Sacred Months: Heart Over Ritual

Allahar.

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Ill.

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Sal.

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Ill alhamd.

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Muham muham.

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Sub.

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I praise Allah and I ask him to send his peace and His blessings upon his beloved Prophet Muhammad sallallah alaihi his family members his companions and all of those who followed his way of life and I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that prophet Muhammed am is his messenger and his servant dear brothers and sisters we are live in the days of r a month considered to be mam a sacred month Allah in the Quan he says.

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He talks about the number of the months during the year to be 12 and then he says that four of these months are considered to be sacred therefore during these sacred months we should not oppress ourselves do not oppress eles during these sacred months the Hadith of our beloved Prophet.

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Elaborates on what these four months are and according to the Hadith we know that the month that we are in right now the month of rajab is considered to be a sacred month sacred what does it mean M I mean Translating that as a sacred a lot of people they May understand that it is an honorable month a virtuous a virtuous month an important month but what does really mean and Allah subhah wa ta'ala has explained the meaning of it not the literal meaning of the word mam but has explained the deeper meaning of what we should not do during during the month of rajab and the other three months by in other words by saying what is the most important thing that you need to know about these months he says do not oppress yourselves during these months this the most important thing that you need to learn what to do and what mam means to you literally if we translate the word muharam it means to stay away from something that is prohibited and Arabs back in the days as many nations even nowadays as well used to fight and the Quran tells us so they used to I don't want to go too much into the story but I'll try to wrap it up very quickly in order for us to understand what these ay from Surah Toba they're talking about so it says that Arabs they would consider if if rajab for example would start tomorrow right if RAB would start tomorrow and rajab is one of the Sacred months they would say well tomorrow is not rajab yet rajab is going to start after tomorrow why so they can continue so they can ex they can exceed they can go extra day they can go an extra day and fulfill their evil plans because fighting fighting isil evil unless you fighting for justice but according to the Quran they were not just fighting for justice most of their their fights were based on personal reasons he said this to me I said that to him you know he offended me I offended him so the tribes they would go on for months and months and fight based on some unimportant matters but however in order for them to extend that right in order for them to fulfill their their evil fight they would consider even these sacred months not to start when in reality they have started so that's what Allah subh criticizes here so there are two things that we we must pay attention as we dive deep into the interpretation of these ay from number one is me not as a month but muharam sacred or to stay away from it means for me that I should stop oppression what kind of Oppression are we talking about oppressing myself to begin with if I am using prohibited things that Allah has considered to be Haram I should stay away from those well brother I'm not using alcohol I don't even consume pork these are the most easy things that even non-muslims sometimes don't use there is a harm that you can pose to your own self is through a mental harm spiritual harm mental harm is when you are thinking and continuously possessing ideas that are harmful to your own spiritual values again you have ideas in your mind you have feelings and you continuously haror those ideas and those feelings instead of letting those go or instead of rejecting those ideas what are you talking about well I'm talking about for example hate right somebody has done something to you forgive nope I have Grudge I'm going to keep it deep inside of you're hurting your Yourself by doing that some people they have just simply bad ideas about let's say for example about religion because they don't understand certain parts of Islam let's say for example you know it's not normal for a person to stop drinking for example again it may be anything that you are harboring in your mind whether it is towards religion or or towards people that does nothing to you but harms you so Allah subhana waala wants to call your attention during these four sacred months for you to analyze the matters carefully and to stop harboring any ill feelings or wrong ideas in your mind so purify yourself that way so stop the oppression towards yourself and then there is the other kind of Oppression when you oppress the others how do you oppress the others you abuse them mentally you abuse them spiritually you abuse them physically as well you call people names you keep lying to people you deceive people you take their rights away you beat them up you murder them so all of these are different forms of demonstration of that oppression as I was talking about and Allah subhana Waal says do not express that oppression now why in particularly during these months because the human being is created human being is weak not because Allah subhana wa tala is weak and he is creating a weak creation but purposely the human was created weak in order to connect with somebody who is strong with somebody who is who has all the power all the abilities that's why Allah subh created the human weak so he can connect with him he can depend on him so he doesn't feel independent like some people unfortunately behave as they are independent from God so as we are created like that we we want to better ourselves during these four months because when we start bettering ourselves and to begin with staying away from oppression which opens a door for us to do other oppression Injustice being unfair whether it is to yourself or the others it helps you when you when you restrict yourself you better yourself in that matter it helps you a lot to start achieving Good Deeds to Ed in doing righteous Deeds when Allah subhana wa tala says for example now as I stop the oppression I can haste I can I can hurry I can run I can compete with others in doing righteous Deeds when Allah subhah wa ta'ala says stay away from the when Allah subh says right I can be able now to connect with all of these positive Deeds because I have already closed the door of the oppression oppression is very very not just important to understand but it's very important to close that door a lot of Nations a lot of people they suffer because they are unfair and a lot of other nations even if they are not Muslims or individuals even if they are not Muslims even if they don't believe in God God will still give them in this world because they are being fair a Muslim can be suffering in this world because of Injustice because of being unfair and a non-muslim can receive a lot in this world because of the fairness which is connected strongly with you know of being against oppression justice justice when you are a just person a fair person is when you are fighting and rejecting oppression imagine if we would be rejecting oppression on our selves and the people around us imagine if Muslim countries let alone other I mean forget about the rest of the world just Muslim countries they would stop ing their own people imagine how the world would have been the world was guided with Islamic principles and Islam started being spread in the most parts of the world hundreds and hundreds of years ago because people stood for fairness people valued their ethics people valued their people value their spirituality and millions of people Embrace Islam because of this today we want to be everybody else we don't care whether we're being fair or not we don't care whether we are applying our ethics or not we don't care whether we become spiritual people or not we get so connected to materialism that this world has to offer to a certain point where we're not able to see anymore what is what is right and what is wrong even within Muslim circles often you find places where spirituality is dead and only formalities remain but with formalities you cannot go that far it's not meant to be the formality the way how you do the prayer that leads you to Jenna or to Allah subhah wa ta'ala but it is meant to be that soul that spirit that heart that you possess the feelings the connection with Allah subhah wa ta'ala that you have during that time that causes your salvation in the Hereafter of course together with of Allah subh waala don't take it from me take it from the Quran so you don't say this guy is all about spirituality right the Quran is telling you this it will be a day when the wealth and the children they're not going to do much to you they're not going to be able to help you much on that day what's going to help you on that day is the Pure Heart The Sound heart which leads me to the last part of this inshallah today and that is connection with Allah subhah wa tala again we want to go above the formalities above standing for prayer above the the formal act itself we want to have that we want to have that that peace during the prayer because this is more is more valuable than the formal act itself all right so it is not it is not the way how the apple looks I'm just bringing you a very simple example to to elaborate a little bit so people don't say like you're theorizing here you're talking about Theory and stuff when you look at the Apple it is not the form of the Apple that really satisfies you sometimes some people they are satisfied even with the the form of the apple right that could be reality but that shouldn't be that way what really satisfies you or what it should satisfy you is the Taste and at the same time the nutritions that you get from that Apple so similarly when you do the prayer when you fast when you do Hajj when you do om when you give zakat when you read Quran when you doar when you do duas it is not the formal thing itself how beautifully you were reciting the Quran but how well you are connected with the Quran how much you are practicing Quran Allah subhana tala challenges people by saying aren they contemplating as they're reading the prayer when he said to say m he said perform the prayer so you can remember me in other words the the prayer is a tool for you to get close to me and to be connected with me why do we need to be connected with him five times a day or even more than that well because when you are with him you're closer to Mercy when you are with him you're closer to forgiveness when you are with him you're closer to safety but when you are away from him you're closer to what to sins when you are away from him you're closer to your own nefs when you are away from him you have opened the door for evil to get in and to start playing around with you w that's why but the question is are we feeling that closeness as we do the prayer or not now when we are paying attention only to formalities we start and we end with formalities for example again I have to be clear giv examples when we talk about formality it's I have to pay attention to how well I am taking the right and how well I'm reciting and how straight I'm standing in the prayer these are all important for sure but they still remain formal important for formalities otherwise sometimes if you don't have it correct your prayer can be invalid but again these are the technical aspects of the prayer what is above that is your connection how is your connection with Allah subhah wa ta'ala you're supposed to recite Quran for example during the prayer as you're having a conversation with god you're asking him something he's replying back to you alhamdulillah talks about this one you're saying alhamd Praises be to God the lord of the worlds God is answering back by saying my servant has praised me after every sentence there is after every Ayah except the last part which is a prayer Dua there is an answer from Allah so you're saying something Allah is answering you back until you read reach the point where he says this is between me and my servant and whatever my servant asks for he's going to or she's going to receive guide us on the straight path the path of those who you were pleased with not the path of those who those who have earned your anger not the path of those who have earned your anger not the nor the path of those who went astray in other words we don't want to be a part of those two categories it's a prayer it's a Dua and my servant is going to receive what he's asking for so when you are when you are feeling this and when you are connected with this right when you when you see these things when you're present with your heart during the prayer I'm using the prayer just as an example all the other they require the same thing for your heart to be present when that's happening that's where you start to see the blessings not just in prayer but after the prayer prayer is quickly five minutes 10 minutes after the prayer what do you mean after the prayer the way how you talk to people Allah subhana wa taala becomes your he assists you he helps you he betters you because you're present with him often you are improving the ways how you're connecting with him often you see so now we say right we are relying on Allah subhana what are you relying for you're relying on him to take you to take you from your hand and to lead you to to bless bless you what does it mean to bless you it means to give you rewards in this world but at the same time to show you the the straight path to give you wisdom for example in how to do things in a better way how to have better relations with people why because you're obedient to begin with towards your creator not just in obedient formally but in obedient to him spiritually as well it's saying Abdi my servant you have earned this Mak you have been mallah a Shak a true person of gratitude because you constantly Express that gratitude to me and I'm going to give you and I'm going to better your situation I'm going to give you hikma I'm going to give you blessings I'm going to give you this and that you're not anymore in charge of yourself don't depend on yourself you still do your homework but the one who's going to provide the one who's going to show you the way the one who's gonna take you from your hand and guide you we don't need guidance only to become Muslims right we say five times a day what is that guidance alhamdulillah we're Muslims we're guided no there's more than just being guide on Islam there is a guidance of your heart on daily basis constantly in choosing what is right and being with the truth in all matters choosing what is right and being with the truth so Allah subhana wa taala guides you constantly towards what is the best this is one of the interpretations of mu Muhammad Shafi in in very beautiful T he lines three categories of guidance but I'm just giving you one not going into much details in his Quran so very beautifully expressed now to finalize this dear brothers and sisters again the ultimate the Ultimate Experience of your enrichment of your soul of Your Heart Right your your positive experiences of your spirituality is when you are connected with Allah subhah wa taala constantly what does it to be connected with Allah constantly from my understanding and experience and of course based on the Hadith and based on the AY from the Quran I find four categories to be very important for for us to help us not only achieve but maintain that connection number one prioritize excuse me prioritize those commands the Mandatory Actions or deeds that we're commanded what do I mean by that you have a prayer for example this is mandatory for all of us unless we fall under certain categories I'm not going to go into the F perspective of who should pray and who who is not obliged to pray but overall we are obliged to pray so that is an obligation helping somebody it is good giving a donation it is good performing prayer it is at least right it's something good but you would have people who would be missing jum prayer for example which is mandatory obligatory for men while at the same time they they pay attention to attend prayers this is just a simple example so what do we have here going what's wrong with this scenario the person is not prioritizing things right all right so it's very important to understand from a religious perspective what is obligation for me as an individual what does Islam obligates me with and don't tell me that is just a prayer and just a fasting right there's a lot responsibilities as an individual as a son as a daughter as a mother as a husband as a worker as a friend sky is the the limit there's a lot of things that we need to pay attention to that are considered to be obligations not only from the ritualistic perspective but also from a personal perspective as well right these have to be well understood and be prioritized number two prohibitions stay away from prohibitions the AY that I mentioned earlier mentions that these Arabs prior to Prophet alam's time was right or similar similar statements in in the Quran we find often even Shayan for example playing with their minds and making certain things seem okay but in reality they're not okay your own NS tells you that it's okay when in reality it's not okay prohibitions those acts that are considered to be prohibited they are considered to be prohibited for your benefit whether you do something good or you do something bad that doesn't change anything to God but it changes you it makes you either a better person or it makes you a worse person so when you are doing this when you are paying attention to staying away from the prohibitions you're opening the door for all the good things as well to to start coming in when you are in touch with prohibitions and you constantly do them you're not allowing the blessings the baracas to come in even if you pray even if you fast and there are a lot of evidence in the Quran and the Sunnah that I don't have time to go through all of those but it is possible number three stay constantly with you know stick with the prayers with duas with a recitation of the Quran and with Vick constantly I mentioned to you the Ayah earlier why because does this or these actions guarantee a connection with our creator and I don't need to repeat it right the the more you stay closer to Allah the more you're connected with safety blessings and all the other things that I mentioned earlier that's very important I don't have time to do the zck in the morning 10 minutes man that's a long time don't be realistic if it's going to be too much don't one minute make it two minutes you're busy no problem just do that but do it constantly every day you go you go to bed recite the prayers I cannot do a j a day in the Quran no problem do one page a day do half a page a day if that's the case so everybody based on their abilities I don't have time to do so many salawats do you have time to do 10 salawats every day do 10 salawats can you do 70 times a day do 70 times a day as long as you're doing constantly because again what's the purpose behind all of this is the connection is that connection and you're showing to God at the same time that I value you you come first and I want to be connected with you constantly because I want to benefit from you constantly and lastly but not least stay in the company of righteous people what helps us connect with Allah subhana wa ta'ala constantly and boost our spirituality help with our spir spirituality is when we are in the company of the righteous people.

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Be patient as you are dealing as you are in the company of those servants those who are guided already and who pray to Allah subhah wa ta'ala during the day and during the night as well these are people who are constantly connected with Allah so be in their company while practicing patience man I'm going to this IM and I want to sit with this guy and all of that but all he talks is about Dean or sometimes it's kind of you know very serious and it's kind of hard you know I'm not going to be able to do that I have these other friends they're religious they pray five times a day nice people but my life is kind of different it's very hard to kind of you know do the way do things the way how they do it I'm a little bit more wild I'm on the wild side it's not their problem it's your problem you have to accommodate yourself you have to transform yourself so you can be in that company and enjoy that company the Quran says that be patient in being in their company do not even take away your your sight from them I constantly look at them because when you are in their company they remind you of Allah subhana wa ta'ala when certain individuals you look at them just by looking at them they remind you of Allah subhana wa tala don't take away looking at them for a cheap price for worldly gains for materialism for something that has no value don't sell something that is so important the company of the righteous for something that has no value at all Allah subhana wa ta'ala make us among people who are sincere Allah subhah wa ta'ala give us much blessings during the month of rajab and during the month of Shan and Deliver Us safely into the month of.

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Ramadan for.

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Sudan.

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Allah abbar.

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Turn up your lines please perform this prayer with.

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Devotion Allah alhamd Al.

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All.

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For.

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For for.

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Allah Allah.

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Allahar alhamd must.

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Allah.

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Allar allar allahar all.

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As.

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Brothers and sisters assalam alaykum I have a very couple of very important announcements please bear with me also there is a shahada so please stay with us for additional a inshallah there's a book signing this after this evening inshallah after Isa byar pardon okay okay all right so if you buy the book he can sign it right now so but anyway there's going to be a group discussion this evening inshallah there's a panel discussion Shear will be here for that and also Sheik watk and Dr Lucas will be joining for that conversation and that will be enjoyable if you can please come and join us the next announcement is very important we need your help brothers and sisters as you know we run the rahma academy from here with your funds with your money and the easiest way to get that funds taken care of is by the state of Arizona redirection of the State of Arizona taxation now that part is really lacking right now we I'm really sad to to share with you that we have received only $24,000 in pledges on that program it is free of cost to you now also I'm realizing that we have until April the 15th to do this thing so if you can please take the time and make sure that your tax money whatever you owe to the State of Arizona is directed to the rahma academy so we can take care of our children inshallah also the mcct is offering a new program that's going to be for youth Fitness club alhamdulillah it's going to start tonight after M and please join and get more information from Imam Hass and we're going to please donate generously on the way out and Hassan is going to request for I think we have shahada so we're trying to look at the brother if brother Nikolai if you're here please come to the front brother Nikolai if you're here please come to the front it seems he's not here all right inallah we'll see you tonight inshallah we'll have some refreshments for you guys in the gym so please come join us inshallah.

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E for.