Approaching Ramadan

Approaching Ramadan

Opening Praise and Blessings

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Who has made this religion lawful for us.

And peace and blessings be upon the one whom Allah has sent as a messenger to the worlds, the Imam of the righteous, the prophets, and the messengers, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, peace and blessings be upon him, the Prophet of the worlds. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. We praise Allah, the Exalted in His Glory.

We beseech Allah, the Exalted in His Glory, to send His peace and blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his companions, and those who follow him until the end of time. It's an honor to be here with you. And I ask Allah, the Exalted in His Glory, to make this, inshallah, an increase of hasanat in our scale of good deeds.

Dave Chappelle is upstairs. Don't run. So, I don't think there's much of a choice between me and Dave Chappelle. Of course, you should be here. Actually, let's all go, man. I can autograph my kufi, maybe. Before 1994. Anyways, so may Allah reward you for choosing, you know, the lesser.

Introduction to Ramadan

Inshallah, we'll spend a little bit of time talking about the month of Ramadan, this month of change which is upon us, which Allah prescribed for us as a means of transcendence over our own sins and weaknesses and getting close to Allah.

The Divine Call to Believers

Allah says, Allah is calling on a special group of people. It's called a nida. A nida in Arabic means, yeah, oh.

So, Allah says, and then you have what's called, Harf means letter. Tanbih means to alert you. The letter of alerting someone.

So, the Arabs, they used to use harf tanbih if they want the listener to pay attention. So, it's kind of like you saying, hey, hey, hey, hey. So, Allah says, yeah.

Then He uses this harf called harf tanbih. So, the one who's listening, if they're fluent in the Arabic language, beyond hayfa, wahbi, if they can understand Arabic more than that, they'll immediately pay attention. So, you're like.

So, then you're wondering, who's being called here? Allah is calling on someone specific. That's why He uses allatheena. Because allatheena is telling you that the call is for a people who are going to be described next.

Understanding True Faith and Security with Allah

So, first of all, Allah is calling, which is enough of a reason to pay attention. If you went home tonight and said, hey, you know, Dave Chappelle called. Really? Really? Dave Chappelle called me? Or if they told you, you know, Zay Shaka called you. Oh, mama, I swear I wasn't at the mall. I was at Mina. Right? So, you'd be excited.

They said maybe a friend that you had from a long time ago called you. You'd be excited. So, now Allah is calling certain type of people.

"(Ya ayyuhallatheena)."

As though this call is only for those people. It's like an invitation.

Invitation only. You can't get in without an invitation card. Who's invited to the party? Who's invited to this gathering? Is going to be described next.

It's only by invitation. So Allah says (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - Ya ayyuhallatheena aamanu). O you who believe. (Quran 2:183)

O you who believe. So, now Allah is making clear that the invited are those people who believe in Him. Those people who have faith in Him.

Iman. And faith, in the Arabic language, iman, means to be secure. In the Arabic country of Amal al-Dawla. You know, security. The Prophet was what? Al-Amin. The one you could bank on.

So, our relationship with Allah is a relationship based on faith and trust. From the word aman. Aman means to trust, to be secure.

So, when someone's a mu'min in Allah, they're secure with Him. And that's why the outcome of that security is tatma'in. It's that the person has tranquility, has this relationship with Allah, spiritually, where this ease and tranquility permeates their existence.

That's why Allah says about the awliya of Allah (لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ - la khawfun alayhim walahum yahzanun). That they don't have any fear, nor do they grieve. (Quran 10:62)

Because they know (إِنَّمَا رَبُّكُمُ اللهُ - innama rabbukum Allahu). Allah is your Lord. Everything comes from Him.

So, number one, Allah is calling on a special group of people. Those people are those who have that security, that relationship with Allah. That's why I don't like to call it aqeedah. Aqeedah is a word that came later on.

Aqeedah means creed. Creed sounds like something you learn in the engineering school. Creed.

But iman, the word that Allah used in the Quran, iman has a massive meaning. And this is hikmah ilahiyah. Why does Allah use this word? Only He knows.

But that security with Allah, that relationship with Him. So, ya ayyuhal lazeena aamanu, O you who believe, you're invited to a special party, man. It's not a red carpet only.

This is for the people, (نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَى بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ - nuruhum yas'a bayna aydeehim wa bi-aymanihim). For the people to have the nur, which Allah put in their faces and in their hearts. We ask Allah to increase us in nur. (Quran 57:12)

Fasting: A Divine Prescription

O you who believe, (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ - kutiba alaykum us-siyam). Kutiba, al-mabniyu lil-majhool, al-mulayyu samma fa'ilu, in Arabic language, is the passive sense of a verb. Kutiba means prescription. (Quran 2:183)

So if you went to the doctor, came back, you say, kutiba li-shayt, something was prescribed for me. So Allah, how does He describe the month of Ramadan? As a prescription. It's a prescription.

You go to the doctor, you're sick, sometimes they give you a prescription. So we come after 11 months of struggling, trying our best to be good Muslims, trying our best to be close to Allah, slipping, making mistakes, picking ourselves up again. Then we face one month.

One month. If we, nastathmir, you know, if we utilize this month, Allah promised us forgiveness. 11 months for one month.

That's a good deal. So Allah says, I'm very tired, forgive me. Usually when I talk, I know it's, I'm 36. I'm 36 with two kids, man. Things change. Your vertical lead goes down by about 10.

You're 40 times. Usain Bolt? No. It's Usain Drag. MashaAllah, 10, 5, 40. You're doing a great job. It's that biryani.

So Allah says (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ - kutiba alaykumu s-siyam). You come to Allah in this month for healing, for repentance, and Allah greets you with a prescription. 30 days. (Quran 2:183)

30 days of an antibody. For 29 days of a severe penicillin that's going to cure you of your sins and bring you closer to Allah. Kutiba alaykumu siyam.

Fasting was prescribed for you. What it means is (كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامَ - kataballahu alaykumu s-siyam). Allah has prescribed for you a siyam.

But here, the passive form is used instead of the active form to show the ta'zim of Allah. The greatness of Allah, azza wa jal. So when it says, kutiba alaykumu, in the Quran, you stop and say, who wrote the prescription? I have the prescription. Who wrote the prescription? Will they not think about the Quran?

Then the mind thinks and ponders and realizes that Allah is prescribing Ramadan for us. So the verse says, O you who believe, and this ya is called the nida of tashreef, the calling of honorability. Someone's being called because of their honorable status.

Recognizing Our Status as Believers

Who's the caller? Allah. And I want all of you to realize, you're believers. Don't have this negative outlook, well, I'm sitting in the back seat watching everything in the religion go down on the 50 yard line.

We have to move beyond that, man. We have to move beyond that kind of thinking and realize that we're all in the match together. (إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ - innaka kadihun ila rabbika kadhan famulaqi). (Quran 84:6(

وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الْأُمُورُ )wa ila Allahi turja' al-umur). It says in the Quran, everyone's going back to Allah. Everyone is responsible. Everyone has a relation. (Quran 2:210)

If we ask you, do you believe in Allah? I believe in Allah. Maybe somebody will say, yeah, but in the 49th chapter, yeah, you take it easy. Imam Hassan al-Basri said, Imam Hassan al-Basri was a great ascetic, and he said, sometimes people need a break, you know.

He was asked one time, he made a fatwa that was rather easy. So someone asked him, like, sheikh, how come he said, sometimes people need a break, brother. Sometimes people need yatanafasoon.

Let them breathe, let them have some relaxation, some shara. So Allah, he calls those people (شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صُدُورَهُمْ - sharaha Allahu sudoorahum), Allah expanded their hearts. (وَزَيَّنَ الْإِيمَانَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ - wa zayyana al-iman fi qulubihim).

And he beautified and ornamented iman in their hearts. And they love Allah, and Allah loves them. (Quran 49:7)

Love, Mistakes, and Repentance

Just because you make mistakes doesn't mean you don't love Allah. People love Allah and make mistakes all the time. We love our wives who make mistakes, right? All the time, my wife could write, like, you know all those CDs, all those thousand hadith books. My wife could probably make one of those about us.

And how many times you burn a biryani? No problem, you still love your husband. So making mistakes, screwing up, I'm not trying to be patriarchal either, I'm just using that as an example. Doesn't mean that you don't love Allah.

But repentance to Allah means that you love him. Going back to him, feeling closeness to him. (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu) (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ - kutiba alaykum as-siyam). (Quran 2:183(

The Meaning of Fasting

Al-siyam means to refrain from something. (إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا - innini nadhartu lir-rahmani sawman). Allah says in Surah Maryam that Maryam said to the people, I have vowed to Allah sawma, to refrain from what? From speaking. (Quran 19:26)

So this is with vows, sawma, masdar. But al-siyam with ya, siyam, only appears when it's talking about refraining from food and drink. So Allah said (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ - kutiba alaykum as-siyam). (Quran 2:183(

Who is this sent to? This was sent to some straight up ghetto Arabs, man. (وَإِن كُنتُم مِّن قَبْلُ لَمِنَ الضَّالِّينَ - wa in kuntum min qablu lamina ad-dallin). (Quran 2:198)

Ya saliham. Wa in kanu min imbaba or shubra. Allah says, Indeed, before you were astray. You were astray.

Not only did He say you were astray, He said, Indeed, surely, you were in manifest error. You were lost. So Allah sent this verse to them.

So the first thing that they probably said is when Allah said to them (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ - kutiba alaykum as-siyam). Fasting been prescribed for you. They probably said, what is fasting? (Quran 2:183)

In the ayah, this verse is mujmal. It's not clear. Sawm has a lot of meanings. So Allah says, (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ - kutiba alaykum as-siyam kama kutiba ala allatheena min qablikum la'allakum tattaqoon). (Quran 2:183)

Ya saliham. Allah says, fasting was prescribed for you as it was before you. Why? What's the reason behind fasting? (لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ - la'allakum tattaqoon(.

Mafoolu li ajri. So, in the Arabic language, so you can what? Achieve taqwa. So, siyam, the outcome of siyam is a taqwa.

The Lesson of Sacrifice

We take one lesson here. Sacrifice. Somebody asked me, how did you memorize Quran? I said, I had to give up what I liked. I had to give up a lot of things that I liked to do before. Tayyib. Siyam is a sacrifice.

(وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا - wallatheena jahadu feena lanahdiyannahum subulana). Allah says, whoever struggles towards us, we open the ways for them. So, you take a step to Allah, Allah takes ten steps to you. (Quran 29:69)

You walk to Allah, Allah raises to you. Subhana. (كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ - Kutiba'alikum siyam). (Quran 2:183(

Fasting was prescribed for you. (لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ - La'alakum tattaqoon). So that you can achieve taqwa. (Quran 2:183(

Definition and Pillars of Fasting

Siyam in sharia means to refrain from food and drink and sexual relations with one's wife. Okay. From dawn to sunset. Not from sunrise to sunset. From dawn to sunset. Tayyib.

And siyam has some pillars and some conditions. Pillars, when we say al-arkan, rukn, means something that actually is in the action itself. So we say al-fatiha is a pillar of salah.

Conditions of Fasting

So Ramadan, fasting Ramadan, has some conditions and has some pillars. As far as conditions, alhamdulillah most of us met those conditions. Number one is to be eligible as far as your age to be a servant of Allah, puberty.

Number two is to have mental stability. Alhamdulillah we ask Allah bil-afiyah to protect us mentally, keep our minds straight inshallah. Number three is that you're not physically ill and unable to fast.

Number four for a woman is that she's not on her menses or post-birth bleeding. Number five is that the person is a Muslim. That doesn't mean our non-Muslim comes and says, I want to fast.

We say, well Imam Suhaib is aware of the five conditions, you know, and since you're not a Muslim, you can't fast. Alhamdulillah, let them fast. I mean, we say in Egypt, maalish, no problem. Let them fast.

The Two Pillars of Fasting

As far as the pillars, the pillars of fasting are two, basically two very simple. Number one is intention.

Indeed righteous actions are only by their intention. And the Prophet ﷺ said, the Prophet said, whoever doesn't make his intention before Fajr or her intention before Fajr, then they have no fasting. (Hadith: Sahih - Abu Dawood 2454, An-Nasa'i 2331)

The ulama, they differed when to make intention. Imam Malik rahimuhullah, he said, you just make intention once in the beginning of the month of Ramadan, it's enough for you. So the first night, you make intention to fast the whole month, lillah, unless you experience your menses in the maliki school, after your menses during Ramadan, so you made intention sister for example, then six days into Ramadan, you experience your menses, then after you finished your menses, you start to fast again, you have to make a new intention. Put into Imam Malik, rahimuhullah.

Same thing, brother, if you travel and you break your fast, you have to make intention again. Or if you are sick and you broke your fast, you have to make intention again. This is the school of who? Imam Darul Hijrah, Malik ibn Anas.

Historical Note on Imam Malik

Imam Malik died 174 after Hijri. How many of you know how old Kobe Bryant is? I went to Wikipedia and I read about Kobe and Jay-Z and all these people. But we should also know, when people like Imam Malik died,

when they were born, that his mother was named Alia, who his father was, who his grandfather was, why it's important just to know these things, so you can have people without a history or people without a future.

So he died 174 after Hijri, he was born 94 after Hijri. Rahimuhullah. The other schools, they said, no, you have to make intention every night. You have to make the intention every evening. Khalas.

Making the Intention

How to make the intention? The intention from your heart. Don't make it too difficult. Don't make it too difficult. So I make an intention tomorrow, I fast for the sake of Allah.

The opinion of the other scholars, even though I'm Maliki, I'm trained in the Maliki school, I appreciate the other opinion why? Because the whole month you remind yourself of sincerity. So every single night, if you renew your intention, this means that you're practicing what's called Al-Muhasaba. Al-Muhasaba, Ra's al-Tazkiya, that you're calling yourself to account, you're looking into yourself, you're auditing yourself.

And Omar, he said, audit yourself before you're audited by Allah. Hasibu anfusakum, qabalantu hasaba. He said, audit yourself before you're audited.

So every night, inshallah, you make the intention for Allah. If you forgot to make intention the next day, khalas, keep fasting. Why? Oh Allah, forgive us if we have forgotten.

And the Prophet said, that the sin of forgetfulness was removed from my ummah. (Hadith: Sahih Muslim 126)

Khalas, so don't flip out if you forgot to make intention. Allah says, remember Allah. If you forgot, remember Allah. So as soon as you remember, make intention inshallah.

Islam is a merciful religion, not difficult and hard. Some people will tell you, you can't fast today. So what? You're not fast? This is a massive problem. So first, pillar of fasting is intention.

Ikhlas lillah, to be sincere to Allah. Number two, is to refrain from anything that breaks the fast from dawn to sunset. That's it. That's all you have to do. Intention and refrain from those things which break your fast from dawn to sunset. Khalas, how many pillars to fasting?

Do we have any dual prizes, sheikh? Sorry. I heard you had like a nano and stuff, and iPhones. I'll take the iPhone, cool. Inshallah.

Usually we give gifts in our masjid when we give talks like this. We give gifts to people who remember. So number one, first pillar is Imam Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari al-Hikam.

Wisdom on Sincerity

Ya salam. He said (مَنْ أَشْرَقَتْ نِهَايَتُهُ فَقَدْ أَشْرَقَتْ بِدَايَتُهُ - man ashraqat nihayatuh faqad ashraqat bidayatuh). He said, whoever illuminated his ending, it was because he illuminated his beginning.

And he said, (مِنْ عَلَامَةِ النَّجَاحِ فِي النَّهَايَةِ الرُّجُوعُ إِلَى اللَّهِ فِي الْبِدَايَةِ - min alamati an-najahi fil nihayah ar-ruju'u ila Allahi fil bidayah). Ya salam. He said, the sign of the successful ending is to return to Allah in the beginning.

Sincerity with Allah. So we look at Ramadan as a training ground for us. The first thing is to train us to be sincere. Sincere to Allah. Because if we're sincere, the sincerity has fruits.

(الْإِخْلَاصُ الشَّجَرَةُ وَعَلَامَتُهَا الثَّمَرَةُ - al-ikhlasu ash-shajarah wa alamatuha ath-thamarah) Ikhlas is like a tree and its signs are fruits.

The first fruit is to stay away from anything that displeases Allah. Small or great. The believer, they don't say, oh, this is segair and this is kabair.

I have people before me come to me and say, oh, this is just a minor sin, man. It's just a minor sin. It's like, mashallah, brother. I know about tawakkul with Allah, but this is pushing it to another level, brother. Mashallah, you've got it divided and everything. It's like, wow.

Minor sins, major sins. But as the people of Tasawwuf, they said that the mountain is made from pebbles. That the mountain is made from small rocks, who became large rocks.

Meaning that somebody who constantly does even minor sins, those minor sins will become what? Snowball effect. The major sins. So number one is this sincerity with Allah, this ikhlas with Allah, to become intoxicated with Allah.

A Story of Devotion

I remember, when I became Muslim, there was another Ghorasab who became Muslim. White guy. And that, Ghorasab means white man. Rajul ebiyat. So, white dude.

So that guy, I remember he told me something seriously in Ramadan, it was very beautiful, subhanallah. He said, you know, when I was wearing classes in university in those days, he said to me, every 15 minutes I look at the clock, I say, subhanallah. At least I try. So usually he said, I end up doing it twice because I forget.

I said, why? He said, so all the time I'm awake in the month of Ramadan, I can, when I die and I meet Allah, I will tell him every hour I was awake, I did some ibadah. It seems strange, but it's beautiful. You can see his concern, his tarkiz with Allah.

He's thinking about Allah. His concern with Allah. Subhanallah.

Number one is sincerity. The other lesson that we take from Ramadan is to struggle. Struggle against ourselves. To work hard. To push ourselves. To make this mujahidah.

To increase our ibadah. To increase our zikr. To increase our good deeds.

Building Spiritual Habits

And to make those, I remember when I played basketball, when I first started playing basketball, how many of you played basketball before? So you know, don't be shy. Anybody's mother here can get married. Play basketball.

You breaking or what? So, play basketball. But it's late, I change when I get late. Full moon out there. I had my akwathina, too much akwathina.

So, you play basketball, you shoot with two hands. And what happens? Everybody tells you what? Shoot with one hand.

When you start to dunk, I dunked when I was 14, now I ain't dunking none but donuts. In those days, 15 and... So they used to tell me, don't jump off one leg, try to jump off two legs. Jump with a vertical, don't jump with one leg.

So after a while, you practice that, practice that, shooting with one hand, shooting with one hand, it becomes what? Muscle memory pattern. MMP, right? It becomes a habit. Now you can never shoot with two hands again. I can never jump off one leg, let alone two.

So, that's what happens in the month of Ramadan. We want to take some habits out of the month. We want to take some things that, seriously now, I'm making you laugh because you're tired. But seriously, we want to develop some habits that we're going to take from this month so every year of our life, we build on those habits. Until by the time we're older, we have a lot of noble habits that we've developed in this month because this month is a camp, the camp of Taqwa, Camp Taqwa.

We're checking into. If we look at also the verses surrounding Siyam, we see some remarkable things about how the Sharia functions, how Islam functions, and how we can make Islam relevant to our lives because we're struggling. It's not easy, man.

Acknowledging the Struggle

I really respect young brothers and sisters in our high school, university, for holding it down or struggling to hold it down. Masha'Allah. I couldn't do it. I mean, wow. It's not easy. Masha'Allah.

May Allah give you thabaks. And those young professional brothers and sisters who are struggling, especially if you're single, you're in your 30s, man. It's rough.

It's rough. In our community, we don't like to talk about this because we think if we talk about this, somehow that means Islam is wrong. That's not true.

Islam is Islam, but Muslims are Muslims. The community loves Islam, but does the community love itself? That's the question we have to ask ourselves. Do we really care about it? Are we willing to address, for

example, sexual problems in the community? Oh, brother, if you talk about that, what if I talk about that, what? Islam is over with? Divorce.

Now, you know, last six months in California, 500 divorces. 500. Most Muslims, not non-Muslims. Oh, brother, don't talk about that, brother. So Muslims' rugs, man, be up to the ceiling. Because we stuff so much stuff under the rug, eventually that rug's going to fall over in the front room and corrupt everything.

Hope and Mercy in Islam

So in the month of Ramadan, we're dealing with this month, we should engage the community, and we should understand that theology, theology has to deal with reality. So you young brothers and sisters who are holding it down, struggling, and sometimes you feel, as one sister, as I mentioned just a few hours ago, told me last week, am I X'd out? Am I X'd out? Has Allah X'd me out?

X'd out, sister. We're not the nation of Islam, man. You're not X'd out. She's like, no, but you don't know what I've done. I said, I don't care what you've done.

I'm not trying to hear about what you did. Because that's between you and Allah, and if Allah has hid it from us now, inshallah, he's going to hide it from us on the Day of Judgment. But have mercy.

Have hope in Allah's mercy. We heard it's haram to drink, we heard it's haram to smoke shisha, we heard it's haram to take loans for graduate school, we heard it's haram to look at girls, we heard it's haram to look at guys, we heard it's haram to smoke blunts, we heard it's haram to do this, but we never heard someone say it's haram to give up on Allah's mercy. It's haram to give up on Allah's mercy.

And Allah says, He says, my punishment, I will inflict with who I want to inflict it with. But my mercy encompasses everything. Everything.

So we should have that hope, man, that our religion is going to empower us in this month, not disenfranchise our relationship with God. But that's what's happened. And I remember that girl, when I read to her just hadith about mercy, in Riyadh Saliheen, she said, I never heard this before, brother.

My mother and father, man, she said, if I like, you know, just the smallest thing. They were like, an-naar, an-naar.

A Story About Teaching Children

My daughter, my seven-year-old daughter, I miss her mashallah, habibti, taskun fee qalbi, she's in school in Egypt. She was in one what's called hadana, you know, the daycare. My son, Malik Shabazz, is five. So, one day my son was playing, and my daughter told him, ya Malik, deen ardi.

She told him, an-naar, an-naar. He said, you're going to go to hell. I said, he's only five. The pin been lifted from three. What is a kid? She's like, la, that man fash. My daughter speaks Egyptian better than than, you know, Amr

Diab.

So she said to me, (هَدَانَا جَمِيعًا - hadana jami'an). So she said to me, no, this is an-naar. I said, who told you this? My teacher told me, whenever I make a mistake, an-naar, an-naar, an-naar.

First of all, we have what's called in Arabic, what's called fahwal khitab. So, if you tell my daughter the naar, what's left for me to threaten her with? I'm going to take away your footloops. Yeah, but that's not the naar.

But I became concerned, it's funny, I became concerned with the mentality that exists in some people's minds where you just kill any type of feeling of empowerment of religion, and people feel debased. Man, Islam is not to debase people. (اللهُ يُذِلُّ مَنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ - Allah yuthillu man ahlun-naar).

Yani, Allah will debase people in the hereafter. But ask for someone who believes in Him and struggles and tries and makes mistakes, this is Izzah.

The Struggle Is Part of Faith

Ibn Qayyim rahimullah, he was asked about someone who prays and struggles with their prayer. Struggles with their prayer. He said, (هَذَا مُجَاهِدٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ - hadha mujahidun fee sabeelillah). He said, this is a warrior in the cause of Allah.

One who struggles 401k, that's salah. Retirement, salah. Getting married, salah. They're struggling. So if there was no struggle, our salah would have no meaning, our dua would have no meaning, and our siyam would have no meaning. But what gives us meaning is our weaknesses and our mistakes.

What brings relativity to our relationship with Allah as an iman? When I screw up. When I screw up, which is mashallah, too much. But when I screw up and slip, then I'm able to appreciate God's mercy and share that mercy with other people.

But we forgot about that. That's why the Prophet said (مَا لَا يَرْحَمُ لَا يُرْحَمُ - ma la yurham la yurham). The Prophet said, who is not merciful to others, Allah is not merciful to them. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 5997, Sahih Muslim 2318)

The Religious Bully

How many of us we dealt with the religious bully in the community? The religious bully, man. That religious bully is the most insecure person you'll meet on the planet. You know why they're insecure? Because your mistake scares them.

They think Islam is not the truth. But Islam is not based on people. Islam is based on our belief in Allah and the Prophet.

And people are people. Allah said, (وَخُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفًا - wakhuliqa al-insanu da'ifan). People were made weak.

And the Prophet said, if you didn't sin, Allah will destroy you and create a people who will sin and seek His forgiveness. (Hadith: Sahih Muslim 2749)

Look at even the people who worship partners with Allah, after Allah chastised them and threatened them with a hellfire. He says, (أَفَلَا يَتُوبُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَهُ - afala yatuboon ila Allahi wa yastaghfiruna). Will they not repent to Allah? (Quran 5:74)

Those people who killed believers in Surah al-Buruj (إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا - inna allatheena fatanu almu'mineena walmu'minati thumma lam yatuboo). Allah says, those who killed believing men and women, then He conditioned their hellfire with what? And they failed to repent. (Quran 85:10)

Meaning if they repented, Hasan Basri said, (قَتَلَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ - qatala almuslimeen). They killed the believers, the mu'mineen and still (اللَّهُ دَعَاهُمْ إِلَى تَوْبَةٍ - Allah da'ahum ila tawba). And still Allah asked them to seek His mercy. Ya salam.

The Power of Repentance

How many of you killed someone? Now imagine you went to a club and smoked some blunts and didn't kill nobody. How many of you you know, committed shirk? So why would you feel disenfranchised when the concept of repentance is to empower you and afford you transcendence over yourself?

If you don't feel empowered, if you don't feel this transcendence, this relationship with Allah, how are you going to go back to Him? But instead, repentance became, oh my gosh, I have to repent man, oh no. Nah.

So the month of Ramadan comes, mashallah, 11 months of tripping, one month of hardcore worship and tawbah and devotion, sincerity with Allah, struggling to get close to Him, seeking Him with sincerity, fighting oneself, and what do you get at the end? Inshallah, he gets his forgiveness and his mercy.

Exemptions from Fasting

And we see this. Allah, He made some exceptions for those people who don't have to fast. And that's because shari'ah, Islam is based on ease and mercy. Wallahi, ease and mercy. Yes, most people, even in Masr, Umm al- Dunya, some people, wallahi, you meet them, their understanding of Islam is very naive.

Very naive, and they think that, wallahi, God is shadid al-iqab, God is the great one who's going to punish and destroy. Tell them Allah is al-wudud, the loving. But the bully, the religious bully, he only memorized 10 sifat of Allah.

Sifat of what? The punisher, the destroyer. Where's our Rahman? When the Prophet, he is related by Abu Huraira, who said that Allah said (سَبَقَتْ رَحْمَتِي غَضَبِي - Sabaqat rahmati ghadabi). Allah said that my mercy comes

before my wrath. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 3194, Sahih Muslim 2751)

And even after this speech, some people are going to come to me and say, and I've had it before. Why you tell them about blunts? It's like you let them, you encourage them to smoke blunts. Come on, brother.

Come on, brother. Man, deal with reality, brother. Where do you live, akhi? Where do you live, man? Who do you, you an angel? Bi'ah mala'ikiyah, the angelic environment? So, theology exists on a piece of paper with rules.

But you and I, we struggle, like that movie, man, Lost in Translation. We struggle to translate, I struggle to translate that, and you struggle to translate that, both of us. And we make mistakes.

And God is merciful, and forgiving, and loving. And He wants to see us repent to Him. And He loves that you struggle. He loves that one sister came to you one time and said, I have all these bad ideas, and you know, every time I make a mistake, I try to fix it, and I said, this is iman.

She said, how can you say this is iman? I said, it's sahih Muslim. When this man came to the Prophet, he said, ya Rasulallah, I have an idea in my mind, wallahi, it's so bad, I can't mention it.

The Prophet said, really? He said, really. Really? He said, really. He said, (وَذُلِكَ الْإِيمَانُ - wadhakal iman). He said, this is iman. (Hadith: Sahih Muslim 132)

What? That battle, that struggle. The one I'm worried about is the one who doesn't care, like Fir'aun (فَقَالَ أَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْأَعْلَى - faqal ana rabbukum al-a'la). (Quran 79:24(

Islam's Mercy and Ease

So we look at the month of Ramadan, we see a few exceptions, and that shows that the shariah, as the Prophet said, that the most beloved religion to Allah is the religion which is compassionate and on the foundations of Ibrahim. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 6705)

And the Prophet said, as related by Imam Ahmad, with a good chain, he said, ﷺ (عَلَيْكَ هَدْيًا قَصْدًا - alayka hadiyan qasidan). He said, I implore you to follow a guidance which you can reach some objectives, not something that's out of nowhere. (Hadith: Musnad Ahmad 25508)

Not something utopic. (سَيِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا - Saddidu wa qaribu wa bashiru). Prophet said, try your best to be upright. Do your best to reach your goal, and receive glad tidings. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 6463, Sahih Muslim 2816)

Receive glad tidings, subhanAllah. So this is a month, man, you come into Allah. If you look at these verses, you see something really awesome, mashaAllah.

Very cool about shariah. And that is that shariah seeks to remove al-mushaqqah. That Islam seeks to remove difficulty and hardship on people.

Wallahi, wallahi. By Allah. But unfortunately now, the Muslims, we have charged people with something Allah didn't charge them. We made the religion so difficult for people, that they don't like the religion anymore.

And Imam al-Shatibi rahimullah, he said, he said, it's upon you. When we say ease, we don't mean to go against shariah.

Here's the bully. You mean ease, we don't follow shariah, brother? Brother, first of all, have a good suspicion of me. But because we're so insecure, how we have a Guantanamo faith, Guantanamo base faith.

A Story About Challenging a Scholar

24-hour lockdown. So when anyone says something, du-du-du-du-du-du-du, one time there was a shaykh, mashaAllah, I want his good story so you can wake up again. Huh? There was one shaykh, he was teaching a class in hadith.

So the bully stood up. Hadha hadith da'if, ya ustaz. He said, this hadith is weak. The shaykh, he said, wallahi? Al-shaykh al-jum'ah yakhul, al-shaykh la yukhti. So he said, because shaykh al-jum'ah told us, the shaykh never makes a mistake. Meaning, if you think he made a mistake, check yourself first.

Then ask. Don't just rush. Check. So he said, really? Hadith? Hadith is weak? He said, ya hadith da'if. Hadha hadith is very weak. He said, really? From the quote of the Prophet or the people in the senate.

He said, from the senate. From the chain of narration. He said, are you sure? He said, ya, I know.

So this was actually in the gulf countries. The gulf countries, when people get married, they have big signs with the names of the whole family on the signs. So he said, ok, I'm going to say the chain of narration to you and you tell me who's the person who's weak in the hadith.

He said, ok, haddafani, you know, I heard from such and such, from such and such, from such and such, from such and such. So she said, ha, this one. Imam Zahabi said in Lisan that this guy's weak.

Imam Zahabi wrote a book called Lisan al-Mizan about hadith, written narrations of hadith. The sheikh is in Azhar. You know Azhar is mashallah we eat a lot of food in Ta'amiyyah so we're funny people.

He said, really? Really? That's the guy who's weak? He said, ya. He said, ok, turn around. He said, turn around and read that marriage invitation.

He said, the third name is the name I just said. Sit down and shut your mouth. I was reading the family of the bride, man.

So the bully, ha, ha, ha. Sit down and shut your mouth, son. Ya.

Why? Insecurity. Insecurity. Insecurity. As the poet said, one who rushes, fails.

Meeting the Religious Bully

So we come to the masjid. I was a convert. It happened to me. We come to the masjid and we meet the bully. And the bully starts to impose upon us a set of religious ideals which he got, or which he got in Ijaza from Sheikh Gugul bin Yahu ibn AOL.

And he seeks to impose that understanding which is an ideological understanding which has no organics.

Because what we need as Muslims as I mentioned there, man. My brother said, I need a theology that protects me from Beyonce, brother.

I don't need a theology to tell me all that crazy stuff, but I don't know about all that. I have a problem at school, man. And she wants the digits. Help me out. Yeah. So that I can tell her (إِنِّي أَخَافُ الله - inni akhaafullah). (Quran 12:23)

And look at the hadith of the Prophet. And look at the ayat of Quran. Always sound aqeedah.

Led to that kind of thing. When the Prophet said, seven people will be under the shade of Allah. On a day when there's no shade but his.

One of them is a young man who will be, and I can apply it to you also, the opposite. A young man is approached by a beautiful woman and she throws herself to him and he says (إِنِّي أَخَافُ الله - inni akhaafullah).

(Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 660, Sahih Muslim 1031)

So I'm not stretching that. That's the outcome of a good aqeedah. The Prophet said, whoever believes in Allah on the last day let them speak well or remain silent. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 6018, Sahih Muslim 47)

Where's the aqeedah of ethics? So we look at the month of Ramadan. Allah teaches us something beautiful about his sharia. Sorry I'm talking too long. Forgive me.

You guys okay?

The Mercy in Exemptions

Number one, Allah, he allowed the woman who has her menses or post birth bleeding not to fast and she doesn't have to pray. But at the end of Ramadan or at the end of her menses, does she have to make up those days she missed? Yes. But does she have to make up her prayers?

Here we see the mercy of Allah. How many prayers a day? So let's say a sister has menses for 15 days. It's happened before. Sorry. It's happened. May Allah help us. Brothers too.

Half a month? You know? I didn't mean it that way. Brothers got issues man. Too much testosterone inside the room. That's not what I was implying. I was implying you drop to the mosque and pray with your wife. Yeah see? Alhamdulillah.

Why don't you take over brother?

Why don't you take over brother? That says exit yeah? Jealous aren't I? So 15 days. 15 days. So how many salat would she have missed? 75.

Can you imagine if Allah asked you to make up those days? So your husband comes home from Francisco working hard, tired, fasting. You got like 16 kids. Xbox is broken.

Lion King DVD is not working. Because you know that's what you do right? DVD time. One time my daughter came to me and said, Baba, Baba.

Baba, Baba. I want to watch movies tonight so I don't get tired. She said, Baba, I want to let you let me watch some movies. I won't bother you. I said, how did you? Where did you learn that from? I said, from you. I said, SubhanAllah.

I seen Lion King man. I memorized it. Simba, Musafa, Fakuf. Now it's cars. Cars. I got Ijaz in cars. From the Warner Brothers.

So you come home. You're tired, you're exhausted, your wife says, you know what, baby, it's time for Maghrib, you know, you go order some pizza because I've got to make up 75 prayers.

Mahalat you later on, right? Or you've got something to do, 75 prayers. So here we see Islam teaches us something through a series of it. Through the verses of Siyam, we learn an important axiom in Islamic law that says, That hardship brings ease.

Understanding Hardship in Shariah

Hardship brings ease. Hardship in Sharia is defined, it's not subjective. One of the things which falls under what's called al-mushaqqa is what's known, which has so much in number that it will be a hardship, an unnatural hardship on the worshippers of Allah to fulfill that.

So for that reason, Allah did not remove fasting from you because why? It's realistic. But for the one who missed 75 prayers, it's completely removed. Why? That's why the strong fatwa for someone, let's say a sister was pregnant, missed Ramadan.

Next year, she's breastfeeding, missed Ramadan. Next year, she's pregnant, missed Ramadan. Next year, she's breastfeeding, missed Ramadan.

I know sisters that that happens. Four years of fasting. Then, if somebody hasn't studied deeply al-surufiq, he's going to tell that sister, Well, you missed four years, so not only you have to make up the days, you have to pay every day you missed for four persons.

Where's the mercy of Allah? That's why the strong fatwa is a woman who missed years and years and years of fasting. She has nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with it.

Why? Bring me the belief for that. I'm not telling you I'm anti-madhhab, I'm maliki. So, bring me the belief for it. That says they have to make up every one of those days, and they have to pay for every day they missed. There's no proof. For the one who missed four, five, six years of fasting, there's no belief for that.

So, we say that ulama say, That's it. It's removed from her. Why? Because of al-kafra.

Categories of Hardship

The second thing that falls under mushaqqah is sickness. So, that's why fasting is what? For someone who's sick, they have the right to what? Fast or not. Because one of those hardships, besides an abundance, and you should write this down, man, if you're a serious student of sharia.

Abundance, number two is what? Sickness. When sickness presents itself, ordinary acts of worship change for the person. Why? Out of a mercy.

So, someone who can't stand in prayer, he can what? Sit. Someone who can't fast, because he's sick, he doesn't have to fast. He can make up his fasting.

For the woman who has her menses or post-birth bleeding, it's a form of sickness. And tired. Her body's tired. So, Allah removed it from her. And for the one who travels also, huh? They have the choice not to fast.

I want you to look at the philosophy behind this. I can tell you well, if you're traveling, if you're sick, but now you understand subhanAllah, sharia in a different way. This all follows under what's called al-mushaqqah. Al-mushaqqah, difficulty.

Traveling, sickness, abundance, and so on. There's a few others. So, now we see the month of Ramadan is a mercy.

Things That Don't Break the Fast

What are some things that we should know? Don't break our fast in the month of Ramadan. Insulin injections, don't break your fast in the month of Ramadan. Everybody asks this question.

What about insulin injections? You should ask your doctor, of course, before you fast. If you have problems with your blood sugar. Because the fuqaha, they differentiated what enters the stomach normally, naturally, and what enters the bloodstream through medication, unnatural means.

Unnatural means. So injections, unless it's artificial food, of course. Injections, don't break the fast. Because this is not a natural means by which the food enters into your body.

Number two are inhalers. Some people have asthma. No problem, inshallah, to use this inhaler in the month of Ramadan. No problem, inshallah. Because it's not a normal means of nutrition.

Number three, swimming. Some people ask me, if they swim, does it break their fast? The only way it's going to break your fast is if you open your mouth and swallow that water. And God forbid you try to drink water in a swimming suit.

Number four, does backbiting break your fast? No, but it harms the reward of the fast. Does listening to music break your fast? It doesn't break your fast, but it takes away from the potential. If you listen to bad music, of course, and don't get me into this.

But we can say that there's a difference between R. Kelly and a thong thong. I believe I can fly and a thong thong. There's a big difference. How do you guys know about that? That was before I was Muslim. The before I Muslim clause. Before 1994.

We wrote that a long time ago. So, you have two issues here. So, somebody who does any type of backbiting in general, doesn't break their fast, any type of disobedience to Allah, but it affects the reward of the fast.

More Things That Don't Break the Fast

What are some things we can do, inshallah, also that don't break the fast? Some people ask me, what if dust goes in my mouth? It doesn't break your fast. Why? This is mushakka, you cannot control it.

What if you eat while you're fasting out of forgetfulness? The Prophet ﷺ said, man, whoever eats while he was fasting (نَاسِيًا - nasian), out of forgetfulness (أَطْعَمَهُ اللَّهُ - afamahullah), Allah fed him or her, that shit can continue their fasting. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 1933, Sahih Muslim 1155)

Questions at the end, inshallah. Also, other things that don't break the fast. If you, for example, walk by people who are smoking, and you breathe the smoke.

Some people ask me this when they work, in their workplaces. Now most places are smoke-free, alhamdulillah. California, everything is smoke-free, bismillahirrahmanirrahim, except Snoop Doggy Dog's house.

Everything else is smoke-free, alhamdulillah. May Allah guide him. So, in that area, where did that come from? In that area, it doesn't break your fast.

What We Should Do in Ramadan

The other thing is to be serious now. What are some things we should do in this month? Number one, we should repent to Allah. We should come back to Allah and repent to Him and seek His mercy. And inshallah, He will forgive us by Allah.

Prophet ﷺ mentioned in a hadith that the angel says (يَا بَاغِيَ الْخَيْرِ أَقْبِلْ - ya baghil khair, aqbil). Oh, the one who wants goodness, take this month and use this month. (Hadith: Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3514)

Number two, we should try to pray taraweeh and not be lazy in taraweeh and not go out and hang in the lobby with our friends in the masjid. We should try to fight our nafs.

We should try to fight our nafs and pray at taraweeh and focus on taraweeh. And no problem to pray eight or twenty. Don't get in this debate.

Some of the salaf prayed sixty. Imam Malik said seventy-four rakah. You want to come to me and pray seventy-four rakah? Some ulama prayed fifty, forty, thirty, twenty.

In the early days of the ummah, this wasn't an issue. Now, because of Shaykh Google and Shaykh Yahoo, everybody made big issue, twenty-eight. Khalas, if you want to pray twenty thousand rakah, go ahead, man.

It's the month of Ramadan. Every nafl is like a fard in your reward to Allah. Number three, we should decrease our talking about the dunya.

We should not make tawaf in the mall. We should not busy ourselves talking about this dunya and wasting our time. But we should busy ourselves when we have the chance to focus on al-akhirah and getting close to Allah, reminding ourselves of Allah.

Number four, we should spend time with good people. Those people who are going to enhance us and remind us of Allah. Number five, the last thing, you should write down one objective that you have for this month.

One goal that you have and work to achieve this goal. We ask Allah to bless you, inshaAllah, to accept your fasting. If you have any questions now, we'll take your questions.

Question and Answer Session

Fadhal. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. You don't have to ask questions about Ramadan also because he can answer those questions, inshaAllah. Any question that you have, we'll take, inshaAllah. Yes, brother. Does the miswak break? Fadhal, brother.

Thank you. Somebody answered your question. First of all, when we ask questions, there's etiquettes.

Number one, you shouldn't talk. Let the questioner, the one who's being questioned, answer. Because when Jibreel came to the Prophet and he asked him, what's Islam? What's Iman? What's Ihsan? What's one of the Day of Judgment? Omar, he knows the answers, but he doesn't talk because of adab, with knowledge.

Religiosity vs. Training

Number two, we should differentiate between two types of people. Someone who has religiosity, religiosity, and someone who has training. Somebody came to me and said, you don't know anything.

I said, why? I said, because your beard is short now. He doesn't know maybe what happened. Maybe I got jumped and someone shaved me. He doesn't know what happened. Immediately, the bully assumes the worst.

Assumes the worst.

So, religiosity is an outward expression of religion which involves dress and a cultural rhetoric which is based on a culture from overseas because the Prophet wasn't wearing a bonanza shawarma, believe it or not. Nor was he wearing a thobe made in China.

As Ibn Qayyim mentioned, Zad al-Ma'ad, the Prophet, wore what was given to him, . He wore what was given to him. Sometimes he prayed with a turban, sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he wore the kufi, sometimes he didn't.

Someone wants to do this, mashallah, alhamdulillah. But if you use these things to judge other Muslims, this is arrogance and you should ask Allah to forgive you. By Allah.

Because the scholars of usul and fiqh said, you will not be rewarded for this dress. You'll be rewarded for your intention. Your intention. Your intention.

And we bullied people so much now that when people come and ask me questions in the hallway, by Allah, what's the first thing they say? You do it. The first thing they say is, I'm sorry.

Why are you sorry? I'm sorry, but can I ask you, why are you sorry? Because someone has bullied you and pushed you to have an understanding of religious people. So the first thing you have to feel, because of the insecurity, if I'm insecure, I don't want you to ask questions.

Engaging Students in Learning

Yesterday or two days ago, I teach a class in Ulum al-Quran. There's one guy named Maher, mashallah, wa huwa maher kaman. And he's about 16 years old. So we're talking about something in Usul al-Fiqh, Dalarat al-Iqtibah.

Can I ask you to explain? Then he analyzed it backwards. He analyzed it backwards. And he was nervous. I said, no, don't worry about it. He said, mashallah, brother. You thought about it backwards. You know, you thought. Use your mind.

Abu Hanifa rahimahullah, when he asked people questions, he would throw. You know how many of his fatwas didn't come from him? Came from all of his students. Radiyallahu anhu, he engages the people for an answer.

And even Khaduni says in al-Muqaddimah, woe to the scholar who separates himself from the people. He's not of the people anymore. He's out there in scholarship. Ha! We were the people.

So people come to me, by Allah, the first thing they say is, I'm sorry. I'm sorry what? But I love your talks, brother. So, that's a double negative, man.

Logically, you're sorry. But this, don't say sorry. Say, assalamualaikum, brother. How you doing? How's it going? How's your family? How's things going?

Understanding Ijazah and Scholarship

So, number one, you have to differentiate between religiosity, religiosity, and someone who studies and has academic rigor. Anyone can dress like a sheikh. Anyone can dress like a sheikh. But everyone can give you the ruling on a 401k. Or talk to you about cronyism. Or talk to you about what you're going to do with the interest that's acquiring in your bank account. How you're going to use that interest.

Number two, brothers and sisters who read fatwa online, be careful. And who have studied fiqh from a basic text, be careful.

Because as Imam al-Qarafi said, relating those answers to the people without keeping in mind their cultural reality, is a crime that you should be charged for. A crime you should be charged for. There's a difference between al-aqil and al-naqil.

There's a difference between the one who's trained, who uses his mind, to answer you, and the one who just repeats things. Repetition, unfortunately now, this term is known as fiqh. Somebody who studied, for example, in the Maliki Madhhab, Ibn Ashir.

So he memorized Ibn Ashir, Yaquru abduhu wa hirib Ibn Ashir ibn Muftadiya. So he memorized this, so he thinks this is fiqh. This is not fiqh. This is not fiqh. This is taqlid. And the muqallid is not a faqih.

But the faqih is the one who can translate here, to here. Do you understand? Who can synthesize. Because any study blooms taxonomy of learning. The highest level is synthesis. The lowest level is rote learning.

So the one who memorized the book of fiqh, matna fiqh, jayid, mumtaz, but you're here. But the one who's been trained, and is a scholar, is here.

A Lesson About Judging by Appearances

That's why Abu Hanifa one time, a person came into his halaqah, had a big turban on, and a nice big tov, so Abu Hanifa stood up. Ya salam, who's the shaykh? Then the guy asked his question, Abu Hanifa, like this.

Yeah, right. Because the religiosity tricked him.

"(wa mina an-nasi man yu'jibuka qawluhu fil hayatid-dunya). Allah said to the companions, some people amaze you how they talk and the dunya but they are not truthful."

We have to differentiate between religiosity, and what? And practice. Practice. Ahmed Shawqi, the great poet, he said,

(بَرَزَتْ تَعْلَبُ فِي شَارَةِ الْوَاعِظِينَ يَوْمًا - barazat ta'labu feel sharati al-wa'idheen yawman) - one day the fox came out dressed like an azhari.

You know this red hat sometimes I wear? It's azhari hat. The fox had this azhari dress on. Then he was walking around.

يَمْشِي فِي الْأَرْضِ وَيَهْدِي وَيَسُوبُ مَا كَرِيهًا وَيَقُولُ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ إِلَهِهِ لَهُ (yamshi fil ardi wa yahdi wa yasubu ma karihen wa yaqoolu al-hamdulillahi ilahihi lahu) - So he gave this big speech to the fox. Then he told the people what?

Leave birds. Leave the birds alone. Let me have the birds. This life is the life of Sufis. Leave the birds to me.

يُؤَذِّنُ صَلَاةَ صُبْحِ فِينَا (yu'azzinu salata subhin feena) - And asked the rooster to be my muezzin in Fajr. The fox.

Then someone came to the fox and told him what? The rooster told him what the fox said? At the end the rooster said

(مَنْ ظَنَّ يَوْمًا أَنَّ لِلثَّعْلَبِ دِينًا مُخْطِئُونَ - man dhanna yawman anna lith-tha'labi deenan mukhti'oon) - He said mistaken is the one who thinks for one day that the fox has religion.

I'm not going to be tricked by how he looks. The ox. Number three is when someone says they have ijazah.

Understanding Ijazah

Number one, ijazah is something sacred. Not to be advertised. The ijazah should not be advertised. By Allah, I studied with a shaykh ten years. He will not tell me his ijazah. And I know he has many ijazah.

In qiraat. He gave me ijazah in some things. Like cleaning the restrooms and you know mopping up the floors. But that shaykh I asked him what are your ijazah? He said we don't talk about these things. Don't ask

(سِرُّ بَيْنَ الْعَبْدِ وَبَيْنَ رَبِّي - sirrun bayna al-'abdi wa bayna rabbi) - This is a secret between Allah and His servants.

But when people say they have ijazah you have to be careful. Is this an ijazah in barakah? Meaning that they met a shaykh and he liked him and he said khalas I give you ijazah. I have for example an ijazah one shaykh met me and he said I give you ijazah in every single book I ever read.

So I read, write, copied, whatever. It's like 60,000 books. I didn't read one book with him. I didn't even read the Bismillah with him. I can tell you mashallah I have 60,000 ijazah from that shaykh. This is barakah.

But there is also the other type of ijazah which is like a degree in university. When you sit with a shaykh, read the book from cover to cover. This is the ijazah that has rigor.

So don't get caught up as Americans into special effects. Shaykh don't want to know.

Ruling on Using Miswak

So the brother's question is What does the miswak break once fasted? No, unless you eat it. That's it. Also you have to be careful as some ulema differentiated between the wet one and the dry one. The wet miswak.

And you should not use this miswak that has the flavor. You know this new American man this mashallah mint and rocky road and all this cool type of miswak. Choose the plain one.

It shouldn't be dry. It shouldn't be wet. And make sure that the small hair-like fragments from the miswak don't go down into your mouth. Mashallah. And you can also use a toothpaste and toothbrush. Just don't swallow it.

Especially people who go to work like professionals. We know that the Prophet ﷺ said that the breath of the faster is more beloved to Allah than the rihil misk. True, but it's not more beloved to your core. (Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 1894, Sahih Muslim 1151)

You have to be honest. You have to be honest. So no problem to use toothpaste and toothbrush inshallah ta'ala.

As Shaukani who mentioned rahimallah. Any other question? Yes, auntie. I don't know, maybe.

Islam Loves Beauty

Prophet ﷺ said, Allah is beautiful and he loves beauty. (Hadith: Sahih Muslim 91)

Prophet told the companions, you're going to meet your brothers so straighten your saddles and look nice. (Hadith: Sunan Abi Dawood 4089)

Allah made this world beautiful for us. So also the Muslims should look nice. I remember sometimes people came to the mosque, wallahi, and they smelled very bad. I said, wallahi, brother, I want to buy you some deodorant, brother, wallahi.

I'm not making fun of this person. By Allah because I loved him for Allah. And I felt that this person, if people see him and his certain type of dress, they'll know this is a Muslim.

And they'll say, subhanAllah, man, you know, when I was a non-Muslim, we thought Muslims are very clean people, man, wallahi. We envisioned Muslims are like perfect people. I met a woman from France in the mountain of Mosul in Egypt.

Don't ask me what she was doing there. And she told me, before I traveled the Muslim world, I used to think that Muslims were the best people. And now I see them fighting over cellphones.

So she said, they stained, ya Allah, she should be a khatib. She said, they stained, they stained the pure whiteness of their religion with the love of Islam. Ya Allah, she said that. I said, yes, I love you.

Proper Use of Miswak

So she's asking, when someone uses a miswak, they just let it hang out of their mouth, and all that miswak leftovers get on their face and stuff, and they walk around. Wallahi, we should not do this. It should not be like this, man. It's something that a mother would have thought of when younger. My mother saw me like that.

I used to take a straw, put it in my mouth at a restaurant. Oh my God. My mother would kill me. Okay, she would kill me. I have to eat again. I'd be so scared, I'd throw up.

In church, in church, in church, if I made a noise in the church, you know what happened to me? My mother would take me out in the parking lot and whoop me. Mothers now, they let their kids run around the masjid like they're on ecstasy. They don't do anything to their kids.

They got the glow on. I see the nur. You know why? You know why? You know why? Because mothers, brothers, we don't do anything for them at home.

When they get to the masjid, it's like, free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, free. Go. We're over there. That's true.

We should not be walking around with a miswak hanging out of our mouth. Also, it's nice if you keep it in the package. Keep it in the package. Put a little hole in it so when you're done, you push it back in there. Don't put it here. Put it in your pocket. Or carry a Ziploc bag with you.

Put it in your Ziploc bag. Put it in the refrigerator. It stays fresh, by the way. FYI. Another question. Khalas. Jazakallah Khairan.

Ruling on Traveling and Prayer

But that's where you're originally from? Yeah, yeah. Pray like normal. Yeah. Pray like normal. Also, if you go to the place that you married, your wife's city, you can pray al-qasr.

Hadith al-hasan, which is the sound of hadith. That's why Uthman bin Affan, when he went back to Mecca, in the area of what's called Dhat Irq, later in his life, as Ibn Qayyim, he mentioned, he didn't pray al-qasr. So some of the companions said, why aren't you praying al-qasr?

He said, because my wife is from this city. And I heard the Prophet ﷺ. (Hadith: Sunan Abi Dawood 1229)

Khalas.