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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. This was said in another place, O ye who believe, the Day is written for you as it was written for those before you, that haply ye may be righteous. My dear respected brothers, sisters, elders, let us remember all those of our family and friends who were with us last Ramadan, but are no longer among us. Maybe if you look around the masjid, especially the ones who come regularly for all these salahs, you will remember a place where that person used to pray. Most people are creatures of habit, so if they stand in a particular place, they will always stand in the same place. And today you look there and you see somebody else standing there, because that person is no longer there. So let us make dua for them and ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to forgive them and fill their qubur with nur and to forgive all their sins and to grant them Jannatul Firidhahs without hesaab inshaAllah. And then let us ask ourselves two questions. The first question is, did they know that last Ramadan would be their last? Second question, had they known that, what would they have done differently? The reason to ask these questions, of course, is not for them, because their books of deeds are shut. The questions are for ourselves. And to remind ourselves, and I remind myself first and foremost, that this Ramadan, which we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to give us in good health and with the tawfiq to maximize its benefits, and with the fursa with the free time to maximize its benefits, to enable us to spend in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala more and more and more, to remind myself that this may be my last Ramadan, the last Ramadan of my life. And I request all of you to think about it like that. Because the reality is that there will be one Ramadan, whether it is this one, whether it is 10 years from now, whether it is a thousand years from now, there will be one Ramadan which will be the last in the life of that individual. And nobody knows which one it is. Nobody. Nobody. And therefore, the guarantee and benefit is to treat it like it could be the last, as if it is the last, because it could well be. Regret is useless. Planning and action are what make a difference. Therefore, I remind myself and you, let us not waste the opportunity. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sent us Ramadan to enable us to draw close to Him. And that is why He said about the purpose of Ramadan, the ayah which I recited, O you who believe, fasting, a sawm is prescribed upon you, prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become al-Muttaqun. You may become people who are conscious of the presence of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in their lives and who do everything with only one consideration and that is, does it please Allah? That is the definition of the Muttaqi. Somebody who is conscious 24×7 of the presence of Allah in his or her life and every decision they take, small or big, every single decision, every speech, every action, every decision is taken only with one consideration and that is, will this please Allah? If the answer is yes, it will please Allah, they do it. If the answer is no, it will not please Allah, they do not do it. And if the answer is I don’t know, then they do not do it until they find out. And then they decide to do or not to do. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala’s promises in the Quran, all of them without exception, are for people of taqwa. Not merely for muslimoon but for Muttaqun. When you and I become Muslim, we enter the door. But to avail the benefits, we have to go to the mosque. But to avail the benefits, we have to go further inside, go to the centre. Just standing in the door is not enough. That is why Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Innallaha maa allatheena taqaw wa allatheena hum muhsinoon. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, truly Allah is with those who have taqwa, the Muttaqun, and those who are muhsinoon, step beyond that. People of Ihsan. Right in the beginning Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, That is the book of Allah, in which there is no doubt about the righteous. The Quran is for everybody, but specific mention of Hidayah is for the people of taqwa. People who seek to please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. We are not looking at people who seek to find loopholes of how to escape. We are looking at people who seek to please Allah. Just this morning one of my friends asked me a question. He said he sold a big property and so on. He obviously made a lot of money on that. He said, however, I have not passed on that money for a full 12 months. So more like maybe 8 months, 9 months, 10 months have passed, full 12 months have not passed on the money. So should I pay zakat or not? So I told him, if you want me to give you the fatwa, I will give you the fatwa. Fatwa is very easy. If 12 months have not passed, do nothing. But if you want to give me the answer from my heart, my question is, do you want Allah to count and give you? What Allah has given you, do you think you deserve that? What is the hisaab for this? The answer is, Allah has given you the fatwa. What Allah has given you, do you think you deserve that? What is the hisaab for this? The car you drive, the family you have, the house you live in, the izzahs, the izzah Allah has given you, the respect and so on and so forth. Do you think we deserve this? It is my right. Because after all I did all this. So I told him, think about it like that. Second question, second thing I told him. I said, remove this word, give. When it comes to spending in the path of Allah, whether it is zakat, whether it is voluntary charity, sadhqat, what not, remove the word give. It does not exist in your vocabulary. There is no word give. Substitute that with the word transfer. It is not a matter of linguistics, it is not a matter of semantics. Just say the sentence with the word transfer instead of the word give and you will see how it completely changes your mind. Instead of saying, should I give a thousand dollars in zakat or should I give a thousand dollars in charity, change the sentence and say, should I transfer a thousand dollars from my dunya account into my akhirah account? Just change that, just the language. It will completely change your mindset. Should I transfer one thousand dollars from my dunya account into my akhirah account? Not even a question, right? Because in my dunya account, if it is sitting there and especially if it is money on which zakat has not been paid, you are going to pay inshallah, but if you die before that, zakat has not been paid. So technically the wealth is not yet purified. When you go to Allah, you are going to give hisaab on this wealth. Whereas if you pay the zakat, if you have transferred from your dunya account into the akhirah account and you transfer it before time, so you are also demonstrating your taqwa in the process and say, Allah, I did not need to give it, but I am giving it because I love you. Completely different picture, right? And then you die. Now you have gone to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala with the wealth purified, plus you have extended and given before time. So alhamdulillah. Just think about it. The only difference, the only change that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam made when he brought Islam was a change in the way of thinking. Right? What else is there? He did not bring some new technology, he did not bring some new seeds to plant, he did not bring some new genes or genetically modified chickens or whatnot. He did not bring some new machinery to set up this factory. Change in the way of thinking, that is it. And that change in the way of thinking completely and totally transformed the lives of those people. They accepted the way of thinking and it totally transformed their lives. That is all that we are being asked to do. Change the way you think, change the way you look at life, change the way you look at difficulty, change the way you look at ease. That’s it. What is the benefit of Taqwa? Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلَّهُ مَخْرَجَةٌ وَيَرْضُقُهُ مِنْ هَيْثُ لَا يَهْتَسِبُ وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ أَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُهُ حَزْبُونَ Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, whoever has Taqwa, Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam will make a way out for him to get out of every difficulty. The first sign of Taqwa is Tawbah. Right? We have all kinds of meetings and so on and so forth. This is what is happening in Palestine. This is what is happening in this country, that country, in the economy, in my life, in my home, and my health and wealth and my children. Right? Let’s find solutions. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. But how many times have you heard people saying, the first solution is, let us pray two Rak’ahs of Salah and make Istighfar and Taubah. Let us make Istighfar and Taubah. Then we go to the solution because this is the first solution. Let us become Mutakoon because Allah promised to solve the problems of the Mutakoon. Allah did not say, I will solve the problems of people who have PhDs. He didn’t say, I will solve the problems of the doctors. He said, I will solve the problems of the engineers. No. I will solve the problems of the people who are concerned about me. If they are concerned about me, I am concerned about them. Otherwise, they are creatures. Do we do that? Make Istighfar and Taubah as part of the problem solving solution meeting. I am not talking about in Taraweeh or Salah. No, no, no. We have a meeting for this. We start with two Rak’ahs of Salah. And we make Istighfar and Taubah. Istighfar and Taubah is not simply to say, Allah, Istighfar. No, no, no, no. I look back in my life and say, if I am earning Haram, I am stopping now. Right now, I am making this Niya. I am stopping right now. And Yallah, you be my witness. When this meeting finishes, I am going to go to my shop, take all the Haram stuff out of there, throw it in the garbage, and you will be my witness. And all the shaitans who advise you, they will say, oh, you are all this loss. I don’t want to go into a list of the stuff we need to do. You know what is halal and haram. I know what is halal and haram. If you don’t know, ask. Get rid of all of that. That is the meaning of Taubah. What is the meaning of Taubah? Taubah is to turn around. Istighfar, first Aghfiru, then Taubu ilaih. Allah said, make istighfar and then Thumma Thubu ilaih. Not stay in the same place. Apologize, may say sorry to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, then Thumma Thubu ilaih. Then turn towards Him. Not just sit in the same place. No, no, no. And if you do that, what will happen? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْأَلَّهُ مَا خَرَجَةً Allah will solve your problems. وَيَرْزُقُ مِنْ هَيْثُ لَا يَهْتَسِبُ And He will provide you from sources you cannot imagine. Just think about this. I mean, you know, the thing about understanding the Quran and tafsir and so on. Why should Allah provide from a source that I cannot imagine? Ask yourself this question. Allah said, I will provide you. Alhamdulillah. Why does He say you cannot imagine? Allah is saying, if you are a Muttaqi, I will not only provide you, but I will provide you in a way which will blow your mind. You will be delighted. You will be running in the street singing my praises. So, wallah, from here it came. This person I thought is my, after my life, is my worst enemy. He has become my greatest friend. Wallah, subhanAllah, yallah. Only you can do this. Sources you cannot imagine because then there will be no doubt in your mind that this happens only because Allah wanted it to happen. No other way it could have happened. Every word of the Quran al-Karim, what is the meaning of that word? Why does it occur in that particular place? How is it related to what comes before and after it? All of this is part of understanding the Kalam of wallah subhanAllah al-Karim. That is why the knowledge of Arabic is number one requirement. You cannot even imagine. And then the final, And the one who has tawakkul on Allah, complete and total faith and trust in Allah, only Allah can say this, right? Allah says the one who has tawakkul on Allah, Allah will be sufficient for him. There is no hudud. Allah did not say Allah will give him how much he needs. Allah will give him ten times whatever he needs. No, Allah will become sufficient for him. Please again think. Allah becomes sufficient means what? Sufficiency of wallah, does it end with your death? Sufficiency of wallah, is it restricted to this life? Sufficiency of wallah extends into my qabr. Sufficiency of wallah extends when I am called out of my qabr. Sufficiency of wallah extends when I am standing before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The one about whom Allah said fahuwa hasbu, is he going to be humiliated before the people on the day of judgement? Sufficiency extends over the sirat, sufficiency extends into Jannatul Firdausul Ala inshaAllah. Fahuwa hasbu, no limit. Neither zaman nor maqam nor miqdar. No limit of time or place or quantity. Because huwa Allah hu la hadh, because Allah has no limits. And therefore the question for us to ask, do I want Allah to be with me or not? These sound like dumb questions, but believe me, these are very serious questions which we have to sit. I always advise, sit in front of a mirror. Ask yourself this question. Look at yourself in the face. Do I really want Allah to be with me? Do I really need Allah? I know the standard answer, yes, yes, yes, yes. No, no, no, no, no. That’s not enough. Standard answer is not enough. If I want Allah to be with me, it comes with conditions. If I need Allah, it comes with conditions. My brothers and sisters, we have time now. Let us not wait for the day when we have to look at these questions with regret. May Allah save us from that. We have time now. Let us sit down. Let us reflect. And let us remember that it’s only actions which count. It is not how much you know, but how much you do which makes a difference. Wasallallahu ala nabi’il kareem wa ala aalihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatika ya rahmatu billah min al rahim.
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