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Islam, A Coherent Social Justice Tradition | Omar Suleiman | 16th MAS-ICNA Convention
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Fueling Your Faith: A Guide to Preparing for Ramadan | Dr. Omar Suleiman
Don't wait for the moonsighting to start preparing for the greatest month of the year. Dr. Omar Suleiman talks about how to ready ourselves for a meaningful and fulfilling Ramadan.
This lecture is streamed LIVE in collaboration with the Islam and Muslims Initiative from Doha.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Alhamdulillah, wa salatu was salamu ala rasulillah. When the earthquake happened in Turkey and Syria, and I'm going to start from that place, because unfortunately we move on so quickly from things. So I'm going to take you back to that place for a moment insha'Allah ta'ala, as we come into Ramadan. When the earthquake happened in Turkey and Syria, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on all of those who passed and accept them as shuhada. Allahumma ameen. I tried to think of the other side of that earthquake. And what I mean by that is that the world becomes a much clearer place when you view the world through the lens of the hereafter, rather than viewing the akhirah, viewing the hereafter through the lens of this world. The world becomes a much clearer place, so much more clarifying, when your lens is a lens of akhirah, a lens of the hereafter, looking at this world, rather than a lens of this dunya, a lens of this world, trying to understand and look at the akhirah, look at the hereafter. And I tried to imagine what was happening on the other side. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned to us the way that the shaheed, the way that the martyr enters into that next realm, and the celebration that takes place in the heavens. Here you see destruction, devastation, but if you are amongst the righteous souls, may Allah make us amongst them, Allahumma ameen, you hear a sound, you see a light, you know that someone has just come to join you. The throne of Allah has a new occupant under one of its chandeliers, as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned that the souls are nestled, the souls of the martyrs are nestled in these chandeliers,
that hang from the throne of Ar-Rahman, that hang from the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And as that's coming into this new realm, in recent memory, this may have been one of the largest entrances of shuhadaat, that's our husn adhan in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, nashabuhum kithalik, our good assumption of Allah. This may have been one of the largest entries of martyrs into that next realm in recent history. And so there is a lot of commotion amongst those souls, who's here, who came. And the people rushing to meet and greet those souls, some of them our brothers and sisters in Syria, who have been traumatized and have been attacked and been under all types of problems, way before an earthquake, receiving their loved ones, who died in a different way. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala unite them all. Allahumma ameen. And I want you to imagine being on that side of the spectrum, and looking in. Now let's stay there for Ramadan, for the next 5 or 10 minutes or so, and then we'll get back to us and the practical tips and your to-do list, and how you can get ready and how you can mentally and physically prepare yourself, should Allah bless you, to be alive for Ramadan. While you're still over there, and you're looking at the world, you've got this dream, and you're seeing, for whatever moment Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given you, something of what's happening on that side of the spectrum. Talha bin Ubaidullah radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, one of the 10 Mubashireen al-Jannah, one of the 10 promised paradise, he had this dream in the time of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And how amazing was it to have a dream, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, after Salatul Fajr every morning, he would sit, he'd remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for some time, and then the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would sit with the companions,
he would pray Salatul Dhuha, he would ask them, who amongst you saw a good dream last night that you want to share, and he would interpret their dreams for them salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Talha bin Ubaidullah radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu had a very interesting dream. He said, Ya Rasulullah, I saw myself standing in front of Baab al-Jannah, Aw ka'anni ala Baab al-Jannah, as if I was right in front of the gates of Jannah, waiting for my entrance, waiting for my name to be called. So put yourself on Talha's shoes for a moment. You see a dream and you're standing in front of the gates of paradise. And he said, I look to my right, I look to my left. And this is actually something that's very profound about the dreams of the companions. When they used to have these dreams, and they used to see these images of the hereafter, they would see people that they knew in these dreams. Abdullah bin Umar radiyaAllahu anhu famously had this dream, where he saw himself being taken to paradise, and then he saw himself being taken to hellfire, but when he looked at hellfire, he said, I saw people in Jahannam. I saw people in the fire. I knew their names and I knew their faces. And then the angel said, this is not your place, and they took me to Jannah. And he asked Hafsa radiyaAllahu anhu to interpret that dream from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, ni'ma rajul Abdullah, what a good young man Abdullah is. Let him pray a little bit more at night. So they used to see people in their dreams of the hereafter, in good or in bad. So Ibn Umar radiyaAllahu anhu said, I saw people in hellfire that I knew, but he didn't say who they were. Talha says, I looked to my right and to my left, and I saw two men that I knew.
One of them died a martyr, died a shaheed. The other one lived a year later than that man. So they're two brothers that used to compete with one another in good. One of them died a year before the other, and he died as a shaheed, he died as a martyr. And so we're waiting in front of the gates of Jannah for our names to be called. To my surprise, when the caller comes out, the caller calls the brother who did not die as a martyr, who did not die as a shaheed, to come into Jannah first. Then the caller comes out, and the caller calls the martyr, who died as a martyr, to come forward and to enter into Jannah. So Talha radiyaAllahu anhu said, I'm standing in front of the gates of Jannah, I'm ready, and then the angel comes and says, not yet, and I wake up. So he said, I told some of the companions these dreams, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would hear what I saw. And so he'd go to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam with this dream, and all of us had the same reaction. Why did that guy get into Jannah before the other one? Why did he go first? Now the result is good because they all get to Jannah at the end of the day, but why him first? And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, من أي ذلك تعجبون؟ What are you amazed by? I said, Ya Rasulullah, that person died as a martyr, and the shaheed has his rank. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, أليس هذا قد مكث بعد هذا سنة؟ But didn't that one live an entire year after the other one? And we said, نعم يا رسول الله, yes, O Messenger of Allah. قال و أدرك رمضان
And he caught another Ramadan. And we said, yes, O Messenger of Allah. And he fasted that Ramadan. Yes, O Messenger of Allah. و صلى كذا و كذا و سجد كذا و كذا And then he prayed this amount of times and made this many prostrations. Yes, O Messenger of Allah. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, فما بينهما أبعد مما بين السماء والأرض The difference in their ranks then is greater than the difference between the distance between the heavens and the earth. And you go, wait a minute. How? Amazing hadith about Ramadan, you're still looking at it from that side. You're still viewing, remember, from that side. I just had the blessing to come from Umrah, subhanAllah. My last isha was in the haram. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us all to have an accepted Umrah and hajj. And as I was there at Uhud, I was remembering the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was walking with Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them. And Uhud shook and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, اثبت يا اهد, be firm O Uhud, you have upon you a nabi, a prophet, a siddiq, a truthful person, وشهدين, and two martyrs. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam basically just told Umar and Uthman that they were going to be martyred. But you have a prophet, a siddiq, a shahideen, a prophet, a truthful one, and two martyrs. Now Umar and Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them, are also people of siddq, they're people of truthfulness. But there's a siddiq, and the interpretation of that, النبيين والصديقين والشهداء والصالحين وحسن أولئك رفيقا The prophets, the truthful ones, the shuhada, the martyrs, the righteous ones, and what an amazing companionship that is.
May Allah grant us that companionship. Allahuma Ameen. So basically the scholars reconcile this hadith by saying that the person that lived another year may have been a person of great siddq, a person of great truthfulness. Truthful in their words, truthful in their deeds. When they said they were going to do something for the sake of Allah, they meant it. And so even if the particular circumstance didn't present itself to them, Allah saw in their hearts this desire to please Him. And you can belong to two categories simultaneously because every prophet is a person of truth, is a siddiq, and is one of the salihin, is a person of righteousness, and many of them were also shuhada, were martyrs. Some of them check all the boxes. But the point is that Allah looks at the hearts of some people, and Allah sees their striving, and Allah sees something so truthful, so sincere, that it's not about the circumstance, it's not about the quantity at the end of the day, it's not about how many things happened to that person or how many things that person did. It's that no matter what that person did, they did it from something here. And this desire to please Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُم مَنْ قَضَى نَحْبَةً وَمِنْهُم مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا There are believers that are truthful to the covenant that they take with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Some of them have an opportunity. They say, Ya Allah, if I have an opportunity to please You, You give me one more Ramadan, You give me one more opportunity, You give me one more this, You give me one more that, watch what I will do. مِنْهُم مَنْ قَضَى نَحْبَةً Sometimes it happens right away. مِنْهُم مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ Some of them have to wait. وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا But their intentions never change.
As soon as the circumstance presents itself, if it presents itself, they are accepted. They are accepted. And so there were people that missed out on Badr, but they said, Ya Allah, You give me a chance for Uhud, and You'll see what I will do. And they were people of truthfulness. They meant it when they said it. So it wasn't about the circumstance, it wasn't about them missing out on something, it was about what their hearts actually wanted to be a part of, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala raised their rank, and raised their rank, and raised their rank. And so there will be people on the Day of Judgment and in Paradise that will be counted amongst the people of Badr, that will be counted amongst the people of the Hijrah, that will be counted amongst the people of Uhud, that will be counted amongst the people of Hudaybiyyah, and so on and so forth, even if they were not physically present, because their hearts desired so bad that they would have that opportunity to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah did not need the circumstance to happen, to know the truthfulness that was in their heart, to say, Ya Allah, give me a chance, and You'll see, You'll see how much I want Your pleasure, how much I want Your forgiveness, even if I don't get the actual chance to do the deed, You know what my heart desires, my heart desires Your pleasure, Ya Allah, my heart desires forgiveness, Ya Allah. There are people on that side of the realm now, on that side of the spectrum, you're still up there, who used to live amongst us on this earth, they were here, and they were planning to be here another Ramadan, and they left behind these mushafs, these copies of the Quran, that you can't see crying, but they're actually crying, in a way that you can't perceive,
because they miss those fingers, that used to turn their pages, they miss those eyes that used to read them, they miss those tongues that used to recite them, they miss those hearts that used to attach themselves to them, they miss it, their mushafs miss them, their places of sajda, their places of prostration, Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu ma'a asad, when a righteous person passes away, your place of sajda, you know that place you always pray in at home, it misses you, it starts to cry, that's the interpretation of maa bakat alayhimus sama'u wal ard, that the tyrants, the heavens and the earth do not shed tears over tyrants, and Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu ma'a asad, that for the one that is righteous, the place on earth that they used to pray on, the places of their khair, the places of their benefit cry when they die, and the heavens, there is a gate that belonged to them, where their deeds used to ascend to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and that gate shuts and it cries, knowing that that person is no longer on this side, and so while the people cry over them, because a person of goodness naturally leaves behind people that miss them, because they tasted and felt their goodness, there are mushafs and gates and grounds that cry for them, because they miss their sincere good deeds, that's on this side, you know subhanallah, I used to, when I used to read the stories of the salaf, the stories of the righteous predecessors, and the amount of quran that they used to read in Ramadan, and it's like, is that really possible? Really? A whole khatm in a day? And it can be demoralizing if you're reading it, if you're reading it, to try to take a number from it, and I'm going to get to that insha'Allah ta'ala with your to-do list, it can be demoralizing, like, alright I'm sitting here struggling to get through the quran,
in the month of Ramadan, the whole quran, these people are reading it a whole time, every single day, twice a day some of them, it feels demoralizing, and I used to wonder, wow, like how is that really being done? Until I met my mother, Allah yirhamaha, and I remember her last Ramadan, and, you know, my sheikh, couldn't find anyone from his students to compete with in terms of the amount of quran that we were reciting in Ramadan. So he told me, he said, alright, ask your mom how much she's going to be reading the quran. So I asked my mom, she said, once every two days. So you sure? She said, yeah, half the quran every day in Ramadan. And subhanallah, she did it. I saw it in my own life. He finished the quran eight times, she finished it 14 and some, because it was a 29 day Ramadan, and then this miskeen was like way back. I completely got outrun in that race. And I used to see that and I thought to myself, subhanallah, because she passed away in Sha'ban the next year. And I looked at her mushaf and I said, how many tears are you shedding right now? And I can't understand it. I don't see it. La tafqahuna tasbeehahum, wa la tafqahuna bukaahum. You can't perceive they're glorifying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you can't perceive their tears. But how many of us sent people, and just as we cried over them, they left behind books and grounds and gates that cry for them. Back on the other side. They are celebrating and being celebrated. And Ramadan comes around. What does Ramadan look like in the heavens?
Suddenly, all these places of darkness from the earth, that emanate from the earth, all these places where people used to sit in their rooms and watch haram, that haram is turned into not just something halal but something good. Suddenly, your radios and your stereos and your phones that used to emanate darkness start to emanate light. Suddenly, these tongues that are accustomed to backbiting and speaking ill of people, suddenly these tongues start to become tongues of tasbeeh, tongues of praise. Suddenly, those homes where people spend the nights partying or doing things that they shouldn't be doing become places of qiyam al-layl and tahajjud. Suddenly, the masajid that are empty and neglected become full and radiant. Suddenly, your mushaf that you put on the shelf or that app that you open one time a year starts to emanate light. There is commotion, especially in the last ten nights. So much commotion that it steals the light of the sun as Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah said, from the amount of mala'ika that are going up and down reporting the deeds to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and carrying names. They steal the light of the sun from their ascent and descent. One of the meanings of laylatul qadr, qadr also refers to capacity, is that the heavens are at full capacity. There is traffic between the angels going up and down in the heavens, carrying the deeds. And then there is that supreme conversation. The supreme conversation is the conversation between Allah and the angels. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put us in a good conversation between Allah and the angels.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, ula'ika alayhim salawatun min rabbihim wa rahma They are the ones who have the prayers of their Lord upon them and rahma and mercy. Salawat alayhim as al-Qurtoobi rahimahullah says, ayyathzikr wathana fil mala'il a'la It is when you are praised and remembered in the highest mention. When your name finds itself in the highest mention. You are in a conversation between Allah and Jibreel alayhi salam and the angels. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is hearing the angels come up with those names. This person is turning back to you. This person is fighting off a caffeine headache. Trying so hard to remember you. This person is reading Quran. This person is making a turn. This person is striving in each of the last ten nights trying to find your mercy, oh Allah. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala boasts to the angels about these people. About this creation. The angels see humanity in its best manifestation in Ramadan. That's when humanity is at its best. And the angels were skeptical about our creation as Ibn al-Jawzi rahimahullah says, you know, describing the ayah, ataj'aluhiha man yufsiduhiha wa yasfiqud dima' Are you going to put on this earth people that spill blood? People that spread corruption? Qala inni a'lamu ma la ta'lamun Allah says, I know what you don't know. So the angels see humanity at its best in Ramadan. Ascending good deeds. Spreading charity. Spreading goodness. And if you're on that side, imagine your conversation. Or you in a conversation between Allah and the angels. May Allah make it as such for each and every single one of us. Allahuma ameen. In fact, bi'idhnillah, bi'idhnillah, this gathering right now is surrounded by angels
that are carrying up our mention to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We pray that it be as such. Allahuma ameen. And what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say as he looks out to the tired? As he looks out to the hungry? As he looks out to the struggling? Allah says, ma arada haa ulaa. What do they want? What do they want? And Allah knows what we want. What do they want? Ya Rabb, jannah. They want jannah. Have they seen it? No. How would it be if they would have seen it? Would have been another level. They want to avoid hellfire. Have they seen it? No. How would it be had they seen it? They would have been another level. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala calls the angels to bear witness. I've forgiven them. All of them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it as such. This is shahrul Ramadan, the month of Ramadan, from the lens of the heavens. From the perspective of the heavens. It is a celebration. While people hang up decorations, there are lights emanating throughout the heavens of the deeds that people send up, of the tawbah, of the repentance, and of the tiredness, the exhaustion. One of the greatest forms of ibadah, one of the greatest forms of worship, is not when you get yourself into a really poetic dua' with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and your dua' starts to rhyme, and it looks so perfect, and everything seems so beautiful. It's when you have a headache, you're hungry, you're tired, and you're still up pursuing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why dua' as-sa'im, the supplication of the fasting one, until the time of iftar, right before that time of iftar when you're most vulnerable, is accepted. It might not sound its best. In fact, you don't have your energy,
so you might be a little incoherent when you're making that dua' right before iftar. But that's the one that's most beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Just like in hajj, the most beloved time to Allah is not when you got yourself a really nice place in the haram, mashallah, and you feel great, and you've got your zamzam cooler there, and the weather is really nice. No, it's when the servants of Allah are in aratha, and they're dusty and disheveled and tired. maa arada haa ulaa? What do they want? They want you, ya Allah. They want you. That's the time Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is most pleased with you. Now I want to bring it back to our world for a moment, and how to prepare for Ramadan. And I'm going to get to your to-do list inshallah. I'm going to keep talking about your to-do list because hopefully some of you will make your to-do list, and a few more lists that I'll give you at the end of this, biddennahi ta'ala. But let's move it back to our side now. When a month like this comes around, what's your first reaction? Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. What a Lord, who doesn't have to forgive us, who doesn't have to show us mercy, but He still sends us seasons of forgiveness and mercy to inspire the best version of us. What a Lord, who sends upon us a month that even if we just did the deeds, that we typically do of obligatory deeds, they are multiplied in their reward. What a Lord, who controls the gates of the heavens and the earth, and who by His will, by His power, by His might, by His mercy, Futihat abuwabul jannah, waghulikat abuwabun naar, the gates of paradise are flung open, the gates of hellfire are shut, and the devils are put into chain. Alhamdulillah. We have a merciful Lord, Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. Allah wants you to know Him as a compassionate and as a merciful Lord, who sends you these moments of forgiveness.
And so the first thing about Ramadan is if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows you to live to see that moment, the first thing is, Alhamdulillah, you allowed me to see that moment. Because you have to be happy because you're here for the season in the first place. Alhamdulillah. Don't you say Alhamdulillah when you wake up in the morning? Alhamdulillah alladhi ahyana ba'da ma'matana, your first day is all praises be to Allah, who gave me life after He gave me death. I was dead last night, but I'm awake this morning. I'm alive this morning. So what is it like to wake up on the first day of Ramadan? What is it like to wake up on the 20th day of Ramadan and to have that opportunity? Alhamdulillah. The second thing is, notice that Ramadan does not have any secrets. It doesn't have any specific acts of worship. How many times has Ramadan mentioned in the Quran by the way? Uh oh. Did I already put you all to sleep? I know the weather is nice and mashallah it's nice and cool out here, but how many times has Ramadan mentioned in the Quran? One time. It's only mentioned once. This month, which becomes the centerpiece of our lives of the year, that Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah described as Yusuf alayhis salam to the rest of his brothers. By one, the rest of the eleven are forgiven. By one, the one month out of the twelve. This one month that becomes our heart and soul and chance to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is mentioned only once in the Quran. Shahr Ramadan allathee unzil feehi alquran. That's it.
The month of Ramadan where the Quran was revealed. Why is that so profound? Because all you're doing in Ramadan are the things that you're supposed to already be doing better. All you're doing in Ramadan are the things that you're supposed to already be doing better. Meaning what? Salatul taraweeh. By the way, if you open a copy of Sahih al-Bukhari or Sahih Muslim, you're not going to find the word taraweeh. Why? Because it was qiyam in Ramadan. All it is is the night prayer in Ramadan. And it became called taraweeh because of the breaks that you take, the rest that you take between the raka'at, between the prayers. But all it is was qiyamul layl in Ramadan, the night prayer in Ramadan. The companions prayed qiyam throughout the year, but in Ramadan they pushed themselves more. You don't pick up a special book. You know, if you look at other religious philosophies, and I don't say this in a denigrating way, I say it in a way that we can appreciate our own for a moment. You look at other religious philosophies and other religions and other ways, there's a special text that you read only for that holiday. There's a special thing you do only for that moment. For us, we're reading the same text. You're going to something familiar. You're going to the Qur'an, but you're reading it with more devotion and more recitation. You're attaching yourself to it more. You know how to pray, you know how to read, you know how to exert yourself, you know how to make du'a, but you make more of it, and you make better du'a, and you connect to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with a greater sense of devotion. There are no secrets here as to what you need to be doing to get close to Allah. There are no unfamiliar acts of worship. And many times, we start to think about these extraordinary things, because religiosity is so up and down for a moment. We start to think about all these extra things.
And so there's this phenomenon with the Prophet ﷺ, where you have people going to our mother Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha, and they're looking for a to-do list. We need a to-do list. What was the qiyam of the Prophet ﷺ like? What was the siyam of the Prophet ﷺ like? What was this? What was that? And our mother Aisha radiyaAllahu anha always had the perfect answers. They went to her, they've got their notepads in the metaphorical sense ready. What was the character of the Prophet ﷺ like? Kana khuluquhul qur'an. His character was the qur'an. You want to know his character? Open the qur'an and read the first ten verses of surah al-mu'minoon. Read ibadur-rahman in surah al-furqan, the servants of the most merciful. That's Rasulullah ﷺ. That's your Prophet. He was a manifestation of everything that he lived and he preached and teached. He was everything that he taught you ﷺ. You want to know what he was like? Read the qur'an. That's who he was ﷺ. And they asked Aisha radiyaAllahu anha, how many rak'ahs did he pray in Ramadan? Now I'm not going to get into a fiqh debate here, alright? This isn't a debate of jurisprudence. This is to show you a mindset, an attitude, and the way our mother Aisha radiyaAllahu anha wanted to teach people a lesson that your Prophet ﷺ was a man of great consistency. She said, look, if you're asking about the qiyam of the Prophet ﷺ in Ramadan, ma kana yazidu sallallahu alayhi wa sallam fi ramadan wala fi ghayrihi ala ihdaa ashratu raka'a She said, look, he prayed eleven rak'ahs, or he did not go past eleven rak'ahs because sometimes the Prophet ﷺ prayed qiyamul layl two rak'ahs the whole night. Qaam al-nabiyy salallahu alayhi wa sallam bi aaya The Prophet ﷺ spent the entire night reciting one ayah of the Quran at a time. So she's saying, listen, you're asking about Ramadan. He didn't used to go past these eleven rak'ahs.
Not in Ramadan, wala fi ghayrihi. But she said, but here's the point. La tas'al an toolihinna wa husnihinna Don't ask about how long and how beautiful those rak'ahs were. It was different. See, you're thinking quantity. You're thinking, alright, how many rak'ahs? How many times do I gotta do this? How many times do I gotta do this? No, no, no. Don't ask about how long and how beautiful those rak'ahs were of the Prophet ﷺ. It wasn't the quantity. Don't miss the point here. It wasn't the number. It was a clear desire from the Prophet ﷺ. You know, Ibn Abbas radiallahu ta'ala anhuma describes the charity of the Prophet ﷺ. Kana ajwadinna sallallahu alayhi wa sallam The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people. But in Ramadan, he was more generous than a blowing wind. You can't even categorize that. I can't quantify that. It's not like a percentage. It's not like the Prophet ﷺ kicked into 15, 20, 25 percent in Ramadan. He wasn't crunching numbers sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He was looking at something different. He was already generous. But in Ramadan, it was another level of generosity. I can't describe it to you by quantity just like I can't describe to you right now how much wind is hitting me or what particles are around me. That's the generosity of the Prophet ﷺ. He was a walking storm of generosity sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. liyabluwakum ayyukum ahsanu amala Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said that He has sent you to this world to test you to see who will be the best with their deeds. Not akhtharu amala, not more deeds, better deeds. It wasn't this crazy equation that the Prophet ﷺ had. What was the most frequent dua of the Prophet ﷺ? Let me get my notepad out. Let me write down this long beautiful dua. By the way, I have to tell you WhatsApp messages in Ramadan,
be careful with WhatsApp hadiths and the WhatsApp rewards. Whoever recites this dua 30 times will have 3,000 rewards of Mars in Jannah. They didn't even used to say Mars back then but like we'll have 20,000 angels that will carry him to Jupiter and will take him to Al-Firdos and bring him back in the same night. And if you read this dua, and by the way, if you don't forward this message you're going to die and never have children. Reading your WhatsApp, you're like, what are these messages that come? Where do people find these hadiths? Like at least if you're going to have a maldu'a, be creative about it and be smart about it. You need to decorate your fabrications a little bit better. But you know, usually the numbers are a giveaway. When people start coming up with numbers and start giving up with these weird things, it's a giveaway, right? So they go to Umm Salama radiAllahu anha. What was the most frequent dua of the Prophet ﷺ? يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكِ Can everyone say it? يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكِ O Turner of Hearts, make my heart firm on your way. Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he said, the dua I heard from the Prophet ﷺ most was, رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابِ النَّارِ Anas radiAllahu anhu says, that was the most frequent dua of the Prophet ﷺ, his most frequent supplication. Oh Allah, give us the best of this life, the best of the hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the fire. Aisha radiAllahu anhu said, Ya Rasulullah, in a direct, if I caught Laylatul Qadr, or I have a feeling I'm in it, these last ten nights, what's the dua that you're supposed to make? اللهم إنك عفوًا تحب العفو فعفو عني O Allah, you are the forgiving one,
you love to forgive, so forgive me. None of these duas, you could memorize all three of these duas, the Prophet ﷺ used to love al-jawamah, he used to love comprehensive, short dua, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Because Allah doesn't need your poetry, Allah needs your piety. Allah doesn't need you to rhyme, Allah wants you to be sincere. It's comprehensiveness. Allah knows when you say, آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً what you mean, and what you want from Him. It's gotta be something here. So when you start to try to quantify, you might get lost in the math, you might get lost in the numbers game, you might get lost in your to-do list. I keep talking about your to-do list, I promise you I'm coming to it. Alright, I'm gonna give you another one. Imagine if you were a tabi'i. Tabi'i means what? You lived to meet the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, but you did not meet the Prophet ﷺ himself. Subhanallah, that generation, and I'm gonna talk about them a little bit more tomorrow night inshaAllah, for those of you that will come, they're a fascinating generation to me. But imagine if your mom and your dad could tell you stories about hosting the Prophet ﷺ for lunch. And imagine if at every corner, let me go to Ammu Abu Huraira, let me go to Ali, my dad's friend, let me go to Aisha, my mom's friend, let me talk to them, and see, tell me about the Prophet ﷺ, and you'd see their faces light up and their tears start to flow as they remember the Prophet ﷺ, and you're missing out. You're with a generation of people that got to pray with him ﷺ, that got to be with him ﷺ, I've got a lot of catching up to do, right? So that's why the tabi'in are defined by kathratul amal. They were a generation that used to produce a lot of good deeds, they used to do a lot, because they felt like they were always running behind, which they should feel that way. They met sahaba, they met companions. And so you're around Abdullah ibn Mas'ud,
radhiAllahu anhu, alright? You know when you go online now, you always look for pro tips, you look for a hack, what's your Ramadan hack? What's your Ramadan pro tips? Some of you came tonight probably looking for Ramadan hacks and pro tips. I'll still give you a few at the end. But if Ibn Mas'ud, radhiAllahu anhu, was the one giving you this lecture, Q&A session with Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, man sarrahu, whoever wants to hear al-Qur'an ghaddan tariyyan kama unzil, fresh, as if it just came down, listen to the qira'ah of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, radhiAllahu anhu. This man loved the Qur'an, this man was given life by the Qur'an, this man even brought the Prophet ﷺ himself to tears with his recitation. Amazing person, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And Ibn Mas'ud, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, was asked by the tabi'een, how did you used to receive Ramadan? Kayfa kuntum? How did you, meaning the companions, used to receive the month of Ramadan? So you got your notepads out, it's a Q&A session with Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, radhiAllahu anhu. I'm waiting for something mind-blowing, right? Like Ibn Mas'ud's gonna say, well we the companions, you know the Prophet ﷺ told us, 30 minutes here, you do this, and then it's as if you got this, right? A hack, right? And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, maa kana yajra wa ahaduna, no one of us would have the audacity an yastaqbila alhilal, to receive the hilal of Ramadan, wa fee qalbihi mithqali dharra min hiqdin ala akhihi almuslim. Having a single atom's worth of hate towards their fellow brother or sister. You want your hack? We would not dare for Ramadan to come upon us, and we still have grudges in our hearts.
And we're still not taking people's calls. And we're still ignoring people. We're still cutting off family members. We're still cutting off old friends. We're still cutting off brothers and sisters and hating people. We would not dare. We the sahaba would not have the audacity for Ramadan to come upon us, and that was still there. SubhanAllah. I wasn't expecting that answer. Do you know what? Let's be real here. If I told you, pray the last 10 nights, 3 hours of the last 10 nights, for some of us, that's easier than taking 10 minutes to pick up the phone and call somebody that your ego has kept you away from reconciling with. Let's be real. It's not always about what we want. It's what Allah demands from us. And sometimes stepping on that ego is a lot harder than exerting the body and extra ibadah. Exerting the body and even the soul, yes, and the heart, and extra worship. But, Allah says, leave these two until they fix what's between themselves. The gates of the heavens are shut for them. I'm not talking about the one who's madloom, by the way, who's wronged and who would expose themselves to harm. I'm talking about the natural types of grudges, the things that develop between us and others, and all of us, if we're introspective enough, we'll see that even if we're a little less guilty, we're probably guilty as well, and contributing to that hatred and to that standoff, and you be the one, because, أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ You want Allah to forgive you? You want al-'afoo? اللَّهُمَ إِنَّكَ عَفُوًّا تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَةِ فَاعْفُ عَنَّا Oh Allah, you are the forgiving one, you love to forgive, so forgive me. وَلْيَعْفُو وَلْيَصْفَحُو أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ Alright, put your money where your mouth is.
Forgive, pardon people. Don't you want Allah to forgive you and pardon you? Pick up that phone, call that person, go visit that person, break that standoff. The Sahaba would not have the audacity, the jur'ah, he's literally calling audacity, to let a grudge carry on to Ramadan. I'm crushing it, I'm squashing it, because I want Allah to forgive me. I want the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That wasn't the Ramadan hack you were expecting, was it? But that's your hack. That's how we would meet Ramadan. That's how we wanted it, and Allah knows how hard it is from you. So I'm going to get to, insha'Allah ta'ala, your to-do list. But before your to-do list, Ramadan is not your set of deeds that you're going to suddenly tally up, and a lot of people want to make their goals, set their goals for Ramadan, and they should. More than anything else, كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَىٰ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ Allah wrote fasting upon you as He wrote it upon those that came before you. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ So that you could become God-conscious people. اتَّقِ الْمَحَارِمِ قَالَ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَنِهِ وَسَلَامَ اتَّقِ الْمَحَارِمِ تَكُنْ أَعْبَدَ النَّاسِ Leave off the sins, you will be the closest of people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. قَالَ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَنِهِ وَسَلَامَ مَنْ لَمْ يَدْعَ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالجَهْلِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ This is an interesting riwayah, an interesting narration. He said salallahu alayhi wa sallam, whoever does not give up قَوْلَ الزُّورِ, evil speech, and قَوْلَ الزُّورِ here are the actions of the tongue, الفواحش, the sinful things that you say, even if they're just between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, والجَهْلِ in one narration.
Ignorance here refers to الغضب, fighting other people, arguing with other people, getting into it with other people. Watch your tongue when you drive in Ramadan. Watch your tongue in general, and watch your other body parts as well in general when you're driving in Ramadan, but it's not worth your fast. مَنْ لَمْ يَدْعَ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْجَهْلِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ Whoever does not give up these sinful things of the tongue, and these arguments and this hatred, and acting upon them, the deeds that follow, because if you have a nasty tongue, you probably have a nasty slate of deeds as well, and the tongue itself is a place of deeds and actions. Allah has no need for you to give up your food and your drink. A lot of us approach Ramadan with this to-do list of so many good deeds, but the sin that you're insisting upon, or a sinful lifestyle, and the worst sins are the ones that are lifestyle sins. You know there are sins that you fall into every once in a while. There are sins, you know, subhanAllah, you were in a conversation, someone's name came up, that gheeba was too sweet, it was sweeter than a piece of cake in front of you, and you just went right into it, you felt regret afterwards, astaghfirullah, you moved away from it. There are lifestyle sins, there are the sins that you consciously do every single day of your life, and you've just accepted them as part of your life. You have literally adopted them as lifestyle sins, they're part of who you are now. Those sins are like holes in the bucket. So if you pour 20 gallons of Quran, or 30 gallons of Quran into that vessel, you've still got those holes in the bottom of the bucket. Taqwa is plugging the holes. Taqwa is tarqul ma'asi, it's leaving off what is displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If when you're making your list, if you say, after Ramadan, I will never commit this sin again,
knowingly, inshaAllah, I'm going to do everything I can to root this sin out of my life. I'm going to change this about myself. I'm going to take this next step towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if you can't think about anything that you need to change about yourself, think harder, because the sahaba, remember the tabi'een? Abu Layla says, I met 70 of the companions of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, kulluhum yattahimu nafsahu bin nifaq, and they were accusing themselves of hypocrisy. They were worried about themselves. They were people of deep reflection, and self-scrutiny, not self-sabotage. Self-scrutiny, to where they always tried to better themselves. So if you can't find anything to refine, think harder. Be more reflective, because there is something you need to refine. That is far more precious to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than the math, the numbers you're going to check off. And so what I'm saying to you is, before your Ramadan to-do list, what's your to-not-do list? Your to-not-do list is more important than your to-do list, in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Your to-leave-off, what you're going to stop, is more important than what you're going to start. Because you were meant to go back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Your fitrah, your natural inclination, is to go back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Jannah is your destination on the GPS, so long as you don't take a wrong turn. So your to-not-do list is more important than your to-do list. So I'm challenging each of you to first and foremost have a to-not-do list for Ramadan. And then make your to-do list. Then after your to-do list, make your to-fix list. And those are the relationships, those estranged relationships that you need to fix. And let me tell you something, subhanAllah, fixing the relationships in your life is not just refuge in the hereafter. It's also raha, it's also relief in this life.
Because those grudges, they take up a lot of heart space and head space. Drama, and a person of a certain inclination with their deeds will fall into a lot of drama in their lives naturally. Drama is a natural part of it, but some people create more drama for themselves. Drama takes up a lot of head and heart space. A lot of your time, a lot of your focus, a lot of your intention. So it's not just raha in the hereafter, it's not just relief in the hereafter, it's relief here as well. I don't need all that in my life. Off of my chest so I can focus on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you have your to not do list, you have your to-do list, you have your to-fix list, and then I'm going to give you two more lists. There is room for quantifiable deeds in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that have to be consistent. So ahabbu al-a'mal ilallah, the most beloved of deeds to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, adwamo, are the ones that are consistent. Wa inqal, even if they're small. So there is something to say about quantity, about numbers. That's why you pray five times a day. That's why zakat is 2.5% on your retained earnings. So make your list from now, what are the quantifiable consistent deeds that I will do after Ramadan. Make your after Ramadan quantity list now. Don't wait till Ramadan finishes to try to pick up the scraps. Say in Ramadan I'm going to read this much Quran. After Ramadan I think I can reasonably do this much every single day. In Ramadan, after Ramadan I'm going to try to pick up my qiyam ul-layl. I think I can pray witr every night insha'Allah ta'ala. I think, knowing myself, I can do witr every night. I think I can add two rak'ahs every night. I think I can do it three nights a week. Put your quantity list together from now insha'Allah ta'ala, and then your fifth one. And this is the thing I'll end with insha'Allah ta'ala. Your qualities list.
So you have your to not do list, you have your to do list, you have your to fix list, you have your quantity list, you have your qualities list. What are the qualities? I want you to open the beginning of surat al-mu'minun and the end of al-furqan. The qualities of al-mu'minun, the qualities of the believers in the beginning of surat al-mu'minun. qad aflaha al-mu'minun allatheena hum fee salatihim khaashi'oon. Until the end of it. Those qualities, and I want you to read, wa'ibadun rahman allatheena yamshoona alal-ardi hauna waitha khatabahumul jahiloona qaloo salama The last deeds of the servants of the Most Merciful. The end of those two lists, the end of those two lists by the way, one of them is, ulayika yujzauna al-ghurfata bima sabaru. They are the people that have these high places in paradise by their patience. We'll talk about ghuraf, if any of you are paying attention to Yaqeen's Ramadan series, we'll talk about what those are insha'Allah in the Ramadan series. But the highest rooms in paradise belong to those that have the highest traits, the servants of the Most Merciful, wa'ibadun rahman. Allah says about al-mu'minun, ulayika yarithoon al-firdaws. They are the ones who inherit al-firdaws. They are the ones who inherit the highest level of paradise. So what's your qualities list? Your qualities list, I want you to journal, and I want you to look through those traits and match yourself up, do some introspection and say, where do I match up to each of these qualities? And what is my commitment to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in trying to get better? What are the things that are stopping me from having these qualities? What are the environments I need to change? What are some of the things I need to be more aware of? Who do I need to put around me? And what do I need to do to start to have these qualities? Alright? That's your qualities, so it's more of a journal thing. So what are the five lists? Can you guys repeat them back to me? Then I'm going to let you go insha'Allah.
What's your first list? To not do list. Your to not do list is your most important list in Ramadan. What's your next list? To do list. What's your third list? To fix list. What's your fourth list? Your quantifiable deeds list. What's your fifth list? Your qualities list. The beginning of surah al-mu'minun, the end of surah al-furqan, those traits. Your to not do list, your five lists. Your to not do lists are the things you're going to quit insha'Allah ta'ala once and for all from now, from Ramadan onwards. You're going to commit to Allah that you're not going to return to these sins. Your to do list for Ramadan are the quantifiable goals you're setting for yourself in Ramadan. Your to fix list are the relationships because you don't want your grudges to get in the way of the acceptance of your deeds. The relationships you're going to fix and the reconciliation. Your fourth list, your quantity list, are the quantifiable deeds you plan to continue after Ramadan. Your fifth list are your qualities, the qualities that you hope to try to have insha'Allah ta'ala after Ramadan. And your journaling as you're trying to think about how you can embody what Allah mentions in the beginning of surah al-mu'minun. And ibadur-rahman, the servants of the most merciful. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to achieve these goals. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to achieve the ultimate goal of jannatul firdaws, of the highest level of paradise. Where we are neighbors of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in those high suspended abodes that are like chalets in the skies of the heavens in paradise. Under the throne of the most merciful, gazing at him day and night, completely forgiven for our sins. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept this Ramadan from us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept our deeds inside and outside of Ramadan. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings inside and out of Ramadan.
May Allah protect us. May Allah grant you good. May Allah's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
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