 We began with the things that praises of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We say in every single prayer and we began with the kamdu l-tadim of the Al-Ali. Praising him and taking him subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then we call upon his name that he has chosen to be at the forefront of his book, Al-Wahman al-Raki. And so these names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are the most merciful. The one who is expansive in his mercy and the one who selects specifically those who he wants to give mercy to. So we call upon these names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recognizing his mercy. And followed by that we say, Maliki Yalmini, the Master of the Day of Judgment. And who else would we want to judge us on the Day of Judgment except the one who is our Rahman and our Heir? And so for this reason Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us hope that we have mercy in front of us. We have mercy awaiting us. But only if what? If we only rely on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for help. And we only rely on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we only worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us amongst those people, because those who have been on this path have been given innumerable blessings. They have been covered and drowned in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we do not want to be like those who challenge Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, who turn our backs towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his messengers. Those who choose to go astray. What do you need? And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept for us. One of the tricks of the Shaytan is that he wants to convince us that we cannot be close to him subhanahu wa ta'ala. That we are too sinful to be close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his messengers. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and this Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam teach us something different. They teach us that every single one of us has the opportunity to be extremely near to him subhanahu wa ta'ala within the belief of Allah. That we do not need to despair from the mercy of Allah. We do not need to be scared of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There is fear and there is a place for fear. But when fear comes such that it takes us away from Allah that is looked down upon. So we need to have a hope that we can be close to him subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we hear stories of those who are close to him subhanahu wa ta'ala. Of those who are close to the Habib sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We hear the stories of the Sahaba. We hear the stories of the Sadaf. We hear the stories of the great Awliya. Yet every single one of these people including the Awliya, including the Sadaf and including the Sahaba had flaws within them. The only one who was perfect on this earth were those who were given the category of the Awliya. Every single other human being that followed was flawed. They committed a sin. They could have been people who lost hope in the mercy of Allah and said, I have sinned and I cannot return to him. Yet those are the very same people who sinned in the night and who sinned in the day that they recognize the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and chose to be close to him. And so Allah brought them close to him. One of the biggest deceptions that shaytan will teach us one of the biggest deceptions that the shaytan will teach us is that we're not good enough. That we are not good enough. Yet our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ tells us something different. He tells us in a hadith that someone will both their entire life committing sin upon sin upon sin until they are so close to the fire of jahannam that they are only one arm's length away from it. And then a realization comes to them. Whether the demand of Allah and the power of Allah, what is written in the books, overtakes what they have done their entire lives. And they do one action that is good, just one. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala includes this person into the people of jannah. And on the other hand the person who spends their entire life doing good and good and good until they are one arm's length away from entering into jannah. Then Allah's command comes and they commit one sin. And they are thrown into the fire of jahannam. It is but one action, one moment, the blink of an eye that takes us from the people who are damned eternally to hell to the people who enjoy blissful paradise. Do not be deceived by the shayfah in thinking that you are too less. Do not be deceived by people who say it will take years for you to become good. Do not be deceived by people who say you need to spend 20 years on this path until you can achieve something good. It is just but one moment of sincerity in our hearts in which we turn to Allah that takes us from the worst to the best. And these opportunities present themselves over and over and over again to us. The month of Ramadan approaches in every moment in the month of Ramadan is an opportunity for us to turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. An opportunity for us to reach the heights of station. But those people who are waiting for Ramadan for this opportunity are also being deceived by shaytan. Because in this moment right now as we attend this beautiful gathering of believers surrounded worshipping the one Lord, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He is giving you an opportunity that when you leave this gathering you are the most beloved creature on this earth in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that is His promise that a person will attend the Juma and then they will attend another Juma. And all of their sins will be forgiven in between. We can walk out of this Juma, sinless, devoted to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and His messengers, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We can be the people who you hear stories about. It just takes one moment in our hearts of turning sincerely to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And those people who say, oh no, I have too much sin in my heart. I have jealousy in my heart. I have pride in my heart. I have arrogance in my heart. To those people I give you the words of the masters of this tradition. One of them said that the sins of the heart are much easier to cleanse than the sins of your body. So do not be fooled into thinking that the journey of the heart is a difficult journey. The journey of the heart is an easy journey and you can switch it in a single moment. The heart of the believer is in between the fingers of our Rahman and he chooses to flip however he wills. The things that are most difficult for us to do is to change our outward, to change our body. That's where Shaytan is going to deceive us. Oh brothers who don't have a beard, grow out your beard. Oh those who don't want to cover your head, cover your head. At least in worship. Sisters who don't wear modest clothing, put on modest clothing. These are difficult words to hear and it hurts us in our hearts. These are difficult things to abide by. Difficult things and it's like, why is this hurting me so much to follow the sunnah of the Habib sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We can do one thing to change our outward in the days leading up to Ramadan. Allah will switch everything that belongs within us, the state of our hearts. He will bring us closer to Him in an instant and we're going to look back before this Ramadan and after this Ramadan and we're going to drop in sujood to Allah crying to Him, thanking Him from the ignorance that He has saved us from. From this life that He has saved us from in which we do not have Him in it. It takes but one moment, one moment of sincerity to say I'm going to do this one action sincerely for the sake of Allah that He will bring us closer to Him. I ask Allah SWT to make us sincere, to make us firm and steadfast on this path to be able to say the best words that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us to say. When the Sahabi asked him, what can I do? That I'll never need anything again. He said, qul'a mantu bi'l-daa tum masdafim. Say that I believe and then be steadfast upon it. And of course we all say that I bear witness, I testify. Ashadu an-la ilaha illallah that there is none but Allah. There is no honor and dignity in this life except with Allah. And the best and most perfect example to follow is that of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So do I stand up to the challenge to be like him sallallahu alayhi wa sallam or will I continue to reject him in my life? I ask Allah to make us of those who are accepted, who turn to Him, who follow the surah, who are always underneath the shade and the mercy of Allah SWT