Ramadan Guidelines.
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The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows:
This is the monthly meeting that takes place on the night of the third Sunday of every month, and this night is the twenty-first night of the month of Sha'ban in the year 1418, which is the longest night of the year. Therefore, in two days, the day will become longer than the night and take from the night what it has taken from it. This is evidence of the wisdom and power of Allah the Exalted. This sun, by which the night and day differ, is sometimes at the farthest south and sometimes at the farthest north. The One who moves it, manages it, and runs it to a specified term is its Creator, Mighty and Majestic. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Qasas 28:71] What is the answer? No one, no one brings us light if Allah makes the night eternal until the Day of Resurrection [Al-Qasas 28:72]? The answer: No one [Al-Qasas 28:72-73] meaning: in the night [An-Nahl 16:14] meaning: in the day We ask Allah to grant us and you the ability to be thankful for His blessings and to worship Him well. We are now preparing to receive the month of Ramadan. We ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, to shower His blessings upon us and you, and to make us and you among those who fast it and stand in prayer in it with faith and seeking reward. But how do we prepare to receive this blessed month? It is a month unlike any other month in the year. It is a month that Allah has distinguished with characteristics not found in any other month of the year. It is the month in which Allah made fasting obligatory, and made its fasting one of the pillars of Islam. It is the month in which Allah revealed the Qur'an as a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and the Criterion. It is the month in which there is the Night of Decree, which is better than a thousand months. It is the month in which Allah honored this Ummah at Badr, where the victory was for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions. It is the month in which the Mother of Cities was opened and Allah the Exalted saved it from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and the polytheists. In this month, there are preceding virtues and following virtues. We should prepare to receive this month with complete openness, with complete joy, with complete determination, and with complete activity in righteous deeds so that we may seize the opportunity. How many people wished to reach this month but did not reach it, and how many people reached this month but lost it by not doing anything in it. Therefore, I urge myself and you to prepare to receive this month with righteous deeds that bring us closer to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The greatest of these righteous deeds is fasting, because it is obligatory and one of the pillars of Islam. But is fasting just abstaining from food, drink, and spouses? No. That is an apparent, sensory fast. But the true, spiritual fast is: that a person fasts from what Allah has forbidden. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:183] He did not say: "Perhaps you will be hungry," "Perhaps you will be thirsty," "Perhaps you will long for your spouses." He said: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this by saying: Bulugh al-Maram 5:14 Indeed, Allah the Exalted did not make fasting obligatory upon us to torment us with hunger, thirst, and abstaining from spouses. Rather, He intended for us to leave speaking falsehood and acting upon it, and ignorance. So what is speaking falsehood? Speaking falsehood is: every forbidden speech is speaking falsehood. Every forbidden speech is speaking falsehood, whether it is false testimony, backbiting, talebearing, lying, or otherwise. Every forbidden speech is what? Speaking falsehood, because it is derived from "al-azwar" which means: deviation. And acting upon it, meaning acting upon falsehood, and it is intended to mean every forbidden action, such as looking at women, looking at books of religious innovation, looking at bad films, and others. And ignorance: aggression. Ignorance: aggression against people. Ignorance is aggression against people, and it is not the opposite of knowledge. No, because ignorance here is intended to mean aggression, as in the saying of the pre-Islamic poet: "Let no one be ignorant of us *** So we will be more ignorant than the ignorance of the ignorant ones"
The meaning of "let no one be ignorant of us" is: let no one aggress and rebel against us. If they rebel against us, we will become more severe than them. There is no doubt that a believer who passes through a complete month, being disciplined by its etiquettes, will certainly change his course. He will return to Allah after fleeing from Him, and he will return to obedience after disobedience, and his morals will be refined. Because a complete month in which a person secludes himself in what pleases Allah, Mighty and Majestic, must have an effect on him, no matter who he is.
This is the monthly meeting that takes place on the night of the third Sunday of every month, and this night is the twenty-first night of the month of Sha'ban in the year 1418, which is the longest night of the year. Therefore, in two days, the day will become longer than the night and take from the night what it has taken from it. This is evidence of the wisdom and power of Allah the Exalted. This sun, by which the night and day differ, is sometimes at the farthest south and sometimes at the farthest north. The One who moves it, manages it, and runs it to a specified term is its Creator, Mighty and Majestic. Allah the Exalted said:
Say, "Have you considered: if Allah should make for you the night continuous until the Day of Resurrection, what deity other than Allah could bring you light? Then will you not hear?"
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمُ اللَّيْلَ سَرْمَداً إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنْ إِلَهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُمْ بِضِيَاءٍ أَفَلا تَسْمَعُونَSay, "Have you considered: if Allah should make for you the day continuous until the Day of Resurrection, what deity other than Allah could bring you a night in which you may rest?
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمُ النَّهَارَ سَرْمَداً إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنْ إِلَهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُمْ بِلَيْلٍ تَسْكُنُونَ فِيهِ(72) Say, "Have you considered: if Allah should make for you the day continuous until the Day of Resurrection, what deity other than Allah could bring you a night in which you may rest? Then will you not see?" (73) And out of His mercy He made for you the night and the day that you may rest therein and [by day] seek from His bounty and [that] perhaps you will be grateful.
أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ وَمِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ لِتَسْكُنُوا فِيهِthat you may seek of His bounty
وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِAnd perhaps you will be thankful.
وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَO you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَPerhaps you will become mindful of Allah
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَWhoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions and does not abandon foolishness, Allah is not in need of his leaving food and drink
من لم يدع قول الزور والعمل به والجهل، فليس لله حاجة في أن يدع طعامه وشرابهThe meaning of "let no one be ignorant of us" is: let no one aggress and rebel against us. If they rebel against us, we will become more severe than them. There is no doubt that a believer who passes through a complete month, being disciplined by its etiquettes, will certainly change his course. He will return to Allah after fleeing from Him, and he will return to obedience after disobedience, and his morals will be refined. Because a complete month in which a person secludes himself in what pleases Allah, Mighty and Majestic, must have an effect on him, no matter who he is.