 I start the name of Allah who is the beneficent and the merciful, and I seek salvation from shaitan the accursed. My dearest viewers, brothers and sisters, elders and children, may the peace, blessings and the protection of Allah SWT be with you at all times. Welcome to another episode of the Ramadan Show with me, your host Dr Shabir Tejani. Insha'Allah again in this show we shall be exploring different avenues to give you all you can to get the most out of this month of Ramadan. Please do not forget to once again join us on social media by using the hashtag IHTVRamadan on Twitter. You can also join us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Please also don't forget to send in your videos from where you are. So the rest of the world can benefit by looking and having an insight into your day-to-day lives as well. Before proceeding on to the show, I would like to firstly ask you to please not to forget us in your du'as on these nights where supplication is accepted, on these nights where the doors of mercy are open and on these nights where Allah SWT is asking us to come closer to Him. Before proceeding, I would just like to quote a hadith from Hadith al-Qudsi where Allah SWT says, if my servant, if my lover takes one step towards me, I'll come running to him. In these nights, let's take the first step so we can get close to Allah SWT. For today's episode for this segment of spiritual refinement, I've chosen a very specific topic because this is a topic, this is an area, this is a trait which can have a very negative impact on ones not only their physical health but their spiritual health and their ability to ascend towards Allah SWT. And it's a trait which is seen as a negative to anyone who has it. And that's the trait of anger. And today, inshallah, we'll talk about anger management, how if you do suffer from anger, how you can control it. Basically, let's have a look at what anger is and what the Ahlul Bayt al-Salam say about anger. The state of anger is one of the most dangerous states that can overtake a human being because in that state they're unable to control themselves, they're unable to control their emotions, they're unable to think rationally and as a result, what happens is when they do something or any act that they perform is done without common sense, without rationality. Imam Sadiq Alayhi Salam has said, anger destroys the heart of a wise man. One who is unable to control his anger also fails to maintain his wisdom and anger is the key of every evil. The Ahlul Bayt have also said more things about anger, the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him has said, anger spoils faith just like vinegar spoils honey. Then the question may arise, if anger is so bad, why did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in his infinite wisdom create such a trait or such an instinct in man? The answer is very simple. You see, anger in itself like all other natural instincts is not always condemned. But it's desirable even in some situations. What is condemned is the inability to control it. Scholars over many, many years have devised or divided anger into different categories. There's three categories that they've come up with. The first category is called tafrit. This means that the heart being totally empty of the instinct of anger, which is one extreme. Ifrat in anger meaning the instinct of anger is so intense that it overtakes you as an individual, it completely engulfs you. It doesn't allow you to think rationally and this is another extreme. Thirdly, it's aittedal in anger which means moderation where the individual is able to benefit from the power in appropriate situations when it becomes essential to act and become angry. But it can also control his anger when it's inappropriate to be angry. It is recorded from Amir al-Mu'minin that the Holy Prophet peace and blessings be upon him never became angry for this world. So in summary, after having said all of these things and all of these teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt al-Salam, the reality of anger, the faculty that God has created in mankind can be praiseworthy as long as we have total control over it. In other words, Allah SWT in His infinite wisdom has created this instinct within man when it's needed for development and when it's needed towards a spiral to perfection. So some of you watching at home may be thinking, okay, I've got anger and sometimes I can't control it. Is there anything you can tell me that I can do to cure this potential disease of the soul if it's uncontrollable? And there are remedies that the Ahl al-Bayt have set out for us and they've given us very, very good strategies to try and combat this potential problem of the soul. So what are the remedies? Firstly, in narrations we see that the Ahl al-Bayt al-Salam have encouraged meditation and in people who get angry when they meditate and they take some time out to think and contemplate to reflect, they find that they can rationalize the anger. They can rationalize their thoughts and as a result they can act in a rational manner. Secondly, when we study the traditions regarding patience and forbearance and keeping control over anger, Imam Sadiq has said, there is no slave of God who controls his anger and God does not increase his honor in this world as well as the hereafter. In fact, Allah SWT has said, successful are those who suppress their anger and forgive people and God befriends the good doers. God gives this reward to them for suppression of anger. He loves them. Thirdly, one should keep in mind the result of anger. Sometimes it is likely to end in creating enemies or quarrels, thereby spoiling your character, spoiling your personality, spoiling your reputation. You see, when you do any act out of anger, you often don't think about the implications and the consequences and as a result you may ruin your reputation. It may have a negative effect on your character and as a result it has a detrimental effect to your heart and your soul. So many of you might be asking, so okay, what do the Ahl al-Bait say in order for us to be able to remedy this problem, this issue? The Ahl al-Bait have given us some examples of what to do in these situations. Certain things are very, very simple, but if you try them practically they will work. So when you are angry and you're sitting, then at that moment instead of reacting to that anger, stand up and take a few seconds to compose yourself. If you're standing, then sit down and again take a few seconds just to compose yourself, gather your thoughts and to reflect. If you feel that you're very angry and that you can't control that anger, some narrations say you should get some water and put it on your face. Don't speak as what you would say because when you say something out of anger, it is usually something that is inappropriate, something that you haven't used your rationality to convey, something you haven't thought about before you say it. And another very, very good way of suppressing anger is something you should try at home. Not only is it a thawab but it will also help you to calm down, to compose yourself and that is to recite Salawat. In summary, in all conditions we should see anger if uncontrolled as a negative and detrimental trait, instinct, something that will ruin the ascension of our souls. Obviously the instinct of anger has been put in us for a specific reason. Allah SWT has alluded to the fact that anger is there as something that if you can control can be a positive thing in your life. However, in people who can't control this instinct, it can not only make their life difficult in this world but have a detrimental effect to where they end up in the hereafter. Seek the pleasure of Allah SWT. Ask Him to give you salvation and shelter from this inert instinct if it's uncontrollable. And ask Him to purify your soul and give you closeness to Him because ultimately that is our goal in this life and in the hereafter. The holy prophet Muhammad may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him in his progeny was asked, O prophet of Allah, which of the two months possesses a greater reward, Rajab or the month of Ramadan? The holy prophet may the peace and blessings be upon him in his progeny replied, Nothing can be compared to the month of Ramadan in terms of reward. During this segment of the show, as we go around the world, as I research different people, different preparations for the month of Ramadan, my research for this show has taken me to Lebanon. For those of you who don't know, Lebanon is a country within the Middle East which borders Syria. The Lebanese people have a very unique way of preparing their day-to-day lives in the month of Ramadan. My research has taken me to the south of Lebanon which has a high Shia populace and, inshallah, I'll be describing a little bit about what I've been told happens within this area. To begin with, the Lebanese country is an Islamic country. Even though there's quite strong links to France, they're a French-speaking nation, but essentially the government is an Islamic government. So during the month of Ramadan, the government allows people who work to alter their working days, working hours, so that they can accommodate for this holy month. After that, in Lebanon, they have a very, very specific diet. The Lebanese people, like I've said, there's quite a big influence of European culture within the Lebanese people and the Lebanese area. And as a result, the people there tend to want to lead a very healthy lifestyle and they're very selective over the foods that they choose to eat and the drinks that they choose to drink. And so the Lebanese people tend to eat very, very healthy foods such as soups. They like their lentils. They eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. One of the interesting things that I've found about the Lebanese culture and what they do during the month of Ramadan is when they have the iftar, the family will invite orphans to their house. Orphans from the street and they will feed them. And after they have fed the orphans, they then go to the mosque or the Hussainiyahs where there is Majlis, Dua and Amal, which they partake in. After they come back from the mosque, the families get together and have a big meal because at iftar time, they tend to have lighter meals, almost like what we would call starters or breakfast. And then towards sahur time, they have their bigger meals. One of the interesting things that I've found, in fact, was that in some areas in the south of Lebanon, there is a person that would walk the streets at the time of sahur reciting in a tune so that his voice would wake up the people in time for their meal for sahur and they would come down and they would eat food in their families. Lebanon has a very unique culture. And this culture for the rest of the world may be very difficult to comprehend. But like I've said before, every culture, every area of the world has very subtle differences from the next. And Alhamdulillah, it's beautiful to see how we as a nation have variety as well. Insha'Allah, I hope that as I've requested before and I'll continue to request that you send in your videos from wherever you are in the world. So we may be able to learn from your way of preparing for the month of Ramadan and also the rest of the world, the viewers can see how you go about your day-to-day activity in the month of Ramadan. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, dearest brothers and sisters. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to Imam Hussein TV3. Today we came to one of the travel agencies in the holy city of Karbala to ask them about what do they offer to the visitors of the holy city of Karbala during the holy month of Ramadan. Dearest Imam Hussein TV viewers, I have one of the viewers here, I will ask him a few questions. Salamu alaikum. Can you tell us about the atmosphere of the holy month of Ramadan in the holy city of Karbala? Yeah, you know, this is month Ramadan from the Karbala. It's a different month from all the years, okay? Because first Sunday from the month of Ramadan is all the people from the Iran, our Arabic country and people come here because you need first day from the Ramadan, okay? The difference from all the years, okay? After one and ten days, okay? To the Karbala, more people come here because they are at night Qadr, night Qadr is all maybe one day they enter from the Karbala, 5,000 people from only Iran. Only from Iran, our Arabic country and Arabic Saudi and Kuwait. This is the year they come from this United Arabic Emirate, our Oman, you know, because all the people you need, this is a night, okay? But don't sleep all the night from this Karbala, our reading the Quran, Karim. This is different from all the Ziyarat, maybe from the Muharram, our another Ziyarat from the Karbala, yeah. Okay, can you tell me about what do you do here? You are a travel agency, you have a travel agency here. And what do you do here? What do you offer to the visitors of Karbala? Yeah, you know, maybe all the travel company from the Karbala city, our Najaf city, not the same from this another city, okay? Because open the time, maybe the morning is not coming here because after the night, okay? My Israeli, very people is coming here from the visitor, our reservation, the ticket, okay? I don't know, maybe to, this is the year, okay? This is the year, last people is go for the Iran, for the Mashhad, our, yeah, yeah, yeah, because you need all the people from the Mashhad, as a better, okay? Maybe some of the people will go for the 10 day, 10 day, 10 day, we come back, more of the people is go to the one month. Yeah, the ticket, our visit, yeah, our, they send the group. Yeah, I'm send the group from the Karbala, go to the Mashhad in the one month. Yeah, before the Ramadan, you go, okay? After the month, Ramadan is come back from this people, in the future, insha'Allah. Thank you so much, brother Muhammad, thank you so much. In this episode, during the health and medical tip section, I want to talk a little bit about a condition or a problem that affects many of us. Other people may not be able to see that problem, but it is something that a lot of people within our society and our community suffer from, and that is skin problems, skin diseases such as eczema or psoriasis, and even simple things like protection from the heat, protection from extreme weathers. And insha'Allah, I want to talk a little bit about firstly, those people who suffer from skin conditions, how they can help themselves in order to try and limit the amount of damage and the amount of discomfort that skin condition causes for them. And secondly, I want to talk to the general public, especially those in countries where it's extremely hot, to see what they can do in order to try and protect themselves from that extreme heat. As a doctor, I see many, many patients who suffer from a lot of skin conditions, ailments such as eczema, psoriasis. A lot of them are actually existing in very mild forms, but there are a few who have very extreme forms of the conditions, and they need to be treated in a very aggressive manner. Eczema essentially is a condition which causes extreme dryness of the skin. There are several predisposing factors to eczema. Some people just have it, what we call idiopathically, which means that we don't actually know the cause for it. But a lot of people actually are atopic, which means that they have a spectrum of other problems, such as allergies or asthma. And all of these are actually linked in with an autoimmune problem, where your immune cells in the body are overactive, and they cause damage to certain parts of your body. So for these people, the immune system reacts to specific foods, or it may be overactive and cause asthma. And in these people who are atopic, the other manifestation of this can be skin problems, such as eczema. And what happens is that they get severely dry skin, which can become very itchy, can become cracked, and can cause a lot of discomfort. For these people, they can have a lot of not only physical issues, but psychological issues due to the scarring and due to the way that the skin looks. So, inshallah, I want to talk a little bit about how you can help to control the progression of these disease. Other people have a very common condition called psoriasis. Psoriasis is a condition which is caused, again, it's autoimmune, and it's caused by the overproduction of skin in specific areas of the body. So these people will have overproduction of the skin sometimes on their elbows, will have overproduction of skin on their knees. And a lot of the time, they find that there is a scaly patch around these areas. And sometimes these people also have the psoriasis on the linings, the hair linings in their head. And it can cause other problems such as dandruff and a flaky scalp. So it's very important to try and get this condition under control so you can reduce the discomfort and also reduce the effects that it has on you psychologically due to the way that your skin looks. For eczema, the primary treatment is moisturizing the skin. So for people who suffer from really bad eczema, our advice is doctors to avoid using soaps which may dry the skin out. Use special types of creams or special types of soaps which are designed to moisturize the skin and that are fragrant free that don't have any additives and don't have any irritants within them. In the UK we have special types of soap, things like oilatum, which is a bath additive or a bath shampoo, which you can use to bathe your body with. And that helps to moisturize it. After that, it's very important to use moisturizing cream on a regular basis through the day. So for people who suffer from severe eczema, they should use creams like Diprobase or E45 at least five times a day. After all, the mainstay of treatment for people who with eczema is moisturizing cream. Use it liberally and allow yourself to actually cover the area which is dry as much as possible. On top of that, people who suffer from very severe forms of eczema may want to use steroid cream. Steroid cream obviously for prolonged periods of time can actually be detrimental to your health because it can thin the skin down and can cause negative effects on the skin. However, in people with very severe forms of eczema, it can actually be of benefit if used for a short period of time, like a couple of weeks or three weeks. And there are many different types of steroid cream, so we start from the weakest type of steroid cream, which is hydrocortisone, which sometimes you can get over the counter from chemists. But then you go up and you work your way up through the ranks of the steroid creams, and you get to creams such as Yumavate or Betnavate or Dermavate. Obviously, the stronger creams you use, the more side effects that they'll have. So it's very important to speak to a doctor before using those creams on your body. Obviously, for people with eczema on their face, it is very important not to use very potent steroid creams because what will happen is that because the skin on your face is very thin anyway, it can break down the skin and it can also cause many, many other side effects when it's used on the face. With eczema, obviously another very important thing to say is that for people with severe forms of eczema, it is important to seek further help, see a specialist if nothing is helping in order to help treat your condition. For people with psoriasis, the mainstay of treatment, again, is moisturizers. But on top of that, people tend to use other types of therapies. Some people use coltar. Other people do use steroid creams in order to try and help them reduce the effects of the psoriasis. There is other types of treatments such as UV therapy in order to try and treat psoriasis. However, some people who have very severe forms of the condition, because it is an autoimmune problem where your antibodies are attacking your own cells, your own skin, and you're getting overproduction of these skin cells. Sometimes you need to start seeing a specialist who will start you on a special type of treatment, which causes immunosuppression. It's very important when you start medications for the treatment of whether it's eczema or whether it's psoriasis that you ask your doctor exactly what side effects you'll have, what side effects you need to look out for, and then go and see your doctor if he's suffering from those side effects. Make sure that if there's any blood tests that need to be conducted regularly that you attend to have those blood tests taken, because a lot of immunomodulators will affect your immune system and therefore you need to make sure that your blood cells and your white cell count, your antibodies are at a sufficient level to make sure that you don't get recurrent infections. Finally, I just want to talk about some general tips, general advice for all of you at home, especially during this month of Ramadan where in many countries around the world at this time of year it's very, very hot. You'll be under the direct sunlight. You won't be able to have access to water until it's dark. So it's very important to use the right sorts of creams to manage yourself in the appropriate way so that you do not suffer from things like heat stroke, rashes, and you don't burn your skin as well. Firstly, it's very important to hydrate yourself very well during the times that you can eat and drink. Make sure that you have sufficient hydration to continue through the next day. In a normal human being, you should be drinking about two liters of water during the course of the day. However, in very, very hot countries, you lose a lot of fluid through your sweat. So it's very important that you try and drink as much as possible, maybe even over two liters, maybe three liters in order to rehydrate yourself and make sure that the water that you're losing, you're replenishing. Because one of the main reasons people get heat stroke is that when they are very, very hot, the blood vessels in their periphery, in their hands and their feet, become bigger, they dilate. The reason they become bigger is so that the heat can be actually dissipated from the body through the skin surface. However, when that happens, for those of you who are physicists, you know that when anything with pressure comes against resistance, sorry, when any force comes against resistance, it creates a pressure. And that's what your blood pressure is essentially. The force of the blood coming out from the heart when it's being pumped, when it hits the restriction or the resistance from your blood vessels in the periphery, it causes your blood pressure to be at a specific level. However, as I've said in the heat, when your blood vessels expand, you lose that resistance so your blood pressure drops. And as a result, people have what we call heat stroke. So it's very important that you drink plenty of water because if you're dehydrated anyway before you come out in the heat, your blood pressure is already low because you have decreased amount of blood circulating volume. So it's very important that you drink plenty. And also, you try and stay out of direct sunlight so you don't get very hot. Try and stay in shade. Try and avoid going out in direct heat altogether if you can. But if you can't, then stay under the shade so that at least the worst of the heat is not affecting you. Secondly, like I've said, drink lots of water in order to keep your blood circulating volume and your body replenished with water. Thirdly, it is very important to use a good sunscreen to make sure that the UV rays from the sun does not actually affect the skin because prolonged periods of exposure to UV sun rays can make you at risk of skin cancers in the future. Finally, what I want to say is in order to help yourself from the heat, to protect yourself from the heat, try and be sensible. If you can avoid going out in the heat itself during the course of the day, try and avoid that. If you can do your work through the night, then please try and do that. Wherever it's possible, try and stay indoors. If you have access to an air conditioning unit at your workplace, try and use that. Because after all, if you're hot and you're stressed and you're frustrated, your focus shifts away from what you should be doing during this month, which is Ibadah. And you start just focusing on the heat. And heat in itself makes you quite frustrated as an individual. So the most important thing is to try and stop that heat from affecting you. If you can, try and use water regularly, not to drink, but to put on your face, to put on your head, to try and cool your body down in order to make sure that your blood pressure doesn't drop and to make sure that you cool through the day. Insha'Allah, I pray that this advice is useful to you. Insha'Allah, I hope you pay heat to this and make the most of your month of Ramadan. Insha'Allah. History had witnessed many worships from devoted and faithful people to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. However, the worship of a great young lady, Fatima Al-Zahra, has added significant beauty to the rest of the worships and has become an honor to the rest of the worshipers. Her worship are described in the following manner. There is no worshipper like Fatima Al-Zahra, peace be upon her in this world. Her foot had swallowed because of standing for prayer. Indeed, what has been narrated about Fatima Al-Zahra's worship and prayer is far beyond what we have seen from any other worshipper. It is impossible for anyone to describe the quality and quantity of her worship in words, except for Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and special selected servants and angels. In order to recognize the greatness of Fatima Al-Zahra's prayer, it is enough to note that the creator of the universe praises and regards the worship of Fatima Al-Zahra and her husband, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon them. After Prophet Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina, Imam Ali accompanied Fatima Al-Zahra and a number of other women and weak people to migrate to Medina as well in a small caravan according to what Prophet Muhammad told him. The infidels of Mecca, who had failed to capture Prophet Muhammad, decided to take his family as captives and as an alternative to catch him. Nonetheless, the bravery of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, kept him away from their goals. Their caravan reached Mecca safe and sound. Prophet Muhammad rushed to see Imam Ali and Sayyid al-Fatima Al-Zahra, peace be upon them, with indescribable happiness. He hugged Imam Ali and said, before you arrived, the angel, Jibrail, descended upon me and told me all about your journey. He told me all about your prayers on the way, your late night continuous worships, your thoughts and ponderings and your battles on the way here. Jibrail brought me and Allah swt revealed verses about the bravery of Imam Ali. He says, Allah swt states in the Quran, he says those who remember Allah standing, sitting and laying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth saying, oh our Lord, you have not created this without any purpose. Glory be to you, give us salvation from the chastiments of fire. This is in the Quran Chapter 3, verse 191. The spiritual scent of these verses from made Imam Ali and Fatima al-Zahra forget about their long and exhausting trip. For Allah the Almighty has accepted their continuous prayers, worships, rememberings and ponderings. The quality of Fatima al-Zahra's devotion to Allah swt was incomparable. As Fatima al-Zahra's worshiped Allah swt on every moment in her life, her deeds, words, glances, efforts, breaths and all of her day and nights were just worship. Every night Fatima al-Zahra made her home as her prayer rug. After putting the children to bed and after finishing the housework, Fatima al-Zahra would stand for prayer as long as her feet would soar and swallow. On this night and on this day, as we're amongst the nights of the highest forms of worship, the nights of Qadr, we often pray and supplicate to Allah swt, but it's very important to remember that during our day to day lives we must also become embodiments of the good traits of the Ahl al-Bayt, alayhi salam. That's why tonight I want you to all remember your mothers, those mothers who brought you into this world, those mothers who raised you and those mothers who love you in this world and they'll love you even after their death. This poem has been written by myself from my brother Abbas and it's called When I Look Into Your Eyes. You stayed hungry and fed me with your hands so come to my every wish and demand a tear on my lash you couldn't stand you made making me smile your living plan a smile on my face will always arise oh my mother when I look into your eyes I see galaxies I see paradise oh my mother when I look into your eyes I learnt in my childhood from the Quran above thousands of prayers in Ramadan is smiling at you mom and saying salam this is the very cornerstone of Islam I see meaning and the purpose of life oh my mother when I look into your eyes you held my hands and you taught me to walk you spent hours trying to teach me to talk I ask silly questions you never marked when I was down you were my standing rock I flash back to all those moments in time the when I look into your eyes I grew up became a teen you kept me from either way of my dean remember that you shall always be seen those words that you said echo in my mind a quarry while survive oh my mother look into your eyes raise my hand and I pray this is what I say you gave me the greatest gift never let her feel always put a smile on her face the holy prophet Muhammad with a peace and blessings of Allah upon him and his progeny was asked O prophet of Allah which of the two months possesses a greater reward Rajab or the month of Ramadan the holy prophet may the peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny replied nothing can be compared to the month of Ramadan in terms of reward as we come to the end of another episode of the Ramadan show firstly I would like to thank you for watching and inshallah I hope that we've been able to give you some pearls of wisdom that you can use to make the most out of this month before I go I would like to leave you with a final thought something that will help you to contemplate to think and philosophise as we're coming to the last nights of this month this very special month surely by the end of this month we hope to be better people my final thought tonight is that sometimes the worst experiences can have the most positive impacts on our lives time can be the harshest of teachers but sometimes it is the teachers that you think are the hardest on you that want what's best for you Allah SWT has promised us that he will never test us beyond our means and everything that he does to us is in order for us to become stronger as people and not only stronger as people physically but stronger spiritually so we can ascend towards him remember that every test that you face is a blessing and a mercy from Allah SWT don't pass it up by being ungrateful remember your sincere objectives and always thank Allah SWT always trying to achieve closest to him whether you're facing trials or whether you're enjoying something in life I would like to once again remind you to please send in your videos show us how you lead your day to day lives in the month of Ramadan I would also ask you not to forget to join us on social media on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube Insha'Allah and finally I would like to bid you farewell I hope to once again be able to impart some more pearls of wisdom but Insha'Allah until the next episode of the Ramadan show I bid you farewell Wassalamu Alaikum