# Day 9: Desire, Dedication, Discipline | Ramadan Strong **Author:** Sh. Abdullah Oduro **Series:** Ramadan Strong **Published:** 2019-05-14 **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cvpHxDoaQE **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-9-desire-dedication-discipline-ramadan-strong **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia ## Description Let’s examine the process of progression needed to serve as a catalyst for change this Ramadan with Sh. Abdullah Oduro. ## Transcript **[0:01]** You may not have fasted the months before Ramadan, but now all of a sudden, you're requested to fast every day for 30 days. **[0:18]** Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all. Now that we've entered this month of Ramadan in 2019, I really want to bring to you three points, three things, desire, dedication, and discipline. Now that we're in the beginning of this month, **[0:34]** we have to ask ourselves this question, what do you really desire? Yes, you may have practiced Ramadan in the past and may have been a born Muslim or converted to Islam and you have fasted the month of Ramadan. But now that a year has passed since the last Ramadan, you have to ask yourself the question again, **[0:51]** what do you desire from this month? You see, desires is a natural characteristic that Allah has placed within us. It's ingrained within us to desire something, whether it's food that's bad for us or whether it's water that's good for us, that desire is present. But what's important for us in this life **[1:09]** is to desire the things that are beneficial for us. So managing that desire to do and to desire that which is better for you, this is what's important. So in this month of Ramadan, do you desire Allah? Meaning that do you desire his pleasure? **[1:25]** Do you desire his love? Do you desire him being pleased with you and what you do? This is the desire that one should have when entering this month of Ramadan, to desire to meet Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in the next life. And the key for that is doing the things in this life **[1:42]** that he has ordered you to do and has ordered you to stay away from. Do we desire his Sharia, to implement the religion of Islam? And in this month of Ramadan, the means of getting closer to Allah primarily is fasting in particular. **[1:58]** The second aspect is dedication. Number two, are we dedicated to do what it takes to reach that goal? This is what's important for us to understand. You may have that desire to please Allah. You may know who Allah is. You may have dismantled that doubt and nurtured conviction. **[2:15]** You've been that individual that has always desired to please Allah. This month of Ramadan may be a final frontier for you. It may be the biggest test for you. But that dedication is what can get you through in the beginning. Those first couple of months or the months before Ramadan, **[2:31]** you probably didn't fast at all. And now all of a sudden, the first week you have to start fasting. Sun up to sun down, no eating, no drinking, no relations with your partner. That requires along with desire, dedication. You have to say within yourself, **[2:47]** I'm ready to do what it takes to reach that goal of what I desire. This is very important. That desire is that which serves as the fire that is ignited for you to continue on to that which is more beneficial for you. **[3:03]** So being dedicated to move off of that desire is very important in this first week of Ramadan. But that leads to the third thing, discipline. Constant control to reach a goal. You have that control over yourself. **[3:18]** You have that control over your desires. And you're dedicated to get there, but on a consistent basis is what requires and what is called discipline. Motivation is the spark that will get you in the beginning. But to continue on, to persevere requires discipline. **[3:38]** And what maintains that discipline primarily is your purpose. Going back to that desire that you have, what do you desire? And have you made a purpose out of that? I'm fasting this month of Ramadan because I know that the one that created **[3:53]** the heavens and the earth, the one that has brought me into existence, the one that has given me the faculties to recognize him and to show gratitude towards him, I want to please him because I know in pleasing him, it will rectify everything in this life from the ways that I think, the feelings in my heart, **[4:11]** the actions that I perform. But to be consistent on that, praying five times a day if you haven't prayed five times. Let this month be a catalyst. To fast if you haven't fasted before, whether you've been Muslim all your life or this is your first year, **[4:27]** let this month be a catalyst. Let these first couple of days be a catalyst. And that's where we conclude. You know, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said, ahabbul a'mali ilallah adwamuha wa inqal. When he answered his wife Aisha, his wife, he told her the most beloved actions to Allah **[4:44]** are the ones that are a small amount or that are consistent, even if it was a little bit. Start small. You don't have to pray all 20 of the Tarawih prayers or even the eight. Make sure you're praying Fajr on time. Make sure you're praying Fajr in the masjid. **[5:01]** Try your level best to pray Fajr on time and then move to that in the masjid. But be consistent upon the obligatory acts if you were not in the months before. Disciplined. That is the goal, to be disciplined. To let this month serve as a catalyst to a new beginning. **[5:21]** We ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to bless you in this month of Ramadan and in this first week of Ramadan to serve as a catalyst for a new beginning, to motivate you to move on to that discipline level, to have the desire initially, to be dedicated from that desire **[5:37]** and to be disciplined upon what these two have brought you to. And that is pleasing Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. May Allah bless you this month of Ramadan and make you of those that are well disciplined and to serve as a catalyst for a change in your life. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Thank you. ## Other Episodes in "Ramadan Strong" - [Day 30: Farewell, Ramadan | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-30-farewell-ramadan-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 29: Beware of Ramadanitis | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-29-beware-of-ramadanitis-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 28: Practicing Istiqama for the Long Haul | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-28-practicing-istiqama-for-the-long-haul-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 27: Meeting the Best Version of Ourselves | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-27-meeting-the-best-version-of-ourselves-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 26: A Date with Destiny | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-26-a-date-with-destiny-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 25: The Value of Seclusion - Ihtikaf | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-25-the-value-of-seclusion-ihtikaf-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 24: When the Night Draws its Curtain —The Importance of Tahajjud | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-24-the-importance-of-tahajjud-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 23: Maximizing the Last Ten Days | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-23-maximizing-the-last-day-days-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 22: Charity in the Last 10 Nights | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-22-charity-in-the-last-10-nights-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 21: Ten Days Ahead, Another Chance? | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-21-ten-days-ahead-another-chance.md) - [Day 20: The Extra Good Deed | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-20-the-extra-good-deed-ramadan-strong-2.md) - [Day 19: The Man Who Thought He Thanked God Enough | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-19-the-man-who-thought-he-thanked-god-enough-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 18: When Ramadan Breaks | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-18-when-ramadan-breaks-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 17: Ramadans of Yore | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-17-ramadans-of-yore-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 16: Detox by Day and Indulge By Night | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-16-detox-by-day-and-indulge-by-night.md) - [Day 15 | Overcoming the Mid-Ramadan Slump | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-15-mid-ramadan-slump-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 14 | Praise be to Allah | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-14-praise-be-to-allah-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 13 | The Need for Consistency and Balance | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-13-consistency-and-balance-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 11: "...but I've already fallen behind in my Ramadan goals" | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-11-behind-in-my-ramadan-goals-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 10: Your Qur'an Goals | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-10-your-quran-goals-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 8: Talking to Allah | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-8-talking-to-allah-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 7: The Importance of Documenting Progress | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-7-the-importance-of-documenting-progress-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 6: Being Excused from Fasting is a Gift From God | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-6-being-excused-from-fasting-is-a-gift-from-god-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 5: Be Present | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-5-be-present-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 4: So That You Attain God-Consciousness | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-4-so-that-you-attain-god-consciousness-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 3: Mindful Fasting to Feed Your Soul | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-3-mindful-fasting-to-feed-your-soul-ramadan-strong.md) - [Day 1: Not Just Another Ramadan | Ramadan Strong](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/day-1-not-just-another-ramadan-ramadan-strong.md) - [Ramadan Strong: Series Introduction](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/ramadan-strong/ramadan-strong-series-introduction.md)