 Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh my brothers and sisters we start off in the name of Allah saying Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Then we praise Allah saying Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Then we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam his household and companions by saying wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolillahi wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'een. And my brothers and sisters we move on with the beautiful du'as and supplications in these blessed days of du'a. Remember the du'a of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam Allahumma inna ka'afu'un tuhibbu lafwa fa'fu'anni. Simple straightforward du'a. O Allah, you are forgiving, you love to forgive, so forgive me. You could add the term kareemun, which is also a quality of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala al kareem, a name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala which means the most generous. O Allah, you are most forgiving, you are most generous, you love to forgive, so forgive me. Allahumma inna ka'afu'un kareemun tuhibbu lafwa fa'fu'anni. That is also narrated in a narration of Sunnah al-Tirmidhi. So we may add the term kareem as well because obviously it is the quality of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also mentioned by the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So this du'a is probably one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful du'a that one may say during the blessed nights of Ramadan, the last ten nights, especially perhaps one of the odd nights we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at least once, twice in our lives to give us the ability, and maybe even more than that, to give us the ability to stand in prayer and in ibadah during the night of decree, the night known as leila tul qadr. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless every one of us. So we are going through these supplications. The idea is to learn how the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam called out to Allah, to learn how Allah instructed the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to call out to him to learn how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was called out to by the other messengers and the ways mentioned in the Quran. So I want to move on to a beautiful narration of Sahih Muslim with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam made mention of the following du'a which shows you that the deeds we do play a role in affecting a lot of what happens to us. اللهم إني أعوذ بك من شر ما عملت ومن شر ما لم أعمل. I repeat that اللهم إني أعوذ بك من شر ما عملت ومن شر ما لم أعمل. The meaning of this du'a, O Allah, I seek your protection from the evil of what I have done and the evil of what I have not done, subhanallah. You might want to know what does that mean? O Allah, when I've done evil as a result of that evil, there will be certain things happening. I want you to protect me from that. So the outcome of the evil that I may have done protect me from it means شر ما عملت ومن شر ما لم أعمل. The evil as a result of the deeds I've done. So this means that when we do deeds, those deeds have an effect. That effect is either good or bad. Sometimes when a person eats haram, for example, their thinking becomes haram, the way they look at things is haram. When they hear something with their ears, what happens with their system is it accepts it and it looks into it, it separates it, translates it in a haram way. May Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala grant us understanding. So someone tells you something simple, but because your income is haram, your food is haram, everything else is haram, you understand it in the most evil possible way. May Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala protect us. I hope we've understood what I'm saying. That is why this dua is very, very important. And even sometimes there is evil that is done to us. So these are two different types of evil. The evil that is a result of our own deeds, that's more of a punishment sometimes, and the evil that is done by someone else that is more of a test. May Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala protect us from both of them. So this dua, اللهم إني أعوذ بك من شر ما عملتو ومن شر ما لم أعمل. Oh Allah, I seek your protection from the evil of the deeds that I have done and from the evil of that which I did not even do. So may Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala protect us. The next dua is also a beautiful dua that is taken from the dua of Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam that he made for Anas Ibn Malik, رضي الله عنه, where he said, Oh Allah increase this man in wealth and in offspring and give him barakah in what you've given him. So we make the dua, we say to Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala اللهم أكثر مالي وولدي وباركلي فيما أعطيتني. Wow, I think many of us would be very interested in that dua. You know with how materialistic we've become and it's not wrong to call out to Allah. But it's amazing how this dua is so applicable to every one of us. Oh Allah increase my wealth. Amin, Amin, say Amin, I'm sure everyone has already. Oh Allah increase my wealth and increase my children and give me barakah in what you've given me. Grant me barakah in what you've given me. SubhanAllah, we're asking for two things. Oh Allah increase my wealth and grant me blessings in it and increase my children and grant me blessings in them. We pause for a moment to pray for those who don't have offspring. May Allah bless you with those who will be the coolness of your eyes, Amin. But it's a powerful dua of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and it is actually something extremely interesting, very, very amazing. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam made this dua for Anas Ibn Malik, Rabiya Allah, and at the same time the benefit is for every single one of us. And we move on to another dua which is also extremely powerful. It is a dua that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has mentioned and it is in Sunan Abi Dawud as well as in Musnad al-Imam Ahmad. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, Allahumma rahmataka arju. Oh Allah, it is Your mercy that I am hoping for. Oh Allah, it is Your mercy that I am hoping for. Fala takilni ila nafsi tarfa ta'in. So do not leave me to myself. Do not abandon me to be on my own even for the batting of an eyelid. You know, tarfa ta'in which means the movement of the eye, the little glance, even for a glance. Oh Allah, don't look away from me or don't leave me alone. Always be with me. Even for that slightest moment, oh Allah, I want you to be with me. This is because Allah is in absolute control. Allah knows what's happening. Allah is with us and Allah helps us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the greatest. And what we must understand is, here we are seeing the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saying, oh Allah, do not forsake me. Do not leave me to myself even for a moment, for a split moment. Wa aslih li sha'ni kullah la ilaha illa anta. Oh Allah, make good for me all my affairs. You take care of all my needs, oh Allah. There is none worthy of worship besides You. This is also a powerful dua. I'm going to repeat this dua in the Arabic language. Allahumma rahmataka arju fa la takilni ila nafsi tarfa ta'ain. Wa aslih li sha'ni kullah la ilaha illa anta. Oh Allah, it is Your mercy that I am asking for. I am hoping for. Oh Allah, do not forsake me or leave me even for a split moment. And oh Allah, make all my affairs good for me, oh Allah. And oh Allah, there is none worthy of worship besides You. That is also a beautiful dua. We need to call out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala using such lovely words. Then we have another supplication again from revelation. This is also a beautiful supplication that we find. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has mentioned and the hadith is in Musnad al Imam Ahmad. Allahumma inni abduka. Allahumma inni abduka. Now when you are an Imam and you are making the dua or when you are speaking, when you are saying this dua and you are more than one, it's Allahumma inna abiduka. Oh Allah, we are Your slaves. Now we are saying slaves because that is a word that shows the power of Allah and the helplessness of man. How humble we are. Imagine someone says I'm Your slave, subhanallah, to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I'm Your slave, oh Allah. I'm at Your mercy, oh Allah. Allahumma inni abduka, oh Allah, I'm Your slave. Wabnu abdika, and the son of a slave of Yours, myself and my father, we're all slaves. We're all slaves and even my mother and all the women going up the ladder, my parents, grandparents and so on, right up to Adam, alaihi salam, oh Allah, I am Your slave, the son of a slave of Yours, the son of a female slave of Yours, na siyati biyadik. You know, my neck is in Your hands, which means You own my life. That's what it means, You own my life. You have absolute control over my life. Madin fiyah hukmuk, Your command, Your instruction, Your decision is already determined regarding me. Your decision is final regarding myself. Adlun fiyah, adlun fiyah qadhauk. Your judgment for me or against me is always just. Whatever you've done, whatever you do is just. You are not unjust and there is no injustice when it comes to you, oh Allah. Asaluka, I am asking you. So once we're admitting how low we are, how high Allah is expressing our humbleness and humility in the presence of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, telling Him that whatever you've done is wise and whatever you've decided, whatever judgments you've made are always just. Then we are saying, oh Allah, I ask you. What am I asking you? Well, as I'm asking you, I want to tell you, I'm asking you, using all your names, all your names. You see, there is a name of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, speaks about, he says, if you call out to Allah using an ism al-a'lam, using the greatest name, then whatever you ask for, He will give you. Now that al-ism al-a'lam, we don't know what it is. You have to keep on asking Allah with all the names and qualities so that perhaps you might have the chance to find out or discover what exactly that name is. And the idea of keeping it hidden was for people to worship Allah through calling out to Him using all His names and qualities. Ya Rahman, Ya Rahim, Ya Ghaffar, Ya Tawwab, Ya Ar-Rahman, Ya Rahimin, Ya Dal-Jalali, wa Al-Ikram, Ya Qawiyyu, Ya Azizu, Ya Jabbar, Al-Samawati, Wa Al-Aradine, Ya Sahiba, Kulli Najwa, Wa Ya Muntaha, Kulli Shakwa, Ya Muqalliba, Al-Qulub, Ya Qahhar, Ya Jabbar, Ya Azim al-Mann, and so on. These are beautiful names and qualities of Allah. Every time you call out to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, you use different names, different qualities in order to gain closeness to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. So here we are saying, Asaluka bi kullis min huwalak. I am asking you with every name that belongs to you. Now, the names are not being mentioned, but we are just saying it in general. All the names that belong to you, please, O Allah, I'm asking you with all these names that belong to you, O Allah. Asaluka bi kullis min huwalak. Some may tabihi nafsak, whether it is a name that you named yourself with, aw anzaltahu fi kitabik, or a name that you have revealed in your book, in the Qur'an, aw allamtahu ahadam min khalqik, or a name that you have taught any one of your creation. Aw ista'thar tabihi fi ilmil ghaybi indik, or a name that you have kept with you in the knowledge of the unseen, and you haven't even told that to anyone. So I'm asking you with all these names. It's amazing how all the categories are mentioned. So there are names that we are saying, all the names that you have, O Allah, we're asking you through those names, whether it is something you revealed in your book, whether it is something, a name that you have kept to yourself, meaning you named yourself through the book, sorry, you named yourself by revealing it to the book, or you have taught someone, anyone, or you kept it with you, all these categories. What is the dua? Now imagine after asking, after pleading with Allah, expressing humbleness, showing that we're trying to use all the names that Allah has for himself, whether we know them, we don't know them, et cetera, then the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, asks what he wants. Antaj ala al-Qur'ana rabi'a qalbi, and in one narration, al-Azima. Antaj ala al-Qur'ana al-Azima rabi'a qalbi. O Allah, I'm asking you to make the Qur'an, the great Qur'an, the spring of my heart, which means the freshness of my heart, the growth of my heart, the beauty of my heart. O Allah, let that Qur'an be inside my heart. How apt is this dua in the month of the Qur'an? When the Qur'an was revealed, the night of decree, the night of revelation, et cetera, they call it nuzul al-Qur'an in some parts of the world because the Qur'an was revealed, sent down from the preserved tablet on this particular night. And we are asking Allah, O Allah, make this Qur'an, the growth, the spring of my heart, the coolness of my heart, and so on. Antaj ala al-Qur'ana al-Azima rabi'a qalbi, wa nurah sadri, and let it be the light of my chest. Let the Qur'an be within me, and let me practice upon it, learn it, let me spend time with it, let me enjoy it, let me gain closeness to you through it. Let it be a means of cure for all my diseases and sicknesses. O Allah, let this Qur'an be given the most importance from my heart and my chest. Wa jalaa'a huzni wa dahaba hammi. Let it be a means of the extraction of all my sadness, a means of the going away of all my sadness, a means of the going away of all my anxiety. Subhanallah. So we're asking Allah to protect us from anxiety through the Qur'an, to protect us from sadness through the Qur'an, to make the Qur'an the most important thing residing in our hearts. Let it be the means of growth for us in our hearts and let it be the light of our chest. It should be seen in our actions, in our words, on our faces. This is such a powerful dua. My brothers and sisters, it is amazing. I want to repeat this dua. The idea is to call out to Allah with it and for every one of us to be able to say it with me or to repeat it. Allahumma inni abduka, wabnu abdika, wabnu amatika, nasiyati biyadika, maadin fiyya hukmuka, adlun fiyya qadauka, asaluka, bi kulli ismin huwalaka, sammeite bihi nafsaka, aw anzaltahu fi kitabik, aw alemtahu ahadam min khalqika, aw ista'tharta bihi fi ilmil ghaybi indaka, an taj'alal Qur'an al-Azima, rabi'a qalbi, wa nura sadri, wa jala'a huzni, wa dahabahammi. Allahu Akbar. What a beautiful, amazing dua of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And we seriously thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for giving us this beautiful, beautiful knowledge that has come to us through the effort of so many of the people, through the chain of narrators who have brought us this knowledge from the time of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to this particular day. I want to move on to yet another dua and supplication. We have a few more in this beautiful series, so let's try and make the most of these episodes a hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam again reported in Musnad al-Imam Ahmad where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, Allahumma ahsin a'aqibatana fil umuri kulliha wa ajirna min khizyid dunya wa aza bil aakhirah. I repeat that dua in the Arabic language. Allahumma ahsin a'aqibatana fil umuri kulliha wa ajirna min khizyid dunya wa aza bil aakhirah. O Allah, make good for me the ending of all my affairs and save me from the disgrace of this world and the punishment of the hereafter. O Allah, all my affairs, let them be made good in the end. So sometimes we struggle, we suffer, we don't know the ending of what's going to happen, et cetera, et cetera. We're saying, oh Allah, all the end of all my affairs, let it always be good and save me from two things. Number one, save me from disgrace of this world and number two, save me from the punishment or of the hereafter, the punishment of the hereafter. So this is an amazing dua also again of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and we are fortunate to be able to call out using these same words that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam used and inshallah I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us our dua. Remember when you're humble, you call out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you definitely will be from among those whom Allah has mercy upon. And there is one point I need to make mention of, your dua, your supplication is never wasted. Even if you don't get exactly what you want, when you want, how you want it, one thing certain is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will grant you the goodness in the hereafter for the dua that you actually have been making. So it's never ever wasted. It's always from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that is something that we all cherish and we all thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for. My brothers and sisters, we move on to another blessed, blessed dua of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam had so many of these supplications, they were always on his tongue and he always thanked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He was one who definitely used to be from those who loved calling out to Allah. How many of us love actually to call out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Here is the dua my brothers and sisters, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam used to say Allahumma qanni'ni bima razaqtani wa barikli fihi Allahumma qanni'ni bima razaqtani wa barikli fihi O Allah, make me satisfied with what you have granted me in sustenance and give me blessings in it. You know the qana'a, the term qana'a refers to the satisfaction that we have. We are convinced we have enough. We are so happy with what we have. O Allah, make me happy with what you have given me and give me barakah in it. Now, rizq is not only money, it's not only wealth, it includes so many different things, your offspring, your spouse, et cetera. People are not satisfied with their spouses. This dua will benefit you. Allahumma qanni'ni bima razaqtani O Allah, you blessed me with something. Make me happy with it. O Allah, you gave me something. Make me content with it. Make me pleased with it, O Allah. It's a very powerful dua. So to repeat this dua, Allahumma qanni'ni bima razaqtani wa barikli fihi O Allah, make me happy with what you have bestowed upon me with what you have blessed me with in terms of sustenance and rizq and grant me blessings in it. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless every one of us. I move on to yet another hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam also in Musnad al-Imam Ahmad where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam used to be concerned about the day of reckoning. You know, he was the best of creation, the most noble of all prophets of Allah. Did he need to worry about the Akhirah, the day of reckoning, when he knew he was going to be the one, first one to enter Jannah? Subhanallah, amazing. When he knew he is going to be the one who will be interceding on behalf of so many of his ummah. Subhanallah. But he used to say and he used to often repeat Allahumma hasibni hasaban yasira Allahumma hasibni hasaban yasira Allahumma hasibni hasaban yasira O Allah, make my accounts with the day you take the reckoning. Make my accounts easy for me. Make the reckoning easy for me, O Allah. Make that day of reckoning and the reckoning of all my accounts easy for me, O Allah. O Allah, when you take account of my deeds, make it easy for me, O Allah. Imagine, he is asking for ease, how difficult the day must be. May Allah make it easy for all of us. So my brothers and sisters, that's hadith of Aisha, radiallahu anha. I think we all need to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So often, let's be worried about the day of judgment. Allahumma hasibni hasaban yasira May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us ease when it comes to the day of reckoning. May he forgive our shortcomings. You see, when we engage in Tawba, when we seek the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, there is something amazing that happens. If Allah has accepted that Tawba, he wipes out the sin and he makes even the angels forget what has happened. And all the other creatures of Allah who have witnessed that particular bad deed, they're all made to forget the deed. So on the day of judgment that deed is not there, it doesn't exist at all. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us forgiveness in that particular way because it's important for us to know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy is definitely greater than his wrath and his punishment. He does not want to punish us. Allah does not want to punish us. He is looking for any excuse to forgive us. So we seek the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we ask him today, tonight and every day and every night we keep on asking his forgiveness. Imagine the Prophet ﷺ used to seek the forgiveness of Allah between 70 to 100 times every single day. And according to some of the narrations, it was not just sitting in one place saying, oh Allah forgive me 100 times, but it was throughout the day. Whenever he remembered, oh Allah forgive me. A little while later, oh Allah forgive me. Sometimes two, three times after Salah, thrice he used to say, astaghfirullah. So that's thrice after every Salah. You can count how many Salahs that is. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from those who seek this forgiveness seriously and may he make us from those who achieve the forgiveness as well. Until we meet again, insha'Allah. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakam.