Ramadan 2010 – Durban – Reminders – Day 20

Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu lillahi wa kafa wa sallahu wa Sallim wa barik ala iva de Medina.

In the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala Most Gracious, Most Merciful All praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Taala blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to grant us every form of goodness, Masha Allah.

Allah, Allah beloved brothers and sisters, dearest listeners, Mashallah, this evening we have commenced and completed the 21st part of the Quran. inshallah, from tomorrow evening, there will be several brothers who will be going into aitikaf and we make Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to Allah to Allah subhanho wa Taala that it is made easy for them, and we ask them also to be us in their to us.

In the opening verses of the recitation that we commenced this evening, Allah subhanho wa Taala has made mention of a very powerful verse that I'm sure a lot of us would know parts of it of by heart, because it is repeated every Friday almost every Friday. Allah subhanho wa Taala says autonoma de la camino kita Bhima akima Sala, in la sala. And in fact,

he will

go

read that which has been revealed to you by Europe

and establish Salah for definitely the establishment of Salah will prohibit immorality and evil.

And I'd like to speak about both of these points which are mentioned in this verse. The recitation of the Quran if we read it properly, and if we try our best to understand the message in the Quran, it will naturally have an impact on our Eman And we will be from amongst those who established the salah.

And if we establish our Salah correctly, we should automatically be from the from amongst those who will be protected from immorality. One might ask how it is a very very big topic. It's a large topic to discuss right now. But the gist of it, Salah is five times a day, five times a day a Muslim is trained to stand on one spot discipline. A Muslim is trained to look at one sports discipline. So naturally outside Salah if we are trained five times a day to look only way Allah has instructed when we are outside Salah we will only look when Allah has instructed. But if in our Salah, there is no concentration and we are gazing this way and that way a sound is in that direction and we happen

to peep and after a while we look at our clock to see what time it is, then what do we expect with the control of our gaze outside Salah.

So naturally, we would appreciate the gifts of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah you see in the masjid when we are reading our Salah, there's nothing haram on the walls or there is nothing prohibited generally to look at. But within Salah were instructed not to look anywhere besides the place of frustration. And that is in order, obviously for concentration or purposes and so on. But together with that we are disciplining ourselves. The same applies with food and drink whilst in Salah, we're not allowed to drink, we're not allowed to eat anything. In fact, if there is a piece of food in our mouths, there are rules governing what to do with it.

And this would naturally make us from amongst those whom when we are outside Salah, we appreciate what is permissible and we abstained from that which is prohibited. So if we are to establish Salah correctly,

we will be able to lead our lives in a beautiful manner. A person who is used to getting up or Salatin and the person who reads Salah Tunisia at night, these two Salawat they will help us get up early and be punctual. And Allah subhanho wa Taala through his divine wisdom has kept some Salawat with a very short time within which we should fulfill them. And others have a slightly broader time. That should make us as Muslims so disciplined that we understand the appointments we have, sometimes we need to be there ahead of time on time. And sometimes if it is a friend or someone close to us, we have a leeway within the space of half an hour an hour and so on. We would be making ourselves

available for the appointment or what have you. However, when it comes to the muslimeen and we've got to mention this again. The lesson is for myself as well. We find ourselves

The worst when it comes to appointments. If someone who is a Muslim tells you, I'll see you at nine, probably by 10, he's leaving his home. I hope that's not the case in our societies. But generally we've heard of this type of behavior that Allah Subhana Allah to Allah protect us and grant us the improvement in this regard. That would show that we are weak with our Salah, because Salah is such that when we hear the air then there is a space of time between the man and the father of Salah getting up that space of time, we should be making our way to the masjid, we should be preparing for the Salah arrive 510 minutes in advance, have a seat and wait prepare ourselves amazing. If that is

the case, and we do do this for every Salah it would be very easy for us to meet any appointment in our lives, where Allah Subhana Allah to Allah grant us the full benefit of Salah that which is spiritual, and that which will help us even through our day to day lives. So that is a very powerful verse. It's a topic on its own. I've just mentioned to you the gist of it.

Then Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of how this world is actually a deception. A lot of people have misunderstood this world, we as Muslims should understand that. The Life After Death is the eternal life. And this is why we make mention of the definition of death. Some say it's the end of life, but to the muslimeen it's the beginning of that life which will never end. Death is the beginning of the life that has no death after that. So we ask Allah Subhana Allah to grant us the understanding of this as well Allah says wama Javi Hill higher to dunya in LA Allahu Allah, or in a de la la he here.

Allah says this life of the dunya is nothing but amusement and pastime, and the life after death, that is the real life. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us prepare for it. Once there was a man who had described very beautifully saying that when we are asleep, when we are asleep, we feel in our dreams as though we are living reality. But the truth is, when we get up we realize there was nothing It was just a dream. One wonders when we are leading this life. When we actually die, we will wake up to the reality that this life was just a pastime amusement, now we are in the real life with Allah subhanho wa Taala Quran does understanding. So that also is a verse And Allah subhanho wa

Taala makes mention of another very beautiful verse. And it is mentioned twice in the recitation in tonight's verses once in this Torah, which is the end of surah to uncover the surah of the spider.

And the other time Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of it in Surah lokman in different wordings, let me give you the message. Allah subhanho wa Taala says,

for either a rocky move in full Kedah I will learn how meclizine Allah hood the nature of men. When he is in the middle of the ocean in the ship. He calls out to Allah with full sincerity. Sincerity levels are extremely high, possibly almost 100% especially when the boat begins to rock and when the waves Mashallah taking the boat from side to side. And when the captain tells you look, we are going through lots and lots of turbulence here. We don't know if we're going to make it and people call out to Allah Subhana Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah says, the levels of sincerity are so high, people start making promises to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah and Allah says Phelim

very either whom you shikou. Once we grant them safety, and they return back onto the coast, they suddenly begin to forget what they did and said, and they begin to associate partners once again. It reminds me and I think I say this almost every year. In our times, it reminds me of the turbulence at 37,000 feet above sea level, when the claim begins to really

make movements that are

increasing the levels of our sincerity automatically and we begin to say, a shadow Allah ilaha illAllah Muhammadan abhorsen that Shahada has probably come out with the highest levels of sincerity Alhamdulillah The idea is, if we can maintain that level of sincerity at least when we come and have landed safely Come on the earth or on land Alhamdulillah we will be from amongst the successful May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us similar levels of sincerity and this is the reason why Allah subhanho wa Taala places what we know as problems in our lives, sometimes just for us to turn to him to turn to him in a big

than we've ever turned to him in the past. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us a turning point, even without those type of problems or difficulties,

then we all know that guidance is in the hands of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And we've heard so many times that if Allah wants to guide some a person, nobody will miss guide them. And if Miss guidance is written for someone, nobody's going to guide them. The question is, so who does Allah guide? That's a question Who does Allah guide? So Allah subhanho wa Taala says it in verses here that we read tonight, when levena jaha doofy Lana Hadean

those who struggle and strive to achieve our pleasure, those who struggle and strive towards us coming to us for us, we will open the doors of guidance for them. When someone wants guidance, they cannot sit at home and say I need guidance. It's in your hands. If you've written guidance for me to take me to the masjid. That's not good enough. We need to make the effort to go to the masjid we need to make the effort to learn the meanings of the Quran. We need to make an effort to learn what the Sharia is saying and try to put it into practice. Through that effort. Allah will guide us and hamdulillah so this is a very simple answer from Allah subhanho wa Taala. If we are ready to

sacrifice we will achieve inshallah, the same applies to anything in our lives. Those who are ready to sacrifice will achieve you have for example, a businessman working hard morning evening when he achieves had a businessman sitting at home. Unless he is one of the lucky ones he probably won't achieve anything. You have a doctor Mashallah working from morning to evening, every single day he will achieve and he will achieve in a big way, not only whatever he gets materially but even the rewards that Allah Subhana Allah has kept for him or for her. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to respect one another, no matter what our field is, we all should be saving Islam in

our own way. Remember, this is something that we reiterate and repeat. Every one of us we need to respect each other in our different fields. Because Allah subhanho wa Taala has chosen us to serve the deen in a different way.

Even a plumber will serve the muslimeen even though he might take a salary or he might ask for a payment for what he has done which he has the right for. Together with that Allah will reward him for the service provided Subhana Allah, sometimes we look down upon others and we think that it's only the one who has the knowledge of the deen, who will be successful? The answer to that is yes, we all need to have the knowledge of the deen but we depend on one another. Allah has created us in that way. Obviously, ultimately we depend on Allah subhanho wa Taala. But he has in order to fulfill our needs, he has created different people through whom he will fulfill our needs. May Allah

subhanho wa Taala grant us that understanding. Then in Surah, to Rome, which is named after the Romans, there are a few verses that I'd like to go through Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about His signs and I'm sure we heard the verses woman, T one, T one t from the signs of Allah is that he created you human beings from one and then he scattered you all over the earth. That's a sign of Allah, from the signs of Allah is that he created your spouse's from amongst you, and he created love and affection between you automatically. And Allah says those in those are in that there is a sign for those who would like to ponder from amongst the signs of Allah is the fact that he has

created the skies and the earth, the planets, the various other creatures of Allah. These are the signs of Allah subhanho wa Taala for those with knowledge of that, then Allah says from his sign also is your sleep at night, the dreams that you dream, that is a sign of Allah subhanho wa Taala

medicine only knows a little bit about sleep, but it cannot answer many questions about sleep. That is Allah saying, imagine a dream. And this is a proper example that we need to think about. A man sleeping next to someone else. For example, say a man and his wife. The man is having a beautiful dream of heaven and the wife is having a dream of hell. In fact, let's swap it just for for interest sake. The man is having a dream of hell and the woman is having a dream of heaven. But can one feel what the other one is feeling? Yet they are right next to each other? No. And one is sweating and one is actually crying in the sleep and the other one is smiling and laughing can one feel what the

other one is feeling? No, it's a sign of Allah subhanho wa Taala we asked Allah subhanho wa Taala to give us good dreams to protect us from nightmares. This is a sign of Allah. We cannot explain this. Imagine you see things in your dream. Amazing. Amazing. Let's ponder over this. Allah says it's an

act of worship, to ponder over the signs of Allah Subhana, Allah to Allah, then Allah says, another sign of Allah is that he has created different languages in tongues for you to communicate with one another. Imagine if we could not speak to one another in a language, what would happen only Allah knows. But we have totally different dialects so that we know each other, the minute one opens his mouth, you can tell this person comes from Africa, and you would even guess Southern Africa. And you would even guess Johannesburg, may Allah Subhana Allah to Allah grant us understanding, that's a gift of Allah. Whereas when someone else opens their mouth, you can say, this person comes from the

United States of America, I'm sure we understand that immediately. Subhan Allah, that's a gift of Allah. And really, we need to think of this. Imagine, at one stage we were one Father, one mother, which means Adam and Hawa, what happened, people speak nevermind the dialects of English, but languages that we have no clue, but they understand them. And you make a little bit of an effort, you will also understand it. Amazing. That's the qudra That's the power of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And in the same way, we have languages, the other creatures of Allah also communicate within themselves with their own languages that they understand Suleiman alayhis salam was given a little

bit of that knowledge, but we don't have the knowledge of the language maybe of the ends and the other creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So Allah says, that also is from amongst his science. And so many signs Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about he also speaks about the wind that blows sign of Allah subhanho wa Taala and how beautifully he puts it, he says, it creates a huge cloud the cloud brings happiness, and it brings also a little bit of a feeling of worry, a feeling of fear because when the cloud Mashallah is huge, and gray, and the lightning strikes, people begin to you're worried when we need rains, we make a do that Oh Allah let this be rainfall that will be

beneficial. Allahumma even vn Oh, Allah let this be rainfall that will be beneficial, and not rainfall that will be destructive, because we know what's happening now. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help our suffering Muslim in the brothers and sisters in Pakistan, as we're speaking right now.

More than 30% of the country's in water underwater. May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect them?

What guarantee do we have that those slides will not come to us? And may Allah safeguard us? It's only Allah who will hold that back.

Really, so Allah says, Visa he signs and Allah subhanho wa Taala says that, do you know that when we have land that has no cultivation on it, nothing at all dry land, when the water falls on, it suddenly becomes green. Amazing. This is the example he gives in the poem. He says, in the same way we will we will resurrect you after you've died.

And this brings me to a very powerful point and that is every time the reign of mercy is mentioned in the Quran, and the effect it has on the land. Immediately after that Allah subhanho wa Taala reminds us that that's what's going to happen when you will be resurrected one day. Don't think that after you have been decomposed into the earth, that Allah subhanho wa Taala will not be able to resurrect you or me. Allah says we are doing it in front of you on a regular basis. You are witnessing it you are watching it. things appear to be absolutely dead. The rain comes and everything turns green. Amazing. If you know the various seasons as you fly over the country, you

see everything is dry. When you fly in the other season. You see everything is green, who gave that Earth life Allah says Cavalli Conakry doodle Manta La La Quinta Ko, that is the same way we will be taking out the dead and resurrecting them in order that you may understand you may take heed May Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us that understanding. So this is also worded in a very beautiful way in the Quran in surah to Rome, and Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about the charities that we give. And he says that, when a person gives interest to someone else, that is not going to increase the wealth of anybody, it will actually decrease it. And when a person gives a charity in the cause of

the Creator, it will be multiplied. Listen to how beautiful the verses Allah says, One

ribbony Obuasi

follow

the law, that interest amount which you give other human beings in order for it to be increased for either of the parties, it will not be increased in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala. It is detrimental and Allah says one at a time. zeca t

to redo Nevada law, for Ola, he can remove more info on that which you give out as Zika. Seeking the pleasure of Allah, that is what will be multiplied seven times 70 times, up to 700 times and even more, depending on your level of sincerity. And this is why the narration of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he says, the best zeca the best charity that is given is that charity that you give when you are fearing poverty, when you think that if I'm going to give this I might not be able to purchase the house that I was about to purchase, for example, or let's use a smaller example. If I'm going to give this I might not have enough money for next month, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant

us the ability to give, even when we are fearing that poverty. And this is why the best charity is the charity of a poor person, a beggar. A person who has just received an amount if he takes a small percentage of it and gives it away, that is a better charity than that whole amount that was given to him.

And these are the etiquettes that we are taught. This is the gift of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the best of etiquettes the best of manners, and may He except from us, the little charities that we give, remember, a smile on the face is an act of charity, and we will receive a full reward for it. So let's start smiling to one another. I remember mentioning a few days ago in the month of Ramadan when we smile, we achieve the reward of having fulfilled a compulsory deed because it's the sooner sooner is multiplied in Ramadan. So we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to help us break these barriers through smiling May Allah subhanho wa Taala accepted

from us. The next surah is turut lukeman and surah Luqman the name lukeman. He was a very pious men, some durations say he was from Africa. Some other narrations are more precise, they say he was from Sudan, we ask Allah Subhana Allah to grant us all wisdom, a very wise men, if Allah has named a whole surah after him, there has to be something special about him. Not only that Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of something very important the advice he gave his son. And that is mentioned to us because it is valid, even in our Sharia, it is valid. Even in our times, though it happened a long, long time ago, even before Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And in the opening verses of

that surah. Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about how important it is to abstain from music, musical instruments, those who sing with musical instruments and so on, to abstain from it. And I'm sure verse number six of Surah lokman a lot of people who've tried to look into it I've seen in it. The mufa serien are almost unanimous that it refers to music and musical instruments and those who sing music and so on. If you pick up the noble Koran, which is in English, the translation, and you read verse number six of Surah lokman. I'm sure in brackets, it will give you that explanation. Reason being the mufa serien have all given the same explanation. It's important for us to know this

because we should understand we have the Koran we have the Hadith we have the Sharia, we have so many teachings that are beautiful, why should we substitute this with that which is few times that which is not going to benefit us in fact, it will only harm us, like I said, a few weeks back, if a person listens to music and enjoys the lyrics, they are insulting the Koran, because they've substituted the Quran with something else. The Quran so many different types of reciters that's a miracle of Allah subhanho wa Taala some of us like a soothing recitation. It's a some like allowed recitation. It's there. Some like a soft recitation, it's there. So whatever we'd like whatever type

of voice we'd like what law Hey, there are certain websites on the internet, which have more than two to 300 different recitals from across the globe. When in the history of the globe, did we have such a gift, touch of the button and we can hear a voice that we love, it will suit us the words of Allah are far more greater than anyone else's words. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala projectors, and Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about the advice of local man to his son. First thing he says yeah, booni Allah to shinnick Mila, oh, my son, don't associate partners with Allah. He goes associating partnership with Allah is a greatest oppression, the greatest depression. And after that he speaks

about how important it is to respect your parents. To the degree and it's mentioned here, that even if your parents are not Muslims, we need to respect them fulfill their rights. They are still our parents, Allah chose them for us to come into existence. But whenever they instruct you to do something prohibited, that is when you excuse yourself with respect. That's what the Quran says. And you still continue fulfilling their rights. May Allah subhanho wa Taala make it easy for those who have turned to Islam whose parents are not Muslims. And for those who are Muslims whose parents instruct

them to do that which is haram. May Allah subhanho wa Taala correct all of us, and May He grant us the ability to correct ourselves. Then look, man alayhi salatu was Salam continues, and he says, Oh, my son or my son, yeah. bonia look at how he addresses his son. boonie is the Arabic language for the height of love when addressing a son? Yeah. bonia Oh, my beloved little son. That's how it were it imagine the wording, Allah subhanho wa Taala says this men from Africa using such wording with his own son, and we are learning a lesson from it, how many of us address our children with that much love. It's time for us to reflect, to ponder to take account, let's change the way we've been

addressing them if we've been rude, and if we've been bad, and let's try and address them in a more affectionate way. That affection itself will already solve so many problems within the home.

So Allah Subhana Allah says, Look, man, Allah is Allah told his son,

that Allah subhanho wa Taala knows absolutely everything. Even if there is a mustard seed, a little atom, under the rocks in the darkest corners of the night. Allah knows where it is. He knows what it is. He has absolute total control over everything in its regard. So don't ever think you will get away from Allah subhanho wa Taala, like a verse that we read in Surah. This evening, Allah says,

Hola,

como si? Oh.

minal moochie. I will

say, you will never be able to run away from death. or from a battle. If Allah wants you to be there, you will be there. When Allah has written something for you, it will happen. So Allah subhanho wa Taala here is also telling us that you can't run away from Allah the other day we described the day of piano people will be running left, right and center wherever they go. They caught you go left you caught right caught in front court behind court. Where else are we gonna go? May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us make peace with him? By adopting His commands, we have no way out, no way out. And this is why the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam he says some people

worship Allah, out of fear

for the punishment, and some worship Allah, out of hope in heaven. And some worship Allah out of love of Allah subhanho wa Taala and those are the highest May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us worship him with any one of those three, but we need a starting point. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala accepted from us. Then Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of how important it is and this is obviously look man a salons advice, to abstain from pride and arrogance, to walk with humility, and we've spoken about that but this advice is repeated again and again and again in the Quran. And Allah subhanho wa Taala says even when you're speaking, don't scream, don't shout and address people

with respect. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us address one another with utmost respect and dignity. And may Allah subhanho wa Taala really make others also address us with similar respect. Remember, Kamata do to them as you treat others, so you shall be treated. And may Allah subhanho wa Taala really grant us goodness in this regard. We have another surah which we read tonight, which I'm sure a lot of us would be knowing almost off by heart if not by heart, that is sort of such that

I'd like to make mention of this such depth in the surah such the meaning of prostration why is it that sometimes we hear a verse of the Quran and we are instructed to go straight into salute. We are instructed by Allah subhanho wa Taala to go straight into salute and you find the Imam automatically says a lot about and we have gone down. There are a few reasons. The first is whenever there is mentioned made of the proud and the arrogant who were told to prostrate and did not prostrate, we immediately fall prostrate to confirm that we are not from amongst them, number one. Number two, whenever Allah makes mention of his pious worshipers, and how they prostrated out of the love of

Allah, we fall prostrate as well hoping that Allah will count us amongst them. Number three, whenever Allah makes mention of how the other creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala have all gone down in frustration we also prostrate we are a creature of Allah subhanho wa Taala number four whenever Allah has instructed us to go down, we go down Subhana Allah so this is why in the Quran you find what is known as suju tilava that such that which is there whilst you are reading you put the Quran aside and you make this decision. And the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is to do it immediately. That's the sooner never ever did he delayed unnecessarily. He always

immediately made

That's such there. So if we want to know what the sooner is, many people think that it's okay to leave all of them and do all of them at once at the end of the Quran. The truth is, the sooner is otherwise, the sooner is otherwise the sooner is to try and do it as soon as you read it. Even if you put your Koran aside and you go down that is the ideal because when you are instructed you go down. Then we come in Surah Al Azhar inshallah, we will end it tomorrow. But I'd like to mention one point from Surah two Lanza, where Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about the allies. And he speaks about the gift of Allah in the Battle of the trench where the trench was dug around Madina,

munawwara and the wind came and drove those allies away though they were in large numbers thinking that now we will just, you know, go straight through into Medina and wipe out these muslimeen and Allah says, We helped you with armies that you could not see the angels came down and we sent the wind and we sent so many other factors and so many other members of our army and Allah subhanho wa Taala then says to all of us, locker, the gala Kumi rasulillah, he has an a

la

la casa de la indeed in the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the person of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam there is a beautiful example for everybody to emulate in every single aspect for those who are intending for those who have hope to arrive on the day of piano to meet Allah subhanho wa Taala. Those who remember Allah a lot for all of us, the best example to emulate is that of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, every aspect of our lives, how we eat, how we drink, how we stand, how we sit, how we speak to one another? Absolutely everything how we walk, how we talk, and naturally, the sooner includes that which is forever and that which is

worship. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam engaged in certain things that he never ever left. If he instructed us or Allah has instructed us, it becomes compulsory, but it's also part of the sooner and if he has told us that it is extremely important, but not an obligation, then it may be watching or it may be a sooner makeda, sooner, makeda, meaning as soon as that is stressed, and if he has engaged in it without instructing us, then we will still emulate it as as soon as as part of the life of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to grant us the true respect of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and to grant us the ability to fulfill

whatever his teachings were, and to make us from those who can follow his path and to take us in general through the intercession of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam Till we meet again a salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato sal Allahu wa salam o Baraka, Allah Vina Mohammed Subhana Allah who become the satanic alohomora Hambrick and shadow Allah in the antennas tofu Kona Tobu Lake