 If we begin we have been requested to recite Dua Shafa for a sister in India who is going for an operation tomorrow for all of our murids around the world and as we mentioned yesterday there are still problems for our brothers in Syria especially in the Zaynab area. So inshallah we pray for all of those who are near around the world. So we pray. So we pray. Wait a second. We don't have the time. We don't have the time. We pray. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. All praise is due to Allah, Who guided us to this and we were not guided if not guided by Allah. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Who guided us to this and we were not guided if not guided by Allah. All praise is due to Allah, Who guided us to this and we were not guided if not guided by Allah. I wait to save you, Ayman Zamanah. I respect the teachers, elders, brothers and sisters. All praise is due to Allah, Who guided us to this and we were not guided if not guided by Allah. Amongst the greatest actions specified within the holy month of Ramadan is the supplication. To continuously perform da'a, supplicate things towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all of our very different kinds of needs throughout the day. When it comes to this specific supplication within Shahr Ramadan, the emphasis can be seen by how many different types of supplication are recommended within this month and how we see that there is a formulation, a difference of type of supplication that is recommended within Shahr Ramadan. For example, we see that when we begin our fast, we are given a supplication. When we open our fast, we are given a supplication. At the end of our Salah, there is a different supplication. There is a different supplication for each of the ten nights as we end the holy month itself. And therefore you can see by virtue of so many different supplications and how often we are recommended to recite these different supplications, there is a huge and specific emphasis on da'a within this particular month. And therefore it formulates part and parcel of the system of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala within Shahr Ramadan as part of the fasting process, as part of the purification process that comes alongside the recitation of the Holy Quran, the additional prayers that we are supposed to pray. And therefore all of these things together formulate that direction towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This supplication process, this additional da'a that we find that are given to us within this particular month, they serve a very specific purpose. There is a concept, a theory behind these different da'a that are recommended within this month. The concept is that when we supplicate, we are in communication with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We are discussing with Him between myself, my soul, and Him being the all listening creator and sustainer of this universe. And therefore by virtue of my communication with Him and by virtue of there being so many different types of supplication, I am communicating with Him about so many different things throughout this day. As we look within the different da'a that are given to us, I might be supplicating to Him seeking Istighfar, or I might be supplicating to Him telling Him of my needs, or I'm supplicating telling Him of my weaknesses, or telling Him about my family, or telling Him about the politics of the world, every different type of situation that I could possibly need to converse with my Lord about. There is a da'a for, and specifically within this month, we are recommended to increase our supplication, and we can see that by virtue of how much we are doing that. With this, the idea is that I'm constantly attracting Tauheed. The more I'm in communication with Him, the more I'm in remembrance of Him. Salah ala Muhammad wa ala Muhammad. And therefore the concept of being in this constant communication with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is in order to ensure that I'm in a constant state of Tauheed, in that throughout my day, whether I am walking, whether I'm about to open my fast, whether I'm in an evening, whether I'm about to finish the recitation of Quran, I'm constantly in communication with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The resulting factor of this is to mold me for this particular month, and therefore to continue to mold me for the rest of the year coming. What I mean by this is that many of our Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, have a synonymous tradition. They say to us that this particular month, the month of Ramadan is the first month of the year. The first month of the year. But straight away we question and we say, well, Muharram is the first month of the year, and Safar is the second month of the year. How can we have traditions from our Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, saying that Shah Ramadan is the first month of the year? What they are trying to inculcate in us is that Shah Ramadan is the first spiritual month of the year. To the extent that our sixth Imam Ibn Ja'far al-Saleh, peace be upon him, is narrated to have said he who keeps away from sins in Shah Ramadan will be able to keep away from sins for the rest of the year. Hence Shah Ramadan is the first month of the year. The idea is that in this month I mould myself to be that individual, that character that I want to be, so that as shawwal begins, as the rest of the year continues, I have already reached that peak of myself within the year and continue on that person. Now here we need to contextualize what the Imam is saying in our time. Sometimes in our families at home or in ourselves, we choose to do something or choose to close off something in Shah Ramadan. For example, and we hear this many times within our families, for example, Dad or Mum or the elder of the family will say, in this month, don't watch certain types of films or you're not supposed to go here within this month. Or the youth will say, well I'm putting in the effort, so for this month I won't listen to music. Have you seen this within the family? Family specifically says as Shah Ramadan, don't watch Indian films. Dad says, in this month as Shah Ramadan, so you need to make sure that you don't listen to music. Now here it's brilliant from one perspective that we're inculcating, the idea that in Shah Ramadan I increase my spirituality. But on the other hand, when we begin to observe what we're really saying, there's a degree of hypocrisy in the same thing. I'm respecting the month of Ramadan, so therefore I will switch off a certain type of film or I won't listen to a certain type of thing. But the moment Shah Wah comes, you know what, it's okay, I'll put it back on again. Which one was greater, Shah Ramadan or the creator of Shah Ramadan? The creator is greater, therefore in our families we have to break this mold of saying, in Shah Ramadan I won't watch the Indian film. I won't listen to music. Son of mine, don't listen to music in this month. It shouldn't be the statement in this month. It should be in Shah Ramadan, learn how to be the individual you want to be for the whole year. If you are capable of switching off that particular film, and let's be honest, it happens within our community. Let's not say, why is it bringing this from the pulpit? It happens in our families. If you are capable in Shah Ramadan of switching off that kind of film, you are capable of switching it off for the entire year. If you are a person who abstains from listening to music, or smoking, or any physical, spiritual, emotional weakness in this month, the purpose of this month was to inculcate that so that you carry it through throughout the rest of the year. Hence how Ahlul Bayt say that this is the first month of the year. This is the first spiritual month of the year. When you practice, you practice for the entire year, inshallah. Now with that, we see that Shah Ramadan is the peak of the year. There is nothing compared to Shah Ramadan. The blessings that we are sitting in now are incomprehensible. There is no way for you and I to tangibly understand what is happening in our souls, in the unseen realm, how much mercy Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is throwing upon us at this very moment. It is greater than that mother who hasn't seen her child for so many months when he lands at the airport and she has her open arms. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has his open arms metaphorically saying, come towards me, oh my son, oh my creation, I am waiting for you to run into my open arms of mercy. The fact that Shah Ramadan is the greatest of month and the fact that this da'a is emphasized so much in the month, the idea is not to just finish in the next month coming in shawwal, however much you have practiced to be in communion with your Lord. When you open a meal, you say to him, thank you because in this month you prepare yourself. When you open your meal, you say it. When you close your meal after salat, you make your da'a, carry this through because you are in communion with your Lord. The fact that Shah Ramadan is the peak of the month, we find that the preceding two months are the ones that help build us in preparation. Everything is geared towards this climax, this crescendo of the year. Rajab is preparing us for Shaaban. Shaaban prepares us for Shah Ramadan. What do we mean by this? As an example, in the months of Rajab and Shaaban there is clearly an emphasis on fasting. Fast. He who fasts one day within those months, hell is close to him. There is an emphasis, prepare yourself. For example, there is an emphasis in the month of Rajab and Shaaban to perform ziyara. We go towards holy Karbala and there is such a level of emphasis of ziyara to Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, in the month of Rajab and Shaaban. Why? It is preparing us to perform the ziyara of the table of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The fact that we are building with preparing ourselves in the same way da'a is also preparing us. In the month of Rajab, we had a specific da'a we are recommended to recite every night. Ya Dhul jalali wa l-ikram. Ya Dhul na'ma'i wa l-juud. Ya Dhul mani wa ta'ul. Harim shaybati ala al-naab. Every night practice this one in Rajab. But then because Shaaban is supposed to increase us it's building the foundations towards Shah Ramadan in Shaaban there is another da'a to be recited. We have the munajat of Shaabaniyah. Imam al-Khumayni alaihi rahma is narrated to have said of all the da'as. Munajat Shaabaniyah is my favorite. Imagine what secrets must be within this particular da'a. Rajab building the Shaaban and therefore if the holy month of Ramadan is the peak of all the months within the year it must have the very best of da'a within this particular month. And that is da'a iftitah given to us by the awaited saviour in Imam of our time Imam al-Hujjah, Al-Jalallahu ta'ala, Fahadah al-Sharif. If these are the best of nights and these are the best of days we must have an equivalent da'a for this particular month. And that is the da'a iftitah. Our scholars have reviewed this da'a time and time again and they have verified it and stated that it is completely correct by their opinion. To the extent that they quote one tradition which says that the Imam narrates that he who recites da'a iftitah the angels seek istighfar for that person. Can you imagine when the angels take time away from worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in order to seek istighfar for you and I that must be a worship on behalf of us that they are doing for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to ask for our forgiveness. Da'a iftitah, therefore must be a da'a that we consider to be of a huge rank to the extent that we could also and may also be reciting this da'a outside of these particular nights of Shahram Al-An. The themes within it are universal. The concepts within it are ones that can be applied throughout the whole of the year and therefore it is this recommendation that maybe once a month we can take time out to recite da'a iftitah to remind ourselves what is the concept of what this Imam is trying to give us. Now here inshallah we have many of our elders and our youths who have been reciting da'a iftitah every single year and now alhamdulillah we also have the translation of it as well so we become accustomed to the words that the Imam the treasures that the Imam is giving to us. In today's world, culture, society we need to continue to build on what we have we need to encourage our youth to ponder upon these verses not just to recite them beautifully not just to be given awards because they recite them beautifully but also we must recognize them when they have understood the value of the words therein because without understanding the value of the words therein we are only reciting this particular da'a as a parrot and therefore inshallah we encourage ourselves to really take the da'a home and ponder as to what the Imam is trying to tell us. Let us start with this question or these series of questions and ask ourselves what the Imam would be giving to us within this da'a? What we know? What facts do we know? Let us analyze the facts of this da'a and see what questions we can come with and then as we begin our commentary of da'a throughout the nights we will come back to these very questions this da'a is given to us in Shahramadan and therefore it must have a special relationship with this month our Imams, peace be upon them all are in tune with the unseen realm they understand Tauheed, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the world and the next world for everything that it really is and therefore when they give us a da'a at any particular night or any particular occasion it is specific to that particular occasion da'a kumail is specific for the Thursday night it doesn't mean you can't recite it outside, of course you can recite it as often as much as you want but the reason as to why the commander of the faith forgave us this da'a and specified to at least recited once a week on this Thursday is because something in the unseen realm of Thursday night has a connection with the verses therein similarly da'a eftita'a is very specific why didn't the Imam give us this da'a in Shahramadan? and why don't we recite Muna Jah Shahbaniya within Shahramadan? there must be a reason for this da'a and it's relationship within this particular month and therefore every verse that you read every verse that you read tonight and throughout the rest of your life pose that question why did Imam say this line in context of Shahramadan? one, two if this da'a is given to us by the Imam of our time it must be that he has a relationship with this da'a why didn't the commander of the faithful give us this da'a? did he not know about it? of course he knew about it why didn't our fifth Imam or our tenth Imam give us this da'a? of course they knew about it why did our twelfth Imam give us this da'a? and therefore the fact that our Imam is in Ghaybar for such a lengthy period may Allah hasten his reappearance there must be a relationship between the Imam himself and this particular da'a and therefore by virtue of there being a relationship between those two we are obliged to understand it A, in context of Ghaybar but B also in context of his reappearance whenever that may be and therefore this is another question that we can pose every time we read a verse my master why would you say this? what relationship does it have towards you? and what relationship does it have towards? Shahramadan Sallallahu ala Muhammad wa ala Muhammad in line of da'a iftitah Allahumma salli ala Muhammad wa ala Muhammad wa ajil al farajahum Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim Allahumma inni af tatih al-thana'a bi hamdik oh Allah Allahumma inni I begin Allahumma inni af tatih al-thana'a bi hamdik I begin by glorifying you and praising you or another way to translate this would be I begin by glorifying you with praise Allahumma inni af tatih al-thana'a bi hamdik I begin this glorification through your praise now here inshallah we want to spend the rest of the discussion focusing on this one word iftitah because in regards to the one word iftitah it sets a precedent for every single feature of this particular da'a and once we understand this one word iftitah and what it is truly saying to you and I we will have an understanding of how the Imam sets the precedent of the remainder of the da'a the da'a can be split into two the scholars who write the commentary of this da'a and make comment they suggest that the da'a can be split into two the first half is a supplication and praise towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it is in regards to the relationship between us as creation and him as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the second half of the da'a is in regards to our relationship and as a praise towards the divine leaders but also an exposition upon what life should be and how we should be thinking in order to aid these particular divine leaders so we have a praise for Allah and we have a praise for divine leadership interaction with Allah interaction with divine leadership and therefore this da'a is split into two as we know as a community when we finish that salawat upon the awaited saviour that is when we sit and we begin to address the Imam and we begin to speak about the facets of the world that we live in and what we want from his coming how we want his government to be how we want the earth to be and therefore the idea is for us to participate in that particular coming now when it comes to this the word iftitah itself has its own measurement upon these particular features the word iftitah follows an Arabic rule in the science of syntax as you know in Arabic we have morphology and we have the syntax we have sarf and we have nahu and one has to master these sciences before they are able to really understand what the Holy Quran is saying in accordance with the language in accordance with jurisprudence in accordance with all the different things that language is going to bear testimony to in the science of syntax there is a particular rule that this word iftitah follows the rule translated in syntax is the more letters that you have in a particular word the more meaning it has to it yes the more letters that the Arabic word has the more meaning that this particular word has to it the more depth that you can begin to extract from this particular word let me give you an example and you understand this very simply this example and then we will apply it insha'Allah through the Holy Quran when we say we begin in the name of Allah the most kind the most merciful we know that the words denote something very specific al-Rahman and al-Raheem come from the very same root word they both mean mercy but al-Rahman is different from al-Raheem al-Rahman is a very encompassing mercy it is a mercy for everything and everybody in creation be you believer or disbeliever polytheist or atheist you are still encompassed within this particular mercy of Allah swt al-Raheem however is a specific type of mercy it is the mercy for the believers those who have strived hard those who are worthy of being designated with a specific type of mercy in this world and in the next they are given that specific type of mercy now we know this because Quran shows us this we know this because Ahlul Bayt have told us this but also even if these two sources haven't told us this the Arabic rule of syntax that the more letters you have the more meaning there is to it al-Rahman has five letters al-Raheem has four letters therefore by virtue of this principle rule that if you have more letters to a particular word you have a greater meaning al-Rahman having five letters over four letters is more encompassing within itself this is the principle of this rule let us apply this now towards the word iftitah and understand what the word iftitah actually means iftitah we will translate allahumma inni aftatiho omalur I begin praising you and glorifying you my lord but it doesn't mean this only we say this in translation but the reality of this is so much more in the Arabic language you have root words or root letters and additional letters the root letters are called haroaf al-asliya and the additional haroaf al-masida in the word iftitah the root letters are fatah fatah therefore the additional letters the additional alif and the additional ta'a to make iftitah are the haroaf al-masida they are the additional letters and therefore when you apply the additional letters they add the value to the meaning when you add these letters it changes the context of the word instead of just saying my lord I begin in your praise and glory the additional two letters make this into a continuous tense meaning that I continuously begin in praise of you my lord there's never a time when I stop I continuously praise you my lord I never stop praising you let us see how this is in Quran and then re-review this within the word iftitah there are two examples we want to present to you about this particular rule within the holy Quran the first one is within Surat al-Hajarat chapter number 49 verse number 9 of the Quran it says when when you see two groups from amongst the believers arguing, fighting amongst themselves bring about peace, reformation between the two of them the word iqtatalu follows this same rule as the word iftitah when you see two groups fighting iqtatalu bring about reformation with them the word iqtatalu is a continuous tense it means when you see two groups of the believers continuously fighting that is when there is an obligation upon us to step in bring these two groups together in order to bring about that reformation but the beauty is that this word iqtatalu specifies continuous argument for example, if you and I argue once let's say we fall it out we have a business transaction we have brothers, we have family members sometimes we have a difference of opinion if you and I argue once but that is the end of it it means that there is no need to step in because you and I have concluded our disagreement we have put it aside, we have moved on we are unspecified iqtatalu when you see them going through continuous arguments when there is no ending towards our disagreement that is when someone should step in and be able to say we will bring about reformation we will bring about surah and peace between these two people the commander of the faithful once brought his two magnificent sons he said to them i will tell you what your grandfather told me if you see two groups from amongst the believers arguing bring about reformation for it is dearer in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than the person who fast and prays mustahabbat for a whole year bring about reformation because it is better than this there is a story of a scholar who took this to the highest of levels marhum ayat allah said muhammar al-rida shirazi may Allah bless his soul he is buried in holy karbala when you go and you stand in front of qiblah and you are facing towards qiblah if you look immediately left you will find that his grave is buried there within the compounds of the master of the martyrs it is once narrated that say the shirazi as a very senior scholar within the holy city of qom there were other scholars that didn't agree with him so much they had a falling out they didn't like his way of thinking intellectual differences of opinion happened he said to himself I can wait for believers to come and bring me and this other scholarly group together or I can take it upon myself to go and sit with that scholar he called that particular scholar invited himself home and sat with him at the end the scholar came out and said this is no ordinary marja ayatullah sayid muhammar shirazi is an angel walking upon this earth that is the level in which someone goes in order to bring about reconciliation there is a problem between us I won't wait till he comes and steps in I will come to you and say let us separate let us bring about our reconciliation the Quran said in the continuous tense or as another example within surat al-fulqan Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala quotes the disbelievers they would say the disbelievers would say that these are the stories from the ancients the prophet he's not really bringing there's no real revelation it's just stories of the old he's just regurgitating the stories from the prophet the same accusation is one that is labeled amongst us today by the other people they come today and still say that these words are nothing but a regurgitation of the bible the Quran quoted the disbelievers in the continuous sense he does nothing but plagiarize continuously whenever we ask him about yusuf he says wait I will bring you a story he plagiarizes when we ask him about nooh these were the continuous tenses that were made within this particular thing so the point that these continuous tense in the arabic language denotes that when you actively continuously perform this action it becomes habitual for you when we argue we continuously argue it becomes habitual whenever it was accused of plagiarism he was becoming habitual in his plagiarism similarly when we begin with the words we say my lord I am praising you so often that becomes part and parcel of who I am wherever I walk I look around the universe I say praise me to Allah for I see the stars he is the creator I praise me to my lord for you are the creator of this sea whenever I am the one who is continuously praising you and that is what is meant by my master says I begin by continuously praising you it is habitual for me I can't stop praising you my lord and therefore this da'a is split into two it follows the same theme the imam states he begins by the praise after da'a is split into two and the first half is a praise for Allah then the second half must be an evident praise towards the divine leaders and that is why in the second half of the da'a the imam praises Ahlul Bayt in such a manner that you may not have seen elsewhere from any other imam in his time Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin abdika wa rasoolika Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin abdika wa rasoolika wa aminika wa safiyika wa habibika wa khiratika min khalkika wa hafid al-sirika wa muballi ghi risalatika wa afdala wa ahsana wa ajmala wa akmala wa azka wa anma wa atiyaba wa athala wa asna wa akthara ma sallita wa baratta he continues then he turns towards the commander of the faithful Allahumma salli ala Ali in Ameer al-Mu'mineen wa wasi Rasul Rabb al-Alamin abdika wa waliika wa akhi rasoolika wa hajjatika ala khalkika wa ayatika al-Kubra wa naba al-Adim wa salli ala siddika al-Tahira faatimat al-Zahra Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin abdika Allahumma inni aftatiha al-Thana'a bi hamdik I begin this da'a in continuous praise continuous glorification continuous recognition of the greatness of who is in front of me and therefore he starts with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and in the second half he concludes with the praise of Ahl al-Bayt peace be upon them in the end of this first line Allahumma inni aftatiha al-Thana'a bi hamdik al-Thana'a and hamd the types of glorification and praise hamd is superior and therefore every type of Thana'a is hamd but hamd is superior and therefore when you give hamd it is not Thana'a and therefore the Imam starts by saying I begin this praise by glorifying you and praising you in such a way please raise your hands join us in da'a we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the hastening of the reappearance of the awaited saviour we ask you Allah through the wasila of the holy Quran and the awaited saviour of our time to allow us to be alongside him at all times in our life and in our death we ask you Allah if we are to pass away from this world before the reappearance raise us from our graves to be alongside our Imam we ask you Allah through the wasila of the holy Quran and our wonderful Imam we ask you to fulfill this month as you have commanded us to fulfill it to understand and recite Quran as you have obliged us to recite it to fast as we have been obliged to fast we ask you Allah to forgive the sins of our parents all those whom we love all those that love us and all those who are leaders and we ask you Allah to perform the opportunity to perform the ziarat of all of the Ahlul Bayt peace be upon them all and we ask you Allah for the opportunity peace be upon them all and we ask you Allah's mercy and blessings