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My dear respected brothers, sisters, elders, Alhamdulillah today is the first of Shaban, which means that we have exactly one month for Ramadan. May Allah give us the tawfiq to prepare for it, to make and take the maximum benefit out of Ramadan al-Fariq inshallah. We have Sayyidina Abada bin Samit radiya Allah Anu, he reports in Kanzul Ammal that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala liyya wa sallam taught us one dua at the approach of Ramadan. And that dua is Allahumma sallimni li ramadana wa sallim ramadana li wa sallimhu li mutaqabala. Allahumma sallimni li ramadana wa sallim ramadana li wa sallimhu li mutaqabala. Allah save God Ramadan for me, save God me for Ramadan and save God Ramadan for me and accept Ramadan from me. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala this dua for all of us inshallah. Safeguarding ourselves for Ramadan means to correct ourselves and get ready to meet this month in a state where we can take full advantage of it. Which means ensure your schedules, your working hours, what you do and so on and so forth to make sure that there is time. And also correct ourselves in terms of our behaviour and our approach and our shaukh for our, you know, the love for this deen and the love for the rida of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. So we can exert ourselves in order to get the rida of Allah. Today I want to do the second part of the khumbah that I started last Juma’ which is Ibadur Rahman. The qualities of the slaves of Allah, the special slaves of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The reason why we are doing this is because Ramadan comes for this purpose. Ramadan comes to make us Muttaqun. Ya ayyu alladheena amanu kutiba alaykumu siyamu kama kutiba ala alladheena min kabilikum la alakum tattaqun. Qara jallahu ala, o you believe Ramadan has been sent, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become al Muttaqun. You may become people who are conscious of Allah’s presence in your life. You may become people who are conscious of and who are willing to do whatever it takes to please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. People whose sole criterion for every decision, the question they ask themselves before they say anything or do anything, across their life, is what? Will Allah be pleased with this? No other question. Will Allah be pleased with this? If the answer is yes, Allah will be pleased with this inshallah. No problem, go ahead and do it. If the answer is no, Allah will not be pleased, then no matter who says what, no matter who says what, including yourself, including your own afts, we do not do it. And if the answer is that I’m not sure, then we don’t do it until we become sure, until we verify and satisfy ourselves of the correct position and then we take the correct position. This is the meaning of being a Muttaqiq. We spoke about the first quality last Jum’ah, the second quality that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentioned, He said, He said, He said, And these are those people who spend their night, spend their time of the night before their Rabb in sajdah and qiyam. This is the most reliable sign of those who love Allah. We are going to come and we will be given a test in Ramadan when we come for Tarawi. Tarawi is Qiyam-ul-Lail. Qiyam-ul-Lail in Ramadan is called Tarawi. And we will be tested. There will be those among us who will take full advantage of it and stay with the Imam till the end. And the Prophet said, the one who prays and stays with the Imam till the end, Allah will forgive his sins. Those who will take full advantage of that, those who will revel and be joyous in their hearts, will feel with the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, listening to the recitation of the Imam. And Alhamdulillah, Allah has given us a beautiful Imam with a fantastic qilad. So no complaints about that. So Alhamdulillah, there will be those. And may Allah protect us. I hope there will not be those who will say, shorten the recitation, speed it up, because I have to go somewhere. I remind you and myself, Tarawi is Nafil. Even if you don’t pray a single rakat, there is no sin on you. Pray Isha and go home. No problem. Pray 2 rakat, 4 rakat, 6 rakat, 8 rakat, 20 rakat, 18 rakat, 16 rakat, whatever suits you. No problem. But this is a nyamah min Allah hita’ala. This is a blessing from Allah. It is a gift from Allah. Don’t make critical remarks about that. Pray as much as you can pray and go home peacefully. Absolutely no problem. There is no comp- I told you, I began with what? Don’t pray at all. No Tarawi. Alhamdulillah. You don’t pray far, there is a problem. But Nafil is Nafil. Alhamdulillah. But don’t make problems, don’t argue, don’t fight, don’t tell the Imam, do this, do that. No. Make shukr to Allah. Make shukr to Allah. You see, Arab, Alhamdulillah, I ask you to reward me for 20 rakat of Tarawi even if I don’t pray it. This dua is jahis. You can make this dua. I ask Allah to accept this dua. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, oodhooni, astad jiblakum, ask me I will give you. So as long as you are not making a dua which is haram, any dua, you can make. You can make. I am giving you the Delhi leaf. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, Allah won’t ask you, but if he asks you how could you make this dua. Allah, you told me to make this dua. You told me oodhooni, you told me ask me, I am asking you. I have only that much of mohwark and that. I cannot pray. I have got something to do. I have to run from here. Maybe I am lazy. I am lazy. Allah, I am lazy. So I cannot pray 20, I will pray 2. I pray nothing. Allah, I am going, please. I am going to say, it is a matter of time, what is it that you are getting upset about? Give it to me. What is it? Give it to me. Give me the question. Allah, I didn’t pray. But don’t make trouble. That is the problem. The problem is making trouble. The problem is complaining. The problem is telling the Imam, do this, do that. Please. And if you have any brother or sister who has tried to do that, the one sitting next to them, politely, very nicely, tell them please, don’t do this. We came here for the love of Allah. Let us show it. Let us pretend. And Allah will make it true in our hearts. As Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, if you cry for the khashyat of Allah, if you cry for the love of Allah, if you cry for the glory and majesty of Allah, Allah will forgive you. And Sayyidina Umar radi al-A’lam said, Ya Rasulullah, if tears don’t come, he said pretend. Pretend. Allah will put the love in your heart. I’m not making up all this stuff. I’m telling you, when I say something, I give you a dhaleel. Not my opinion. My opinion is trash. I don’t give it. The sign of Ibadah ar-Rahman are those who stand before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. My brothers and sisters, Allah specifically mentioned in the night, because when we make dua, we ask Allah, what better time than the time which Allah specified for that. Dua can be done at any time of the day or night in any state. There is no shurut for dua. There is no shart. The dua must be made in this way, in this place, in this form, in this, no, anything. But special times of the acceptance of dua, among them the best of that is in the last third of the night. In the night when people are sleeping, the ones who love Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, they stand in the night and they worship Allah. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala prescribed this as the first thing to His Nabi’i alayhi salatu was-salam. Allah said, He said, oh the one who is lying, sleeping, wrapped in garments, stand up in the night, all the night, maybe except a little bit. Half of it or a little less or a little more and recite the Quran aloud in a slow, pleasant tone and style. Allah did not say this. Allah said, do not, in surah al-khiyamah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala specifically said, do not move your tongue fast in the recitation of the Quran. Go read the Quran. Read the Quran. And you want the Imam to make his tongue brrrr. Why? Because in my country, I know, I come from a country where they finish the entire Quran in one night. And they call it Shabina. Thirty-two in one night, imagine the speed that guy is going like a bat out of hell. Forget about Tajweed, forget about understanding anything. This is a sign of dislike for the Kalam of Allah. A sign of dislike for Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Not a sign of like. I don’t like this. It’s a pain in the neck. Just let me tick the box, get it done, dump it, go away. Subhanallah, why do we want to do this to ourselves? That’s why I said, do not pray tarawih. If you don’t have the time, do not pray tarawih. But I’m only two o’clock. But go home with a peaceful heart. Go home with the love of Allah in your heart. Right? Allah is saying, the Prophet Muhammad, stand in the night, recite Quran. Imagine who is this? You know in the Darul Tahwiz, Madrassa of Hibs and so on, we have here also, we have in all over the world, Alhamdulillah. The student is called by the Ustad and the Ustad says, Ah, suna, daur, what did you learn? How much did you memorize? That is what is happening here. Here the student is Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, and the Ustad is Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Al Rahman uallam al Quran. He’s the one who taught the Quran. He’s telling his nebi, okay so recite for me. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said about those who stand in the night, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said in surah al-sajda which means, They get up from their sides in the night, to invoke Allah, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, bain al khawba, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to stand before Allah, to make dua, to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, bain al khawfi wa tamah, between the fear of Allah’s punishment and expectation of His reward and expectation of His forgiveness. And they spend in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, out of what we have bestowed on them. And Allah said no person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do. Allah said the reward of that, the hajjud, and the reward of standing before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, connected only to Allah, nobody else in between. Allah said I have kept for them delights which they cannot even imagine. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala include all of us among that inshallah. Hassan Basri r.a, this is the question of the taallukh ba’a Allah, the connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Hassan Basri r.a is standing in salaah, the hajjud, and before he starts his salaah he says, Ya Rabb, there are only two who are awake. The whole world is sleeping. Even the stars have gone to sleep, meaning the stars have set. There are only two who are awake, you on your arsh and me here. Then he makes his salaah. Have a sense of the reality of Allah. Allah is not a concept, Allah is not a theory, Allah is not something to be invented. No, Allah is real. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala exists. He doesn’t exist as we think, He exists as He is. Rabbul alameen, Rabbul arshul kareem, Dhul jalali wal ikram, Khaliqo samawati wal ard, Rabbu samawati wal ard, Badiyao salawati wal ard. In His shaan, in His glory, in His majesty, Allah exists. And when we stand before Him, get this sense of the existence of the presence of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in our lives and say, Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave me the ability and the tawfiq and the guidance to stand up in the night. The first thing we need to do is thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Alhamdulillah, ya Allah, only by your hukam, only because of your guidance, I am standing here. Otherwise I would be sleeping. It’s not haram to sleep. So don’t criticize somebody else. If somebody is sleeping, let him sleep. But obviously the one who is sleeping and the one who is standing in salah is not the same. So if Allah gave you that tawfiq, thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. My brothers and sisters, Salah is the proof, it is the proof that we are Muslim. It is the physical manifestation by which a Muslim declares the Shahadah. Shadhuwa la ilaha illa Allah I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. So what do I do? I worship Allah. Wa ashadu anna muhammadu rasulullah Then I bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam is the messenger of Allah and the last and final brother of them. And what is the evidence of that? I worship Allah in the way Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam worshipped Allah. The salah is the physical manifestation of I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. Wa ashadu anna muhammadu rasulullah I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us to be among the musalleen, the people who pray. And we ask Allah to accept that prayer. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us and be with us.
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