Serenity – Omar Sulaiman Interview Pursuing The Pleasure Of Allah Outside Of Ramadan
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Channel: Yasmin Mogahed
Series: Yasmin Mogahed - Serenity
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Assalamu alaikum This is Yasmin Mujahid and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio. We are now and hamdulillah we have completed the month of Ramadan we have 100 completed you know the fast and I ask Allah subhana wa tada to accept from all of you and, and from myself our a bad our worship during this month, our fast and I also I I pray that all of you had a blessing to aid with your friends and your families and your loved ones and and we pray that it was a time of also nearness to Allah subhanaw taala and Remembrance one of the you know kind of what what a lot of us that we're all in sort of the same boat in that we all we go we in in the month of
Ramadan we feel this, this surge oftentimes of our nearness to Allah subhana wa tada and that is due to some very, you know, a very rigorous sort of routine that we keep in terms of our Eva in terms of our worship, and then many of us feel that we lose a lot of that once Ramadan is over. And it starts as soon as aids upon a lot a lot of times we you know, yesterday we may have been praying Fotolia and then today is a then we miss our our fourth salah and this is you know something that we really have to struggle against this, this complete drop that happens after the month of Ramadan. We went from fasting and praying and reading and an extra prayers and, and you know the kid and repentance
to you know, barely making our prayers on time. And this is exactly what today's show is about how do we prevent that from happening? And how do we try to continue some of the momentum that we built during the month of Ramadan after the month of Ramadan has passed, and you know, some reflections on on the the fact of Ramadan passing so quickly. One thing that you'll always find people saying is this statement across the board is the statement that you know Ramadan went so quickly we feel the you know how quickly a modern goes goes by. And yet even in this is a sign for us even in the fact that Ramadan did feel like it passed so quickly. Like it did it fast so quickly, in that is a sign
for us, that our life will also pass quickly. And you know, just you know, we started Ramadan, it feels like yesterday, and here we are today and eight is over. So panel line, I think many people share that sentiment of how quickly it goes by. But but we need to really stop and reflect about it. That this is a sign for us about the the nature of this life in general. It's not just Ramadan that goes quickly. But this is the nature of dunya that it goes quickly. We are you know, we are born one day and you know before you know it, you're you know you're you're an elementary school and then you're in middle school and you're in high school and, and somehow me personally I look back and and
I still remember my first day at high school in high school. And it just seems really very close. It doesn't seem as though that much time has gone by and yet Subhanallah how quickly time really does go by in this life. This is a lesson for us. Do not procrastinate your, your your journey told us upon without it. Do not go slowly in your journey to Allah subhanaw taala you know Ibrahim alayhis salam, he would say that he was he was rushing to Allah subhanaw taala. And this is the attitude that we need to have is that we need to rush in this in this journey. We can't go slowly. We don't know when the journey ends and the journey itself will the path itself will end quickly before we
know it. One of the things we have to do regularly is remember that we will meet Allah subhanaw taala we need to remember death. We need to remember that this life is just a very, very small stop on our path. As the prophet SAW the lies and I mentioned in a hadith when he was asked, you know he used to sleep on on deep palms and and they would leave marks on him. And so when he was asked if, if they could make him a softer bed, his answer was many with a dunya. What do I have to do with this life? I'm like
a passer by or a traveler who stops in the shade of a tree for a while and then
continues on in his path. And that's exactly what this life is, it's just that stop in the shade of a tree for a while, when we're going on a journey.
You know, a lot of times we will, if it's a longer journey, we'll stop along the way. And there's rest areas, you use the restroom, you get food, and it's, it's a rest area to stop. But when you stop at those places, nobody, you know, all of a sudden forgets, where they're going and starts to just become very comfortable at the rest area. Because they know that it's temporary, they know that it's just a stop. We're just here where we have a certain purpose, maybe we're getting food, maybe we're using the restroom making money, you know, we're gonna make what do and pray. And we know that we have a certain purpose. And then we're going to continue on our journey. But we always keep in
mind, what is our destination, and that destination is what keeps us going. And our destination is what keeps us from getting too attached to the rest area. Getting too attached to the to the short stop. This is what we do in this life is we know the rest area is just a stop and we see it for what it is. And we use it for what it is we do what we need to do when we continue on our journey in our vehicle. And yet Subhan Allah as human beings, this rest area of dunya this just this temporary stop has become we forgotten we've it's it says though a person in this journey stops at the rest area, and it gets out of the car, and then suddenly has amnesia, and forgets that actually this isn't
their home. That actually this wasn't the final destination. And it was just to stop. And that's what many, many of us that's our human condition in this life is we've gotten that we suffer from that sort of amnesia. We here we're here in dunya. And the loss of Hano data tells us that this dunya is just a short meta, this just a short time of, of, you know, enjoyment, some enjoyments it's it's just a, a resource for us. And yet we forget. And we and we forget that and we have this sort of amnesia, and, and and we forget where we're going. And Allah subhanaw taala tells us again and again to remind us that this life is very, very short. And that when we look back at this life, when
we're asking when we ask one another, Allah tells us on the day of judgment that we ask one another, how long were you in that life? or How long were we there? And and the answer is yelman obata yom a day, or part of a day, this is the answer that we're gonna give you and I because we, it looks so short when you look back at it. But we, when we're in it, when we're in that rest area, we just forget, we forget that it's just a stop, and we get so attached to it. And it's very difficult when you're in the moment to see that reality. But in order to see that reality, you have to step back, and you have to widen your lens. And to understand that, you know, it's like again, it's it's, it's
this very narrow lens that we have, oh, I'm, I'm at a rest area, okay, there's some grass here, there's a restaurant, all this must be my home, let's get comfortable. And that's how we act with this life with this world with dunya. But it isn't our home and it isn't the final destination it is just to stop. And we need to treat it as such, in in the way that we in the way that we live and in the way we interact with dunya and everything that hits us in this life. It is very difficult when you're in a stressful situation. It is very difficult. You know, we I think that Subhan Allah during the month of Ramadan, we have constant reminders of this of this reality is that we have a goal. And
and we have a final destination, this constant reminders. You know, you get hungry, and you're reminded Wait, I can't eat Wait, why? Why can't I eat? Well, I can't eat because I'm fasting Well, why am I fasting and fasting because Allah subhanaw taala told me that if I fast, I will be rewarded, I will be rewarded one, well, I'll be rewarded twice at the time I break my fast and at the time when I meet my Creator. So we have this constant reminder, we're reminded because we're we're going for total, we were praying more, we're reading more code and we're praying in the last third of the night. We're hearing more, you know, remembrance of Allah subhanho data. We're
purifying ourselves trying to stay away from the bad habits trying to you know, not to lie or to swear, you know, we're constantly being reminded of our final destination and then as soon as Ramadan ends, and becomes more difficult, because we've removed many of those reminders, and it becomes much easier to lose track of what we're doing to lose track of where we're going and we start to then again
Become consumed by this rest stop by this, this stop in the shade of a tree for a while. And we start to you know, just get so caught up in it that we actually forget where we were going. And that is what we have to prevent. That is what we have to struggle against. Once you know Ramadan is over, now that Ramadan is over, this is the struggle that you and I have to engage in, is that struggle to keep focused, to keep focused on our final destination and to not get distracted by all those things that distracted us before Ramadan, we need to leave Ramadan changed. Otherwise, it really defeats the purpose, it isn't a less a panel that is not asking us to just be hungry and thirsty. Allah
subhanaw taala wants to, to change us to transform us to purify us through these, these rituals that we did through this worship. We we weren't it isn't just them, going through the motions, but we're supposed to be changed, we're supposed to do something differently. And so we really need to make the conscious decision to stay focused. And and to hold on to those habits, those good habits which we have developed in Ramadan, take some of those habits, whether it's, you know, your daily recitation of the end, or your prayer in the last third of the night, or your extra prayers or your fasting, we still have the fast of Monday and Thursday according to the Sunnah. Hold on to something
from that and be consistent in it. The Prophet sallallaahu Selim told us that an action that is consistent even if it's small, is more beloved than then then an inconsistent action even if it's if it's not, even if it's, you know, considered a bigger action. those actions are more beloved to Allah subhanho data, which are consistent, even if they're small actions. So find something that you were doing in Ramadan, or if you weren't doing it in Ramadan, start to do it, but find something which is, which is which is an act that you can be consistent in. And in that way, be able to, to build that that path to Allah subhanho data and to end to make that focus stronger towards your
final destination. One, one advice that I can give to you and to myself, never let go of your Salah, your Salah is the foundation of this path, absolutely the foundation of this path, your Salaam must be in order, if we are to be successful in this life or the next. And that's something which we know from many, many texts from the Quran and from the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, the Prophet seisen, and told us that the very first thing we will be asked about, on the day of judgment is our prayers is our Salah. And if that is an order than everything else, and that that person will have succeeded, and if that is not in order, then that person will have failed and you know, so
nothing else is really going to matter if our salon is not in order, in order to be successful in this life, and in the next, in order to stay focused on our end in our final destination, we have to make sure that the salon is the foundation of our day. And it's amazing when you reflect on Ramadan, what made Ramadan different than the rest of the year? Well, for one
hour a day was focused around the Salah, for example, not that of time, right? Everything revolved around matter of time. Why? Because that's when they got to eat. So everything was now Okay, we'll do it before Melvin or we'll do it after mclubbe we will we'll wait for motive and then we'll do X, Y, and Z or we'll do it before MACRA. Basically what we're doing is we now are we re reorienting reorganizing our day to be centered around the prayer. And that's the way it's supposed to be. But unfortunately, it only happens that way often in Ramadan because that's when we can eat. But but it's to train us. This is part of our training. It's to train us that this is the way we're supposed
to be organizing our day the rest of the year as well. This is the way we're supposed to be seeing our day. But even at a deeper level, this is the way we're supposed to be seeing our entire life that our life revolves around a better our life revolves around our commitment to Allah subhanaw taala and our relationship with him. So everything else we're planning should be focused in the same way around the salon around my obligations to my Creator around my relationship with my Creator, and then I'll fit the rest of the things in right and that's the same focus we should have outside of Ramadan. Similarly, we need to stay connected to the words of Allah subhanaw taala Ramadan was the
you know
It's the month of the end. And unfortunately, what happens is we open our code and in Ramadan, and oftentimes we might read it cover to cover in this month, and then Ramadan passes and we close our hotel and it stays closed. That's a problem. This is like a person who decides that they're going to eat a good amount for two weeks, three weeks, four weeks and then not eat for, you know, an extended period of time. It doesn't work, the body cannot survive in that way. And in the same way the heart cannot survive in that way. The heart needs food, just like the body needs food, we feed our hearts well lol hemmed in, during the month of Ramadan, we feed our hearts, the remembrance of Allah
subhanaw taala we're connecting to the Quran daily, right either where we know we're reading it, or hearing it in thought, Oh, we it's everywhere, it's surrounds us, and we're feeding our hearts daily. And then after that, we starve our hearts, but just the same way that the body dies, if you don't feed it, the heart also dies if you don't feed it. So we must continue this, this connection with the poor and we must continue to feed our hearts connect with the court and the words of Allah subhanaw taala and make that be part of your post Ramadan commitment that you will continue to read and reflect on this book. It is not just a book that was intended to be read during the month of
Ramadan. In total we It is not just a book that was intended to decorate walls, you know on pretty cool with with very nice calligraphy, it was not just a book that was intended to be put on necklaces or, or or for protection. This is a book that was intended to transform our hearts, it was revealed to the Prophet sallallahu wasallam this message as the as the quote and tells us this message of the Prophet himself. So the live Salaam was sent in order to purify us to teach us this book and to purify us, we need to continue in this path of purification, we need to continue in the struggle, do not give it up because the month of Ramadan is over. Because this path is still going
right we are not there yet, we have to understand that we're not there yet. And what we seek is still beyond as the sheikh said that that thing that we seek is we we will never get there until we reach Allah subhanaw taala so we need to keep going and I encourage you and myself to keep going and and and to keep on this you know this momentum that we that we have hamdulillah gained through Ramadan, Ramadan was your training, Ramadan was my training and now we need to keep going and continue to feed yourself Don't you know, don't cut off that that food to your heart. Otherwise, then, you know, few few weeks down the line we ask ourselves wait but how did I get here? I used to
be, you know this close to Allah subhanaw taala and Ramadan and, and then somehow now I feel so distant. Well, we shouldn't wonder why that's the case. Nobody would wonder why a heart or why their body would would start to become weak, and then and then eventually die if they starved it, you know that that it's it's a known thing. If you don't feed your body, first it will become weak and sick. And then eventually the body dies if it starved for long enough. And this is the same with the heart. But I want to give hope in sha Allah to you and to myself. Allah subhanaw taala is the one who brings life even back to the dead. Allah tells us that he brings back the dead land, the dead
Earth from its death. In the winter, the ground the trees, they die, and yet Allah subhanaw taala brings them back in the spring and Allah subhanaw taala after we pass away a lot also brings us back in the same way Allah subhanaw taala can bring back the dead hearts in this life. If our heart has not been shaken or awakened by the month of Ramadan till this point, Allah can still bring that heart back to life, we can still come back to Allah subhanaw taala many people they leave Ramadan and they feel very sad for a number of reasons. Sometimes we feel sad, because we miss it right we miss what we had, we missed that nearness and sometimes people feel sad because they feel that they
had not fully taken advantage of this month. For whatever reason. Allah subhanaw taala can continue to give you and even if you are among those who lost out who did not fully take advantage of the month of Ramadan, Allah subhanaw taala can always give you Allah subhanaw taala can even bring life to the dead hearts just as he brings life to the dead land. Allah subhanaw taala is Al Jabbar. He is the one who menz Allah subhanaw taala
can mend any situation, and it's never too late to come back to Allah. Remember that Allah is the most generous, we cannot limit the mercy of Allah subhana wa tada just to the month of Ramadan. Allah subhanaw taala His mercy is infinite and Allah and ketene Allah loves to give Allah subhanaw taala is and will have the one who loves to give gifts. Allah can give you a look and give you any time. So never lose hope because all the month of Ramadan is over now, I didn't take advantage or the month of Ramadan is over now. Now I can't, you know gather those good deeds anymore or as much allies and Kadeem and Allah subhanaw taala is the most generous Allah Spano that I can increase you
at any time. Allah subhanaw taala is also the one who can give life to the dead land and to the dead hearts. inshallah we will take a short break now. And when we return, we will be speaking some more about how do we continue to seek the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala and I will be speaking, you know, inshallah Merson I mentioned commerce that a man will be coming on shortly
SLM on a competency assessment, and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio. I'd like to wish you all a belated Aiden robotic, and I pray that your Ramadan was beneficial, and inshallah was a time of purification and transformation. And that's what we're speaking about today. How do we continue that momentum? How do we use whatever we gained during the month of Ramadan, to take us through, not just the rest of the year, but the rest of our path to Allah subhanho Donna, and that's what we have to realize is this is a path this is this is this is a whole journey. It does not end here does not end at the at the end of Ramadan. But it ends when we meet Allah subhana
wa Tada. So we need to keep going, and never lose hope. Just because Ramadan is over does not mean that we cannot continue to seek the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala and to seek that reward from Allah. And this is our opportunity. This is our opportunity to continue to seek Allah Spano Tata, to rush towards Allah, Allah tells us in the high difficulty that whoever takes one step towards him, Allah takes 10 steps towards them. So if we take one step towards Allah subhanaw taala, Allah will take 10 towards us, and the one who comes towards Allah walking, Allah subhanaw taala comes towards them with speed, this is what we have to do, especially especially now that we you know, that that
the month of Ramadan is over, we can't give up this struggle, we may have to work harder, we may have to, you know, it may be more of an uphill, uphill battle, because everyone around us isn't necessarily doing the same thing anymore. There aren't numerous numerous pushes and reminders. But this is part of this path, that that it is that this struggle to keep our hearts focused on the final destination and to keep going practically, we need to make certain commitments to Allah subhana wa tada and to ourselves, of continuing those practices, continuing those habits that we developed in the month of Ramadan, after the month of Ramadan is passed, and we need to continue
those things that we were doing. And just even if we just choose a couple of them, we we've mentioned again, that it's about consistency, and not necessarily about how big the action is, but it's about consistency. We need to be consistent, even if that action is small, just choose some things you were doing. Continue those good habits, whether it was reading put in regularly praying and the last third of the night, fasting them you know, Mondays and Thursdays fasting the days, the six days after many things that we can do to continue that momentum and and continuing to ask Allah Spano Tata to forgive us and to seek His pleasure and now is the time that we have to really start
running and continue that momentum and that fuel that inshallah we did gain during the month of Ramadan. And then secondly it is very important that whatever habits whatever bad habits we gave up during the month of Ramadan, let's continue to give those up. If we gave up smoking, if you gave up swearing, we gave up lying to give up you know certain hot um relationship sometimes I see people who you know people tell me that they may have a relationship with with the you know, that isn't pleasing to Allah Spano Tata, and they kind of take a break for Ramadan, and then they continue and resume and that isn't the point. The point is not just
We take these you know breaks from from certain home actions and then return to it because we will return to Allah subhanaw taala in the state that we are in when we die, and no one knows when death will come to them, death can come anytime to us and it will be our state at the time of death that will determine how we are when we face a loss of Hano data and where we end up and so we have to be very, very careful Ramadan is not about giving things up and then picking them up again at the end. It's about purifying us so that we can, we can take this journey to Allah subhanaw taala and when we meet Allah made him with a heart that is sound with a job that is setting and that's what we ask
Allah subhanaw taala to enable us to do and to help us to do in sha Allah. inshallah. Now, I want to give you a little bit of exciting information about a project that Shaykh Omar Suleiman will is launching, the website is www.flics.com that spelled i l m flics f Li x.com ILMFL x COMM And this is a massive project by the Islamic learning foundation to produce high definition videos, audio, transcription and quality productions of many classical books in English. And shift Ahmad is doing an entire thematic Tafseer of the end and also covering the entire 23 volume work of Imam at the hubby of all the companions and scholars that lived up to the 13th century, which has been never
been been done in the English language before. inshallah you can attend these live weekly classes with him and also contribute to the publication by signing up for for an lm flicks membership, again, that website is nlmflix.com and inshallah we will be posting that in the chat box. You know, check that out, you know, Subhanallah I had the privilege of attending Shake Shack halmos classes in the past, I you know, some of his stuff see it, and Subhanallah it was I mean, I it was one of those things you look forward to, you know, you get to go online immune from from the comfort of your own home, and you get to interact, in the sense of, you know, this is a live instructor. He takes
questions in and it's something that that really Hanalei you'll find very beneficial Mashallah, he's he's one of those show you who we have which is it's very hard to find the balance Mashallah, that that chicama presents, you know, the balance of the scholarship in the end, the fifth as well as the spirituality, based on the Quran and Sunnah and Michelle, I really really highly recommend these classes inshallah do sign up for him flicks dot.com and, inshallah, we will just take another very short break now. And when we return, we will be with Chef Homer said, Amen.
Salaam Alaikum. This is yes, meanwood ahead and you're listening to serenity on one legacy radio. We are very happy and excited to have chef Omar Suleiman with us today. Sheikh Omar has two bachelor's degrees in Islamic Studies and in accounting, he studied in the UAE under it was Seth todich. Raja and in Jordan under shikcha. Omar Suleiman Allah Shankar since 2008 shikamaru has been under the tutelage of schicksal Allah has solly and Dr. hatom and Hajj he is an instructor with Al malherbe Institute and Islamic learning foundation as well as Ella Mischka University and is also a member of the city council. Shaykh Omar worked for econo relief in Hurricane Katrina and eight and Aigner
relief Louisiana. He was also an imam of Masjid at Abu Bakar in New Orleans, and he was awarded for outstanding civic achievement by the major and city council of New Orleans in 2010. He is currently teaching and is in his master's program of Islamic finance with the Institute of Islamic finance in the UK, and will be pursuing his PhD in Islamic studies from Malaysia in the fall this year in sha Allah welcome Schiff hommerson. Amen.
And we are very We are very pleased to have you a belated Ramadan Mubarak and Hades.
So we are talking today about a topic which is extremely important to every single believer and that is the topic of pursuing the love of Allah subhanaw taala sometimes we think that certain parts of of
The message or certain parts of the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu to send them only apply to maybe certain times in places. But this is actually in this is something that is absolutely timeless. And Can Can you talk, you know, to begin with? Why is it important that we understand the, you know, the need for seeking the level of Las panatela no matter where we are or when we live?
Well, I think the first thing is that, you know, the point of rehab is not to be off of drugs while you're in rehab, but to be sober when you get out. And that's exactly what Ramadan is, it's a chance to read it is a chance to really get ourselves back, it's a chance to refocus, be energized. And likewise, when we go to the masjid or when we're in an Islamic setting, it's really a very powerful quote, just to kind of understand this from a blog nom de menos will be allowed Todd, who was known for being an overzealous dude in some of the profits of a licen, privatized and actually had to tone it down for him because he was reading too much on praying too much at night and fasting too much to
the point that he was actually becoming neglectful of his family. And he said, after the Prophet's life in the past boy said, the hell you don't matter where you're at, Boy, am I mistaken, our school is a place
for me to be able to do a good deed today, after the death of the Prophet Sly Stone, it is twice as beloved to me as one of the prophets likes animals alive. And he says he couldn't amount also did it twice. And I'm
not going to do that when the Prophet's life was with us, we didn't care about money, all we cared about was Africa. So it was kind of easy to be religious on the Prophet sly Southern was there was easy to do good deeds, but the real challenge was after the prophets life of the party, and so that shows us again, you know, being outside of an Islamic setting, being able to hold on to your, you know, outside of the most outside of Ramadan
is really the true test of faith, the true, you know, a true indication that a person is seeking a last kind of pleasure seeking His love, and is determined to do so no matter where he is, and when, you know,
whenever it is during the year or during the week, I mean, it's not just Friday, so you're not a Friday Muslim or non Muslim, you're not you're not you're none of those things, you're just Muslim. And you're always in that state you're always in the zone.
Okay, does that mean I think one of the the frustrations that that a lot of people share is you know, I feel like this this surge of men, this neediness to Allah subhanaw taala when during Ramadan, and then as soon as Ramadan is over, I lose that and I What would you say to those people and how can they loot you know, maintain that same level? Or try to maintain that same level after Ramadan has passed?
Well, the idea here is that number one, what we need to we need to look at it with Ramadan. And in fact with till But the main point is that we abandon the things that are between us in the last hour the obstacles between us and the last time. You know, the sentence used to say late so sorry for my ltym Sir, I know what I can resize my mouth when you're asking a lot a,
you know, a person who truly fears a lot of not one who, who cries and then wipes the tears, but rather a person who abandons that which he fears the last kind of tangible column to account for. So some are tears should not be a form of consuming our energy, so that we can feel like we've you know, we've arrived, we've got there, and that's what what happens sometimes with our good deeds.
You know, the good feeling that we get sometimes after doing a good deed, is not the feeling that we've pleased the loss of kind of data, but it's just the natural, the natural consequences of doing something good. And likewise, when we make Toba, sometimes, the Toba might not be completely sincere, because in reality, you know, we're just, you know, it's like you got your clients, that's not the way you know, it was a way of consuming your energy, but at the same time, you know, it also demonstrates a lack of priority. So Ramadan is a turning point, telcos a turning point. So the idea is, is that with any good deed, the indication of its acceptance as the amount of human loss that
whether you're talking about Hydra, whether you're talking about Ramadan, or Salah is the continuation of it.
Now, of course, you might be thinking that, well, that's not practical. So what I would say I mean, in terms of practicality, is that there is no way to maintain the same level that you had been above it's absolutely impossible.
But just like, dieting doesn't work in practice, without the won't work, okay? It's not you can't just go all in, you know, go all out.
You're trying to do a normal bondage, you're trying to establish good habits. Now that I'm alone is over. What you need to think to yourself is I was able to pray. I was able to pray eight hours or 20 hours or whatever for a week, every single night.
You know, so why can I go to a lot of alterations, or I can't I just pray to the archives of Leon now because the problem
enough profit place for them authentically said,
you know, when pharma B actually is locked up in a law study that whoever stands up we're just praying tend we tend to dock as resorts and follow consulting us every single night. He would not be written amongst those who are heatless it's a very powerful, how do you because it shows you it's a very small accent. But if a person tries to duck has every night of the year,
you know, as opposed to not praying, as opposed to a person who doesn't pay any fee, um, throughout the year, but just praise You know, eight hours of total, we had 20 hours of Federation even every day in the month of Ramadan, it still was not equal, it still would not be equivalent to the blessing of the virtue of the student of pm and then also we find somebody can show us some of the rewards that we get,
you know, you look at, for example, the six days inshallah they're truly continuation, you know, the Prophet's life, as we all know, he said, Whoever fast, you know, the month of Ramadan and follows it with six or seven, and then the Maliki method, nonmedical, Himalayan a very strong point where he said from from a linguistic perspective of the prophets, I said, I'm not starting from shall was not within Chahal itself, but rather, you know, he, he fasted six days to accompany his alma bond than the Prophet slicin and said that it would be like He fasted the entire year, because I'm hustling autobianchi I'm sorry. Every every good deed is multiplied by time, the prophet flies for them also
said it's like a Muslim. It is like so yummy. Which means the fast thing of a lifetime, because the minimum of a good deed is that'll be multiplied by time. But a lot of times, it could multiply by much more than that. So you have to ask yourself, I'm in the habit of fasting Anyway, why not start fasting Mondays and Thursdays, and combine the intention because
voluntary deeds can have I know, I'm probably getting into too many topics right now the voluntary deeds can have multiple intention. So a person could say, I'm going to pass the six days of show on as Mondays and Thursdays and make my habit and get the deed for both fasting Monday and Thursday and for fasting the six weeks a while and continue with that continue with two kinds of the AMA, let's continue with some form of recitation of the day. I mean,
you know, you're not going to be able to maintain the same level. And I think that's why people get so disappointed because when they come out of Ramadan, obviously, on our, you know, we party hard on our youth, unfortunately, sometimes we party too much. And, you know, our eight celebrations looks like a welcome back to a bond party, you know,
we, you know, we get very relaxed when I you know, including myself, you know, go on a family vacation every single day, you know, people tend to, to relax on it, and that's okay. But, you know, I think sometimes people get depressed like, wow, you know, yesterday I was praying totally, you know, I was reading put on now look at me, I'm not fasting, I'm picking out I'm not watching my appetite and not watch. I'm not you know, I'm barely catching myself, ah, you know what happened. And the idea is to set an expectation for yourself that is reasonable while you're still in Ramadan, right after Ramadan. But you know, what? Allah subhanaw taala essentially just exposed my potential.
You know, he really did just expose me. Because now when I make the excuse that I don't have time, Allah Subhana, Allah could say you do have time do you have to find a normal dawn? Why don't you have now? So, you know, that's the way we should be thinking is what can I do now, I will be alone and narrated that the pilot's license that a lot of
the most beloved actions to a loss of Montana are the small ones, even if they're consistent, just from again, a practicality standpoint, it's just like, you know, a person who crashed diets usually gains back the weight that they lost and more, because they set an unreasonable expectation for themselves. You know, and sometimes we read about the stories of the seller, you know, that they consider the person who doesn't finish the plan every month, to be a hypocrite, and we get scared and rightfully so. But before I can get there, I need to at least be making some reading, for example, three, four pages of profanity.
You know, there's some form of animal life and inshallah I'll get there, I'll get there. You know, we don't want to despair. Because our lives don't have as much as the lives of the sunup
you know, it's all about consistency. It's all about maintaining a study program, a study, you know, discipline with, you know, for yourself that's in accordance with the mission of the Prophet's life
cycle, okay, and you bring up a lot of really great points there. One of them you know, talking about the the consistent actions, even if they're small and, and how, for example, praying just to da casa PM, can be more you know, beneficial than praying 20 during Ramadan and not not praying during during the rest of the year. And you'll You know, when we look at like the physical reality, we see this, this, this rule in the physical world, for example, somebody who wants to get in shape, someone who wants to tone their body, you know, when they go to work out. We know for example, that a person who goes and you know, say they want to you know, flatten their
stomache they want to do sit ups. If you do, you know, 500 sit ups one day, and then you don't do any setups for two weeks, that's going to be a lot less beneficial than if you're doing just a few each day. And I think it's, you know, panelists, it's the same, this the same, you know, the same one who designed the physical world design the unseen world, and its final data designed. Both we see one and we understand it, and we forget to panela you know, with the unseen world that it has the same same rules apply,
and actually demand exactly that. There'll be a rule number two just does the exact same to be the way that you that you get your body in shape is the same way you get your soul in shape with taking small calculated steps. That's how I remember coming across an article recently that that show the biggest loser.
People lose, you know, a ton of weight through this intense, you know, camp, that most of them have gained back their weight. Most of them are unhealthy. Now, back to step one, you know, square one, that's what Satan wants you to do you know, he wants you and that not only do you do, do not do any more good deeds, but you actually despair. And Stefan's goal is to make you disperse let you just stop trying, you know, because I've been there. I tried that it didn't work and the profits life for them, but inadequately say in Sevilla, when they put the Silverton sutra, that everything has its maximum output and everything has its its normal course, everything has its, you know, its peak and
its downfall. So it's high in its low points, the province likes and I'm sad for nine candidates and lots of leaders so nutty,
that whoever has his regimen, you know, according to my son now, then he's going to succeed woman canopy lady Deluxe.
patella can, whoever it has it, according to anything else will, will perish, he won't be able to keep it up, you know, you'll you'll just, you'll crash and burn essentially. And so Pamela that's, that's always happening, the youth, they get excited. You know, people jump in, and they try to do too much at one time, then they just stop everything altogether.
So, absolutely, you know, it's the same thing, you know, the way that you would train your body is the same way to train the soul. Yeah, absolutely spawn a lot. And this is, you know, why I love playing rock and roll I, you know, he, he, he talks about these issues and of the, you know, the the soul and, and he explains it in a way that we can understand, you know, we can see the physical world. And a lot of times we we understand that and we don't see, for example, how it applies to the spiritual world. We, you know, in the example of, you know, maintaining our relationship with Allah subhanaw taala, or maintaining the heart, for example, you see that a person would never go days
without eating right. And a person would never say that I need to, I don't need to eat today, because I ate last week. And yet, you know, we do this with the soul. We do this with the heart, like with regards to remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala. We, we think that it's like you said, there's the the Jomo Muslims or the the eight Muslims or the Ramadan Muslims? Well, you know, it's, it's just like that person who's like, well, it's not Friday, so I don't need to eat. You know, nobody says that. But But Subhanallah This is it is dekor is the food of the heart.
Absolutely. And you know, the beauty of it is that you don't know which one of those goodies the last kind of tile is going to accept. And we thought about the last time, he said that Allah has hidden two things within two, a lot has hidden his Odia amongst the servants and the lies hidden His pleasure amongst his good deeds. And what that means is that, for example, the odr you know, many times when we think of the Oh, yeah, the Beloved of the last time, you know, you think of someone who's got a big turban, nice job, you know, big beard, nice lock, or if it's a sister, sister, that
kind of law you know, always praying and never interacting with society. And that sort of you think of certain people, right, you get a, you get an image in your head, but the profit slice on them, explain them as they're these people that are hidden, you know, it could be that you're every everyday blue collar worker, you know, a person who's, you know, who's an engineer, or, you know, a mother who's at home. But somehow while she's doing her household duties, she's remembering the last kind of data. And she has this special relationship with the last kind of data and that person who goes to work every day is making bigger than his car, and he has a certain you know, characters who
kind of love that just outshines all of the messias economics. It's crazy, but those are really deal. Yeah, the last kind of atapi the hidden gems, right. And so a lot of kind of Allah explained, or ideal of the law is that the same thing is true for good deeds, that you do so many good deeds, and you don't know which one is going to be the one that gets you the agenda. So for example, the profit sites have mentioned to us that I saw a man strolling in Ghana because he removed something harmful.
Was this man, someone who trades absolutely, I'm sure he prayed. You know, it's
Obviously, you know, he's not going to get in without doing his basics and stuff like that. But it was that one moment, you know, just imagine that you're driving in your car one day and you see it. And you know something on the road that could be harmful. And it's not the highway, and I don't want anyone to kill themselves, but it's a 30 mile per hour road or something. And there are many cars, and it's just you and I love that kind of data. No one else is in the car with you. And you make the intention to do that for the pleasure of Allah. No one sees you go and you take that out of the prophets license that that's what conduct men strolling in general. He also said about the novelty a
lot of times
that I saw, I heard her footsteps in gender purchase descriptions on the head of needs. So what is it that you do? Now we know the sacrifices and struggles but not all the allowable, made for this Dean, but what was what was it that that got him done upon that gotten to that level, it was two decades that he used to pray every time you'd make mobile, that's it, that you don't know which one is going to get you to gently you don't know which time he loves and kind of sad will look at you and smile, and a lot of a dad will say because of this, because of this, I'm going to show mercy upon my heart, and I'm going to enter him into my paradise. So I mean, it's, that's why you stay in
hot pursuit. You know, just like you know how to live, I always give this example to the, to the brothers, because we're kind of terrible at this sometimes when it comes to doing nice things for our spouses and things of that sort, you know, so, if a person wants to give their their spouse
a large cash gift, you know, it could it won't be as beloved as you know, something that was made with the hands and the heart was in it, you know, something that was unexpected, right? A surprise, surprise flowers, or you put together some, and we're not very artsy crafty as, as men, you know, you put together something, you know, you do painted something, whatever it is, you know, something to show that you really love that person that that would only cost you about $30. But
you know, a person would appreciate it so much more because they would recognize the heart that was put into it.
Last kind of Madonna with his very that he looks for those those moments, where a person truly does something just for Allah sake, not in the public eye.
You know, not in front of their own family members, but something that was just between them and a loss. And Allah says, okay, that's the date. That's the one that's going to get you into gender. We see even the men who burned himself to ashes. I mean, this has made this phenomenal to me. That, you know, the soulless, Eisen described the man who, at the time of his death, he told his children, you know, to burn me after I die to cremate me, which is how long is the major said, at a loss kind of either racism on the Day of Judgment, Allah subhanho wa Taala says, you have to be massaged, why did you do that? He says,
I did it because I was afraid of your love. And you know, best me, you know, my heart, you know where my heart was, when I did that. And also love my son did not just say that a lot of data, forgave him. But also advice and I'm set for love sallallahu, ala retallick, bizarre luck getting a lot granted forgiveness, because of that the Haram acts in a major sin, but a lot of recognized as part of that moment, a lot of recognizes intention. So you don't know I mean, I don't know, maybe the hold on doesn't get accepted, but somehow lost something sincerely I do afterwards, that would have stemmed from my therapy, animal buck, you know, is what what gets lost how to hold on, to look
upon this pitiful servant on that day and to smile and to say, this servant now will be answered, and I'm going to forgive him by my mercy. Yes, upon a line, you know, we never know what what what it could be. And, and part of, you know, that's really why we never lose hope. And, you know, sometimes, you mentioned that when people, they find that they're not at the same level, you know, and that, that makes people become very, very disappointed. And, and it can make people lose hope and fall into despair. And I think that one of the main things we have to know is this is this concept of hope, that that like you said, our state and our a better our worship are is never going
to be stable or constant, you know, as the Hadeeth, you mentioned, tells us that there's a there's the peak, and then there's the the dip and whenever you you feel that dip, we should we should realize that it's part of being a human, that we have those dips and not to lose hope i i i know i have emphasized this in the past. Sometimes we we take two steps forward, right? And then we end up taking 15 steps back. And what happens is that once we we know we're taking those steps forward, we find ourselves going one step back and we just give up so then it goes back to 15 steps back so it's kind of like this, it's actually the despair that makes us fall further and, and it's so important
to to really just emphasize the importance of hope and not giving up. Once you do even if you do
You mess up, right and you will mess up at one point or another, you won't always be at the same level. I love the Hadeeth that were Abu Bakr or the line was was, you know, was afraid that he was had become a hypocrite along with with another companion and the prophets I send them said if you you know, if you were at this in the same state all the time the angels would shake hands with you on the streets, and it just, you know, really brings that point home.
Absolutely. And, you know,
the fact that I
felt that way, despite being the highest, you know, the one who was always at the forefront of every good deed.
The fact that he felt that way, it shows that that's a man that's love. You know, when someone when someone's in love, they always feel like they're falling short. And it's, you know, and what we need to emphasize to our, not just to people, but but I mean, of course, we speak first to ourselves that it's good to feel like you're falling short, it's just not good to despair. There's a difference between the two of the Sahaba and the son of a fierce hypocrisy, but that caused them to work harder. It didn't cause them to just, you know, laid that and to say it's over, you know, I'm not going to be aligned with your hypocrisy more than any of us. But that caused him to stand up that
night and pray more that caused him to get more salt that caused him to do more good for the, you know, for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So it should it should be a Harsha a comprehensive fear and love that motivates us not, that doesn't deflate us. You know, it keeps us moving forward. It doesn't make us think but it's all over. Yeah.
It is, you know, he, you look at him and at least right they both sin on the same day.
And the last panel, Tyler's Mercy is open to everyone. But at least one of the meanings the meaning of his name, atlases that he disappeared, the meaning of atlases disparate and safe bonds, saltwater, means he dug himself deep into a hole, he dug himself deeper into the hole, how dumb it is to not came back to a loss channel as a result of this fall, and he was he's in a better situation as the nominal payment
as a result of his job, but he actually has enjoys a higher stature, with the last cannon with Ireland, despite having to suffer the consequences of that slipping. That's another issue that sometimes people think that
just because they're suffering, the consequences of their sin, that a lot of Canada has not forgiven them marks up to Goodwill. But that's not true, rather a loss kind of status purifying you, and a loss of katanas bringing you closer to him. And it's important to never despair, never to feel like the last kind of Allah has shut the door upon us. The Pope, the Pope, the pope used to say a shot, there was one that said that said,
you know, Halloween happened in Atlanta, north of Atlanta, has anyone ever come to our door and returned them away, no one has ever come to the door of a loss.
It just does not happen. And to say that, that I tried and lost contact did not accept me
would be assigning to a loss Canada an attribute that he has not assigned to themselves. And we cannot do that, you know, a lot of Canada, Allah gives guidance to those who seek it just, you know, people need to not be hasty.
You know, just as, again, we look at the physical world, just as your body you know, you don't work out for two days, and then expect to, you know, look like some magazine figure, I don't think you ever expect to look like healthy to look like that. They don't, they don't look like
that takes photos off too. But I mean, you know, you don't, you don't expect after a week of working out that your whole life is going to change, your cholesterol is going to go down completely. And, you know, all of a sudden, you have a flat belly and everything will be okay, it takes time. And that's what that's the problem that people have is that, you know, as as, as human beings were always at a loss kind of describes us that way that we were created to die that we're always always hasty. So we just need to calm down, take calculated steps, and realize that we have a Lord, that saatavilla I didn't dare to go, you know, someone cannot be alone. I know one time instead, how can
I make Toba to Allah, she said, a lot has already turned to us so that you can turn to him.
So the fact that you're considering children that you're you're afraid is a sign that Allah has turned towards you and opened your hearts and guidance.
You know, it's kind of like it makes you know, when I was thinking about the, the way that we lose hope. And, you know, we kind of like this this defeated defeatist mentality of, Okay, I messed up, I might as well give up it. It's kind of like a person who, who's worried about a robber like, you know, coming in and robbing their home. So, you know, you can react to that in one of two ways. And you talked about the the reaction of the seller to their fear of hypocrisy, that the
reaction is I need to secure it more, I need to work harder. And when you think about a person, you know who's worried about someone coming and breaking in and robbing their home, it's going to encourage them to actually secure their home more, it would be pretty foolish for someone to just give up and say, Well, you know what, there's no point anyways, I might as well just leave my door wide open. And of course, someone who does that is now more likely to be robbed. And that's, you know, that's exactly what we end up doing when we give up because we're afraid of something we should actually, like you said, you know, the example of the setup, that that they would work harder
if they're afraid that Allah Spano Tata may not be pleased with them, then it should encourage us to work harder. And, and, you know, that's, that's how the the pain of you know, committing a sin is supposed to be encouraging us to actually work harder to seek His forgiveness rather than just opening the door and letting it go. And you know, I wanted to also touch upon one other aspect which you mentioned earlier and that was the the the aspects of AIDS being kind of something like where we just like you said party hard to a little too hard sometimes where we leave this you know, we're just yesterday, we were praying, not just praying on time, but we were praying sometimes eight
sometimes 20 cars of shuttle, we are slash pm. And and then suddenly, it's either and, you know, we're, we're, we missed our Salah, because we were you know, partying or we were socializing or, and, and the, the amount of food that we eat and you know, kind of goes from complete, you know, self restraint to complete indulgence. And there's this like shift as follows just reflecting on the fact that right when we wake up in the morning, and you know, it's even, just even what we're told to say on our way to the salons is this concept of a little coupon right, that remote remembering Allah subhanaw taala first thing in you know, as we're celebrating aid is remembering that Allah is
greater and just remembering Allah subhanaw taala. And even the fact that aid begins with the salon, you know, it's not it's, it's, it's supposed to teach us that, that that the focus is still a law, right? Even though you're going to after Salah you're going to go in, you're gonna enjoy yourself, but the focus is still a loss of panel data, and allies is greater Allahu Akbar.
You know, it's funny, because I
always say that people fight over the symbols of Ramadan. And no one even knows this industry.
over eight, or 20, or moon, citing all kinds of stuff on a day, you know, it's like a consensus amongst the oma that that's just data party. But there's actually there are actually many established symbols on the day of the amount of profits like eating an odd number of dates, going to the salon remembering a loss of hope to either, you know, to be at odds of the day of aid in the tech Vilas actually start from the mother of the eve of the eve of the tech period, start all the way until they're at a loss, remember suffering a loss at the profit slice, and I'm emphasizing that you should go home with a different route than the route that you came to the fallout with? How
powerful is that? Understanding that your change personnel, you go home with a different route than the route that you came to? A lot today?
You know, I mean, and the problem never forgot.
And there's a very powerful story that, you know, once the prophets placed on saw young boys, it's not authentic tradition, actually, it's not a story. I mean, it's a young boy who was sitting sat alone on a private slice of them did not think for themselves, you know, this is a, I've been working very hard and hold on. I just finished my 10 days events and kept being away from my family, let me ignore him. But the privatized alum, went to the young boy and actually inquired about his situation and found that, you know, the young boy's father passed away and his new his mother's husband,
you know, it was not treating him well. And he saw the other young boys playing with their fathers. And he became so that was the last place I took a proactive action. He put his arm around them, and he says, How would you like that Mohammed's life, I'm gonna be your father. I said, I'll be alone. I know your mother and father tomorrow, I'll be alongside your sister. That's the kind of law he didn't forget. He didn't just turn as you know, you know, have the blind I turned a blind eye on that day and say it's at this time to celebrate that shows you that we're awake on our end, we're supposed to be thinking one. Now what I will say that I mean, just to not depress people first,
because let's face it, it is you know, it isn't anything. Yeah, we will celebrate, there's no doubt about it. The fact that you feel bad about not praying as much on any day is a good thing. Because pretty soon you're not going to feel bad about it anymore. Right? If you didn't do anything about it, at least you feel a little guilty on eighth. That's a good thing. If you're feeling guilty. And you're feeling uncomfortable with not praying subtly, or you're feeling uncomfortable with not making the most because hopefully then there's still you know, your sensors still there and you're ready to turn back to the last class and start being more consistent. You know, you've tasted the
sweetness of it, and you want to come to it consistently instead of waiting till next year have a bond or an opportunity that you might not even get
The problem is is that again we'll stop feeling bad about you know our evil ties oh you know look at us today Ramadan was so fast you know he's got our one liners about Ramadan came and went so fast and you know we all everyone talks about it whether he's whether you had a productive Ramadan or an unproductive Ramadan you know wasn't all gone really fast can never hear anyone say that oh bond took forever a normal Bond was slow you know everyone says Ramadan was fast it went by so quickly but feel you know feel the sense of of shame in a positive I don't know shame can be positive but that's one of the limitations just translation you know bashfulness with the last
you know I really need to do more you know I really need to keep it going
before you before you just become totally desensitized. It's final I I noticed that one of the reminders of aid even in your speaking about the sun and have a then like of even just the the the Sunnah of which chapters of the Quran are supposed to be recited in the Salah and just reflecting on actually those those at themselves are in in them in of themselves a reminder you know, belt throne and higher the dunya while accurate to hydro Africa, you know, just it's eight and it's like it's not a coincidence that that Allah is saying to us Do you know you you you're preferring the life of this world when that when the next life is better and more lasting? So Panama
Yeah, and and and and spatola we we you know, we we hope that inshallah all of us you know, continue to keep that that momentum that we created that we had, you know, Allah Spano Tata blessed us with rather, during the month of Ramadan, it's important that we realize that our actions that you know, those actions that we gave up during Ramadan and those actions which we were consistent in have a direct effect on the condition of our hearts and if we can continue you know, even some portion of that as the shift mentioned, maybe making a commitment to ourselves of you know, some things that we're going some of those habits that we are going to continue to do and and and making a commitment
to stay away from those bad habits that we had given up. I want to really thank shakaama for coming on the show does echo here
continue to bless your work and everything that you're doing and
listeners, allow them to all testify on your behalf.
I mean, you know Bill amin and me you have the same inshallah, but a cola fique and Ramadan. You know, late late Ramadan, kutiman and eight Mubarak to you and your family, inshallah.