Getting the Most out of Ramadan

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest.

Ya ayyuhal la yadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa sharruhul muneen. We seek refuge in Him from the evil of our eyes. And from that soul is made.

And from those two spread many men. And man has achieved the greatest virtue. The best of speech is Allah's speech.

And the best of guidance is Muhammad's guidance. When we talk about the fast, many times, it explains it to others. We frame it under the framework of the common rejoinder to the question of why do Muslims fast? Is Muslims fast so that we can know how the poor feel? The problem with this question and this answer is there are Muslims who are starving and have difficulty yet they still fast. And many times they are the most difficult.

Therefore, that can't be the answer. The answer is in fact, as many scholars have said, that in its reality, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said 700 multiples. Except for fasting, because it is for me, Allah says, when a slave leaves off his food and his drink for my sake.

You don't find people when they want to honor fasting. The only one that fasting can be done for, and yet despite that, we as humans think ourselves free of this power of Allah. We think ourselves not immediately.

We act throughout the year as if we are independent. And we only turn to Him. Ramadan is the time that brings us, that forces us to remind ourselves every single day.

O mankind, the need of Allah is the self-solution, worthy of all praise. If you wish creation, what is it then that Why do we go beyond balance? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, But no, mankind transgresses because he sees himself as self-sufficient. He subhanahu wa ta'ala says, We give a blessing to a human.

When we give a blessing to man, he turns away, and he secludes himself. So it's our delusion of worldly self-sufficiency that makes us forget about our connection to our Creator. Many times, it can be the knowledge that we have without sincerity.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he used to say, seek refuge, he used to say, from knowledge that doesn't benefit. We can know a lot of worldly sciences, but that doesn't translate to connecting with the Creator. Another reason that we turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is because of hidden that are nascent in our hearts.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Who gave a covenant to Allah. They promised Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that they would do good, but they were just given the blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave them. They were stingy with it, and they turned away, and they rejected it.

Another reason that we turn away is that we subordinate Allah to our own. We subordinate revelation to our personal desires. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَإِذَا جُرُوا إِذَا فَلَيْكُمْ مِنْكُمْ In this Ramadan, let's understand why it is that we find ourselves in difficulty.

Ways We Turn Away from Allah

Why it is that we turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala despite every single day of our fast being reminded that we are in need of Him. There are four ways that we will turn away. The very first is by turning away in statements with your tongue and your heart.

This is the way that the disbelievers turned away. They denied their signs while their souls were certain of them out of their ignorance. The second way is the way of the hypocrites who denied a connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Number three. Number three is the one that many of us struggle with. And that is selective acceptance of what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has decreed.

Whether that's from our regular pick and choose. Even some of the book. To solve this problem of this Ramadan is that we have an aversion to being told what is wrong.

We need the reminders to encourage us to do good. But we scare us and exhort us to leave. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says They turn away from the reminder as if they were startled zombies running from a lion.

Consequences of Turning Away

So what are the consequences of us turning away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as a nation? Destruction. Never did an entire nation turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says And he says they turned away.

So he sent down against them a flood of the dead. And we said if they turn away then say to them I warn you of a thunderbolt and a punishment like the punishment on the personal level. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam described three men who approached the gathering.

Two of them came and sat down to learn. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Many of the Salafis would say The sign that Allah has turned away from his servants is his busying him with those things that when you find yourself busy with things that don't concern you at a time when they are expected of you at a time when there is reward to be gained In this life a person who turns away from Allah will have a restricted constrained life. His life will be a restricted life or a constricted life and you will gather him on the day.

And then lastly he will be labelled as a criminal who is more unjust. All praise is due to Allah alone and may he send his peace and blessings upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam his family.

Remedies for Returning to Allah

What are the remedies for turning away from Allah? What are the remedies to allow us to turn back? Number one, understanding Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's greatness They did not appraise The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says I am the king Where are the tyrants? Ultimately we were created Do we really have right to be proud and arrogant? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam He once spat into his home and he placed his finger on it and he said O son of Adam How can you escape me when I created you from something like this?

Number three To move back and return to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this Ramadan We need to make sure that anytime we find ourselves moving away from the purpose of this month that we move back into the purpose of this month As I mentioned from the side of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala turning away from his servant is him busying him with those things that don't concern him but what concerns us could be many things If it is Ramadan what concerns us is Salah and Dhikr and Sadaqah What concerns us is our fast and our Tawheed What concerns us is our Ihsan and our character So if you find yourself in the best time of the year doing the worst of actions Know that when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala changed the Shayateen at the beginning of the month and opened the doors to Heaven and closed the door to the Hellfire that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said Take to actions that you have the ability to accomplish because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is there You plan your Tawheed So the first ten days are a sprint and we exhaust ourselves and tire ourselves out But in reality we need to be consistent every day of the month Number two Make a Dua The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said Either he will answer his call his supplication expeditiously You will get what you ask for immediately Or that reward will be saved for him on the Day of Judgement Or In this life they said In that case, don't do this a lot Lastly know that was the most generous he could be in the month of Ramadan So reading the Quran is a staple of Ramadan and being generous and giving in Ramadan is a staple of Ramadan beyond your obligations