 Allah is the Greatest Allah I bear witness that Muhammad is the One who is the greatest Thanks to Allah and peace be upon his Messenger, his family and companions We praise Allah SWT We send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad His household, his companions May Allah bless every one of you And may Allah bless the ummah at large May Allah SWT bless humanity at large Amin My beloved brothers and sisters, as we were seated here before Salatul Maghrib and we've come here to read Salatul Maghrib, we heard the Adhan being called. You and I know that the Adhan is the call to prayer. In Islam, we have this call that is called out five times a day. And it is unique because generally in other faiths, there is no one calling out before the prayer, say 20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes or even just before the prayer, calling out to the people to say, come to the prayer. There are different ways of doing it. One of them is the ringing of the bell, as you may hear from the churches. When it comes to the unique call of Islam, it's very important for us to remind ourselves, and that's what I'm going to do today, what exactly is said and why is it said. So you and I know that the commencement of that Adhan, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, beautiful, always so beautiful. So lovely that even those who don't understand it are impacted by it. Those who don't believe in it are impacted by it. Those who might not want to listen to it, Subhanallah, they're impacted by it. Do you know why? It is declaring that the one who made you is the greatest. That's what it is saying. He who made you is the greatest. He whom you are going to return to is the greatest. Can we ever debate that? The answer is no, you cannot debate that. Whoever made you is indeed the greatest. Who made me? Imagine, we are so sophisticated. We have eyes, noses, etc. We have ears. None of it needs tuning. You know, the eyes are just looking, Subhanallah. They adjust to the light, to the brightness. They adjust to the distance and everything. So beautifully, whoever made that is indeed the greatest. And who is that? Subhanallah. We call him or he calls himself Allah. But he has a lot of names, a lot of qualities. And you may call him with any one of his names or qualities when you are calling out to him or when you are mentioning his names or qualities. He says Indeed, Allah has so many beautiful names. So use those names to call out to him. From this we learn that it is the duty of a Muslim to learn the names of Allah and to use the different names to call out to Allah. Don't just use the name Allah, but use the name Raheem, Ashafi, Ashafi, etc. Meaning when you are asking for cure, you say For example, when you are asking for sustenance, you say Or you who is the owner of sustenance. Or you who is the owner of cure. So I think we can all make an intention. InshaAllah we are going to learn these names. We are going to use them to call out to Allah. We are going to try and understand their meaning because I can share with you another narration of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam where he says Indeed Allah has 99 names that if you were to memorize and you were to understand them, completely memorize them, use them to call out to him, live by them, you would get You would get paradise. So we can make an effort to do that. The first step is to know what these names are. The second step is to know the meanings of these names. The third step is to ask yourself Am I living within the meanings of these names? For example, if I say The owner of cure is Allah. Do I really believe that the owner of cure is Allah? Yes, I will be going to the doctor because I have to. I will be going to receive medication or I will be going to diagnose what's wrong with me so that I can understand. But I know ultimately it's in the hands of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala Whatever I'm doing is because Allah has asked me to use the capacity that he's given me in order to achieve, in order to cure yourself by the will of Allah, the owner of cure. So these are some of the names of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala And we understand them. We actually need to make an effort to understand them in a bigger way and we will be rewarded. So when the Muadding calls out to starting that adhan he says, indeed Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Allah is still the greatest, masha Allah. And one thing I've learned from this is when you declare that Allah is the greatest you're actually declaring that he is in control of every aspect of existence. He does not do bad things. No, he does good things. We don't understand the goodness in what Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala does. We don't understand that goodness because sometimes say for example the sound we heard a few moments ago it's a good example to give. Instead of getting irritated, upset just enjoy it Subhanallah. Just enjoy it. You know it was a moment, it's a test for you. It will calm you down Subhanallah because some of us we are very temperamental and we are very impatient. We want things our way and Allah is telling you hang on it's going to happen my way, not your way. I'm going to show you who is in charge because Allah is in charge and in control. He knows. Yes it is the duty of those for example who might be responsible to try and adjust it quickly, do something about it. Sometimes it's not in our hands. So when you say Allah Akbar you're actually handing over or acknowledging that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is in absolute control of every aspect of existence. Sometimes things happen to us that seem negative. You lose a job for example. You're looking for a job. You can't find one. You're looking for a husband or a wife. You can't really you know or you have not yet immediately found your spouse and you're getting frustrated and irritated. Allah knows what is best for you. He is the greatest Allah who Akbar. He is the greatest indeed. He knows. Sometimes people are you know trying to have children and they cannot. May Allah bless you with offspring. Ameen, Ameen. Sometimes people are trying to have children. Allah knows why he has delayed it. Perhaps he will give you Jannah in return. Perhaps he is saving you from something that you don't know. I was reading Suratul Kahf the other day and I came across this verse and every time we come across verses we need to think over what is being said. And Allah says The story of Musa A.S. with Al-Qidr when the one child was actually murdered by Al-Qidr. I'm using the term murdered but it was the instruction of Allah SWT that life was taken away and obviously any normal mind would say what did you just do here? What happened here? Why did you do this? We're not allowed to harm. We're not allowed to take life away. You cannot do that. The giver of life is Allah. Who gives us the permission to take away what was given by the owner, by the giver? The same Allah we say is in control of everything. If he wanted to take that life away he could have taken it away without our involvement. But Allah SWT has given the life. So when the question was asked Musa A.S. was asking the question and Allah SWT says the response in Suratul Kahf that you know that child his parents were good and had he grown older he would have been a means of distress for those parents. He would have been disobedient. He would have been a very bad child. It was the best thing we could have ever done was to take the child away at that stage and we will replace those, you know that child with other children for those parents. Now this is Allah. You know what we learned from that verse? That Allah knows I'm sure we understand this. That Allah knows that which happened that which is happening, that which will happen and you know what else? That which will never happen if it were to happen how it would have happened is also in the knowledge of Allah because that child was never ever meant to grow up. Never. Are you following? The child was never meant to grow up because we know had he grown up this is where it would have ended. That's the knowledge of Allah. It's amazing. So if you were to live till the age of 200 Allah knows what would have happened in that extra time but Allah also knows you're not going to live up to there. Had you lived I know where it would have ended. Allahu Akbar. That's the knowledge of Allah. That is the Allahu Akbar. When the Muadbin calls this is the greatness of Allah that we're declaring. All these aspects are included. So this is why we say Allah does not do something bad. We in our own minds we think subhanAllah this is negative. Allah saved you from something. So don't get angry. Don't get upset with the decree of Allah. Yes. The hadith says You need to strive towards that which is beneficial for you as a human being, as a Muslim. Strive towards it and what we're going to give you after that is up to us. For example you want a job. You cannot just sit at home and say Allah is the greatest. Every day you say Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar and you expect someone to know about you to understand what qualifications you have to come to your doorstep to get you up from your bed and say Hey, I've got a job for you by the way. That's not going to happen. You have to work hard. Allah says the hadith the Prophet Muhammad is relating to us from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says strive to achieve that which is beneficial for you wa la ta'ajaz Don't be lazy. Don't give up. Don't give up for as long as you're alive continue striving towards that which is beneficial. So I will go out I will search I will be on the net I will tell people my qualifications I will try and get a better qualification I will look for this job I will apply for that one I will go for this interview that interview and you know what it might take a few years but I will insha'Allah get something when it comes I will be so delighted. Wah subhanallah Oh Allah I was so impatient I want to ask you guys a question Right now we're seated here Right? We've made countless du'a and supplications in our lives Agree? Okay A lot of the times we feel Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you're not answering my du'a but I promise you right now we're living inside the response the positive response of so many supplications that we have called out to Allah for in the past and Allah's answered them and we're living in them but the problem is we've never sat and thought about it you made the du'a where were you many years ago everyone has a different answer what did you used to do what was your condition what are the du'as that you called out to Allah many many years back what were they you wanted to get married guess what you're married and now you have children as well so you're living in the response the positive response of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala meaning what Allah has given you as a result of your du'a subhanallah but the difficulty is we keep on renewing our du'a you have something you want something else you have something you want something else you get what you wanted you want another thing sometimes you get what you wanted and you realize you know what that's not what I wanted may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us may Allah forgive us it happens to man where we cry for something that's not good for us sometimes we cry for something that is not good for us sometimes and we keep on asking Allah for it and we don't know it's not good and Allah says look out of my mercy I don't want to give you this out of my mercy I know it's bad for you I don't want to give it to you and we keep on crying then Allah says out of his mercy because you're crying so much he says okay I'm going to give it to you Ibn al qayyim al jawzi Allah makes mention of this in his book and he says you know what sometimes man is in a gift of Allah and he doesn't realize this is a gift of Allah he's making a dua and a supplication to come out of the gift of Allah you know he's making a dua to come out of the gift of Allah and Allah says no through my mercy I'm going to keep you where you are because this is the best thing for you and then Allah says but he keeps on calling he keeps on calling and then when Allah gives him his dua immediately he says oh Allah take me back to where I was it was a much better condition back to where I was Allah says you see we told you already subhan Allah we told you already the moral of what I'm saying is thank Allah how many of us actually thank Allah for what we have a lot of us just complain and keep on complaining think Allah be grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allahu Akbar Allah is the greatest Allah will take care of your needs he has and he will can I tell you Allah says in the Quran there is nothing that treads this earth except that it is upon Allah to sustain it Allah has taken the responsibility of the sustenance of everything that moves on the earth so someone might say well I'm looking for a job I haven't found it Allah says hang on let's think about it what you need Allah has provided what you want that's yours subhan Allah which means Allah may give you he may not give you the needs he has given us look today we're sitting here the clothing you have is expensive it's not a need it's not the minimum the minimum you would have covered yourself with a sheet Allah gave you the sheet the food subhan Allah you might have avocados growing here in your trees Australia is a beautiful place I'm sure it grows it grows back in Africa and I'm sure it grows here what's an avocado people are dying to pay meaning people are dying for avocados in other parts of the world if you say we have avocados for breakfast they say what you guys are crazy man you know the terminology used today is opposite the young people they use opposite the language you know when something is really good in some cultures they say that's sick man and with us we don't understand what it means we think what's going on the last time I was in Australia I remember listening to some of the people talk and I'm like it's been a long time before I actually understand what's going on but Allah provides for you Allah gives you Allah has guaranteed you the minimum more than that He hasn't guaranteed you but He may give it to you He may but we normally are complaining about that which is over and above the necessity you follow what I'm saying we are complaining about that which is above the necessity you have a house it's a small house it has one or two bedrooms maybe one bedroom and you know calling out to Allah to give you another and Allah you're not providing for me but Allah says look here the house you're in right now we gave it to you we provided for you did you go hungry no you didn't well we gave you whatever you ate we did not guarantee you that we're going to give you the quality that you're asking for but we said we're going to provide for you whatever we're going to provide for you still when you get it thank Allah and you are allowed and you should be working towards or striving towards that which is beneficial for you you want a better quality of life you work towards it no problem but don't only work for a better quality of life without working for a better quality of hereafter you follow what I'm saying don't only work for a better quality of life to say I want to get to so many figures of a salary such type of a house such type of a car and such type of living for example forgetting about the hereafter when that living is no more and you get into your grave what will come with you Subhanallah your deeds your good deeds when you die everything leaves you your family stays behind your wealth stays behind what comes with you your a'amal your deeds so do as many deeds as you can good deeds as you can while you're alive do as many good deeds you'll never regret all this is part of the declaration that Allah is the greatest if Allah is the greatest he's my creator he's the one I'm going to return to I believe that I'm in total and absolute love with this maker of mine what he's asked me to do I will do it what he's asked me to abstain from I'm going to stay away from it that's Allahu Akbar Subhanallah May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us a deep understanding and the declaration of the greatness of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is supreme it is something that is universal anyone who believes in the maker or the deity the supreme deity they would have to acknowledge that you know what he is indeed the greatest may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us a deeper understanding let's move on further within this adhan we hear the Allahu Akbar and it's repeated twice at the beginning in fact twice by two times so we hear the Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Masha Allah your attention is drawn towards the greatness of Allah Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar have you noticed something whenever the adhan is called out the first two are slightly shorter than the second two have you noticed this a lot of the times the mu'admin that's what he does did you know that according to some schools of thought there is something known as terjeer at takbir which means they say softly and then they say it aloud they go back and say it soft and aloud to draw your attention to the reality of the greatness of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala if you didn't think of it in the first calling at least in the second one you are going to think about it so when you hear the caller call for salah don't just think wow that's the call for salah yes it is but what's the meaning of it what is said there do I fall under this do I believe this do I live by it Allah says think about it Allahu Akbar Allah is the greatest may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala really grant us the value of who he is within us so I call on you obviously I could go on and on and on speaking about just Allahu Akbar but let's move on to the next phrases that are called said in the adhan because these words are powerful they are so powerful they should never be misused and abused they should never be misused and abused what is the meaning of misuse and abuse look in all reality we need to understand that things are happening across the globe and we find ourselves in a situation where Muslims are being judged because of the actions of others and what happens sometimes before a person perpetrates a crime he says Allahu Akbar and then a crime is perpetrated such that when people hear the term Allahu Akbar who are not Muslim they think wow something bad is about to happen that's what's happened today may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive us and may Allah strengthen us so that we can actually add the value of this beautiful term that is so high back into the hearts and the minds even of those who don't believe really it's a great da'wah it's a great call towards Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala the second phrase is what is the second phrase and we say it twice Subhanallah what am I saying I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah have you ever paused and thought for a moment what that means you know to enter into the fold of Islam you need a declaration by tongue a belief in the heart and you need to work towards that with your organs right that's the declaration of Deen you want to enter Islam you need to utter something you need to believe it and work towards it three things that are required so why is it so big and that it actually makes me enter Islam when I say I bear witness that la ilaha illa Allah there is none worthy of worship besides Allah is that correct la ma'abuda bi haqqin illa Allah in the Arabic language that means there is none truly worthy of worship besides Allah that's what I believe that's what I've declared that's what we've all declared why why is it such an important statement because it is a declaration and let's go back to the meaning of it none worthy of worship which means I am not going to worship anyone besides Allah that's what it means you are declaring I'm not going to worship anyone besides Allah now go back to your life and ask yourself am I really living by that am I really a person who worships none nothing be it a stick or a stone or a grave or a tree or anything else besides Allah am I one who worships Allah and Allah alone some people worship their wealth some people their position some people worship their free time one day when we have a chance I can talk about it I have spoken about it in the past some people worship material items because when they are in it they forget about everything else everything is forgotten why no matter what you are doing no matter how much of luxury you have don't forget your duty unto Allah don't forget that you are answerable to Allah don't forget that you are going to return to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala I am going to return you are going to return be a better person fulfill your duties unto Allah and have such amazing character that everyone who interacts with you understands that you are a godly person you are a person who is close or you are trying to become closer to your maker and why should we then be good to others because they were made by the same maker that's something that we need to think about the people outside who don't share our faith they don't share anything with us besides the fact that they are human beings what's the relationship between me and them well I have many relations one of them is we were made by the same Allah he who made me and I feel so important made them so surely they must be feeling so important as well I need to fulfill their rights that's also part of how I will go into paradise so we declare that we will not worship anyone besides Allah so don't worship anyone besides Allah what's the point of saying but you are worshipping everything besides Allah you have associated partners with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you have actually done things not for Allah but for everyone and everything else that's not fair that's not correct so let's look back into our lives and every time the adhan is called ask yourself am I the worshipper of Allah alone do I worship Allah alone subhanallah if that is the case yes you are learning something from the adhan I shahadu Allah ilaheelallah it's repeated five times a day and guess what it's repeated twice in the adhan twice in the iqama iqama is just prior to the prayer as the lines are being straightened so four times five twenty times a day you hear in the statement I bear witness there is none worthy of worship besides Allah but we don't think of its meaning Allah Rabbah says shahadu Allah ilaheelallah what does it mean I will not worship anyone besides Allah I bear witness there is no one worthy no nobody nothing is worthy of worship besides Allah so you put your head on the ground solely and only for Allah then we have the next statement I shahadu Allah beautiful amazing it means I bear witness that Muhammad peace be upon him is the messenger of Allah have you thought of what you are saying you are actually saying that the message from my maker I bear witness that the one who brought it to me is that man Muhammad peace be upon him which means whatever he said is a message from the one who made me it's a message so have you learnt what he said are you trying to follow what he said that's what you need to ask yourself you are hearing it twenty times a day I bear witness that Muhammad peace be upon him is the messenger of Allah today if someone sends say for example a CEO of a company or a manager sends the what do they call them the delivery man or the messenger call them a messenger they do call the messengers they send a messenger to someone else to deliver something or to give something a delivery man what happened whatever came to you you know this is from this company here is the the invoice or the receipt or the de-note the delivery note etc and I'm going to look at it and say wow this came from the company I'm excited my order is here okay subhanallah Muhammad peace be upon him has delivered to us the message from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but Allah chose him to be the best of creation the best of creation the most noble of all prophets of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so when you hear his name you should say sallallahu alaihi wasallam may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him because he did a great job he did a great job and that goes to you know subhanallah I can cry when I think of this imagine we call out 20 times a day that I bear witness that Muhammad peace be upon him is the messenger of Allah the most loved by Allah but guess what he was an orphan subhanallah that goes to show if you're an orphan it does not mean Allah hates you perhaps he loves you more look at that case he loved him much more we would call them disadvantaged Allah says no that's my loved one look at him he lost his children during his life all of them besides one he lost his sons in infancy and childhood he lost his daughters when they were slightly older besides one who outlived him by a few by a short while so when our children are taken away we say why did Allah do this to us whereas the one whom Allah loves the most whom we declare 20 times a day he is the messenger Allah took all of his kids away he didn't complain it made him strong that's the plan of Allah you've got to go subhanallah we all have to go our parents will go our children will go some might go before others some might go together that's the decree of Allah don't be upset it happened to those who are better than you it happened to the best people might fight you they might hate you they might dislike you well some people hated him some people fought him some people tried to harm him etc it happened to him too so all these are signs to show it does not necessarily mean Allah is upset with you subhanallah it does not necessarily mean that Allah is angry with you no I bear witness that Muhammad peace be upon him is the messenger of Allah let me learn his life let me see why was he chosen as a messenger surely he was a great man he was the greatest that's why he was chosen as a messenger Allah made him the greatest subhanallah so I need to learn his life I need to draw inspiration I need to follow what he's saying if I believe that Allah is the creator, the maker the deity the only one worthy of worship and I believe that Muhammad peace be upon him is the messenger of the same deity I will give him so much importance because I know whatever he brought is what he wants subhanallah subhanallah so now when you hear the term Ashhadu Anna Muhammadan Rasulullah ask yourself how much am I following this messenger how much do I know how much am I doing to expand my knowledge about what he brought inshallah we can do better we can do better inshallah you know you are so fortunate I was not expecting to even speak here this evening I just arrived moments ago and I came for Salatul Maghrib and subhanallah here I am we have so many brothers and sisters this is not the case in a lot of the parts of the world do you know that this is a gift of Allah subhanallah let us make sure that we do something about it in a positive way in a good way make the most of your opportunities that Allah has blessed you with I promise you I promise you and I am sure you know even the nations that are Muslim nations sometimes they do not have as much in terms of freedom and rights that you may be having here do you know that think about it and think about it and acknowledge it and thank Allah and use your opportunities to be a positive contributory to yourselves your families and those who are around you may Allah make us from those who appreciate may Allah make us from those who fulfill Salat recently I was in Africa and I come from Africa and I visit many countries in Africa that are poor and wallahi I noticed one thing and I can tell you a fact the poor of the nations the closer they are to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala I visited a very poor place Salat al Fajr before the adhan there was no place in the masjid they told me if you want to enter the masjid for Salat al Fajr sorry you are going to need to come 20 minutes prior to the adhan I promise you right now while I am talking to you my hairs are standing because I think to myself look when we have more we forget about Allah we indulge sometimes in such a way that I forgot what did I tell you moments ago I said don't let your seeking of this worldly life make you forget about the life after death you need to make sure you work towards it fulfill your Salat with enthusiasm people say my children are not obeying my children are not interested in the deen that's maybe because whatever you do you are considering it a burden you get up for Salat al Fajr last minute you snooze the clock 20 times before you got up 5 minutes you mean Allah Allah what did the children see they watched you doing your gymnastics they didn't know it was Salat they didn't know it was Salat but imagine if you get up you are smiling beautiful the place is smelling good you are up early and everything is fresh they will start at a certain age to mimic to follow you they will want to do it the way you do it they will see the beauty in your face in your system so get up and do that when you obey Allah's instruction do it with enthusiasm with happiness with joy with a smile on your face and Wallahi it will help your offspring it will help those around you those whom you live with Subhan Allah so you know in the Quran Allah tells us in more than one place different wordings but I will mention one of the verses Allah says وَإِنْ تَتَوَلَّو يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمَنْ غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَا لَكُمْ If you are to turn away from Allah from his message from his instruction Allah says He will replace you with someone else who will not be like you Wallahi I've seen this I've seen this with my eyes and it's brought tears to my eyes where sometimes you go to a Muslim nation where people are turning away from the Deen they are no longer dressing modestly for example or they've given up some of the values they've had and you know what you witness people in rural Africa out of nowhere they are practicing the Deen in the most beautiful way and you think to yourself these have replaced those it happens anyone who abandons their level of closeness to Allah someone else is getting closer to Allah as a result of that abandonment for Allah to show you on the day of judgement you were replaced by this man you were replaced by that person where do we get this from the Quran tells us you shall be replaced and you need us that's what Allah says Subhan Allah do you want to be replaced ask yourself if not use your energy your power your capacity your wealth whatever you have to do good Subhan Allah if you're going to sin there are others who will not sin as a result of your sin because you've turned away from Allah so Allah says step the neck we've changed you with someone else may Allah protect us may Allah help us may Allah grant us forgiveness may Allah strengthen us I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah peace be upon him and then you have a beautiful beautiful statement that's uttered direct call to you why listen to the call amazing doesn't it do something to you Subhan Allah do you know what it is iqamat al-Hujj alayk that's what it is Allah is actually recording a statement against you what is it against your name did you hear it yes what did you do about it well I just said adhan was called that's it and I ran away Allah says wait why do you have to repeat 20 times a day come for Salah because Allah saying we want you to hear it so that tomorrow we will ask you about it did you hear it yes I did the masjid some people say it was so irritating it disturbed my sleep did you hear people say that astaghfirullah may Allah forgive us hang on we did you a favor we're reminding you there's a duty unto Allah it's a beautiful favor imagine Subhan Allah if an earthquake is about to come and someone tells you there's an earthquake that's about to come what will happen you'll consider it a favor you will evacuate you will leave you will tell your loved ones and everyone else let's go because someone has warned us about something well Allah gives us good news he says come for prayer so now people might become lazy right and they might think okay what's there for me in that prayer it's like when the Sahabah when they were asked to sacrifice the animals they did you know for the Eid Eid al-Adha they sacrifice the animals following the sunnah of Ibrahim alayhi salam and the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wassalam they did but you know what they asked a question maala nafiha ya Rasulullah qala bi kulli sufa tin hasana wa bi kulli sha'ala tin hasana it's a narration you know some people have spoken about the narration but we're trying to benefit from the answer to the question they asked what is it what do we have in it I'm saying sometimes people might subconsciously ask okay I'm going to read salah what do I have in it you know today people want to know what's in it for me you tell the guys let's go we want to go to perhaps you know this place or this city they say what's in it for me what am I getting say what are you going to earn yourself ten thousand dollars I'm there ten thousand bucks that's a lot of money I'm there but if someone says now give you five bucks ah it's okay give someone else okay so you might ask subconsciously because of your weakness we've heard hayya'ala salah so what's there in it for me so now you can hear the next statement hayya'ala falaa come to success you come to prayer you will succeed succeed in this world and the next it will it will make your day better more productive because you got up early and you slept early subhanallah after salat al-ishah you went to bed and salat al-fajr you were awake even if you did not get up for that which was voluntary such as the hadjul we're weak try it out sometime by the way try it out sometimes by the way get up maybe once a week maybe once a month you know start off that way perhaps once in a while wake you know make dua to Allah at that time you know the hadid says yanzilullahu tabaraka wa ta'ala kulla layla tinheena yabqa thuluthu layla al-akhiri fa yakul hal min ta'ibin fa atuba alayhu hal min ustaghfirin fa aghfiralah hal min sa'ilin fa u'utiyah but the people are sleeping when Allah is calling out saying at the at the moment when the third of the night is remaining and he says is there anyone seeking forgiveness from me I can forgive them that I will forgive them is there anyone calling out to me or returning to me and I can give them what they want or accept their repentance people are snoring and sometimes you're awake because of some reason but guess what you're just watching football yeah you're watching boxing you're watching rugby you're watching something wait relax be conscious of the time this is the last third of the night let me call out to Allah it's not a condition to make ta'ajud Allah says hal min sa'ilin is there anyone asking me so ask Allah I'm here I'm awake it's the third of the night ask Allah become conscious of the time and mashallah if you want to read the hadjud it's the bonus it's encouraged Alhamdulillah it's not compulsory but it's encouraged you will see how good you feel when you put your head on the ground you feel beautiful you feel amazing why because that is the worship of the one who made you you have to feel amazing don't you agree the day you get up for Salat al Fajr and you're early and you made wudhu and you're looking forward to it and you come and you say Allahu Akbar you finish Salat al Fajr you walk out of the masjid and that day just goes so well you feel so good about things mashallah mashallah right because you know that's the worship of the one who made you he's the one who made you subhanallah they can't be they cannot be anything better than that worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so Allah is telling you come to success you want to succeed in this world and in the next who does not want success none of us we all want it so you want success there's a way start with developing your relationship with the owner of success he owns success you want sustenance you want a job you want children you want to get married you want to achieve whatever Allah is the owner of it call out to him by doing what come to success start with your Salat what's the point of someone calling out to Allah O Allah grant me I love you I really love you you're my maker come time for Salat they're heading in another direction you didn't fulfill your Salat O Allah you know I'm weak I know you know I'm weak and I know you're a forgiving person I heard you are Rahman you are Rahim you are Ghafoor you are Wadood O Allah you are loving love me O Allah I'm weak I haven't yet made my Salat but you know it's okay you know relax take it easy understand you're not supposed to be thinking that way it's not fair it's not fair to say O Allah you are loving so now just excuse my sin no try your best to do what Allah wants from you like I said if you don't you're replaced if you didn't come to the Masjid someone else is there already when you go to the Masjid for Salat al Fajr don't you see some people there already well those were the ones Allah chose them to be there why don't you say O Allah choose me to also be there and make an effort about it like I said don't just sit in bed say O Allah choose me and then you expect someone to come in from the ceiling take you to the Masjid it's not going to happen they're not going to take you that way you have to make an effort Allah says we gave you a car we gave you energy we got you up at the time and this is something disastrous you know with me I'm talking to myself it happens sometimes that you're up before the Alam right and then you tell yourself ok let me see there's still a bit of time let me sleep you know what no no no you're up slightly before the Alam get up thank Allah do the dhikr of Allah turn off the Alam before it even rings and you can actually say Allah got me up Subhan Allah Allah got you up for Salat do you know that your eye opened who was in control it was Allah something happened whatever you got up don't be lazy remember you will be asked didn't we get you up you know when you go and read the verses which speak about say for example in Surah Al-Zumar towards the end the verses speak about the people who will go to heaven in groups the people who will go to hellfire in groups the angels at the door of hell will be asking the people entering hellfire saying they will say didn't the messengers come to you to read the verses of Allah to you warning you about this day and the people say actually they did but Subhan Allah they will say yeah they did but you know what unfortunately the punishment was meant to get to them they were lazy they heard the message but they didn't want to do something about it let's not be from those you hear the message do something about it have it in your heart inshaAllah I will do something I am going to do it right now I always say when you hear something that motivates you it moves you you feel good about the message decide there and then to change don't say inshaAllah tomorrow you know I've got one last meeting with my girlfriend tomorrow then I'll see after that what happens no now decide oh Allah it's wrong I cut it it's for your sake and I'm going to be the best possible person you know closeness to Allah and I'm going to repeat this and I've kept repeating it closeness to Allah is picked up by the goodness in your character you want to know if you are close to Allah it's very easy yes you are fulfilling your obligations and I will show in your character the way you talk to people the way you interact with people the way you treat the weakest of the lot how you treat that person is who you are the weakest of the lot how much importance do you give a guy whom the world considers unimportant the most insignificant person according to the world how you treat that person is exactly who you really are in terms of character so you want to know if you are on your character if you have the greatest of character you need to know the one whom the world doesn't look at because of how insignificant the world thinks that person is do you greet them do you acknowledge them do you reach out to them do you smile at them do you make them feel important if that's the case Masha'Allah you're a good person but if you also spit at their side as Taghfirullah cannot do that may Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala forgive us so you want success you know how to achieve it the first step is developing your relation with Allah there's no other way to succeed neither in the dunya nor in the Akhirah let me quickly give you one more explanation sometimes in this world we get a lot we become wealthy we become a person of position who Allah's blessed us with good looks and everything nice Masha'Allah sometimes that is a burden sometimes that will be the means of punishment why you don't have a relation with Allah as we gave you not to bless you to punish you with it Allah says some people we give them children to punish them through those children verses of the Quran sometimes Allah says that we give people wealth in order to punish them with that wealth certain groups Allah said when they forgot Allah we opened all the doors for them when they became indulged in what we gave them so happy that they felt this was it Allah says we suddenly punished them they were confused why confused one hand they thought oh we're getting it's a blessing of Allah but because they were far from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when Allah punished them they said how come Allah's punishing us but he gave us everything Allah says the fact that we give you does not necessarily mean that we're happy with you and the fact that we've taken away from you does not necessarily mean that we're punishing you it all depends on you and your relationship with Allah haiyyya aal al falah you want real success come to it start off with your link with Allah through Salah Salah that's why the hadith says the first thing you will be asked about after you've died the first thing you're going to be asked about is your Salah if the Salah was good everything else will be easy the Salah was not in order wow may Allah forgive us may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us goodness brothers and sisters let's try let's try inshallah we try to be the best I want to mention a quick phrase that's repeated only in Salat al-Fajr and we know it what does it say as-salaa subhanallah prayer is better than sleep have you ever thought why because sleep is a gift of Allah that is such that when you get into it sometimes you become so lazy to even get up subhanallah not realizing that if you want to prepare for the final sleeping that you're going to be going through then you better wake up right now a day will come when you're not going to be waking up so you want to prepare for the day how many have passed on how many have passed away while they were in their sleep they didn't get up the following morning imagine if you didn't even set your alarm or you didn't even plan to read Salat al-Fajr and you died no one wants to die in that condition but if you plan that you're going to read Salat al-Fajr and you've already passed away and the alarm goes off and it's ringing and you're gone don't you think you're going to get the reward of that Salat? don't you think you're going to get the reward of that Salat? you have to because you planned it and it was all ready and waiting Allah took you away subhanallah may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us goodness so this is why it's repeated at Salat al-Fajr because the coziness of the sleeping needs a little bit more in terms of encouragement for you to get out Salat al-Fajr it's not easy watch the Masaj go for Salat al-Jum'a packed go for Salat al-Iib packed go for the other Salawat slightly less go for Salat al-Fajr the real believers are there may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from there the real believers are there Salat al-Fajr mashaAllah and sometimes I know some of you must be thinking okay I do read but I read at home you know the Masjid well at least you need to read you need to make sure that you're fulfilling it as a beginning point and after that you can get to the next level to try and do it with Jum'a because you have to sometimes if the Masjid is distant you may have an excuse I'm not too sure about the distances here but from what I've seen it seems like sometimes places are very very far but guess what Allah's given you a vehicle as well He's given you means as well try your best inshaAllah earn the pleasure of Allah you'll find what your children do as a result they see you enthusiastically leaving every morning coming back going and say Dad can I join you we should say Alhamdulillah yes my son that's called Subhanallah Subhanallah may Allah make it easy for us so that's the extra reminder for Salatul Fajr and then we have something interesting at the end of the Adhan there is a repetition of Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar a repetition of it taking you back to remind you it's like within brackets you know if you put brackets in the English language or when you're writing things you put in something in brackets there's a bracket at the beginning a bracket at the end whatever was in the middle important but the bracket is what gave it that importance to say you know what don't forget the statement because I'm writing a sentence in the middle I put two brackets which means hey you need to read this as well Allah starts off by declaring His greatness He ends by declaring His greatness and a statement beyond La ilaha illallah there is none worthy of worship besides Allah initially we said I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah and at the end we are saying there is definitely none worthy of worship besides Allah and He is indeed the greatest imagine you've now fulfilled your Salah you're now heading towards success you become stronger in your declaration of the greatness of Allah and you become stronger you realize that not only do I bear witness but indeed Allah is the greatest for everyone even those who don't believe in Allah Allah is still the greatest you know when someone does not believe in the Almighty it doesn't reduce the value of the Almighty it does not reduce the value of the Almighty it reduces the value of that person may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us all goodness and a deep understanding I've spoken for 52 minutes Alhamdulillah and my brothers and sisters it's been an honor to be here I hope the message that I've said can actually be of benefit to myself and to yourselves and I hope every time you hear the adhan even if it is just on an application on your phone you take it seriously you try and understand what's being said here and where do I fit it am I really a person who understands that Allah is calling me and this is going to be used against me you know we get excited without have you got the adhan app yes I do have you got the Salat time app yes I do I'm sure most of us do am I right yes there you are well it's a problem it's a problem because in a good way you might be thinking how can a problem be a problem in a good way let me explain it will help you regarding reminding you for Salat but it will come on the day of judgment to bear witness for you or against you remember that remember that it might look like a phone like an app Subhanallah if it reminded you it's going to be there to say you know what yes I did remind this guy about Salat well what did he do he just clicked snooze and he was sleeping every day if you made a mistake one day, two days it's one of those things you know if anyone sleeps over a Salat or forgets it completely they should read it as soon as they remember it those are the words of Rasulullah but but you cannot say oh I know the Hadid let me just sleep it's okay I'm sure my name will be written because I'll have slept over it come on you cannot find justification for your bad