 We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we send peace and blessings upon his last and final and most noble and most beloved Messenger Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to send peace and blessings upon the Companions of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and upon his family and upon all those who follow them until the day of judgment And I advise myself and I advise you to have taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala To observe the limits the hudud of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala outwardly and inwardly To follow his commands outwardly and inwardly Outwardly with our limbs inwardly with our hearts to avoid the prohibitions of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Outwardly and inwardly outwardly with our limbs and inwardly with our hearts We are blessed to be in this sacred month the sacred month of Muharram That not only is it is a sacred month. It's called the sacred month Muharram means sacred and We know that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam encouraged fasting during this month as Much as we can during this month and especially on certain days during this month, but why is that? Why is it that he encouraged us to fast during this month and specifically on the 10th day which just passed this past Monday? Because when he sallallahu alaihi wa sallam came to Medina He found the Jewish citizens of Medina Doing a certain practice and before we go into that practice. It's important to remember. Why were they there? Why were there? descendants of Bani Israel living deep in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula and living there for generations hundreds of years To where they were Jewish in their religion in their identity, but they were Arab culturally They had Arab names They had Arab poets. They fought like the Arabs. They fought with the Arabs for all intents and purposes They were Arabs of Jewish descent But why were they in Medina? Why weren't they in their ancestral homeland of modern-day Palestine? They weren't in Egypt because of the exodus. How did they get to the heart of the Arabian Peninsula? We have to remember that because of their scripture. They were waiting for the last prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. They were waiting for Muhammad. They just didn't know his name They knew his description sallallahu alaihi wa sallam So the name Muhammad that we follow That we many of us were born into or if we chose this faith we accepted him sallallahu alaihi wa sallam The Jewish citizens of Medina were waiting for centuries for his arrival When he finally came some of them accepted to follow him others did not The messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam when he came to Medina He found the Jewish people the Jewish citizens of Medina fasting on the day of Muharram The day the 10th day of Muharram ashura And he asked them why are you doing this practice and they said because it's on this day this 10th day of Muharram that Allah Drowned the army of the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh and he saved Musa alaihi sallam and Musa alaihi sallam Fasted on this day to give thanks to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for that salvation And so the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said in his famous statement I have more of a right to Musa alaihi sallam In other words not detracting from what they're doing to commemorate Musa But he's saying Musa because it's a brotherhood of prophets all of the prophets are brothers And he's saying I have more of a right to follow in his way and to celebrate his celebration because his day of joy Is my day of joy and his way of showing things is also my way of showing things It's the brotherhood of the of the prophets and so it became from his Sunnah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to fast on the 10th day and then now it's from the Sunnah for the entire ummah to follow on that day So we go through that practice We fast if we can on this day and before and after it and during the rest of the month as well But why else is it that we fast? We have to remember that certain of our actions whether it's prayer or fasting or any of our other actions Can become habits and just rituals To where we just do them. We don't really think about what we're doing Most of us can relate to the experience that you get through an entire prayer You make all of the raka'as you do everything that you should and you find yourself in the final to shahud Say getting ready to say assalamu alaikum and you said oh my goodness. I've done that whole prayer I didn't even notice it It's because it became robotic it became a ritual and at one level that's important At one level it's important And that's why the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam encouraged us to teach our children from the time There's seven which is seven lunar years to start praying and then ten lunar years to make it more Emphasized because we need to get into that habit For those of us who may have started praying later in life, you know the habit is hard to start But once you get used to it it becomes part of your life that you would miss something if you miss that prayer The same for fasting and the same for all of the other practices Once we have that habit going though we have to think about deeper. What does this mean? What is it that I'm gaining out of this action? If you notice in the Quran when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about the prayer about the Salah and about those who pray There's two ways of how he Speaks about them. There's the musalleen just the people who pray and he says waylun musalleen woe to those who pray So it's a negative description of those people who are just going through the actions. They don't believe they're the hypocrites They don't even believe They're just the musalleen, but the believers who are praised for their prayer They're talked about in a way of saying though those who do ikama of the Salah to actually establish this prayer on It's time in it's time with presence with all of the rules following it with reflection with Khushur With humbleness in the prayer with thinking about the after thinking about our state in the prayer And you come out of the prayer with some more benefit than you went into it And so those are the people who establish the prayer and that principle can apply to all of our actions So when we fast during this month of Muharram Why is it that we're fasting? Let's not just go through the actions. Let's think about it Let's think about it at a deeper level of what does it mean? What does it mean to celebrate the day that Allah saved many Israel from the Pharaoh? What does that mean? What does that mean to us? We should reflect on that entire story and This reflection is called Ibra in Arabic and Allah challenges us in the Quran to be people who do Take Ibra he encourages us to be people who take Ibra He motivates us to people people who take Ibra You'll find that for the for those who have intellect He's encouraging us to use our intellect He says for those who reflect the people who do to think Deep reflection on a matter and he talks about the people. Why don't you take a? Deeper meaning I brought from these stories and these lessons and these commands that I'm giving to you I brought in Arabic means to cross over to transfer and So when we look at a story, we don't just look at that story as a historical story We affirm that it happened historically There are some people when they read their scriptures and they look at their stories. They say, oh, no, these aren't real historical events These are just parables For us as Muslims. We affirm that story happened. Was there a Adam and Eve? Yes. Was he the first man? Yes Was there a Isa? Yes. Was there a Musa? Yes. Was there a Firaun? Yes. Did all of those stories happen? Yes Yes, yes, though we accept them as historical facts because of our belief if Allah wants to tell us a parable a Story that doesn't didn't actually happen. He'll let us know. He'll say here's a method for you Here's a parable for you, but these stories actually happened and there's significance to them The significance also applies to our lives. We have to think about what does that story mean to me in my life? That story the story of the exodus the story of Musa alaihi salam leaving The land of Egypt after some say 400 years of Benny Israel being there It's a story of hijra It's a story of hijra, which is leaving a place for the sake of Allah and the first person To go out and embark on a trip for the sake of Allah for the sake of his religion for the sake of his Dean Was our father Ibrahim alaihi salam before that we know of course human beings in their nature Allah has created us as the most adaptable creature on this earth from the Arctic and Antarctic regions We can live to the depths of the jungles to the heat of the the desert We can move as a as human beings We migrate and we move and we move civilizations and we adapt But the some only some people move for their religion and Ibrahim alaihi salam started this Sunnah of hijra and Musa alaihi salam Continued this story of hijra with the exodus of Benny Israel after trying After trying and attempting it wasn't immediate after trying and attempting to reach the Pharaoh and to speak to him and To call him to Islam and to have him change his government and his treatment of people and to have him treat his change his belief But when it was over the call was made for them to make their hijra So on that day Musa alaihi salam in his fasting on that 10th day was celebrating hijra Omar radiallahu anhu may Allah be pleased with him when he made his decision during his term as the Khalifa To have a Muslim calendar He started it with he every calendar has to pick a date. Where do we start it from? What do we what major event in our history? Do we want to commemorate with our with our calendar? Every single day when we look at that calendar Omar radiallahu anhu in his wisdom chose the hijra The immigration of the messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi salam to begin the calendar So now when we look at the calendar and we see that it's a new year The hijra didn't happen in Muharram But the new year starts in Muharram and it's also a reminder to us of the hijra that the messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi salam made So this aspect of hijra is part of our dean we believe in it now We have to ask ourselves. How can I bring hijra into my life? When do I have to make hijra? When does hijra apply to me? Because not every hijra is going to be like the hijra the immigration of Musa alaihi salam the exodus Not every hijra is going to be like leaving Mecca and going to Medina But these stories that actually happened Inform our beliefs they're part of our belief system, but then they should relate to each and every one of us in our lives You will have in your life, and you've already experienced some of this You will have elements of them in the meccan Aspect of the seerah of the messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi salam You will have aspects of fir'aun. There has been a fir'aun in your life. You have dealt with a fir'aun We may have at certain times in our lives We may have been a fir'aun for somebody else and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive us For our transgressions and forgive our ghulum and make us aware of the oppression that we may have done and Been the fir'aun in somebody else's life But we have to look and see when are we like bani israeel when are we like the muhajir When do we have to make hijra and why do we have to make hijra and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give us that Insight and to give us that conviction and to give us that courage to make hijra when we need to Alhamdulillah wa s-salatu wa s-salamu ala Rasulillah wa ala alihi wa ashabihi wa ajma'in Amma ba'ad fa ya'ibad Allah, taq'u Allah wa s-sirri wa l-alaniya We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we give thanks to him and we and we send Blessings and peace upon our last and final messenger Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give us the tofiq to give us the success to follow in his way to follow in his Sunnah and Because of his Sunnah being his life his 23 blessed years of life One of the defining moments in his life is the hijra. We have to honor that and We honor it not only by believing it in it and commemorating it and thinking about it But thinking about how it relates to our lives Every single one of us will have an instance in their life where they have to make hijra and The ulama our scholars of the past have clearly defined the times when you have to make hijra if You are afraid for your life You leave you protect your life you make hijra if you're afraid for your wealth you make hijra if You need to seek livelihood you make hijra. There's so many different ways of making hijra if you need to seek knowledge you make hijra But hijra does not have to be moving from one country to another moving from one place to another Hijra could could could apply in a company if you're being oppressed in A company in a place of work in a school and they're not allowing you to practice your Dean freely you try as Musa tried with Firaum as the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam tried with Puraish He didn't just get up and say they're not letting us practice our Dean. Let's make hijra 13 years of his life in Mecca 10 in Medina He tried he tried to reason with them. He tried to call them. He tried to bring them to Islam 39 months of the beginning of his Dawah calling to Islam only 39 people accepted the Shahada Average of one Muslim a month It was not easy work, but he tried and he persevered so each and every one of us in our homes in our schools In our workplaces, we're gonna try to make a change But once we see that something is affecting our ability to practice our Dean It's a affecting our ability to have an income because every Muslim is obligated to have a halal livelihood If something is affecting our dignity So it's not just about life and property. It's also about our dignity if Something or situation or person is affecting our dignity We make hijra. We move from one place to another It might be on a grander scale of having to make a big move like Mecca to Medina it might be a smaller scale like moving from one job to another it might even be on a very smaller scale Like moving from one room to another because the principle of hijra applies The angels ask and a lot tells us in the Quran about the people who were oppressed Wasn't the land of Allah expansive enough so you can make hijra? Encouraging us there's another situation if you are in a situation that's toxic That's affecting your Dean. That's affecting your health. That's affecting your wealth Make hijra. It's not easy. It's not an easy thing. I'll make hijra brother make hijra sister It's not easy and one of the proofs is that there were people who stayed in Mecca and we're not able to make the hijra the mustad hafeen and Allah talks about that About the mustad hafeen and if you read the Seerah about who they be and the Treaty of who they be and why it's there Even though why the Sahaba they couldn't understand. Why can't we do this? It's to protect the mustad hafeen the people who were not able to make the hijra So not everybody is going to be able to make hijra But we have to reflect on when do we have to make hijra in our lives? When do we have to move from one place to another one of the examples? And I'll end with this of somebody who moved for the sake of Allah And we have to commemorate that in addition to having this 10th day of Muharram Being as a day of celebration Based on sound narration and based on our traditions Nobody from our early generations from the scholars made up this story Some people will try to explain away elements of our religion by saying there were political motives In making up certain hadith That's not the case Allah has preserved his Quran and he has preserved the Sunnah of the messenger of Allah This story occurred and so it is a day of celebration It also happens that on that day a tragic event happened in Karbala With the martyrdom of Hussein alaihi salam the grandson and the beloved grandson of the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam It happened on that day as well So when we learn about our history And we learn about what happened on that day and we celebrate the saving of musa and bani israel We also have to remind ourselves And our children we have to learn about the history of what happened on that day and why it happened And why does it impact us and what does it mean for us? And we don't have a time and this is not a time to go into all of the details But I encourage you and I encourage myself to learn about that history and to learn about the family of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam And how they were treated and mistreated And how they were supported By the sahaba like abu bakr and umar And ibn umar trying at the very last moment to save Hussein from going into a situation where ultimately it Caused his martyrdom We can't go into all of that but it is part of our history when we have to know it and we have to bring it into our lives We have to bring the the remembrance of the family of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam into our lives Because our messenger asked us to He said teach your children three things Liraat al quran reading the quran teach them to read the quran every muslim community you go to you'll find Mecca you'll find people teaching elif bata all the way to Finishing memorization of the quran. He thought he said teach your children to love the messenger of allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to love him Not just to know his sharia and to know what he's told us to do in the halal haram But to love him sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and how do we do that? That's a whole other discussion, but that's your challenge. That's my challenge How do we teach ourselves and the future generations to love the messenger of allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and the third thing He said And love of his family What does that mean for us? The people of sunnah and jama'ah the people of the sunnah and the congregation What does that mean for us to follow him and to love him and to love his family? So this is also a day Or a month where we can remember that we can say what does that mean? How does that impact us when we ask allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to give us that tawfiq To give us the tawfiq the understanding and the success the introspection to know When hijra is a part of our deen and we ask allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to give us the courage To be able to make hijra in all of those instances where we can we ask allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to help all of the Muhajirin all over the world the people our brothers and sisters who are leaving their homes and leaving their Shelters in hijra because of volume because of oppression we ask allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to save them from the oppressors And to bring down the oppressors and to give nasir and to give victory to all of those who are oppressed And all of those who are making hijra fi sabi lillah hijra immigration and traveling for the sake of allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam And we ask allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to forgive us and forgive our sins And to allow us to follow the messenger of allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in his sunnah outwardly and inwardly Amin Ya Rabbi Al-Alamin wa Aqim Al-Salaam