Preparing Spiritually for Ramadan

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين All praise and thanks belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon His servant and final messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Respected brothers and sisters in Islam السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته I ask Allah Azza wa Jal that He grant you all goodness and success in this life and in the afterlife and we ask Him Subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept from us all and to forgive our sins and our shortcomings. Brothers and sisters in Islam, you are all aware that we are only a few days from the blessed month of Ramadan and the Prophet ﷺ would always expressed joy and happiness on the occasion of Ramadan. And he would share his excitement and joy with the companions even before the month entered. Abu Huraira narrated, He said that the Messenger, he would congratulate his companions. on this blessed occasion of Ramadan. Ibn Rajab, one of the scholars of Islam, he said هذا الحديث أصل في تهنئة الناس بعضهم بعضا He said that this hadith is a fundamental hadith and it is evidence for why the believers are allowed to congratulate one another on the occasion of Ramadan and on the approach of this month. So the Prophet ﷺ used to congratulate his companions just before Ramadan entered as it is approaching. And he would share with them wonderful information about this month to get them eager and excited and ready. And that's what we want to do. Let me share this hadith with you. The Prophet ﷺ used to say to the companions, قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانٍ شَهْرٌ مُبَارَكٌ Allah is the Greatest. He would say to the companions, Indeed, the month of Ramadan has come to you all. It's at our doorsteps, only a few days away. And he'd say to them, It is a blessed month. And this could mean two things. Could mean that the month itself is blessed. And of course, indeed, it is blessed. Every righteous deed we do, it is multiplied. The doors of goodness are open. The doors of the paradise and everything is open. And Shahru Mubarak, a blessed month, could also mean that it is a dua from the Messenger ﷺ to the believers, saying, O Allah, bless this month for them, and fill its days and its nights with barakah and blessing. He ﷺ would then say, Allah ﷻ has prescribed upon you all fasting this blessed month, and this is the greatest deed. you can ever do in Ramadan and that is to fast its days. فيه تفتح أبواب الجنان During this month of Ramadan, all the gates of the paradise are open. Imagine that, the eight gates of the paradise are all open. And this is teaching you and I something, that the gates of Allah عز و جل are open. There is no barrier between us and Allah عز و جل. There is no obstruction. between the sleeves and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala no matter how no matter what state this sleeve is in a sinner righteous poor rich old young whatever it is the doors of the paradise are open eight of them when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in other hadith he mentioned that the doors of the skies are open that is seven doors and he also said that abwabur rahma are open the doors of Allah azza wa jal's mercy are open can you imagine this The gates of the paradise, the doors of the heavens, the skies which are seven, and the doors of Allah's mercy, all of it opens up. And in addition to this, وَتُغَلَّقُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَحِيمِ And all the gates of the hellfire, all seven of them, are locked, they are shut, they are sealed. Allahu Akbar, look at the mercy of Allah عز و جل giving the slaves the opportunity to come back to Allah عز و جل and earn goodness. All this, and Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم is sharing with his companions days before Ramadan, exciting them. making them passionate and eager for this month as you hear these ahadir and as you hear this type of information about the month are you eager is your heart opening up can you wait is there joy and excitement in the heart because that should be the case of the believers and then he sallallahu alaihi wasallam said what to and the devils are all chained up these are the wicked evil devils they are all chained up during this month So that means the evil whispering of the shaytan is going to be a lot less upon you and I. Allahu Akbar. This is a mercy of Allah Azza wa Jal. All the devils are locked up. And you know, of course, the devils are of two types. There is a devil inside of us, which is Al-Qareen. That one remains. He's the one who flows in your body like how the blood flows. That shaytan is always there. but his effect on you during ramadan would be dramatically reduced because as a person fasts the month of ramadan as a person fasts the month of ramadan he's hungry and he's thinking about that which is halal he's thinking about food so the idea is you'll be thinking about halal and you do not think about the desire when when someone is full and his belly is full he thinks about desire he thinks about al haram but when we are fasting the days of ramadan then the desire is suppressed it's reduced a person if he is desiring something he's desiring food and drink is thinking about that which is halal so the internal devil the qareen we have his evil whispering will dramatically reduce and a person will not have that eagerness to do any of the sins while haram we ask allah azza to protect us And the second type of devil that exists is the external one, the one that roams around. Those external devils, they are the ones that are chained. This is what the Nabi ﷺ meant when he said that the devils are chained up. And of course they're chained up and so as a result a person now may focus on the worship, may focus on obedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then the Prophet said, There is a night better than a thousand months. Within the month of Ramadan, there is a night that is much much better and a lot more rewarding than a thousand months. That is Laylatul Qadr. Laylatul Qadr, brothers and sisters in Islam. What a fantastic opportunity that Allah grants the slaves. The Prophet used to inform the companions about Laylatul Qadr before the month of Ramadan began. You see, today our habit is when we approach the last 10 nights of Ramadan, we begin to discuss and we speak about Laylatul Qadr and making the most of it. And that's good. Those lectures are required towards the end of the month. But can you imagine the Prophet ﷺ, who himself is upon goodness, and the companions all are in a good state and upon goodness. He is... gearing them up and exciting them from the very beginning and sharing with them even before the first day of Ramadan begins telling them that in this month there is a night that is a lot greater and better in reward than a thousand months. A thousand months of worship. Imagine you worshipped Allah Azza wa Jal for one thousand months. You worshipped him in its days and in its nights. Read the Quran. You prayed. he did every goodness you can think of and he did not do any sin no disobedience and he did not sleep in these thousand months guess what worshipping allah for one night that is which is found in the last 10 nights of ramadan one night a few hours of worship if it was accepted from you and i this would be more rewarding than worshipping allah for a thousand months straight that have no Laylatul Qadr in them. Allahu Akbar! What is this type of opportunity Allah is giving us? From now, we want to prepare for Laylatul Qadr. Allah Azza wa Jal, in His infinite wisdom, and perfect knowledge he delayed Laylatul Qadr until the last 10 nights of Ramadan so that by the last 10 nights a believer is prepared and he is ready imagine you have the first 10 days and 10 nights to charge yourself up and to clean yourself to purify your nafs to get into that proper state and habit of worship So that when the last ten nights approach, Ramadan was all about that. It was all about seeking Laylatul Qadr, Allahu Akbar. So when the Prophet ﷺ, he used to excite his companions from the very beginning, telling them about Laylatul Qadr, then he would say, مَنْ حُرِمَ خَيْرَهَا فَقَدْ حُرِمْ Whoever is deprived of the goodness of Laylatul Qadr, and the goodness of Laylatul Qadr, is to be forgiven. of your sins that's just some of its goodness if you're deprived of that and the peace of allah said then such a person has been deprived of all forms of goodness we ask allah azza he that he enable us to take advantage of ramadan especially so lots of excitement at the beginning of this hadith concerning the arrival of ramadan And the end of this hadith, as you all heard, was terrifying. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam warned us that the one who neglects this month and fails to see the importance and value of this month, especially Laylatul Qadr, then such a person is upon a dangerous path. So we ask Allah azza wa jal to save us from heedlessness. And that's why it is very important to prepare for Ramadan. I just narrated to you a beautiful hadith that the Nabi ﷺ would say to his companions before the start of Ramadan in hope that hearts are excited and passionate to start this blessed month. And so we need to prepare, we need to prepare in order to avoid being disgraced by Allah as-Sughishal because the one who doesn't take advantage of this month is disgraced in the eyes. of allah and just like anything in life in order to be successful you must prepare we know this brothers and sisters in islam this is a principle in life in order to be successful in anything you do you must prepare right for example um if you have exams you have to prepare for that beforehand you all went through school perhaps some of our young youth are tuning in and they have exams coming up or they just finished exams you all know that you only achieve success in your exams if you're to prepare beforehand and if you had a meeting then you need to prepare beforehand an agenda you write in there what you want to discuss in the meeting and then that way your meeting will be productive and it will be successful imagine people rocked up to a meeting there's no agenda no idea what to discuss wallah people would be sitting around the table for hours and this meeting will be unsuccessful and productive so preparation is always the key to success if you have a job interview you have to prepare you get up early you wear the best of clothing you make dua to allah to make you successful in the job interview and then you go out to your job interview you have a lot a greater chance to be successful than being unsuccessful and even brothers and sisters in islam in matters of worship guess what the principle still applies In order to achieve success, one needs to be prepared, must prepare himself. I mean, look at the worship of Al-Hajj. Allah Azza wa Jal, He told us about the worship of Al-Hajj. وَتَزَوَّدُوا فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى Allah Azza wa Jal commanded and He said, تَزَوَّدُوا Be prepared, be prepared for Al-Hajj. For verily, the best of preparation is Al-Taqwa. Allahu Akbar. The best preparation for the grand worship of Al-Hajj is at Taqwa and the Taqwa lies in the heart. What is this Ayah teaching us? It's teaching us that the best way to prepare for Al-Hajj is to have Taqwa in the heart, to cleanse the heart from its filth and evilness. So if we prepare for Al-Hajj with Taqwa in the heart, That means taqwa in the heart is the best preparation for Ramadan and for az-zakat and for salat and for every type of worship and righteous deed we know about. The heart, Allahu Akbar. This is the greatest preparation, brothers and sisters in Islam. So many people now, just before Ramadan, are busy preparing the fridge, busy preparing meals and food, which is fine, no problems, because we still need to eat, right? We need to eat in Ramadan. And maybe if we can have some preparation beforehand, and with the intention, if you're preparing food now, preparing your fridge, half frying some foods and your rolls and whatever it is that people do in Ramadan and enjoy, if you're doing that, that now then i encourage you to do that with the intention of sparing up that time in ramadan to worship allah so we're all preparing people are preparing food people are preparing to buy clothing for al-aid gifts for al-aid and so on this is no problems it's a good preparation but more important than that is to prepare your heart for ramadan this is what is going to count brothers and sisters in islam You will not be held accountable on the Day of Judgment concerning how well you prepared your fridge for Ramadan. But what will make the greatest difference for our Ramadan, being successful or not, is what type of preparation you made in your heart. And imagine the Prophet ﷺ, just before Allah Azza wa Jal took him up to the heavens and gave him the commandment of the prayer. You all know the grand event of... Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj, you all know it, right? What happened before that Isra' wal-Mi'raj? Jibreel alayhi salam came to the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in his own house and opened up his chest, took out his heart, washed it with zamzam, washed it with water, filled it up with knowledge and hikmah and wisdom. Then he put his heart back and stitched it. And then he ﷺ was taken from Makkah to Baitul Maqdis, and then from there he was taken up to the heavens. Have you ever reflected over this narration? Why did Jibreel clean the heart of the Messenger ﷺ before he went up to Allah? This teaches you and I the preparation of the heart before meeting Allah Azza wa Jal, and in just a few days. We're going to meet a month that Allah has chosen for his slaves and given us as a favor and as a mercy and as a blessing. This is a month in which all the doors are going to be open. So we need to prepare ourselves with the meeting. We're going to meet Allah in this month. We're going to meet him in our Salat, in our Sujud. We want to talk to Allah. And it is not appropriate for a person to stand before Allah Azza wa Jal with a filthy, dirty heart. So we need to prepare it. We need to prepare the heart. The spiritual preparation for Ramadan is from the greatest preparations a person could ever do in life. So that's why we are saying the preparation of the heart. Brothers and sisters in Islam is going to determine whether you achieve a successful Ramadan or not. And that's why if you pay attention Allah Azza wa Jal gave us the month of Sha'ban before Ramadan which we are still living in its days. This month Allah Azza wa Jal gave it to us as a preparation. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to fast many days of this month and this is the month of the Quran. and this is the month of az-zakat and giving charity and goodness so exactly the deeds that are done in ramadan are also to be done in shaaban why is that in order to prepare for the month of ramadan and it's not too late we still have almost eight to nine to ten days left with us of shaaban so take advantage of them and prepare your heart and the way we're going to prepare our heart My brothers and my sisters in Islam is first and foremost to acknowledge that our hearts right now are broken. All of us now, the hearts are broken. They are damaged. They have been overwhelmed with sin and heedlessness and transgression and rebellion. The righteous sleeve of Allah, so to speak, should always, always acknowledge this about his heart. The heart is always broken and damaged and we have and when something is broken When something is damaged, we have to take it to the manufacturer, to the one who built this product in order to repair it, right? So, I have a remote here. If this remote was to get broken or malfunctions, I'm supposed to take it to the company that produced it, so that they can repair it for me. So, if our hearts are broken and they are ill, they are sick, they are damaged and blackened due to the sins and heedlessness where do we take the heart to repair it and to mend it rectify it and fix it where none other than the creator of the heart and that is allah azza wa shal only allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is able to mend the heart and purify it and fix it for us allahu akbar why is that because from his name subhanahu wa ta'ala is al-jabbar Al-Jabbar Subhanahu wa ta'ala, one of the meanings of the name of Allah Al-Jabbar is the one who mends, fixes, يجبر المنكسر, the one who rectifies the affairs in the situation of the one who has a broken heart due to sins and fitan and heedlessness. Allahu Akbar. And if you pay attention, The Prophet ﷺ every single day, more than many many times, he used to ask Allah ﷻ to mend his heart and to purify his heart. When he would say in his salat, This word, meaning, Oh Allah, mend my heart. Mend it. Fix it. purify it clean it subhanahu wa ta'ala allah is able to do so he used to say this in his sitting between the two sujud he would say was rectify my heart allahu akbar have you paid attention to this in your salat our messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam as he would do just before that when he would sit between the two sujud he would say This is a longer narration which had a couple of du'a, but one of them was, Oh Allah, rectify my heart. And so that is how we're going to purify the heart and prepare it for this grand occasion of Ramadan. By asking Allah Azza wa Jal, Al-Jabbar, to rectify the heart. We need to go back to the creator of the heart because He, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, is the only one who can fix the heart of the sleeves. Subhanallah, especially in today's world, in today's world it has become a very difficult place for so many of us to live and to keep up. Subhanallah, so many people are giving up on life due to the brokenness of their heart. They're giving up on life by suicide and other matters and this has become normalized. I mean if you check the Statistics of today, you find that it is exponentially rising suicide around the world. And this is not a solution. This is not a solution to the broken heart. The solution to the broken heart is to turn to Al-Jabbar. He is the one who can rectify the heart, not suicide. That's not going to fix your heart. In fact, that's going to make things... a lot worse afterwards. We ask Allah to bestow His mercy upon our brothers and sisters that have ended their lives in this manner. But dear brothers and sisters and young ones, every moment in life is an opportunity to purify the heart and to get close to Allah. And yes, life is tough and it's getting tougher. When the Prophet ﷺ mentioned, Every year that people would live would be much worse than the previous year. Imagine that. The fitan are going to be a lot. The corruption is going to be a lot. The injustice is going to be too much. Just living a simple, normal Muslim life, just that is going to be difficult. So, we're going to need a lot of Allah's support. Asking Him to rectify the heart. If the heart is broken, surely it will be broken. It will be damaged. The solution is to consistently ask Allah to repair it by saying, Ya Jabbar! Ujburna, O mender of the hearts, mend our heart and fix our heart. And other people in this very difficult life and world today have decided to surrender and give up to their desire and to their nafs. So the nafs continues to call us and invite us to ashr, to evilness, to sins, to azzina. to alcohol to al-haram to boyfriend and girlfriend relationships and nafs consistently does this and the social media that we have in our hands doesn't make life easier there's external shayateen that whisper into us and align with the internal shaytan we have encouraging us to do al haram because al haram is so so rampant out there so some of our youth have given up, they've surrendered to their sin and to their desire. And they have a broken heart as well. Their heart is broken. It's like they said, Oh sin, you are my imam. Yalla, lead me, take me wherever you want. And such people have given up on the path of Allah. Have given up on righteousness and repentance and seeking Allah's forgiveness. Because they feel as though they are hypocrites. I mean, I do a sin, I repent, I do a sin, I repent, and they gave up. It's like Sherpon convinced them, be ashamed of yourself. How can you stand before Allah in such a manner? Yalla, righteousness is not good for you. Go down the path of evilness. And when you reach the age of 70, inshallah, you'll make a tawbah, you'll do hajj, and things will be good. That's how Shaytan has convinced some of our brothers and sisters in Islam. So as a result, they've given up from a tawbah. And they've given into their evil desire and their nafs. وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ And such people possess broken hearts, damaged hearts. So for them there is also a solution. Turn back to Allah. He is the one who mends the broken heart. Say, O Allah, forgive me. Purify my heart. and beg him subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow you to live to witness the first night and the day of ramadan for indeed that's going to be a huge moment between you and allah to get things right in your life and you have 30 days and 30 nights of that to get things right between you and allah so ramadan fantastic opportunity for all of us but we need to i told you in order to be successful we need to purify the heart we need to prepare and the greatest preparation is the preparation of the heart and this is how we prepare the heart once again we said we need to acknowledge that it's broken we need to acknowledge it's broken and so therefore the first step is to turn to the one who owns our heart to the one who created it for he subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who can clean our heart and purify our heart and mend it and fix it and get it prepared and ready to meet the first night and the first day of Ramadan. Subhanallah, I ask Allah Azza wa Jal for goodness. My brothers and sisters in Islam, Ibn Rajab said, Iza awja'atka al-dhunubu fadawiha biraf'i yadin fi allayli wal layli muzlimu He said, Allahu Akbar, in beautiful words and poetry of his, he said, If sins have caused you tremendous pain and hurt, then treat it, cure it. How? بِرَفْعِ يَدٍ فِي اللَّيْلِ By raising your hand in the last third of the night, as the night is still and motionless and really, really dark. الله أكبر Abraja, برحمه الله, is suggesting to each and every single one of us that if experience pain spiritual pain because of our sins and heedlessness how many days since last Ramadan until now have gone by and we've missed Salat al-fajr on time how many days have gone by and we did not read much of the most beloved word to Allah and that is Al-Qur'an how many days have gone by since last Ramadan and now And we've committed sin after sin. We've lost count. We've lost count. We don't know how many we've done. So Ibn Rashad understands us, subhanAllah. He speaks our language of today. And he said if you've been caused, if you have felt and experienced pain in your heart due to the many sins and heedlessness, then treat it. You need to know that there is medicine, there is treatment. Right now, if you suffered an ailment or pain in your body, You'd go to the doctor and the doctor will diagnose what illness you have and then he'll recommend a treatment and how to deal with this with this illness and you'll be all ease and you'll listen and you'll take on board the advice of the doctor and you will not question. We need to have the same attitude and stronger than that when it comes to spiritual illnesses and diseases. Our heart right now is experiencing pain due to the sins and the heedlessness. So we need to seek a treatment just like we would for our body. We need to seek a treatment. We need to seek medicine. So what is the medicine of the broken heart? فَدَاوِهَا بِرَفْعِ يَدٍ فِي اللَّيْلِ And that is by raising the hand, especially in the last third of the night. الله أكبر. May Allah Azza wa Jal... grant forgiveness to Ibn Rajab. He is teaching us that the only way you can cure the pain that is in the heart due to sins and heedlessness is with a dua to the maker, to the creator Allah Azza wa Jal. And then he's teaching us take advantage of the night because a dua in the night time is most likely accepted as opposed to other times of the day. and by raising the hand. Because when the hand is raised while making dua, it even boosts its chances to be accepted. Allahu Akbar. So now, when we want to implement these words, I recommend for us all, brothers and sisters in Islam, that every night, we get up in the last third of the night. And if you're going to train yourself on this matter, then at least 10 to 15 minutes before Adhan al-Fajr. You're going to get up for Al-Fajr anyway. Might as well get up 10 minutes before, 15 minutes before, and walk towards Al-Wubu area. Imagine this. Everything is still. Everything is calm at this time. And my advice is don't touch the phone. As soon as you wake up, do not put your hands on the phone. Because if you do, automatically that becomes a distraction and it's like you've ruined that night subhanallah experience this brothers and sisters in islam don't touch the phone when you wake up 15 minutes before al-fajr and go straight towards a sink and make a lobo you make this while being aware that all the sins are being washed away with every drop of water that is coming off your body and allah sees you and he appreciates this moment of yours he even says to the angels look at this slave of mine he got up for my sake making wudu in a time where everyone is sleeping in a time where everyone is still snoring yet he woke up and imagine what gets you up at the time why would someone get up 15 minutes before al-fajr there can only be one reason And that is that person really got up for Allah, as-Sawajal. You know, who gets up 15 minutes before Allah, that? There's no work at this time, unless it's a rare thing that you have work at that time. There's no taking children to school at that time. There's no emails and phone calls at that time. Businesses are shut. Everything is closed. The one who gets up 15 minutes before Al-Fajr could have only got up for one reason and nothing else. He got up for Allah, nothing else. You see how beautiful this time is? It's actually the most sincere time of the day and the night. And you make wudu, and Allah sees this, and He appreciates it. And He says to the angels, look at this slave of mine, let him ask me. Ask me what do you like? And Allah says it twice, لِيَسْأَلَنِي مَا سَأَلَنِي فَهُوَ لَهُ مَا سَأَلَنِي فَهُوَ لَهُ Anything this slave of mine asks me, I'm going to grant him. Anything he asks, I'm going to grant him. Allah says it twice. The ulama said, that anything you ask Allah of all the matters Allah will give you and the second time anything you ask of hereafter matters then allah azawajal will also give you allahu akbar and after you make al wudu and you make a dhikr eight doors of the paradise are open you haven't even started the salah you haven't even said allahu akbar you haven't even gone into sujud yet you did not even ask allah to forgive you yet He just made wudu and said, أَشْهَدُ أَن لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَن مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ اللهم اجعلني من التوابين واجعلني من المتطهرين And almost all of a sudden, such a person is in a position where the... Eight doors of the heavens are open, the paradise are open, and he is told, enter whichever one of these doors you want. What a beautiful reward, brothers and sisters in Islam, subhanAllah. Afterwards, you head to your prayer area in the house and pray two rakaat. Pray two rakaat. And recite 10 ayat minimum. Recite 10 ayat. That's Surah Al-Fatiha and Surah Al-Ikhlas. 3 ayat. 7 plus 3, that's 10. Nabi ﷺ says anyone who does that, he will not be recorded from among the heedless. And then how beautiful is this? Beg Allah in that prayer. that he forgive you and purify the heart and rectify the heart for you that's the treatment that's how you treat the heart that's what ibn rajab was saying that if you're feeling pain in your heart due to the sins treat it by raising your hand in the middle of the night in the last third of the night while the night is still motionless dark pray your with it raise your hand Say, O Allah, grant me forgiveness, cleanse my heart, grant me the ability to witness Ramadan. Not only that, then ask Allah, grant me the strength that I worship you in Ramadan. Because some people just ask, O Allah, get me to Ramadan. What a type of man. Even the disbeliever, if Allah decreed for him, he'll witness Ramadan. But what does he benefit? Nothing. So in addition to this, ask Allah, O Allah, grant me the ability and the strength that I worship you during this blessed month of Ramadan. This is what is more important. And don't underestimate. One astaghfirullah. Just one astaghfirullah. O Allah, grant me forgiveness and mercy. One. Wallahi one is enough. to destroy an entire record and mountains and mountains of bad deeds major and minor public and private sins heedlessness sicknesses of the heart diseases of the heart one astaghfirullah that comes out from an honest sincere heart and by making this dua moments before adhan al-fajr this is the best time this is This helps you achieve that sincerity and honesty. One astaghfirullah could be more than enough to destroy mountains and records of bad deeds preparing you for the blessed month of Ramadan. Don't give up hope, brothers and sisters in Islam. Allah wants goodness for us. Allah wants goodness for us. Think good of Allah. Think bad of yourself. no problems but think good of allah you need to think bad of yourself you know i can't be sitting here and telling us all yeah we're all good think bad of yourself because the more you think bad of yourself the more you lower yourself the more you humble yourself that helps you achieve humility before allah so again think bad of yourself you know when i think of myself i think i am the slave that is sinful I think of myself as the slave that has been submerged in heedlessness, away from Allah, indulged in sins, sins that I acknowledge, sins I do I don't even know about. Think bad of yourself, drop yourself, lower yourself. Remember, this is before Allah. The more you think bad of yourself and you lower yourself in the sight of Allah, the more Allah raises you in His sight. That's what you need to do. Don't think of yourself anything. Don't, don't. Before Allah, Azza wa Jal, you are nothing. In fact, no matter how much worship you accumulate in your life, this will not be enough to admit you into the paradise and to earn your Allah's forgiveness and mercy. Won't be enough. Because how can it be when it is Allah who gave you the strength and the ability to worship Him? Allahu Akbar. So think bad of yourself when it comes to your relationship with Allah. and think the very best of Allah, think the best of Allah. Why did Allah choose for you to live up until this now, up until these days? And if Allah wills and He allows you to reach Ramadan, why you? Why so many people died from one last Ramadan until now? The opportunity of Ramadan has finished, no more. They can't take advantage of this year's Ramadan, those that are in their grave. So look at yourself and think, why did Allah give me that favor? Why did He extend my life? Who am I? What do I have? What's special about me? I don't know. Really, the answer is I don't know. If Allah Azza wa Jal allows us to live till Ramadan, I don't know. What is special about us? Why did Allah favour us? Why did He give us life? I don't know. What I know is I need to be grateful. I need to thank Allah Azza wa Jal's blessing upon me. That's all I know. And that's all I can teach you and tell you. Be grateful to Allah. Don't be silly and waste the opportunity. Wallahi don't. Millions of people in their grave right now would wish for one thing, and that is to have a chance just to smell the air that flows in the universe during these blessed days of Ramadan. Just to smell it and to say Astaghfirullah. on the first minute of Ramadan and then they would want to go back in their grief. That's the wish of dead people. Just give me life for one second to say Astaghfirullah. That's it. That's their wish. Imagine this. Who are you for Allah to grant you this opportunity if you lived to witness Ramadan? Isn't that something incredible? Isn't that something amazing? Who are you? Wallah, I don't know who we are. We're nothing. But this is Allah's generosity. That's His mercy. Allah Azza wa Jal is not generous upon us because we deserve it. No, no. We don't deserve anything. Lakin Allah Azza wa Jal deals with us according to His generosity. Allah Azza wa Jal is the most generous. That's why He gives us. If Allah gave us life until we visit Ramadan, what's your commitment between you and yourself right now to your Lord? Are you going to make the most of it? Are you going to thank him? How are you going to thank him? So all this talk now I'm giving you is a preparation. We want to prepare our hearts. We want to have the right attitude as we approach Ramadan. We want to have an attitude of gratitude. That's what we want. Be grateful. Be grateful, my brothers and my sisters in Islam. Wallahi, so many of us have become heedless to the blessings of Allah. We are experiencing the blessings of Allah on a daily basis and some of us have become bored of Allah's blessings. We ask Allah to save us from this heedless state. Wallah every blessing is an opportunity to gain ranks and hasanat in the sight of Allah. Not every blessing is not, it's not meant to be a moment. to enjoy life more and more no allah's blessings yes they allow us to enjoy life but the blessings of allah were not intended for that alone every blessing of allah upon us yes we may have a productive and a better life with these blessings but the main purpose of a blessing from allah was for you and i to earn closeness to allah's solution That's the point of a blessing. Allah Azza wa Jal, He says, كذلك يتم نعمته عليكم لعلكم تشكرون كذلك يتم نعمته عليكم Allah Azza wa Jal continues to favor you, continues to bestow His blessings and His favors upon you so that you can لعلكم تسلمون so that you may submit yourselves to Him in obedience. That's the point of a blessing. So if Ramadan is a blessing, and it's coming to us, our servitude to Allah, our obedience of Allah should increase. It should increase. And as we're coming towards the end of this lecture, which I hope you have taken certain points to find out how to prepare for this month spiritually, which type of dua to make, calling out to Allah through his name Al-Jabbar, taking advantage of the last third of the night when Allah comes down and he says, is there anyone that is seeking my forgiveness so that i may forgive him take advantage of these matters that's how we're going to get our hearts prepared also we discuss the attitude of gratitude Be grateful to Allah for this moment. Enter Ramadan while your nafs, bring it down. Think bad of yourself. Think of how much you are in need of this month to purify and cleanse yourself. A pure heart will be bonus on the day of judgment. Will be actually the only thing you need to enter the paradise. And then finally... As Ramadan begins, I want to share with you one final hadith. And that is that the Messenger ﷺ said that when Ramadan begins, from the very first night of Ramadan, which is the night before the day we fast. Pay attention, because a lot of people think the first day of Ramadan is the day we fast. No, you would have missed out on almost 12 hours of Ramadan. Ramadan begins. The night before the day we fast. That's why we pray Taraweeh before we fast. An angel calls out every day of Ramadan, يَا بَاغِيَ الْخَيْرِ أَقْبِلْ وَيَا بَاغِيَ الشَّرِّ أَقْسَرْ Every night, an angel, we don't hear him, but we definitely know this is his call because the Nabi ﷺ informed us of this matter. Every day of Ramadan, An angel says, O seeker of good, come forward. And O seeker of evil and sin, cut down, slow down, stop. And this hadith teaches us that during the days and the nights of Ramadan, people are of two types. There is a type of people that are eager and passionate to do good deeds. For such people, an angel calls them. He said, O people that enjoy doing good deeds. deeds and have a passion and excitement to do so come forward can you imagine subhanallah there are some people allah has blessed and put in their hearts the love to do good to fast to read the quran to do a zikr and so on they have a passion to do goodness the angel calls them and said come forth he tells them come forward this is your opportunity to do good increase in your goodness Read a lot more Quran than you usually do. Do a lot more dhikr than you usually do. Give sadaqah a lot more than you usually do. Make istighfar, astaghfirullah, a lot more than you usually do. Pray, pray a lot more than you usually do. Like taraweeh and al-witar and al-buha and so on. Pray, pray as soon as, pray a lot more. So an angel is saying, O seeker of good, aqbil, come forth. Do a lot more good, hurry up. This is your opportunity. It's like imagine, imagine I owned a gold store and I opened the door and I said to your brother, sister, enter my gold shop. Go get whatever you like. You only have one hour in there. Pick up as many items as you want. And then after the hour's done, you need to walk out of this place. Now, what would you do? How are you going to do? What are you going to do? Wallahi, you will not be distracted by anything. This is not a time to pick up calls. You won't even eat, even if you're hungry. Nothing you'll go in and take as much gold as you can and you walk out So an angel calls the people of good sister them enter into this golden not store golden month and take from its Hassan and its blessings as much as you can and There is another type of people in Ramadan They known as Barry a sure a person subhanallah that Allah has tested they have loved to do sins we ask allah to save us even those people the angel calls them out look at the mercy of allah it's not they're not neglected the angel calls them out oh person who seeks to do evil oh person who seeks to do evil some people love the sin they love to disobey allah they love to watch al-haram they desire this some people desire and love their cigarettes and the many forms of al-Haram that is out there. The angel hasn't left you out. By the permission of Allah, he's calling that person and system, Aqsir, stop, put an end to your sins, cut down, slow down. Because you're in a good month, you're in a golden month, you're in a month of virtue and blessings and mercy and forgiveness and repentance. If you don't stop your sins in this month and slow them down, when are you going to do so? The angel calls you and says, أَقْصِرْ And he says, أَمْسِكْ Hold back. Don't do the sin. You know, subhanAllah. Perhaps when Ramadan begins, say, Oh Allah, Oh Allah. Remove the desire and the love. for a sin from my heart and replace that love of sin with a love for Iman and goodness. And there is a beautiful dua for this in the Quran Allah says وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانِ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصِيَانَ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْرَّاشِدُونَ Say, Oh Allah, beautify! For my heart, Iman, and decorate it in my heart. And O Allah, allow my heart to dislike and hate sin and rebellion and transgression. Yes, you need to ask Allah to remove the love of sin from your heart and to replace that with the emotion of hate. Say, O Allah, allow me to hate sin. and rebellion and transgression and you ask allah to allow your heart to love iman and righteous deeds and to decorate and to decorate your heart with that beautiful dua and then say allah make me from among the guided ones allah is able to do so don't give up on yourself you the one who's addicted to sin the angel will say to you oh seeker of bad stop Stop it off. You're in a month of forgiveness and mercy. Ask Allah to replace that love of sin with a love for goodness. Doesn't matter. Let this dua roll on your tongue and in your heart for as long as you live. One year, two years, three years. Wallahi, if you are honest and sincere, wallahi, Allah Azza wa Jal is able, wallahi He is able to remove the addiction from your life. not only that but to replace it with goodness and the love to do good deeds so in the end of this webinar we ask allah to grant us good we ask allah to grant us goodness we ask him subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive our sins and our shortcomings um i have just received a couple of your questions brothers and sisters in islam on the chat here So we will make our effort to answer them in the last six minutes that I am here with you. A question said, what is the best dua? Allahu Akbar, what a beautiful question. I gave you a couple of good dua during this live. You can perhaps, inshallah, watch it again and learn them. But of course, the best of the best dua is the dua that the Messenger ﷺ used to make. And by far... It would be, Allahumma inni as'aluka minal khayri kullih. Oh Allah, I ask you to grant me the ability to do all forms of good. How good is that dua? Beautiful. So that's something that you can practice and perhaps look up and read the entire dua. Or generally stick to the dua that was narrated and done by the Messenger ﷺ. Second question we have here, please give me a dua to stay on deen. and not to skip a prayer allahu akbar we ask allah to keep us all steadfast on la ilaha illallah and to allow us to always pray and to never miss our prayers my brother my sister the best dua for this matter is to ask allah azza wa jal to say oh turner of the hearts O Turner of the hearts, grant my heart a steadfastness upon your deen, upon your religion. That is one of the most frequent dua of the Messenger ﷺ as narrated by Umm Salama radiyallahu anha. So look up that dua and make it frequent on your tongue just as it was frequent on the Messenger ﷺ's tongue. And that of course would also include that Allah Azza wa Jal keep you steadfast upon the prayers. The third question I have here in front of me, if we intend to do good now, should we wait for Ramadan or do them now? Fantastic question. The believer is always supposed to be in a state of intending goodness. Imam Ahmed, he gave advice to his son Abdullah, and this is profound advice, beautiful. He said to him, He said to him, Continue to intend goodness. Always be in a state where you're intending good. Always intend to worship Allah, intend to pray, intend to recite Quran, intend to give charity. Intend the goodness. What's the result? Because you will always be in a state of goodness, so long as you intend goodness. And of course, once you make an intention of good, it needs to be followed up with action. Right? So we know that there is an intention, then there is an action. So intend the good, and then act upon that intention. If you're able to do that, that's double reward. Reward for the action, reward for the intention. If you're unable to do the intention, and you are unable to do the righteous deed, then guess what? You are rewarded for the intention. And Nabi said, مَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كُتِبَتْ لَهُ حَسَنًا Whoever intended to do a good deed and ended up not doing the good deed, Allah would write for him a full good deed. How beautiful is this? So intend the good, yes. And of course, don't wait until Ramadan. Believe a Muslim is a sleeve of Allah. We worship Allah. in every day of the year until the day we die but in Ramadan increase because it's a special month right but our next question here is what's the good deed for the last third of the night there is nothing better than praying if you're able to pray because a salat combines every good deed within it in a salat there is Quran there is dhikr there is dua you There is istighfar. Even believe it or not, there's an element of hajj and umrah in the salat because whoever wants to do hajj and umrah has to go to the house of Allah. And whoever prays has to face the house of Allah. There's every goodness in a salat. There is tawheed. So by far that is the best deed to do in the last third of the night. And that's what the Nabi ﷺ used to do. And even a menstruating woman may say, Does that mean... I can't do the best deed and that is the prayer? Of course you're not allowed to pray. But that doesn't mean that the opportunity for good is closed in your face. A menstruating woman is also encouraged to get up in the last third of the night and do all other worships other than as-salat. So you may make istighfar, you may ask Allah, dua, reading Quran, that's fine. All that is permissible and that would be a means in how a woman... that is menstruating can utilize the last third of the night. We have another question here that says, if we struggle to do good after Ramadan, does it mean that your fasting wasn't accepted? No, it doesn't mean that. The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, they said a sign of goodness or a sign of acceptance is that you follow up the good with good, right? So, obviously in Ramadan, your good... deeds are going to be super super high that's what is expected and after Ramadan you're not your worship is not going to be like that in which it was in Ramadan it's not and you shouldn't because Ramadan is a month of opportunity so we we've been encouraged and told to give it the most we can even in the peace of Allah in the last 10 nights of Ramadan he wouldn't even sleep for one minute he'd stay awake you he can you feel a little bit later He'd bring his night to life. How do you bring the night to life? Not just being awake on social media, but to be awake in Salat and worship of Allah. So in Ramadan, we are expected to give it all we have of energy and strength to worship Allah. After Ramadan, that's not expected. You're going to drop in that worship. But the main thing is that you don't leave out the obligations. so if you're upon the obligations and strong and firm upon your obligations after ramadan that's an excellent sign that your ramadan inshallah was accepted if you're able to fast six days of shawwal that's a fantastic sign that your ramadan was most likely accepted so you want to keep that habit you want to keep a habit of good deeds after ramadan even if it's minimal nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam says the most beloved actions to allah are those that are done consistently even if they were minimal. أَدْوَمُهُ وَإِنْقَلْ So these would be good signs after Ramadan that your Ramadan was accepted. JazakumAllahu khayran brothers and sisters in Islam. We don't have any more questions. We ask Allah at the end of this seminar that He grant us forgiveness and acceptance. We ask Allah to allow us to reach the days of Ramadan, to enjoy its days and its nights. We ask Him to grant us the ability that we are able to worship him in these months, in this month. And we ask him subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept from us all. Jazakumullah khairan brothers and sisters in Islam. Wa sallallahu wa sallam wa baraka ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa barakatuh.

Ibn Rajab, one of the scholars of Islam, he said هذا الحديث أصل في تهنئة الناس بعضهم بعضا He said that this hadith is a fundamental hadith and it is evidence for why the believers are allowed to congratulate one another on the occasion of Ramadan and on the approach of this month. So the Prophet ﷺ used to congratulate his companions just before Ramadan entered as it is approaching. And he would share with them wonderful information about this month to get them eager and excited and ready.

And that's what we want to do. Let me share this hadith with you. The Prophet ﷺ used to say to the companions, قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانٍ شَهْرٌ مُبَارَكٌ Allah is the Greatest. He would say to the companions, Indeed, the month of Ramadan has come to you all.

It's at our doorsteps, only a few days away. And he'd say to them, It is a blessed month. And this could mean two things. Could mean that the month itself is blessed. And of course, indeed, it is blessed.

Every righteous deed we do, it is multiplied. The doors of goodness are open. The doors of the paradise and everything is open. And Shahru Mubarak, a blessed month, could also mean that it is a dua from the Messenger ﷺ to the believers, saying, O Allah, bless this month for them, and fill its days and its nights with barakah and blessing.

He ﷺ would then say, Allah ﷻ has prescribed upon you all fasting this blessed month, and this is the greatest deed. you can ever do in Ramadan and that is to fast its days. فيه تفتح أبواب الجنان During this month of Ramadan, all the gates of the paradise are open.

Imagine that, the eight gates of the paradise are all open. And this is teaching you and I something, that the gates of Allah عز و جل are open. There is no barrier between us and Allah عز و جل. There is no obstruction. between the sleeves and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala no matter how no matter what state this sleeve is in a sinner righteous poor rich old young whatever it is the doors of the paradise are open eight of them when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in other hadith he mentioned that the doors of the skies are open that is seven doors and he also said that abwabur rahma are open the doors of Allah azza wa jal's mercy are open can you imagine this The gates of the paradise, the doors of the heavens, the skies which are seven, and the doors of Allah's mercy, all of it opens up.

And in addition to this, وَتُغَلَّقُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَحِيمِ And all the gates of the hellfire, all seven of them, are locked, they are shut, they are sealed. Allahu Akbar, look at the mercy of Allah عز و جل giving the slaves the opportunity to come back to Allah عز و جل and earn goodness. All this, and Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم is sharing with his companions days before Ramadan, exciting them. making them passionate and eager for this month as you hear these ahadir and as you hear this type of information about the month are you eager is your heart opening up can you wait is there joy and excitement in the heart because that should be the case of the believers and then he sallallahu alaihi wasallam said what to and the devils are all chained up these are the wicked evil devils they are all chained up during this month So that means the evil whispering of the shaytan is going to be a lot less upon you and I.

Allahu Akbar. This is a mercy of Allah Azza wa Jal. All the devils are locked up. And you know, of course, the devils are of two types. There is a devil inside of us, which is Al-Qareen.

That one remains. He's the one who flows in your body like how the blood flows. That shaytan is always there. but his effect on you during ramadan would be dramatically reduced because as a person fasts the month of ramadan as a person fasts the month of ramadan he's hungry and he's thinking about that which is halal he's thinking about food so the idea is you'll be thinking about halal and you do not think about the desire when when someone is full and his belly is full he thinks about desire he thinks about al haram but when we are fasting the days of ramadan then the desire is suppressed it's reduced a person if he is desiring something he's desiring food and drink is thinking about that which is halal so the internal devil the qareen we have his evil whispering will dramatically reduce and a person will not have that eagerness to do any of the sins while haram we ask allah azza to protect us And the second type of devil that exists is the external one, the one that roams around.

Those external devils, they are the ones that are chained. This is what the Nabi ﷺ meant when he said that the devils are chained up. And of course they're chained up and so as a result a person now may focus on the worship, may focus on obedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And then the Prophet said, There is a night better than a thousand months. Within the month of Ramadan, there is a night that is much much better and a lot more rewarding than a thousand months. That is Laylatul Qadr. Laylatul Qadr, brothers and sisters in Islam.

What a fantastic opportunity that Allah grants the slaves. The Prophet used to inform the companions about Laylatul Qadr before the month of Ramadan began. You see, today our habit is when we approach the last 10 nights of Ramadan, we begin to discuss and we speak about Laylatul Qadr and making the most of it.

And that's good. Those lectures are required towards the end of the month. But can you imagine the Prophet ﷺ, who himself is upon goodness, and the companions all are in a good state and upon goodness.

He is... gearing them up and exciting them from the very beginning and sharing with them even before the first day of Ramadan begins telling them that in this month there is a night that is a lot greater and better in reward than a thousand months. A thousand months of worship. Imagine you worshipped Allah Azza wa Jal for one thousand months.

You worshipped him in its days and in its nights. Read the Quran. You prayed. he did every goodness you can think of and he did not do any sin no disobedience and he did not sleep in these thousand months guess what worshipping allah for one night that is which is found in the last 10 nights of ramadan one night a few hours of worship if it was accepted from you and i this would be more rewarding than worshipping allah for a thousand months straight that have no Laylatul Qadr in them.

Allahu Akbar! What is this type of opportunity Allah is giving us? From now, we want to prepare for Laylatul Qadr. Allah Azza wa Jal, in His infinite wisdom, and perfect knowledge he delayed Laylatul Qadr until the last 10 nights of Ramadan so that by the last 10 nights a believer is prepared and he is ready imagine you have the first 10 days and 10 nights to charge yourself up and to clean yourself to purify your nafs to get into that proper state and habit of worship So that when the last ten nights approach, Ramadan was all about that. It was all about seeking Laylatul Qadr, Allahu Akbar.

So when the Prophet ﷺ, he used to excite his companions from the very beginning, telling them about Laylatul Qadr, then he would say, مَنْ حُرِمَ خَيْرَهَا فَقَدْ حُرِمْ Whoever is deprived of the goodness of Laylatul Qadr, and the goodness of Laylatul Qadr, is to be forgiven. of your sins that's just some of its goodness if you're deprived of that and the peace of allah said then such a person has been deprived of all forms of goodness we ask allah azza he that he enable us to take advantage of ramadan especially so lots of excitement at the beginning of this hadith concerning the arrival of ramadan And the end of this hadith, as you all heard, was terrifying. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam warned us that the one who neglects this month and fails to see the importance and value of this month, especially Laylatul Qadr, then such a person is upon a dangerous path. So we ask Allah azza wa jal to save us from heedlessness.

And that's why it is very important to prepare for Ramadan. I just narrated to you a beautiful hadith that the Nabi ﷺ would say to his companions before the start of Ramadan in hope that hearts are excited and passionate to start this blessed month. And so we need to prepare, we need to prepare in order to avoid being disgraced by Allah as-Sughishal because the one who doesn't take advantage of this month is disgraced in the eyes.

of allah and just like anything in life in order to be successful you must prepare we know this brothers and sisters in islam this is a principle in life in order to be successful in anything you do you must prepare right for example um if you have exams you have to prepare for that beforehand you all went through school perhaps some of our young youth are tuning in and they have exams coming up or they just finished exams you all know that you only achieve success in your exams if you're to prepare beforehand and if you had a meeting then you need to prepare beforehand an agenda you write in there what you want to discuss in the meeting and then that way your meeting will be productive and it will be successful imagine people rocked up to a meeting there's no agenda no idea what to discuss wallah people would be sitting around the table for hours and this meeting will be unsuccessful and productive so preparation is always the key to success if you have a job interview you have to prepare you get up early you wear the best of clothing you make dua to allah to make you successful in the job interview and then you go out to your job interview you have a lot a greater chance to be successful than being unsuccessful and even brothers and sisters in islam in matters of worship guess what the principle still applies In order to achieve success, one needs to be prepared, must prepare himself. I mean, look at the worship of Al-Hajj. Allah Azza wa Jal, He told us about the worship of Al-Hajj.

وَتَزَوَّدُوا فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى Allah Azza wa Jal commanded and He said, تَزَوَّدُوا Be prepared, be prepared for Al-Hajj. For verily, the best of preparation is Al-Taqwa. Allahu Akbar. The best preparation for the grand worship of Al-Hajj is at Taqwa and the Taqwa lies in the heart. What is this Ayah teaching us?

It's teaching us that the best way to prepare for Al-Hajj is to have Taqwa in the heart, to cleanse the heart from its filth and evilness. So if we prepare for Al-Hajj with Taqwa in the heart, That means taqwa in the heart is the best preparation for Ramadan and for az-zakat and for salat and for every type of worship and righteous deed we know about. The heart, Allahu Akbar. This is the greatest preparation, brothers and sisters in Islam.

So many people now, just before Ramadan, are busy preparing the fridge, busy preparing meals and food, which is fine, no problems, because we still need to eat, right? We need to eat in Ramadan. And maybe if we can have some preparation beforehand, and with the intention, if you're preparing food now, preparing your fridge, half frying some foods and your rolls and whatever it is that people do in Ramadan and enjoy, if you're doing that, that now then i encourage you to do that with the intention of sparing up that time in ramadan to worship allah so we're all preparing people are preparing food people are preparing to buy clothing for al-aid gifts for al-aid and so on this is no problems it's a good preparation but more important than that is to prepare your heart for ramadan this is what is going to count brothers and sisters in islam You will not be held accountable on the Day of Judgment concerning how well you prepared your fridge for Ramadan.

But what will make the greatest difference for our Ramadan, being successful or not, is what type of preparation you made in your heart. And imagine the Prophet ﷺ, just before Allah Azza wa Jal took him up to the heavens and gave him the commandment of the prayer. You all know the grand event of...

Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj, you all know it, right? What happened before that Isra' wal-Mi'raj? Jibreel alayhi salam came to the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in his own house and opened up his chest, took out his heart, washed it with zamzam, washed it with water, filled it up with knowledge and hikmah and wisdom. Then he put his heart back and stitched it.

And then he ﷺ was taken from Makkah to Baitul Maqdis, and then from there he was taken up to the heavens. Have you ever reflected over this narration? Why did Jibreel clean the heart of the Messenger ﷺ before he went up to Allah?

This teaches you and I the preparation of the heart before meeting Allah Azza wa Jal, and in just a few days. We're going to meet a month that Allah has chosen for his slaves and given us as a favor and as a mercy and as a blessing. This is a month in which all the doors are going to be open.

So we need to prepare ourselves with the meeting. We're going to meet Allah in this month. We're going to meet him in our Salat, in our Sujud. We want to talk to Allah.

And it is not appropriate for a person to stand before Allah Azza wa Jal with a filthy, dirty heart. So we need to prepare it. We need to prepare the heart.

The spiritual preparation for Ramadan is from the greatest preparations a person could ever do in life. So that's why we are saying the preparation of the heart. Brothers and sisters in Islam is going to determine whether you achieve a successful Ramadan or not.

And that's why if you pay attention Allah Azza wa Jal gave us the month of Sha'ban before Ramadan which we are still living in its days. This month Allah Azza wa Jal gave it to us as a preparation. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to fast many days of this month and this is the month of the Quran.

and this is the month of az-zakat and giving charity and goodness so exactly the deeds that are done in ramadan are also to be done in shaaban why is that in order to prepare for the month of ramadan and it's not too late we still have almost eight to nine to ten days left with us of shaaban so take advantage of them and prepare your heart and the way we're going to prepare our heart My brothers and my sisters in Islam is first and foremost to acknowledge that our hearts right now are broken. All of us now, the hearts are broken. They are damaged.

They have been overwhelmed with sin and heedlessness and transgression and rebellion. The righteous sleeve of Allah, so to speak, should always, always acknowledge this about his heart. The heart is always broken and damaged and we have and when something is broken When something is damaged, we have to take it to the manufacturer, to the one who built this product in order to repair it, right?

So, I have a remote here. If this remote was to get broken or malfunctions, I'm supposed to take it to the company that produced it, so that they can repair it for me. So, if our hearts are broken and they are ill, they are sick, they are damaged and blackened due to the sins and heedlessness where do we take the heart to repair it and to mend it rectify it and fix it where none other than the creator of the heart and that is allah azza wa shal only allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is able to mend the heart and purify it and fix it for us allahu akbar why is that because from his name subhanahu wa ta'ala is al-jabbar Al-Jabbar Subhanahu wa ta'ala, one of the meanings of the name of Allah Al-Jabbar is the one who mends, fixes, يجبر المنكسر, the one who rectifies the affairs in the situation of the one who has a broken heart due to sins and fitan and heedlessness.

Allahu Akbar. And if you pay attention, The Prophet ﷺ every single day, more than many many times, he used to ask Allah ﷻ to mend his heart and to purify his heart. When he would say in his salat, This word, meaning, Oh Allah, mend my heart. Mend it.

Fix it. purify it clean it subhanahu wa ta'ala allah is able to do so he used to say this in his sitting between the two sujud he would say was rectify my heart allahu akbar have you paid attention to this in your salat our messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam as he would do just before that when he would sit between the two sujud he would say This is a longer narration which had a couple of du'a, but one of them was, Oh Allah, rectify my heart. And so that is how we're going to purify the heart and prepare it for this grand occasion of Ramadan.

By asking Allah Azza wa Jal, Al-Jabbar, to rectify the heart. We need to go back to the creator of the heart because He, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, is the only one who can fix the heart of the sleeves. Subhanallah, especially in today's world, in today's world it has become a very difficult place for so many of us to live and to keep up. Subhanallah, so many people are giving up on life due to the brokenness of their heart.

They're giving up on life by suicide and other matters and this has become normalized. I mean if you check the Statistics of today, you find that it is exponentially rising suicide around the world. And this is not a solution. This is not a solution to the broken heart.

The solution to the broken heart is to turn to Al-Jabbar. He is the one who can rectify the heart, not suicide. That's not going to fix your heart.

In fact, that's going to make things... a lot worse afterwards. We ask Allah to bestow His mercy upon our brothers and sisters that have ended their lives in this manner. But dear brothers and sisters and young ones, every moment in life is an opportunity to purify the heart and to get close to Allah.

And yes, life is tough and it's getting tougher. When the Prophet ﷺ mentioned, Every year that people would live would be much worse than the previous year. Imagine that.

The fitan are going to be a lot. The corruption is going to be a lot. The injustice is going to be too much. Just living a simple, normal Muslim life, just that is going to be difficult.

So, we're going to need a lot of Allah's support. Asking Him to rectify the heart. If the heart is broken, surely it will be broken. It will be damaged. The solution is to consistently ask Allah to repair it by saying, Ya Jabbar!

Ujburna, O mender of the hearts, mend our heart and fix our heart. And other people in this very difficult life and world today have decided to surrender and give up to their desire and to their nafs. So the nafs continues to call us and invite us to ashr, to evilness, to sins, to azzina. to alcohol to al-haram to boyfriend and girlfriend relationships and nafs consistently does this and the social media that we have in our hands doesn't make life easier there's external shayateen that whisper into us and align with the internal shaytan we have encouraging us to do al haram because al haram is so so rampant out there so some of our youth have given up, they've surrendered to their sin and to their desire.

And they have a broken heart as well. Their heart is broken. It's like they said, Oh sin, you are my imam. Yalla, lead me, take me wherever you want. And such people have given up on the path of Allah.

Have given up on righteousness and repentance and seeking Allah's forgiveness. Because they feel as though they are hypocrites. I mean, I do a sin, I repent, I do a sin, I repent, and they gave up.

It's like Sherpon convinced them, be ashamed of yourself. How can you stand before Allah in such a manner? Yalla, righteousness is not good for you.

Go down the path of evilness. And when you reach the age of 70, inshallah, you'll make a tawbah, you'll do hajj, and things will be good. That's how Shaytan has convinced some of our brothers and sisters in Islam.

So as a result, they've given up from a tawbah. And they've given into their evil desire and their nafs. وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ And such people possess broken hearts, damaged hearts.

So for them there is also a solution. Turn back to Allah. He is the one who mends the broken heart.

Say, O Allah, forgive me. Purify my heart. and beg him subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow you to live to witness the first night and the day of ramadan for indeed that's going to be a huge moment between you and allah to get things right in your life and you have 30 days and 30 nights of that to get things right between you and allah so ramadan fantastic opportunity for all of us but we need to i told you in order to be successful we need to purify the heart we need to prepare and the greatest preparation is the preparation of the heart and this is how we prepare the heart once again we said we need to acknowledge that it's broken we need to acknowledge it's broken and so therefore the first step is to turn to the one who owns our heart to the one who created it for he subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who can clean our heart and purify our heart and mend it and fix it and get it prepared and ready to meet the first night and the first day of Ramadan. Subhanallah, I ask Allah Azza wa Jal for goodness. My brothers and sisters in Islam, Ibn Rajab said, Iza awja'atka al-dhunubu fadawiha biraf'i yadin fi allayli wal layli muzlimu He said, Allahu Akbar, in beautiful words and poetry of his, he said, If sins have caused you tremendous pain and hurt, then treat it, cure it.

How? بِرَفْعِ يَدٍ فِي اللَّيْلِ By raising your hand in the last third of the night, as the night is still and motionless and really, really dark. الله أكبر Abraja, برحمه الله, is suggesting to each and every single one of us that if experience pain spiritual pain because of our sins and heedlessness how many days since last Ramadan until now have gone by and we've missed Salat al-fajr on time how many days have gone by and we did not read much of the most beloved word to Allah and that is Al-Qur'an how many days have gone by since last Ramadan and now And we've committed sin after sin. We've lost count. We've lost count.

We don't know how many we've done. So Ibn Rashad understands us, subhanAllah. He speaks our language of today. And he said if you've been caused, if you have felt and experienced pain in your heart due to the many sins and heedlessness, then treat it. You need to know that there is medicine, there is treatment.

Right now, if you suffered an ailment or pain in your body, You'd go to the doctor and the doctor will diagnose what illness you have and then he'll recommend a treatment and how to deal with this with this illness and you'll be all ease and you'll listen and you'll take on board the advice of the doctor and you will not question. We need to have the same attitude and stronger than that when it comes to spiritual illnesses and diseases. Our heart right now is experiencing pain due to the sins and the heedlessness. So we need to seek a treatment just like we would for our body.

We need to seek a treatment. We need to seek medicine. So what is the medicine of the broken heart? فَدَاوِهَا بِرَفْعِ يَدٍ فِي اللَّيْلِ And that is by raising the hand, especially in the last third of the night.

الله أكبر. May Allah Azza wa Jal... grant forgiveness to Ibn Rajab. He is teaching us that the only way you can cure the pain that is in the heart due to sins and heedlessness is with a dua to the maker, to the creator Allah Azza wa Jal.

And then he's teaching us take advantage of the night because a dua in the night time is most likely accepted as opposed to other times of the day. and by raising the hand. Because when the hand is raised while making dua, it even boosts its chances to be accepted.

Allahu Akbar. So now, when we want to implement these words, I recommend for us all, brothers and sisters in Islam, that every night, we get up in the last third of the night. And if you're going to train yourself on this matter, then at least 10 to 15 minutes before Adhan al-Fajr.

You're going to get up for Al-Fajr anyway. Might as well get up 10 minutes before, 15 minutes before, and walk towards Al-Wubu area. Imagine this. Everything is still.

Everything is calm at this time. And my advice is don't touch the phone. As soon as you wake up, do not put your hands on the phone. Because if you do, automatically that becomes a distraction and it's like you've ruined that night subhanallah experience this brothers and sisters in islam don't touch the phone when you wake up 15 minutes before al-fajr and go straight towards a sink and make a lobo you make this while being aware that all the sins are being washed away with every drop of water that is coming off your body and allah sees you and he appreciates this moment of yours he even says to the angels look at this slave of mine he got up for my sake making wudu in a time where everyone is sleeping in a time where everyone is still snoring yet he woke up and imagine what gets you up at the time why would someone get up 15 minutes before al-fajr there can only be one reason And that is that person really got up for Allah, as-Sawajal. You know, who gets up 15 minutes before Allah, that?

There's no work at this time, unless it's a rare thing that you have work at that time. There's no taking children to school at that time. There's no emails and phone calls at that time.

Businesses are shut. Everything is closed. The one who gets up 15 minutes before Al-Fajr could have only got up for one reason and nothing else.

He got up for Allah, nothing else. You see how beautiful this time is? It's actually the most sincere time of the day and the night. And you make wudu, and Allah sees this, and He appreciates it. And He says to the angels, look at this slave of mine, let him ask me.

Ask me what do you like? And Allah says it twice, لِيَسْأَلَنِي مَا سَأَلَنِي فَهُوَ لَهُ مَا سَأَلَنِي فَهُوَ لَهُ Anything this slave of mine asks me, I'm going to grant him. Anything he asks, I'm going to grant him.

Allah says it twice. The ulama said, that anything you ask Allah of all the matters Allah will give you and the second time anything you ask of hereafter matters then allah azawajal will also give you allahu akbar and after you make al wudu and you make a dhikr eight doors of the paradise are open you haven't even started the salah you haven't even said allahu akbar you haven't even gone into sujud yet you did not even ask allah to forgive you yet He just made wudu and said, أَشْهَدُ أَن لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَن مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ اللهم اجعلني من التوابين واجعلني من المتطهرين And almost all of a sudden, such a person is in a position where the... Eight doors of the heavens are open, the paradise are open, and he is told, enter whichever one of these doors you want.

What a beautiful reward, brothers and sisters in Islam, subhanAllah. Afterwards, you head to your prayer area in the house and pray two rakaat. Pray two rakaat. And recite 10 ayat minimum.

Recite 10 ayat. That's Surah Al-Fatiha and Surah Al-Ikhlas. 3 ayat.

7 plus 3, that's 10. Nabi ﷺ says anyone who does that, he will not be recorded from among the heedless. And then how beautiful is this? Beg Allah in that prayer. that he forgive you and purify the heart and rectify the heart for you that's the treatment that's how you treat the heart that's what ibn rajab was saying that if you're feeling pain in your heart due to the sins treat it by raising your hand in the middle of the night in the last third of the night while the night is still motionless dark pray your with it raise your hand Say, O Allah, grant me forgiveness, cleanse my heart, grant me the ability to witness Ramadan.

Not only that, then ask Allah, grant me the strength that I worship you in Ramadan. Because some people just ask, O Allah, get me to Ramadan. What a type of man.

Even the disbeliever, if Allah decreed for him, he'll witness Ramadan. But what does he benefit? Nothing.

So in addition to this, ask Allah, O Allah, grant me the ability and the strength that I worship you during this blessed month of Ramadan. This is what is more important. And don't underestimate. One astaghfirullah. Just one astaghfirullah.

O Allah, grant me forgiveness and mercy. One. Wallahi one is enough.

to destroy an entire record and mountains and mountains of bad deeds major and minor public and private sins heedlessness sicknesses of the heart diseases of the heart one astaghfirullah that comes out from an honest sincere heart and by making this dua moments before adhan al-fajr this is the best time this is This helps you achieve that sincerity and honesty. One astaghfirullah could be more than enough to destroy mountains and records of bad deeds preparing you for the blessed month of Ramadan. Don't give up hope, brothers and sisters in Islam.

Allah wants goodness for us. Allah wants goodness for us. Think good of Allah. Think bad of yourself. no problems but think good of allah you need to think bad of yourself you know i can't be sitting here and telling us all yeah we're all good think bad of yourself because the more you think bad of yourself the more you lower yourself the more you humble yourself that helps you achieve humility before allah so again think bad of yourself you know when i think of myself i think i am the slave that is sinful I think of myself as the slave that has been submerged in heedlessness, away from Allah, indulged in sins, sins that I acknowledge, sins I do I don't even know about.

Think bad of yourself, drop yourself, lower yourself. Remember, this is before Allah. The more you think bad of yourself and you lower yourself in the sight of Allah, the more Allah raises you in His sight.

That's what you need to do. Don't think of yourself anything. Don't, don't.

Before Allah, Azza wa Jal, you are nothing. In fact, no matter how much worship you accumulate in your life, this will not be enough to admit you into the paradise and to earn your Allah's forgiveness and mercy. Won't be enough.

Because how can it be when it is Allah who gave you the strength and the ability to worship Him? Allahu Akbar. So think bad of yourself when it comes to your relationship with Allah. and think the very best of Allah, think the best of Allah.

Why did Allah choose for you to live up until this now, up until these days? And if Allah wills and He allows you to reach Ramadan, why you? Why so many people died from one last Ramadan until now? The opportunity of Ramadan has finished, no more. They can't take advantage of this year's Ramadan, those that are in their grave.

So look at yourself and think, why did Allah give me that favor? Why did He extend my life? Who am I? What do I have?

What's special about me? I don't know. Really, the answer is I don't know. If Allah Azza wa Jal allows us to live till Ramadan, I don't know. What is special about us?

Why did Allah favour us? Why did He give us life? I don't know.

What I know is I need to be grateful. I need to thank Allah Azza wa Jal's blessing upon me. That's all I know. And that's all I can teach you and tell you. Be grateful to Allah.

Don't be silly and waste the opportunity. Wallahi don't. Millions of people in their grave right now would wish for one thing, and that is to have a chance just to smell the air that flows in the universe during these blessed days of Ramadan. Just to smell it and to say Astaghfirullah. on the first minute of Ramadan and then they would want to go back in their grief.

That's the wish of dead people. Just give me life for one second to say Astaghfirullah. That's it. That's their wish.

Imagine this. Who are you for Allah to grant you this opportunity if you lived to witness Ramadan? Isn't that something incredible? Isn't that something amazing? Who are you?

Wallah, I don't know who we are. We're nothing. But this is Allah's generosity.

That's His mercy. Allah Azza wa Jal is not generous upon us because we deserve it. No, no.

We don't deserve anything. Lakin Allah Azza wa Jal deals with us according to His generosity. Allah Azza wa Jal is the most generous.

That's why He gives us. If Allah gave us life until we visit Ramadan, what's your commitment between you and yourself right now to your Lord? Are you going to make the most of it? Are you going to thank him? How are you going to thank him?

So all this talk now I'm giving you is a preparation. We want to prepare our hearts. We want to have the right attitude as we approach Ramadan.

We want to have an attitude of gratitude. That's what we want. Be grateful.

Be grateful, my brothers and my sisters in Islam. Wallahi, so many of us have become heedless to the blessings of Allah. We are experiencing the blessings of Allah on a daily basis and some of us have become bored of Allah's blessings. We ask Allah to save us from this heedless state.

Wallah every blessing is an opportunity to gain ranks and hasanat in the sight of Allah. Not every blessing is not, it's not meant to be a moment. to enjoy life more and more no allah's blessings yes they allow us to enjoy life but the blessings of allah were not intended for that alone every blessing of allah upon us yes we may have a productive and a better life with these blessings but the main purpose of a blessing from allah was for you and i to earn closeness to allah's solution That's the point of a blessing. Allah Azza wa Jal, He says, كذلك يتم نعمته عليكم لعلكم تشكرون كذلك يتم نعمته عليكم Allah Azza wa Jal continues to favor you, continues to bestow His blessings and His favors upon you so that you can لعلكم تسلمون so that you may submit yourselves to Him in obedience.

That's the point of a blessing. So if Ramadan is a blessing, and it's coming to us, our servitude to Allah, our obedience of Allah should increase. It should increase. And as we're coming towards the end of this lecture, which I hope you have taken certain points to find out how to prepare for this month spiritually, which type of dua to make, calling out to Allah through his name Al-Jabbar, taking advantage of the last third of the night when Allah comes down and he says, is there anyone that is seeking my forgiveness so that i may forgive him take advantage of these matters that's how we're going to get our hearts prepared also we discuss the attitude of gratitude Be grateful to Allah for this moment.

Enter Ramadan while your nafs, bring it down. Think bad of yourself. Think of how much you are in need of this month to purify and cleanse yourself.

A pure heart will be bonus on the day of judgment. Will be actually the only thing you need to enter the paradise. And then finally... As Ramadan begins, I want to share with you one final hadith.

And that is that the Messenger ﷺ said that when Ramadan begins, from the very first night of Ramadan, which is the night before the day we fast. Pay attention, because a lot of people think the first day of Ramadan is the day we fast. No, you would have missed out on almost 12 hours of Ramadan.

Ramadan begins. The night before the day we fast. That's why we pray Taraweeh before we fast.

An angel calls out every day of Ramadan, يَا بَاغِيَ الْخَيْرِ أَقْبِلْ وَيَا بَاغِيَ الشَّرِّ أَقْسَرْ Every night, an angel, we don't hear him, but we definitely know this is his call because the Nabi ﷺ informed us of this matter. Every day of Ramadan, An angel says, O seeker of good, come forward. And O seeker of evil and sin, cut down, slow down, stop.

And this hadith teaches us that during the days and the nights of Ramadan, people are of two types. There is a type of people that are eager and passionate to do good deeds. For such people, an angel calls them.

He said, O people that enjoy doing good deeds. deeds and have a passion and excitement to do so come forward can you imagine subhanallah there are some people allah has blessed and put in their hearts the love to do good to fast to read the quran to do a zikr and so on they have a passion to do goodness the angel calls them and said come forth he tells them come forward this is your opportunity to do good increase in your goodness Read a lot more Quran than you usually do. Do a lot more dhikr than you usually do.

Give sadaqah a lot more than you usually do. Make istighfar, astaghfirullah, a lot more than you usually do. Pray, pray a lot more than you usually do.

Like taraweeh and al-witar and al-buha and so on. Pray, pray as soon as, pray a lot more. So an angel is saying, O seeker of good, aqbil, come forth.

Do a lot more good, hurry up. This is your opportunity. It's like imagine, imagine I owned a gold store and I opened the door and I said to your brother, sister, enter my gold shop. Go get whatever you like. You only have one hour in there.

Pick up as many items as you want. And then after the hour's done, you need to walk out of this place. Now, what would you do? How are you going to do?

What are you going to do? Wallahi, you will not be distracted by anything. This is not a time to pick up calls. You won't even eat, even if you're hungry.

Nothing you'll go in and take as much gold as you can and you walk out So an angel calls the people of good sister them enter into this golden not store golden month and take from its Hassan and its blessings as much as you can and There is another type of people in Ramadan They known as Barry a sure a person subhanallah that Allah has tested they have loved to do sins we ask allah to save us even those people the angel calls them out look at the mercy of allah it's not they're not neglected the angel calls them out oh person who seeks to do evil oh person who seeks to do evil some people love the sin they love to disobey allah they love to watch al-haram they desire this some people desire and love their cigarettes and the many forms of al-Haram that is out there. The angel hasn't left you out. By the permission of Allah, he's calling that person and system, Aqsir, stop, put an end to your sins, cut down, slow down. Because you're in a good month, you're in a golden month, you're in a month of virtue and blessings and mercy and forgiveness and repentance.

If you don't stop your sins in this month and slow them down, when are you going to do so? The angel calls you and says, أَقْصِرْ And he says, أَمْسِكْ Hold back. Don't do the sin. You know, subhanAllah.

Perhaps when Ramadan begins, say, Oh Allah, Oh Allah. Remove the desire and the love. for a sin from my heart and replace that love of sin with a love for Iman and goodness. And there is a beautiful dua for this in the Quran Allah says وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانِ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصِيَانَ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْرَّاشِدُونَ Say, Oh Allah, beautify!

For my heart, Iman, and decorate it in my heart. And O Allah, allow my heart to dislike and hate sin and rebellion and transgression. Yes, you need to ask Allah to remove the love of sin from your heart and to replace that with the emotion of hate.

Say, O Allah, allow me to hate sin. and rebellion and transgression and you ask allah to allow your heart to love iman and righteous deeds and to decorate and to decorate your heart with that beautiful dua and then say allah make me from among the guided ones allah is able to do so don't give up on yourself you the one who's addicted to sin the angel will say to you oh seeker of bad stop Stop it off. You're in a month of forgiveness and mercy.

Ask Allah to replace that love of sin with a love for goodness. Doesn't matter. Let this dua roll on your tongue and in your heart for as long as you live. One year, two years, three years.

Wallahi, if you are honest and sincere, wallahi, Allah Azza wa Jal is able, wallahi He is able to remove the addiction from your life. not only that but to replace it with goodness and the love to do good deeds so in the end of this webinar we ask allah to grant us good we ask allah to grant us goodness we ask him subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive our sins and our shortcomings um i have just received a couple of your questions brothers and sisters in islam on the chat here So we will make our effort to answer them in the last six minutes that I am here with you. A question said, what is the best dua? Allahu Akbar, what a beautiful question. I gave you a couple of good dua during this live.

You can perhaps, inshallah, watch it again and learn them. But of course, the best of the best dua is the dua that the Messenger ﷺ used to make. And by far...

It would be, Allahumma inni as'aluka minal khayri kullih. Oh Allah, I ask you to grant me the ability to do all forms of good. How good is that dua?

Beautiful. So that's something that you can practice and perhaps look up and read the entire dua. Or generally stick to the dua that was narrated and done by the Messenger ﷺ.

Second question we have here, please give me a dua to stay on deen. and not to skip a prayer allahu akbar we ask allah to keep us all steadfast on la ilaha illallah and to allow us to always pray and to never miss our prayers my brother my sister the best dua for this matter is to ask allah azza wa jal to say oh turner of the hearts O Turner of the hearts, grant my heart a steadfastness upon your deen, upon your religion. That is one of the most frequent dua of the Messenger ﷺ as narrated by Umm Salama radiyallahu anha. So look up that dua and make it frequent on your tongue just as it was frequent on the Messenger ﷺ's tongue. And that of course would also include that Allah Azza wa Jal keep you steadfast upon the prayers.

The third question I have here in front of me, if we intend to do good now, should we wait for Ramadan or do them now? Fantastic question. The believer is always supposed to be in a state of intending goodness.

Imam Ahmed, he gave advice to his son Abdullah, and this is profound advice, beautiful. He said to him, He said to him, Continue to intend goodness. Always be in a state where you're intending good. Always intend to worship Allah, intend to pray, intend to recite Quran, intend to give charity.

Intend the goodness. What's the result? Because you will always be in a state of goodness, so long as you intend goodness. And of course, once you make an intention of good, it needs to be followed up with action. Right?

So we know that there is an intention, then there is an action. So intend the good, and then act upon that intention. If you're able to do that, that's double reward. Reward for the action, reward for the intention. If you're unable to do the intention, and you are unable to do the righteous deed, then guess what?

You are rewarded for the intention. And Nabi said, مَنْ هَمَّ بِحَسَنَةٍ فَلَمْ يَعْمَلْهَا كُتِبَتْ لَهُ حَسَنًا Whoever intended to do a good deed and ended up not doing the good deed, Allah would write for him a full good deed. How beautiful is this?

So intend the good, yes. And of course, don't wait until Ramadan. Believe a Muslim is a sleeve of Allah. We worship Allah.

in every day of the year until the day we die but in Ramadan increase because it's a special month right but our next question here is what's the good deed for the last third of the night there is nothing better than praying if you're able to pray because a salat combines every good deed within it in a salat there is Quran there is dhikr there is dua you There is istighfar. Even believe it or not, there's an element of hajj and umrah in the salat because whoever wants to do hajj and umrah has to go to the house of Allah. And whoever prays has to face the house of Allah.

There's every goodness in a salat. There is tawheed. So by far that is the best deed to do in the last third of the night. And that's what the Nabi ﷺ used to do.

And even a menstruating woman may say, Does that mean... I can't do the best deed and that is the prayer? Of course you're not allowed to pray. But that doesn't mean that the opportunity for good is closed in your face. A menstruating woman is also encouraged to get up in the last third of the night and do all other worships other than as-salat.

So you may make istighfar, you may ask Allah, dua, reading Quran, that's fine. All that is permissible and that would be a means in how a woman... that is menstruating can utilize the last third of the night. We have another question here that says, if we struggle to do good after Ramadan, does it mean that your fasting wasn't accepted?

No, it doesn't mean that. The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, they said a sign of goodness or a sign of acceptance is that you follow up the good with good, right? So, obviously in Ramadan, your good...

deeds are going to be super super high that's what is expected and after Ramadan you're not your worship is not going to be like that in which it was in Ramadan it's not and you shouldn't because Ramadan is a month of opportunity so we we've been encouraged and told to give it the most we can even in the peace of Allah in the last 10 nights of Ramadan he wouldn't even sleep for one minute he'd stay awake you he can you feel a little bit later He'd bring his night to life. How do you bring the night to life? Not just being awake on social media, but to be awake in Salat and worship of Allah.

So in Ramadan, we are expected to give it all we have of energy and strength to worship Allah. After Ramadan, that's not expected. You're going to drop in that worship.

But the main thing is that you don't leave out the obligations. so if you're upon the obligations and strong and firm upon your obligations after ramadan that's an excellent sign that your ramadan inshallah was accepted if you're able to fast six days of shawwal that's a fantastic sign that your ramadan was most likely accepted so you want to keep that habit you want to keep a habit of good deeds after ramadan even if it's minimal nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam says the most beloved actions to allah are those that are done consistently even if they were minimal. أَدْوَمُهُ وَإِنْقَلْ So these would be good signs after Ramadan that your Ramadan was accepted. JazakumAllahu khayran brothers and sisters in Islam.

We don't have any more questions. We ask Allah at the end of this seminar that He grant us forgiveness and acceptance. We ask Allah to allow us to reach the days of Ramadan, to enjoy its days and its nights.

We ask Him to grant us the ability that we are able to worship him in these months, in this month. And we ask him subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept from us all. Jazakumullah khairan brothers and sisters in Islam.

Wa sallallahu wa sallam wa baraka ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa barakatuh.

Transcript for:Preparing Spiritually for Ramadan

Transcript for:
Preparing Spiritually for Ramadan