 Alhamdulillah we ask from Allah we praise Allah ta'ala we praise him such that He's deserving of being praised. We praise and only he we praise him with the attributes in which he praises himself We ask him to shower his infinite peace and blessings upon our prophet Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam his family His companions and that those that follow him until the end of time Briefly We are Entering upon the last ten days of Ramadan and we're told by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that El-Tamisu leilat al-Qadri fi awakhir Ashra al-awakhir like look for this thing called the night of power on the last ten days within that last ten nights of Ramadan and the night of power Has like a plethora of meanings like one of them is the night of temperament Right, the night the qadron miqdar the night of temperate to actually give to know the temperate of that night That's why we know that night and one of the signs of it is by its temperature And by the fact that it's going to rain That it's not it's Well, I took him later to that other than what I hurrah. It's not this like Hot day nor is it like a cold night, but it's right in the middle and it's a night that has a Beautiful rain one of the signs of late night and laylata qadr is rain It also means the night of power or the night of decree or the night of decree Qudra It also means the night of constriction It's the night of constriction When a lot constricted for them their provisions Why is it called a night of constriction? Because Allah says Who Says that all of the angels are present on the earth so much so including the Rooh or Sayyidina Jibreel himself That angels can't even move together. They're in trenches that there's so much of angelic presence on the night of qadr that The angels don't have any space Such that the angels don't have any space and the believer who fasts Relates to the angels in such a time This is one of the maqams of the angels called inexhaustion or samadiyah Right that we refrain from food and we refrain from drink and we refrain from relations and Go about our lives in thinking about Allah worshipping Allah being mindful of Allah banking Allah Doing the exact same thing that the angels do You know angels don't eat and angels don't drink and angels don't have relations They're always in the presence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you're an angelic presence in the last ten nights or in Ramadan itself But one of the things to be mindful of and there are two things this Ramadan is To seek the night prayer as much as you can To seek the night prayer as much as you can when Ramadan came the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam you sit tight in his belt in In worship and he used to wake up Here the people of his home in Ramadan to pray with him and also Ramadan he never used to do that So he's a wake up the people as a home to pray with him There's a fraternal bond of worshipping with families in Ramadan, especially in these last ten nights and There are two things to approach Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with the first one is gratitude And the second is being aware of the time that you have the first Gratitude being Because the shaytan is not here the devil is not here the second of time This is the night according to Ibn Abbas and it's related an Ibn Hibban and in it Tabari that those who are leaving the Dunya From this Ramadan to the next their contract is being given to sort of the danger of death All of our war may Allah give us health in a long life But all of the people that are passing or going to pass away their their their record is Established on light at night of on the night of power So when you look at gratitude We know that all of the expressions of our worship To Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is Out of gratitude to Allah all of it your Sadaqa your charity your worship your Quran This is to tell Allah. Ashkuru kaya Allah right and what happens in these these months these beautiful days these Ayyama maududat these blessed days the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says Fatiha tabwab Jannah Ogl eqat tabwab al-naar wa al-sufidat as-shayateen The and the door of the garden is open and The door of the fire is closed and the angel or the devils are shackled What does it mean that the door of the garden is open? The first being that it's literally open and every day people are being enlisted into the garden and every night Ya taqa Allah who Ahidim aab ibadihi min al-naar that every night Allah emancipates people from the fire The people that deserve the fire and don't deserve the fire because we all enter the we're all protected by the fire only by the Mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that Allah's emancipating it every single night your names are being relieved from the fire All of our names are being relieved from the fire This is a truth and is haqiqa It's a literal truth and the demons are not present the shayateen. They're not present, but it also means that that The garden is open ie that and that that heavenly quality that is within all of us are elevated in Ramadan They're all elevated in Ramadan. You do more ibadah in Ramadan You're more present with Allah you think about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you read more Quran in Ramadan Ramadan is a time where you're those beautiful care. You're more generous and we're giving in Ramadan It's this is one of the the heavenly qualities are exposed The second is those qualities that are relegated to the fire are suppressed the qualities that are relegated to this up to the fire are suppressed and this is in Fatah al-Bari and The last is that the devils are shackled. Why is this important when we talk about gratitude? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in the Quran that the shaytan he challenges human beings and he says Atayinuhun bayna aidee him That I'm going to attack them from the front from the right from the from the front the back the right in the left I'm going to attack them from all over and he says wala tajduk akthiruhum You're not going to find most of them as abideen people that worship You know he didn't say the more giving muhsineen people that do beautiful things. They do things with ihsan Muttaqeen he doesn't say that. He's the wala tajduk akthiruhum in the shakirin You're not going to find most of most of them being grateful. They won't be grateful You won't find them the people of gratitude This month is a month of shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that you're grateful to all of the blessings that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us that he's given our community. He's given us iman ihsan Islam he's given you life. He's given you the ability to breathe who wala di al-shaaakum Wa wa ja'ala lukum al-basra, al-sumaal wa basra, wa afida, wa qaleena ma tashkurun Allah is the one that willed for you to exist He willed for you that you're the secret between the calf and the noon and he said be and it is and you existed So he gave you hearing he gave you sight and he gave you hearts that discern But few people are grateful Few people are grateful and the secret of Allah and we all know this verse Allah says We've given them kullu masal tamuni anything that they've wanted I've given to them Everything that they've wanted everything that you need Allah's given it to you right That all you need the bare minimum what in shakartum Azid anuk liyazid anukum, but if you're grateful, I'll give you more If you're grateful, I'll give you more than what you need I'll give you more than what you need and most of us think monetarily. We don't think about health We don't think about family. We don't think about our kids We don't know our parents We don't think about the fact that we have a roof above our heads We don't think the fact that we have food to eat that we have travel plans inshallah COVID is over you can go on vacation this summer after Ramadan that you're celebrating Eid inshallah and you're waiting for The Eid to come in reaping the rewards of after this Ramadan You're grateful for everything that God has given you what in kafartum But if you are an ingrate in the adab of the Shadeev my punishment is severe You know that punishment is severe all of this can go away All of this can go away and you could see to the eyes of the ones that doesn't have those doesn't have what you have There's a story of a blind boy that How to suck was a beautiful day outside much like this I'm coming from Chicago is middle of April and it's snowing in Chicago. Subhanallah So you come to someplace like California you get some vitamin D. We have an immense amount of gratitude You guys have this all the time You don't just don't know in Chicago You don't know sometimes it's going to be 70 degrees and the next day if you're an ingrate You might have negative 20 degrees all within the same 48-hour period That this young boy was in a with when the son was out and the birds were chirping and there was a beautiful day He had a bucket and he would ask people for money and this he had a sign that said blind please help People walked and they paid some people paid attention some people didn't pay attention to it and One person came a few hours later And he took the sign from the boy and he erased it and he wrote something and he gave it back And he put some money in the thing and he noticed throughout the day that the bucket got heavier The bucket got heavier and he asked a person who put money another person He said, excuse me sir Can you just tell me like somebody just erased something on my sign? Can you just tell me what's on the sign and he takes the sign and he reads it He said it's a beautiful day. The Sun is out the sky is blue the birds and chirping, but I can't see it But I can't see it You know the fact that you can see all of these things and you could if you're you can Spend time with your family. This is all from the gratitude of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala This is all due to the blessings of Allah, right? What in ta'addu ni'matullah la tahsuha if you were to count the blessings and this is a knee He doesn't say ni'm Allah He doesn't say the the the the blessings of God. He says this is called ism al jinsi the Categorical noun the blessings within the blessings within the blessings of Allah You wouldn't be able to you wouldn't able to find the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So being very Expressive to Allah about the gratitude that you have on these nights. These are the nights to weep to Allah, right? And to cause unity in the have the gratitude of community, right? Why was lailat al qadr lifted from the Prophet? So he said he said I came out to tell you when lailat al qadr was coming So I just to tell ahi fulan wa fulan. I saw two people disputing with each other Farafah atmini, but it was so it was it was it was lifted from me Asa an yukuna khaylu kum. Perhaps that is better for you. So look for it in the last 10 days People were arguing Arguing with through ingratitude. So Allah removed the knowledge of lailat al qadr Right start showing gratitude in these last 10 days and your worship will be better and your relationships will be better And inshallah ta'ala Allah will give you a beautiful Shaaban in a fruitful rest of the year Those are the that's the first the first The first emotion to enter into Ramadan or into the last nights of later the last night's light of power which is better than a thousand months is through Gratitude may Allah make us grateful. Let's Allah The Second part of this is to be aware of your time Ramadan lailat al qadr when it comes it's the time of the contracts of Passing al-uqud al-wafa The time of the contracts of passing they asked the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said Abu khairar Related said he asked the Prophet and this is in the Mishkat. He says That in the beginning of Ramadan the Prophet said a lailat al qadr fa-akhir al-yumar Ramadan That lailat al qadr is in the last part of Ramadan So the last part of Ramadan came and they asked the master in Rillah that is it is it He said is this the last is this lailat al qadr and they said and he said sallallahu alaihi wasallam He said no, it's not he said I thought it's the last he said ala He a lailat al qadr. No, there is lailat al qadr, right? But the worker only gets their wage after the month is due You got to do the work for all of month Had you been lailat al qadr and your worship and your reverence and your Enthusiasm and your jealous anxiety to seek that night should be the same in the beginning of Ramadan and in the end of Ramadan And Allah gives you the secret of of Ramadan, which is the gift of this beautiful gift this guest That is Ramadan of lailat al qadr and Allah will reveal to you lailat al qadr, but that comes with being incredibly Mindful of your time and Ramadan teaches us to be mindful of our time It teaches us to have expansive time. That's why all of us know exactly what if thought is during Ramadan You know the exact second when you have to break your fast, you know the khilaf in Ramadan Everybody knows the difference of opinions on times in Ramadan anybody because you're always aware of the clock and You're always aware of how many more weeks do we have for Ramadan how many more days that we have for Ramadan But the question is should not be how much time do I have is what am I doing with my time right now? What am I doing with my time right now? How much of time am I wasting? How much of israaf if I'm doing with this beautiful gift that Allah has given me call life? Right, this is Ramadan. This is what has come to teach us It's one of the many lessons of Ramadan is to color and take on the colors of Ramadan That Ramadan is a time of gratitude Forgiveness and freedom from the fire. It's a time of affuwa of Allah You love to pardon so pardon me You love to pardon so pardon me. It's a time of pardoning It's a part time to know that if anybody has wronged you then forgive them And if you're seeking or if you've wronged somebody else and seek forgiveness from them And to spend your time in service to people the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam He used to spend his last 10 nights in iatikaf He used to spend his last 10 nights in iatikaf. He used to be in spiritual retreat Some of us we have full-time jobs. You can't have spiritual retreat and for those of us that can do it for 10 days may Allah accept But there's a way to get the reward of spiritual retreat. The Prophet said sallallahu alaihi wasallam He was asked by Abdullah ibn umar Who is the best of people? Who is the best of people? The Prophet said The people that benefit other people the people that are in service to other people The people that serve other people and then he says in the middle of that hadith He says Ila hajaten akhihi Whomsoever walks or goes to serve their brother or their sister It's better for them than or the reward is better for them than spending iatikaf in this mosque I mean the mosque of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam It's the reward of spending one month in the mosque of Sayyidina Habib sallallam just by going to help people Just by serving people Asking people how they're doing feeding the needy. That's why Habib sallallahu alaihi wasallam in this month He was known to be adjwa the nas He was known to be adjwa the nas But in ramadan he was more generous than that And he was so generous like al-rih al-mursal like a seeking wind Meaning that he would seek People to help ibn abbas radiallahu an said the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam because ramadan a battle of battle happened in ramadan Ya hamuk allah the battle of battle happened in ramadan and Ibn abbas said when ramadan came That he used to He used to let all of the prisoners of war go and you say go you're free. You're free. All of you are free And nobody asked them Nobody asked them except that he would give them freely He used to seek and look out for people to help. He used to go and ask people. Can I be of some assistance to you? And then he said in the whoever goes to their need is better for them than it's the calf in this mosque It's better for them And whosoever does that Whosoever yakshif al-kurba Well, you come in whoever takes away the grief of somebody when they're going through difficulty Or feeds the hungry when they're hungry or removes a death from people that are going through death He says indeed. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He keeps their feet firm on the day when the feet are slipping meaning the day of judgment their feet will be firm on the day of judgment Their feet will be firm and he said that bad character and this is the secret Sua al-Adab or Sua al-Akhlaq bad character That bad character ruins good deeds like Like vinegar ruins honey So you can do all of the good you want But if your adab isn't good your akhlaq isn't good that you're not somebody of beauty and good character All of those things look like they're bad. That's why the prophet said Whoever stays away from like whoever doesn't stay away from foul speech and acting from foul speech Allah isn't no need of them staying away from food and drink If you think it's all about it's not just a diet It's about refining your character that we may come to ramadan And leave ramadan better than we found ramadan with good character with generosity with jealous anxiety With vigor and with strength inshallah ta'ala may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us people of gratitude That we begin this month these last 10 days with gratitude because we don't know how many days we have left We don't know when our time is written So leave on a good note leave with gratitude that we are grateful that Allah increases us with all of his countless blessings All of his countless blessing and ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Wala wakana as-shariqa na'al even if it's the heal of your your sandal You ask for everything in these last 10 days There's a time to spend time with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at night and be in The mean of your family of your parents of your kids of your community whatever big or small One person haja Imagine all these people you have probably what like 150 people in this room That's 150 months of itikaf if you just smile at the people that you that are leaving in this place Just to make the fees 150 months of itikaf and these rewards are not a lot The prophet does not lie about rewards. These rewards are real. So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala increase us Allahumma ghalana wa liwari daya wal mu'minina yuma yukuna ahsa'a Allahumma jala muqeemu s-salah wa min dhuriyat rabbana taqab al-dua'a Allahumma innaka afoon tuhipu al-afwa afwana ya kareem Allahumma s-salah ala siddna muhammadin abdika wa rasulika wa al-nabi wa al-ummi Allahumma s-salah ala siddna muhamma al-adaa daa khalqik Allahumma s-salah ala siddna muhamma al-adaa daa samawatik Allahumma s-salah ala siddna muhamma al-salat t'inji wa tardhi Salat t'inji wa tardhaa