Asalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu. I hope and pray everyone is doing well and
is having a blessed Ramadan. Indeed the month of Ramadan is blessed in multiple ways and
it resembles the prayers that we perform daily in that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ordained
daily prayers for us so that we can dedicate a certain amount of time in our busy schedules to now devote to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and turn back to him. And we're instructed
to do a number of things which if done properly can educate us how to behave outside of the prayer as well. So for instance in our prayer we're instructed to keep our gaze in a particular
place. We're instructed not to speak except that what we're allowed to. We're instructed to keep our tongues moist with the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So once we're
done with the prayer and we now return back to our normal activities we should also inculcate these qualities by controlling our gaze, controlling our tongue, continuously remembering Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is a daily practice which helps us better ourselves. The month of Ramadan is very similar except it's more on a yearly basis that for 11 months
we have a very normal monotonous schedule and now we're asked to get out of the normalcy of life and turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And there are many ways that this can benefit
us particularly by adopting and inculcating certain qualities in this month that we can maintain outside of the month of Ramadan. With 10 days of the month behind us now the
question comes what can I do before the month slips away from me? And rightfully so many people are now rushing and hastening towards doing as much as they can increasing their
worship, increasing their recitation of the Quran. But I personally feel for my own benefit I try to maintain two qualities. One is balance. That yes I want to make sure I increase my
worship, I want to make sure I increase my recitation, I try to do as much as good as possible but in the same breath it's important for me to remind myself that let me not overburden
myself to the point that once the month is done I look back and I sigh with a sigh of relief saying that oh finally the month is done. Rather it should be enjoyable, it should
be something that I'm able to manage and hopefully once the month comes to an end I can maintain these qualities outside of the month as well. The second quality and trait that I personally
would like to inculcate in these middle 10 days is balance and consistency. Consistency
is key. Istiqamah. Because if I'm able to do a small amount of a'mal, actions, worship
then I can do my best, level best to maintain those outside of the month of Ramadan. We learn from a number of authentic hadith that the message of Allah said أحب الأعمال إلى الله أدومها وإن قلّى
The most beloved of actions in the sight of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala are those that are consistent although they are very minimal. Even though they may not seem a lot but they
are consistent. So when I'm trying to meet my daily amount of Qur'anic recitation to complete the Qur'an by the end of the month let me not make it a burden. Also when I'm
trying to pray Salah and trying to pray Tahajjud let me not make it a burden. Yes I'm going to exert myself but not to the point where I now look back and say you know what the month of Ramadan is done. I can now sigh with relief that it's completed. May Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to inculcate balance and consistency in our lives. Ameen.
Wa jazakum Allah Khayran.
