Ramadan, The Month of Progress

Ramadan: The Month of Progress

Opening Greetings and Gratitude

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Praise Allah, we send an abundant amount of peace and blessings upon the Prophet, upon his family, his companions, and those who follow them until the end of time. Masha'Allah, first of all, thank you to Qurtubah for organizing this important event, as well as you as a community for attending and being actively engaged in such a wonderful alhamdulillah opportunity to prepare for ibadah.

As the Prophet said to Mu'adh (اللَّهُمَّ أَعِنِّي عَلَى ذِكْرِكَ وَشُكْرِكَ وَحُسْنِ عِبَادَتِكَ - Allahumma a'inni 'ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni 'ibadatik) (Sahih Abu Dawud 1522) - "O Allah, aid me to properly remember You, to be thankful to You, and to worship You in the best manner." So this is one of those opportunities that Allah has assisted us to prepare for this incredible month of Ramadan. (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ - Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alameen) (Quran 1:2).

The Prophetic Characteristic of Generosity to Guests

We know from the qualities of the Prophets is to be generous to guests. Allah in the Quran mentions specifically a few examples. One being Sayyidina Ibrahim (عليه السلام - alayhi salatu wa salam).

He brought them a fat roasted calf. But before that

There's something beautiful in the Arabic that you lose here in English, and that is that even how Ibrahim talks is more generous than the people who talk to him. Those angels when they met him (قَالُوا سَلَامًا - qalu salama) - it's called masdar (سَلَامًا - salama) we send salam to you. But in Arabic we say (المرفوع أقوى من المنصوب - al-marfu'u aqwa min al-mansub) - that dhamma is stronger than fatha. It's a long story, Imam Majid can teach this to you, alhamdulillah, or Shaykh Farhan, Imam Farhan. But dhamma is stronger than fatha. So they said (سَلَامًا - salama). How did he answer (قَالَ سَلَامٌ - qala salam). So even his response in the language is generosity. He's honoring the guest. (قَوْمٌ مُّنكَرُونَ - qawmun munkarun) - and then also he used honorifics to describe them. What I want you to understand is that the prophets are the embodiment of great character.

Then of course,

- He brought the best food for them and he took care of them. Our beloved messenger, Muhammad, he said,

(Sahih al-Bukhari 6138, Sahih Muslim 47)

- narrated by Abu Huraira from Bukhari and Muslim: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be generous to their guest."

The Story of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and Abdullah ibn Abbas

When Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه - radiya Allahu 'anhu) went to Basra, at that time, Sayyidina Ali, karamAllahu wajhahu, had put Abdullah ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما - radiya Allahu 'anhuma) as the governor of Basra. So when he came to Basra, Abdullah ibn Abbas, he greeted him and he welcomed him into his home. And he laid it out, you know, mashallah, halal golden corral. And Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, he was shocked. He said to him, why are you being so generous to me? He

said (كَمَا أَكْرَمْتَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - kama akramta an-nabiyya sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) - "As you were generous to Sayyidina Muhammad when he came into Medina, I'm now going to repay you for that generosity that you gave to my uncle."

The Arrival of Ramadan

Why do I say that? Because the month of Ramadan is coming. And Sayyidina Muhammad, the fuqaha, they know something very important: it's encouraged to congratulate Muslims on moments of ibadah. Because he said, قَدْ جَاءَ رَمَضَانُ - "Ramadan has come." He said to the sahaba, you know, Ramadan has come.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1899, Sahih Muslim 1079)

- "The gates of paradise are open," meaning the dua is accepted in the month of Ramadan.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1899, Sahih Muslim 1079)

- "And the gates of hell are closed," meaning it's hard to do anything that will take you to hell, subhanAllah, in this time.

- "And the devils are chained up," subhanAllah.

Understanding the Goal and Purpose of Ramadan

In order for us to push into this month and to see it as a process, we have to understand what is the goal and purpose of this month. How do we get ourself in the mindset? How do you start to shoot some threes before the game starts, right? How do you stretch? How do you prepare for this month of Ramadan? So the first is to think about what is the goal of the month. Ibn Rushd in Al-Bidayah, Bidayat al-Mujtahid, he said that for every act in Islam, either Allah has made known to you the reason, or He hasn't made known for you the reason.

What He has made known for you the reason, that's it.

- when Allah has made clear what's the reason for any act, that's it, there's no more talk.

- "Prayer keeps away from evil." خلاص. Don't try to tell me, you know like, there's some like aerobic benefits and it's good for your spine and help you with your sciatic pain and

خلاص. That's it.

The Importance of Knowledge Over Emotion

Some people, they make a mistake. And this, you know, every time Imam Majid says, you always say something, man, get me in trouble. So it wouldn't be a regular visit if I didn't say something controversial. But this is not controversial because oftentimes we find the masses of the Muslims, they're driven by emotion, not knowledge. And emotion without knowledge is a dangerous thing. We say that to our kids every day.

That's why Al-Mutanabbi said (الرَّأْيُّ قَبْلَ شَجَاعَةِ الشُّجْعَانِ هِيَ أَوَّلٌ وَهُوَ لَهَا مَحَلٌّ ثَانٍ - ar-ra'yu qabla shaja'ati ash-shuj'ani hiya awwalun wa huwa laha mahallun thani) - Al-Mutanabbi said, to think before you act in bravery is two braveries. Don't just be brave, but think. So what I'm about to say, maybe you never heard it before, but I'm speaking to you from the usul.

When you talk about deen, if you speak authoritatively about deen, you have to do something called ta'sil. You have to root that idea in the usul. If not, this is hadha'an and manthoora. That's why Sayyidi Ahmad Zarruq said, (إسْنَادُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ إِلَى أَصْلِهِ ثُمَّ الْقِيَامُ بِهِ بِدَلِيلِهِ الْخَاصِّ - isnaadu kulli shay'in ila aslihi thumma al-qiyamu bihi bidalilihi al-khass) - Sayyidi Ahmad Zarruq in Al-Qawa'id, he said, any idea you have about the deen, you have to root it in the usul, in its foundations. So what I'm about to share with you is from the usul. It's a very important axiom, and it's a beautiful axiom for those of you involved in social justice.

And that is, لَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ تَكُونَ الْعِلَّةُ مُسَاوِيَةً - that whenever Allah has mentioned the hikmah, the wisdom behind something, it has to be shared with all the believers, not a special segment. If that command begins with the statement (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - ya ayyuhal-ladhina amanu)

because (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَا بَنِي إِيمَانِ - ya ayyuhal-ladhina amanu ya bani iman) - "O you who believe," in English, you cannot now say a special group of believers has more opportunity with Allah than another. That would be unfair.

- "But Allah does not wrong anybody."

- "Allah doesn't wrong anybody."

- "But most people, they wrong themselves."

So what is this important principle in Usul al-Fiqh say? يَنْبَغِي أَنْ تَكُونَ الْعِلَّةُ مُسَاوِيَةً - that the wisdom that Allah has made known to us behind any act of worship has to be something that all the Muslims can do. Not just the rich. That would be inequality. Not just the Arabs. That wouldn't be fair. But all of the believers if Allah says (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - ya ayyuhal-ladhina amanu)

.

The True Wisdom of Fasting: Taqwa

So if we say that the wisdom of fasting is so the rich can feel like the poor, now the illah is not musawiyah. Now the wisdom of fasting only came for the rich. And what do you say to people who don't have food? What's their illah? They can't feel like the rich? So then what is the illah of fasting? And I know some people they like to say that, it's a nice thing. Wallahu a'lam, you know, yeah, maybe you, I get that sense. But I cannot apply that reason for fasting on everybody because it contradicts the usul that says the reason, the wisdom behind any command when it says, "O you who believe," encapsulates all the Muslims. Doesn't exclude them because of race, socioeconomic status, language, neighborhood, zip code. No. And that's the beauty of the deen.

So then what is the illah of Ramadan? Taqwa. And everybody can achieve taqwa, alhamdulillah. From the new Muslim, to the OG Muslim, to the rich Muslim, to the Muslim who's underserved but rich in their heart, to people in Gaza, may Allah free them from those Zionist shayateen, devils, and the Americans who support this massacre that we're watching. May Allah free them from that. All of that means that everybody has an opportunity to step into taqwa. And that's the beauty of the deen.

So you have to be careful what you say sometimes. When you say something that sounds good, just because it sounds good, it may go against the deen. The deen says that everyone has a right to worship Allah. Everyone has a right to benefit from Ramadan. Not just the people that have the luxury of food, versus the people who don't. As we think about it as a process, then we put in front of ourselves taqwa.

Taqwa: The Shield

And the word taqwa is from a shield.

. Allah says in Surat al-Tur, "We will protect them from a grievous punishment." الْوِقَايَةُ - that's why there's a narration of Sayyidina Muhammad:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151)

- "Fasting is a shield that will protect you." How does it

protect us? We should think about five things as we walk into the month of Ramadan that fasting protects us from.

Protection from the Nafs

Number one is our nafs

- "That the soul is always encouraging us to do something wrong." And one of the best ways to discipline the soul is to limit the intake.

Protection from Shaytan

The second is shaytan. Allah (جل جلاله - Jalla Jalaluhu) says

. Here's another mistake I hear people make. They say, in the month of Ramadan, all the shaytan are locked up. Why am I still bad? Because you bad. Like, you try to deflect it. Like, I don't know why I'm doing bad now. Shaytan's gone. He's in the county jail, thirty days. Orange thobe. He's not the scarlet thobe. That's fed time. He's doing county time.

But as Al-Hafidh Imam Ibn Hajar mentions, there's one shaytan that never leaves you even in the month of Ramadan. And that's the shaytan that you were born with. That shaytan doesn't leave you. That doesn't give us an excuse. I used to tell my wife, that's the shaytan. No, she said, that's you.

But we know that fasting, as Imam Ibn al-Qayyim beautifully talks about and others, Al-Ghazali, it restricts the entrances of shaytan. There are three major doors of shaytan. Number one is anger. I see online now, everybody's angry. Subhanallah, it's a climate of angst. Everybody's mad, but nobody's offering solutions. They just yell at each other.

Number two is desires, is shahawat. We talked about that in the first. The shahawat, shaytan tries to amplify our desires. And the third goal of shaytan, the third door is negligence. You know, when I'm older, I'm just 35, I'm still young. Really? Dunk a basketball. I'm 19, I'm young. If you die tomorrow, you're old today.

The Believer's Perspective on Life and Death

The believer doesn't see, and now physics is showing us that time is linear anyways, it's flat. The believer doesn't look at life like that. The believer looks at life between birth and death and Jannah. That's why we say,

- The One who created death and life." Ibn Abbas said, الموت دنيا - death is dunya, وَالْحَيَاةُ آخِرَةٌ - that's why we live to die, that's why we don't die to live. A very different way of thinking.

My wife, as you heard, grandmother just passed away. I've known her for seven years. She only speaks Persian. My Persian is so bad. Typical white guy from Oklahoma, Persian. And ever since I've known her, she's been 94 years old. She's been 94 for seven years. You know how she died, man? Kidney failure, organ failure. She survived COVID three times. But last hours of her life, Allah blessed the non-Muslims to turn her to the Qibla. They knew. And the last thing she was making was dhikr and she was gone.

What's the lesson you learn? How you live is how you die. I saw, and this is not to call anyone out, I saw a brother die one time and he was talking about his Air Jordans at his death. I said, what are you saying? Say, la ilaha illallah. He's like, nah, man, them Air Jordans. Bro, you dying, bro. Worried about shoes? Because that's what he worried about while he was alive. I've heard of women when they died talking about their bronzers. I'm serious.

It's terrifying. Instead of worrying about the Nur from Ibadah, we're worried about the Air Jordans and the bronzers.

Ramadan as a Daily Reminder of Death

So what does Ramadan teach us? As a process to achieve taqwa? Every day is a reminder of death in Ramadan. You will not find a page in the