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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem.
Mighty respected brothers, sisters, elders,
I remind myself and you that 1459 years ago a window opened in the heavens and God spoke to man.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sent his first revelation to his beloved messenger,
Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam,
through his messenger Jibril alaihi salam.
This was the spoken word.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala spoke to Jibril alaihi salam in a way befitting his majesty and grace
and Jibril alaihi salam spoke to Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.
This was not the first time that this had happened but this was to be the last.
That initiative of re-establishing the direct connection between the creator and his creatures,
between Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and humans, between Allah and you and I, this is Islam.
Islam is for all human beings irrespective of ethnicity, color, race or origin.
Those who accept this connection and benefit from it are called Muslims.
The first word revealed was Iqra, read.
Iqra bismi rabbikal ladhi khalaq, read in the name of your rabbu created everything.
Now the word read has many meanings.
It can mean to read as in read a book.
It means, it could also mean to recite something which is written.
It also means to read the signs around you.
Sometimes there are expressions on the face of your beloved which tell you without a single word being spoken,
what is in their heart and that you are headed for the dog house.
Sometimes gestures, tone of voice, movements, demeanor tell those who can read them
far more and far more truthfully the real story.
And that is why they say the body does not lie.
Body language may support words or may contradict the word being spoken.
The command read that was given to our beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was to encourage him and all those who were there and who were to hear that command from him
to read the signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala the creator in his creation
and to marvel at his power, his mercy and his wisdom and accept him as the only one worthy of worship.
It’s not just a matter of reading the signs and say oh fantastic creation.
So what? So what?
If that seeing the sight, if that marveling at the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
does not make me fall in sajdah before Allah and say
If that does not happen then it’s a waste of life, it’s a waste of that experience.
When we see the last signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, we love him and we obey him.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said in surat Fusilat which means we will show them our signs.
See the tone of command and challenge in this.
Allah says we will show them our signs in the universe and within themselves
until it becomes clear to them that this, meaning the Quran, is the truth.
Is it not enough that your rub is a witness over all things?
Think about this, imagine if blood didn’t clot, hemophiliacs don’t need to imagine it.
Imagine if your hair had nerves, you would need to go under general anesthesia to get a haircut.
Likewise for nails, you cut a nail more deeply and you know what that means.
Imagine veins without venous non-return valves.
The moment you stood up, your blood would go down your feet and would never come up to the heart.
That happens for people who have circulation problems, that’s why they faint, that’s why they fall.
The brain makes you drop so that the blood can come back to the brain.
Imagine if rain and snow did not descend in single drops and flakes
and instead if it came down in one mass, one solid mass.
I did the sums for Hadley.
Hadley received 50 centimeters, 50 inches of precipitation, meaning rain and snow in the last year.
That multiplied by the weight of water over one acre and multiplied by the acreage of Hadley
amounts to sixty million tons.
If sixty million tons of mass falls from the average cloud height of 15,000 feet
with an acceleration of 32 feet per second per second and smashes down, there would be no Hadley.
There would just be a big lake.
But Allah does not send it like that.
Allah sends it in a way where you can say the joy of life is to dance in the rain.
It’s a joy of life because it comes down in drop by drop, believe me.
Imagine if you and I were given total control over all bodily functions.
Everything, the heart will beat to your command, your digestion will happen the way you want it to happen.
Your brain will function, everything.
All bodily functions are given into your complete control
and they would function only on command.
That means that you could never sleep.
If you slept, your heart would stop.
Your digestion would stop.
Can you imagine?
Your fast asleep, your heart beats, your digestion works perfectly fine.
You eat your food, it’s digested and so on and so forth.
All your functions, nothing stops.
Allah has not given it into our control.
Imagine if Allah actually gave us everything we ask for.
You make dua.
InshaAllah, give me this, give me this, give me this.
Imagine if Allah said, okay, whatever you ask, I’ll give you.
You may think it would be wonderful.
But from my vantage point of being about 40 years ahead of most of you,
I can tell you that I distinctly remember some things that I begged Allah for,
that I begged and pleaded Allah for,
that I made dua in every holy place on the surface of the earth,
including in the Hathim of the Kaaba,
including in Masjid al-Nabawiya, Sharif in the Rodha,
including in Hajj, including in Arafat.
But Allah did not give me.
And today I thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and say,
Alhamdulillah Ya Rabb, that you did not give me.
Because I can imagine now what I would be in,
what situation I would be in if Allah had given me what I was asking for.
And those of you who are looking at me with expectation that I’ll tell you what it was,
go fly a kite.
Seriously, we thank Allah for what He did not give us
because Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in His wisdom He knows.
وَعَسَى أَن تَكْرَهُ شَيْءً فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ
وَعَسَى أَن تُحِبُّ شَيْءً فَهُوَ شَرٌ لَكُمْ
وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُوا وَانْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Allah said it is possible that you love something but there is harm in it for you.
And it’s possible that you dislike something but there is benefit in it for you
and Allah knows and you do not know.
And think about this, even though Allah did not give me what I asked for,
I was getting the reward of making dua in every one of those places
because a dua, in a dua, huwa li ba’dah.
Dua is iba’dah.
So no matter what dua you make, Allah is rewarding us for making that dua.
Whether Allah grants us that dua in the way we want it or not is up to Him.
In some cases they ask the Prophet ﷺ, they ask the Prophet ﷺ, we make dua.
Some things we ask for Allah gives us, other things we don’t get.
So what is the truth of this?
Rasulullah ﷺ said Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala accepts all duas, all of them.
But he gives them, he grants them in three different ways.
One, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala grants you what you want as you asked it.
Ya Allah I don’t have a job, get me a job, he gets you a job.
Ya Allah I’m not married, get me married, he gets you married.
Ya Allah I’m married, I don’t have children, I want children, he gives you children.
So what do you ask?
He said the second way that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala accepts duas
is that he does not give you what you asked for but in exchange for that
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala avert a calamity from happening to you.
I’m making dua to have children and at that time it has been written for me
that I am going to become an integral part of the front grill of a sixteen-wheeler.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala removes that.
The sixteen-wheeler has a flat, it stops and I go peacefully past.
The third way, Nabi Salah said in which Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala accepts duas
is you ask for something Allah does not give you
and at that time in your destiny there is no calamity so that also does not happen
and Allah therefore keeps that dua with him.
And then on the day of judgment when we stand before Allah, Nabi Salah said
Allah will say to you, oh my slave, you asked me such and such and I gave it to you.
You asked me this other thing and at that time this was the calamity
that was going to happen to you and Allah will show you that.
And I averted that, I prevented that, I protected you.
And then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will say, I know my slave,
there was this third thing you asked me for and I did not give it to you
and there was no calamity to avert.
Now I have that dua with me today.
Today you ask me, I will give you that third thing.
Today you ask me whatever you want and I will give you.
Where is this conversation happening?
Before his throat on the day of judgment.
He said I have this dua for you in trust.
Obviously the thing you wanted was for the Uduniyya so that you are not going to get
but Allah has the dua.
And Allah says and today you ask me and I will give you whatever you like.
And I request each one of you, when that happens to you,
there is no limit of what you can ask.
So one thing I request you, ask Allah,
oh Allah there was this man who used to come and remind us about you.
Save him from the hell fire and put him in Jannah.
Make that dua for him. I request you.
Having said this, the Prophet said,
if you realize the value of that dua which Allah does not give you in this world
and Allah keeps with him,
he said you will wish that every dua that you make in this world
is not given to you in this world.
So don’t be disappointed.
At last he said you will wish that Allah did not accept any dua in this world
and that all the duas are with Allah.
Because I remind myself in your brothers and sisters,
in this world no matter what you ask for, it will end.
No matter what it is,
health and wealth and power and authority and children and family and spouses and houses and cars and planes,
you name it,
whatever you ask for in this world will end.
Either it ends when you die
or it ends before you die because you are no longer capable of using it.
But what is with Allah remains.
That’s why Allah SWT said,
ma indakum yanfadu
wama indallahi baq
Allah said whatever is with you will finish.
And what is with Allah will remain.
And that is why Allah SWT reminded us to read the signs.
He said,
In Surah Al-Alimran Allah SWT said,
indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth
and the alternation of the day and the night,
there are signs for people of intelligence.
And who are the people of intelligence?
Allah is describing intelligence.
The creator of intelligence is describing intelligence.
Allah says they are those two conditions.
They are those who recognize and remember Allah SWT standing, sitting and lying down,
the three conditions in which a human being can be,
which means in every aspect of their lives.
They are those who remember Allah SWT standing, sitting and lying down.
And
wa yata fakkaroon
Allah did not say awyata fakkaroon,
He didn’t say this or that,
He said this and that.
In this sequence,
first recognize Allah SWT
wa yata fakkaroona
fi khalq-i samawati wal-ard
and reflect
on the creation of the heavens and the earth.
This is the beautiful bayan of the Quran.
In just one phrase,
Allah SWT has encompassed everything that can be imagined in the area and realm of science and technology and research and development and discovery.
These are the people who recognize Allah SWT and with that recognition,
with that glory and majesty of Allah in their hearts,
they look around them and they see the signs of Allah SWT’s creation,
they research in the world,
they work and they discover things
and the result of that is spontaneously they say,
Oh our Rabb,
You have not created all of this for nothing in vain.
Subhanaka faqina adha vannar
You are glorified,
glory be to You
and protect us from the punishment of the fire.
It is to awaken us to the truth
and to the truth
and to the truth
It is to awaken us to our connection with Allah SWT,
the glorious, the magnificent,
our creator, protector, sustainer, maintainer, provider
to whom we will all return.
It is to awaken this connection,
awaken us to this connection
that Allah SWT sends Ramadan.
About this month of fasting,
Allah SWT said,
Ya ayyuha alladhee na amanu
Qutiba alaikumu siyabu
kamma qutiba ala alladhee na min qablikum
laa alakum tattaqun
O believers, fasting is prescribed for you
as it was prescribed for those before you
so that you become mindful of Allah,
so that you become muttaqun.
Taqwa is that blessed state of being
where the person is always conscious
of his or her connection with Allah SWT
and revels in that feeling
and ensures that they never do anything
that can dull the strength of that connection or sever it.
Taqwa produces tranquility
and knowing that the one in charge
is the one who loves me
and has the power to do absolutely anything.
This produces a sense of tremendous comfort and confidence.
Obedience is the way to reciprocate our love for Allah SWT
and fasting teaches us these lessons.
We obey because we know,
we know that he loves us
and wants the best for us
and that he knows what that is far better than we ever can.
So we do what he commands us to do
and stay away from what he commands us to stay away from.
We know that he needs nothing
and that nothing can benefit or harm him.
So when he shows us a way of life,
we are honoured to live it.
On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Dhifari radiyaAllah anhu
from Rasool Allah SAW from his Rabbs,
which is Hadith Khudsi.
Rasool SAW said, Allah says,
O my slaves, I have forbidden zulm.
I have forbidden oppression for myself
and I have made it forbidden amongst you.
So do not oppress one another.
O my slaves, all of you are astray
except those whom I have guided.
So seek guidance from me and I will guide you.
O my slaves, all of you are hungry
except those whom I feed.
So seek food and sustenance from me
and I will feed you.
O my slaves, all of you are naked
except those whom I have clothed.
So seek clothing from me and I will clothe you.
O my slaves, you commit sins by day and by night
and I forgive all sins.
So seek forgiveness from me
and I will forgive you.
O my slaves, you can neither harm me nor benefit me.
O my slaves, if the first of you and the last of you
and the humans of you and the jinn of you
were all as pious as the most pious heart
of any individual amongst you,
this would not increase my kingdom by an iota.
O my slaves, if the first of you and the last of you
and the humans of you and the jinn of you
were all as wicked as the worst of the wicked among you,
this would not decrease my kingdom by one iota.
O my slaves, if the first of you and the last of you
and the humans of you and the jinn of you
were all to stand together in one place and ask of me
whatever you wanted
and I were to give everyone whatever he requested,
then that would not decrease what I possess
even to the extent of what is decreased of the ocean
when a needle is dipped into it and taken out.
Not even that much.
O my slaves, it is but your deeds that I account for you
and then I recompense you for them.
So he who finds good, let him praise Allah
and he who finds other than that, let him blame himself.
And this is in the Sahih Muslim.
Ramadan is the boot camp to reboot our lives
and transform them and place them on the highway to success.
In Ramadan we stay away during the hours of daylight
even from things that are normally permitted,
only to emphasize for ourselves the importance of staying away
from all that is prohibited throughout our lives.
Ramadan shows us that we can do it if we want.
If we wish to please the one to whom we owe everything
and who we hope to meet one day
in a state that he is pleased with us.
Let us take stock of ourselves and our lives and how we did.
It is to ensure that we make hijrah from our sins
and we make hijrah from a state,
migrate from a state of disobedience to a state of submission
to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in the way of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.
So therefore let us make sincere istighfar and tauba.
Let us repent and turn towards Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.
Let us recognize and accept that nothing good can come out of disobeying Allah
and nothing can harm the one who obeys Allah.
And let us remember that the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has no bounds.
My brothers and sisters, I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us
to do that which is pleasing to him
and to save us from that which does not please him.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to grant all our duas
with khair and aafiyah in a way that suits his majesty and grace
because he knows what is good for us and he knows what is not good for us.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to protect us first and foremost from ourselves
and then from shaitan and then from all the forces of evil
that may be arrayed against us, those we know and those that we don’t know
because Allah knows them all.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us in ways that we cannot imagine
from sources that we cannot imagine.
As he promised to do for the Muttaqun, where he said
He said the one who has taqwa, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will solve his difficulties for him
and we will extract him from his difficulties
and will provide him from sources that he could not imagine.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to provide us directly from himself.
Without anyone in between and to give us from where we cannot imagine.
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