 أعود بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيدنا ونبينا محمد وأهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين اللهم صل على محمد وآل محمد قال تعالى في كتابه الكريم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم وإذا سألك عباد عني فإني قريب وجيب دعوة الدعي إذا دعان The night tonight we will be talking about the topic of supplications and prayers The holy month of Ramadhan has multiple advantages One of them is our prayers will be answered They have been guaranteed by the prophet بسبة أقنهم Where he has said دعاءكم فيه مستجاب during the month of Ramadhan When you ask the Almighty for something You will be rewarded back for that thing that you have asked The question is that what should we ask and how should we ask Prior to that we should look at the abundance and treasures of the prayers and supplications That we are left with by our infallible imams The members of Ahlul Bayt عليهم السلام One beautiful quality of Ahlul Bayt عليهم السلام That they have left treasures of beautiful, elegant And eloquent prayers and supplications for us their followers to take In fact, those prayers, those eloquent words of prayers and supplications Are very much indicative of their infallibility You would recognize that hardly anyone can use those eloquent And beautiful words that our imams use when they have prayers with Allah As it is called whisper the prayers or monologues In Arabic they are called monajat or دعاء When you look at those beautiful words of a prayer You will understand the value and the stature of Ahlul Bayt عليهم السلام Because they are unrivaled by anyone else with such eloquency With such deep meaning of the prayers that they will say The scholars use those words of a prayer as a testimonial To the fact that our imams are infallible Now when you look at those prayers and supplications You will see that they have two fundamental features Number one is that the prayers of Ahlul Bayt عليهم السلام Has the collective sense of responsibility Meaning that the imams عليهم السلام When they narrate and recite their prayers They are socially responsible They are putting themselves in our own positions As if we are the ones talking to Allah سبحانه وتعالى They teach us the way that they teach us They embody themselves as sinners As normal regular wrong doer people Who have been finding themselves very in remorse And sorry therefore they speak with the Almighty Allah سبحانه وتعالى With guilt That means that they place themselves in our shoes They embody our own positions when they talk to Allah سبحانه وتعالى In their prayers you will see that our imams And their prayers are significant others They do the prayers for the sake of the humanity For us to learn from them and imitate them For example When you look at عليهم عليهم السلام When he says that لا إله إلا أنت سبحانك ظلمت نفسي وتجرأت بجهلي Oh my lord be glorified you I have incurred injustice against myself The Imam is infallible He does not commit any wrongdoing He does not incur injustice against himself Rather he speaks in our behalf He positioning himself in our positions He speaks with our own words As if the same thing that happens with a mother You see sometimes the mother or the father Are agonized by the child's pains For example of the son or daughter Fail in their school They do not answer well their test The ones who are more agonized than the children Are the parents Why? Because of their passion toward the children Because of the love toward the children Sometimes when the child is inflected with a disease A congenital disease And he is paralyzed You see the agony in the face of the mother The mother suffers more than the child Why? Because of the love that the mother has toward the child The significant other, this little child In the eyes of his or her mother And therefore you see the care of the mother Far away beyond the care of the child to himself The understanding of the child to himself Maybe the child is oblivious about his own disorder He does not recognize his illness Therefore he is indifferent Or a child that flanks the class Flanks the subject He is oblivious, he is careless And the father Due to their passion toward the child They feel very agonized The same thing with our imams They feel our own pain Therefore they put themselves in our positions When they talk to their Lord You see for example This concept is demonstrated In the day of Ashura When Imam Al-Hussein عليه السلام To weep and cry His sister would ask him Why would you cry, oh my brother He would say I am crying for 30,000 soldiers Who will be going to hell because of me Look at the passion The love that Imam عليه السلام had Even toward his enemy That passion is inclusive Is unconditional And he would say About Imam زين العابدين عليه السلام This equality of a prayer Is vividly demonstrated In صحيفة السجادية The Psalms of Islam That has been composed By Ali ibn al-Hussein زين العابدين عليه السلام You see the Imam has composed This narrative The book, the صحيفة السجادية After the tragedy of Karbala The prayers are always toward others Nothing for himself He prays for his parents He prays for his relatives He prays for the neighbor He prays for the regular Muslim citizens He also prays for the coast guards The coast guard at his time Were the ones who belonged to Bani Umayyah And many of those soldiers And coast guards They have been involved In the massacre of Karbala In the tragedy of Karbala Yet the Imam عليه السلام Show us tolerance Teach us tolerance He prays for them He says He prays for those coast guards Those who go Defend the territory Of the Islamic nation Or he teaches his tolerance The tolerance The genuine tolerance of Islam That exists in the Islamic teachings And fundamentals Through the dua Of Makarim al-Akhlaq He says Give me the ability The capability That I will return The one who has cheated me With advice I give him The true advice The true statement وأجزي من هجرني بالبر Or I reward someone Who has abandoned me Who has neglected me With good things That I do good Toward good things That I do good Toward that person وأثيب من حرمني بالبذر And I give back The one who has deprived me From his giving But in return Give me the ability That I return good Toward him وأن أكافئ من قطعني بالصلاة Someone who severs his ties Severs his ties with me I reconnect with him وأخالف من اختاب إلى حسن الذكر And someone who gossips about me Who does backbiting against me Help me oh God That I mention him in a good term And then he says وأن أشكر الحسنة Someone who does good to me Enable me that I thank him وأن I appreciate him واغضني عن السيئة While I turn a blind eye Against whoever does bad things And misbehaves against me This is how علي بن الحسين Teach us Teach the society To be a tolerant society Toward each other Toward others And this is what we need nowadays In this world that we live in today Brothers and sisters The second feature Of the words of the Imam عليه السلام During their prayers Is that their prayers And their words and sayings Are very heart penetrating They penetrate the souls They diffuse and deep inside Our spirits They shake us from fundamentals You will see that our hearts Are changed upon listening To their words This is a capability That only our imams have Only the infallible have Unlike many of our discourse Unlike the discourse Of many scholars And knowledgeables And scientists The scholars The speakers Me and alike We speak To the ears And eyes Of the audience and the viewers But the imams When they talk They talk to the hearts Of the viewers They penetrate the hearts And they manipulate The hearts and the spirits Of their audience The similar ability God has given it to Shaytan Devil, Iblis Iblis also manipulate The hearts of people He whispers in the spirit And hearts of people But on the negative side As Allah سبحانه وتعالى Says من شر الوسوس الخناس الذي يوسوس في صدور الناس Shaytan has the capability To whisper inside My spirit and soul Inside your spirit and soul And become manipulative Manipulate our hearts The opposite effect Is giving to our infallibles The imams The prophets The Quran itself Has the ability To penetrate the hearts The Almighty Allah Speaks of the quality of Quran He says that وإذا سمعوا إلى ما انزل إلى الرسول وإذا سمعوا ما انزل إلى الرسول ترى أعينهم تفيضوا من الدمع من ما عرفوا من الحق When they hear And listen To the words of Quran You see that their eyes Become full of tears Meaning that their heart Have changed So drastically That their eyes Become full of tears And they become tearful When they listen To those words Of Quran The same thing with the words Of imams The infallibles We have a narration That says كلامكم نور Your words Are ray of light الإمام الرضة عليه السلام Tells his companions He says رحم الله و عبدا رحم الله و عبدا أحيا أمرنا May God bless that servant Who appraise us Who make our affair Very public Bring it to public Then someone asks How does he do that He says يتعلم علومنا He learns our knowledge و يُعلموها الناس Then he teaches them to people فإن الناس لو علمو محاسن كلامنا لتبعونا If they hear The beauty of our words They follow us They spontaneously follow us My advice to everybody To our dear viewers Instead of going into deep debate About the truth of our religion And our faith To change the opposing party If you just mention Some words of prayers Of our imams You see that their hearts Will be transformed Will be changed 180 degrees Why? Because their words Are hearts penetrating They change The hearts of people We will come back After this اللهم إني يسألك باسمك يا جليل يا جميل يا وكيل يا كفيل يا جليل يا كبيل يا مديل يا منيل يا مقيل يا محي سبحانك يا لا هل لا لا خلصنا من النار يا دليل المتحير يا غياث يا المستغيثين يا صريخا المستسرخين يا جارا المستجيري يا أمانا الخار يا عونا المؤمنين رحما المساكين يا ملجأ العاصير جيبا دعوة المضطر سبحانك يا خلصنا من النار يا ذا الجود والأحسان يا ذا الفضلي والامتنان يا ذا الأمن والأمان يا ذا القدس والسبحان يا ذا الحكمة والبيان يا ذا رحمتي واللضواء يا ذا الحجتي والبرها يا ذا العظمتي والصلطان يا ذا رأفتي والمستعان العفوي والوفراء سبحانك يا خلصنا من النار ومشاكس ومشاكس ومشاكس ومشاكس اللا حفظين وتم يفكد في تغلق والبنان وشاكس والفضلي والبنان والبنان والبنان والبنان والبنان يا منيل، يا مقيل، يا محيل. Oh Allah, verily I besiege thee in thy name, oh the glorious, the virtuous, the protector, the patron, the guide, the guarantor, bestower of wealth, bestower of blessings, bestower of strength, acceptor of repentance. Praise to be thee. The word guarantor and the word protector and patron. يا كفيلو، يا دليل. In today's advanced countries, world, you see that they have insurance for everything. If you buy a car, you have to have an insurance. If you buy a new home and you want to do more good, you have to have a new insurance. If you are an employee, you have to have health insurance. If you are an employer, you have to have work income insurance. If you are a professional, you need to have insurance against your practice. Insurance means that it will protect you and it will guarantee your work, that nothing goes wrong to your work. If someone sues you, if something goes wrong, then the insurance will pay for the damages. Now in our daily activities, when we want to do good things, sometimes those good things are very difficult. Very difficult to achieve. They are humongous. Sometimes they are dangerous. They are out of reach. How do we do them? We rely on Allah سبحانه وتعالى. He's the one who will ensure those good works. He would say, do your work and do not be afraid. I am the one who will fix your troubles. I am the one who will pay for your damages. I am the one who will make sure that you will succeed if you do those actions. For example, the Almighty Allah سبحانه وتعالى says Those people who struggle for our cause, for the cause of God, putting God in their eyes and thinking about nothing but the Lord and what brings satisfaction to him and his cause, those people will be succeeding. Those people will see success. And he's the one who will ensure them. He's the one who will protect them from any trouble, from any litigation, from any mistakes. Once you believe that what you have done guarantees God's satisfaction, then you have to come at peace with it. You have to do it because you should realize and you should be assured that Allah سبحانه وتعالى would not let you down. He will make you succeed. والذين جاهدوا فينا. Those who struggle in our ways, they will be succeeding. Some people think that struggle here. Jihad means that you grab a weapon, arm and fight. But that's not the only one. What's in reality is anything that you struggle for, anything that has and guaranteed God's acceptance and satisfaction. Whatever step, whatever effort you do in that way is considered to be struggle, is considered to be Jihad. Why? Because you are doing it for the sake of the Almighty. Now he has guaranteed that you will be succeeding. So here in this du'a, when you say You are the one who will guide me. I don't know my path, but I depend on you and take my path. You will take me to the right destination. And you are my guarantor. You are my insurer. You are the one who will insure my work. Why? Because I am doing this all for your sake. I am doing this all for your cause. This is segment number 13. And then we have segment number 14. The theme of segment number 14 is to seek refuge where it says أمان الخائفين يا عون المؤمنين يا رحم المساكين يا ملجأ العصين يا غافر المتنبين يا مجيبة دعوة المضطرين قايد of the waylade رسكور of those who appeal helper of those who call either of those who call shelter of the fearful سكور of the faithful merciful to the indigent refuge for the disobedient forgiver of the sinner responder to the supplicant These are the words that we seek refuge when we are in trouble we use them in order to seek closeness to Allah سبحانه و تعالى The word that says يا دليل المتحييرين يا غياث المستغيثين Sometimes many people seek refuge to entities other than God For example, during the time of colonial powers like the British mandates or French mandates the colonized nation was totally dependent on the colonial power if they wanted wealth they would look at them if they want power they would look at them if they want order an organization and facilities they would look at the colonial power even after the colonial era still there are countries nations and states that heavily depend on others for everything if they want strength military strength and power they take refuge in them if they want financial support they take refuge on them if they want security they rely on them but how many of them always have kept their promises not many they let them down in their desperate moments when they really need them they let them down in Vietnam they were some certain agents and emissaries who were fighting on behalf of the colonial powers and on behalf of the United States Army but when the United States Army decided to withdraw they abandoned all their agents they were seeking refuge but they abandoned them the only entity that promises and keep his promise true is the Almighty when we seek refuge and seek his guidance and take refuge to him he would never let us down this is number 14 and the number 15 and the last one is that when we ask for more bounties and benefits الله سبحانه وتعالى has given us plenty of bounties and benefits and mercies should we say this is enough or we should continue asking no the Hadith the narrations the verses all encourage us to ask for more وسأل الله من فضله so this segment says ياذ الجود والإحسان ياذ الفضل والإمتنان ياذ الأمن والأمان ياذ القدس والسبحان ياذ الحكمة والبيان ياذ الرحمة والرضوان ياذ الحجة والبرهان ياذ العظمة والسلطان ياذ الرأفة والمستعان ياذ العفوي والغفران أو مساعدة والتعباض والوصول كله المساعدة والمظوات المساعدة والمروض كبيرة المساعدة والمعوش والمقابل المساعدة واللوض وال—ié المساعدة وال—قد—ن— and sovereignty المسيح المسيس وال—حفظ andification المسيح وردن and forgiveness فالأميتي يجب أن تساعدنا إذا كنت أردت تحقيقية وإذا كنت أردت أن تساعد أشخاص أكثر وإذا كنت أردت أشخاص أكثر من أن تساعدك تساعد أشخاص أكثر من أن تساعدك وسأل الله من فضلك أيضاً أن الله سبحانه وتعالى is the most generous entity لا تقول أنك لا تساعد كما تستطيع تساعد كما تستطيع أيضاً أنك سترى أن الله سبحانه وتعالى always respond to that والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته أيضاً أن الله سبحانه وتعالى is the most generous entity whom Allah has given power to act against his passions so that his inner side is submerged in grief and the outer side is covered with fear the lamp of guidance is burning in his heart he has provided entertainment for the day that is to befall him he regards what is distant to be near himself and takes the heart to be light he looks and perceives he remembers and enhances the tempo of his actions he drinks sweet water to whose source his way has been made easy so he drinks to satisfaction and takes the level path he has put off the clothes of desires and got rid of worries except the worry peculiar to him he is saved from misguidance from the company of people who follow their passions he has become the key in the doors of guidance and the lock for the doors of destruction he has seen his way and is walking on it he knows his pillar of guidance and has crossed over his deep water he has got hold of the most reliable supports and the strongest rules he is on that level of conviction which is like the brightness of the sun he has set himself for Allah and glorified for the performance of the most sublime acts of facing all that befalls him and taking every step needed for it he is a lamp in darkness he is the speller of all blindness he is the obstacle the mover of complexities and a guide in vast deserts when he speaks he makes you understand whereas when he remains silent when it is safe to do so he did everything only for Allah and so Allah also made him his own and consequently he is among the minds of his faith and the stakes in his birth he has enjoyed upon himself to follow justice the first step of his justice is the rejection of desires from his heart he describes right and acts according to it there is no good which he has not aimed at or any likely place of virtue to which he has not proceeded he has placed his brains in the hands of the Quran therefore the Quran is his guide and leader he gets down when the Quran puts down its weight and settles where the Quran settles down