 Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu wa salamu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi, wa man tabi'ahum bi ihsanin ila yumidin ama ba'd Ramadhan Mubarak to everyone at the MCC Community while it's certainly a unique set of events that we are unable to see each other and meet each other and greet each other at the masjid and you know we miss those opportune moments we are grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all of his blessings subhanallah there's just the reality is that there's just so much to be thankful for despite all that is not working out for us right now unfortunately we're not able to go to the masjid and we are hoping and praying to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow for this to be something that energizes us in the near future when we start going to the masjid and we start becoming more diligent when we go to the masjid inshallah by the fathal of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so with that said once again Ramadhan Mubarak I pray to Allah that this Ramadan is one full of blessings for us and our families and our communities inshallah and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward us for all of our good actions but may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also reward us for the struggles that we're going through in this month of Ramadan because we're not able to do so many of the things that we do communally at the masjid inshallah Allah is kareem Allah is kind Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is merciful and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reward every single one of us inshallah Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin it will be my pleasure inshallah to be with you once a week whether it be virtually in this format and be able to share a few things with you during the course of the month of Ramadan it's a blessing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that you know while we are unable to see each other we're able to access many of our teachers I get to hear so many of my local teachers and colleagues as well online and that's a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala elevate all of our teachers may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preserve them and their families and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward them for all the sacrifices that they make Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin what I want to do there's a there's a text called the Ramadan of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam or the Prophet's Ramadan sallallahu alaihi wasallam and there's some portions in there that I want to spend the next few moments sharing with you inshallah when the month of Ramadan would begin there's a Hadith or Baada Ibn Samit radiallahu anhu narrates from the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that when Ramadan would begin the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would make a dua Allahumma sallimni li Ramadan wa sallim Ramadhan Ali wa sallimhu li mutaqabbala O Allah preserve me for Ramadan preserve Ramadan for me and accept my deeds or preserve my deeds in the course of this month that's why there's a narration Aisha radiallahu anhu narrates that when the month of Ramadan would come the color of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would change Imam Munadi in explaining why the color would change he said that it would change because out of a fear of a weakness occurring that could result him and not fulfilling the requirements of worship and in the words the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would get worried you know while of course naturally he was happy as we all are but there would be a certain fear a certain worry on the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and that fear and that worry was that you know that his condition would change and that he would not be able to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because this month is a month dedicated to direct acts of worship of Ibadah to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala starting from our father prayers starting from our father the fasting to our Sunnah prayers be those the prayers that we associate with all of our five prayers or be it salatu tarawih the recitation of the Quran giving in charity all of these things completely dedicated to Ramadan right that's why the time in Ramadan is not to be wasted right the time in Ramadan is not to be wasted all these other things that you know we do otherwise can actually wait until after Ramadan that's how the Sahaba used to prepare for the month of Ramadan now of course we're still in a slightly in the beginning of Ramadan by the time you will see this recording it will be you know the fourth day of Ramadan and potentially the fifth night or the sixth but what the point is that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam used to congratulate the Sahaba the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would congratulate his companions by saying and these are the words of the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam the month of Ramadan has come to you it's a blessed month Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has prescribed its fast upon you in it the gates of paradise are opened the doors of hell are closed and the devils are locked up it in it is a night that's better than a thousand months and whoever is deprived of its goodness is surely one who is deprived not only you know there's that hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam where once the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was climbing a pulpit he was climbing a mimba and as he climbed the first step he said Amin as he climbed the second step he said Amin as he climbed the third step he said Amin the Sahaba later inquire first of all the Sahaba you know looked and said what's happening then they inquired and the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam responded and said that Jibreel Amin alaihi wa sallam came to me and he made three supplications and I said Amin to all three they said Ya Rasulullah what are those three supplications the Prophet alaihi wa sallam responded and said that be deprived or be destroyed the individual who upon whom it comes the month of Ramadan and he does not acquire his forgiveness during the course of this month the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that is a dua did Jibreel Amin made and I said Amin to it the second dua he made was that be deprived or be destroyed that individual who finds his parents alive and doesn't serve them enough to guarantee entry into Paradise the Nabi alaihi wa sallam says I said Amin to it and the third the third time I said Amin was the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says that Jibreel Amin said that you be deprived or be destroyed the individual upon whom your name the name of the Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is mentioned and they don't send salutations upon you and the Nabi alaihi wa sallam says I said Amin to it in other words Allah has made forgiveness so easy during this month of Ramadan as one of our teachers and friends recently shared an example with us and he said it's like a person it's raining outside and it's about getting wet how easy it is all you have to do if it's raining is step outside and come right back in and before you know it you'll be wet you'll be wet even if you don't want to get wet right many a times it's raining and you have to step outside to grab your mail from the mailbox or go to your car for something and you don't want to get wet but you still end up getting wet that's what Ramadan is like right that's what the blessings of the month of Ramadan are like that even if you don't want if just a little all you have to do is open that door and step outside right all you have to do is open that door and step outside and the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will attach itself to you right the forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will attach itself to you so we learned that when the month of Ramadan would begin the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam would congratulate his his companion so we can say Ramadan Mubarak to each other we can continue saying Marhaba Marhaba Ya Ramadan right Marhaba we welcome you we welcome you all month of Ramadan we should be in gratitude that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has allowed us to enter into the month of Ramadan we have witnessed the month of Ramadan and hopefully by now inshallah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has already forgiven our sins and from here onwards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will elevate our status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with him subhanahu wa ta'ala greeting the month of Ramadan the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasalam is narrated to have said oh people Ramadan the chief the Sayyidah of all of the months has come to you so we welcome and we greet this month what I want to share in the few moments that I have left is a sermon this is a very famous a sermon Salman al-Farisi radi allahu anhu narrates that on the last day of Shaaban the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam delivered a khutbah delivered a sermon and it is as follows the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam says oh people a very blessed month is about to come over you this is the Nabi sallallahu wasallam teaching his companions the merits of this month the importance of this month the grandeur the greatness of this month and we take this hadith as a reminder for us to increase in our actions and make our actions better oh people a very blessed month is about to come over you a month in which is a night better than a thousand months ladies and gentlemen you know the hadith you know we a lot of times the Quranic ayah says khayrum min alfi shahran we say oh better than 84 years of worship this is just to show a lot of times in the hadith we have examples of three seven you know a hundred seven hundred Allah is using the term a thousand here in other words it is so so large better than a thousand months could mean better than a thousand years or a better than a thousand lifetimes we don't know the magnitude of this just don't lose out on it is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is reminding us and the Nabi sallallahu wasallam reminds us he continues a month whose fasts Allah has prescribed for you and made its qiyam its prayers a source of reward whoever gets close to Allah in it with voluntary good deeds will be like the one undertaking farad in the other months any voluntary need brothers and sisters you know the sunnah prayers that we do and the nephal prayers that we do and any voluntary action that we do we will get the reward of an obligatory action and then he continues and says whoever fulfills a farad in it will be full will be like the one fulfilling 70 farad in another month so for every fajr prayer that we do we get the reward of 70 fajr every prayer that we do we get the reward of 70 the prayers now that doesn't mean that it's equivalent to 70 the horse and that we don't have to make up the horse that we've made that we've missed in the past it just means that Allah will give us the reward of that prayer time 70 it's a month of patience and the reward of patience is paradise it's a month of empathy and a month in which the believers livelihood is increased brothers and sisters I know many of us are going through financial difficulties and I know that many of us are worried what what the next few weeks in the next few months will bring but let us not forget the promise of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if we want to guarantee financial goodness in the upcoming days and months then be as charitable as you can in this month and Allah will reward us and Allah will return it back to us whoever provides food to open the fast of another will have the forgiveness of his sins and freedom from hell he will receive the same reward as the fasting person and there will be no reduction in the reward of the fasting person on this some of the companions pointed out and said oh Rasulullah Ya Rasulullah not all of us have the means to feed a fasting individual and the prophet responded and said sallallahu alaihi wasallam that Allah will give such a reward to one who gives even one date or one drop of milk or water in other words you don't have to give much to the fasting individual have the honor figure out find ways where we can bring the date or the water or the milk or the food to the to the dinner table of the fasting individual to attain that reward it is and by the way this doesn't mean that you have it has to be someone else this reward could be for your own families if you have done the grocery shopping through which people will eat that evening if you've done the cooking through which people your own family will eat that evening that reward will be with you for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala right a lot of times we think other no even in our homes you've done the groceries you've done the shopping you've paid for it you've cooked for it you've worked hard for that meal Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would reward you it's a month the first part is mercy we're going through the first 10 days of mercy the middle 10 days are for forgiveness and the last 10 days are freedom from the fire of hell make plentiful four things in it with two of them you can please your Lord and without the other two you cannot survive the two things with which you can please your Lord are the zikr of the kalima tayyiba la ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasoolallah and istighfar seeking forgiveness the best way to do this brothers and sisters is after every prayer say la ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasoolallah three times and astaghfirullah or astaghfirullah or any form of istighfar after every prayer three times and if you are inclined that before salat al-maghrib or before salat al-fajr as you're waiting for the prayer or after salat al-fajr you're trying to find an easy form of zikr that you don't have to work too hard find a tasbih and say la ilaha illallah Muhammadur rasoolallah a hundred times and astaghfirullah astaghfirullah astaghfirullah astaghfirullah a hundred times and the two things with which with with you cannot survive are asking Allah for paradise and seeking his protection from the hellfire right oh Allah give me paradise give me protection from the hellfire right Allahumma inna nas aluqal jannah wa na'udu biqam inna nal Allahumma inna nas aluqal jannah wa na'udu biqam inna nal this does not have to be done in arabic this could be this could be said in Urdu English Farsi Arabic whatever language you want it has to come from the heart though the request to Allah has to come from the heart and whoever gives water to a fasting person Allah will quench him on the day of judgment from my fountain from which he will not feel any thirst up until entering paradise may Allah make this month of Ramadan a blessed one for all of us may Allah give us the strength that to feed the ability to increase in our charities in our ibadah and ultimately may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept it from all of us Amin Ya Rabb Alalameen jazakum Allah akhiran Salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi ta'ala wa barakatuh