Ald for m For For often times in our society we hear people to talking about success they talk about people that have attained great amounts of wealth great amounts of Fame great amount of influence and because of the quantitative material nature of the world around us these people end up becoming being celebrated and they are
Celebrated to the point that we are meant to feel that we look up to them or we wish we could be like them and then we want to know everything about them about how they arrived at that success how they arrived at that wealth how they arrived at that influence
Etc so people will talk about their routines or how they sleep or how they wake up or how they exercise or how they’ve invested whatever they they try to break it down into to those uh variables or those actions that if you adopted them you will end up with that same
Result now that what I just described actually that’s how Humanity has always been humanity is always looked at whoever is seen at that time as a leading figure a successful figure and to see what are those clues that lead to success so that in and of itself is
Natural maybe it’s not natural that we idolize people that are you know influential on Tik Tok I mean I still don’t get that but but the idea is that people will look up to those people who have quote unquote made it now the interesting thing about that
Topic when it comes to Islam is that the prophet Alat gave us a very important clue to success now of course the success that the prophet wasam is talking about is a different type of success but he said the prophet Sall wasallam said indeed in your days and nights are windows of
Opportunities so be prepared for those opportunities so the prophet alam’s way of advising us was to prepare I’ll get to the windows of opportunity in a moment but I want to talk a little bit about preparation if you think about it our devotional life teaches us to
Prepare to pray you have to have the pre things the preparation of the prayer you have to have your wo and then you got to figure out where you’re going to pray you got to make sure the time has come in you got to make sure that you facing
The uh you got to make sure that the place that you’re praying on is clean you know etc etc you have to cover yourself the the things that need to be covered so on and so forth but the idea is you don’t just stand and pray we can
Stand and make Dua but when it comes to the prayer like this we have to make sure that we have certain prerequisites that are fulfilled before we stand to pray so therefore the mind is always thinking about that preparation what do I need to do to
Pray and Ramadan and the fasting is the prep preparation you know on steroids for us because the month all of you all of your body all of your physical the physical aspects of your being are involved in the fast of course it’s the act of not doing something it’s the act of withholding
But in that act of withholding that requires restraint requires patience it requires you to remember why you’re doing we don’t fast on just one one day or on five days or 10 days or we we don’t get to choose what we fast from like oh this year I’m going to fast from
Chocolate or this year I’m going to fast from you know chips or we don’t we don’t get to do that we have the same format every year year in and year out and if you’re lucky you get to do it another year but that in itself the fasting is a
Preparation the goal of fasting is not just the fasting itself the goal of the prayer is not just the prayer itself but it is to achieve those windows of opportunities that the prophet Sall Al wasallam talked about of course you have to pray and fast I’m not saying that that you reach
A point where you don’t need to pray and fast I’m not saying that of course we have to do the outer work but I’m saying that’s not the only reason why we fast is just to be hungry the fasting the prayer the woodoo our conduct throughout the year is to
Prepare us for that window for that moment which we can turn to Allah subhah wa ta’ala and that we ask for something and that it is accepted and that it is answered the prophet s wasallam said that supplication Dua asking Allah is the crown the head the chief of all
Acts of worship in another Hadith the prophet Sall wasallam said the Dua is worship all of our acts of worship when you distill them down to its core they are a form of us asking Allah subhah wa ta’ala us pleading with Allah subhana wa taala pleading for things in this world
And pleading for things in the next World to improve our lot to help us to increase our wealth to protect our family to have mercy on our deceased to have mercy on our parents and our children to protect our mosque our businesses so on and so forth
It is the act of asking that is the kernel of all of the acts of worship because it acknowledges our inability it acknowledges our lack of strength it acknowledges our lack of wealth our lack of power our lack of ability when it comes to Allah subhana
Wa ta’ala only Allah subhana wa tala can answer only Allah subhana tal can give only Allah can bestow only Allah T can protect only Allah T can lift only Allah T can unite so on and so forth so therefore our acts of worship have been given to us to instill in us this
Concept of preparation so the goal of the fast is to get to these last 10 nights and the goal of these last 10 nights is is to achieve one pure moment just a moment a moment can be less than one minute just one pure moment with
Allah subhana wa tala on the night of power so think about the whole year you’re anticipating Ramadan you know the sahabah they used to ask Allah tal for six months after Ramadan they would focus their Dua that their fasting be accepted and then when there are six
Months left to Ramadan they would ask Allah T that they arrive at Ramadan their whole year was was regulated by this month and then there are those that fast uh outside of Ramadan of course in rajab and shaan to prepare for the month of Ramadan all of this to get to this one
Moment which we are about to enter these final 10 nights but the quality of your Dua it’s not about you had like a cinematic moment on the night of power or any night for that matter but it is that you are prepared as the prophet s wasallam said in
Another Hadith the prophet regarding um Dua he mentions a man who’s traveling and the traveling person when you travel when you are in the state of travel it is one of the moments in which your Dua is accepted because you are in a a position of weakness you are away
From your family from your home from your things and then if you if you are blessed with flight cancellation and delays you really know how much it sucks and you’re stuck in an airport somewhere for hours and hours and hours then you know you then you maybe when you travel
And it’s smooth you don’t understand this but when you’re stuck somewhere you understand that you’re in a weak position very weak position especially when there’s no one to talk to so the prophet mentioned someone who was traveling he mentioned somebody who was disheveled so they looked like they were
Traveling you know they were sweaty they were messed up you know they they had put in the the signs of traveling are on them and then the person extends his hands like this to Allah subhana wa tala you know this is one of the ways that you ask Allah subhana tala
Says he’s pleading with Allah subhana wa tala so in the beginning of the Hadith the prophet is giving you an image of a person whose Dua is supposed to be answered they’re in a position of weakness they’re away from their family they’re extending their hands they’re
Calling on Allah subhana t with one of his intimate names y y but the prophet Salli wasallam says but he eats from theam he drinks from theam his clothes are from theam he is nourished by the how is it that Allah T will answer that person because the person was not
Prepared for that moment you can’t just turn to Allah subhana wa tala when you need him and when you want him for indeed we need him and we want him or we need him at least all the time but we can’t only turn to Allah subhana tala when we think that we
Need to gain something materially but rather we have to be prepared all the time that our life is geared towards that Dua being answered you have to put in we have to put in the effort that our Dua is going to be answered we have to
Come to Allah subhana wa T humbly all the time not that we don’t pray throughout the year and don’t do anything good throughout the year and we just come through the last 10 days and be okay I’m going to park myself in the mosque for these 10 days and that’s it I
Mean inshallah you get something from that we don’t want to deny Allah T’s mercy of course but that’s not what that’s not the idea don’t don’t what if you don’t make it to the next Ramadan that’s the ideas you don’t know when this might be the last jum this might be
The last Ramadan I say this every Ramadan and then throughout the year I see Subhan Allah how many people we bury how many people we wash how many people we kiss goodbye to that didn’t make it to the next Ramadan one year it will be
Your last Ramadan one year it will be my last Ramadan but we don’t know when that last Ramadan is so therefore the idea is to be prepared and by being prepared it’s not like in the the way I began it’s not by you know you got to go to the gym and be
Like an ultra athlete and you know eat refined protein I’m not talking about that that’s all material if you want to do that that’s fine that’s but that’s not what we’re talking talking about here by prepared I mean you need to pray your five prayers on time day in and day
Out if you have some excess wealth you need to make sure that you’re paying your zaka once a year we have boxes outside you just drop the zaka and that we’ll take care of the rest you have to make sure that you’re fasting the month of Ramadan you have to make sure that
You’re not consuming Haram things throughout the year you’re like oh you know I met I met a a a old acquaintance of mine Rec recently um she’s Muslim and you know she in the middle of talking she said something about um her college Years and you know but we don’t drink in
Ramadan we have an alcohol fast I we fast all the time from alcohol so we have a permanent fast from alcohol a permanent ban you know permanent ban ban on as not just in Ramadan but we start saying things like this right because you’re in polite company and and I
Regret that I didn’t say something maybe because I was fasting I was tired but you know we let these things slide because you’re a polite company and you don’t want to sound like you’re the downer but what happens if that’s not corrected if I don’t if somebody like me
Doesn’t say something then maybe the Gathering will be like I guess that’s okay because T didn’t say it didn’t say something no we have to have no you can’t there’s no such thing as a alcohol fast in Ramadan ramadan’s fast is the Ramadan fast it’s the fast
Of s Muhammad wasallam and then we have the permanent fast okay which is the permanent fast from the things that are Haram we’re not to consume those things you know unless you’re in the desert somewhere and you’re about to die and all of I don’t know you just find a
Bottle of Chardonnay or something like that why would there be a bottle of they always say that in the books of F and I always why is that going to happen though why you there’s nothing in the desert except this bottle of alcohol anyway but the they like to give you
Theories I mean if you’re in that situation okay you know you crack it open B to save your to save your life but short of that which I’m almost certain none of you will ever experience inshallah there’s a permanent ban on alcohol but the point is of the story
That the prophet is telling us with this man he’s engaged all the time in ask acts of the Haram maybe there’s something dubious about his money maybe he steals money maybe he takes money that’s not his and then what happens with that money that you take but you
Are going to consume it you’re going to wear it you’re going to eat it you’re going to drink it you’re going to feed your your your and close your children with it so your money has to be Halal the food that you eat has to be Halal
Because that is what what you are bringing to Allah subhana tala when you call on him and you say Ya Allah Ya Allah you have to be prepared for those moments those moments of opportunities now the thing about Dua is one of the powers of the Dua is
That when you’re Dua is accepted and answered it increases your faith there’s nothing more powerful than you asking Allah subhana tala for something pleading with Allah tal for something and then seeing it happen in front of you when that happens you believe and that’s why the people before
Us believed strongly because they saw the effects of the Dua the companions were with the prophet and he would make Dua and victory happened as I said last night the good guys won at the end of the day Mecca was conquered paganism was eradicated from the peninsula we don’t even know the
Names of these people and these Idols anymore very few people know them at least but the prophet s wasallam made this promise when they were in the weakest state in Mecca the the most vulnerable state in the very beginning of Islam and for the sahabat to see that happen like
Whoa that’s wow this really works so when you make Dua and Allah T answers it that’s it’s not the the Dua was answered that’s nice don’t get me wrong because you know we we need things I understand but what’s even more nice what’s even more wondrous what’s even more Fant
Fantastic is knowing that you asked your creator for something and he answered your Dua that you were worthy of that Dua being answered that you were prepared that you put in the work you put in the time you put in the patience and then your relationship with Allah tal
Increases so these are the nights of Dua this is the time where you need to turn to Allah subhah wa taala to turn to Allah with the same set of duas every night from now until the last night hoping that inshallah one of those nights for sure will
Be and that inshallah your Dua will be answered the prophet s he said make Dua and you are certain that Allah tal will answer you don’t go half half don’t be like I know it’s never going to happen but you know don’t don’t Allah doesn’t want that you have to go
All in in know for certain that he will answer your Dua but what happens if the Dua doesn’t happen does is not answered that’s a different um set of variables remember I I always quote from you uh I think it’s Mike Tyson who said sometimes God wrecks your plans because
Your plans were going to wreck you so you want something I want a I want this job I want this sister to say yes or her family to say yes maybe more accurate ly I want this promotion or I want this acceptance I want to get into
This program this degree I want that and on paper it looks good Ya Allah Ya Allah Ya Allah Ya Allah and it doesn’t happen well maybe there was no good in that for me at the end of it I don’t know where the good is going to be but never doubt
That Allah T has not heard your Dua has not heard your pleading because your pleading with him is a form of worship it is to acknowledge that he is Allah that he is the creator and you are the created that he is the powerful and you are the
Zero there’s no power or ability with Allah subhana tala you know recently I heard one of these you know memes one of these you know crazy Rabbi figures um you know promoting what’s happened to genocide and things like that and saying something along the lines that you know
We are the Jewish people we are the people that wrestled with God were more powerful than God I mean the the the the Ridiculousness the rational log The Logical nature of that statement well how can you believe in God and then say that you are more powerful than God then
It’s not God something else it’s your imagination of God because Israel Jacob is is y there’s a passage that Jacob wrestled with God what’s your name in the in the old test in the Hebrew Bible but that’s not what the passage means even according to Jewish
Traditions but how can you come to God with that attitude that you are more powerful than Allah then don’t call on him then you rely you answer your Dua for yourself if you think that you’re are more powerful than God you rely on yourself would you rather rely on
Yourself or would you rather rely on Allah subhana wa tala the one who says the one who we see his wonder and his Splendor and his creation and his mercy and his love throughout creation are we going to rely on him or are we going to rely on the humans that are
Destroying the world for greed the people that are justifying the blowing up of children for no reason there’s no re now there’s no reason anymore there’s just no reason we’re Beyond Reason and logic we’re just doing it because we’re just going to do it we want to rely on
Them to create a just world or we going to rely on Allah subhana the creator of the world and the world’s plural I’m happy relying on Allah subhana wa tala so when you make Dua know that Allah subhana tala has heard you why because Allah subhana wa taala gave
You the ability to make Dua in the first place and this is one of the cornerstones of the Sunni Creed our belief as Sun Muslims is that we acquire the ability to do things from Allah subhana wa tala that we have no independent power and ability except
That that which Allah T gives us I’m not standing here and doing this on speaking on my own but I have acquired I have acquired the ability to do this from Allah subhah wa tala which means that if I want to do something and Allah tal has
Not decreed that I do that thing it will not happen no no matter what I do just like when the prophet Sall wasallam said if all of the people gathered to benefit you with something all of humanity got together and said we’re going to give you something and Allah T did not write
For them to give you that they will not be able to give it to you and if all of the people of the worlds gather around you to harm you to destroy you to steal from you to kill you they will not be able to do that if Allah tal has not
Allowed it to happen the pens are raised and the sheets are dried right that’s what the prophet taught us so this is the time where we need to remember what that means Allah subhana wa T is in charge we’re going to come to him inshallah with as much
Preparation as we come we know that when we make Dua that in itself is a blessing because Allah gave us the ability to make that Dua you could have slept through fer or you could have gotten sick from the Biryani last night and you’re out of Twi the next three nights
And you’re at home netflixing and not fasting because you’re sick and stomach bug it’s not your fault but one of those nights was right can’t that happen I walked into my family gathering the other day and everyone was sniffling I left I said bye I’m leaving they’re
Like no no no no I said I’m with 300 people every night and then the IM that leads the prayers next to me if I get sick and he gets sick and then everyone gets sick then there goes the whole Ramadan I can’t I can’t afford I can’t afford to get sick
You can get sick in Ramadan it happens so don’t think that you asking Allah subhana T is a small thing know that the minute you have asked him he has answered your Dua the minute you have asked for forgiveness he has forgiven you because had he not wanted
To forgive you he would have not allowed you to utter those words Ya Allah forgive me when you ask Allah T to accept your fasting know that your fasting has been accepted because had he not accepted your fasting he would would have not allowed you to utter those
Words the fact that you are here that you are present that you’re breaking your fast and you make the Dua before the you’re making the Dua that is a sign that Allah T is pleased with you that is a sign that you have prepared that you
Are amongst those who are prepared so do never give up hope turn to Allah subhana wa tala with everything that you have these are the nights and the days of Dua So all of you know that as I said the last 10 nights of Ramadan and as as you know that next Friday this not today but next Friday is the night of the 27th It’s usually the night in which we uh traditionally complete the recitation of
The Quran and we do the Dua of the of the Quran because most of theith the talk about talk about it being on the night of the 27th and that is the 27th uh word in that Surah yeah this is from thead point of view we don’t know
And the reason we don’t know is that we come prepared right if we all knew that this one night like the night of the 23rd was what would happen we would do nothing all year long except come to the mosque on the night of the 23rd but
Because we don’t know when it is we come to the mosque alhamdulillah every night from the beginning of Ramadan to the end of Ramadan so we invite all of you and your families to come inshallah on the on next Friday for that joyous occasion and also it’s the night in which we will
Update you about the project the new building and we will have our annual fundraiser inshallah so we ask Allah subhana wa tala to accept our fasting and our prayers and our Dua in this blessed month of Ramadan we ask Allah subhana T to have mercy on our parents
To have mercy on our children to have forgiveness on those who passed before us we ask Allah subhana T to bless our mosque to bless our homes our businesses and our schools we ask Allah subhana T to lift us and lift those around us we ask Allah subh tala for peace
Brotherhood Sisterhood fraternity we ask Allah subhana T to make us people of the Quran and to make us people of the Sunnah of the prophet for muham for
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