 I'm a little bit more than a month from now will be entering into the month of Nuh-ud-Da'a, so Allah. And the month of Sha'adan which is coming very soon, it is the month wherein the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he fasted more than any other month of the year. According to one narration it says he fasted almost the entire month of Sha'adan. And when he was asked by the Samir Muza'id, Raja Allahu Anhu, why is it that I observed you fasting this month more than any other month of the year outside of Ramadan and the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the month of Sha'adan that is the month that the people are negligent of that happens between Raja and Ramadan, the Raja of Ramadan. And that the month of Sha'adan is also a month wherein these are lifted up to be more than the worlds. So I like for my deeds to be lifted up to the heavens while I fast. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said something similar about Monday and Thursday. He said that during those two days, that during Mondays and Tuesdays your deeds are reviewed by the Lord of the worlds. We find a similar Hadith where the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentions that the deeds of the day they are lifted up before the nighttime falls. And the deeds that are done that night they are lifted up before the morning, etc. In other words, there is a daily review. There is a weekly review. There is an annual review in Sha'adan. But the Prophet also encourages us to do good things during the inviolable months. Sha'adan is still not here. It's almost here. We are in the month of Raja. This is a special month of the year. It is a month that will be clear to be special from the time that Allah is the kind that is out of here in the heavens of the earth. Raja, this month. And our scholars would encourage Muslims to do as much good as they could. One particular scholar says that Raja is the month where we plant good deeds. And the month of Sha'adan is the month wherein those deeds are watered. So you sort of prepare them to crops. It's like planting crops during this month in the month of Sha'adan, we water the crops. And then in the month of Ramadan, we harvest them. In other words, you can get yourself into things that are good. You start early. You get an early start so that once the time comes when it truly matters, you get the ultimate reward. Allah SWT says about the Do not wrong yourself during those months. Some say during all the months, but especially during the four months. Now, Raja is also special historically because many Muslims have believed that during the month of Raja was the extremely important event known as Isra'il Mihraj. Allah SWT says Glory be to him who took his servant by night from the Masjid Haram to the Masjid Al-Aqsa upon which we have bestowed many blessings. In order that we show to him our many signs. And so this story we are all familiar with it. The Prophet Muhammad SAW wakes up. He's awakened by the angel. He brings him outside of his home. He presents him with the bur'ah. This animal, similar to a horse, but smaller than a mule, larger than a donkey. But with wings on his legs, which helps it pick up momentum as it travels. And it can gallop as far as it sees in one direction. One gallop. One gallop. So he travels to make a muqtis. Masjid Al-Aqsa, a shahb, those things, many different things we call them. And he returns in the same night. In the morning he decides to go tell the people to announce this to his people. The Masjid came and the muqtani. And his cousin, she didn't think it would be a good idea because she felt the people would ridicule him. So the Prophet said, Allah, I'm going to tell them. He goes out and tells them, last night I went to Jerusalem. And Masjid Al-Aqsa, and I came back last night too. The Masjid came and said, we've finally got him. We've finally got him. All this time, finally, after ten years of him preaching, but they tasted it to be false. And finally they thought that this time we're going to get him this time. We're going to show him to be a fraud. So they go and they start to spread the news. And unfortunately, there were many people who were Muslims, who were following the Prophet at the time, actually left. They became apostates in Leipzig because of this. They found it too unbelievable. They found it too unbelievable. They approached Abu Bakr Siddique, before he sees the Prophet himself. And they tell him the story. Your friend, he said, last night he went to Jerusalem. He came back today. Abu Bakr's response at first was, you're lying. He never said such a thing. That was his response. He said, yes, he did. He's in the Masjid now, in the harem. He's telling people that that's what happened. So Abu Bakr's response, next. Well, if he said it, then he speaks the truth. Then he speaks the truth. And why should I not believe him? Then he says such a thing. I believe him when he says something even much more unbelievable than that. He says he gets revelation that the sin from the heavens all the way down to him. So why would I not believe him when he says that he traveled to Jerusalem last night and came back? So Abu Bakr, he comes to the Prophet, and he says, well, did you tell him this? He says, yes, I did. This is what happened. Abu Bakr, I went. I traveled last night. And Abu Bakr says, I've been there before. Describe to me what you saw. And then all of a sudden, miraculously, Allah, He brought the Masjid Aqsa within view of the Prophet. He could see it right before his eyes. And he says, over here is this thing. And then over here is that. And he found this part of that. And he was described in every single detail about the Masjid Aqsa, that particular territory. And Abu Bakr, every time he said one thing, Abu Bakr said, Sadaqa, you spoke him the truth. Sadaqa, you spoke him the truth. Sadaqa, you spoke him the truth. Over and over and over. And then the Prophet turned to Abu Bakr and says, Well, I'll tell you, Abu Bakr, Sadaqa, and you, Abu Bakr, you are Sadaqa. That was actually from the moment, that moment Abu Bakr was referred to as Sadaqa. The truthful one who confirms the truthful others. He became Abu Bakr and Sadaqa at that moment. This is conviction. Think about this. It's like 10 years, the Prophet's promising the poor Muslims of Mecca, the persecuted Muslims of Mecca, that one day you want to rule all of this. One day you want to rule Persia and Rome. But it seems that every time they try to make progress, they don't, nothing happens for them. This persecution, increased persecution, over and over and over. And remember that this itself was after three years of embargo, almost starved to death on the outskirts of Mecca. So it makes sense when many people know it had enough, they left. But look at Abu Bakr's conviction. How would we have responded? That's really the important question, brothers and sisters, when we reflect upon this story. How might have we responded? When we have had similar patients, that's the Muslims who remain committed to the message that was brought by the Prophet, alaihi s-salam, in spite of all of their hardships and all of their persecution. How would you have fared? And it is because of this, Abu Bakr, when the Prophet, alaihi s-salam, was close to dying, he came out, he made a speech to the Muslim. He says, there is a servant who Allah has given a choice between continuing to live in this life or to join him in their acting. And that servant chose to go to his Lord. Abu Bakr, when he heard this, he started to cry. And he said, we would ransom our own mothers and fathers by the old Rasool Allah. The others, the Habib were confused. They didn't get his, what are you talking about? He just told the story. He talked about there's some servant, there's some guy that Allah gave a choice. Abu Bakr, he understood, he knew the Prophet better than other people. And the Prophet, alaihi s-salam, continues, I want to say that the most reliable of all of my friends, all of those who cook up in me, and the most reliable of those who have supported me with their wealth, is Abu Bakr. And if I were to take someone as a best friend, then I don't want to take Abu Bakr as my best friend. Alaihi s-salam, however, there's the friendship of Islam. He's khalilullah. And then he goes on and says, la yadqayanna fil masheeli khawqatu illa khawqatu abibakr. There should not remain a khawqa, an aperture, an opening to their home in the masjid after he dies other than the khawqa of Abu Bakr. And that has been the situation up until this very day. This is how special Abu Bakr was to the Prophet, alaihi s-salam. So as a story and message of sincerity, a message about conviction, and we always have to put ourselves in the place of those other people. Ask ourselves how sincere, how committed our need to the message. But we have to leave as well. We pray that we would have and that we would never turn our backs on the message. Alaihi s-salam. Al-salaam. Al-salaam. Al-salaam.