mawla, which again doesn't mean that we don't do things, we choose things in the world, we do all these things, but we live with this alignment with the divine. In other words, we restrict ourselves to what Allah has permitted us to do. And in that way, we in a sense are handing over that freedom.

And in doing that, by entering into Islam, by entering into a state of submission, we actually become free. So there's an immense power in powerlessness, and there's an immense freedom in powerlessness. And this is something that the early Muslims really understood well. They understood this in a very deep and powerful way.

The Virtue of Humility

The Prophet ﷺ said طُوبَى لِمَنْ تَوَاضَعَ فِي غَيْرِ مَنْقَصَةٍ (Tuba liman tawada'a fi ghayri manqasah) طُوبَى (Tuba), some of the commentaries say that Tuba is a tree in paradise. There are many hadiths that use this term Tuba. It also can mean blessed are the people, but some say it's actually a tree with immense shade and fruit in paradise that will be for the people who do these things.

So he said, لِمَنْ تَوَاضَعَ مِنْ غَيْرِ مَنْقَصَةٍ - who humbles him or herself without manqasah, without, there's no deficiency in them. In other words, like a wealthy person that's humble despite his wealth, an intellectual, highly educated person who's humble despite their education and their understanding.

That's what it means to be humble, and it's something that we have to struggle with. There's a type of tawadu', if you actually look at the morphological form of it, it actually has to do with, like you actually do it with a knowledge that you need to be humble. Because in the end الْعَظَمَةُ لِلَّهِ وَالْكِبْرِيَاءُ لِلَّهِ (al-'azamatu lillah wal-kibriya'u lillah), the vastness, the greatness, the grandeur, the glory, and the majesty, all of these are attributes of Allah, not attributes of a servant, and so the servant should be humble before Allah.

Allah Elevates the Humble

And this is why the Prophet ﷺ said مَنْ تَوَاضَعَ لِلَّهِ رَفَعَهُ اللهُ (man tawada'a lillahi rafa'ahullah). Whoever is humble before Allah, Allah will elevate that person. And this is something that we have to learn as an ummah, that in many ways we tend to forget this important metaphysical truth, that Allah will elevate the people who are humble.

وَالَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا (Wa alladhina la yuriduna 'uluwwan fil ardi wa la fasada - Quran 28:83). Those who don't want to be exalted in the earth. They don't want it. لا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا . And that waw there indicates that these are two separate things. They don't want to be elevated in the earth.

Fir'awn, Allah says عَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ (ala filard - Quran 28:4). He exalted himself. He puffed himself up in the earth. And so it's very important that Muslims should not want to be in those positions of power or authority, no.

Seeking Positions of Authority

In fact, the Prophet said whoever seeks positions of authority or power, they should not be given them. There goes elections. So it's very important that we remember that Allah is the one that يُمَكِّنُ (yumakkinu), that He's the one that gives تَمْكِينٌ (tamkin).

But He gives tamkin with conditions. For the people He loves He'll give الَّذِينَ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ (alladhina makkanaahum fil ard - Quran 22:41) tamkin. What do they do أَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ (aqamus salah). You know, they establish prayer. They pay their zakat. They fulfill the obligations of being in that position.

If they don't have that ability, if Allah loves them, He will not give them, He will not establish them in the earth.

The Forgotten Sunnah of Powerlessness

And so powerlessness is an incredible sunnah that I believe it's actually a sunnah mansiyah. It's a forgotten sunnah of our Prophet. Even when he was forced into jihad, and it's very clear, Ibn Taymiyyah makes this clear, and many scholars, and if you haven't read Juan Cole's book Muhammad, A Prophet of Peace Amidst a Clash of Civilizations, it's a stunning book.

I mean, I recently read it and I actually had a meeting with the author, and I was just so impressed with how he showed clearly that the Prophet not only was far from a warmonger, which we know, that he really was constantly looking for avenues of peace. The Prophet always wanted to find an avenue of peace.

The Reality of Prophetic Battles

In the 29 battles, they're called battles, they're not battles. Ghazawat are military expeditions. They're not battles, but they're often translated as a mistake, because in those 29, there's again difference of opinion, 27, 29, but in those 29 battles, fighting only occurred in 11, and in the greatest battle in terms of numbers, which was the khandaq, less than 10 people died.

There were tens of thousands of people involved in that, 3,000 on the Muslim side, 30,000. It was 10 to 1 numbers. Despite that, less than 10 people died. And when I did a study of the number of people that died during the Prophet's lifetime, we're looking at less than 400 people. It's quite stunning.

And the Bani Qurayzah, which is clearly an exaggerated number, and the book that Barakat Ahmed wrote, Muhammad and the Jews, is I think a really important book that really shows that the numbers were grossly exaggerated much later.

Deeming Oneself Insignificant

So this idea of طُوبَى لِمَنْ تَوَاضَعَ فِي غَيْرِ مَنْقَصَةٍ وَذَلَّ فِي نَفْسِهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ مَسْأَلَةٍ - he deems himself insignificant in his own self. And this is another really important quality, is to recognize not only are we all expendable, as De Gaulle said, that the graveyard is filled with indispensable people.

I mean, one of the things about life is that when you die, most people are just going to, oh, you know, if they knew you, they might say, Oh, mashallah إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un - Quran 2:156). If they were close, they might send condolences to the family and things. But the people that are really going to miss you are your direct loved ones. Those are the people that are going to miss you.

The Impermanence of This World

Other people won't really miss you. The world goes on, and we've lost greats. When Ibn Manjour died, who was one of the greatest scholars of Morocco, the man who buried him, who was his student, wept and just said, I

The Theater of Divine Manifestation

Aalam is this incredible theophany. It's this amazing theater of enlightenment. It's this incredible manifestation of divine attributes, the actions of God, the afal of God. It's stunning with its stars in the heavens, all of these galaxies, this extraordinary sky, the blueness of the sky and its reflection in the ocean, the wonders of the sea, the incredible spectrum of flora and fauna on this planet.

Now we're living in a time where we're discovering all these micronutrients and all these amazing foods from all over the world. That aspect of the world is something to just marvel at and to feel joy just about being in it.

The Reality of Dunya

But the dunya is reputation. It's, you know, he said, she said. King Lear, there's a wonderful scene at the end of King Lear where he tells Cordelia, you know, about how we're going to be free now from who's in and who's out at the court. You know, we can live life now without having to worry about, because he has a realization, an incredible realization in that play.

This is part of dunya. As you get older, you will see more and more how empty and vacuous the life of this world is. Hayat al-dunya. Mata'un. Mata' al-ghurur. It's a delusional pleasure. Mata' al-ghurur. That's all it is. It's a delusional pleasure.

I've been with the poorest people on the planet and I've been with the richest people on the planet. I've seen the inside of palaces and I've lived in the huts of some of the poorest people on the planet and some of the most extraordinary people I've ever met are the poorest people that I've met. And so, you know, this is dunya. We just have to understand the nature of the abode and what it is.

The Story of Aisha's Humility

And so you have this sense of your own insignificance. One of my favorite stories of all the stories in the seerah, which is in a Sahih collection also, Aisha, the beloved wife of the Prophet, when she was slandered so horribly, when she found out about it, her hair fell out, she stopped eating, she went into a horrible depression for a period of time.

And then the revelation came. But she said, I deemed myself insignificant. She said, I knew Allah would absolve me of this slander, but I just deemed myself insignificant that any revelation would come. That's what this is about. Like beggars just by begging, you know. But it's saying without being in a state of need, you have this insignificant view of yourself.

And this is something really important. I mean, so many people just take themselves far too seriously and their own significance. And it just creates ego. It creates a sense of, just an inflated sense of self. And there's nothing worse than a puffed up soul.

Emptying the Soul

One of the things in the Western tradition, they have this idea of kenosis, of the emptying out of the soul. And we have the idea of takhliyah. It's the same concept. You empty your soul of yourself.

I mean, there's a beautiful Egyptian expression for the Egyptians out there. There's a beautiful Egyptian expression that I thought about because I always thought it was such a strange way of the Egyptians. Like in Mexico, you have idioms. Like in Spanish, they say, you know, like watch out, which if you actually literally translate it, it seems strange.

But in Egypt, when they say, watch out they say (فضي دماغك - faddi dimaaghak). Just means watch out. But what it literally means is empty your mind of yourself. That's how you watch out. Because if you empty your mind of yourself, Allah will watch out for you. It must have come from some enlightened people in Egypt that just started that phrase. Because it's a beautiful phrase. Empty your mind of yourself.

The World is in Good Hands

And one of the great Moroccan sages, Sidi Ali al-Jamal, he said, set your mind at ease and learn how to swim. Set your mind at ease and learn how to swim. The world is in good hands.

No matter what you see out there of trial and tribulation, it's all from what our own hands have wrought. All of it. There's nothing out there that we haven't caused ourselves. People say, where is God? Somebody actually said that to me recently. Somebody from one of these countries is going through immense tribulation.

They said, where is God? And I just said, I think God's question to us is, where are you? And that is a perfectly valid question from God. It's not a valid question from us. God is not asked about what He does. But they will be asked about what they do. And so that's a different way of looking at it.

Power Belongs to Allah Alone

So just remembering that power is Allah's alone.

"Say, “O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent."

Oh Allah, possessor of dominion. You give dominion to whom you please. You give it to whom you please. You dignify whom you please and you humiliate or abase whom you please. This is it. This is the reality. So it's very important to remember that.

Allah's Love for the Humble and Poor

And then, they expend wealth that they have gathered or earned without any disobedience. Allah is pure and He only accepts pure things. And God will have mercy on humble people and the poor people. Allah loves the poor. Poor in spirit, not necessarily poor in wealth.

Because there are many good wealthy people. And we don't have the tradition that wealth is somehow evil or something to avoid. Some of the people that had the highest maqams in our early Islam around the Prophet were extremely wealthy people. But they used their wealth for good.

And the Prophet said, two people are envied. The one who's given wisdom and teaches. And the one who's given wealth and expends it by night and by day. So those are the two things that we should want in the world. Is either wealth to do good things with. Or wisdom to act according to. And to help others to act according to.

Tafsir of Surah Al-Qadr

So I just want to look quickly and then we'll open up for some questions. I want to look quickly at Surah Al-Qadr. And this is from Imam Al-Baghawi, one of the great commentators of the Qur'an, great Shafi'i scholar.

"Indeed, We sent the Qur'an down during the Night of Decree."

It means the Qur'an. So it's basically taking the place of what's not mentioned. So the dameer there, the personal pronoun, goes back to the Qur'an. So Allah revealed it at one time. So it all came down to Samat al-Dunya. One time, the Qur'an. And then it was revealed over time. Over a 20-year period from there.

So this is the Bayt al-Ma'mur, the house that is over the Ka'bah. It was placed there. And this is why in the Qur'an you have Anzala and Nazzala. Anzala means to come down all at once. Nazzala means to come down in pieces. So both happened.

What is Laylatul Qadr?

And then it says (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ - Wama adraka ma laylatu al-qadr - Quran 97:2). And this is ta'zeem. So Allah has to make you think. Wow, what is this? And what will convey to you what Laylatul Qadr is?

And so this is the reason Imam al-Baghawi says, and this was the tafsir that was studied by all students of knowledge after it was written. Imam al-Baghawi and al-Baydawi became the two most important tafsirs for students of knowledge. So he says that it was what Allah decrees for the following year. Excuse me. For his servants and for the land.

So, for instance, the wars that are going to be determined. All these things. The droughts, the famines, the blessings, everything. And this is why you want to be in the most obedient state. And you want to be really calling on Allah. Because it's a time where you have to be aligned with Allah.

Seeking Laylatul Qadr

So the Prophet said to seek it out in these last ten nights. Especially in the odd nights. But it's something that we should also take that advice and think about these things every year.

And then he says, and they differ about its actual time. That it was only during the time of the Prophet and then it was removed. That's one opinion. But the majority of Sahaba and the scholars say no. It continues until the Day of Judgment. It's any night during the nights of the year. But the majority of scholars say that it's in the month of Ramadan.

It's the night of the 17th. (وَهِيَ اللَّيْلَةُ الَّتِي كَانَتْ صَبِيحَتُهَا وَقْعَةُ بَدْرٍ - wa hiya al-laylatu allati kanat sabihatuha waq'atu Badr). And it's the night that the morning of Badr occurred.

Why Allah Hides Laylatul Qadr

(وَالصَّحِيحُ وَالَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْأَكْثَرُونَ - waas-sahihu wa alladhi alayhi al-aktharun). But the sound opinion and what the majority say: (كَمَا أَخْفَى سَاعَةَ الْإِجَابَةِ فِي يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ وَأَخْفَى الصَّلَاةَ الْوُسْطَى فِي الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ وَاسْمُهُ الْأَعْظَمَ فِي الْأَسْمَاءِ لِيَرْغَبُوا فِي :إِدْرَاكِهَا - just as Allah hid the hour of Ijabah on the day of Jumu'ah, and He hid the Wusta prayer in the five prayers, and He hid His Ism al-A'zam in His names, so that the Ummah would strive hard to find it with their worship through the nights of Ramadan, desiring to actually achieve this night because it's worth a thousand months.

And like that, Allah has hid the hour of Ijabah on the day of Jumu'ah. He also has hid the Wusta prayer. Some say it's Asr. Imam Malik said it was Fajr. But He's hid the middle prayer in the five prayers. He's hid His Ism Al-A'zam in His names. Some say it's Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum. Some say it's Ya Allah. So there's different opinions about that, but we don't know.

Allah's Hidden Pleasure and Wrath

(وَرِضَاهُ فِي الطَّاعَاتِ لِيَرْغَبُوا فِي جَمِيعِهَا - waridahu fit ta'ati li yarghabu fi jami'iha). And then He put His Rida, His pleasure or His contentment in His devotional practices. So we don't know what devotion we do is going to achieve the Rida of Allah. We know that the prostitute was forgiven for feeding a dog who was thirsty or starving.

And He hid also (وَسَخَطُهُ فِي الْمَعَاصِي لِيَنْتَهُوا عَنْ جَمِيعِهَا - wa sakhatatuhu fil ma'asi li yantahu 'an jami'iha). And He also hid His wrath in acts of disobedience so that we would avoid all of them.

(وَأَخْفَى قِيَامَ السَّاعَةِ فِي الطَّاعَاتِ لِيَشْتَهِدُوا حَظَرًا مِنْ قِيَامِهَا - wa akhfaqiyama as-sa'ati fit ta'ati li yashtahidu hazran min qiyamiha). And then He also hid the time of the last hour so that we would always be prepared for it.

The Value of This Night

And then He says the hour of your worship on that, on this night, are worth a thousand months. (لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ - Laylatu al-qadri khayrun min alfi shahr - Quran 97:3).

And then Allah says (تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ - Tanazzalul mala'ikatu war-ruh - Quran 97:4). So the angels come down and the ruh, the Holy Spirit. We know in our tradition the Holy Spirit is not a persona of God as some Christians believe but the Holy Spirit is Jibreel. He is called Ruh al-Qudus, the Holy Spirit.

And the Prophet believed in the Holy Spirit and he said to Hassan ibn Thabit (أَيَّدَكَ اللهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ - ayyadaka Allahu bi ruhi al-qudus - Sahih Bukhari 3212). May the Holy Spirit give you support or help.

So it's a time when the Holy Spirit comes down (أَيْ بِكُلِّ أَمْرٍ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَالْبَرَكَةِ - ay bi kulli amrin min al-khayri wal-barakah). So (مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ - مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ - Min kulli amrin bi-idhni rabbihim - Quran 97:4). In other words of khayr and barakah.

Peace for the People of Obedience

So (أَيْ بِأَمْرِ اللهِ سَلَامٌ عَطَاءٌ يُرِيدُ سَلَامًا عَلَى أَوْلِيَاءِ اللَّهِ وَأَهْلِ طَاعَتِهِ - ay) bi amri Allahi salaamun 'ata'un yuridu salaaman 'ala awliya'illahi wa ahli ta'atihi). You know, people in the West will send out a holiday card and they quote a verse from the Bible that says peace on earth and goodwill towards men. It actually doesn't say that if you look in the Greek. It says goodwill towards righteous men.

And this is something also in the Tao Te Ching, it says all men hate arms, you know, like violence. Thomas Cleary told me it actually doesn't say that in Chinese. It says good men, good men don't like that. So one of the things that we have to remember is that there are shayateen al-ins out there, there's just, so the salam is not for everybody. It's for the people of obedience to Allah. They're the ones that get the peace.

(قَالَ الشَّعْبِيُّ وَتُسَلِّمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ عَلَى أَهْلِ الْمَسَاجِدِ - qala ash-Sha'bi wa tusallimul mala'ikatu laylata al-qadri 'ala ahli al-masajid). Imam Sha'bi said that it was that the angels are greeting the people in the masjids on Laylat al-Qadr, which is why you should be there from the time the sun disappears until Fajr appears.

(وَقِيلَ تَمَّ الْكَلَامُ عِنْدَ قَوْلِهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ كُلَّمَا لَقُوا مُؤْمِنًا أَوْ مُؤْمِنَةً فِيهَا يَنْزِلُونَ قَالَ الْكَلْبِيُّ الْمَلَائِكَةُ سَلَّمُوا عَلَيْهِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ حَتَّى يَطْلُعَ الْفَجْرُ - (wa qila tamma al-kalamu 'inda qawlihi bi-idhni rabbihi min kulli amr, kullama laqaw mu'minan aw mu'minatan fiha, yanziluna qala al-Kalbi al-mala'ikatu sallamaw 'alayhi min rabbihi hatta yatlu'a al-fajr).

Imam al-Kalbi said, now in the actual verse it says (هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ - hiya hatta matla'i al-fajr - Quran 97:5).

And in Arabic (حَتَّى - hatta) has three different meanings, but in Arabic it's usually what's called a preposition, what follows it is majrur. But it can also be a type of zarf.

The End of Laylatul Qadr

So if it goes like هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ and it's mansub, then it means including Fajr. Like if you say أَكَلْتُ السَّمَكَ حَتَّى رَأْسَهَا (akaltu as-samak hatta ra'saha), you ate the fish including its head. But if you said أَكَلْتُ السَّمَكَ حَتَّى رَأْسِهَا (akaltu as-samak hatta ra'siha) then it's up to that point. And so here it stops at that point.

So the night is the night and once the day comes, once the day breaks, then the night of power is over, even though that day according to the ulama is a good day to also have ijtihad.

And Mujahid said لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ سَالِمَةٌ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ فِيهَا سُوءًا وَلَا أَنْ يُحْدِثَ أَذًى (laylatu al-qadri salimah, la yastati'u ash-shaytanu an ya'mala fiha su'an wa la an yuhditha adhan). Laylatul Qadr is safe. Shaytan cannot do any su', nor can he cause any harm حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ أَيْ إِلَى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ (hatta matla'i al-fajray ila matla'i al-fajr) - until until. So الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ (alhamdulillah).

Questions and Answers Section

Supporting Zaytuna College

Maybe there's some comments or questions that anybody has. May Allah bless you and I request for those of you who are supporters of Zaytuna College, I really thank you for your support. For those of you who are not, I really hope that you might think about it. Even the 12,000 strong, we have a campaign of 12,000 strong. We had an extraordinary commencement this year with some really great students. We've got 23 students coming in in the next class. So alhamdulillah we have a master's program here.

We're going to be also having a launch for a new website fairly soon, so we're excited about things that are happening. And we have really wonderful new chief academic officer, Dr. Omar Qureshi. He's been fantastic. We have really a lot of really sincere and hardworking people. And so we really hope that you'll consider supporting us so we can do more for this community and for our Ummah. The Ummah's fallen on hard times, but inshallah there are good times, there are hard times, and there's always blessings in the midst of all the tribulations.

Thank you for that Sheikh Hamza, may Allah reward you, ameen. And inshallah I will ask a few questions from online. Alhamdulillah we have a lot of people commenting, prayers for yourself, your family and Zaytuna, thank you and the work we're doing, and thanks for your Ramadan Ruminations series.

Question 1: How to Counter the Nafs

And the first question we have from Facebook is from Yasmina who asks, what is the best way to counter our nafs? It's a big question. مُخَالَفَةُ النَّفْسِ (mukhalafatu an-nafs). You have four enemies in this life and only four: نَفْسٌ شَيْطَانٌ هَوَى (nafs, shaytan, hawa) and دُنْيَا (dunya). All the other enemies, if Allah sends them to you, it's a tribulation. But your real enemies are these four. And if you can conquer these four enemies, all the other enemies are very insignificant.

But the nafs, the nafs is the number one. عَدُوُّكَ نَفْسُكَ الَّتِي بَيْنَ جَنْبَيْكَ ('aduwwuka nafsuka allati bayna janbayik). The Prophet said the most vicious enemy that you have, the most harmful enemy that you have, the most aggressive enemy that you have is your own ego between your two sides.

And we all have them. We're born with them. Children, children have wonderful beautiful side, but then they've got that horrible childish selfish side. It's mine, you know, when they grab a toy, it's mine. So this is something that as you grow older, hopefully you learn to overcome that. But there are many people that behave like infants throughout their whole lives.

Practical Steps to Work on the Nafs

So one of the most important things that we can do is to ذِكْرُ اللهِ (dhikrullah), just to remember Allah, to work on ourselves. I mean we all struggle. I struggle with myself. We have to work on ourselves. We can always do better.

I was today, just today, I was in a, you know, I had a meeting with some people that came. They were nice people, you know, and I was, I just really because I was really busy with something else and I had some problems, I just, I didn't, I felt like, you know, I really wasn't, I was rude basically to somebody. And I immediately like after the meeting I went up to her and I just said I want you to please, I apologize, you know, I don't think I listened to you attentively and that was my mistake.

And I think being able just to admit that you're wrong about things is really important, not being defensive. The ego always defends itself. In fact, one of the most extraordinary scholars, Ibrahim Al-Qani, he's an amazing man. If you study his life you just marvel. He actually wrote the Jawhara in one night. And when he finished it he went to his sheikh and he gave it to him and his sheikh knew what it meant, like he had had an opening, because it's a stunning poem, 144 lines of just crisp creed.

And he took an oath with him. He said from this day forward I never want you to defend yourself. And that's a powerful practice of just not defending yourself.

The Story of Abu Bakr

We have an amazing story of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq when a man was really abusing him in front of the Prophet and the Prophet was there listening and smiling. And then Abu Bakr just couldn't take it anymore, so now his nafs came in. And even Abu Bakr had a nafs. I mean it's the purest of all nafs after our Prophet in his ummah. But he couldn't take it anymore, he started defending himself. The Prophet left.

When he saw him later, he asked him why he left. He said that man, it wasn't true what he was saying. He said I saw the angels defending you and right when you began to defend yourself, Shaytan came into the room and I don't sit with Shaytan. I mean that is just such a stunning testimony to the power of fighting the ego.

The Agenda for Changing Our Condition

So what I would suggest first and foremost is that you begin to do a type of muhasabah. And we actually, Imam Zayd and I worked on something together called the Agenda for Changing Our Condition. And it's actually a program to work on the self where you do a musharatah, you know, and then muraqabah and then muhasabah and then muaqabah.

So you actually commit, like I'm not going to backbite, and you commit to doing it for 40 days, 40 days straight, because it takes 40 days to really, yeah, Allah gave أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً (arba'ina laylah - Quran 7:142), like He gave 40 to prepare for the meeting. He gave Moses 40 nights to prepare. And so 40, this is why in Jama'at Tabligh they go out for 40 days. There's a big secret in the number 40.

And so you do 40 days of not, I'm not going to backbite for 40 days. And if you do, you have to do muhasabah at the end of the day and then you start over if you didn't do it. And then you do a muaqabah, you have to punish yourself. Ibn Wahb said I made many oaths to give up backbiting and I ended up fasting a lot because he would break the oath, he'd do another and then he'd have to fast.

And he said so I decided that I would give a dinar in charity every time I spoke ill of someone. And he said because of my love for money, I was able to finally give up, because he made that his oath instead of fasting, breaking his oath.

The Power of Salawat

So I think that's something that you can practice. It's just working on things. One of the things, most of us, الْإِنْسَانُ يَعْرِفُ نَفْسَهُ وَلَوْ أَلْقَى مَعَاذِيرَهُ (al-insanu ya'rifu nafsahu wa law alqa ma'adhirahu), the human knows his own soul even if he gives his excuses. He knows his own soul. And so I think most of us know what's wrong.

It's very good to ask people. I mean I always get shocked sometimes. I'll ask, do I do this or do I do that? And they say yes you do, you know. That's an ouch, but it's something that you have to take reflection from other people. So that's important.

And then the best thing, and this is absolutely well established, is prayer on the Prophet. If you make it a consistent practice, your soul will align. And this is something witnessed by many many people. So people that do consistent practice of prayer on the Prophet.

Question 2: Studying Quran vs. Taraweeh

We'll take a question from our live stream channel. Could you ask Sheikh Hamza if someone doesn't understand the Quran recitation during Taraweeh but rather spends that time studying the Quran, is there a similar reward?

That's a really good question. First of all I want to say something about Taraweeh. Traditionally in most Muslim countries, Taraweeh was actually done relatively short. Doing a Khatam in Taraweeh was not the tradition in most places. There were certain mosques that did Khatam for people that wanted to.

Unfortunately now, like if you go to Turkey, most of the mosques do very short 20 short rakats. And I really think that we need to revive this Sunnah because a lot more people would come for Taraweeh. A lot of people leave after 8. Sometimes Taraweeh ends now at like 12 o'clock, 11:30. People have to work. The Prophet said make things easy for people, don't make them difficult.

I love the Indian and Pakistani community. It's amazing, like you see these people that just mashallah, it's really quite stunning how they, I mean I've been to, in the Muslim world in some of the Muslim countries I've lived in, I've been to mosques where it's like Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, Alif Lam Meem, Allahu Akbar, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, Ha Meem, Allahu Akbar. I mean I've literally seen that. And then I've seen middle and then I've seen the Khatam.

So I think it's important. In the Maliki tradition, which is the school that I studied, it's actually preferred to do it in your home if you're able to do it in your home. So if you're going to be lazy, then it's better to go to the masjid. But it's better to do it, especially, people have, we don't have mosque on every corner like many Muslim countries.

The Importance of Following the Sunnah

Now in terms of the question, Qiyam is one of the sunnah of Ramadan and I would never leave a sunnah. I'll give you an example. There's nothing, there's no better dhikr than the Quran أَفْضَلُ ذِكْرِ الله (afdalu dhikri Allah), it's Kitab Allah, it's مَا صَدَرَ مِنْهُ وَرَجَعَ إِلَيْهِ (ma sadara minhu wa raja'a ilayh). That's the best dhikr that you can do.

I mean أَفْضَلُ مَا قَدَّتْ (afdalu ma qaddat), the best thing that anybody, any prophet said is لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الله (la ilaha illallah). But لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ is also Quran. So but in the Fajr time and in the Maghrib time, the best dhikr at that time is the أَذْكَارُ الصَّبَاحِ وَالْمَسَاءِ الْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ (adhkar as-sabah wal-masa' al-baqiyat as-salihat) that the Prophet did at that time. It's better to do those because it's the sunnah to do those at that time. And following the Prophet is very important, to do what he did.

And so you should do some qiyam, even if you just do, you know, some short rakats in your own home. You should do some qiyam. If you find it difficult, it's not meant to be difficult. مَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ لِتَشْقَى (ma anzalna 'alayka al-qur'ana litashqa - Quran 20:2). We didn't reveal this Quran that you're miserable. So the understanding is أَنزَلْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِتَسْعَدَ (anzalna al-qur'ana litas'ada), to be joyful and happy.

I'm not going to say for everybody because I don't know, but for most people it's going to be a richer experience if you can actually understand the Quran. It's even better if you memorize. So if you memorize certain parts and you hear them recited, it's much more because you can really follow them.

So I think that definitely has an aspect, but I would say study the Quran in Ramadan but also do qiyam. Even if you can't do the 20 rakats, if it's difficult for you, just do some short rakats in your own home but do some qiyam. بَارَكَ اللَّهُ فِيكَ (baraka Allahu fik).

Question 3: Fasting and Fidya

We have a somewhat related question from Facebook. For an ill person who couldn't fast during this Ramadan, what is the right practice to adopt? Pay the fidya and fast 30 days when they feel better before the next Ramadan? Or just pay the fidya and it is not mandatory to fast 30 days prior to the next Ramadan? I feel very confused, so thanks for enlightening us if you can. Ramadan Kareem.

If you can fast later in the year, you have to fast. The fidya is for people that can't fast. So you might be pregnant or nursing or something like that that's going to harm you. But when you're able to, you make up the fast.

Fidya is for like old people or people that have diabetes or people that their physicians told them they can't fast. I know of somebody who went into pretty serious tachycardia because of fasting. That type person, and it's happened in more than one Ramadan, that person should not fast. And the doctor will tell them that. And if the doctor tells you not to fast, if it's a valid doctor with an M.D. and they're telling you it is medically dangerous for you to fast, you should not fast.

Children and Fasting

The other thing, and this is my firm conviction, little children should not fast. I know there's a khilaf about this. Imam Malik who said that it was ta'dheeb, that it was actually torture for children. I know there's little children that want to fast because they see everybody fasting. If they're going to do that, you should only do like half day. But they should, their brains are developing, they need glucose, they need energy, they need caloric energy. It's not healthy. It's healthy for us to actually fast. It's not healthy for them to fast when they're young.

And I know there's hadiths in the sahih collection and things, but that was not the practice of the people of Medina. And Malik had 600 teachers from the tabi'in, and that was his opinion. It's a strong opinion. And I think as somebody who's studied, who has some medical background, and I think if you ask most doctors, they would tell you the science is in and it's not good for children to fast long periods of time.

Making Up Missed Fasts

So the fidya is permitted. If you allow a year to go by, you have to feed a poor person for each day you allow for a year to elapse before you made up. So in Ramadan it's better to try to make it up early. If you did let the year go by, and when you finish Ramadan, you can actually, according to some opinions, you could do the six days of Shawwal and make the niyyah of making up fasting. Inshallah you get the reward for both. I mean these are khilaf issues, but Allah's mercy is vast. So I think that answers that question inshallah.

Question 4: The Role of Quran in Our Lives

Ok, we'll just take a couple more questions, wrap it up if you don't mind. Ok, good question here. May Allah reward you for this talk and your Ramadan ruminations. Any general advice about the role the Quran should play in our lives?

Bismillahir rahmanir rahim.

I think the Prophet said towards these latter days to just go back to the book of Allah. I think the Quran is, it's an amazing experience to have a serious relationship with the Quran. I think study is important, but recitation of Quran, obviously if the more you understand the more interesting it is, just in terms of the meanings.

Because to do a khatam, you know, everybody should try to do a khatam once a month. The Quran was divided into thirty juz for a reason. Those juz are meant to be read. Hijran of Quran is considered hijran if you read it less than twice a year, that you've pretty much abandoned it. So if you're only reading it once in Ramadan, you should at least try to do one throughout the year.

The other thing to do, if for those of you who are trying to memorize it, focusing on whatever you're memorizing is equal. One of the things, all of the Quran is the same in its equal weight, that it's from kalam Allah. I mean obviously there's some verses and some things that, like the Prophet said the greatest verse in the Quran is Ayat al-Kursi because of the attributes of God that are embedded in that verse. But all of the Quran is kalam Allah. So any juz you read from, it's kalam Allah. If you only read one juz a day.

Making Time for Quran

But everybody should try. It takes, once you get used to it, it takes about 25 minutes on average, 20 to 30 minutes to do. We waste a lot of time. There's a lot of people that watch a couple hours of television every day. If you look on your cell phones, it's quite troubling to see the amount of time that we spend on the phone or on the cell phone or looking at things people send us, those things. I mean these are all things.

So we should give some time to Allah's book. It's just a stunning experience really to have continuous connection with this book. And one of the things that I promise you, if you do it as a practice over time, it will just get stronger and stronger. In other words, you won't want to stop. So I think, and that's something all the people that have a strong relationship with the Quran they experience. So I just recommend it.

Return to the Quran and Foundational Sunnah

To the students here, don't do a lot of other dhikrs. Do the Quran. Don't, I think we need to get back to the book of Allah and to a foundational sunnah. Imam Malik wrote a book, the Muwatta, it's the first major book in hadith. He has less than 800 hadiths of the Prophet even though he knew over 100,000. He really put what he felt was absolutely necessary.

Hadith tradition is for scholars. It's for ulama. It's not for common people. It was never meant to be read by common people. The hadith can really create an immense amount of confusion.

And Ibn Wahb, one of the greatest scholars of Islam, he is one of the Rijal of Imam Bukhari, Ibn Wahb said I learned so many hadith I became confused, and because of the problems in the hadith tradition, and he said had it not been for Layth and Imam Malik, Layth and Imam Malik, they were his teachers, he said I would have perished. Malik used to say take this and leave that, take this and leave that.

So hadith is really not for untrained people. Hadith is meant for scholars. It's meant to be read with commentary. In the same way the Quran should be read with commentary. It's very dangerous just because you know Arabic. If you studied modern Arabic, the Quran is very subtle. There are many subtleties in the Quran. There are many subtleties in prepositions, in huruf, the fa, the waw.

Subtleties of Quranic Arabic

For instance in the Quran, Allah says (وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَاكُم مِّنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَاءَكُمْ - wa idh najjaynakum min ali Fir'awn yasumonakum su'a al-'adhab yudhabihuna abna'akum wa yastahyuna nisa'akum - Quran 2:49).

Fir'awn, remember the blessing of Allah when He saved you from Fir'awn. And then it says, you know (يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ - yasumonakum su'a al-'adhab), He gave you a horrible punishment there. (يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ - yudhabihuna abna'akum). He killed your sons. And He took captive your women.

That waw indicates that that's not the adhab. The killing of the sons and the taking of the women, or it's more than just that. So those type subtleties, it takes a long time to learn that. I mean I've been studying Arabic for over 40 years now and I really feel I'm just, it's an immense ocean of a language. I mean I feel blessed that I'm able to read, I can read in Tafsirs and the books of Fiqh and I had some really great scholars. But it's really a lifelong study. And just when you've got it all, at least you know, I think it's time to go.

Question 5: Yemen and Speaking Truth to Power

So on that note, last question, last question. Baraq al-Aufiq. Earlier you touched on speaking truth to power. Any words on the suffering of the people of Yemen at the hands of other governments, which leaves me feeling powerless? How can we help? And could you please close with a du'a for this ummah?

Yeah, Yemen is a great tragedy of our time amongst many others. These are incredibly complicated situations involving civil wars. Yemen's still a clan culture. So you have tribes, you have cultures, you have different, they're actually quite distinct cultures in Yemen. Like Hadrami culture is different from Mukalla or Aden or Ibb or the northern portion of Yemen.

It was once actually two countries and they unified, and now they're back to the civil war. And then obviously the neighboring countries got involved. You had ISIS or ISIS-like people, Al-Qaeda, Al-Jazeera took over quite a large portion. So it's just, it's the fog of war. It's a horrible situation. It's not easy to discern. It's very easy to point fingers at this that or the other. But in the end, these are fitan between Muslims. And we should just pray to Allah to remove these fitan from these people.

The Yemeni People

The Yemeni people, the Prophet loved them. They were people that became Muslim without having to, without just by inviting them to Islam they came. He said (الْحِكْمَةُ يَمَانِيَةٌ - al-hikmatu yamaniyah). He said (الْإِيمَانُ يَمَانِ - al-

imanu yaman - Sahih Bukhari 4388, Sahih Muslim 52). But there's also unfortunately in the whole Muslim world and here everywhere, you know, Muslims have really departed from the sunnah of the Prophet, from his minhaj.

And a lot of these sayings, if you read the Quran, it's very clear that the Prophet said (إِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتِي إِنَّ أُمَّتِي أُمَّةٌ مَرْحُومَةٌ - inna hadhihi ummati inna ummati ummatun marhumah), my ummah, it's a ummah of God's mercy. And then he said the punishment of my ummah is in this dunya.

So we also have to recognize that when people divert and go far astray from the sunnah of the Prophet and from the guidance that was given to us, and the sinfulness becomes widespread and open, that tribulations will afflict us. And in some ways the places where these tribulations are the worst are the places where those people are closer to Allah. In other words, that when Allah loves a people, He gives them tribulation to elevate them or to remove their sins.

What We Can Do

And so we should pray for our brothers and sisters, do what we can. There's good organizations that try to help. But right now this is, it's the fog of war. We're in the midst of just a very tragic period for our ummah. We should do our best to pray. We should counsel the people that have the power to do what they can.

I think the kind of belligerent attitude and what's happening, even for people that you know, and I have my own criticisms of things in that region, but I would honestly say, you know, we should be praying for these people. We should not, this type of hatred that people have for these governments and things like that, we should be praying for them.

You know, it's what comes without government is actually much worse than whatever tribulations governments bring. When you remove these governments, when you have anarchy, this is the result of anarchy. We should be praying for these governments.

The Prophet's Approach to Social Systems

Our Prophet was somebody that he didn't disrupt social systems when he came into Mecca. (إِنَّ الْمُلُوكَ إِذَا دَخَلُوا قَرْيَةً أَفْسَدُوهَا وَجَعَلُوا أَعِزَّةَ أَهْلِهَا أَذِلَّةً - Innal muluka idha dakhalu qaryatan afsaduha wa ja'alu a'izzata ahliha adhillah - Quran 27:34) (وَجَعَلُوا أَعِزَّةَ أَهْلِهَا أَذِلَّةً - waja'alu a'izzata ahliha adhillah). They don't do that.

The Prophet, when he came into Mecca, he said (مَنْ دَخَلَ بَيْتَ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ كَانَ آمِنًا - man dakhala bayta Abi Sufyan kana aminan), whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan will be safe. The Quraish who had fought him for 20 years.

And he maintained his dignity and honor because he wanted to win his enemies over. He wanted to win them over.

When he wrote to the Romans (إِلَى عَظِيمِ الرُّومِ - ila azimi ar-Rum), to the great one of Rome. (أَسْلِمْ تَسْلَمْ - aslim taslam), submit and find peace.

The Example of Ja'far with An-Najashi

When he spoke, when his, if you want to see the best lesson in dealing with government, just look at how Ja'far spoke with An-Najashi. It's a stunning testimony to the hikmah, the wisdom of these people. Despite the fact that the Najashi, they were Monophysites, they were actually a type of Christianity that believed in the divinity of Christ. But when Amr ibn al-As tried to get them into a difficult situation, the ayahs he quoted, he just left it in a way where he didn't compromise his beliefs, but at the same time he didn't offend the beliefs of the ruler that they were guests of.

And so just getting back to this wisdom and trying to, you know, just everybody is going to be judged by God. We're all going to be judged by God. These rulers are going to be judged by God and I don't envy any of them.

Most of them don't sleep well. The type of burdens that they have, people think that, Qadhafi changed palaces every night, never had a good night's sleep. Many of them have to take drugs just to go to sleep.

So it's not something that you should envy, and we should just really pray for them. Our tradition, Imam Tahawi says we don't imprecate against rulers. We should pray for them. There's a lot of people that don't believe that anymore because we have a kind of revolutionary Islam that wants to tear everything down as opposed to just recognizing we have to work with what we have and try to make it better.

So but you know, everybody's doing their ijtihad and Yawm al-Qiyamah is going to be a good day. We're all going to see who's who on that day. We'll see who's who. (فَتَرَبَّصُوا فَإِنِّي مَعَكُم مِّنَ الْمُتَرَبِّصِينَ - fatarabbassu fa-inni ma'akum minal mutarabbisin - Quran 52:31). Wait and I'll wait too with you and we will see. (يَتَسَاءَلُونَ عَنِ النَّبَا الْعَظِيمِ - yatasa'aluna 'an an-naba'i al-'azim - Quran 78:2).

So (يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ - yawma yaqumu an-nasu - Quran 83:6), we're all going to have to stand before God and be taken into account for our actions and for our lives.

Closing Du'a

So may Allah bless all of you, bless your Ramadan, increase you, elevate you. May He forgive us our transgressions, forgive our shortcomings. May Allah accept whatever prayers we've been able to put forward extra in this Ramadan, accept our recitation of Quran.

May Allah inshallah give us visions of our Prophet in our dreams and may He make our Prophet pleased with us when He sees us at the Hawd inshallah. May He give us ease in our lives and ease. If there's anybody sick or depressed, may Allah remove your sickness or your depression.

May Allah increase you, elevate you. May Allah forgive any of your transgressions. May Allah make this book of Allah the spring of our hearts. May Allah make this book something that we love and recite constantly and act accordingly to.

May Allah inshallah give right guidance to the people in power wherever they are. May He, we ask you ya Allah (أَنْتَ السَّلَامُ وَتُحِبُّ السَّلَامَ مِنْكَ السَّلَامُ وَإِلَيْكَ يَعُودُ السَّلَامُ حَيِّنَا رَبَّنَا بِالسَّلَامِ - anta as-salamu wa tuhibbu as-salam, minka as-salamu wa ilayka ya'udu as-salam, hayyina rabbana bis-salam) (تَبَارَكْتَ وَتَعَالَيْتَ يَا ذَا الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ - tabarakta wa ta'alayta ya dhal-jalali wal-ikram).

Your peace and you love peace. And so bring peace to places where there's war. Bring love to the places where there's hatred. Bring unity to the places where there's division. Make us people of unity always.

And we ask you to bless this Ramadan inshallah and give us the blessing of Laylatul Qadr. And inshallah may you make us see many Ramadans before we leave this world, going back to you in a pleasing state, (يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ - ya arhama ar-rahimin).

(وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا - wa sallallahu 'ala sayyidina Muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallama tasliman kathira).

(سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - Subhana rabbika rabbi al-'izzati 'amma yasifun wa salamun 'ala al-mursalin wal-hamdu lillahi rabbi al-'alamin - Quran 37:180-182).

(سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ - Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika ashhadu an la ilaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk).

Ameen. (جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا - Jazakumullahu khayran).

(وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Waas-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu).