 الحمد لله رب العالمين الحمد لله الذي هدانا لهذا وما كنا لنا حدادي لولا هدان الله الحمد لله الذي أنزل الفرقان على عبده ليكون للعالمين نذيرة والصلاة والسلام على خير خلق ونور عرشي أفضل الأنبياء والمرسلين حبيبنا وسيدنا وسندنا وشفيعنا ومولانا أرسلنا وشفيعنا ومولانا أبي القاسم محمد الله مسأل الله على محمد وعالمه وعلى آله الطيبين الطاهرين المأسومين المظلومين أبدأ في الله's name the beneficent the merciful and Allah commands us in the Quran in the 96th chapter which is سورة العلق with regards to a command which we must do which is to read as you know this was the command given to the Holy Prophet to read, to recite, to ponder, to reflect because Qara'a in Arabic has many meanings but the true the most generic meaning is this actual proactive reading looking, reading, referencing engaging the frontal lobe with critical thinking إقرأ بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم إقرأ بسم ربك الذي خلق ريد in the name of the Lord who creates خلق الإنسان من علق He created man with that which clings علق is the zygote the thing that clings and Allah is essentially showing us our roots, our origin how we came into this world and essentially laying the foundation in the Quran that the purpose of this clinging creature that's going to come forth from this zygote that's going to form into flesh and bones and into a walking thinking proactive creature creation is that they should be ones who are proactively thinking and Allah says He taught mankind with the pen that which he did not know ما لم يعلم as I mentioned yesterday the month of Ramadan which has been instituted as a divine injunction upon mankind for all of mankind to follow but specifically to the believers that it has been enjoying for us to fast كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب علي الذين من قبلكم like it was enjoyed before because that's the proactive nature of the creator when he places us on this earth he gives us rules and regulations by which to improve ourselves so from a very universal perspective if we ask the question why did Allah create us he created us purely because he's merciful he is an eternal being he has no beginning, no end and it's logical and rational that such a God should exist for we know we all have a beginning and while we may continue to exist eternally it's impossible unless the one that created us is the one who is eternal that means our eternity is dependent on the eternal one otherwise it's impossible but the fundamental question we ask is how did we come into existence if there was no being that was always there and that answer is clearly shows clearly shows the answer to that is that it's impossible to exist unless there is a being that always existed this rational thinking is purely in the rational state and it can be mathematically shown so to answer this in a very universal way first and foremost Allah created us purely out of his mercy and the fact that he's eternal he's infinite we know that his qualities all have positive qualities for existential thoughts demand positive existence all negative existences that we think of which are negative are all subsets of the positive meaning that when you look at the negatives they all come under the relative world for when you have positive existence in the relative world and I don't want to go too deep into this Allah allows the opposite to exist سبحان الذي خلق الازواج كلها بلسة ديزهي who creates everything in pairs if you bring it down to its lowest common denominator the pairs is the opposite so you notice that there's always two sides to the coin to everything two sides to the coin God exists God doesn't exist you're good you're not good you see every thought in general has opposites so the question we ask is does God have a negative God is all good we say but could he be all bad we say God is all good could he be all evil in the absolute world it's impossible for the eternal being can either be one or the other it cannot be both because the relative being has sides the absolute being has no sides the absolute being the eternal being is only the absolute meaning there is no flip side to him so the question we ask is is God all good or lack of it you will notice and I'm going to bring a very simple argument here we talk about existence I want you to think about it if I ask any human being is existence good you and I exist we're made we exist I have a personality I'm a person and the thought in my mind of me not existing is very painful it's a painful thought atheists will tell you it's a very painful thought knowing that we're going to become nonexistent because all our existence now is negated with the thought of nonexistence if I know I'm not going to exist tomorrow my existence now gets negated because I have no reason to exist the only reason that makes sense to exist it must have an eternal journey of what we call eternal existence so listen to the following an existent being can talk about nonexistence do you agree we can say nonexistence but can a nonexistent entity talk about existence never impossible notice evil cannot exist without good just like lie a lie is an evil entity when you lie it's not good it cannot exist without truth there is no such thing as a lie without truth impossible it's absurd but a truth doesn't need a lie to exist I am Hassanain it's the truth it cannot be a lie for me to say that but when something is a lie there is a truth so we know that in the absolute world God is all good for evil cannot exist without good but good can exist without evil so we say that Allah is all good and therefore all good includes أسمع الحصنة والأول والآخر والضاير والباطن الرحمن والرحيم جبار متكبر فالأبسلوت جيد يجب على الله سلوات المحمد والمحمد when we understand that now we realize I see why I exist so my existence had to have been predicated by an absolute good being who would never create me if my existence was not good for an all good being only creates that which is good otherwise it's a contradiction that's why Allah in the Quran says فتبارك الله أحسنة الخالقين بلسة is he who creates everything good الذي أحسنة كل شيء خلقه he creates everything good so my existence is good your existence is good the existence of everything including poison including black holes including Iblis Iblis including hell is all good good that's why we exist so when we understand that now we realize that when he created me he is absolutely good he put a mind in me and he has given me the power to imagine you know we have four powers قوة أقلية شهوية وحمية وغضبية four major powers we have the power of intellect قوة أقلية قوة الشهوية the power of desire for if I lack desire I will not move towards anything positive or negative when you have a child who lacks desire it's more painful than a child who desires something bad for when they desire something bad you can redirect it to good but if they lack desire there is nothing you can do with it so the power of desire is a blessing of God شهوية وحمية the power of imagination thought illusions making up things in the future that don't exist yet the power to imagine it's brilliant there would have no imagination there'd be no creativity there'd be no growth there'd be no planning for the future there'd be no action today to prevent damage for tomorrow nor action to promote tomorrow for there would be no imagination for tomorrow and the power of anger to animate us to be up holders and promoters of justice يا يولا دينا ونو كونوا قوامينا للله بالقسط كونوا قوامينا كونوا قوامينا كونوا قوامينا في طريقك مع جيب ولا يجري منكم شنآان قومن على أن لا تعادلوا إعدلوا هو أقرب للتقوى ورتقوا الله الله سبحانه وتعالى كونوا قوامينا ونعيقوا عدد ومتعلقوا عدد امتعوا أو يعني تجربوا من إداركم وردنا أن نكون يجراء وردنا أن نكون يجراء يجراء وردنا وردنا أن أنك يجراء لا ت matter which side وردنا أن تكون يجراء لا تجراء يجراء وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَقَانُ قَوْمِنْ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعَدِلُوُوُو لا تتبقى حقاً لأي شيء تسكيو your justice system بلنس it how? if you don't have that desire that power to fight for justice where there is injustice there is this level of anger that drives you to want to correct the situation for power and Allah has blessed us with this for power because he is almighty he is all merciful and he has planted this phenomenal engine within us to enact us for a purpose see he created death and life to test which of you is best in deeds he is mighty forgiving why? because this test ليبلوكم أيكم أحسن وعملة is not easy who is going to be good in action who is going to be good in demeanor who is going to be a moral upright individual who is going to abstain from the evils of society Allah says I am mighty for I can certainly capture you but I am forgiving for I know you will fail so don't lose hope in me even if you don't lose something right don't lose hope in me so tonight's lecture is in the continuity to yesterday's that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has instituted social worship besides individual worship Ramadan is a social worship while we are individual and while we have individuality within our fasting while this individual fasting enhances and it takes us towards greater realizations and to become more self aware but the social demeanor the social implication of a collection of people doing it simultaneously amplifies this reality infinitely greater and that's why I said the religion of Allah when Allah says the religion to Allah is is precisely for this reason that God has instituted what we call communal obligations hijab for example hijab the sisters where and the brothers are supposed to observe by lowering their eyes is a communal command you don't wear hijab in the house when you come in public hijab becomes obligatory for us we lower our eyes as men when we come in public among those who are not of our own families lower your eyes it becomes what we call communal relations Jama'a is communal when we pray together Hajj is communal notice God could have set Hajj as an obligation upon us any time of the year but you would not be amplified as in the month of Hajj for the first 10 days why communal amplify it but there is this individuality so you notice that the blessing of Allah in giving us the month of Ramadan is not only for the individual self to improve but at the community level we must abstain from backbiting from fault finding from negative thoughts we must think positively we must appreciate the social demeanor of people we must be appreciative of those around us that somebody is sitting next to me and usually when you have a gathering and only a few people show up they get disappointed sometimes very few people showed up it's not about the numbers but that is true that the more people show up the more enhanced we feel like wow this was a great program look thousands of people came it must be important numbers do count although sometimes we've gotten lost with numerics by trying to present arguments because more people show up no that's not the reason what we as believers should want more people is when we all get together to do good the more the merrier to do good but if it is to be in a concert where we are going to do silly evil things then the less the better right so Allah has revealed the Quran شهر Ramadan as I mentioned yesterday in verse 184 in 185 شهر رمضان الذي انزل فيه القرآن right وضان للناس وبيناتي من الهداء والفرقان now Allah is describing Ramadan as a month in which the Quran was revealed which is a guidance for mankind so you notice the Quran now becomes our central source of the enactment of this machinery which God has placed within us and of course He has given us and the self with journeys towards higher stages نفس الأمارة نفس اللوامة نفس المتبئنة these are the three main stages of the self that must evolve and God said when I first create you I give you this self called أمارة وما أبري ونفس إن النفس الأمارة بسوء إلا ما رحمة عبي by this self which has a desire to deviate except by the mercy of God does it come back into its proper vision for it was created due to the infinite mercy of God for this being to function within this machinery to elevate itself so that it continues to receive the eternal mercy and blessings of God eternally but in the process it should also work through its limited free will to elevate itself so to answer the first question why did God create us He created us purely out of His mercy and when He did He implanted in us the capacity by which you and I can grab and take the best blessings and to elevate ourselves to the highest stations إن شاء الله which Quran calls مقام محمود which is an eternal abode of happiness of eternal blessings because there is nothing more that you and I should ever think of than to be in the wellspring of God's infinite divine mercy which He wills to shower upon us eternally الله in the Quran says كتبة على نفس الرحمة I have enjoined upon myself mercy for God is merciful and under mercy you have love you have justice you have caring, sharing, giving, forgiving all of the characters that you and I should have under the protocols of mercy so how do we achieve mercy in this blessed month of Ramadan and I'd like to focus on one which is the power of reading for when we read when we recite the benefits of reading in the first command of Allah as you know let me describe this very briefly I'll discuss it further later but there are five stages of the Holy Quran the first stage is the pre-existential stage it's not on the slide but I'm just saying it the pre-existential stage the second stage is the entire Quran in spirit in its essential nature was revealed into the heart of the Prophet then Allah revealed the structured Quran into the heart of the Prophet so the Prophet knew exactly how the Quran was then Allah revealed it to deliver it to mankind in stages and then the Quran was collected by the Prophet and delivered and left to the people before his departure and the Prophet says I leave you two heavy things the book of God and your obedience and attachment to my near ones two things he didn't say I'm going to leave scriptures which insha'Allah tomorrow you'll collect it and hopefully you'll put it together in the right way you know no Quran was put together by Allah and delivered Allah says it is upon us to collect it and to recite it but please understand that the first command among those those stages of scriptures after the Prophet received it was to deliver it to mankind in the cave of what they call on the outskirts of Makkah the Prophet was waiting for his commission to begin at the age of 40 Jibrail comes to him and he was not a stranger to the Holy Prophet this idea that the Prophet was shaking he thought the devil spoke to him he wanted to commit suicide he wanted to jump off the mountain these are concoctions fictitious concoctions designed to belittle the Prophet and if you want to see the remnants of this with all due respect go back to the Old Testament and the New Testament the Bible and the Torah you will see prophets are so humiliated and the stuff that they did in those scriptures is so repulsive and I would say the modus operandi of an evil institution is to go and attack the general who represents the army the representative of God on earth are the prophets and the imams what better to marginalize the religion of God than to take the representative and debase them and make them look foolish for then the psychology says if this representative of God couldn't get it right then why should I even bother to get it right isn't that the case that's the reality of life but Allah in the Quran you will find one masterful situation in the Quran is every prophet 25 of them I mentioned by name we have 124,000 of them every one of them is elevated, protected and when Allah speaks about them even when he approaches their situation sometimes every once in a while it may appear that God is rebuking the prophet he is not he is not read it carefully between the lines and you will see no Allah elevates them honors them to such levels that Allah in سوت العزاب says أولى بالمؤمنين من أنفسهم the prophet أولى has greater authority on the believers than the believers have on themselves that's a great that's a great honor لقد كان لكم في رسول الله أسوة حسنة your messenger is your best role model best example you can't go further than him so this the basement of the prophet is critical for you and I to avoid because God said my chain of command and my structure to strengthen your belief and for you to become more submissive and to understand my mercy you must honor my representatives and if you dishonor them by the way in the state of fasting the sharia states the rule of Islamic law states that if you malign Allah and or the holy prophet while fasting your fasting is nullified that's how severe it is to malign the prophet so the prophet is at the cave of Hira جيبرييل comes to him and tells him اقرا resides the prophet resides because he knew it he was waiting and he resides اقرا now you and I must pay attention for the first thing God does when he delivers it to mankind that must be highlighted and circled and say this must be crucial you ask any pedagogues in the world education experts and there's a few in this room right now there are a few in this room they will tell you unequivocally if there is one thing that is essential in the progress of a child's education and their acumen to understand knowledge it is reading for reading has been unanimously exposed that it is the most powerful thing a person can do in life look how merciful Allah is that while he's instituting his religion upon us he is also enjoining upon us to read this is the month of Ramadan which month? the month in which the Quran was revealed Allah addresses Ramadan is the month of the Quran why? because it is the month which you and I need to read you and I need to reflect lest you and I become one of those the prophet will complain on judgment day when the prophet will say قالوا the prophet will say my community قال ربي my lord my community ignored this book not only did they not ponder over it not only did they not read it okay they ignored it مهجورة إن قوم تخذ هذا القرآن مهجورة they took it away so how do we strengthen it so how do we strengthen it so how do we strengthen it you know there is a beautiful story of the two people cutting the trees in the forest you notice by the way reading what is reading let's give some analogies by the way Quran is replete with analogies درب الله مثلا ويضرب الله الأمثال للناس we are giving you a similitude an understanding لعلكم يتذكرون يتفكرون so you think you understand through reading through reflection the mind gets sharper and what are the byproducts we'll talk about it what are the byproducts of reading before I end this but look at the mercy of Allah and I want us to understand and you know when you and I are fasting we tend to have more time generally I can't I can't go there I can't have lunch okay I've got time what are you gonna do well I can't do this and I can't do this but I cannot I'm cutely aware of do's and don'ts good how about now you engage in reading they've done studies to show how the human brain becomes very very productive and sharp it becomes very very critical in understanding the frontal lobe energy levels increase dramatically when you start to read critical thinking like they say fine motor movement increases frontal lobe activity ذكر تسبين لامبر جاكس are chopping wood in the forest it's a great analogy we use and it's an 8 hour day but one was always cutting more trees than the other but the interesting thing was that the one who cut more trees was the one who would take a break 15 minute break whatever, would take a break but the other one would not take a break because he wanted to maximize his output so he was constantly chopping now from intuitive thinking you would think that the one who was constantly chopping should be the one who cuts more trees but actually the one who takes the break cut more trees so the other one was curious why is it that this person always takes a break after a few hours but he has cut more trees than I have and this is an analogy الله says كل يومن هو في شأن every day there is a sign from me فا في أي آلاء ربكما تكذبان which of my bounties will you be lying before so he asked the other one he says why do you take a break he said I sharpen my axe because as I'm hitting it it's getting blunt so by sharpening I was more efficient and my strokes were less because I was able to cut more trees than you did the analogies you and I are mundane in the world we're constantly chasing the Joneses trying to build our empires and build our palaces and have a big bank account but we never stop to sharpen our axes we never stop to think and reflect and to meditate and introspect and to cogitate and to read the prescriptions of God on how to become efficient in how we should achieve greatness so look at this month 11 months we're busy recycling ourselves God says stop the machinery reverse it sharpen your blades tune yourselves up flush out your digestive system flush out the negative thoughts start thinking positive hopefully for the 11 months you will be more efficient isn't it beautiful another good example you find people have bad habits and sometimes when you have a bad habit you can't think about it you just get so used to it and it's usually triggered due to tension stress we try to eliminate stress so we learn a behavior either to twitch or we do something and that sort of distracts us temporarily so we associate relief of tension with the act and it starts to become habitual so you start to become very obsessed with it as they say compulsive it's an obsession after that I need to because when I do this I have this feeling that I'm now calming myself people who smoke for example they've got to have a cigarette the minute they think give me a cigarette or it calms me down the cigarette is killing you the second hand smoke is killing ten times more but I gotta have it I'm trying to solve my stress you're creating a hundred more stress problems but you're being caught in this silly game why? no reflection no meditation the minute you tell them by the way smoking is bad no I don't like you anymore don't tell me this my whole business is dependent on that you know it's interesting a young boy came to me and I told I was telling my whole student group the kindergarten I said when you go home and if you see your parents smoking this ask them the following question I said do you love me I said Habibi of course I love you the child says can you please stop doing this because it's killing me so one boy came to me today smiling he says I told that to my parents and they told me get away we don't wanna hear you brother it didn't work notice how we are so addicted to this little twitch to this little crutch that even our loved ones where we will give our hearts and our kidneys and our liver to them but for that moment when I'm having that rush don't talk to me because you're reminding me of something I don't wanna think about it's like people who are playing or playing cards talk to them excuse me I was thinking does God exist and they look at you like excuse me that's the exit get out why because I'm having I'm in a thoughtless act for what well I'm gonna win some funny money which will eventually become real money which will eventually take me to the casinos which will eventually get me to the suite you know the grand suite up there I'm gonna have the best Shaytan fools you why no meditation no reflection no understanding of purpose in life just be Pavlovian that bell rings you start to salivate and wag your tail we've become Pavlovian and Allah is taking us away from this Pavlovian idea it's a don't be that dog that lulls its tongue when you are a human being if I'm a yamshi muqiban a la wajihi ahda I'm a yamshi sawiyan a la sirata mustaqeem can you compare the one who grovels his or her face on the ground to the one who is upright visionary with a thought for the future and planning their strategies and avoiding the poisons of society in thought and in action and in consumption to something greater for tomorrow for that is what we were created for Shaytan says but that's not good such thoughts are not good for if you start meditating and reflecting and reading then you will stop following me but I want you to follow me impulsively like a bowl that charges towards a red fabric with the matador for no reason reflection so here's a person who's biting their nails no thought this is dirt why if you look at them some of them have no nails they're literally biting skin now I've seen people with no nails and I said to them why are you doing this I'm stressed I said okay how are we going to stop this you're going to mark each time you put your hand in your mouth so but I was saying experimented that and say to a sister okay you're very addicted to this do you want to stop she said yes by the way the first question you have to ask is do you want to stop if you and I are not willing to accept our problems that's why Allah said لا أقسمو بنفس اللوامة I swear by the self accusing so the self accuser أقسمو بنفس اللوامة the one who says I am a problem I have a problem therefore I am the solution I have the solution if you and I don't think that way I promise you you and I will never cure ourselves if a doctor gives you a prescription we will throw it in the trash gives us medicine we will throw it in the trash because if I don't believe I'm sick why should I take anything and people who indulge in self destruction in talk in thought in actions if they do not come to terms with it they will never change so now you said to this person do you want to stop yes I really want to stop okay here's how you're going to do it you're going to increase your awareness of it it's no longer going to be a habit where you are going to do it without thought you're going to put thought into it you're going to read it you're going to read your action so every time this girl did this she would mark it she would mark it and I think the image shows here the first time the first day you notice how many 56 times in a 24 hour period that's a lot bearing in mind 78 hours you're sleeping you're not doing that that's a lot but she became acutely aware oh my god I didn't realize I do so much that's all it takes this is where shaitan says no no no I don't want you to be aware Quran Allah says what we have revealed in this Quran is a shefa and a rahma why it exposes the good and it exposes the evil and it shows the value of the right versus the wrong Quran is a masterful book when it comes to the power to enable us to imagine a perfect future tomorrow if I have time I'll discuss it what you find is this person started reducing every single day started going down all the way and there's a date there and on Thursday she did it 3 times from 56 times to 3 times notice how practical it is what's the answer to that just be acutely aware of these behaviors but how do you go there you had to have somebody tell you hey why are you biting your nails oh I didn't know that somebody has to make you aware just like it's salat time are you going to pray oh I have to pray oh yeah Allah says فذكر إنفعت الذكرى سيذكروا من يخشى وإتجنبوا الأشخى remind them reminding is beneficial Allah says إلا سبيل ربك بالحكمة إنفعتم through the way of your lord بالحكمة with wisdom والمعيدة الحسنة with kind exhortation welcome them but be a good role model welcome them don't be condescending don't be pejorative in what you say be nice, kind, general invite them remind them let them have that warm fuzzy feeling of doing good things just like when you and I do bad things it's because we got a warm fuzzy feeling that's why we want it again and again and again flip it now what you find is the miniature become aware of it you escape it and the miniature you escape it for the rest of your life you won't do it because now you are a master of what not to do Islam is a religion that trains me when Allah says إن صلاة تنهى عن الفحشاء والمنكر ولا ذكروا الله أكبر صلاة keeps you away from wrongdoing an evil إن صلاة تنهى عن الفحشاء والمنكر ولا ذكروا الله أكبر it is the best zikr why? Qur'an reminds me of what's bad Qur'an reminds me of how to avoid bad Qur'an reminds me of how to be good so when we do تكبير you notice within that sentence we say صراة الذين أنعمت عليهم إهدين الصراة المستقيم guide me on the right path which path the path of those you have chosen meaning God says set your goals high who are you going to follow because if you don't follow someone you are not alive there's no human being who does not follow someone even atheists will tell you I follow that atheist and I like this theist and I like that agnostic you cannot avoid following somebody or a group of people impossible as long as you're alive cognizant individual on this earth it's impossible having said that you and I now have to make a choice that there are 8 billion people but relatively mediocre when it comes to guidance Qur'an says it لكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون لا يعقلون most of mankind doesn't know they don't think so that you know صراة الذين أنعمت عليهم are an exclusive group of people which Allah mentions in the Qur'an 25 and we have 124,000 of them from Adam to the Holy Prophet and they are all very important and they have impacted our society that when you look at civility on earth today it's because of their presence otherwise humans would not have had this kind of civility in our nature while we have natural civility without guidance it's impossible just like I give you an example put a bunch of kids in a room and don't monitor them and see what you get chaos why? human nature demands guidance particularly in morals and particularly in civility so Allah has sent prophets with a perfect demeanor عمت عليهم read the next two verses غير المغضوب عليهم not those who invoke your wrath so notice in سوت الفاتحة we say not those who invoke your wrath but those who are they the ultra evil doers the ones who indiscriminately kill the presidents who are so narcissistic which we have one today who think there's nothing greater in the universe than himself right? فراون was like that self indulgence self aggrandizing narcissistic pontificator as we call them absolutely drunk with their selves they invoke the wrath of God their intense arrogance إبليس is a good example غير المغضوب عليهم not those ولا طالين and not those who are lost with all due respect the human race is a beautiful race but let's face the facts when it comes to the real substance and the meat and potatoes of what life is all about it's not easy to find it it's not easy to get the guidance with all due respect when I go to speak in some of the most prestigious elite universities in the world and I do sit with some of the most learned pundits in their respective fields but when you sit with them no matter how long you sit with them you will learn one thing about their expertise and it will be a great help without a doubt but to get that holistic vision of what is wrong and right in the vision of the divine in a holistic way probably not experience probably is our best teacher and maybe our teachers among our parents and within our scholarly work is the greatest but I'm telling you the guidance the Quran has given me تلك آيات كتاب الحكيم هودون ورحمة للمحسينين these are the verses from a book that is wise تلك آيات كتاب الحكيم هودون ورحمة a guidance and a mercy for the good doers للمحسين what an elegant set of verses Quran is constantly repeating itself under these parameters so in conclusion within the time that I have you find that what are the benefits of reading and the reason I say this that you and I should read because reading reduces so many problems reading increases so many capacities and one of the powers of reading is when you and I read we become very imaginative you know when I'm on a plane there are two kinds of people and I don't judge them but it's a choice I make you'll see some on the phone playing silly games like blowing bubbles or dropping balls something kids like to do that why I'm bored I said if only you knew how short this world is it's okay you're young the Prophet said my believers are never bored because they've taken into account the values but when a child is playing it I don't blame them we haven't given them that value we haven't shown them capacities so now they're filling in their voids with playing silly games but then they'll be the one with the book on the plane reading so eight hour flight they're reading and you watch them they'll eat they're back to reading I said I like that I'm sure if I sit with that person I will gain a lot because that person will probably tell me what is to read what not to read and they will be opinionated and they will tell me things that the average cannot tell me a reader is always superior to the non-reader now we all agree reading is good whether it's fiction non-fiction whether it's documentary whatever it is it's healthy read it it's good read books by non-muslims read books by Muslims read books of other religions read knowledge is power the Prophet said من المهد إلى اللهد acquire knowledge from the cradle to the grave the Prophet said even if you have to go to China ولو كان بسين go get it for knowledge enhances your capacity knowledge takes you to higher stages you will become a better person did you notice by the way readers usually have very good vocabulary it's interesting sometimes you speak to high schoolers and you use a simple word and they look at you and say what does that word mean or when you see them write even emails or write on a board they can't spell correctly why? you can tell this is not a reader a reader will not make those simple mistakes a reader is acutely aware of the difference between one word over another that's the sign of a reader so we all agree unanimously that those who read are superior in society they tend to be wiser they tend to have more patience studies have shown that nuns in their 80s have brains of 30 and 40 year olds nuns because for two reasons they are avid readers and they are constantly in worship being grateful to God and worshiping Him for His greatness when you are appreciative in your worship when you do zikr when God says صلاة keeps you away from wrong doing in evil that's one aspect you keep away from the bad doers the ones who don't know you focus on the ones who know you make them as your goal in life but because you're doing zikr you're more positive you have less stress Allah says على بذكر الله تتمئن القلوب إنما المؤمنن الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم وإذا أتوليت عليهم آياتو زادتهم إيمانا وعلى ربهم يتوكلون who are the ones Allah says my believers are the ones when they hear the name of God their hearts become pliant, palpitating they love it they're in love the beloved is being spoken about what? you said what did you say about my beloved you said something about something someone I love my heart starts to become active وجلت قلوب and then when the verses of the Quran وإذا أتوليت عليهم آياتو زادتهم إيمانا their faith increases you know what is إيمان? إيمان the root word is أمانا you know what أمانا means? security when God says all you who are secure يا يولدين أمان all you who are secure there's one thing you and I should go home tonight and say what is one thing I want in life you say I want peace but you can't get it if you don't have security security brings peace security peace what is that religion called? إسلام root word سلامة سلامة means what? peace oh wow I am swimming in peace and security what does the word تقوى mean? you know what تقوى means? the root word is وقايا the root word of تقوى means protection in other words you're guarding yourself from any bad things إتق الله means God says guard yourself protect yourself put the alarm lock the door be careful the carcinogens are around you the danger is around you okay so fasting helps us to guard prayer helps us to guard communal prayer amplifies the guarding a thousand times more and I conclude on this one the benefits of reading two and a half times I'd like you to get Alzheimer's you know Alzheimer's is memory loss you know those two and a half times less okay with reading just like when you go to work out when you go to work out reading is for the brain it keeps your brain young as I mentioned the nuns 80 year olds or the brain is like 30-40 year olds huge that's big that's very important reading can melt away stress by 68% 68% stress just by reading okay so we're all agreeing and look I'm gonna end with this you'll find that reading boosts your vocabulary it improves empathy you become more aware you can start to feel others oh yeah remember I read that book about China yeah you know you're trying oh I read it I can imagine where you are and then of course it encourages life goals did you notice by the Quran it's filled with future goals it shows me images and I'll talk about the power of imagination tomorrow in Surat Al-Waqya Surat No. 56 Surat Al-Waqya إذا وقعتي الواقع ليس لي وقعتي كاذبة الله is describing this great event what will happen it's filled with this imagination imaginations of truth and Allah wants me to understand it He says because through this understanding through your reading your mind will become sharp and now you'll start to see reality in your head and the power to project the future isn't that so I conclude on this we all agree reading any book is the greatest thing to do if there's any challenge here raise your hand I'm more than happy to be challenged of course not but look at this reading the Quran which is the book of God which is supplants all reading in the world is superior to all reading for there is no greater reading than the words of God isn't it for there is you can read every book in the world but at the end of the day nothing is more important than the words of God nothing is important the words of God about me and my future and my life and my successes and the foundation of all the books I will read so please let's end with this tonight if we ask Allah let me start reading there's one way to read a lot when you read even a paragraph talk about it you sit with your friends pick up the phone hey by the way listen I've been reading this great book can we have coffee sometimes or tea let's go out for lunch I want to talk about this have reading circles the sea of discussion classes you know how powerful that is when we all sit around and we read one ayah one surah and we're discussing it even if you know the surah I know some of these surahs by heart and I sit in these sessions and I say oh my God I never thought of this you're right I never thought of that you're right somebody else says something somebody says the next thing you know it's enhancing what you've already read to higher depths but if you haven't read it it introduces you yes and also by the way when you're reading if you have difficulty reading put your finger on it it helps you focus and by the way if you read 40 to 45 minutes a day you will complete a book in a week or two a book a week you'll be able to you become a speed reader I did studies in reading dyslexia versus reading the general reading you find that the speed reader is a hunter they're actually reading a whole paragraph at one time they're looking for the idea that's why good prolific writers will structure the word so perfectly that the reader sees the entire image in one shot that's what makes a good reader a good writer from a not good writer so get into the practice become good readers our vocabulary will get better our attention levels will go down right all of the above that we mentioned and what better to read most off and more off than the Quran واخر الدعان الحمد لله رب العالمين اسم الله رحمة ورحمة ورحمة اللهم إنا نرغبوا إليك في دولة كريمة تعزز بها الإسلام وأهلة وتذل بها النفاق وأهلة وتجعلنا فيها من الدعاة لا تعتك والقادة لا سبيلك وترزقنا بها كرامة الدنيا والآخر والسلام عليكم جميعا ورحمة الله وبركاته صلاة الله محمد وآل محمد سنصلي علام إن شاء الله we will have the prayer at 9 o'clock