Post-Ramadan Advice
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Keeping The Ramadan Spirit Alive
April 27, 2023 • Dr. Tesneem Alkiek, Dr. Omar Suleiman, Sh. Abdullah Oduro, Dr. Osman Umarji, Najwa Awad and Sh. Yaser Birjas
Ramadan is already over, but Yaqeen is here to help you keep its spirit alive. We collected some of our best post-Ramadan advice from previous years to help you continue building your relationship with your Creator after Ramadan. May Allah allow us to continue benefiting from our past month's efforts!
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum everyone and Eid Mubarak. Now, usually the main question we get around this time is how do we keep up those practices? How do we keep up that momentum we had in Ramadan after Ramadan? And we wanted to make things easier for you So we went back to some of our past webinars and lectures and pulled out some of our favorite tips on how to keep that energy. So we hope you enjoy and benefit and really translate those practices, those goals that you had in Ramadan, into your daily lives for this year and the many years to come. A person tells themselves, which is very powerful, a person tells themselves, yuhaddithu nafsa, I'm telling myself, I will not disobey Allah. I will not return to those sins. I will not go back to watching, you know, whatever I was watching, listening to what I was listening to, doing what I was doing. I will try to manifest the goal of taqwa, which is taqwa ma'asi, mindfulness and particularly mindfulness of God that leads me to abandon that which is displeasing to Him. I will not disobey Allah, yuhaddithu nafsa, and I'm going to do what I can to not bring those shayateen back into my life, bring those sins back into my life, then that person will enter Jannah without being asked and without being punished. But he said on the other hand, whoever tells themselves that as soon as Eid al-Fitr comes, that I will disobey Allah, the same way that I was before Ramadan, then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will return that Ramadan to that person mardood, rejected. May Allah protect us. I mean, that statement mardood is a tough one, right? Because literally it's like the package came right back to you, you presented the package to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and the package came right back to you, delivered back to the sender. Why? Because you had already told yourself, I'm going right back to what I was doing before Ramadan, that I will continue to disobey Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, that I will continue to do these things. Now the powerful thing in that statement is yuhaddithu nafsa, that the person is telling themselves something.
And I'm sure Sister Najwa has some powerful insights on that concept since she wrote the paper on waswas and obviously there's a lot to do with the psychology of this all, but this is not the shaytan, this is you telling yourself, I'm going to stop or I'm going to continue. And that doesn't mean that you will not inevitably fall back into some of the things that you'd said that you were going to stop, because there are going to be those times that we buckle under pressure, that we fall back into the sins that we said that we were going to abandon. I was able to quit this, but then I had a moment of weakness after Ramadan where I fell right back into it. I don't have to turn that moment of falling right back into it, into a return to that habit. I can say, no, wait, I'm not doing this again. No, you know, this doesn't feel right. It's part of our, you know, similar to the physical consumption, spiritual consumption is the same way with our fitra, that when you detox and you purify yourself for a long time, then when you put something that's not good for you back in your system, it feels off. And so spiritually speaking, as you've been spiritually detoxing, when you put something back in that doesn't feel right, that's not good for you, it's not going to resonate the same way and you're going to have that moment of consciousness like, wait a minute, do I really want to go back to this? Do I really want to make this a part of my life again? And you have to have that, at least that commitment, that initial commitment, that sincere initial commitment that, ya Allah, I'm done with it. I'm going to stop. I was able to put it away for Ramadan. I can put it away going forward as well. While I'm not going to be able to maintain the same level of qirat and quran and dua and dhikr that I was in Ramadan. I'm not built that way. We're not built to be able to worship throughout the year the way we do in Ramadan. Ramadan is supposed to be an elevated sense of worship,
but we are created in a way that we can abstain from the same things that are haram in Ramadan outside of Ramadan. We do have that capacity and that's not an unreasonable ask to make of ourselves. You know what? Allah showed me my potential, not just in doing good and pushing myself to the next level with good. Allah really showed me my potential in staying away from that thing that I thought I could not live without. Engaging the quran in the most wholesome sense possible allows you to enjoy it in the most specific sense possible. Like there's no way that you're not going to enjoy your tajweed more if you're learning tafsir or if you're listening to this reflection on the surah, it'll make memorization of that surah so much easier. SubhanAllah, so the holistic engagement of the quran makes every specific engagement with it so sweet and every verse is worth it, right? So if the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that the space of one whip in a jamna is greater than the entire world and everything that's within it, then every degree matters, every space matters as we elevate ourselves. So inshallah ta'ala with that, Ustad Tasneem, will you share your tip with us inshallah? Yes, so assalamualaikum everyone, excited to be back with you guys. And the tip that I have is pretty simple and straightforward. But when it comes to Ramadan and it comes to that feeling of excitement and motivation, what it really is beyond, of course, the blessing, the barakah that comes with the month and all of the extra good deeds that are just everything is doubled and all of that. What really is so exciting about that month is the fact that you have these new goals in place, right? You're telling yourself, I'm going to read a certain amount of quran, I'm going to pray a certain number of ruqas every night, that I'm going to do certain things in my day that are going to be different. And that's what makes the month special. And so because throughout the month, you're constantly pushing yourself to do different things. You're constantly pushing yourself to create habits that you want to keep after the month. But you're also doing things that is not going to happen throughout the month. But you're taking advantage of that blessing of that month.
And that's OK that you're reading, you know, you're spending all night reading and praying just because you know Allah is promising you a reward you can't even imagine. So we push ourselves to a degree that we can't even do consistently throughout the year. But we also create goals that we can carry on inshallah after Ramadan. So you've got all of these different types of challenges, right? Challenges unique to the month and the challenges that you want to set for yourself, you know, for the long run. And so what really is so great about Ramadan is that you're just doing things that you know that you won't do most of the year or you want to do something new. So that, fortunately, is something that we can always do, that every month is an opportunity to set new goals, to set new challenges for yourself and to hold yourself accountable to push yourself to those goals. So think about, you know, think about what it was in Ramadan. What were those things that you were doing in Ramadan that were particularly, you know, inspiring, that were really those those acts of worship that were so rejuvenating? Because now, as you're trying to look at sort of this holistic approach to change and to continuity and consistency, you can start off with that one thing that you really loved and enjoyed. There's some acts of worship that we enjoy, but are difficult for us, are challenging. I'll be honest, fasting is one of the hardest acts of worship for me, and I really, really struggle with it. So for me, I'm thinking, Shawal, what, you know, what do I want to push myself to? Well, I personally love, you know, reading Qur'an, I love reviewing, I love reading about the commentary of Qur'an, something like that, right? And so I'm going to set a goal that's going to challenge me, it's going to push me to my limits this month, just as I push myself in Ramadan for that one specific, you know, act of worship that I particularly enjoy. If there's multiple acts, think of smaller, consistent acts that you can do throughout the month, but really think about those goals that you set and try to imitate them, try to recreate them.
You know, whether you want to do it for the year, you want to do it month by month, week by week, set goals to keep pushing yourself and challenging yourself. Now, for those of you who are like, well, I have no idea what my goals are, what my challenges are. Don't worry, we've got that problem solved for you, inshallah. What we're going to be releasing early next week, inshallah, is a weekly checklist. So if there are certain acts of worship you're not quite sure you want to focus on, if there's certain things you want to be doing, but you don't know how hard to push yourself. What we're going to be providing you with is a weekly checklist of different things you can do to engage with content that will boost, inshallah, your iman in regard to the Qur'an. It will increase your intellectual understanding of this religion and inshallah will also strengthen your relationship with Allah just as you were doing in Ramadan. And so we'll have different activities that you can do, different reminders, videos you can watch, things to really keep yourself engaged spiritually and also activities that you can do with others. And that's also very important because this is an opportunity for you to find a friend, find a family member, challenge them. Hey, listen, I'm doing this weekly checklist. I've got these certain goals for myself this month. How about you join me? Let's compete. Let's set points for different types of activities. And that's really, really fun and inspiring when you can check in on your friend, especially when it comes to like fasting the six days of Shawar, for those who can do it. Having someone around you just texting them, hey, you know, what are you making for a flaw tonight? Let's break our fast over Skype, Zoom, whatever it is. It really makes a difference in terms of keeping up with that morale, because, of course, in Ramadan, yes, you know, we're motivated. There's there's a lot of blessing in the month. But one big perk Ramadan is knowing that we're all fasting. We're all in it together. We're all super thirsty and hungry and that we're all going to be breaking our fast together. So try to recreate that sense of community, of togetherness in trying to meet those goals and challenges. Insha'Allah. You know, I want to add to that.
You know, I think as you were speaking about that, subhanAllah, this idea it's not a set equation for people. You know, I was thinking about it the other day because we love to make these mathematical equations. So it's like, you know, if you've got six days of Shawar, then that means that there's some divine equation of five times or one fifth of your Ibad in Ramadan or something like that. It doesn't work that way. Right. So for some people taking from the start, right. Half of my Qur'an reading in Shawar is what I'm half of the Qur'an that I read in Ramadan. I'm going to read in Shawar, for example, or even a fourth. It's going to be different, both in terms of the quantity of the proportion, as well as in terms of the nature of their Ibadah, right. And I think there's something to be said. I don't know how you all feel about this, but switching it up sometimes is important, not necessarily doing the exact same Ibadah, the hadith of the Prophet, salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, that sometimes faith can wear out in the chest the way that a garment would wear out. And part of that is tajdeed al iman, of renewing faith, is sometimes doing different things to move your faith, to ignite something inside of you. So sometimes diversifying is good. So I'm not sure how you all feel about carrying the goals or sometimes even switching the goal setting, entirely different goals for Shawar. You will say to yourself, and it can be from Shaytan at times. Well, I'm just not motivated. No, it's let's look for transformation and transformation is that change that is needed and change. You know, we as human beings, we do not welcome change naturally. I mean, when we look at the prophets, they call for change in their connection with the Creator. So it's really looking to transform in one thing, as Shaykh Omar mentioned, witr and using the means, as Shaykh Tasneem mentioned,
you know, yakin, providing a platform or providing a means for transformation. So some people may need a schedule. Some people, you know, in my garage, in my little gym, I have whiteboards, not one, but a number of them, and just letting my brain get free and then making sure that, you know, I can organize a bit in the light. So whatever means that you use, make sure that it's leading towards transforming yourself, you 2.0, the better version of yourself. You know, a lot of these taglines that we hear, but make sure that whatever you're inspired by at the moment, it leads to something and that something is being transformed in whatever little aspect of life. And I think that's really, really important because we, as human beings, love to be inspired, but let's make sure that it leads to something that is long lasting, inshallah, and that will help change us as human beings. You know, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, when we're talking about the Quran now, he mentions in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, he says, ta'ahadu bil quran. He says, recite and keep, you know, your ahad, your connection with the Quran. waladhi nafsu muhammadin biyadih innahu ashaddu tafallutan minal ibli fi aqaliha The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, he said, I swear by who's Muhammad's soul is in, being Allah swt, he swears by Allah, that verily it will leave, ashaddu tafallutan. He said, this is the most severest form of leaving or escaping someone than the camel from its aqaliha, from its, it's what it's tied to. Because the camel, if you don't monitor it, it will leave and run away unless you have that aqal, that element that will prohibit it from escaping from you. And the Quran is in that fashion. If you, you know, they say, if you don't use it, you lose it. If you don't ultimately act upon it,
that's what the Tawfiq from Allah swt, to assist in your memorization, preservation, which leads to transformation, right? So making sure that you're honest with yourself, you look at yourself and like sister Tasneem said, you know, like for her, you know, fasting was a trial for her. What's a trial for you? Be realistic with that. Don't look at someone else and know what you're capable of doing and do as the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said in another form of advice, as he said in another form of advice, استعين بالله ولا تعجزن You know, he said, oh, احرص على ما ينفعك واستعين بالله ولا تعجزن. Hadith Muslim. He said, you know, the strong Muslim is more, is more virtuous than the weaker Muslim. And both of them are good. Both of them are khair. And then he said, you know, احرص على ما ينفعك. He said, be busy, busy yourself with that which is beneficial for you. Seek help in Allah. And do not give up. Do not give up. Just as Sheikh Omar, you know, Mr. Omar was mentioning that, you know, you take something, whether it's an ayah a day, you know, do something that you know you can handle and be consistent with that, with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, as we know within our deed to habit series. You know, even though a lot of these programs we are doing, you know, I remember Sheikh Omar, he gave me a text one time. He was like, make sure you you're a little more general with your message. Why? Because this message should be timeless. Ramadan is just a catalyst for a new beginning, for a new habit. So going back to the deeds to habits, you know, which is paramount coming from the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, اذا احب الاعمال الى الله ادوامها وانقل The most beloved actions to Allah are those that are consistent, even if they were a little bit. So looking at our deeds to habits, 30 for 30 can be 30 for 30 every month, right?
Whether it's 29 or 30 days, it's irrelevant, right? We we go back to those verses in the Qur'an and we say to ourselves, OK, I'm going to listen for 30 for 30 from Asr, you know, till Maghrib. And then looking at my schedule that they gave me, I'm going to, you know, this year try to be committed to winter and 30 for 30 when I sit with my child, when I sit with a friend of mine, I'm going to call them on the phone. We're just going to talk, mention some benefits from that. But something that is consistent. And then I'll end with the beautiful verse. You know, as Allah mentions in the chapter of Taha, where he tells the prophet, what more? After all, what more? I like to be salty. Well, stop it. I like how it's a beautiful verse. It always reminds me because, you know, I remember when when I embraced Islam, subhanAllah, I was told that I had to pray and me being human. You know, I said to myself, OK, I got to pray. But is that for the rest of my life? So you have to pray five times a day for the rest of your life. While the rest of my life, I have to pray five times a day. In the beginning, it sounds stressful. It sounds like it can be like, am I really going to be able to do that? But we shouldn't look at it as a challenge. Let's change that word to an opportunity. If we look at it as an opportunity and we try our best to reflect on ourselves and our abilities and we ask Allah to help us in this journey of life, we look at it as an opportunity to be better. And that's what we should strive to do, to transform the little that you do. Allah will. He has the total authority to multiply it. And he mentions that in many, you know, in many hadith that's mentioned praying in Salat al-Jamaa, praying by yourself, you know, reading the Koran, every letter that you read, it's totally up to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So just remember that all of what we're mentioning are means to an ultimate goal. And that goal is taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's that mindfulness that pushes you to keep doing those actions. But know that Salat is a means, reading the Koran is a means. All of these are means to reach that unseen connection. And that's what we term as spiritual, right? And that is something that we'll never be able to quantify. وَإِن تَعُدُونَ يَعْمَدُ اللَّهِ إِلَىٰ تَحْسُوهَا We'll never be able to quantify those blessings that Allah has given us. And that's why we should always remember when we do an action, you know, Allah gives us much more than we actually deserve. And that's just what the concept of barakah is. Let's not belittle that. And the little that we do, as she mentioned, mashaAllah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give you much more, you know, than you can imagine. And that's something that is a beautiful, beautiful thing. People who read more Quran are having better Ramadan. And what we also find is that regularly reading the Quran has been associated with so many amazing outcomes. And I think this is part of the post Ramadan blues. People are in a spiritual high in Ramadan because they're engaged with the Quran. And then once they leave the Quran, you're going to be, you're going to lose those benefits. So people who regularly read the Quran, they have better mental health, less anxiety, less nervousness, they're more relaxed. We found they have better marriages and relationship with their spouses. And they're actually more grateful to Allah and they see more blessings in the world. And so there's a verse in Surah Taha that makes me think about this, where Allah says, Taha, ma anzalna alayka alqurana li tashqa that subhanAllah, Allah says that we have not revealed the Quran to cause you distress. And so the opposite of that is that we have revealed this Quran to cause you to be in a state of peace and a state of comfort. And this is really why Ramadan is such an amazing time for Muslims worldwide, because it is a time of peace and comfort because we're inundated with the Quran in our life. So my post Ramadan tip is to feed yourself a daily diet of Quran. So what I tell people sometimes is, you know, when starting that relationship with the Quran, just go in the index
and then see a subject that interests you and then start there. My number one tip in terms of the post Ramadan blues is to continue working on your relationship with Allah and that seeking nearness to him, that's thinking good of him and being grateful to him. And I think as we kind of touched on, naturally after Ramadan, we do miss Ramadan. We have that that emotional low, also maybe like a social low, not being able to connect with other Muslims on such a high and wonderful thing. And it's really interesting. I was looking at research the other day and there is research that suggests that during Ramadan when people fast, that their serotonin levels go up. And they measure this on the 14th day and on the 29th day. And serotonin is usually associated with those good vibes, with us feeling good. It's associated with a lot of things, but it's feeling good. So I wonder even after Ramadan, if that some of that dip is not just that emotional feeling of letting go of Ramadan, but also like a physiological dip as well. Allahu alam. But anyway, so how do we continue to connect with Allah? For me, it's just that that reminder that that even with Ramadan passing, that Allah is always there. Right. That doesn't matter the time of year, although we feel a lot of us feel closer to him during Ramadan, that he is readily available all the time. He's there in the last third of the night, just waiting. For us of waiting to answer our du'a, whenever we reach out to him, he always comes back to us with more. So for some during Ramadan, there is a heightened sense of like, I can connect to Allah more. But just that mindset that we shouldn't have that black and white thinking, that it's not all or nothing, that I can continue to go to Allah.
It might not be in the capacity that you were able to do in Ramadan, but working on that attachment and that love to him. I think when we think about attachment in the field of psychology, it's natural to look at attachment with parents or our children or our spouses. But when we look at attachment with Allah, how many of us are secure in our attachment with him, that we love him and we want to be around him, whether we're in Ramadan or not, or in the good times or not? And so what are just practical ways that we can feel closer to him is remembering that he's close to us all the time. He's always there ready to hear our du'a and to forgive us for our sins and accept our good deeds inshallah. Another thing is also thinking well of Allah too. You know, a lot of us, we tried our best to, you know, do all these good deeds and we ask for forgiveness. And I think when you think highly of someone, whether it's Allah or just someone else, you are more likely to want to do good because you are expecting good of them, right? If I go to someone and every time I go, I feel rejected, I'm not going to want to do those deeds. But thinking of Allah makes me want to, or thinking highly of Allah, we don't know with any certainty that our good deeds are going to be accepted. But thinking highly of him will increase my motivation to want to do those good deeds, not just because I'm going to get the azure, but because I want that closeness. I want that love from him. And then also practicing gratefulness too. You know, gratefulness is kind of two parts. When we are grateful to someone, then we are reminding ourselves of those blessings that someone gave us. So it's a good reminder to us, but naturally the other person reciprocates. When we do, when we are appreciative, the other person gives us more. And we know that Allah surpasses any human capacity, that he gives us way more than we are able to give to him.
If we go by a hand span, he comes by an arm's length. And so keeping that in mind, that having that appreciation is a way of feeling closer and building that secure attachment with Allah. He said, when we buried the Prophet ﷺ there in Medina, he says, We did not recognize our hearts anymore. We felt weird. We felt different. When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, he was in Yemen. He didn't hear about the news until it was late. So by the time he arrived in Medina, he said, I couldn't even tell that it was the same. That's not the same city that I left. The streets of Medina felt a little bit darker than usual. Why is that? Because again, the incentive for many of these sahaba to stay always upright and always maintain that momentum and their ibadah, seeing the Prophet ﷺ, enjoying the Prophet's ﷺ companionship, hearing him every single day, seeing him every single day. That incentive is gone. And for them to move forward right now becomes a matter of choice, a matter of absolutely personal choice. When Umar ibn Khattab heard the news about the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, he was in a shock, like many, many people. You have this moment of joy and happiness, that amazing high moment in your life, and all of a sudden it's crushed because the incentive is gone. There is no foundation for it anymore. And as a result, Umar ibn Khattab, as we know him, so solid like a rock, he melted. He melted completely. And he was there in the masjid holding his sword, threatening the people who says Muhammad ﷺ passed away. I'm going to go after him. No, he did not.
He went away to meet his Lord like Musa did ﷺ, and he's going to be back. That's what Umar was hoping for until Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, that solid rock, even though he was the soft one. But that moment required a solid person, and he was that for them. He was a foundation. He told Umar, sit down, Umar, just sit down. Then he started the ayah, the ayah which was already in the Qur'an, which Umar ﷺ recited and read regularly. And every Sahabi knew about this ayah, that Muhammad ﷺ, as Allah ﷻ says, Muhammad is a man. Just like you. He, if he dies, you're going to just turn away and turn your back to Allah ﷻ? Is that what you're going to do? So when Umar, he heard that, he realized this is it. Muhammad is not there anymore ﷺ. And Abu Bakr as-Siddiq told them all in that moment. Let those who worship Muhammad know that he's dead. And those who worship Allah ﷻ, Allah is everlasting, never dies, subhanahu wa ta'ala. My dear brothers and sisters, today as we come to the first Jum'ah after Eid, Ankarna Qulubana, we look at our hearts, not the same. When we woke up in the morning for Fajr, it didn't feel the same anymore. That joy of Ramadan, it's not there. Truly, the after Ramadan blues and withdrawals are real. They're real. And we're humans after all. If the Sahaba radiyallahu ta'ala, they had moments like these, who are we not to have them? Our incentive was Ramadan. Yes, sleepless night, going hungry and thirsty, but it was bittersweet. You would look for those moments. You enjoy that sacrifice, subhanallah. And now the incentive is on you. Six days of Shawwal, on you. There's no collective effort anymore.
So therefore, it's up to you. Where are you going to go? Are you going to go the way of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq or the way of Umar ibn Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala? Rasulallah ﷺ says in the hadith, Every deed, every good deed has a shirah. A shirah means a peak or a high moment, high. And after that high moment, it goes to decline. So you have high and lows of every deed. Then he said ﷺ, Whoever's low moment is still on the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, like you have a standard for this. Then you're guided, you're well guided. But whoever's low moment goes below that standard of the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, that person is going astray. So you be careful. Yes, after Ramadan, we might not have the exact same excitement and feeling that we usually do every single Ramadan and every single day of Ramadan. But that doesn't mean we go all the way down below even what we used to be before Ramadan. Ramadan is supposed to raise your bar. So that if I go below, I'm still at a higher level than I used to be before last Ramadan or actually before the days of Ramadan. That's where I need to be today. Even if I go a little bit down, I'm not going to go below where I used to be before Ramadan even started. I don't expect to be at the level of Ramadan, but I don't want to be below the level before Ramadan. So I have seven points for you, inshallah ta'ala, to help us to go continue to go strong, even after Ramadan is gone. Things we learn from this hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Number one, the first thing to learn that what you're going through is a journey. And change is a process, is not an event. If anyone thinks that change is an event, like alhamdulillah, I attended Ramadan, so you got a graduation, masha'Allah.
I've attended the last 10 nights of Ramadan. They were amazing, alhamdulillah, the night, the soft heart, you know, points and late night khatirat and tahajjud was amazing. It was the best part of Ramadan, alhamdulillah, rabbil alameen. And then it's over now. Well, that was an event. That was an event. The changes are going to happen in you as a result of that event. It's a process. It's a journey. So you make sure to continue on that journey. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is pointing you to that journey. He says, wa'abud rabbaka hatta atiakal yaqeen. You worship your Lord until you meet your certainty, which means death. And when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala spoke of Isa alayhi salam, what did he say about him? He said, qal wa ja'alani mubarakan, he made me blessed, wa ja'alani mubarakan aynama kuntu, wherever I go, I'm blessed. wa awsani bis salati, wa zakati, madhum tuhayya. And he enjoined upon me to establish salah and give zakah as long as I live. What does that mean, jama'ah? There is no break in this dunya. Whether it's Ramadan over or Ramadan in, out, it doesn't matter. Being on that journey, it's going to be a process. So you be prepared for that inshallah tabaraka wa ta'ala. Number two, what we learn from this hadith, that there's again a high tide and a low tide over here. When you're in the high tide, you need to put every single effort or energy you have to keep you going even higher. So that when you start taking your break, you don't go below where you wish to be before. That is now the spirit from this hadith. Take advantage of your high moments. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. Sometimes you sit down and you feel defeated a little bit because the incentive is not there anymore. You come to the masjid al-fusat al-isha because it was a beautiful sight. A beautiful sight, fajr, it was a beautiful sight, no doubt about it. But now I come for fajr and isha, it's a little bit depressing.
I don't see the same number of people. I don't see the people walking. I don't see the traffic jam and all that stuff and fighting for that spot in the musallah area or even outside. It's not there anymore. Yeah, the incentive is not there. But I need to make sure whatever is left in me from that journey and from that energy, I need to push myself even more and better inshallah ta'ala. So that I adjust to the new norm right now. But in a better position. So make sure to remind yourself of that. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Innamal mu'minun allatheena idha dhukirallahu wajilat qulubuhum. The believers are those when they are reminded with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, their hearts are trembling. Wa idha tuliat alayhim ayatuhu zadatuhum imana. And when the verses of Allah is being recited to them, their iman increases. What does that mean? Their hearts are already trembling and connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So what does it mean zadatuhum imana? Their iman increases. The ulema, they say their action. The action which means their practice of that iman increases. Alhamdulillah reminder like this should also push you to the next level. What is your plan after this Jum'ah? What are you going to do? And subhanallah, we learned that from Ramadan. The beautiful actions of Ramadan that we can continue to do inshallah azzawajal. Like what? As-siyam, fasting. You can fast the six days of Shawwal. Start with that right away as a reminder. Maintain Mondays and Thursdays, three days of every month. Maintain that around the year. Don't go to the level before Ramadan. Don't let fasting step away from your hand because you're traveling or you're in the summer, a vacation or this and that. There is no break in Jum'ah. Wa abud rabbaka hatta atiakal yartini. Worship until you die. So you still even worship in every moment you can. Tahajjud, qiyamul layl. I know we think that tahajjud is only for the hufadh and those who know how to recite beautifully. No, it's not. It's for you and I, for everybody. At least two rak'ah. Doesn't have to be eight or four or ten or twenty.
Two rak'ah. Every now and then you add to your night schedule. Every now and then. But make sure that no week will pass us by without you making tahajjud. At least wake up half an hour before Fajr. You know what? You can do this then before you go to sleep. After Isha and before you go to sleep, pray two rak'ah at least. Recite one page each. Two pages of the Qur'an. Whether you know it by heart or read from the Mus'haf. But practice qiyamul layl. Read the Qur'an at least one page a day. At least one page a day. I couldn't, I'm too busy, then listen. But have some sort of connection with the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Charity. Have a charity box. Put something online to be drafted out of your money regularly without even paying attention. At least every single day you're paying something for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Being generous. We fed people. We cooked food. We distributed things. We gave others. Share this generosity with other people. Continue that generosity inshallah ta'ala. And there is so much you could do. There's so much you could do as the legacy of the month of Ramadan. Number three. In the low tide. When now I'm not in my best level of iman. What do I do? You need to remember that it's okay to fail. It's okay to fail. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is teaching us that in the Qur'an. فَإِنَّمَا الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا With every hardship, Allah will bring ease. Because indeed, for that hardship that you're suffering from, Allah will bring ease to it. So every time I fail, every time I go through difficulty, Allah will bring me ease. So I need to anticipate that ease from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If I fail, it's not the end of the world. I will recalibrate. I will be prepared inshallah ta'ala. So when the high tide comes, I will push myself to the next level inshallah ta'ala. Remember that when you feel low a little bit, do not go below that red line that you create for yourself.
Keep that standard. That's what Prophet ﷺ called sunnati, my level of sunnah, my level of practice of the fara'id and the ibarat and the ta'at. Don't allow yourself to go below that line. Now, number four. Companionship is important. You learned that in Ramadan, the reason why you were able to wake up and stay up all night and to come to the masjid even though you don't want to come to the masjid, because someone pushed you to do that. Or you heard that some of your friends were coming to that event or that program or that musalla. You knew that. Whether it was your spouse, your child, your friend, anybody. That body system should continue with you. But for the good reason. Because remember what the Prophet ﷺ told us about companionship. He said ﷺ, qal ma min shayin adallu ala shay. He says, look, everything, two things are indicated to each other. Like he said, as sahib sahib. Just the best example, he says that friends are gravitating to each other, which means they pull. So if someone is doing good, they will pull you to do good. If someone is doing bad, they will definitely pull you to do bad. So make sure that your companionship after Ramadan is well filtered for the purpose of you keep going, inshallah, strong after the month of Ramadan. Number five. What do I need to maintain? Consistency. When Rasulullah ﷺ was asked, in hadith Ummul Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha, qeela, ya Rasulullah, ayyul a'mal ya habbila Allah. What are the deeds that are the best, most beloved to Allah azawajal? A question everybody asks after Ramadan. Like saying, look, I'm too busy, I'm too this, I'm too that. Tell me something that is most beloved to Allah, will give me the greatest reward. What can I do? The Prophet ﷺ didn't give a specific deed because he knows people are different. You have different schedule, different styles and so on. So he ﷺ said something we can all agree on.
He said, qala adwamuhu wa inqal. He says, the most consistent, even if it was little. So I'm not going to tell you do this or do that, but I'm going to tell you, choose one thing before you leave this Juma. Choose one thing you do, whether it's to start with two rakah after Isha before you go to sleep or fast Mondays or start with something, whatever that is that you want to do, start with inshaAllah ta'ala, one page every single day after Fajr, after Dhuhr, after Asr. Whatever you decide to do, make sure to start with this and keep it consistent because that's how you keep strong after Ramadan inshaAllah ta'ala. And number six, do not nullify your deeds. Do not nullify your deeds with constant reminders and boasting about them. How is that? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an, wala tamnun tastakthir. Stop boasting about what you do, thinking that you know what, we owe you in return to what you're doing. Allah doesn't owe you anything for what you've done in Ramadan. Keep that in mind. So in hadith, which is disputable in terms of authenticity, but the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he said if someone is being dragged on their face, means they're just doing this ibadah for the sake of Allah, from the moment they were born until they die. All of this doing it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah will make all their effort little. Like don't ever think that what you do is too big. Whatever good deed that you do, if you're going to compare this to the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it's all as little. So if you've done something you've never done before in Ramadan, thinking that I've done way and beyond, that then in this case Allah owes me such and such a return, you're wrong. Don't make the effort you put in Ramadan to go waste by this kind of constant boasting about it, thinking that, oh alhamdulillah, I've done something I've never done before. I finished the Quran from cover to cover. Being alhamdulillah happy about it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is okay.
Being joyful about the ibadah you've done for the sake of Allah, it's okay. But using that in order to expect in return from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give you something you demand, Allah doesn't owe you anything in return. Because whatever you do, compared to what Allah has already given you, is nothing. So stop losing and ruining your ibadah and your reward by doing that. I say this saying, and I ask forgiveness of Allah for you and the Muslims, and ask His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. Alhamdulillah, O Lord of the worlds, The last point, number seven, people ask, okay, where do I start? Help me out over here. I want to know what kind of program should I start and keep active with after the month of Ramadan. The best program was given to us by Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in this very short hadith, Hadith Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala, when Muad ibn Jabal, when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, In this hadith, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is saying, you need to be conscious of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Be conscious of Allah. Wherever you are. Because that's what matters now. Whether you're at work, in school, privately in your home, Closing doors behind you, in your car, in the street, in public place, privately, wherever that is. If you keep the consciences of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your mind, you will do well. You will do well no matter where you are. So keep that in mind, number one. Number two, He says, That follow the mistake that you do with another good deed, it will erase it out for you.
And that's the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the generosity of Allah. You do well, it erases the bad one, but not premeditated. It's not like you premeditated doing good after doing bad. No, if you tripped, if you made a mistake, because no matter how much you try to be conscious of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, You will fall short. It's okay. So what do you need to do now to recalibrate and try to do something good? Hopefully it will erase that out for you. The least is doing tawbah and saying astaghfirullah, the least. Number three, Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, Deal with people, intermingle with people in good manners. Like have good manners with the people. What does that exactly mean? Look, if you can't be good, If you can't make anything good, then if you're gonna do bad, Then don't hurt others. Make that bad just on you. If you're gonna make something wrong, just make it bad. Do it against your own self. Do not hurt anybody else. Because hurting someone else in the process, it's hard to really to erase. It's difficult. So you make sure that you keep treating people in the best manners you can. Remember these three things. This is the step that you should really live your life by. Always try to be conscious of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at all times. If you make a mistake, fix it. If you can't even make anything good, then don't hurt people. For more information, visit www.fema.org
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