In the Shade of Ramadan

The Heart

You have that desire in your heart. You have that commitment لَيْسَ الْإِيمَانُ بِالتَّمَنِّي Belief in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not whimsical.

It's not just, I wish or I hope إِنَّمَا الْإِيمَانُ مَا وَقَرَ فِي الْقَلْب. The iman you have is that which is solid in your heart. وَصدَّقَتْهُ الْأَعْمَالُ . And after it's taken root, it flourishes.

(Reference: Traditional saying attributed to various early scholars)

It's like it's a plant that grows out of the heart and its fruits are shown in your deeds. The fruit of your heart is in your tongue, is in your sight, is in your hearing, is in your action, is in your movements. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ. Perhaps in your heart you will have that desire to further your taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to develop that consciousness of Him subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Corruption of the Heart

The heart also my dear brothers and sisters, is the one where corruption when it sets, it's difficult to remove it. It's as Allah says in the Qur'an, it's raan. Raan in Arabic means rust.

You know if your car rusts, I know it's, you don't have the same problems we have in Canada. In Canada if your car is more than 3-4 years old, you have to throw it away. Because with all the snow and the ice and the salt they put to melt the snow and the ice, your car rusts.

It's under, you're driving and all of a sudden you see the road under you. I think it's time for a new car. Rust.

Once rust sets in, it's very difficult to remove it. It takes a lot of polish, a lot of vigor, a lot of energy. A lot of effort.

The spot of rust comes quickly. It tarnishes quickly. But to remove it takes years of effort.

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

No, in fact, their heart has been enveloped with raan, rusting. Allah described some people about their hearts. Some of the nations who came before us:

قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ

They were hard hearted. They were not merciful to one another and to others. So their hearts began to harden:

The heart became so hard it was like a stone. In fact, their heart became so bad it was even greater in strength and rigidity and in flexibility and so unmanable it was worse than stone. And Allah even says, In fact, some stones:

You can find fissures of water will bore through it. You know, if you turn your tap and it's just a drop, drop, drop, drop it'll put a hole through a stone.

But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Their hearts, nothing will penetrate it. Impermeable to the truth. أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً. And that becomes žān. That rusting.

Ramadan comes to remove that rust. And we talked about that in an introduction. You find that person, you know, he's not doing the right thing.

He's not always active in the ummah. He's not doing his salah, this and this and this. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala begins to move layers of rust.

They begin to fast and you find them more receptive to the truth. And they come closer to the way of Allah and the way of His Messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Taqwa is in the heart.

The Prophet struck Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) Hit him on the chest and said:

(Reference: Sahih Muslim (Hadith 2564))

Consciousness of Allah, piety, consideration of what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala seeks of you and what you seek of Him is settled and found in the heart.

Training the Heart Through Deprivation

Let us look at how Ramadan affects the hearts. My dear brothers and sisters, Nothing trains your heart better than deprivation.

And it's tough to admit that sometimes. When you're full and when you're quenched, you'll drive by the hungry and not really feel what they feel. When you're in air-conditioning, you don't feel how hot it is outside.

Am I right? You sit in here, it's nice. You step out and you go Wow, it's really hot. I never thought, you know, you look through the window It doesn't look that hot, but it's hot.

And the heart doesn't recognize the needs that others deserve. The needs, not the wants, but the needs that are not met except through deprivation themselves. And Allah has made it as a constant sunnah, as a constant pattern of spiritual development for our nation and the nations that came before us.

Fasting and abstinence has been written upon you as it was written upon those before you with the aim of you developing consciousness. If you visit Rome, you'll find people still fasting. And I'm not just talking about food.

You know, you come, you find a nun and you say to her, you know, which way to the Sistine's Chapel? And she'll just smile at you. And then she'll show you a card that says I've taken a vow of silence. I can't speak.

One day, seven days, 40 days, 40 weeks, some 40 months, some 40 years. It's a form of fasting. Abstinence.

You find even in non-monotheistic faiths, gurus and, you know, people in India they don't eat certain types of food or certain types of drinks as a way of purging themselves of what they see as being an overindulgence in the worldly life. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commands the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam to command his ummah to stop eating and drinking and cohabiting between the spouses as long as the sun is up. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

In the same verses Allah says He wants facility for you. He wants ease for you. This isn't to punish you. It's not to make you rebel. It's ease and comfort. And it's to help you recognize the needs of others.

Stories of Need and Generosity

I visited South Africa, my dear brothers and sisters and I was taken to a camp where new Muslims from the Zulu tribes - You know the Zulus? You don't know the Zulus, but you know the Zulus. You've heard of the Zulus? When Zulus come to Islam it's a big problem for some of their other cousins and relatives and so on. So sometimes they have to leave one tribe and go to a different place and so on. And some of them have children and families and I was taken to this camp outside Port Elizabeth in southern parts of South Africa a little bit north of Cape Town.

And I walked into what they said was the Qur'an school. They called it a Qur'an school. Quote, unquote, school.

And I'm thinking I'm gonna come see a building. And what I saw was literally maybe a quarter of this stage half of this stage tin walls and tin roof.

Crammed inside it were 42 children who didn't have pens or pencils or paper they were using charcoal to write on bark.

And I looked at this scene and I was like this is not where it just I couldn't I just came from a hotel where the towel in it probably cost more than the shack. Do you know? It boggled the mind that I stood in a place that resembled the times even the Sahaba may not have witnessed. And I looked at these children and I said you know, sister is there any funding that you receive? You know what? She goes, look, because

we're Zulu sometimes people are not as generous because there's still a lot of racism in certain parts of South Africa and different places.

It was astounding. Within our community today you turn on the BBC and you find the drought in places like Somalia and Kenya and it's not tens of people that are dying or hundreds of people or thousands of people say millions of people are in drought near death and you see these images and Alhamdulillah for what we have and Alhamdulillah for what I have for my family and what you have for your families and the month of Ramadan seeks to illustrate to make a movement in our heart to feel what others feel hunger and thirst and need helps you feel what others feel and it is an aim to cleanse your heart.

You know, Allah talks really figuratively in the Quran sometimes He says about those those who hoard you know, they've made savings of gold and silver and they hoard it on the day of judgment they will be punished in a way where their foreheads will be seared and then their sides and then their backs and one of the most wondrous explanations of why the forehead the side and the back you know, one of the scholars of Tafsir he says, because as soon as you see someone from a distance and you know they're going to ask you for some help you kind of frown you're like, oh no, he's coming you think to yourself so you frown, you kind of wrinkle and if you see him you know, he's looked you in the eye you say, okay, I'm going to turn, I don't want him to really look at me you know, you're turned away and then if he calls out to you, if he's really coming to you you turn your back and you say where's the nearest exit you know, how do I get out of here.

The Prophet's Generosity in Ramadan

For those who are ungiving, ungenerous the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the month of Ramadan, the Sahaba would say:

(Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 6))

By default, his default setting was generosity a man asks for his shirt here, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would give. The Sahaba they say, Anas ibn Malik says we never heard the Prophet say la meaning no except in la ilaha illallah:

I want you to think about that there is no God worthy of worship but Allah that's the only time the Prophet said no to anything la never, he never said la no that's amazing and then he comes in Ramadan and they say although his default setting was was generosity when Ramadan came he was like a tornado of generosity he was like the quick wind that comes into Medina and just hustles through it, giving everyone and everything a share.

Not once in the seerah of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's whole life is it ever mentioned he had a meal alone ever Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he would in fact overburden some of the wealthier Sahaba you know Abu Ayub would come and say Ya Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam really quietly listen, my

wife's been saving dates and she's been saving flour it's enough for us Abu Huraira and these poor Sahaba they're gonna hear Ya Rasulullah come over to our house for dinner and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would say Ya Abu Huraira come come with me, Abu Huraira call the people of Sufwa, bring them and the lady would look through the crack of the door, ya what's happening why are all these people coming Ya Abu Ayub, I told you one just the Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the Baraka of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was in that the Baraka of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam enters in our home through that generosity feel the anguish and the pain of others.

Linking Fasting with Charity and Quran

I want you this Ramadan not saying suffer but I'm saying monitor yourself and Wallahi it's an aim for myself and my wife to monitor ourselves this Ramadan and sometimes we get so caught up in the spirit of Ramadan and the joy and the family and everything that we forget that outcome of feeling the pain of others and the people that we invite to our home are the ones who are of similar status to us similar friends to us, similar neighbors to us, similar but that's not how the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was when you read his seerah they would say the miskeen the person of poverty would hold the hand of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and bring him down to his home to have a modest meal with him he would sit with the rich and the pauper, the poor and the kings Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that's Ramadan, that's the spirit of Ramadan.

The Prophet would link certain acts of worship along with fasting because they go hand in hand, they come together to make Ramadan better and I would be deficient in my nasihah to myself and you if I didn't remind us of them and the first one is sadaqah charity the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says:

(Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 1894))

Assawmu junnahsawm is a it's obscurity do you know what junnah means? it sounds like the word jinn does it sound like jinn? yes, junnah, jinn, same root the jinn, can you see them? no it's the same thing you want to obscure yourself from Allah's punishment meaning that with your fasting you hide your sins, Allahu Akbar look at the words the Prophet uses it's a shield junnah that a person protects himself from falling into hellfire with it and then the next sentence the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says:

(Reference: at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 664))

And giving charity secretly will extinguish Allah's wrath against you Allah's wrath against you we ask Allah to protect us from His anger and His punishment.

Sometimes we forget when we make dua what it means when you say, oh Allahajirni minan naar oh Allah protect me from hellfire you're not saying, oh Allah on the day of judgement put something between me and it what that dua means is when you say, oh Allah protect me from hellfire oh Allah give me junnah you're not saying, oh Allah give me a ticket I'm just going to walk through make it overlook everything in

my life no, what is that dua what does it mean when you say, oh Allah grant me junnah oh Allah protect me from hellfire it means, oh Allah give me a longer life and good deeds to earn a place, a root maqam asidq so that I can stand before you with a truthful purpose that I can be somewhat deserving of your mercy you say, oh Allah protect me from hellfire oh Allah protect me from falling into sins that will cause me to be worthy of Jahannam oh Allah allow me to be generous you may say, oh Allah:

oh Allah protect me from hellfire and the next second you see a poster in the masjid saying there's a family, they've lost their husband to an illness and they're finding it difficult you know, we need someone to donate money that's the answer to your dua we're sometimes thinking, oh yeah we're gonna see it in the akhirah no, Allah gives you the opportunity for it in the dunya that's the meaning of the dua and the answer to it is provided for you here siyam and sadaqah, linked.

Siyam and the quran, linked the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) he says in a hadith narrated by imam muslim:

(Reference: Musnad Ahmad (Hadith 6626))

Al sawm al siyam wal quran siyam and quran yashfa'ani lil'abd they will make shafa'a for the servant who is practicing of them yaqul al siyam, ya rabbi manatuhu al ta'ama wa al sharaaba wa al shahwata bin nahar oh Allah, I kept this man from eating and drinking this woman from eating and drinking and having intentions for their spouse all the daylight hours and your quran shall come and say ya rab, manatuhu al nawma bin layl oh Allah, I kept him awake at night meaning the intent of the quran in ramadan is when taraweeh night time.

Commitment to Taraweeh and Quranic Excellence

And I'm going to tell you my dear brothers and sisters it's tough it's tough going to the jami' and praying behind the imam from when he starts to when he finishes because you will think to yourself well you know I have people at my home, there's people in my home we have a very simple rule and we send it out with our invitations it says please come over for dinner but we close shop at 8.15 so if you're going to come and eat by 8.15 we're leaving, you can stay in our home but we're leaving we're departing our home, we're going to the jami' not because you have invited people and you want to be the really nice host and you know you're going to provide food then some and then you have to give tea and then after the tea everyone loves ice cream and how could you have ice cream without cake how can this be? it's an insult right? and then after the cake you know you might need more water and more drinks and you make some more fruit juices and oh my goodness it's 10.30 no your priority is the Quran.

Because for us many of us can't read it some of us struggle to begin and end the Quran and in Ramadan it is a sunnah to read the Quran in its entirety every year of life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam)

since the first revelation Jibreel would descend in Ramadan and he would recite the Quran as much as it has been delivered to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) except in the final year of the life of the Prophet it was done twice in the authentic narration it's not you know oh look at the grandeur of the Imam no no it's not you know that kind of thing it's the truth.

Rabia his student the people who lived with him they say he would read the Quran outside his devotional prayers 60 times in the month of Ramadan that's twice a day other than in prayers Allahu Akbar and Imam Zuhari one of the main links in the Hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) from the Tabi'een he would close the books of Hadith and tie them up with the leather meaning they are not going to be open for the 30 days of Ramadan and sit in front of his Mus'haf in reading the Quran was intended:

Turn your devotion to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la through seeking the Quran in this month eloquence in the recitation of the Quran can be achieved in the month of Ramadan.

I'm going to tell you my dear brothers and sisters I have a friend of mine Khalid he was the type of person who I can't get him to sit down you know he was just I'll pick you up from the airport I'll drop you off Ya Akhi the flight is at 2am it doesn't matter brother I'll be there Ya Khalid sit down relax any event any organization any volunteering anything he's there number one I go for a trip and I come back and the brothers they called me while I'm overseas and they said brother Yahya Khalid's sick he's a young man he's fallen really ill some spinal problem he can't walk can't move and I say are you sure and they say yes first thing I do I come back I'm going to go visit Khalid in the hospital and I'm thinking as I'm standing outside the door I'm thinking to myself what am I going to say when I see Khalid he's the most mobile of those who are mobile I'm thinking to myself how and I push open the door and he's got this huge smile and he goes you asked me to sit down I'm sitting and I told him Khalid may Allah guide you he goes brother Yahya look Alhamdulillah at least now I can memorize the Quran it took him four months look at the blessings four months to memorize the whole Quran the doctors they told him look because of this meningitis and all this stuff that he had you may not recover and he says yeah yeah yeah okay don't worry about it you know he started six, seven months, eight months and you know now he's using his cane he's coming to the Fajr with his cane determination, effort sabr the love of the Quran the dedication you put in it the time you give in it it returns to you and the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) says nothing will leave your hands and your grasp and your memory quicker than your Quran how many of us have known a surah our whole life and we come and then we oh I can't remember you know you stumble in it why and it's a way of Allah telling you come back to the Quran read me study me.

Qiyam - Standing in Prayer

Another link that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala makes for us in the month of Ramadan with an amazing intention or Ibadah is to stand in the prayer you know we talked about the Quran and hearing it and

reading it but the act of standing the Qiyam the standing of Allah and feeling you know your back hurt a little bit and you can I'm going to tell you three ways you can tell a lot about a person you can look at a person and with these three things you know what kind of Muslim they are alright first when you get in their car turn on the CD what are they listening to is it Rihanna you know is it this or that you can tell a lot about that how many radio stations are set and to what kind of music right what kind of flavor do they have second test is in their motions of Salah you know how some people they really they get there and they get up and when they are sitting in their Tahiyyat they are kind of crooked one foot is going this way the other one is up the other side and the beads of sweat is coming down when is the Imam going to say Salam Alaikum I'm not used to this position right I'm not used to it they come to make Ruku and the knees are at a 45 degree angle because they've never straightened their knee and their back at the same time it's not customary to them.

Final test you can tell a lot about a person you can tell a lot about a person by how often they talk you know the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) was the type of person who listened more than they spoke and there's people who just talk and talk and talk and you're like yes I know the weather and the car and the road yes the weather again and that was not the way of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) comfortable silence is Sunnah comfort in silence is Sunnah is the way of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).

Qiyam and finding comfort in standing in similar to the way the Prophet stood until the Sahaba they would say his feet would swell they would say to him Ya Rasulullah has not Allah forgiven you what has happened and what would happen if it would happen and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) says should I not be a thankful servant Allah says to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam):

Be active in your night prayers except few hours:

نصفه

Allah begins by saying half of the night.

Alhamdulillah we are not Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) half of the night one of the great Imams a man named Sufyan Al Thawri you know this is an Imam he's not like us he is an Imam of Ahlul Sunnah he admits and he says for 20 years:

(Reference: Siyar A'lam al-Nubala by al-Dhahabi)

I fight and struggle with myself to stand in prayer at night and for 20 years not once I enjoyed it those are some really strange things to admit 20 years but what did he do for 20 years he still did it he still did it he

persevered and after 20 years he says:

Allah began to grant me a little bit of its enjoyment in Ramadan you begin and it's hard and it's tough and the first day and second day you have energy and you will notice the masjid the first 3 nights of Ramadan are jam packed as soon as the Imam gets to Surat Al Ma'idah it's like what's wrong with Surat Al Ma'idah I look around there's no one behind me Surat Al Ma'idah is a tough surah no one wants to hear about Surat Al Ma'idah you get to Nisa' Ma'idah Al An'am Al A'raf you lose them Khalas you see them again ahh 15th 20th 20th the masjid begin to ahh khalas the last 10 days.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) he says:

(Reference: Sunan Abu Dawood (Hadith 1370))

The one who stands up with an imam until he is silent the imam is quiet from the reading kana lahu ajra al imam to him is the reward and the reading of the one who led the prayer Allahu Akbar in another narration by Imam At-Tirmidhi kana lahu for him ajra man ammahu wa um the imam wa man qad ammahum and the one who he has led so not just the imam but those who else are present you get their reward as well because of the qiyam in the month of Ramadan.

Practical Advice for Ramadan

I want to inspire myself you know we've talked about what we should do focus on sadaqah focus on Quran and focus on the taraweeh kick people out of your house you tell your husband listen I know he's your friend from work but he's leaving khalas yalla tell him to go we're going to the jamiah he can come with us and be very direct with what is important to you have those expectations known before people arrive if the taraweeh is going to start at 9 o'clock people are out of your house at 8.45 it's a demand Allah seeks you to make and there's no shyness in that which is better for you and your wife and your children.

I remember till this day my father when we were praying taraweeh in Toronto it was in July similar to these days 25 years ago or so and I remember the taraweeh prayers would start at 11 o'clock at night because there the maghrib is at 9.30 and we'd come to the jamiah and I'd be like sleeping and my father I remember he'd put myself in front of him and he would say to any one of his friends or anyone he was praying near him can I put Yasir in front of you so every little while when the imam would say allahu akbar and sujood I'd feel my father's face next to me you know his beard would be I'd be like you know get away from me and I still remember this I was 4 5 6 7 8 years old for 4 or 5 years I remember my father holding us making sure he could have said no no you stay here my wife you stay with the kids no I would be carried on one shoulder and Yasir on another shoulder because this is the way that we seek to bring barakah to our family.

The Meaning of Barakah

What does the word barakah mean we want to inspire ourselves now what is barakah you know you say:

Oh allah give us barakah in what you have given us in rizq barakah is three things barakah is three things when you say oh allah give us barakah it means you're asking oh allah what is little make it big what is little make it big if I have a hundred ringgit oh allah allow me to feel its worth as if it's really a hundred have you ever spent I've spent this recently you know my wife and family they're going through it quickly a hundred ringgit is a hundred ringgit but sometimes it doesn't feel like a hundred ringgit because barakah sometimes is removed and you want that barakah you want to feel that barakah that your money feels like its rizq for you.

The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - s.a.w.) would come to eat from a plate and he would eat from it and eat from it and others would eat from it and others would eat from it and up to three thousand people on the days of khaybar ate from a single plate and the prophet would say to us as our sunnah don't leave any rice you know we teach this to our children don't leave food in your plate because the barakah can be in any part of it don't eat from the middle of the plate because the barakah descends in the middle what does that mean it means sometimes you have a meal and you don't feel satisfied or the nourishment that is in it doesn't aid you or help you or that which you have consumed in fact harms you rather than heals you because the barakah nuziat has been removed from.

Second with barakah is that which is not present arrives sometimes Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - s.w.t) sends to you things you do not expect and Allah tells us:

The one who is conscious of Allah allows facilitates an opening for them and gives them rizq from where they did not think it would arrive that's barakah.

And third barakah that is discussed in the Qur'an and the sunnah is that your life becomes evidence in other people's life and they improve and Allah says that Isa would say:

Whenever Isa (صلى الله عليه وسلم - a.s.) and other prophets of Allah they would enter a town or a city or a place or interact with someone the people when they see them they benefited from them even if they didn't believe in them barakah can dispense itself from you towards others people look to you and they say just from the look in your face or just you know you're standing in your salah and someone from a far distance sees you pray and they might not have been praying properly and they say subhanallah you know maybe I should concentrate a little bit more barakah you don't even know it the hidayah that Allah puts in you towards others is done without you even anticipating it and that is barakah.

The Blessings of Ramadan

The prophet says:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 1899)

The month of ramadan shahrul mubarak the entirety of it is full of barakah tuftahu feehi abwabus sama' the gates of the heavens are opened watughlahu feehi abwabul jaheem and the gates of hellfire are closed shut watughallu feehi maradatus shayateen and the evil intentions of the shayateen against us are held at bay in accordance to our sincerity of Allah you know we hear this hadith that shaytan is chained it doesn't simply mean your shaytan my shaytan no some of us a chain can have a length we don't remember this one chain is really short he's far away from you as soon as he comes near you it's pulled another their chain is he's still following you but his influence is diminished what is the measure of that it's your sincerity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala barakah seek the barakah in the month of ramadan.

Second to uplift us the prophet ﷺ says:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 1896)

There's a gate in jannah none shall enter from it except those who have fasted consistently baburrayan none shall enter it except you and I fast with sincerity to Allah.

Finally the hadith of the prophet ﷺ:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 38)

And the prophet says this hadith in three different ways man sama and all three are in bukhari and muslim the one who fasts ramadan and in another narration:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 37)

The one who stands in prayer in ramadan and the third narration:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 35)

The one who stands in particular in laylatul qadr so the one who fasts ramadan and the one who stands every night in ramadan and the one who stands in particular in laylatul qadr for that person if they have iman iman in Allah and hoping for reward their sins are forgiven your sins are expunged the prophet says:

Sahih Muslim (Hadith 233)

The five daily prayers and one jumu'ah till the next jumu'ah you pray jumu'ah till the next jumu'ah and ramadan to ramadan mukaffiratun lima baynahun they expunge the errors that you have made as long as you leave off the major sins you become clean in the month of ramadan.

Finally my favorite hadith that is with regards to the month of ramadan where Allah s.w.t. says:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 1904)

Allah says and the prophet narrates fasting is for me alone and I will give its reward fittingly meaning you sitting in front of another brother or sister today you will fast and they will fast same hours same abstinence from water, food and drink but your consciousness and your devotion to the fast and its effect on your heart and how you interact with others is uplifted in comparison to the person sitting next to you who is fasting and hungry and thirsty and grumpy as well and you will be rewarded more than him or her and it works the other way because it is only Allah who measures it only Allah who measures the fasting of your eyes the fasting of your ears the fasting of your tongue the fasting of your heart the fasting of your heart towards others your abstinence, your restriction your holding back for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Closing Dua

Finally I wish to say my dear brothers and sisters that the month of Ramadan is a month that comes and goes and its an opportunity and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blesses whom he wills with it and the Prophet ﷺ made a dua where he said man and in fact it wasn't the Prophet it was Jibreel who made a dua and the Prophet said ameen to it as the Prophet climbed the steps of his pulpit, Jibreel made a dua by saying:

Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 5976)

The one who lives to see one or both of his parents in old age and they are not granted forgiveness because they have not shown their parents love and respect may Allah cut them meaning not show them mercy the one of us who has their parents in older age and they have not earned Allah's forgiveness through them Allah has cut them out from his mercy and the Prophet said ameen.

And then the Prophet ﷺ climbed up the second step and Jibreel made a second dua and said:

at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 3545)

The one who greets and lives through the month of Ramadan and does not earn Allah's forgiveness by working hard in that month of Ramadan may Allah distance him and cut him off from his mercy and the Prophet said ameen.

And then the third step:

at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 3545)

And the one who hears your name mentioned ﷺ and does not send the salat and the salam upon you may Allah cut them off and the Prophet ﷺ said Allahumma ameen the one who lives in Ramadan and does not earn Allah's forgiveness Allah has cut them off.

If you come at the end of Ramadan and you don't feel cleaner better more attached to Allah with a cleaner heart with better friends with a greater attitude with more stamina and strength and ability to stand in prayer at night that your Quran reading is more fluent that your love for hearing the Quran is greater that you've tested out different masajid to hear the voices of different people and say oh yeah I like this one better and you say I'm going to pray behind that man I want to hear this one more you find comfort in it:

If you don't come to that end of the month of Ramadan and find that comfort and mercy from Allah be weary and seek Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to live through to the month of Ramadan I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant His mercy and forgiveness to those who were with us in the last Ramadan who have departed from us this Ramadan I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us from those who will be virtuous in the month of Ramadan and who will earn a maqam, a place and a station with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us follow the tradition in the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ in the month of Ramadan and to help us stand up in the late hours of the night in His worship and in the listening of the Quran I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us learn from the Quran that which we do not know and to help us remember that which we have forgotten and to bless our homes and our families with the light and the nur of the Quran I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to shelter us and protect us and our families in the barakah of the Quran I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bring the barakah of the month of Ramadan upon us and our homes and our families I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant His mercy to those who suffer and have been suffering in the way of the Prophet ﷺ I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant strength to the Ummah of the Messenger Muhammad ﷺ and to forgive us our errors in that regard.

Quran 3:147