Spiritual Preparation for Ramadan

Preparing Ourselves and Our Families

We prepare ourselves for the month of Ramadan. Prepare our families, our children. Today, for example, it was in the school. We have a K-12 school alhamdulillah, Islamic school. We made a day for the children, parade for Ramadan where they went out and they walked and they carried different signs about Ramadan, singing songs about Ramadan, reciting verses about Ramadan. The parents were there as psychological preparation of our children for Ramadan.

On the family level, we need to prepare our children for the month of Ramadan. We don't want to wake them up and say "Oh, today we are fasting, please wake up, we'll have suhoor." There has to be preparation for that - psychological preparation so that the children are ready to fast the month, are ready to take care of it, comfortable to take care of it. Encouragement of words that come before the month of Ramadan - the value of it, the reward of it, all of the motivation for the month of Ramadan so when the day comes on, they are ready for it. That is one of the aspects we need to do and prepare ourselves for it.

The Rush to Please Allah

Very interesting passage in Surah Taha where Allah, Musa alayhi salam went to see Allah, went to have an appointment with Allah to talk to Allah - you know that from the Qur'an. So he goes, leaves his people, puts his brother in charge and leaves to spend time like the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam used to spend time in Ghar Hira with nobody with him, devote himself for the ibadah. So Musa did the same before the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and went rushing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So Allah tells him, "What brought you in a rush? You left your people coming to me in a rush." So Musa says a statement that should be engraved in our hearts. Skip a few verses there and say - the end he says to Allah:

"I rushed to please you." I pray to Allah that every one of us say this statement to himself, herself. Train your family members to say it. Just very simple four words that should be the preparation for the month of Ramadan. I hope and pray that we all do that and the rush to please Allah is in the month of Ramadan. That is my first or second point to you today about preparation for the month of Ramadan.

The Great Opportunity for Forgiveness

When we look to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam teaching us: "Whosoever fasts Ramadan in full iman and counting this with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, your previous sins are forgiven." And how many sins every one of us have, Allah knows. But that when you go and prepare yourself and fast the month of Ramadan, everything is gone. What an opportunity! What a way to look how generous Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is with us.

Regardless of how much you have, it's all gone if it's with full iman, full sincerity, and counting this for the sake of Allah, nothing else. Then this is guaranteed as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam indicated to us and taught us. And in particular, "Whosoever make qiyam of Laylatul Qadr, all the past is gone." But you start fresh. How many of us would like to start fresh? What an opportunity for us to start fresh.

You can do that in the month of Ramadan. But when you go to Hajj, and Hajj wipes off everything before it - for all of us who are not able to make Hajj, we are able to fast. And if we are excused, still the reward is going to be there inshallah. But the vast vast majority of us are able inshallah. So imagine yourself as if you went to Hajj and everything is gone. What an opportunity to start fresh and your record is clean. Nothing. You go to credit score companies and they clean your records. Allah just kun fa yakun - all is gone. What an opportunity for all of us.

Laylatul Qadr - The Night of Power

And subhanallah, when you look at Laylatul Qadr, the hadith about it here, and you look at the verse - Allah made it a great night and Allah revealed the Qur'an in it. The whole Qur'an was sent down to earth in Laylatul Qadr, then in over 23 years in different passages, different verses over 23 years. But the whole of that was revealed from Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz to us in Laylatul Qadr. So it was such a great night that all of us should be looking for from the beginning of Ramadan to the end of Ramadan, especially the last 10 days and especially the odd days of Ramadan. But we look for it from the beginning of Ramadan.

Could there be more than one Laylatul Qadr? Could it have 2 or 3 Laylatul Qadr? Is that possible? When you look at the structure of the word in Arabic, your answer would be no. It's only one night. If it's more than one night, Allah would have said Laylatul Qadr is different than Laylatul Qadr. The Alif Lam is to define the word, will define - it's only one night the whole year. You get it or you miss it. And we all want to get it. We don't want to leave any day, any night without hoping that this will be Laylatul Qadr. I say that to my children, I say that to my family members, I say that to my students, to everybody.

Keeping in mind this great opportunity - what a wonderful opportunity for every single one of us.

When you look even at the verb that is used for Laylatul Qadr when the angels are sent down - very particular verb that is used. The angels coming with all kinds of goodness, all kinds of goodness, all the khayr. But Allah said تَنَزَّلُ. And we have another verse in another place - Allah said in Surah Fussilat: those who say رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ, straighten themselves up anytime, in particular Ramadan. When you do that, you straighten yourself up, you have the devotion and you want to stay on the straight path, then the angels are sent down to you with the blessings: "We are your wali in this dunya and in al-akhirah."

I thought that the angels will come in the day of judgment and be with us, but this is talking about this world and the world to come when you straighten yourself up. But the verb there is تَتَنَزَّلُ, not تَنَزَّلُ. تَتَنَزَّلُ is in Surah Al-Qadr, تَنَزَّلُ is in Surah Fussilat. Why is that?

Missing one letter. And the more letters in the word, provided that the meaning stays the same, then it's about a lot of it. So more letters in تَتَنَزَّلُ - why is less letters in Al-Qadr? Less letters means it's not as much as when you have more letters. Very interesting. And that goes to what I said earlier - it's only one night and it's only from sunset to Fajr. And that explains to you why this تَنَزَّلُ. If it's تَتَنَزَّلُ it's continuously for a long time, but with تَنَزَّلُ it's within a short amount of time. Very accurate. If you get it, you get it. If you lose it, you lose it. So you want to get it. What an interesting way to look at things and examine and learn the Qur'an.

The Month of the Qur'an

This is the month of the Qur'an. Ramadan is the month of the Qur'an, month of the guidance. The Qur'an has the guidance. The Furqan is the distinction between what is right and what is wrong. That's why the Qur'an is called the Furqan. Then when you really have the Qur'an in your heart, Allah makes for you Furqan - ability to see clear. وَإِن تَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا - if you fear Allah, Allah will make you a Furqan.

Furqan is the ability - you go and you kind of confuse what is right and what is wrong. Then with the Qur'an, Allah tells you immediately. He throws it in your heart what is right and what is wrong. You have this Furqan - ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. That comes with the Qur'an and that's why it is called the Qur'an. And in the month of Ramadan, the Furqan will be demonstrated more and more and you want to have more of that in the month of Ramadan.

You conclude reciting the Qur'an in the month of Ramadan. You conclude giving and sharing - it's the month of giving. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who comes down and gives all his barakah to people.

Allah tells us to be like the Rabb - if the Rabb gives all this kind of giving, be Rabbani and give and help. If the Rabb is generous, be generous and help. Have something from there. You are the Khalifa of Allah. You are the one who talks and speaks on behalf of Allah - the one who is giving, the one who is the giver, the one who is the sharer. You want to follow the footsteps of your Lord. Give, care and share in the month of Ramadan.

Giving and Sharing in Ramadan

Zakah has to be done in the month of Ramadan. If you don't have Zakah, you still have the Ma'oon to offer. The Ma'oon, there is no limit. There is no bottom limit for the Ma'oon. There is no minimum for the Ma'oon. Anybody can offer Ma'oon - a cup of water, help somebody if you don't have to pay Zakah. That is amazing. In the month of Ramadan, we all can give, we all can share, we all can be kind. We all can change and measure what we give, what we care and what we do. Yes, we all can do that.

But it is the self-monitoring, the self-consciousness, the goal of the Siyam, the Taqwa of Allah that is associated with the spirit of the month of Ramadan. May Allah help us get this spirit of giving, caring and sharing and having the Taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Planning for Success

Dear brothers, one of the things we do well in the USA - all work some place, we plan. And many of us put plans for big corporations, big big organizations. We want to plan for the month of Ramadan. I plan for my company, I want to plan for myself, for my family. What am I going to do in the month of Ramadan? What am I going to give? What am I going to share? What nights? When am I going to take my break from my vacation, from my company? When am I going to do this? Which masjid am I going to go to? How am I going to prepare my kids so that I take them to the masjid? I got to come up with a plan.

And planning is very healthy. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us to plan. Surah Yusuf taught us to plan. Yusuf alayhi salam puts a strategic plan, 15 year plan. We want to plan for a month. We want to plan our vacation, we want to plan our time off. We want to plan different things - what am I going to give? What am I going to calculate my zakah? Who is going to help me do that? Which masjid am I going to go to? Which masjid am I going to give my zakah to? Which organizations? You go and sit and calculate. All of that is very much needed and all of that should be under the flag وَعَجِلْتُ إِلَيْكَ رَبِّ لِتَرْضَىٰ.

I hope and pray that we all rush to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and be among those who Allah described in conclusion of Al-Mu'minoon. In Surah Al-Mu'minoon, you know when you conclude something, you give a last conclusion about what you said in Surah Al-Mu'minoon about Al-Mu'minoon, Allah said:

With the Mu'min, meaning all what we described earlier - يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ - rush to do the goodness. That's the common factor among them. أُولَٰئِكَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَهُمْ لَهَا سَابِقُونَ - and they are in a race to do that. It's not only rushing, but it's a race. Who is going to rush? Who is going to join that race? May Allah make you all inshallah, myself and everybody, part of this. Who will race to do the goodness in the month of Ramadan?