 Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Bismillah wa-alhamdulillahi wa-as-salatu wa-as-salamu ala Rasulillahi wa-ala alihi wa-as-habihi ajma'in. We start off in the name of Allah SWT, most gracious, most merciful, all praises due to Allah SWT. Blessings and salutations upon the best of creation, the most noble of all prophets of Allah SWT. Muhammad ibn Abdullah. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, his household, his companions, and every one of us. May Allah grant us every form of goodness. My brothers and sisters, the supplications that are taught to us by the Prophet SAW, we are fortunate that the companions have actually memorized them. They used to call out to Allah using them. They related them to the next generations in a way that it has got to us. Here is a Hadith I'm going to start with today of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas. He says, seek the protection through words that the Prophet peace be upon him used to use to seek protection with. So, what are these words? Allahumma, O Allah, O my Rabb. And these are beautiful words. You know, Allahumma is an Arabic term that shows humility. It shows that you are desperately in need of your maker. You're calling out to your maker, O you who made me, Allahumma, O my Allah, O my Rabb. This is what we are saying. إني أعود بك من الجبني I seek your protection from الجبن. جبن is cowardice. So, if a person has this quality in them, and even if we don't have that quality, or we think we don't have the quality, but this dua was made by the one who definitely did not have this quality. The Prophet peace be upon him was never ever a coward. أستغفر الله. But he used to say, Oh Allahumma, إني أعود بك من الجبن. Oh Allah, protect me from cowardice. And here we are to be asking the same from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he continues to say, And Oh Allah, protect me from miserliness, from being stingy. Protect me from miserliness. You know, this is something really, really important. It touches the heart because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not need to call out to Allah with these duas. He definitely did not need to ask Allah for protection from being a coward, for protection from being miserly. He was the most generous person. So generous that the hadith says, كان أجود النس. He was the most generous of all the people. وكان أجود ما يكون في رمضان حين يلقاه جبريل فا يدارسه القرآن. Another narration says, أجود من الريح المرسلة. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was the most generous in the month of Ramadan. He just used to give. He used to give. And the one narration says, he was more generous than the wind when it blew. When the wind blew, you know how generous the wind is? It reaches everyone. I mean, if there are a million people standing and the wind blows, who feels it? Every single one of them feels the wind. They feel that, oh wow, the wind is blowing. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was more generous than the wind when it blew, which means every single person benefited from the generosity of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Miracle, the best of creation, the most noble of all prophets of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, the highest in rank without a doubt. And if you look at his life, he really gave everyone whatever they needed, whatever he had, whatever he could, so much so that when people came to beg or to ask, if he didn't have anything, he would make them sit and wait for something to come. Then he would give them, but he wouldn't just chase them away. No. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he, the one who's the most generous is saying, oh Allah, protect me from being miserly. Subhanallah, amazing. And this brings to light a very important aspect. And that is when you have a good quality, it does not mean that you should not seek the protection of Allah from the opposite of it. So what that means is if I'm a good man, I must still say, oh Allah, protect me from being evil. Because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was the best and he is still saying, oh Allah, protect me from this evil and that evil, when he didn't even have those qualities. So in order to save ourselves from harm that might just come in at some point, we should be supplicating with the beautiful supplication of protection from the evil that we don't have right now. But it may just come in. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from all evil. Ameen. So he says, Allahumma inni a'udubika minal jubni. You know Sa'adi ibn Abi Waqas, radiallahu anhu saying he heard the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam using these words to call out to Allah. He was asking Allah to grant him the following. So he heard the Prophet. Imagine if you heard the Prophet peace be upon him using these words. Wow, these are powerful words. Oh Allah, I seek your protection from being a coward. Astaghfirullah, or from cowardice. And I seek your protection from being miserly. Wa a'udubika minan uradda ila arda lil umur. Wa a'udubika minan uradda ila arda lil umur. And I seek your protection from being returned to that old helpless age. Why is the word returned used? Because the Quran says man is created in three categories. When man was created, he passes through three categories. Number one, the first category is when man was created, he was in weakness. The second category, he was in strength. And the third category, he goes back to weakness and gray hair. Allahul ladhi khalaqakum min da'af. Thumma ja'ala min ba'di da'afin quwah. Thumma ja'ala min ba'di quwahin da'afin wa shaybah. Allah has created you. You were in a position of weakness. Then you went to a position of strength. And then you moved back to a position of weakness and gray hair, which is even worse than the first weakness. Because when you're young, you're growing out of it. When you're a baby, you're growing out of the helplessness and the weakness. And then you get to a point where you're strong and quite independent. And then you get to an age where you become dependent on others and it gets worse. It's just not getting better because now you're going to your grave. So this du'a is so powerful. It is speaking about, O Allah, protect me from returning to that age of weakness out of old age where I'm dependent on others. Subhanallah. In other words, take me away before that. Subhanallah. That's an amazing du'a. So he says, وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ أَنْ أُرَدَّ إِلَا أَرْضَ لِلْعُمُرْ I seek your protection from being returned to the weak old age. وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الدُّنْيَا وَعَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ And I seek your protection from the trials and tribulations of this worldly life and from the punishment of the grave. This hadith, this du'a shows you that there will be trials and tribulations in life. You will have to rise to the occasion, the help of Allah, but you must keep asking Allah, O Allah, don't test me with the trials and tribulations of life. I seek your protection from these trials and tribulations. I seek your protection from these trials and tribulations. Keep repeating it every day, every other day, every so often, at least in the month of Ramadan and in other times, at other times where when we think of it and start thinking of it more often, O Allah, protect me. You know, we hear of so much trials, so many trials and tribulations across the globe and sometimes we think it's not going to come to us. I promise you, I have been to places where people are tested and they say we never believed or imagined that this would happen to us. Subhanallah. So in the same way, we don't imagine that certain things might happen to us. Keep on asking Allah for protection and work towards the goodness. May Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala Grant us protection. And another aspect is the confirmation that there will be punishment in the grave, confirmation of it. Why? If the Prophet peace be upon him is asking Allah to protect him from the punishment of the grave, it means it is something that exists. It means it is something that is real and we need to seek Allah's protection from it as well. May Allah protect us from the punishment of the grave. Ameen. So I want to repeat this dua again of Sa'ad Ibn Abi Waqas radiallahu anhu. He says that he is instructing the people. He says seek protection using words that the Prophet peace be upon him used to use to seek protection. Allahumma inni a'udu bikka minal jubni wa a'udu bikka minal bukhli wa a'udu bikka minan uradda ila arda lil umur wa a'udu bikka min fitnatil dunya wa aza bil qabri O Allah, I seek your protection from cowardice and I seek your protection from being miserly and I seek your protection from being returned to old helpless age to the old age where I'm helpless and weak and I seek your protection from the trials and tribulations of this world and from the punishment of the grave. Subhanallah. That is a beautiful hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And you know, if you look at the Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks to us about being miserly that your miserliness will not get you anywhere. In fact, in Surat ala Imran Allah says Don't those people who are miserly regarding what Allah has blessed them with and they are not spending, they should not think that that is good for them. In fact, it is worse for them. I give you an example. If Allah has blessed you with wealth and you haven't used it, you're going to die. People are going to fight over it as you die, right? If Allah has blessed you with wealth and there is a good cause, there is a masjid, the madrasa, orphans, charity, people in need, things in need, good cause. If you're not going to spend it, guess what? That cause is going to be spent upon by someone else. It's not going to stop. It's going to continue. You were just deleted from the list. That's all you were removed by Allah because of the quality of miserliness. You wanted to cling, cling to what? To more than what you can ever use in your life. So Allah says, we kick you out. That's it. You're gone. Subhanallah. So when there is a good cause, make sure you are there. Make sure you spend. If you don't spend, you will be replaced. There are so many examples that spring to my mind as I'm talking of this because so many good causes, you have a wealthy person. He really could have just, you know, said, okay, and he could have donated even if it was a small amount, but no, no, I don't want. It's not you, my brother. It is Allah who's rejecting you. It could be the case. You rather spend if you have to. Sometimes there is a small misunderstanding. People want their name. People want their fame. People want to be exposed. I'm the one who gave. I'm the one who did. It's because of me. I did. It's because of Allah. It's because of Allah that you got in the first place. If Allah wants, he can take it away from you. And guess what? When you die, he is going to take it away from you because it's going to go to someone else. That's why the Quran says, let those who do not spend, not think that that is good for them. It is not good for them. In fact, it is bad for them. Subhanallah. Allah will definitely cover the need with someone else. There'll be a different person who's going to come and who's going to spend in that particular path. So Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala is warning us about miserliness and he is telling us that when you spend, you will definitely get Yabna Adam. You know, O son of Adam. Anfiq Yabna Adamayunfaq aleyk. O son of Adam, spend and it shall be spent on you. You spend and you will receive from Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala. You know, if you were to spend, then others will spend on you. Something else. Who are the others? Well, we start off with Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala. Give and you shall be given. Basically, that's what the meaning is. Anfiq Yabna Adamayunfaq aleyk. Spend O son of Adam and you shall be given more. Subhanallah. I hope this is encouragement enough to say we should give. Then we have another hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam regarding giving and it is connected to something amazing again. You know, when we give, we receive a great reward. We receive blessings. We receive so much from Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala. When we give to a good cause, it is because Allah has accepted the wealth. Sometimes if our wealth is contaminated or dirty, no matter how good the cause is, we won't understand and we will only want to spend where there is sin, where there is harm, where there is nothing beneficial, where there is division, where there is destructiveness, etc. But if we are pious people, we will spend and we will give the best wealth that can be given is that wealth that is given when you are fearing depletion, but you have conviction in Allah. So say I have two hundred dollars, two hundred pounds or rands, whatever you want to call it. And I'm fearing that perhaps I might lose out, but I still want to give this 20 rands. I want to give it away. Fee Sabeelillah. And I'm giving, fearing that, you know, my money is becoming less, but I've got conviction in Allah that if I give, I'm going to get more and I give it without making a scene. You know, sometimes we give and you say, right, I'm going to get more. So we tell the whole world, you know, I've given and I'm expecting Allah to give me more. In that case, you may not get it because you're bragging. You're talking. Or you who believe do not destroy your charities by bragging about them, talking about them and by harming people as a result. You know what harming people is? You gave to a cause. Now you feel an entitlement, you know, I'm entitled. All this is part of my zaliness. This is Bukhl. This is actually my zaliness. We're being my zali give and forget about it. It's between you and Allah ask Allah to accept it quietly. You have hope, conviction in Allah. He's going to give you more and keep making the dua and to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect us from the punishment of the grave is something very, very important. You know, when we live our lives, we need to understand there's certain things we would be able to do that would help us in our graves. Number one, you worship Allah alone. Number two, you fulfill your Salah for the sake of Allah. That Salah will come to protect you in your grave. It's a hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Number three, your charities, your charities and you've given it for the sake of Allah. You didn't want to clock mileage in the world. You will clock mileage in the grave. That charity that you gave will come to protect you from the punishment of the grave to make your stay in the grave comfortable. Your Salah will come to make your stay in the grave comfortable. Your Zaka will come. Your charities will come to make your stay in the grave comfortable. When we have a house, a home and now it's becoming quite hot in a lot of countries. There's global warming and all that is taking over and people want air conditioning units. Mashallah, it's important. We put up an air conditioning unit. We feel so good, so cool. We sit back and we're like, ah, mashallah. It's cool in here, right? Surely it costed money. There was an effort required to get that done. It's technology. We were excited, but we made an effort and we made sure it was done. What about the air conditioning units in our graves? When it's going to be hot, when it's going to be difficult. If you want that, you need to be charitable. You need to fulfill your Salah and you need to worship none other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Okay, I would like to move on to another hadith, hadith of Anas bin Malik, radiallahu anhu. So look at this. We spoke about Aisha, radiallahu anhu, his hadith. Abu Musa al-Ashari, radiallahu anhu, his hadith. We spoke of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqas, radiallahu anhu, his hadith. We spoke about Abu Hurair, radiallahu anhu, his hadith. Now we're speaking about Anas bin Malik, radiallahu anhu, his hadith. These are all supplications of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Look at the different companions narrating them to us. How fortunate are we? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy. He says, the Prophet, peace be upon him, used to say. He used to say. Now the words are similar to one of the previous narrations, but there are some things inside that are different. And that's why we must repeat these hadith. Brothers and sisters, learn them. I promise you, use these words to call out to Allah. And if you don't memorize these words or you haven't, at least say it in English. Say it in any language. O Allah, protect me from stinginess, miserliness, jealousy, cowardice, whatever else it is. O Allah, protect me from all these evil qualities. O Allah, protect me from old age. Protect me from being made reliant on someone else. You know, and so on. So Anas bin Malik, radiallahu anhu says, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to say. Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-Ajzi. Ajzi. Ajz is inability. Inability, disability. So O Allah, protect me. O Allah, I seek your protection from disability or inability. I become unable to do something. Wal kasali. And I seek your protection from laziness. Subhanallah. I think we all need that dua today. Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-kasal. O Allah, I seek your protection from laziness. Make that dua. Early morning, when you're supposed to be up and you're not getting up, say Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-kasal and throw your blanket onto one side and get up. Subhanallah. You will see how the dua will be responded to immediately. The problem with us. We have a blanket Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-kasal. Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-kasal. O Allah, protect me from laziness. Protect me from laziness. O Allah, I seek your protection from laziness. But you're doing nothing about it. Move. Come on, move. Subhanallah. The only time you will be able to benefit is when you're serious about the dua. Imagine you're saying, Oh Allah, grant me one million and there's one million dangling a few meters away and you're not ready to get to that. Come on, come on. May Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala grant us a deep understanding. So Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-Ajzi. O Allah, I seek your protection from inability or disability. Well, Kasali. And I seek your protection from laziness. Well, jubni, here comes that cowardice once again from being a coward. I seek your protection. Make me brave. Make me a person who is brave. O Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala. Well, Haram. Haram again refers to old age that we spoke about. It was worded differently in the previous narration. Min an'uradda ila ar dhalil umur. That was the previous narration. This one here says, a'oudubika min al-haram. Haram actually means old age. Now don't say Haram because if you say Haram, it becomes the sanctuary. You know in Mecca and Medina, they're called Haram. So a'oudubika min al-haram. Allahumma inni a'oudubika min al-harami. O Allah, I seek your protection from old age. So this is interesting. It's not easy. We're not saying, O Allah, take me away. But keep me healthy for as long as I'm alive. You know, I've seen people, masha'Allah, 90 something and they walk better than you and I. Wa lillahi al-hamdu wa l-minna. May Allah make us from among those whom as we age, we are also healthy. But take care of your health. Don't overeat. Don't eat unhealthy. Make sure you exercise. Make sure you're, you know, you're not from among those who's lazy basically because people say, O Allah, you know, grant me good health. But you don't control your food. You're eating. You're not bothered about your exercise or how much, how many calories you've burnt. You're not bothered about anything and you just think that du'a is going to suddenly make you slim. If that was the case, we would have all made those du'a's and we would all have been in proper shape. But there is a lot of effort required. You know, what amazes me, the amount of effort that people make just to keep fit and slim, they go to the gym. They will swim. They will ride kilometers on end. They will make an effort. They will toil. They will actually sweat in order to just look okay. And that body is going to go into the grave and be decomposed into the soil. I'm not saying it's bad to look okay. But the point I want to raise is what about thereafter? It's not as much sweat. Do you know the amount of effort people make to keep fit and to look fit is far more than what Allah has asked you to do to have the whole of the hereafter for you. Have you ever thought of that? Wallahi, think about it. In the gym, I've seen people spend an hour a day every day. All your Salah put together will not take up that hour and you don't have to sweat for it. You just have to go for Salah, enjoy it. Ah, Kaam Allahu Akbar. And I'm so happy and excited. And Allah says your Jannah, that's your Jannah. Subhanallah, we're ready to do that. Then you have people who are sports persons. They will spend so many hours on the golf course, so many hours, you know, practicing football, riding, smoking, sorry, not smoking, but actually snorkeling, whatever else they may be doing, subhanallah. I don't know how that smoking came out. But anyway, you know, maybe it's the fast of the month of Ramadan, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us ease. Every time I see people fasting and as soon as the fast ends, a lot of the smokers actually open their fast with a cigarette. You know, there might be a little date, but then they have a cigarette and they're puffing and outside the masjid, you see all these people puffing and I'm like, come on, what did you gain from this? I think this month, I'm going to end this particular episode. We'll continue tomorrow, inshallah, with a piece of advice. I want to end with this piece of advice. Let us become strong and cut our bad habits. Come on. If you're a smoker, give it up. If you're a smoker, here's your chance. Quit it for the sake of Allah. No one else and I promise you, you will not regret. May Allah bless you, grant you goodness and strengthen you and all of us. I'll say this and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.