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In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe. And peace and blessings be upon the honorable prophets and messengers. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and upon his family and companions. And peace and blessings be upon him. Next, Allah SWT told us why he sent Ramadan. Allah SWT said, Ya ayyuhalladheena amanu kutibra alaykumu sriyamu kama kutibra ala alladheena min qablikum la’allakum tattaqoon Allah said which means, O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it was prescribed for those before you so that you may become muttaqoon. la’allakum tattaqoon So that you may become muttaqoon. What is taqwa? Taqwa is that state of mind and heart where a person is concerned about Allah SWT’s pleasure in everything that they say or they do. No matter how small, no matter how big, the person’s question, there’s a tape running in the back of the mind, the platform on which the whole person’s software decision making and communication software runs is taqwa, which is, is Allah going to be pleased with what I’m going to say or not? So say if I’m going to, for example, if I’m going to say something to Nimab, before I say it, ask myself, what I’m planning to say to her, is this likely to please Allah or not? So if, for example, if I’m thinking of saying something critical about something, somebody to her, that person is not here, which is called backbiting. So if I’m planning to do that, which is also called most of our social life, so if I’m planning to do that, then I ask myself, is Allah going to be pleased with this? Answer is no, so I don’t do it. Now the beauty of that is that when a person makes an intention to do something evil and changes that intention because of the fear of Allah’s subhanahu wa ta’ala’s displeasure, Allah’s subhanahu wa ta’ala has, causes a good deed, hasana, to be written in their account. See the mercy of Allah, Jalla Jallalu, you haven’t done anything, just change your mind. I had a thought in my mind, I think I’m going to do that, then I said, no, no, no, I can’t do that because Allah will not be pleased. That’s it. It takes like one second, it has, there’s no effort, energy involved, nothing involved, but we get what hasana. What is the value of hasana? What is the value of one good deed? The value of one good deed on the day of judgment can be the difference between Jannah and Jahannam. One single good deed, right? If a person has one extra one, then the scale of good deeds is heavier, so they go to Jannah. If he does not have that one, then he has, he has, he has a problem. And how did I get this good deed? By being conscious of Allah’s subhanahu wa ta’ala’s pleasure. Will Allah be pleased or not? Right? So taqwa is to have this condition of heart and mind where everything we do, whether in public, whether in private, whether in secret, whether in a place where we think nobody is watching us because Allah is always watching us. We are concerned only about the pleasure of Allah. To bring about this situation and to bring about this condition Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sent this month of Ramadan. Now how does Ramadan achieve that? It achieves it by a very simple and beautiful principle. And that principle is that from just before dawn to sunset, we are not allowed to do what is normally halal. Right? Eating, drinking, intimacy with your spouses is normally halal. But we are not allowed to do that during this period. Now if somebody says, why not? What’s the answer? Why not? Why not? I’m saying, for example, this is a common question. A person who is not a Muslim, who is probably interested in Islam, so they tell you, okay, you guys are not doing this from this time to this time. Why? Fasting, why? Yes? To cleanse your soul. Yeah? To demonstrate faith to Allah. Demonstrate faith to Allah? Kind of yes, but what is the real answer? Discipline. Because Allah said so. That’s it. Simple as that. Why? Because Allah said so. Discipline will happen, I will demonstrate my faith. All of this is happening. These are the beautiful side effects of obeying Allah. But why are you doing it? Because Allah said so. There’s no other reason. That is a reason in itself. Right? Please understand this. The fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala told us to fast is the reason in itself. I’m not fasting to lower my glycemic index because I have diabetes or something. I’m not fasting so I become, you know, less fat or more fat or what. No, no, none of that. All of this might happen as a consequence. I’ve never seen anybody losing weight in Ramadan. Believe me, people actually eat. They actually eat more than they normally eat. But none of that is… the reason is because Allah said so. Now why is that so important for a Muslim? Because who’s a Muslim? Who’s a Muslim? One who? Believes in Allah? Submits to Allah. Submits to Allah. Right? Believes in Allah and then submits to Allah. Because somebody can believe and they’re not submitting. Submitting. The essence of Islam is submission. That is why the symbol of Islam is sujood, is sajda, which is haram to anyone in creation, only to the Creator. We cannot do sajda even to Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. You cannot do sajda to the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. You cannot do sajda to anyone, only to Allah. Submission. So I obey Allah because I’m Muslim. What does it mean? I have submitted myself to Allah. boy is kaal alahu rabbuhu aslim kaal aslam tul rabbi al adhani Allah s.w.t said in surah al-baqarah about Ibrahim a.s. When his Rabb said to him, submit, he said, I have submitted. He didn’t say, let me think about it, I’ll tell you tomorrow morning. No. Submit, I have submitted. No arguments. Right? Submit, submitted. He’s not arguing about anything. He’s not saying, no, let me think about it, give it some thought. No. I will submit tomorrow morning. I will submit in five minutes. No. Submit it. This is the essence of Islam, is to submit to Allah s.w.t. So everything we do, we do because it pleases Allah and we submit to Allah. So this is the essence of taqwa. To create this taqwa, Allah s.w.t. has said this. So now what’s happening in this period is we are staying away from what is normally good for us, what is normally halal. Allah s.w.t made it permissible for us, yet we stay away because Allah s.w.t said so. So what is the message, what’s the takeaway we take from this? That this is how I must spend my whole life, not only these thirty days, but my whole life I must spend in the way which pleases Allah s.w.t. Just like I did it now in these thirty days, even though I was hungry, I did not eat, I was thirsty, I did not drink and so on, in the rest of my life, anything which Allah does not permit me or want me to do, I will not do. So Allah s.w.t said, do not deal in interest, I will not deal in interest. Allah said, don’t join partners with me in my worship, I will not join partners in worship. Right? Allah s.w.t said, don’t lie, don’t cheat, be good to your parents, be dutiful to your parents, Birol Valley, very, very, very important. I will do all that. For parents Allah s.w.t told them, do tarbiyah of your children, teach them, not just feed them. There has to be a difference between how you bring up a child and how you bring up a cat. You have to train the child, feed the, not just feed the child. So this is the duty of the parents and so on. Everything we do to please Allah s.w.t out there. This is the essence of fasting, this is the essence of Ramadan and Allah s.w.t has sent Ramadan for this purpose. Now, how to create this in our lives? Is by filling our hearts with the khashiyat of Allah, with the awe and majesty and glory and thanks to Allah. When you do that, then obedience becomes very easy and automatic. In Islam, we obey whatever Allah s.w.t told us to do without question, not without understanding. So understand this, someone in somebody tells you, you know, you guys in Islam, you are, you believe blindly, right? Is that, is that correct? Do we believe blindly? No, we believe with knowledge. We believe in Allah because we know Allah. Allah s.w.t is not a stranger to us. Imam Ghazali Rahmatullah Ali said, you cannot worship the one you don’t know. That is the reason why we teach aqeedah. Right, we do, I mean, I do a whole class on aqeedah. The reason why you study aqeedah is for the same reason, because if I don’t know who Allah is, how do I worship Allah? If somebody tells you, please tell me who is Allah? Introduce Allah to me. If some person who is not a Muslim comes to you and says, okay, you believe in Allah? Say yes. So please introduce Allah to me. Who is Allah? What is the answer? How will you introduce? Try. We should be able to know. If somebody says to you, introduce your father to me. I can do that. Introduce your friend to me. I can do that. This is not just friend and father. This is Allah s.w.t. He is my creator. I worship him. So the person says, you are a Muslim, so who should I ask? I mean, I want to know who is Allah. You worship Allah? So tell me, introduce Allah to me. How do you do that? You want to know? Really? There is no introduction of Allah that is better and more beautiful than the way Allah introduced himself. So if somebody says, introduce Allah, introduce Allah in the way that Allah introduced himself. Now, how did Allah introduce himself? Allah s.w.t told us, who is Allah? Allah s.w.t. Allah s.w.t. Allah s.w.t. Allah s.w.t. This is Allah s.w.t introducing himself. They asked him, who is Allah? And Allah s.w.t. was told, Say, He is Allah s.w.t. Allah s.w.t. He was not born nor was He born. And there was not any one who was like him. Say, He is Allah s.w.t. The unique. The alone. The one. Allah did not say Allah ul Wahid. Allah said Ahad. Wahid has a plural, its name. It can be half. But Ahad, no plural, can’t be half. Ahad. Allah s.w.t. Allah is the one who needs nothing. Free from all need and everyone and everything needs Him. Salaam-e-Alaikum wa-alaam-e-Ulaat. He was not begotten and He did not begotten. He has no children, He has no parents. Wa-alaam-e-Yakul-Lahu-Kuf-Wa-Anaat. That there is nothing like Him. Allah is unique. Huh? Introduce. I mean, you know all these ayats which I recited, right? Learn the meanings and if somebody says introduce Allah, introduce. Using Allah’s words. There is nothing more powerful than the word of Allah. And recite Quran first. Don’t tell them the English translation. First the Kalam. Because there is a power in the Kalam of Allah. Which is not there in any language. So don’t worry. They won’t understand. Don’t worry about understanding. You recite the Kalam of Allah. It enters the hearts. Because this kitab came as the spoken word. Right? Allah s.w.t. Allah spoke to Jibreel-e-Israa. Jibreel-e-Israa spoke to Rasulullah Salaam-e-Alaikum. Rasulullah Salaam-e-Alaikum spoke to the Sahaba. And only then later on it was written down. So the kitab, the writing came much later. It came as the spoken word. And the spoken word, when people heard it, it enters the heart. It is our mental heart. It is the heart of the heart. It is the heart of the heart. It is our mental heart. Right? So use the Kalam of Allah. This is a resource for us. This is a resource for us. The best resource for us. Use the Kalam of Allah. Learn to recite it. Recite it to people. It will enter the hearts. Then introduce Allah by showing them the signs of Allah around them. We live in a part of the world where you see four clear seasons. Right? In many other places you don’t see all the four seasons. Here you see four clear seasons. You see spring. Now if you look outside this tree, you see those buds. You see the buds are getting ready. Now as soon as spring comes, the first thing that happens is trees flower. Plants flower. The leaves don’t come first. Flowers come first. Because they are all competing for the pollinators. For the bees and mostly bees and other insects. And then also hummingbirds come. So they are competing for pollinators. So you see absolute spectacular, spectacular you know, flowers everywhere. Because of the need of the plants to propagate and create and form seeds. So you see flowers everywhere as soon as spring comes. And then of course you have summer. Then the leaves come. And that’s when the trees are making up their food. Creating struts, creating struts, reserves and so on. In anticipation of winter. And then comes fall. And with fall in this part of the world in autumn. You have this fabulous change of color of the leaves. I have a series of photographs of, I do wildlife and nature photography. So I have a series of fall pictures. I’ll send you the link to the album. You’ll enjoy it. Very, very beautiful. And then comes winter where everything dies. Right? It’s only ice. Everything looks dead completely. The trees look like they’ll never come back to life again. But we know they will come back to life in spring again. So this is Allah’s creation. And this is how you introduce Allah. This is my job. This is Allah’s. So what does it tell me? It tells me when I’m seeing the abundance of flowers in spring. It is telling me that this is beautiful, but it will not last. And when I see the absolute desolation of winter. I tell myself, this does not look so nice, but it will not last. Right? So the biggest lesson you learn from the seasons is that it will not last. Seasons will change. Time will change. So in life, we have, sometimes we have difficulties. Sometimes we have plenty. The thing to remind yourself is it will not last. So make the best of it. And then you can go to the next step. It will not last. So make the best of it when you have it. So Alhamdulillah, we now have Ramadan. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Ayyama ma’dudat. Allah said, desire a counted number of days. So anytime you feel lazy about worshipping Allah or something. You say, no, no, no, hold on a second. This is time. This time is going. Today we are already on the eighth day. Can you imagine? Just now you were saying, as the moon been sighted, not sighted, eight days gone. And just like that, you will find the rest of the time will go. So make the best of it while we have the time. So introduce Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala by His beautiful words and by His creation. Because remember, when the, what was the first ayat which was revealed? Anybody? First revelation. What was it? Ikra. Ikra. Ikra. Then, Bismi Rabbika alladhee khalaq. Read in the name of your Rabb who created everything. Now think about that. See, see the beauty of this. Why is Allah talking about the creation? Because at that point in time, the rest of the kitab has not been revealed. It’s just the first word. So when Ibn Ibn al-Jubaili said, I’m saying read. Read what? He said, I cannot read. That’s a different issue. He cannot read. He was not literate in that sense. But even if he could read, what was there to read? Allah said, read my signs. Read my signs in the creation. In the name of the creator, read the signs in the creation. That’s why in Surah al-Alimran, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, In Surah al-Alimran, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, In Surah al-Alimran, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, When I feel the day and the night, And in the changing of the day and the night, There are signs for people of intelligence. Where are the signs? Not in the book. In creation. In the creation of the heavens and the earth. It means everything in creation, which includes yourself. Everything in creation. And in the changing of the day and the night. Darkness turns to light, light turns to darkness. There are signs for people of intelligence. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala described, Who are the people of intelligence? Who is an intelligent person? It’s not a person who has an expensive education. It’s not a person who is a PhD scholar. It’s not a person who has written so many books. Allah has defined intelligence. This definition of intelligence is being defined by who? By the one who created intelligence. Who gave human beings a brain. So what is Allah’s definition? It has two parts. These are the people who remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala standing, sitting and lying down. This is the beauty of the Bayan of the Quran. Standing, sitting and lying down describe the You can either be standing or sitting or lying down. There’s no fourth way of being. So which means by reference, all your life in every aspect of your life. They remember Allah in every aspect of your life. What was my definition of a person of taqwa? Exactly. The person of taqwa is the one who remembers Allah. The person of taqwa is the one who remembers Allah. The person of taqwa is the one who remembers Allah. What was my definition of a person of taqwa? Exactly the same thing. Who remembers Allah in every aspect of their lives. So Allah says the first sign of intelligence is that you recognize Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. It’s not that you have a PhD. You recognize Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. If you have a PhD and you still don’t recognize Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, then you are not intelligent. Because you don’t even recognize your own creator. How can you be intelligent? The basic fundamental thing you don’t even know. Suppose somebody says I have all these degrees, who are you? I don’t know, my mind is gone. I don’t know who I am. Then you say is that person intelligent? No, he doesn’t even know who he is. What intelligence is this? So a person does not even know what lies. So Allah says first condition, remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, standing, sitting, lying down, whole life. And then they make figure, they think about, they reflect in the creation of the heavens and the earth. Fikr fi khalqi samawati wal-ardh. Now when a person of intelligence who knows Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, who remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, sees the creation, researches in the creation, goes into it in a deep scientific sense, what is the automatic reaction? Rabbana maa khalaqta hadha batilan, subhanaka taqheera adha mannaar. Oh Allah you did not create all of this for nothing. This is not an accident. Accidents break things, they don’t make things. This is intelligent design. This is deliberate intelligent design. This didn’t just happen out of the blue. This is deliberate intelligent design. This didn’t just happen out of nothing. We are saying all this. Maa khalaqta hadha batilan. Oh Allah this is not just nothing, this is not just fun and games. There is a purpose behind this. Subhanak. You are pure. All glory to you. Fakina adha mannaar, save me from the punishment of the fire. Meaning the person is now thinking of his own akhirah and saying one day I am going to stand before Allah. Ya Allah make that the best day of my life. So this is a sign of intelligence. Right? So I want to close with that another 5-7 minutes to, for us to inshallah break our fast so we can spend that time in dua. But I want to close with this to remind myself and you that to focus on the akhirah, to think about the akhirah. This is a very very important part and this is the essence of Islam. To think about the akhirah. That is why Rasool Allah the sallallahu alaihi wasallam, famous beautiful hadith where he heard a man making dua and he was describing Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam in a very very beautiful way. And let me actually share with you that there is this beautiful hadith. Anas bin Malik radiyallahu anhu reported that Rasool Allah the sallallahu alaihi wasallam once passed by a Bedouin making the following dua in his salah. And I will read the translation for you. The man said, Oh the one who is making dua in his salah, I will read the translation for you. The man said, Oh the one whom eyes cannot see, Oh the one whom eyes cannot see, who cannot be imagined, who is beyond description, who is unaffected by happenings, who cannot be overwhelmed by the twists and turns of time, who knows the weight of the mountains and the volume of the oceans, the number of falling raindrops, the number of leaves on the trees and everything upon which the night darkens and upon which the day brightens. No sky can hide another from him. No surface of the earth can hide another from him. No ocean can hide anything within its depths from him. And no mountain can conceal from him anything within its rocks. And then he makes dua. He says, Make the last part of my life the best and make the best of my deeds the last and make my best day be the one in which I meet you. See what a beautiful dua it is. Make the last part of my life the best. Make the best of my deeds the last. So take my life in a state where I am doing the best thing I can be doing. I am making tawaf, I am making hajj, I am making sujood and tahajjud, I am reading Quran, right? Whatever which Allah likes, best my deeds and make the best day be the one in which I meet you. Rasool Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam heard this whole thing and this man was in his salaah, he was making dua. So Nabi Salallahu alaihi wa sallam said to somebody to stay here and when he finishes bring him to me. So when this man was brought to Nabi Salallahu alaihi wa sallam, Rasool Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam gave him a piece of gold. Somebody had brought him a piece of gold from some mine, so that was with him. He gave this man this piece of gold and he said to him, Do you know why I am giving you this? So he said, Ya Rasool Allah because we are related in our tribe. This man was from Banu Amir bin Sasa which is related to the Quraysh. So he said, You gave it to me maybe because we have some relation. So Nabi Salallahu alaihi wa sallam said, No, being good to relatives is a good thing but I gave you the gold because of the beautiful manner in which you praised Allah. Right? The beautiful way in which you praised Allah. So it’s a very very beautiful dua. So inshallah you can memorize this dua as well. It’s a very beautiful dua. So this is the beauty of it. So therefore in Islam we are talking about building our connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. And Ramadan is the month where Allah is making it easy for us. Because in Ramadan the shayateen are chained, the doors of Jannah are open, the doors of Jannah are shut. Allah multiplies all good deeds by 70. So everything we do is we get 70 times the reward. The reward for a nafil is equal to the farth. The reward for the farth is 70 times the normal reward. So it is something, it’s a beautiful month in which Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala skews the playing field in our favor. So let’s make maximum use of that. Not waste any time. Try and spend the whole time in the zikr of Allah. So make goals for yourself and say what do I want to achieve in this month? How much Quran do I want to read? What do I want to do? How do I want to change my life? How do I want to become a better person? Make goals for yourself and pursue those goals. Make metrics and say I want to measure myself. How am I doing compared to the goal? Am I getting somewhere? Am I going slow? Am I going fast? So make those metrics and then pursue those goals. Right? And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us to achieve those goals. And the whole month spend time only in the zikr of Allah. So anything, Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah, La hawla hawta illa billah, and then Salat and Salam on Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam as much as possible, Duru Sharif as much as possible, try and do in this month. So even if you are in classes, this, that, whatever, do your work. If you need to talk to somebody, talk to somebody, but don’t waste time in anything. Especially social media, stay far away. Stay far away. Just focus on yourself because this is for you. This is the month of the Quran. This is the month of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The month has come for you. So take the maximum reward from this month inshaAllah. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us to please Him. I ask Allah to open our hearts to His Noor and His glory and His majesty. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to fill our hearts with His glory and His majesty. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us to do that which pleases Him and save us from that which does not please Him. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to accept all our Ibadah and to reward us in keeping with His majesty and grace. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to change our lives in a way where from this day onwards our lives become completely and totally obedient to Allah. And as a result of that I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to open the doors of His khudrat on us so our doors are accepted, our work is accepted, our work becomes easy. Allah gives us risk on Kareem, gives us risk from a beautiful source. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to send Salat and Salam on Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wassalam. And may Allah bless his family and his Prophet and his mercy be upon him.
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