 And that's what's really, really unique about this gathering in comparison with maybe any other gathering that I've ever participated in my life. Everyone is here for one purpose and that is that they cry. They hope that they are able to have their emotion invoke to the state whereby they're able to be so overcome by the tragedy of the story and able that it releases literally tears to come down from their eyes. Someone says that's so strange. It is really strange if you really think about it from like a bird's eye view. For many of us who have been living in it, have been practicing it for many years, it's not that strange. We know what it's about and we've been doing it for so many years. But it really emanates and sort of demonstrates in reality a really intense love for this personality and for his family and for again the values that he speaks to and through performing the rituals, that of poetry, that of the eulogy that I'm going to read again in order to invoke people's emotions, that of the poetry that we perform after the recitation of the eulogy and so on and so forth is really something again to illuminate the values, that of patience, that of generosity, that of beauty, that of love, all of those things because again we believe that he is a man who really emanated and manifested all of those things within the course of a couple of hours. And really if you go ahead and you read the story which is again narrated in books of history and there is a lot of conversation about it, not only within Muslim circles but really sort of if we extend that all across the world today, it is super tragic and it also shows a sense of real uniqueness to this individual and really why so many people are drawn toward this very unique anecdote but nonetheless thank you all for coming and you are certainly bringing a lot of blessing to our gathering. That said, please once again if we can ask people to move forward. There is not that much space over here but there is a lot of space over there. There is some space in the back over there. There is some space over there. There is a large empty circle right over here. I know it is tight and if guys can move sort of squeeze into the empty places because as people are going to come in then we are going to have to say it many times please come in, please come in, please come in, please come in. We say it one time, everyone does it one time. We are all comfortable. Secondly just a couple of sort of logistic things. Alhamdulillah as we have been mentioning and updating the last couple of nights during the course of the next several weeks we are doing our very best to fund raising toward the support of these programs in which we are trying to reach the goal of raising $100,000 and inshallah we are going to reach that goal very very soon. Yesterday updated you all that we had reached $31,000 in some change. Today it's 8.38, 24 hours from yesterday and we have reached $62,175. We are entering into the fourth night of this 10 day ritual and we are at $62,000 which is very very incredible. For those of you who know and are aware of what this community has the capability to do and to be you will know that this past Ramadan we raised $900,000 in the course of 8 or 9 days toward building a domestic violence shelter for women survivors and children that's hopefully going to be built out in the next couple of years inshallah. For those of you who know a little bit about this community then you know that 2 years ago during the month of Ramadan a year and a half ago we raised more than a million dollars toward supporting the Rohingya community which have really been persecuted over the last several years and a million dollars in the month of Ramadan. And why we are stressing again this particular fundraiser is we're trying to reach $100,000 during the course of these nights inshallah is because this little bit gives us the inspiration to do all of that. We raise more money for external organizations and to support institutions outside of the Islamic center than we raise ourselves for our own operating budget. And that goes to the fact that there's a lot of blessing in the contribution that anyone and everyone is giving. Someone said I'm going to, this is a true story, someone told me a little while ago that don't worry inshallah I'm going to make a contribution when I have something substantial to contribute. It's not about having something substantial to contribute because it's not about the number but it's about the intention that goes behind the contribution. And I promise you that every dollar that's given in a way that is sincere understanding and believing that this is really allowing for the growth of these young people that you saw today Muhammad is an NYU student, Rida was an NYU student and all of those others who you're going to see and who you have seen over the last couple of days in very sort of visible positions, volunteering at our center and really allowing for these programs to influence them and give them a sense of pride and identity within their faith and within their religion and within their spirituality that's because of the contributions that you make and the growth that we are able to make after this initial contribution supporting these programming is unlimited. So don't say we reach this number, someone else will contribute you go and you make a contribution and you do it in the way of God and you will see that we as a community will reap the benefit and just see again how impactful that these programs are moving forward by your blessing. The third announcement sort of again to reiterate what's been said already is that we have these shirts for sale they're really really cool, okay? And like I said my dream is that we have a hundred people wearing the shirts just make a twenty dollar contribution you get a shirt, also wear the shirt it demonstrates a sense of support for what we're trying to do over here everything is going towards supporting the community I do not get any profits off of the shirts I promise go and wear the shirt, it's really really cool we ordered some more because we know that all of these are going to get sold out in the next couple of nights so please make sure that you buy these there's also water bottles outside selling tea every single day so on and so forth everything is going toward contributing toward the programming what else Hanna? On Saturday we're going to be having our fundraising dinner it's going to be at 7pm upstairs in the fifth floor it's going to be with special guest speaker former NBA star Mahmoud Abdul-Raouf again the proceeds of that program also are going to be supporting these programs and we'll have a lot more detail again about where your money is going and how your contributions have been effective in the past and so on and so forth please go online at our event bright link you have to RSVP, it's going to make it really beneficial for us in terms of understanding who's coming how much food we have to order so on and so forth so please, we only have 87 RSVPs there's more than 87 people in this room right now and I can imagine that on Saturday night there's going to be far more than 87 people in the room so please, it's going to take you 45 seconds just don't do it when I'm lecturing please even if you're really falling asleep it makes me feel bad and I have a low self esteem so don't take out your phone inshallah unless you're taking notes if I could ask you again all to recite one Salawat Muhammad Rahim Allah who recited Surat Al-Mubarakat Al-Fatihah Salallahu alayk Ya Sayyidi Ya Mawlai Mawlai Ya Wabna Mawlai Ya Aba Abdullah Ya Rahmat Allah Al-Wa Sa'ah Wa Ya Aba Banajat Al-Ummaa Ya Gharib Ya Madlum Ya Adshan Karbala Ma Qabaman Tamsa Kaabikum Wal Amina Man Lajaa Ilaykum Saadatihi Ya Laitana Ya Laitana Kunna Maakum Fa Nafuza Wal Lahi Fawzan Azeemah Qalallahu Al-Azeem Fi Muhkama Kitabihil Kareem Wal Qawluka Al-Haq Wal Astakul Qailin A'oudu Billahi Min Al-Shaytan Al-Rajeem Ya Ayyuh Al-Nas Kulu Mimma Mimma Fi Al-Arabi Halal Al-Tayyiba Walatat Tabi'u Khutawat Al-Shaytan Innahu Lakum Adu'um Mubihin Amannab Allah Sadaq Allah Al-Aliy Al-Abihim Sallallahu Alaykum Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala within the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet and his family, peace and blessings be upon them that stress the idea of living a life that is well-rounded and that is holistic within all phases and within all facets of one's life. It's important that we prioritize more than anything our spiritual health. The connection that we have to God is the most important thing that we have within our tradition. If we lose our relationship with God then we don't have anything at all. And life is a process about striving in terms of gaining in proximity toward our Creator understanding that we are a servant and we are a slave and that we live in a universe that submits and succumbs towards God's divine governance and His divine loss. God says that every single day the sun is going to rise and the sun is going to set there's nothing really we can do about that because we submit to the fact that everything is from the Creator and through a sense as we've been discussing for so many nights now us walking in the streets and finding different spaces and looking up at the skies and down at the oceans and seeing the stars and the moon above us they're all a mechanism and a means by which we are drawn to our Creator and we are in this process of life and we're really striving toward getting closer toward Him even though we might go through a lot of ups and downs during the course of life. There was once this man he came to me and he asked me he said how would you define Islam in one sentence in one phrase I tell him don't ask me tough questions he said no seriously explain to me Islam in just one sentence so I took a break I tried to reflect upon it for 15 seconds and I told him that Islam is a process Islam is a process just like anything and everything else in one's life it takes time towards submitting it takes time toward cultivating faith it takes time toward emanating those values which are most important and which are most significant to us as I mentioned within my introduction earlier on before that everything in religion is about emanating the most perfect and the most sublime and the most beautiful of qualities that of mercy and that of patience and that of generosity and that of justice and that of love and every human being loves those qualities and the religion and religions all across the board they go and they strive to emanate and illuminate these values more than anything else so it's about understanding that the most important thing is our spiritual health because we won't look toward those things if we don't see God in the equation you see the life that we often live in this part of the world is so consumed with the self everything is about what brand you're wearing or where you're eating everything is about who you're hanging around with so much of the world that we live in is about status and is about symbolism I'm better than this person because of this how much money do you have in your bank account what is your salary how much is that job going to pay you instead of what are you doing with your money that's making an impact in the world do you feel that your work and that your job has a sense of value every day when you wake up in the morning that's what it's really about and we all know that as human beings but again life is filled with distraction this world is filled with so many distractions you're focused you understand what it is that you've got to do even during the month of Ramadan when we do our best toward abstaining all distractions no food, no drink, no relations with our spouse what happens every single day you get angry you start backbiting, you get frustrated the only thing you can think about is food the only thing you can think about is coffee the only thing you can think about is drink what happened the whole idea is to marginalize distraction and over here the only thing that is consuming us is the distraction into itself so we say that during the days during the month of Ramadan we're supposed to dedicate it toward God and worship in the same way that we do the nights when we're broken our fast but there's no worshiping during the day man we'll save that for night but then the meal comes in front of us and then we eat and we eat and we eat to our fill and thus we cannot even think about God because our bodies are so consumed with food so when we talk about the idea that God wants for the individual that we're really a wholesome creation not only again that on one side yes that we want to prioritize our spiritual health but there's a lot of other facets within the course of our life that we also need to recognize as really important one's physical health for instance one's physical health is important numerous traditions from the Prophet and his family peace and blessings be upon them they tell us about the importance of maintaining one's physical health about the importance of diet about the importance of exercise so on and so forth you can go and take a look at the traditions of Ahlul Baith peace and blessings be upon them that speak toward this idea and you speak toward this notion so over here we're sitting here doing Muharram and we're here to recollect the tragedy of Hussain ibn Ali ibn Abul Talib this man who was to die during the course of battle you think those guys who were in battle with him they didn't like work out a little bit you think they didn't eat healthy we talk about a figure like Abul Fadir al Abbas like how do you picture him man I picture his biceps the size of my face these guys are legends and when we read their anecdotes and when we read their stories that he did this and he did that and he fought like this during the course of that battle what do you think? he just prayed the night prayer and all of a sudden his muscles became this size no it also required an effort a physical effort and that's what it's about understanding that there is a semblance of physical health that is maintained within our tradition as well we talk about mental health we've done this many times in the past the importance of understanding that our spiritual health and our physical health and so on and so forth all is a mechanism to also contributing toward the success of our mental health where today we see how many people they struggle with challenges like that of anxiety and depression and again it's important that we prioritize that in other words what I'm trying to say is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he states that it's important that you take care of this spiritual health your relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the same time it's important that you take care of your physical bodies in the same way that it's important that you take care of your mental health in the same way that it's important you take care of your financial health it's important to make sure that you get money and you say oh this is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave me as well now let me give all of it in charity to the extent where my wife and my kids or my husband and my children or they're going to all suffer that's not what it's about it's about understanding that there has to be a sense of balance I'm not saying that we're trying to raise a hundred thousand dollars and trying to put you all into poverty man that's not what I'm saying you give what you can and that's what's going to make a difference that's why I'm not saying that you need to give everything in your savings account for these programs I'm saying you give and you understand the intention of the giving and you'll see the unique blessing that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will increase your wealth when you give in charity for instance and for today's discussion inshallah I want to talk about one of these phases and one of these facets of the health that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala prioritizes for us within the whole of the Quran and within the hadith literature of the prophet and his immaculate family peace and blessings be upon them these days we talk so much about food because everybody loves food and food is such a central part of who we are as a human being but it's important to understand that food has a mechanism for our own growth in terms of allowing for us to connect with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala today anyone and everyone is looking for the new diet that comes out that's going to transform their body in six weeks or in eight weeks or in twelve weeks everyone is looking for a quick fix but we learn from the traditions of the prophet and his family like your spiritual health like your financial health like your mental health your physical health is also going to be something that's a process that's going to take time you can't all of a sudden begin to connect with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by coming through a couple of gatherings you can't all of a sudden begin to connect with Allah by coming through a couple of gatherings of these majadas for Imam al-Hussain alaihi salam and all of a sudden all of your faith is restored what we try to do over here is that we try to offer a sense of inspiration over the last couple of nights people have come to me and they said hey why don't you talk about this yesterday you talked about jinn one of the lecture about black magic I was like okay let's talk about something that's a little bit more important than all of these topics first of all they said no no no we want something trendy we want something cool and anyway none of your lecture made any sense from last night because my grandmother told me that the jinn eat our lunch no no no that was your older brother who ate your lunch anyhow what I'm trying to say is that everyone is always looking for something unique they're looking for something that's so abstract but at the end of the day the religion of Islam teaches us is to really engage in really practical things and going back to the example that I was going to give that what we try to offer is a sense of inspiration so you go back and you take the inspiration that you gain inshallah and you go and you do your own research and you go and you open up a book and you go and you research and you watch other lectures and you go and you allow for your own self-study to take place because you can't gain all of spirituality during the course of 10 nights in their entirety that's not what religion is all about it's a process that starts from our infancy and we go through many unique phases during the course of our life a lot of highs and a lot of lows a lot of ups and a lot of downs a lot of moments when we feel the presence of our creator and a lot of moments when we just don't feel anything at all which is why Imam Amir al-Mu'mineen Ali alaih salatu wa salami states that surely of these hearts sometimes they're receptive and sometimes they are distancing in the moments when your heart is feeling like it's up for it when you wake up in the middle of the night because your daughter kicked you in the face as I gave the example before go and open up the Quran you can't sleep go and say some prayers maybe God wants to hear your voice don't you lose those opportunities your heart wants something more all of a sudden you feel extra motivation you feel extra inspiration to do whatever it is that you got to do then go when you do that to fulfill that spiritual dimension of your body or of your being and sometimes you don't feel that way so then all you have to do is just perform the obligations and don't do anything forbidden just pray and that's it you don't have to recite the adhqar you don't have to recite the adhan and the qama not that I'm encouraging that we often don't do these things we're continuously doing and we're continuously distancing ourselves from spirituality then we need to get worried then we need to fear and have a real diagnosis of where my heart or my soul is at and our bodies are the same way it's okay once in a while to eat a donut it's okay once in a while to eat those cookies that our brother Ali donated outside suggested donation $2 goes through supporting our program once in a while it's okay but when you see yourself consuming it and consuming it and consuming it and consuming it and you're like oh man it's okay because at least I'm praying at least I'm fasting during the month of Ramadan it's about understanding that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants holistic balance from our lives and their entirety which is why I want to focus our discussion for this evening inshallah in three dimensions the first dimension is in terms of understanding the relationship between the body and the soul of the human being the second dimension is in terms of understanding healthy eating and exercise within Islamic tradition and thirdly and finally for us to reflect upon traditions in terms of food etiquette as taught to us by the prophet and his family peace and blessings be upon them as for our first dimension what is the relationship between the body and the soul when we talk about the human being the human being comprises of two really important dimensions that of the physical and that of the spiritual and it's impossible for us to ever divorce one from the other we are a physical being as I mentioned last night that is made out of dust that is made out of clay that is made out of this earth and at the same time Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created us with the light that is more luminous than anything that we could ever imagine and with that light that is within us with that soul or with that that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks to within the whole Quran we have really incredible potentials but it's always important for us to understand that we cannot prioritize one over the other there has to be a sense of balance and for many people they understand that it's obvious why would we ever want to prioritize our bodies over our souls the most important thing to me is my faith the most important thing to me is God the most important thing to me is the cultivation of my own spirituality because I'm only going to live in this world for 70 years or 80 years or 50 years or 150 years that at the end of the day there's a life that's eternal after this one and my mind always has to be fixated on the world beyond this one after the day we're still a human being aren't we we're still a creation that likes nice things we like things that are shiny we like things that are attractive we like food that tastes good and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows this about the human being he stays within the whole of Quran in chapter 3 verse number 14 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala states that that he has fashioned within the human being the love of certain desires that he has given us the desire and he states it very clearly the desire to love wealth to love gold to love silver to love diamonds to love all of those nice shiny things that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and our hearts and our souls to be innately attractive to the face of Benjamin Franklin and what an attractive face subhanallah God has fashioned us to love property to love things to love wealth and he continues and to love cattle and to love sex and to love all of these things he doesn't say that they're bad he says that's the way that we created the human being I mean God knows it someone says but then God says that he knows that this is what we love and he fashioned us with these things why does he say they're not permissible or why does he say that it's too much it's not good for us to consume too much of any of these things because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also says then make sure you don't allow for yourself to understand that this life is the only life and then he comes to imam masadaq alaihi salatu wa salam Allah was salamu alaikum he comes to the great grandson of the messenger of God and he states oh grandson of the messenger of God he says I have a problem every one of us we have the same problem but we don't admit it he says oh grandson of the messenger of God I have a problem he says what can I do for you he says I love wealth I love money I love my property I love my big home I love my cattle we have cars and we have other things I love my property I love everything that I have and he says I like to accumulate more he says help me because I know that this is a spiritual disease imam masadaq alaihi salam he says why is it that you love those things he says I'm comfortable my family's comfortable my children are comfortable and he said I like to go and I like to travel I like to see things I like to go places he said I like to go for hedge I like to go toward the ziyara to the visitation of your grandfathers I like to give also I like all of these things the imam alaihi salam says then your love of this dunya is worship not love of this dunya that is so attractive that it consumes our life but if you understand that this is just a stepping stone for you to get toward the next stage then it's okay which is why Allah swt doesn't say you should not eat good food Allah swt doesn't say you should not make money Allah swt doesn't say you should not exercise Allah swt doesn't tell us any of these things where does he say any of these things he says the moment is when your life is consumed with these things so to understand that the human being is a body and is a soul is a spiritual and is a physical which is why in the dua we say give me goodness in this world and give me goodness in the next we want the best of both worlds that's okay as again as long as we are in a state of understanding that we cannot allow for ourselves to be consumed with this world again that is filled with just so many distractions and again in terms of understanding this relationship between this relationship and this relationship understanding this relationship between the body and the soul when the body understands that everything that it needs is solely a mechanism for a stepping stone to go and move on to the next world then everything gets into context why is it that you want to attain wealth why is it that you want to allow for the health of your physical body why is it that you want to eat why do we eat eating food because it's delicious and they can't stop themselves from eating food but at the end of the day the purpose of eating food is what is to sustain ourselves so we can go and fulfill the responsibilities of life that we have to go and work so we can provide for our families or provide for ourselves so we can live another day and all of a sudden food is not that attractive anymore is it it's just a means toward getting to an end but for most people food is the end in and of itself I'm going to make money so I can go out and eat no no no, it's not what it's all about I'm going to live this life so I can travel to every country in the world so I can go and try their most unique delicacies great, go ahead and do that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't say that you should not eat nice foods but about understanding that us as a human being have to recognize that it has to be a means and the end and the objective of everything is our Creator which is why we're taught within our tradition the importance and the significance of fasting we're told to fast on Mondays and on Thursdays for instance if possible you fast on the 13th, 14th and 15th of every lunar month we fast during the course of the month of Ramadan as an obligation all of these fasts that we have we have other traditions that stayed the one who fast during every day during the month of Rajab everyone who fasts every day during the month of Sha'ban they receive this reward those who fast the first nine days of Muharram they receive this reward those who fast the first nine days of the month of Al-Hajjah they receive this reward why in order to offer us a sense of incentive that sometimes when you recognize that our bodies are a little bit less important than our spiritual dimension then there's an opportunity for that soul to be illuminated by the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that's what it's about everyone following what I'm saying or no we go for Hajj many of us again we just went for Hajj may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us all that opportunity next year and every year insha'Allah and I'll say this and I'm going to say it again later on I really encourage you all that if you have the opportunity you have the financial well-being to go and performing the Hajj pilgrimage next year come with me we'll have an amazing time insha'Allah I promise you I'm not just saying that I'm going to just be with such an amazing person you'll have an amazing time insha'Allah the hair any thoughts? no, no thoughts not doing muharram we don't make any jokes so when we talk about going for Hajj Hajj is physically exhausting not only do we spend out of our wealth again Hajj is expensive how much has Hajj this past year through an aid and $12,000 someone says oh my goodness how can I spend that type of money maybe sometimes even more expensive just a lot of money someone says why should I spend that much money don't worry about why understanding the ultimate objective is that your wealth is less important than seeking the sense of closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it's physically exhausting and taxing which is why if you're younger and masha'Allah every one of you are young you're younger than you are going to be tomorrow so try to register for the Hajj trip when we start releasing the information about it insha'Allah you go and you see that it's physically exhausting and tiring you have to walk around the holy ka'aba you have to walk from this town from this city to this city you have just a lot of sort of exhaustion during the course a limited sleep and so on and so forth why because the tiring of your body again allows for that soul to be illuminated most people they say I don't feel a sense of connection to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for instance with the exception of the 30 days during the month of Ramadan or when we come to these gatherings the merits of the Prophet and his family so we have 40 days in which we reinvigorate our hearts and our souls every single one of us are super busy during the course of these days because we're coming for the gatherings here at night then tomorrow morning we're going to go to work tomorrow morning is my daughter's first day of school make the offer her insha'Allah I'm so nervous right now we all have a lot of things that are going on in our lives but how can we feel a sense of more connectivity to God even though that we've spent out of our well even though that we are physically exhausted even though that our bodies have not slept properly in the last 5 or 6 nights because our souls are being illuminated they're being filled with the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that's what it's about so understand that we have a body and that we have a soul and through exerting our body our soul will be able to be filled with all of those unique qualities that we're aspiring to attain and that we're aspiring to reach and then that brings me toward the second dimension of my discussion about the body with an Islamic tradition we talk about exercise we talk about food we talk about wellness as a human being Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us very strict and deliberate instructions in regards to what every single one of these physical organs have been created for when we talk about exercise I don't only mean running and going to the gym and lifting weights but exercising one's body also means for instance fasting during the month of Ramadan it exercises your stomach to making sure that it's not eating as much as it normally would Imam Zayn al-Aabideen alayhi salam Allah masal al-alam and his famous work The Fees of Rights He comes and he lists one by one the rights of your body parts over you he states for instance the right over your tongue over the human being that you consider it too obscene to speak foul language you recognize that your tongue is so honored in the eyes of God that you will never not only speak ill of someone else that you will never curse you know cursing is something really disgusting man and I don't mean to call anyone out just like why do we use bad language all the time like about everything like even for no reason this bleep water bottle why? why can't you just say this water bottle this bleeping sheikh what's wrong with this guy why can't you just say this sheikh why do we need to always use bad language that the tongue is so honored in the eyes of God that we consider any bad language too obscene for it so what do we have to do? we have to exercise the tongue we have to exercise the tongue from using bad language so we restrict ourselves once in a while it's going to come up by mistake but then you catch yourself and you say okay wait a minute I'm going to put that back in my mouth I'm going to wash my mouth with soap and all of those sorts of things so it's again about understanding the right of a right over us so Allah SWT that the right of your tongue that is too obscene to speak bad language he states that the right of your eye according to a tradition also from Muhammad Qadim the right of the eye over the human being is to recognize that everything that it sees contains a lesson you cultivate even your eyes to recognize that everything that I see when I'm walking in the streets is supposed to be a means again which is taking me toward a destination what's the purpose of a lesson it's supposed to teach you something meaning every single day when I open my eyes I'm supposed to learn and every day when I learn what's the ultimate objective I'm supposed to grow grow intellectually, grow emotionally grow socially, grow within all of the phases and facets of life because that's what God gave you the eye for Muhammad Qadim continues and he states the right of the ear what is the right of the ear over the human being that you only listen to that which is going to be beneficial for you for hours and days and moments do we sit in gatherings by listening to things which are going to be so completely insignificant for your self-development how many podcasts that we listen to are a waste of time which is why I say follow Sheikh and get up with Sheikh Fayyaz you ready to listen to the Ramadan podcast listen to it again, no worries it's a gift that keeps on giving we'll upload our Muharram Lectures as well I'm sorry, I need to stop doing this I'm not a good guy, my podcasts suck I know I'm just lying I'm a great guy, my podcasts are awesome how many hours and moments of the day do we listen to things that are not beneficial for these ears of ours and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala states in the right of the stomach over you is that you'd never fill it to its full capacity Allahu Akbar the right of the stomach or the human being is that you'd never fill it to its full capacity why? because what's the purpose of eating again and I'm not saying this to lecture anyone else as I've been mentioned the last several nights the only one who benefits from these gatherings is myself more than anyone else and I'm talking to myself before I'm talking to anyone else that how many times do I fill my stomach to its full capacity whereby I cannot focus on anything except for why did I eat so much and I promise I won't do the same thing tomorrow and then tomorrow comes and Allah Akbar tomorrow comes and the day after that comes and we continuously allow for this act of transgression of sin, of vice to overcome ourselves a man one day a man by the name of Anwar Al-Basri he goes toward Imam Al-Sadaq and he says, oh grandson of the messenger of God I need your help he says I need you to give me spiritual insights I need you to teach me how I can connect with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give me the skills and give me the secrets of what is known as riyadh to nefs within Islamic traditions classical scholars of Islamic ethics and so on they've emphasized the science known as riyadh to nefs which is what which is literally translated as the exercise of the soul or another word which is spirituality or ethics or whatever it might be but literally as translated as the exercise of the soul he says I want you to give me insight in terms of how I can reach the highest level in relationship with my creator many times people reach out to me or they go online and they google it and they say how can I know God how can I know the presence of God the same way that I felt it during the nights of Ashura the same way that I felt it during the nights of Ramadan the same way that I felt the presence of God in front of the Holy Ka'ba in front of the shrine of Imam Hussein next to the messenger I want to feel that feeling we want to go back to it that moment of emotion that moment of spiritual illumination something really profound we call it the Khushu sense of understanding mindfulness we'll talk about more about that tomorrow insha'Allah this man he comes to Imam As-Sadaq with virtually that same question and the Imam As-Salamu Alai he says I'm going to give you three pieces of advice and I want everyone to understand what these three pieces of advice are he states number one the first piece of advice if you want to be someone who trains your soul and allows for self-discipline to overcome you whereby you only feel the presence of God that do not eat that which you don't have an appetite for do not eat that which you don't have an appetite for where's the da'a where's the writing Quran backwards putting it in your pocket what does he say he didn't say recite da'a command for 40 consecutive days recite Ziyadat Ashura for 40 consecutive years don't get me wrong he says number one don't eat that which you don't have an appetite for number two in terms of cultivating your soul so that you're able to reach the presence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala do not eat unless you're hungry two out of the three advices about food how many times do we eat when we're not hungry how many times do we eat when we're not hungry it's so pertinent right now at the end of the night we're approaching sahur seven minutes left you're ready full but that gallon of water that water I'm going to need it 19 hours from now so you take the water you drink the whole thing you literally have water falling all over your face it's like why did you do that why did you do that don't eat if you don't want to don't eat I'm talking to myself if you're not hungry don't eat things that you don't want to eat someone says but the guest offered it to me they said it's tabarak they said it's niaz like we have within our culture during the days of these gatherings for the prophet and his family people they make food and they distribute food as a sense of respect they say if you eat this food it's going to cure all of your illnesses it's like I have high cholesterol man this doughnut is not going to help me right now but like no no no this doughnut because it's for a prophet and his family no this doughnut is actually going to cure your high cholesterol what are we talking about is that what Allah swt that's what God wants from us no no but it's for the prog no no no no Allah swt the divine instruction of the prophet and his family don't eat that which you don't have an appetite for number two don't eat except when you're hungry in number three he states only eat that which is halal begin in the name of God say and every time you eat remember the tradition in which the prophet states that there is no vessel that man fills worse than his stomach imagine every time you stand in front of food I don't know you just like have like a business card or some index card you take it out and put it in front of your meal there is no vessel that man fills worse than his stomach how could you ever eat anything that's the words of your messenger every time we eat there is no vessel that man fills worse than his stomach all of a sudden where is our mind going to be where is our heart going to be all three advices that Imam al-Sadiq says about how to train your soul have to do with what it is that we eat which is why this is not something that is just a simple conversation it's not something where I just run by a couple of ahadith it's something that we really need to go back home with and like think about for ourselves as individuals an understanding that along with eating and eating that which is right it's also important to eat that which is healthy doesn't make any sense to not do that if we're understanding that the purpose of food is to take us toward the next stage to take us toward the next step the ultimate objective and that brings me toward the third dimension of my discussion and that is in regards toward food etiquette as described by the prophet and his family but before it before I get into that let me leave you with this one tradition from the commander of the faithful Imam al-Ali al-Saratu al-Saram he states that there is nothing that someone eats nor anything that someone drinks except that God will question him or her on the day of judgment of why they ate it that's a lot to handle if you just think about everything that you ate in the last two hours God is going to ask why did you take that extra coffee when you didn't need it why did you take that extra bite when you didn't want to eat it one by one we think about again how much our bodies and how much our lives are filled with just consumption and consumption and consumption again to the extent that we isolate the other dimension and this is the point that I want to get to everyone because we're a people of faith and we're a people of religion and we're a people who care about our spirituality and we're people who care about our soul although they wouldn't be here tonight every one of us we know that our souls are way more important than our bodies every one of us know that but how come we consume and we allow for our bodies to be filled to its full capacity but we don't do the same with our souls as a tradition in which the messenger he states that there are two vessels of the human being which always continue to expand and that never get filled number one is the stomach and number two is the intellect which one of those do we want to fill to full capacity and allow for it to continue to expand we don't want our stomachs to expand it's not good what we want is for our intellects to expand we want our souls to expand we want to be illuminated by the light of the Quran by the light of the prophet and his traditions that's what this is all about we come to where these gatherings again to seek a sense of inspiration that's transformative for our hearts but when our bodies are so filled our souls they begin to decrease and we have traditions that speak toward this not directly in the way that I'm saying but indirectly point toward this notion that when you continue to fill your body with all of those things not only food but wealth and with sex and with sleep and with everything other than that which is godly and everything which is taking us away understanding that this life is temporary then at the end of the day the only thing that's failing is that spiritual dimension so again the commander of the faithful he states that everything that we eat and everything that we drink is going to be we are going to be questioned for it on judgment day so I wanted to reflect a little bit in regards to some of the etiquettes of the way that the prophet wasram used to eat as mentioned within our ahadi so a couple of hadiths that I want to just run through very very quickly the idea again that when we enter into the state of our meal we allow for God to be back in the equation and I'm not saying that every single time before you eat you literally have to say that there is no stomach that God fills that the human being fills worse than his stomach right? there's no vessel that the human being fills worse than his stomach not every single time but you want to cultivate yourself and ourselves to where they extend that we're able again to be in a state of real mindset before it is that we're engaging in what it is that we're eating so some etiquettes that are mentioned within Islamic tradition number one is that before we eat we should wash our hands obvious we should go before we eat and you wash your hands I tell my daughter go before you eat wash your hands she says why we're going to eat with a spoon she's right back in the day that you see with your hands right they say with their hands and over here we actually find within our hadith that's a recommendation to eat with your hands and the hadith that actually states that one who washes their hands and goes directly into their meal eating with their hands meaning that they don't dry their hands they eat with wet hands they've brought in a unique blessing to the food that they're about to eat that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will put blessing in their meal shy of that tomorrow another tradition states about the importance of performing wudu the ablution before one's meal someone says why again it puts us in a mindset that what we're doing anything and everything that we're doing is for God's sake and a hadith it states that the one who performs wudu listen to this for all my friends going through financial difficulties and so on and so forth hadith states that the one who performs wudu before his meal or her meal and after their meal Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will increase their wealth after every meal perform wudu a third tradition states that when you're eating one should sit on the floor not only eat with one's hands but eat on the floor as we do communally over here it's something unique something in very traditional cultures we do but actually the prophet A.S. says it's beneficial for one's health as well and I'm sure where my doctors in the room maybe they can speak to that point my nutritionists, is that true? not true, maybe come on man number three before someone enters into their meal they should begin in the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by saying and after they eat they say to put ourselves in a very sort of basic mindset if every time before I eat I say in the name of God the most compassionate the most merciful then I know that the blessing of that food is from where? except for God and after I eat I say Alhamdulillah all thanks and all praise is due to God all of a sudden again I know that God has given me this food and God states within the Holy Quran that if you thank me I'm going to give you more and we love more so God says thank me and I will give you more there's a famous anecdote in which it states that one day Prophet Ibrahim the messenger of God Abraham one day he was walking in the streets and he could not find anyone who was able to share his dinner with him it was the etiquette and the character of Prophet Ibrahim that he would never eat any meal without sharing it with someone because amongst the etiquettes of eating is that you eat with other people as well it's not good to eat alone if you traditionally eat alone invite me for dinner no worries anytime I'll meet you anywhere in the city like other nice foods you guys don't like my joke too many jokes somebody told me sheikh you need to stop I'm going to stop Prophet Ibrahim he's walking in the streets looking for someone to share his meal with finally he's walking and he sees a man and he says oh man come come and share dinner with me he comes into the house of Abraham he sits down on the floor because they're about to eat where the food is being served and Ibrahim says my dear friend what's your name he gives him his name he said before we begin let's begin in the name of God the most compassionate the most merciful let's say oh God thank you for giving me this meal like I said no I'm not doing that he said why not he said I don't believe in God he said don't force me to do anything I'm going to let me eat or no Ibrahim says you don't believe in God get out I'm going to go find somebody else he gets up and he leaves Prophet Ibrahim he's walking in the streets looking for someone else and Ibrahim the angel Gabriel comes down from the skies and he says oh Ibrahim what did you do he says what do you mean he said I invited that man to come and eat with me he said but he wouldn't begin in the name of God for the food that was in front of him to which the angel he responds to word Ibrahim he said oh Ibrahim Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala God he told me I was next to his throne just a few moments ago and he told me that he sustained that man for 55 years and he never even knew that I existed who are you to tell him that he should not eat your food meaning what that every single day whether we recognize God or whether we don't recognize God that's a blessing of God that is in front of us who is being a state of mindset that it comes from him and all of a sudden we will see such unique blessing that will come even in the food that we eat to be in a state of thanking God beginning in his name after it being a state of recognition all of these things they place an imprint on our souls again understanding that that which we state from the tongue that which our physical bodies overcome they all imprint within the spiritual dimension of ours some more a couple of traditions that speak to the importance of how one should eat how did the Prophet A.S. eat what did he used to eat many people that asked the question one of the traditions tell us that the Prophet A.S. peace and blessings be upon them they used to love sweets man every one of us we love sweets who doesn't love sweets in fact the Hadith from M.M.A. states that the one who has intense love of the Prophet and his family they also have intense love of sweet things this is why I love those cookies $2 suggested donations outside it's okay it's okay to love sweets nothing wrong with it they loved it as well and when you love sweet things that means you love the Prophet of God what a blessing it doesn't mean that you eat it all the time you just love sweets it doesn't mean that you eat it all the time you just love it from afar and you say Allah in Paradise give me all the donuts amongst the things that the Prophet A.S. used to eat very regularly with what he used to eat barley with whole wheat grain bread for instance you can get that at Trader Joe's Whole Foods okay I'll stop guys I really will stop now amongst the things that the Prophet A.S. used to do as I mentioned earlier is that he would always make sure to make his best effort toward eating with others toward inviting others toward creating a space that's welcoming really there's a lot of relationships that are built over just sharing a meal with one another and I'll conclude with this last point there's really a lot more to talk about in terms of specific foods that the Prophet A.S. would normally eat someone says when would the Prophet eat before I get into this last point when would the Prophet A.S. eat everyday people say you should eat 3 meals sometimes they say you should eat 5 small meals sometimes they say you should eat 7 smaller meals tomorrow someone is going to say you should eat 11 mini meals right every day there's something else right when did the Prophet eat you go and you see the traditions one day a man he comes to Mama Saddle he said oh grandson of the messenger of God when did your grandfather used to eat you respond with a very simple line when he was hungry you eat when you're hungry the Prophet A.S. used to enjoy eating meat but he would always say make sure that the meat that we eat is also in moderation in a tradition that's attributed to A.S. it stays to not make your stomachs the home or the graveyard of animals meaning how much animal are we going to consume in this body of ours right there are other benefits and blessings that Allah SWT has given us and God has told us that eat and drink from what that which we have sustained you with that which we have given you it's okay to eat it's okay to enjoy it's also okay for sometimes to allow for yourself to indulge in things that are unique as even the Prophet A.S. used to it's fine it's no problem but as long as you understand that there are a means toward getting to an end and that everything that we consume with our body has to be in a state of understanding that it's a means again a mechanism to fuel our soul and to allow for its illumination of that which is comprised of all of the unique values that our faith and that our religion calls to and again to conclude with this point that the Prophet A.S. used to make every single effort and every opportunity to make sure that he ate with others he spent time with others even if he didn't know them he would be eating on the floor in the mess gym and if someone came he would come come and tell them sit with me eat with me share with me converse with me and that's what life and community and religion is all about because those moments become moments of blessing and moments of reward and moments by which they were exposed toward the light of the Prophet A.S. it was their character that was so attractive and their etiquette and the beauty to make sure that we are doing our best to emanate those same things I say this every year for those of you who have been here the last several years during Muharram we are now in the fifth night of these gatherings how many of you have spoken to the people that you traditionally sit next to many of you sit in the same seats or in the same areas where you have been sitting for the last five nights did you introduce yourself to the person to your right to your left but that's what it's all about you go and you create a space that's welcoming for other people you greet them you eat with them tell them that I didn't see you for dinner yesterday or today why don't you come and eat tomorrow we have dinner at seven o'clock is everything okay with you and your family if you haven't seen them in a long time I haven't seen you since last Muharram is everything alright it's okay to ask these questions why are we shy I don't know I don't know why that's not what the Prophet A.S. and Ahlul Bayt A.S. used to cultivate they cultivated an opportunity where these blessings that God had given us even by food and drink was a thing for people and that's what's so beautiful again about this tradition and this tradition of food as well with that if I can ask you to recite but today we are here on the night of the fifth of this month of Muharram and we are five nights away from the night of a tragedy which we cannot compare the tragedy of our master Hussein Ibn Ali peace and blessings be upon him and as we are here over the last 45 minutes talking about food and drink I tell you my dear friends how is the longest you've ever been without food and drink when you're fasting during the month of Ramadan 18 hours and it's so hard and it's so difficult and it's so challenging and for many of us we have to go to work and we have to go to school and we have to do these responsibilities during the course of that fast and we get a little bit of a feeling of people who don't have food and people who don't have a drink and a hadith that says that fasting should also be a means by which we humble ourselves to give food and drink to those who don't have it but these nights are an opportunity at the same time for us to remember that our master Hussein on that tenth of Muharram he was hungry and he was thirsty for three days the women and the children and the companions and the friends of Hussein ibn Ali did not have food nor did they have any drink to the extent that one by one those children would go toward their father they would go toward their uncle they would go toward their aunt and say we are dying of thirst and the army of Umar ibn Sa'ad had taken the river Euphrates and held it hostage for themselves as they watched the weeping and the grieving of these women and of these children and of these men who had dedicated so much toward their stance of justice and of generosity and of beauty and of love and of mercy and traditionally on this night the night of the fifth of Muharram we recollect some of the companions of Imam al-Husayn who offered their life and ransom of the grandson of the messenger of God and these companions of Imam al-Husayn peace and blessings be upon them they are so incredible to the extent that the Imam he states that i don't know any companions who are as loyal and who are better than my companions because every time the Imam asked them to do anything they were ready to be at the service of their master and one by one on the tenth of Muharram they go and they pledge their allegiance to Sayyid al-Shahada before they go out and they are valiantly killed and the Imam out of the beauty of his character would treat every single one of them in the same way that he would treat his own son there was a man by the name of John this great companion of the Imam he comes toward him and he says allow for me to give my life in your way this man in his earlier in his life he was a slave of Abu Dhar al-Ghaffari one of the companions of the prophet of God and he was inherited by the family of the prophet Imam al-Husayn freed him and among his supporters on the day of Ashura during the course of this epic battle he states oh my master let me go and fight, let me defend your women let me defend your children let me defend you, you are the grandson of the messenger of God he states go he states that he goes and he fights valiantly until he falls down from his horse and he calls out peace be upon you these are my last moments to which Husayn he leaves the tent and he rushes toward this companion and he falls down from the ground and he takes the head of John and he places it in his lap and he takes his cheek and he places it on the cheek of John and he only did this one other time on the day of Ashura he places his cheek as a sense of consolment as a sense of love as a sense of saying don't worry I'm with you at this moment like we might do to our child and Husayn does that is a few moments later when his son Ali and Akbar falls down from the horse to which John he looks up and he sees the eyes of the son of Ali and the son of Fatima and he states he states that my cheek is resting on the cheek of the son of the daughter of the prophet of God and he says to me what blessing do I have at this moment and a few moments later he passes away one by one you find companions like that of Musa ibn Awsaja who is also a companion of the prophet meaning he is very elderly during this day he goes out and he fights valiantly until he has killed himself Abbas ibn Shabee one by one they go and they fight until they are killed a little bit more about every one of these companions and what they offered to Imam al-Husayn on the night of Ashura but tonight on the fifth of Muharram traditionally ritualistically we remember the leader of the companions the most unique from amongst all of them a man who was filled with such charisma with such intense love of the prophet and his family a man who was so connected with God and a man who if you have been to the city of Karbarah you know there is a unique place where he is buried in front of Imam al-Husayn that man is for those of you who have been to Karbarah you know that before you enter into the shrine of Imam al-Husayn before you enter on the left hand side you see the grave of Habib ibn al-Zahir and as you are leaving you also have to go and send your salutation on the right hand side what a man that this individual was Habib ibn al-Zahir is a companion of the prophet and it is stated that on the day of Ashura on the tenth of Muharram during the course of that epic battle where he was in his older age he was so old that he had wrinkles on his face that when he was riding on the horse or when he was running he needed to tie a tissue of cloth so that the skin on his forehead would not overcome his eyes but yet he was ready to come to the support of Husayn and it is stated that when Imam al-Husayn alaihi salam he reaches the city of Karbarah as we mentioned a couple of nights ago that the objective was that Imam al-Husayn alaihi salam he goes toward Kufa because that was a stronghold that were many of his companions were that's where many people had written letters toward the Imam to come toward Habib ibn Mazahr he lived in Kufa and on the way from the path when Imam al-Husayn leaves Mecca to go toward Karbarah Imam al-Husayn alaihi salam sends a letter toward his old friend Habib and this letter reaches Habib ibn Mazahr one day and he opens up this letter and he reads it and as he's reading it his wife sees tears flowing down from his eyes and his wife comes toward him she says she says why are you weeping like this what is that in your hand he said this is a letter from the grandson of the Prophet of God he is calling me to his service his wife says then what are you waiting for why are you sitting here get up and go and he said that he tells his wife that the city of Kufa has been shut down it's very difficult to escape so he calls a servant and he says oh my servant he says I want you to go toward the outskirts of the city of Kufa with my horse because if anyone from Banu-Omeya they see me with my horse leaving the home they're going to get suspicious so you take the horse and you go toward the outskirts of Kufa and once you go toward the outskirts of Kufa and I will find you at such and such location but if I do not make it you are free take my horse and do as you please he says but if I make it wait for me and I will free you I'll give you some monetary gift and you are free to go he says sure he takes the horse of Habib the Malaher they go toward the outskirts of Kufa and that night Habib the Malaher he leaves his home he escapes toward the outskirts of Kufa and that man he's looking up at the sky and he's late and he says if he thought that I was going to just take this horse and go anywhere else except to the plains of Kerbera so I can defend his master Hussain then he did not know who I was and at that moment Habib appears behind him he touches him on the back of the shoulder he embraces him he says let's go toward the place of Marzadam let's go to the place of Hussain it is said a few days later that he reaches the city of Kerbera and he's gone from his horse and he sees the camp that has already been set up and he begins to walk closer and closer and all of the companions they look and they see that it's Habib the Malaher one of the companions of the Prophet of God they begin to celebrate they begin to embrace him they begin to hug him, they begin to kiss him and then they go and they rush toward Imam Hussain and they said oh Aba Abdullah your old friend Habib is here imagine what it's like to see someone you haven't seen in such a long time when you're going through such difficulty when you're going through such trial when you're going through such tribulation Imam Hussain is looking for someone to complain to he's looking for someone to vent to he sees his old friend Habib he embraces him, he grieves a little bit he says oh Habib thank you for coming here is your flag, here is your armor here is your sword and then he says oh Habib when the commotion was made that you had arrived that my sister Zaynab she heard that you had come and she sends you her salutations at this moment Habib Ibn Mabahar he falls down to the ground and he takes off his turban and he places sand on top of his head and he says he says who am I that Zaynab the granddaughter of the messenger of God sends her salutations upon me at that moment it is said that he gets up he embraces the Imam and on the 10th of Muharram there was no one that was a value or was a sense of support to Imam Ibn Hussain from amongst the companions as Habib Ibn Mabahar it is said that he comes toward the Imam and he says oh Aba Abdullah oh Imam Ibn Hussain give me permission do you give me permission to go and fight he says oh my friend Habib you're an elderly man you were a friend of my grandfather Muhammad you were a supporter of my father Ali you were there with Hassan and you were going to be mortared on this land don't go Habib Ibn Mabahar he insists he says oh Aba Abdullah my life is in dedication to you and to your family that's it fight valiantly until he kills 62 people until he makes the call when someone comes and he strikes him on top of the head a man by the name of Hassan Ibn Namir he comes and he strikes Habib Ibn Mabahar on the head his helmet it breaks and it creases a pierce in his head which allows for blood to begin to flow he falls down to the ground he calls out a Salaam Ali Kiyaa Aba Abdullah Imam Ibn Hussain Ali Salaam he rushes toward Habib Ibn Mabahar the same ways he did for all of the other companions he wipes off the tears he wipes off that blood he hugs him and he embraces him as he's in his final moments but my dear friends I want to fast forward for just a couple of weeks just fast forward to a couple of weeks it is said that on the night of the 11th of Muharram the Umayyad they came in every single one of the family members and the companions of Hussain not only did they kill them but one by one they began to mutilate their bodies and they began to sever their heads and amongst the heads that they severed was that of Habib Ibn Mabahar and it is said that as this caravan was moving from Karbala to Khufa and from Khufa to Damascus all of the women and the children they were being paraded by in the heads of their loved ones and it is said that there was one small boy he kept on looking at one head that was on the top of a spear and it is said that that head for whatever reason had fallen down from that spear and this boy he let out a scream and everyone looked at him and even from amongst the enemy they looked at him they said oh young boy what is it that you're screaming about he says oh men, oh men please have mercy for that is the head of my father Habib Ibn Mabahar but at this I'll leave you my dear friends when the daughter of Hussain cried for her head what happened for those of you who know the story she looked at the head of her father Aba Abdullah she embraced it and only after a few moments she was no more we raise our hands in supplication and in dua and we ask God to allow for these tears and this grief to be a means for which we connect with Muhammad and his family we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that by these tears that he forgives our sins and then he responds to our supplications we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to our life we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to resemble our life in the same way of the life of Muhammad and Ali Muhammad we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to resemble our death in the same way as the death of Muhammad and Ali Muhammad and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to never separate us from the Prophet and his family in this life nor in the next life we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we're able to take the values and the themes from these days of Ashura we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give us the ability and the potential to create change in this community in the same way that Hussain we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the blessing of this gathering to continue over the next several nights we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the Ziyarah of Imam Hussain alayhi s-salam in this life and the Shafa'a in the next life I could ask you all to recite one surat al-Fatih but before that you're allowed as Salawat ala Muhammad wa Ali Muhammad in the name of Allah in the name of Allah Ya Hussain