3 THINGS ABOUT RAMADAN EVERY MUSLIM NEEDS TO KNOW

 

First of all of us have the best in a lot of our lives and we are able to make more changes that make Allah happy with us and US pleased with Arabs in this month and any other time in our lives before and I pray that Allah accepts all of our worship and accepts all of our fastings and doesn't let us become lazy in the course of this month and allow us to make the most of it so they can we can reap the rewards of that in this like the end of the next so having said that a few years ago I

did a series of just lessons we can draw from the ayat of Ramadan and that's up and available on YouTube I don't want to repeat that series but it is a reminder for myself and for all of you if you'd like to get the benefit of that and go through it again it's a good orientation because I try to spend time with every phrase that Allah has mentioned uh in regards to the ayat of Ramadan this subject in the Quran only occurs once it's not talked about multiple times there are other things that the Quran

talks about multiple times so everything we had to learn about it has been packed into one section and one passage so it must have quite a few very heavy things each phrase has many many heavy lessons in it which is why I think it's beneficial for you to go through that but the purpose of today's khodba is actually uh first and foremost to try to summarize at least five things that everybody myself all of you should have in mind about Ramadan we should you know just reorient ourselves mentally prepare ourselves spiritually prepare ourselves

and there are five things at least that stick up stick out in my mind from those Ayah that I think are of Paramount importance the first of them is that Allah mentions that the purpose of fasting itself is not Ramadan but fasting that its primary objective is that it is hoped that we will develop this thing called taqwa and taqwa is probably one of the most fundamental demands of the Quran uh it is a description the people of Jannah are called for example the people that have takuar the people of Jannah

many places in the Quran Allah will say that he has given us this guidance given us this Revelation so that we can have prophets told to go to these people maybe they'll get Allah is this one of the core if you were to think of Islam or the message of the Quran like a building one of its most fundamental pillars is so a person like what are the objectives of our religion is that I and you should have this quality inside of me this thing called inside of me now this word comes from which means protection actually and this

is the same origin as the word that many of you know is from the same origin as the word actually and we say it in the meaning of protect us from the punishment of the fire so it actually has this word in its Essence has to do with protection and the uh iftian pattern form what that does in Arabic it makes the meaning to protect yourself so if I am having taqwa that actually means I'm protecting myself so when you protect yourself from something dangerous that's why a lot of times you might see in translations will

be translated as fear right but it's actually not fear the Arabic word for fear is Hope and they're in Legend and there are other words in Arabic for fear but this word taqwa actually has to do with the protection of self, for example, protect yourselves from the fire you know who are and some places Allah will actually use the outside formative protect yourselves and your families from the fire now obviously we protect ourselves from things that are dangerous so when you go home and you lock the door before you

you know keep going through you've just done a small Act of taqwa because you don't want somebody to walk in when you leave the car in the parking lot uh and you cut the alarm on you've actually engaged in an active double eye trying to protect yourself within the car so we take these measures all the time in fact a simple example of that well outside of the spiritual realm is if the weather is really cold outside you're going to put a coat on before you go out that's actually too any measure you take

to defend yourself to protect yourself from any kind of danger or threat is actually an act of tough one so that's the first thing we have to understand but there's another dimension of that law so for example your you really love making your father proud right and he knows there's this one habit you have you know that that is going to disappoint him or when he sees your room is messy that he's going to be disciplined he won't punish you but there's a go on his face and that look on his

face is like the death sentence for you like that's the worst thing that ever happened to you that look on his face so when you were your mom just says hey your dad's coming over in 10 minutes or something in those 10 minutes you're going to clean up that room not because you're afraid of your father you're going to protect yourself from what from that feeling you're going to protect yourself from disappointing him that's actually it's it's protecting yourself isn't just

about someone you fear it's also about someone who you fear disappointing someone you fear hurting the feelings of some you know so we do this kind of thing for example if you're uh children you don't want to have conversations about financial difficulty that you're having may be right and you've got your dinner table and you've got all the bills spread out right and you're talking to your wife or your husband about the financial issues and the kids walk in the room

then you quickly wrap that up and you don't bring the subject up and you don't even want them to overhear it why because you're protecting their feelings you don't want them to get anxiety you don't want them to worry about that you understand so you this is an engagement of taqwa similarly women or men that are that are grandfathers or older they're sick right and when they're sick they don't want their son or their daughter to worry no no I'm okay I'm okay so they'll be coughing coughing coughing

and the Sun comes in and they try to control it and holds it in because my son will get worried that I'm sick are you doing okay yeah I'm doing perfectly fine some people will even hide doctors reports and things like that right why they're not afraid to tell their children but they're worried about the feeling that they will get right the anxiety that they will have that's actually also an expression of in everyday life but this thing this Allah wants us to have it with him he wants to have for all of us to

develop of him but what does that mean at one level it means I'm afraid of making Allah angry that's certainly one of the meanings of meaning Allah is capable and very much has warned me about things that are punishable and I want to be afraid of that and be mindful of that and take protective measures to secure myself right by the way the famous narration of um when he was asked to describe was about a loose cloth that you're walking through Authority path and you're trying to secure yourself so your clothes that

don't get caught in the way is actually again an image of someone protecting themselves right taking extra precautions but another dimension of our with Allah is I really don't want to disappoint Allah Allah has done so much for me and I don't want to give Allah the impression that I am ungrateful for what he's done for me that's also actually double all right so taqwa isn't just driven by fear it's driven by love too so I don't want you and I to think about taqwa as just something that's driven by

fear there are other driving emotions and you know aspects of my relationship with Allah that are also part of what is now all of these different things protectiveness have one thing in common you have to be aware you have to be very self-aware you can't be careless or distracted you have to be mindful if you want to have taco so when you're driving carelessly you're not observing you're not watching where your lanes are or you're talking to your friends some people when they drive and

they're driving with a friend they love making eye contact I hate those kinds of friends I'm not friends with those kinds of people they're like so how have you been how's it going the things are good she's just look over there okay and then they start looking at the rear view mirror I still see you you know you keep your eye on the road because I need you to have taqwa right now I need to be aware and protective because you're putting you know both of our lives at risk right so having said

all of that the prerequisite for really truly having is awareness if you're not situationally aware right and this is what I was raised with you know at least in my early adult life in New York you're situationally aware all the time when you're when you get in a Subway you first subway car you first scan the entire Subway card for suspicious individuals and you sit as far away from them as possible right when you're walking down the street and somebody's coming this way and there's nobody else you cross the

street and then you know you know you're not taking any chances you know in New York back in the day I don't know if things are like that now but if you're going down the street in Queens or Brooklyn or whatever and somebody just says hey how you doing this says that you run you don't wait for her you know and so when I moved to Texas and everybody who passed by the how's it going good morning because you don't know what's coming next you know so I'm sharing all of that with you because Allah says this is point number

one I gotta hurry up the rest of them Allah says that the goal of fasting the primary goal of fasting is that all of us develop taqwa all of us become aware and protected and cautious right and we become protective for what purpose for the purpose of not of not disappointing him and not angering him or the purpose of not losing our blessings you know you could be protected when you're protecting something Precious too right not just because you're afraid because you want to hold on to something precious so this is related directly to

fasting and I just want to Simply remind you though I've talked about it you know many times I just want to Simply remind myself also and how are these two things related to each other how are you becoming so aware when you're fasting well when you and I are fasting our bodies are being deprived I'm being deprived of hydration I'm being deprived of food and even doesn't matter how well you can sustain yourself and what good what good stamina you have if you're used to eating food after a

a certain number of hours it's going to hit you it's going to start having an impact on your energy levels you're going to start feeling the growl in your stomach you're going to start feeling drained your body is actually telling you the body that Allah has created that is telling your stomach is telling you your throat is telling you to feed me replenish me basically your insides are telling you to disobey Allah your body is communicating with you and it's sending messages to your brain to disobey Allah that's what it's doing

for hours and this is not even a want it's a need it's actually a need it's above and beyond a lot and yet even if you're at the office and there are no Muslims around or you're at home and your parents aren't there and there's a big you know piece of chocolate cake sitting there on the table and you're fasting it's not like you're gonna look around and try a bite there's no camera there's nobody else you're just aware that Allah doesn't want me to do that so I won't do

it doesn't matter how hungry I get doesn't matter how thirsty I get doesn't matter how tempted I get I won't cross the lines allowance Allah doesn't want me to Cross even if my body is screaming for it even if everything inside me will is so much more relieved if I just do this if I just dig this is one sip there's one sin I remember I used to do these weird experiments like these are like taco experiments on myself and I remember him seven years old I was doing weird things because it was in Sardinia it was

extremely hot right in Ramadan and you get like all fire that I'm gonna do I'm gonna fast this year seven years old you didn't have to but you know I did it and then it was insanely hot so I was like so what could I do can I drink water and just gargle it like I guess does that count uh you know or what if I just take this chocolate and just put it right here just a little bit you know would that count I'll spit it out afterward but when you mature what do you realize you can't even go near that

stuff you're gonna protect yourself 30 days of that and what do you develop the fasting is over and you know what happens a couple of days even after Ramadan is over you're about to reach for that banana and you think twice oh or even if you eat it I was like oh what have I done oh wait it's over because you're so conditioned right what is that done it's trained you the fasting of that duration has trained you and me to actually be aware of Allah's presence constantly so we're living

for that entire month is supposed to be this abstract thing you should have Consciousness and mindfulness of Allah what mindful exercise can I do Allah gave us this incredible institution of fasting it's an incredible thing that you can actually bring taqwa into your life right so this is actually the first most important thing that I need to remember about fasting and the point of the fasting is when this 30-day training is over and I have the rest of the time the rest of my year then I'm gonna have to use

what I the energy this awareness that I built it's going to help me demonstrate even when I'm not fasting it's going to help me develop when I'm talking to somebody it's going to help me develop when I open up my phone it's going to help me develop when I'm at work or with my friends when nobody else is around Allah is still around right Allah is still watching so that's actually the first and primary objective the second is actually history and gratitude this is an important lesson a very key lesson

which is you know in the Quran you would think Allah is only going to talk about what we should believe what we shouldn't believe what you should do what we shouldn't do that's pretty much it right but a huge part of the Quran is actually history a huge part of the Quran is what history and specifically what I want to highlight today is the history of our prophet Sallallahu that is a big part of the Quran right so there are places like that are talking about the conquest of Makkah and Beyond

or there are places like social fat which are talking about the Treaty of code device and what happened afterward or a huge chunk of Surat Imran is commenting on what happened in the Battle of or a huge you know almost the entirety of Surah is a commentary about what happens after the battle of Badr for example so there are places in the Quran that are very specific to the life of and the question arises okay fine this has to do with the Seal of the Prophet what does it have to do with you and me because Quran is supposed to be timeless

guidance right it's supposed to be timeless guidance and what we have to internalize here is that the life of our Messengers is actually a part of being Muslim it's a part of my psyche I have to re-revisit his life revisit his struggle because it connects me to him now let me give you other than Islam examples because this happens in the outside world but Quran does it in a remarkable way every country in the world has some kind of Independence Day right they have an Independence Day where they revisit

the nation's history or they have some kind of Memorial Day for a great War the way the day they had a victory or a great Massacre that happened right some kind of a day to commemorate a great historical event that becomes a part of a people's national identity it becomes a part of their national identity and a really important part of that day is to revisit that history to remember and they'll say things like never forget right and it's a part of what makes you love your nation it's

a part of what makes you a part of that struggle it makes you feel like you're living or your continuation of that Legacy it makes you grateful for the soldiers or whoever made those sacrifices it makes you grateful for them right well the same way that my father and his life is a part of my identity and his father is a part of my identity and his father is a part of my identity that's my ethnic identity well more important than that is my identity as someone who carries that is a that is the core part of my

identity and that part and the only way I can truly sustain that connection to Allah and his messenger is there are some parts of his life and some parts of that history that Allah put in the Quran so I review it when I'm reciting the Quran over and over again I'm reliving the prophet's life with those words Allah capture some of those incidents because refreshing that history is a part of our consciousness it becomes an absolute part of our Consciousness as a Muslim and one of those events is actually the beginning

of Revelation, Quran started coming down to Muhammad which is the start of this entire mission, in fact, the entire Mission you can think of it as the entire seat of the Prophet saws, and the purpose of it is the delivery of the Quran that's what it is and what did Allah do instead of making us celebrate a day to remember that an event to remember that what Allah has done instead is he's given us an entire month to remember that and the other major Memorial event that we have a celebratory event

that we have is actually the institution of Hajj and in Hajj we're remembering two prophets at the same time we're remembering and commemorating the struggles of Ibrahim so we can actually restore the legacy of Ibrahimovic even the Hajj ties back to history the same way the month of Ramadan actually ties back to history which is why am I saying that because Allah could have just said the month of Ramadan fast in it he could have just said that but the first thing he told us is why is this event significant because the most

an important event in history the delivery of the final word of Allah happened in this month the sea is the Siva because of this month we have a connection because this month is the prayer of Ibrahim when he was building the Kaaba Ya Allah when they sent them a messenger that prayer was answered the moment the Quran started coming down in this month is historically the most significant month in the identity of a Muslim it's not just about fasting now fasting I talked about the first thing was the second thing is this is a part

of our identity as a people we have to be conscious and aware now what why do people have memorials oh we have to remember the sacrifices of those people right well what is the significance of remembering that the Quran came in Ramadan well the Quran didn't just come with some words that you can conveniently recite because recited these words he was humiliated he was rejected by his own people his easy life became the hardest the people who accepted his mission became the object of torture they became targets eventually they were

kicked out of their homes our Messengers bled because of this Quran he was said he was poisoned because of this Quran he was humiliated because of this Quran he was slandered because of this Quran so this Quran did not come to me and you that were reciting it in the month it didn't come to me cheap it came from the blood and sacrifice of many Believers most of whom is Rasulullah himself there were people who died we say Allah we say it very easily and there are people who are saying while they were being tortured

so we say them very easily but they didn't say them easily they had to pay a huge price for saying those words it was not an easy thing for them to do what is these words what do that do to me it makes me realize that these words in front of me I should not take them lightly because there were people that I loved more than even my own family they paid a huge price so one day I could have these words and this is a month more than any to remember them to relive them to revisit that and that's why this second idea the

the second thing that I want to remind you of I was supposed to say five things I got stuck on two but that's okay the second thing that we have to commemorate this month because it's tied to the struggles of Rasulullah it makes us grateful for what he did what the sahaba did and what Allah did by giving us this favor what Allah did by giving us this dream you know like one time I decided when I was in at the end of University I decided man I've heard you know excerpts from the Bible I've heard you know one verse here

and there was somebody quoting a passage I'm just going to read the whole thing I'm going to read the entire Bible I kid you not I read the entire thing and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life because I fell in love with the Quran because I read the Bible and I realized Ya Allah you gave us a word that is so clear that is so Direct that is so profoundly light that is so easy to understand that is so concise that is so incredibly explanatory that I don't have

to wonder what is it saying to me what am I supposed to get out of this it's so straightforward and then I started imagining before the Quran came and people were looking for guidance and they were looking for guidance in books that have been changed by people how hard it must have been for them to say well how do I make sense of this what am I supposed to get out of this why do I make sense of all these contradictions and Allah gave this Humanity this gift and above that the Muslims the gift that we get to have it

we get to have the word of Allah directly you know it makes you appreciate what we've been given by the way, there's a direct connection between history and gratitude because at the end of Ramadan Quran so that you can all be grateful there's a direct connection between the coming of the Ramadan and me being grateful to Allah I have to be a great relief that Allah brought not just for me for Humanity but for me personally, to Allah describes the sixth centuries after Jesus when darkness spread in the

 world the word of Allah was altered for six centuries the world fell into darkness and then Allah describes that as the moon came for a little bit which is Jesus and then the night fell and the night became darker and then the morning Rose what's that morning is the coming of the Quran and so he says a warning for all people you know whoever wants among you they can take a step forward and whoever wants they can stay back that's the choice is yours now so it makes me grateful for the Quran I'm

 going to wrap the next Parts up rather quickly but at least I'll do three today maybe I'll do the other two in the next week because we have the entire month to appreciate the month of Ramadan so no need to rush but at least I'll give you one more and that is that Allah says in the eyes of Ramadan he says he says Allah wants is for you and Allah doesn't want hardship for you Allah wants ease for you Allah does not want hardship for you the month of Ramadan is celebrating the Quran and the

 Quran itself is actually a way for me to make my life easier not make my life harder Allah says his goal in giving one of his goals and giving us the Quran is to make my life easy and to get rid of difficulty from my life it's actually that's one of its goals we have to stop thinking that if you come towards Allah things are going to get harder you know let me tell you something this is the fitra that Allah has created in nature in life eating you know eating unhealthy food is easier

eating healthier making healthier choices is harder being lazy is easy exercising is hard not studying is easy studying is hard not getting up and going to work on time is hard but staying in bed and keep missing meetings is easy but you know what every time you stick with the easy is temporary and it follows up with long-term much bigger difficulty every time you don't want to study you'll have an easy time enjoy yourself but then you know what you're not going to graduate no you're

not going to get the job and you're going to get all kinds of problems all these trickle effects of the problems because you chose what are you chose ease you didn't want to take care of your body you didn't want to take care of your health you made all kinds of choices you know what maybe not now you can enjoy but a few years down the road you're going to be paying in medical bills that you never imagined why because you didn't you chose ease you didn't choose difficulty right in everything in life

there's a law that Allah has that when you chi when you take the easy route you're signing up for what difficulty and then when you start taking the healthy route the better route you realize it wasn't so hard anyway it was all in my head getting up early is not a hard thing studying is not a hard thing it was just it was a mental block that's all it was what Allah has given us in his laws on the outside seems like it's too hard five prayers well at least I'll try another one I'll try reading Quran I don't know what am I going to get the time you know what's easier I can just open up Tick Tock and keep on scrolling scrolling that's way easier it's so easy no effort but we know what we think the easy thing has no consequences has no consequences Allah says he wants ease for you but not ease right now he wants long-term ease for you and he doesn't want hardship for you and the only way you can get long-term ease if you have short-term difficulty you have to put yourself in Ramadan is an example of that isn't it the Milan itself is short-term difficulty followed by long-term that's the mentality that Allah wants us to develop Allah wants ease free he doesn't want hardship, especially for you and so we have to as we are now engaging in this remarkable month we have to kind of reorient our minds we have to think about this a little bit differently we have to refresh our relationship with the appreciation of the word of Allah what it means to have taqwa and what it means what is our relationship

between with ease and difficulty make us really truly take advantage of this remarkable month and again I pray that Allah accepts all of our about that and gives us a newfound love of Allah his book and his Messengers have you ever wished there was a Muslim version of YouTube or Netflix well we have created one the one Islam TV app has no adverts and is safe to browse for your peace of mind watch hundreds of high quality produce Islamic reminders or on videos stories of the prophets Hot Topic debates and so much more four to eight

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