Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
It's Ramadan and Allah descends. Allahu Akbar comes down and He says, "Is there anyone who wants something from Me? I will give it to them." Allah is saying that to you. Put your hand up. Those of you who have work and still have to go to work, okay, that's a lot of you guys, mashallah. And those of you who have school, put your hand up, which is mashallah. I think the majority of you guys even you guys have got something for you.
The time that you're most closest to Allah is when you're in a state of sujood. Beg Him, ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala for all the things that you ever wanted. There's no one between you and Allah; speak to Him directly. Allah said, "Tell My slaves, Uda'uni, ask Me, astajib lakum." I will accept your du'a.
Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, lahul hamdul hasan wa thana'ul jameel. Wa ashadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah, yaqulul haqqa wa huwa yahdi al sabeel. Wa ashadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluh, aakhirul anbiya'i fid dunya, asra wa ajalluhum yawmal qiyamati sha'nan wa dhikra. Sallallahu wa malaikatahu wa salihuna min khalqihi kama wahadallaha wa arrafa bihi wa da'a ilayhi.
Amma ba'd, yesterday and today I have been working on my personal schedule that I plan inshallah ta'ala to follow through the month of Ramadan. I ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala that He makes this blessed month of Ramadan a successful one for each and every one of us. My brothers and sisters, if you haven't sat down yet to write down a schedule and plan out how your Ramadan is going to be, then inshallah ta'ala I want to share with you my humble schedule, inshallah, with you, and that might be a template for you, inshallah ta'ala. I know you guys are going to do better. May Allah preserve and honour each and every one of you.
The first thing that we do, brothers, Ramadan has not come yet, so the first thing that we need to do is we have to work on our intention. Now here, this moment, today, tomorrow is the niyyah, the intention. So these are steps that we need to take for our intentions. Put your hand up. Those of you who have work and still have to go to work, okay, that's a lot of you guys, mashallah. And those of you who have school, put your hand up, which is mashallah. I think the majority of you guys can come with an intention for that as well.
The Prophet, he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "No one eats provision than what you worked for. There is no rizq better than the rizq you sweat for." He used to eat from what he worked for. So when you're going to work, you know that this is something the Prophet of Allah Dawood alayhi salam, he used to work and he would eat what he worked for. So even though it's a blessed month of Ramadan, what you're doing is what you're going to get reward for it. But come with the intention and don't underestimate intentions. Intentions are very strong.
Imam Muslim narrated in his sahih that the Prophet said, "If my slave intends something, he talks to his nafs and he says, 'I'm going to do this.' If he says that to himself, 'I'm going to do this,' the Prophet said even if he doesn't do it, a reward will be written for you just because you told yourself, 'I'm going to do this.' So now let's do that. Let's come with the intention that these are the things that we're going to do, and even if we don't get the opportunity to do it, we get the reward, inshallah.
My brothers and sisters, the entire day when you're driving, don't be talking on the phone and conversing and text messaging. Let your tongue be consistent on the remembrance of Allah. A lot of people are driving and they forget this is the time of dhikr. Are we all together, brothers? Adhkar going to work and coming back, your tongue is consistent. That's what you say. These are the intentions that we're going to come with and the way that we're going to fulfill those intentions.
I've written a schedule, inshallah wa ta'ala, and inshallah I hope we can all follow through with it and even do better. Number one, the intention we're going to come with is khatmul quran, to finish the Quran. That's an intention you want to come with. You want, inshallah wa ta'ala, this month to finish the Quran. Even if you struggle and you can't read the mushaf and you've never studied the Quran and you have not read the Quran and you don't know how to read the Quran, guess what? Apportion and listen to it. Put headphones in, say, "Ya rabbi, I didn't manage to memorize the Quran, but I will listen to your words." Not listening as background noise, no. It's a set. You sit down, you cross your legs, you open the mushaf and you follow through with it. If it's transliteration, you put your finger on it, you follow through with it.
The second intention is repentance. My brothers and sisters, if you look at the deen, our deen, you find that the concept of istighfar is connected to the doing of actions. Even when you do good, you still have to do istighfar and ask Allah for forgiveness. When you finish your salah, what do you say? As soon as you say salamu alaikum, salamu alaikum, what do you say? Why do you say that? You just prayed mistakes that occur. When Ramadan finishes, what do you do right after it? What do you pay? What did the Prophet say about zakatul fitr? It's a purification for what? The individual who was fasting, the mistakes and the shortcomings that occurred from it. It's a form of istighfar.
Nabiullah Muhammad's life, salawatullahi wa salamu alayhi, what was he told to conclude it with? When the victory of Allah comes and the conquest and you see people entering the deen of Allah in groups, then glorify the name of your Lord and ask His forgiveness. He was a repentant. 23 years of calling to the deen, he's told to ask Allah for forgiveness. So there's a bond between istighfar and good deeds before and even after. So now you need to repent. If this is dirty, can you pour water inside it? Yes or no? No, no. You need to clean yourself now. Today and tomorrow is al istighfar, getting away from all of the nasty things, all of the things that were bad habits. You need to clean yourself. Are we all together, brothers? And we all, every single one of us, we're full of sins. May Allah forgive us for our mistakes and our shortcomings.
The next thing is write a schedule, which is what we're gonna do today, inshallah ta'ala. You write a schedule, a practical step. When I wake up in the morning until I go to sleep, I'm gonna do this. In the morning when I wake up, this is what I'm gonna do. This is what I'm gonna do. You plan out everything that you're going to do. I won't go into it. Even I've planned out what I will eat, but that's not something you guys need to know. But you plan out even to the point of what your iftar is going to be and your suhoor is going to be. Plan out everything so you don't waste time on what you're going to eat.
And you're going to have also start listening to lectures, reminders regarding Ramadan so the spirit is up right now. You need to start listening to lectures, reminders, download beneficial videos of speakers, listen to them about Ramadan, what you should do. Get the spirit up because what is waiting for you is 30 or 29 nights or days of blessing and khair. So you have to, as we say in the UK, hype yourself up, right? You have to get that energy up so when it comes, inshallah ta'ala, you get the most out of it. Learn the do's and the don'ts, the heart softening. We spoke about lectures. You need to listen to ahkam, what is halal, what is haram. Get, download and take lessons today and tomorrow. That's your job. What can I not do in Ramadan and what can I do? If a woman is pregnant, what can she do in Ramadan? Does she have to pay fidya or does she have to bring back the fasting if she's breastfeeding? All of that, alhamdulillah, there's a large range of speakers that you can download and benefit from who have spoken about these topics.
So we're all together, brothers. You're not going to be excused for ignorance whilst YouTube is around. You're not going to be excused. The knowledge is present. You need to sit down and start to learn. If there's lectures and classes happening in your local masjid, even better. Go and participate and listen to it, inshallah ta'ala. Also, look at your salary that you make, your income and your savings, and set aside money that you're going to be given in this blessed month of Ramadan. Every day, plan out what you're going to be given. Schedule it. This is the amount I make a month. This is, inshallah ta'ala, what I plan to give out in this blessed month of Ramadan. 30 days and increase it more in the last 10 nights.
If you're going to, inshallah ta'ala, take someone and break their fast, notify those people that you're going to invite. Let them know in advance you're going to be with me on this day, you're going to be with me on this day. Plan it all out, the people who are going to break fast with you. Even if you give a person a date, you get the reward of that person fasting without the fasting being reduced from them. You don't have to give them a meal, just the date and water. You get the reward. Are we all together, brothers?
I think it was the COVID days when Ramadan entered and I was caught up on the road. On the road, there was a man standing there and he was giving out water. This is the UAE. He was giving out water and dates. I just thought about it, subhanallah, as I was driving, how much reward that individual is making. All he's given out is water and dates, and everyone who he has given it to is eating that date and having that water. He's just taking their reward. That's the wise person. Every corner he's looking at how much reward can I make from here? Every turn, what can I do in this month and seize it?
In the dunya, when we look at people who invest and think like that, we say, "Allah, this guy is a good money maker." But when it comes to akhira, we should also have that as well. Every opportunity is a way to get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this blessed month. Those are the things that you do prior to, inshallah ta'ala, before Ramadan comes in.
Now Ramadan has entered. It's called the schedule of the fasting person. This schedule is not restricted to the person who is fasting. This can even be done if somebody is not fasting for whatever reason. It does not mean that you lose out on reward. We start from before fajr because as Muslims, the night comes first before the day. The night comes first. Qiyam, we start from the night.
Your taraweeh, brothers and sisters, do not leave out the taraweeh. Start with the imam and finish with the imam. People are leaving after four and they're leaving after this. My brother, it's only 29 nights. My brother, it's 30 nights. Billahi alayh, can you not just give Allah those 30 nights or those 29 nights to the fullest? Start with the imam, Allahu akbar, and finish with him. And guess what? If you do do that, you will get the reward of praying the entire night, even if you go home and sleep after that. But you have to finish with the imam. Finishing with the imam does not mean that you leave with the first imam. There's two imams. One leaves the first four and then the second one leaves the second four. You can't say I'm with the first if he does his first four, I'm out. No, you finish with the imam means the salah, the entire prayer that you pray. Are we all together?
From the first to the end, you finish it. If it's 11, if it's more than that, you pray from the beginning. Allah praises the righteous people: "Amman huwa qanitun anaa allayli saajidan wa qa'iman yahzaru al-akhirata wa yarju rahmata rabbi. Qul hal yastawi allatheena ya'lamoon wa allatheena la ya'lamoon. Innama yatadakkaru ulu al-albaab." Are they equal, the one who knows his Lord and the one who doesn't know? Who's the one that knows his Lord? The one who's up at night praying, begging. "Tatajafa junubuhum anil madaji'i yad'uuna rabbahum khawfan wa tama'an wa mimma razaqnahum yunfiqoon."
And you know what, my brothers and sisters? It's Ramadan and Allah descends. Allahu Akbar comes down and He says, "Is there anyone who wants something from Me? I will give it to them." Allah is saying that to you. And what you're doing is you're walking out of the masjid at that time that He's saying that, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Are we all together, brothers? That's the month. We don't do this from the first to the last rak'ah. Salamu alaykum, salamu alaykum, that's when we leave the masjid.
The second thing, my brothers and sisters, that you should not miss is your program. So we started from at tahajjud. The second one is the suhoor. Do not miss the suhoor. The Prophet encouraged the suhoor. He said, "Tasaharu fa inna fi suhoori baraka." Have suhoor. Don't ever miss the suhoor. And when you have the suhoor, there's an intention of having the suhoor. You get rewarded. I told you Ramadan is seizing. So the Prophet said, "I'll do it." And I'll tell you something, my brothers and sisters, I've actually seen myself and also through other people. The people who have suhoor generally stay up. Work, if Ramadan doesn't get to them, they don't lose energy. That's the wisdom behind it. Ramadan is you're awake, you're working, you go work. So have good food at suhoor.
Number three, after the suhoor, ask Allah for forgiveness, subhanahu wa ta'ala, al-istighfar until salatul fajr, to the adhan of fajr. You've eaten your suhoor. Please don't go back to sleep. Al-istighfar. Allah said about the believers, "Wabil asharihum yastaghfiroon," that the righteous people, they are the ones who ask Allah for forgiveness, subhanahu wa ta'ala. "Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, tawba," before the day starts of Ramadan. Are we all together?
Then the adhan of fajr goes off. Don't go to the masjid yet. For the men, pray two raka'a in your house. Pray what? Two raka'a in the house. Follow the sunnah. Revive the sunnah. The Prophet, he said, "Raka'ata raka'atai fajr khayrun minad dunya wa maa feeha." Another hadith says, "Raka'ata al-fajr, the two raka'a of fajr is khayrun minad dunya wa maa feeha." It's better than this dunya and everything that's in it. Are we all together, brothers? And Imam Muslim narrated this in his sahih.
Once the adhan has gone off, don't say between the adhan and the iqamah there's twenty minutes or twenty-five minutes. No, you prayed right? Put your shoes on, get the boys ready and say, "Let's go," and go to the masjid. You go to the masjid very early. The Prophet, he said in the hadith, "Walaw ya'lamuna maa fee al-atamati, if they knew what was in the isha wa al-subhi, la'ataw huma walaw habwan." If the people were to know the reward that is in isha in the masjid jama'a and the fajr, they would have come even if they were crawling.
Even if you can't even walk, you would come. Once you enter the masjid and you sit down, you come very early, you pray tahiyyatul masjid. Again, another two reward, tahiyyatul masjid. Once you've done your tahiyyatul masjid and you've prayed, take your time in the ruku', beg Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all the things that you want. "Aqrabu maa yakoonu al-abdu min rabbihi wa huwa saajid." The time that you're most closest to Allah is when you're in a state of sujood. Beg Him, ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all the things that you ever wanted. There's no one between you and Allah; speak to Him directly.
Wa qala rabbukum ud'ooni astajib lakum. Allah said, "Ud'ooni, ask Me, astajib lakum. I will accept your du'a." Umar r.a used to say, "I do not carry the burden. I do not carry the burden of asking myself whether my du'a is accepted. That's not a burden I carry. Here, I know if I make the du'a, my du'a will be accepted because Allah said, 'Wa qala rabbukum ud'ooni astajib lakum.' Ask Me, I will give it to you." So for you not getting it is because you didn't even ask for it.
So you, the sujood that you go into, you beg Allah. That's the time you're closest to Him, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Once you've finished your two raka'at that you prayed, remember you're still between the adhan and the iqamah. The iqamah hasn't been done. Sit down and raise your hands. The du'a is not rejected. The du'a is not rejected between the adhan and the iqamah. The du'a is not rejected between the adhan and the what? And the iqamah. It's not rejected. It's not rejected. It's accepted.
And there's so many things that we need to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We need to beg Allah for our personal situation. We need to beg Allah for the situation of our Muslim brothers in Palestine and other places in the world. Sahib, my brothers and sisters, this is the opportunity. You beg Allah that Allah rectifies the situation of the Muslims. If you've begged and you've done your du'a, sit down and recite Quran. Start reciting the Quran. The iqamah will go off and you pray the jama'ah.
Once you finish the salah and you say salamu alaykum, this is Fajr. Do not move from your position. Don't move. Stay in the position that you are. Don't move until the sun rises. The Prophet said, salallahu alayhi wasalam, "If the person prays Fajr and he remains in his place until the sun rises, he stays in place until the sun rises, then after that he prays what? Two rak'ah." What's the reward for that person? Hajj and Umrah. Is that a reward? You want to miss out in the month of Ramadan? No.
Allah, as I said to you, now is when you look at every good deed that you can do in the day. My brothers and sisters, my advice, this is my personal advice, I would remain in that place until the sun rises, pray my two rak'ah, go home, and I will read Quran until Dhuhr. Every Juz can be read in half an hour. That's if you are going good paced. If you are going a bit too fast, you can go 20 minutes, but half an hour is decent. 30 minutes, you can finish a Juz. Are we all together? If you just do one Juz a day, you can finish the Quran at least once.
But my advice is that this month is the month of the Quran. It's about finishing the Quran as much as you can. It was said about Ali Babu Shafi'i that he used to finish the Quran once in the morning and once at night time. That's not including his prayers and his Qiyam. So he would finish the Quran 60 times in the month of Ramadan. How many times? 60 times. I looked at it. It took him, if we go to 30 minutes, 15 hours every day, 40 hours, 14 hours. Shafi'i was reading Quran. That's not including his what? His Qiyam, his Suhoor, and his Iftar. In other words, all he was doing was what? Reading the Quran. Are we all together, brothers?
If you can do that, فَنِعِمَّاهِ. If you can't, لكن you can finish it every 7 days. And that's what the Sahabas used to do. The 7-day program is as follows: you start from Suratul Fatiha. It's called فَمِي بِشَوْق. What's it called? فَمِي بِشَوْق. فَمِي بِشَوْق. It's an acronym, right? Each letter represents a Surah. فَمِي, the ف is for Suratul Fatiha. Start from Fatiha, فَمِي, up to Suratul Ma'idah. فَمِي, فَم, فَ from Fatiha, you start and you go the first day to Suratul Ma'idah. Alhamdulillah. The second day, you start from Suratul Ma'idah and you go فَمِي Suratul Yunus. Does that make sense? That's the second day. The third day, you start from Suratul Yunus, فَمِي Suratul Yunus, فَمِي بِي from Yunus to Suratul Bani Israel, Suratul Isra. فَمِي بِي بِي here is Bani Israel. So from Suratul Yunus to Suratul Isra, what day is that? Yeah? The third day. The fourth day, you start from Suratul Isra and you go to فَمِي بِي ش Shu'ara. So from Suratul Bani Israel and Suratul Isra, and you take it to Suratul Shu'ara. What day is that? The fourth day, Shu'ara. Then you take it from Suratul Shu'ara, فَمِي بِي شَو شَو to Suratul Wassafat, Suratul Saffat, right? Starts with Wassafati Saffah. What day is that? The fifth day, right? فَمِي بِي شَو. Then you take it from Suratul Saffat and you take it to Suratul Qaf, فَمِي بِي شَو ق. صح? And the last day, which is the seventh day, you start from Suratul Qaf and you take it to Suratul Nas. Seven days, you can finish the Quran like that. Are we all together?
There's a level. There's the serious, more serious ones. What do you want to do? Ten Juz every day. Ten Juz every day. How do you do ten Juz every day? You start from Suratul Baqarah or Suratul Fatiha and you go up to Suratul Anfal. وَعَلَمُوا أَنَّ مَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ. Ten Juz. And then you start from وَعَلَمُوا أَنَّ مَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ. You take it to Suratul Naml. فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ. Then, which is the second day. The third day, you start from فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ. You start from Suratul Naml and you take it to Suratul Nas. Ten, ten, ten. And we all together, brothers? That's three days you finish it. Then there's those who want to finish it every day at least once. So thirty days, they finish it. Those, what do they have to do? They start from Fatiha to Nas. صح? The point is, my brothers, فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْطَطَعْتُونَ. Try your best and the intention is to finish as much as you can, and Allah will give you the reward.
How do you do Fami Bishawkh? You have to sit one time and do it. I prefer that. Sit one time and read it. But what you could do is, تَقْرِيبًا, approximately, it's about four, sometimes a bit more. You can read it after every Salah. You can break it down. After every Salah, Fajr, you read a portion. After Dhuhr, you read another portion. After Asr, you read another portion. After Maghrib, you read another portion. And after Isha, you read another portion. You can do it like that. You can divide it up like that if you want to. Or what you could do is you could read it all in the morning. And what you will find, my brothers and sisters, is that day, Wallahi, your energy, your heart, your mind, everything is just going to be good.
So that's in terms of the Qur'an. What you do once you finish reciting the Qur'an is, as the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in Sunnah Abu Dawood, you ask Allah to place Barakah in your day. A lot of people forget that. Once you finish reciting your portion of the Qur'an and you've read it maybe up to Dhuhr, as I said, beg Allah and say, "O Allah, I ask You the good of this day. O Allah, I ask You the opening of this day, the Barakah and the victory of this day and the guidance of this day, and I seek refuge in You from the evil that's within this day and also the evil which is after it."
Then I will say, brothers, Dhuhr, you go to sleep. Dhuhr, you pray and you go to sleep with the Jama'ah. You come to the Masjid again and you pray Salatul Dhuhr and you go and you sleep. This sleep that you're going to sleep, come with the intention. Remember, you don't want to waste anything. Everything is reward. So before you go to sleep, you're saying, you're coming with the intention that this sleep is for what? It's for your Qiyam, your Siyam, and to get nearness to Allah Ta'baraka. Mu'adh ibn Jabal al-Khawarij said, he said, "I come with an intention for my sleep just the same way I have an intention when I pray and I fast." Allahu Akbar.
Hatta, my brothers and sisters, a lot of brothers, they provide for their wives and they provide for their children, and they're missing the reward because they don't even come with the intention. And do you know how much you lose out by not coming with the intention? Everything you do, حَتَّى مَا تَجْعَلُ فِي فَمِ مِرَاتِكَ. Even the food that you place in the mouth of your wife, you can get reward for it. Everything is a Ajar. Lakin, with an intention.
I do want to say those brothers who are wealthy, just saying, putting it out there because some people are going to watch it. Those of you who are wealthy, some brothers might have businesses. They don't work a 9 to 5 job. They've got business. They would close their business if they knew that month the rent can be paid. But they make the rent from what? If they work. If they work, that money that they worked is what they use to pay their rent. So if they close in the month of Ramadan, they're not going to get money for the rent. So they have to work. People whose situation is like that, if Allah has given you wealth and you say, "Listen, I know you're a person who's going to fast and pray and read a lot of Quran, and I know what's imprisoning you and preventing you from doing that, it's your company and your business that you have to do. How about this? I will pay your rent and the costs that need to be paid. Go in the masjid, inshallah, participate with us in these righteous deeds."
If Allah has given you wealth and you do that for someone, you get the reward of that person's fasting. Do it for people who are like in going to do ibadah, not a brother who's going to go home and sleep. Someone you know who's going to do good deeds and benefit from it, who you know is known to be a pillar in the masjid, like a pillar, meaning the pillar never leaves the masjid. He's like that, he's always there praying. But what's stopping him is that he's got a job. If you can lift that from him, you'll get the reward. And this month is about reward.
One of the things that the Prophet was praised for, and I'm going to talk about that inshallah, is his generosity. كان أجود الناس وكان أجود ما يكون في رمضان. The Prophet was generally a generous person, and his generosity would increase and it would go more in the month of Ramadan. Are we all together, brothers? It would just go up. He would give and he would give. What you give in this month, والله الذي لا إله غيره, يوم القيامة, this is going to be the thing to help you. If you come with the intention, every دينار درهم that you give, أصلاً this money was money Allah gave you, and He's testing you with it to see what you're going to do with it. If you give, what you're going to get is so much.
I was pondering over the verse, those people Allah said, "إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنْكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِنْ رَبِّنَا يَوْمًا عَبُوسًا قَمْطَرِيرًا فَوَقَاهُمُ اللَّهُ شَرَّ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ وَلَقَّاهُمْ نَظَرَةً وَسُرُورًا." Allah said about these people, "إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ." We feed you for the sake of Allah. "إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنْكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا." Don't say thank you to us. Don't show us gratitude. This is not for you, it's for Allah. Look what they said, "إِنَّا نَخَافُ." The reason why we're doing this is we're scared. What are you scared of? "إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِنْ رَبِّنَا." We're scared of our Lord Allah. "يَوْمًا عَبُوسًا قَمْطَرِيرًا." A day where its punishment is severe.
Wallahi, my brothers, look what Allah then says, "فَوَقَاهُمُ اللَّهُ شَرَّ ذَلِكَ لِيَوْمُ وَلَقَاهُمْ نَظَرَةً وَسُرُورًا." Allah saved them because of that. Allah saved them because of that, the punishment of the hellfire. This money, my brothers and sisters, the best investment is the money that you give for the sake of Allah. You've never lost that money. It's waiting for you on the other side, a day when you're most in need of it. So give. If Ramadan is opening your hand, فُقَرًا, take people to your house, feed them, give them food, invite people.
And it's that moment, if someone is a new Muslim, take that responsibility of breaking their fast. صَلَاةُ الْعَصْرِ, when it comes, before it comes, you pray four rak'ah before Asr. How much do you pray? Four rak'ah. According to a riwayah, the Prophet, he said, "رَحِمَ اللَّهُ مَرَأً." May Allah have mercy upon a slave "صَلَا قَبْلَ الْعَصْرِ أَرْبَعً." Before Asr, he prays four. The masajids generally what they do is they do a little reminder after Asr. The country sits and listens. If your local masjid does not do that, the area doesn't do that, no problem. I would tell you to go home and listen. Set yourself a target of either covering تفسير جزء عمى or سيرة النبي. Something, go on a program that you've always wanted to get to the end of and set yourself that as the time that you study.
Take a notebook and study. I would say what you study at that time let it be something that is what? Related to the Quran ideally. That's related to the Quran. Things like that. Take that and also what you're taking, let it not be ahkam and all of things that are going to be practical. The videos and the lectures you're listening to, things which are practical you can go and straight away act upon.
So that time until iftar, what do you do? Study. Tell your children to do the same. If you guys, if you want to share a book with them or you want to share a lesson with them or a class or you've prepared something for them, mashallah. Those of you who speak Arabic, read the kitab by Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen called Majalis Ramadhaniya. Sheikh Ibn Al-Uthaymeen has a Risala. If your Arabic is even more advanced and higher, I would tell you to read the kitab La Ta'if Al-Ma'arif, what he has written on the Waza'if of the Shahr Ramadhan.
I tried to cover it in the last two days, but I didn't finish it. It's a lot of pages, it's about 128 pages, but you can finish it every day if you set yourself a portion for the entire month of Ramadhan. You can go through it, inshallah Ta'ala.
Salatul Maghrib enters. When Salatul Maghrib enters, break your iftar with dates and water. And me personally, brothers, I would not advise you to munch. Munching is eating. I would not advise you to eat because it would show in your brothers are like vomiting, like burping in the Salah, and they are stressing the other people around them, the smell that's coming out and all of that, right?
So what would I say, brothers? Eat basic. And when you go into the Masjid from Maghrib, don't leave the Masjid until Fajr. Are we all together? Ramadan, this is Ramadan. If you do, let it be to go home and sleep. For me, Dhuhr and Asr, maybe a little bit after Asr would do me good for the day. But if you feel like you need a lot of sleep and that's how Allah created you, Allah creates people differently.
Then what you do is you stay in the Masjid until Tarawih, until you pray Tarawih. From Maghrib until Tarawih, Salam Alaikum, Salam Alaikum, Tarawih, go home and sleep and wake up before Suhoor. Are we all together, brothers? That time that you're sitting between Maghrib and Isha, you get the reward of somebody who's praying even that you're not praying, right?
The Prophet ﷺ said, "Anyone who prays a Salah does not leave his position." You pray Maghrib, you did not leave your position, and you're sitting waiting for the other prayer. You are as though someone who's engaged in Salah, even if you're not praying. You're sitting there, you're just doing your Adhkar. Are we all together, brothers?
In between those times, based on people's schedules, the following things is what I would encourage you all to do. Keep knowledge of your neighbors. How are they? Send them Iftar and give them Iftar. Call family relatives, seeing how they're doing. If your family relatives are on the way to the Masjid or walking back, go and visit them. You get reward for it. Ask them their well-being.
If Allah has given you wealth, the best Sadaqah is the Sadaqah that you give to your relatives. So if you give money to your sister and her family and you say, "This is, yeah, your brother-in-law," you say, "Look, this month, inshallah ta'ala, this is shopping of your Ramadan," and etc. Your relatives, your parents, your dad, your mum, you do that, my brothers and sisters.
The thing that I will advise you all to stay away from, and I will encourage the sisters, brothers, do not use this opportunity for your wives to cook you dishes after dishes. Ittaqillah, she needs to worship Allah as well. It's not fair she's spending her time in the kitchen while you enjoy the blessings of Ramadan. She'll get rewarded, no doubt, and she gets rewarded for that, but she spends the whole day in the kitchen, and this is not increasing her Iman. Don't burden your wife with all these different dishes. Are we all together?
When you bring people as guests, it's not a bad thing that you give them a decent, normal meal. Don't go out of your way. Are we all together? I remember a brother told me, and this is a Sheikh I really look up to, his name is Sheikh Abdul Razzaq Abdul Mohsin Al Abad, Hafidhahullahu Ta'ala. I love this man so much, and anyone who sees him will know that he got it. It's a true story. A brother told me there was an invitation that happened in his house. It was either a high-ranked ruler from Indonesia or Malaysia; I don't remember the two. I'm sorry, Malaysians and Indonesians get offended if you mix one with the other, but I love you all.
So one of them came and visited him in his house, and the food that Sheikh Abdul Razzaq gave them was what he normally eats. When they sat down, the brother said, "Wallahi, the food we ate was so basic." And he said to him, "Wallahi, that's what we eat, and that's all we have." Takalluf, burdening you, putting pressure on your wife, putting pressure on yourself, and doing too much. Wama Ana Mina Al Mutakallifin, it's wrong, and it's also wrong that in the month of Ramadan, there's food we connect to Ramadan.
If I see samosas today, I think of Ramadan. Who else is like that? There are dishes that we think only when we see them, Ramadan, right? Brothers, the month that we were, what's the meaning of Ramadan? It's Al Imsak, to refrain. And we've learned Ramadan is what we eat, this kind of food, and so it's Ramadan. When you start seeing so many dishes cooked that are not cooked outside the month of Ramadan, stay away from food. It's what's going to slow you down. Qahtani said in his Nuriya, "Don't feed yourself too much," and inshallah, I would encourage you all to follow a good diet in this month.
It's an opportunity to learn to stay away from oily stuff and don't kill your body and yourself. I want to talk about something I know you're all used to; you hear it a lot, but the reminder truly benefits the believer. My brothers and sisters, there is nothing greater than this blessed month that's coming our way. We have to feel this; we have to know it. It's an opportunity, it's a Fursah, and the Furas, the opportunities, don't come very often.
It is an opportunity; you can change your life. You can become something else. A lot of us don't yet realize what is coming to us. My brothers and sisters, Ramadan is a blessed month, the greatest month in the entire year. Out of the 12 months, the best month is which month? Ramadan. And if you look at all of the previous prophets, who is the best of all of them? Nabi Allah Muhammad. And if you look at all of the previous scriptures, which scripture is the best? The Quran.
And look at this, my brothers and sisters, all three of them combined in the month of Ramadan. Nabi Allah Muhammad, the Quran first came down on him in which month? In the month of Ramadan. The Quran first of all came down in the month of Ramadan. It started on the Prophet in the month of Ramadan. Are we all together, brothers? This month, that's why it's unique. The best speech, the greatest speech, the real miracle came down in this blessed month.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He said, "Shahru ramadan alladhi unzila fihi alquran hudan linnasi wa bayyinatin min alhuda walfurqan." The month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran came down. So there is a strong bond between the Quran and the month of Ramadan, and we will talk about that later. But there is no other month that the Prophet said the following about. The Prophet said, "Mansama ramadana imanan wa ihtisaba gufira lahu ma taqaddama min dhanbih."
No other month, anyone who fasts the month of Ramadan with two conditions, in a state of Iman and doing it for Allah's sake alone, subhanahu wa ta'ala, hoping for reward from Allah, "Gufira lahu ma taqaddama min dhanbih." Your sins will be forgiven. Is that it? No. "Mansama ramadana imanan wa ihtisaba guf ira lahu ma taqaddama min dhanbih," and if you stand, so in the daytime you are fasting, and at night what are you doing? You are praying, you are standing up in prayer, your sins will also be forgiven. But two conditions: imanan wa ihtisaba. Is that it? No. The Prophet said it again, salawatullahi wa salamun alayhi. He said, "Man qama laylatul qadri imanan wa ihtisaba gufira lahu ma taqaddama min dhanbih." Bukhari and Muslim both narrated these three hadiths in their sahih from hadith Abu Huraira.
Even Laylatul Qadr, guess what? Fast in the month of Ramadan, your sins will be forgiven. Pray at night, imanan wa ihtisaba, your sins will be forgiven. And Laylatul Qadr, your sins will be forgiven. How could this month finish and your sins have not been forgiven? The Prophet said, "Raghi ma anf," may the nose of a person be dusted, "Dakhala ramadhan," the month of Ramadan entered, and you haven't been forgiven.
How can it happen that a month, in no other month in the year, does Allah subhana wa ta'ala free from the hellfire people like this blessed month of Ramadan? Every single day, there are a number of people who have been taken off the list of the people of the hellfire and they've been put on the list of the people of Jannah. Opportunity, it's a goal, something to look forward to. That's why the Messenger ﷺ, before Ramadan enters, he would tell his companions glad tidings. He would say to them, "Atakum Ramadan, shahrun mubarak."
Ramadan has made its way to you, a blessed month is coming. "Faradallahu alaikum," Allah has made it obligatory on each and every one of you, "Siyamahu," fasting it. "Tuftahu feehi abuwabu ssama," the doors of the heavens are opened. "Wa tughlaqu feehi abuwabu al jaheem," and the doors of the hellfire are closed. The doors of Jannah are opened, and the doors of the hellfire are closed. "Wa tughallu maradatu al shayateen," and the tyrant devils are locked up. "Lillahi feehi utaqa," Allah has in this month of Ramadan people in which He frees their necks from the hellfire.
"Feehi laylatun khayrun min alfi shahr," there is a night within this month better than a thousand months. Look what then the Prophet said, "Man hurima khairaha faqad hurim." Anyone who is prohibited, prevented from this blessing, then what have you been given in life? If you've been prevented from seizing this month and benefiting from it, then honestly, there is nothing in your life that you would truly seize.
This hadith, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in his kitab Lataif al-Ma'arif, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in his Majmoo al-Fatawa, they mention that this hadith is an evidence that you give glad tidings to the people regarding the month of Ramadan. When Ramadan enters, you give the people glad tidings; it's a sunnah, just like the Prophet here said, "Atakum shahrun mubarak."
Look what he said, Ibn Rajab said, "Ba'du al ulama hadhal hadithu aslun fi tahniati annasi ba'dihim ba'da bi shahri Ramadan." This hadith is an evidence that you give glad tidings to the people that the blessed month of Ramadan has come, because wallahi, brothers, you give glad tidings to someone regarding a blessing that they've achieved. If you've reached Ramadan, wallahi, that's a blessing.
So when Ramadan enters, message all the people that you know and say, "Atakum shahrun mubarak," a blessed month has come, and give them the advice that the Prophet gave them, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. My brothers and sisters, those who, from amongst you, Allah has given wealth, this month is a month where you, if you can, go Umrah. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to a woman from the women of Ansar, he said to her, "Fa idha ja'a Ramadan, fa atamiri." If the month of Ramadan comes, go and do Umrah.
Why? Because a Umrah in Ramadan, "Ta'dilu hajjah," and in riwayah, "Ta'dilu hajjatan ma'i," it's equivalent to going to Hajj. Another wording says it's equivalent to going to Hajj with the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So it's a month you plan out what you're going to be doing step by step. The doors of Jannah are open. Wallahi, my brothers, what is it that the believer lives for? What is your goal in life? Why are you here? What are you trying to achieve in this world? Is it not to attain Jannah? Is that not what you want?
Ya my brothers, the salah that we pray, the fasting, the silatul arham, the ties of kinship, all the good that we do, may Allah accept it from us. The hadaf and the ghaya, the purpose and the objective behind it is what? What is it? To enter Jannah. Then Ramadan is that opportunity. The doors of Jannah are open.
Rawat Shaykhan, Bukhari and Muslim both narrated hadithi Abu Huraira, the Messenger he said, "Idha ja'a Ramadan, if the month of Ramadan enters, futtihat abu waabul jannah," the doors of Jannah are opened, "waghulliqat abu waabun naar," and the doors of the hellfire are closed and locked. We hear this hadith; you even heard it this Friday sermon. It was spoken about, but really fathom it, wallahi, brothers. Think about it. The doors of Jannah are opened, and the doors of the hellfire are closed, meaning it's a month where it's a path to Jannah.
That's it. So for you to create a route to the hellfire, there's a bad chip inside you, there's a bad heart that you have. The doors are locked, the shayateen are chained up. All you just have to do is exert the effort and work very hard. Anything I've said that was wrong or incorrect is from me, as shaytan, and Allah and His messenger are both free from it. Asalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.
