 Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to this new series in which we are exploring how you and you and you and I can work together to bring about practical solutions to a problem that many of our communities are increasingly facing, particularly, although not exclusively in the West, and that is how can we help new Muslims, those converts and reverts to Islam who pop up from time to time, how can we integrate them more into the community? How can we make them feel welcome in the community? How can we help them become productive contributing members of the community who enrich it and enhance it and enhance the experience for all? Now I'm going to repeat the secret I told you last time. Much of the advice that we're talking about on these programs is also useful for other people, too, and not just people who convert to Islam, especially some younger Muslims, maybe people without families, those Muslims who are returning to the faith. This advice is good for everyone, but in particular it is aimed at looking at this issue we are facing, that sometimes people come to Islam and they don't feel they're really able to become part of the community, and sometimes people even leave Islam, and that's quite sad. So let's look at what we can do. Now, Allah Ta'ala, in his holy book, he speaks of the believers as brethren, brothers or sisters in faith, and indeed we have an narration from Amir al-Mu'mineen, alaihi ibn Abi Talib, alaihi s-salam, that the believer is like a brother, or in some cases like a sister from another mother and father. That is to say, the believers are indeed as close as true siblings by blood, and Allah Ta'ala says, that we should always be trying to resolve any issues between our brethren in faith. However, sometimes we know that some people who come to Islam, maybe they come to the mosque, they come to religious events, they never quite feel like they're part of the community, maybe people are not inviting them to their homes, maybe they have difficulty finding a husband or a wife for cultural reasons. So what are some things we can do to make them socially feel more included? Things that will not only make them happy and will give you that good feeling in your heart that you get when you do something that is nice and good for another person, inshallah will also gain you thawab, but also inshallah can help build the community. I strongly believe that cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths in the Islamic heritage. We see even in the early era of Islam, maybe the fourth century, hijri for example, Islam had already spread to so many regions and all of them contributed their own special things to the growth of Islamic thought and Islamic culture. And so we can continue growing as an ummah by benefiting from the many things that people of different backgrounds bring to Islam when they do become members of the ummah. So by looking at some of these practical suggestions, we can inshallah not only help others but also benefit ourselves, bring benefit to the community and inshallah also make new friends. Now there are certain times of the year, I'm going to be honest here, where it is particularly difficult for many people who convert to Islam, especially new Muslims. One of these times of the year is the month of Ramadan. For many of us the month of Ramadan is a family time and a social time and indeed it is narrated that Shah-e-Ramadan is the month of the ummah, that there is a sense this should be a communal time. And for many people some of the happiest memories of Shah-e-Ramadan come from being together with other believers. However if someone does not have Muslim family or practicing Muslim family then the month of Ramadan can be quite lonely and it gets depressing having iftar by yourself in your house year after year after year. It sort of takes a lot of the Ramadan joy out of Shah-e-Ramadan. Of course Alhamdulillah there is still the spirituality. However the human being also needs social contact as well. And this is for people who are not married and don't have families of their own. But even if someone is married it is nice sometimes to socialize with other people as well. And so a very nice thing you can do in Shah-e-Ramadan is simply to take a look around. Next time you're hosting an iftar or some kind of gathering maybe even a medialist towards the latter part of Shah-e-Ramadan and think are there any people here who are not included? Are there any people who seem unattached, who seem to be as if they are being left out? And just invite one or two of them. Of course they may not accept which is fine but at least you've reached out and they have the warm happy feeling of knowing that they are wanted and appreciated. And of course we know there is so much the Wab in having guests that when you have guests at your house the angels come and visit your house. The guest brings sustenance to your house. Allah Ta'ala forgives your sins. This is the Sunnah of the Prophet, the Sunnah of Ahl al-Bait, Alayhimu Salam. So when inshallah does not lose out by inviting more of the mu'minina and mu'minat to their home especially those who might really appreciate the invitation. I will tell you something very sad. I had a friend who became Muslim. She was very active in the community. She went to every program at the Islamic center. She went to every medialist and after two years she said to me, you know what Amina? I said what? She said I've been part of this community for two years and no one has ever invited me to their house. It's very sad. So we don't want people to feel like that and we miss out also on their presence. And indeed may I remind you of the immense number of narrations also just encouraging spending time.