 All praise is due to Allah who is blessed us with the great month of Ramadan. A month of forgiveness, a month of mercy, a month of liberation from the Hellfire. Our Prophet ﷺ once described Ramadan in the following words. It is the first ten days, its first third embodies mercy, its middle third embodies forgiveness and its latter third liberation from the Hellfire. As Ibn Rajab Al-Hamdi says in his commentary on this, Ben kulluhu rahma wa kulluhu maqfira wa kulluhu ikkum min an-naar All of it is mercy, all of it is forgiveness, all of it is liberation from the Hellfire. But during these particular times, those qualities predominate. So the mercy predominates in the first part, forgiveness in the middle part and liberation from the Hellfire in the latter part. During the last ten days of Ramadan which we are in, these are described as the greatest nights of the year. Most of our scholars say the first ten days of dirhija are more virtuous than the days of Ramadan. But the last ten nights of Ramadan are more virtuous than all of the nights. So this is a blessed time. It's a time we seek out later to occur. We seek it out on the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan. And this is why we spend all ten days seeking it out. Something that many people, or something that escapes many people. And that is if the night of power is sought out on the odd nights of the last ten nights of the month, if it's a twenty-nine day month, which is a possibility, then the last ten nights start on the nineteenth. And the odd nights will be the nineteenth, the twenty-first, the twenty-third, etc. And if it's a thirty-day month, then the last ten days will start on the twentieth. And the odd nights will be the twentieth, the twenty-second, the twenty-fourth, etc. So the believer not knowing if it's going to be a twenty-nine day month or a thirty day month, and this Ramadan will truly end out. And so we spend all of those nights seeking out the night of power. And Allah Ta'ala describes the night of power in the Qur'an. Inna anzannahu fi layla tul qadr. Then we'll sit down in the Qur'an in the night of power, then we can say in the night of decrease. Wa ma adaraka ma layla tul qadr. Who will bring you to realize what the night of power is. Layla tul qadr al-khayrum min al-fisha'ah. The night of power is better than a thousand months. Why is that? Some of our scholars say that the earlier nations, as we know for example, the people of Nuh, alaihi salam, they lived to be a thousand years. They lived to be eight hundred, nine hundred years, twelve hundred years. But the ummah of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the average lifespan is sixty-some odd years. Our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam passed away at sixty-three years old. Abu Bakr radiallahu an past away at sixty-three years old. Umar radiallahu an past away at sixty-three years old. This is the average life of the sixty-seventies. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in His mercy, since we don't have eight hundred years to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, or we don't have nine hundred years or a thousand years to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah ta'ala is giving the ummah of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Layla tul qadr. And He says the worship in this night is like the worship of a thousand months. It's even more virtuous. It's better. Layla tul qadr khayrum mil alfi sharq. The night of power is better than a thousand months. So we don't get to live one thousand years to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but we have one night every year that's worth eighty-three years. A thousand months equates to over eighty-three years. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala out of His mercy and His favor to the community of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has shortened our life span. But in that lifespan He's given us one night every year. The worship therein is better than the worship of a thousand months. So why are you watching television? Why are you spending all night eating? It's one thing to break the fast, but it's another thing to just hang around socializing for the next four or five hours. When there's a night whose worship is worth a thousand months and not just any thousand months, it's related that this thousand months is a thousand months of a man from the Bani Israel, from the earlier communities who put on his armor and took his weapons and went forth and defended the religion for a thousand months. He worshiped Allah while he was in his armor with his weapons defending the religion for a thousand months. The night of power and the worship is better than his thousand months. So not just a chronological demarcation of time, but the thousand months of a man who's worshiping Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam while wearing his armor and defending the faith. Laylatul khadr is better than that thousand months. And then Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, subsequenti tanazdilul malaika. The angels descend. And when the angels descend, they have something in their mind. What is in their mind? Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam relates in the Quran masala in Arabic When your Lord said to the angels, verily I'm going to create in the earth a vice certified They said who you place therein, one who will work much corruption and shed blood while we glorify you and sing your praises, glorify your praises and exalt your holiness. And he said, Allah Ta'ana said, verily I know that which you know not. See you know the superficial outward manifestation of the human being. But I know the human potential. You know the outward, but I know the inner. And I know that this human being has the potential to do what you do. And we glorify you with your praises and exalt your holiness. So when you go down to the earth, Allah Ta'ana said, tana'zulu l-malā'ika tu fīha bi-ibni r-rabihim wa-ruhu bi-ibni r-rabihim min kulli amr When you go down to the earth, during these nights of Ramadan, during these last ten nights of Ramadan, you will find the human creation. You will find the believers from the Ummah of Muhammad that they're glorifying their Lord. They're singing the praises of their Lord. They're exalting his holiness. You will find them if you descend in the day, you will find them fasting. And if you descend in the night, you will find them standing in prayer. You will find them reciting the Book of Allah. You will find them glorifying the praises of your Lord. You will find them doing what you posterize. Wa-l-nahinu l-usaddi hu bi-hamdikan wa-l-qaddi sunat. You will find them doing that. But you will find them doing something you are incapable of doing. You do it instinctively. You do it with no choice. They do it voluntarily. They do it of their own free choice. Look at them. Look at Danny Adam. Look at your last jib. During these nights. Look at the believers in Ramadan. Night of Ramadan. They're standing in prayer before their Lord. Look how they're reciting the Book of Allah. And look how peace permeates amongst them. This is the human potential. This is what Ramadan is about, brothers and sisters. It's about getting in touch with our human potential. But our human potential is not flesh and bones. It's not blood. It's not hair. If that's our human potential, then there's nothing to distinguish us from an ape. Well, some people say we descended from apes. So we're making it more plain. If that's our human potential, just blood and hair and bones and muscle and flesh, there's nothing to distinguish us from a rat that's crawling around in the sewage. And it's no coincidence that those people who want to deny the spiritual nature and the spiritual essence of the human being that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala breathed into this creature. And he breathed into him of his spirit, not a spirit within him, a spirit that he created, this rule that he created. He breathed it into the human. And that bequeathed unto the human being consciousness that transcends flesh and bones. It transcends the brain. We were discussing last night with a group of brothers, a book written by a neuroscientist, a scientist. His name is even Alexander, a world-class neuroscientist who went into a coma for seven days, lost all brain function. Whatever machine-measured brain function, there's a lot of doctors here, whatever you call it, an EKG or whatever, flat mind, no brain activity, groin. Yet he was perceiving realms beyond this physical world. His book, he, and when he, miraculously, but we don't know, we don't say miraculously. We say, by the command of Allah, just as the angels in the room descend, be in the Rabbihim, by the command of his Lord after seven days, when the doctors have written him off, when the doctors called all of his family members from far and wide to say their last regards, because they were sure he's going out. His brain is dead. He's gone on the seventh day after there was superficially massive damage to the cortex of his brain. He sat up in bed and asked, where am I? And within a few months had regained all of his memory, all of his mental functions. And he wrote a book about his experience in that realm beyond this world. And he called his book, Proof of Heaven. And as a world-class neuroscientist, neurologist, he said, there is no physical explanation to what I experienced. So this realm of consciousness is not rooted in the brain. But we already know that, because we know it's rooted in the heart, we're not the physical bump, bump, bump, bump, bump heart, but the qualities that make us human whose locus is in the heart. This is what we know as believers. And later Ramadan is to put us back in touch with that by denying our flesh, not feeding our flesh. We feed our root. And when we feed our root, we release the power that allows us to stand in prayer for two or three hours. And then come back at four in the morning and then re-tick up our Quran and read it without tiring. The only thing stopping us, we have to go to work or we have to tend to some business. That's the only thing that stops us, but we have the spiritual energy to read it all day. That's what Ramadan is doing, is putting us in touch with that aspect of our being from which that spiritual energy emerges. And this is the source of our humanity, not the blood and the flesh. And this is what Ramadan puts us back in touch with. This is a great blessing of Ramadan. And this unlocks the key to Taqwa. This unlocks the key. Allah Ta'ala tells it, That is fast. That's been ordained for you believers. It is to open the realms of God consciousness that translates into obeying God. And then the truth, where does the obedience come from? It comes from realizing the greatness of God. It comes from realizing the greatness of God. And then it comes from realizing the greatness It comes from realizing the gravity and magnitude of the Quranic message. These are the three things that Ramadan brings together for us. It brings together the fasting. Qutiba alaikum al-siyam. It brings together the Quran, shahr Ramadan al-Ladhi unzinaathihi al-Quran. And it brings together Taqwa la'allakum tattaqun. And what does the taqwa do for us? Ali flammeen. That is the book that is in it. Hudan al-muttaqeen. The taqwa opens up the Quran. Hudan. That is the book that is in it. This is the scripture, the Quran. There is no doubt about it. Hudan al-muttaqeen. It is guidance for those who have taqwa. It is guidance for those who fast. And the fast bequeaths unto them taqwa la'allakum tattaqun. And the taqwa opens up the Quran for them. And the Quran puts them in touch with something from beyond this world. Because the Quran embodies the internal speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's not all in this world. It's a vehicle, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, has given us to ride beyond this world. And so when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes it, He doesn't describe it with something close that's of this world. He doesn't say, have al-kitabu la'a'ibafi. Even though it's right here in our hands, very can kitab al-a'ibafi. Because what's in our hands is from beyond this world. But if we internalize this message, it will enhance our consciousness and allow us to move beyond this world. While in this world, this is the great gift of Ramadan for those who choose to accept it from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I'll say this, wa astaghfirullah ali walakum. Wali sa'in al-mukmini niyakum, astaghfirullah. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin. Wa as-salatu wa as-salam ala Sayyid al-Mursaleen. Sayyidina wa hadibina, Muhammed wa ala alihi. Wa as-sahbidi wa as-salam al-musliman kathira. Allah wa manaiqatahu s-salun al-nabiyyi. Ya ayyuhaladina amanu sallur alaihi wa sallimu tasmeehima. Allahim wa sallim wa sallim wa barik ala Sayyidina, wa hadibina, wa nabiyina, wa shafina, wa kurrati a'yunina Muhammed wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallimu tasmeeman kathira. Alhamdulillahi. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed us abundantly, blessed us with an amazing way of life called Islam. And one should never be ashamed of being a Muslim because of all the negativity that's being directed towards Islam and Muslims. Our identity, our sense of self is based on our relationship with our Creator. It's not based on what's printed in the newspaper. The same people who are denigrating Islam are the same people who are advocating policies of death and destruction all over this world. The same people who don't have the moral courage to challenge the military-industrial complex that defines to a large extent politics in this country and certainly foreign policy. The atrocities we see and we won't dwell on. Ramadan, we stay positive. But those are the people who are demonizing Islam to make this enemy to justify their policies. Those are the people who demonize immigrants to justify the massive network of detention centers and private prisons. Those are the people that demonize young African-American youth to make sure that the pipeline from our poorest neighborhoods into our prisons stay open as opposed to working for policies and likely policies that will seek to educate a child. So there's a pipeline from our poorest neighborhoods to our best schools and universities and colleges and not to the prison. And then they profit and they don't have the moral courage to even take a second look at what they're doing. If those people are saying you are bad, I would not lose a minute of sleep worrying about what they say. And someone might say, but it affects people and people are hating us. Then we do the positive things that we do to engine dear love. You are the people that love the Muslims. You don't need a full-page ad in the New York Times. You want people to love the Muslims. You don't need a massive public relations campaign. If you want people to love the Muslims and you want to do your part, do what you're doing in Ramadan and keep doing it after Ramadan, fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Keep reciting your Quran. Keep remembering Allah abundantly. And people love the Muslim. Not because I say so, because Allah says so. Allah Ta'ala tells us if you want love for the Muslims, get on Allah's plan. You don't need to hire a public relations firm from Wall Street. You need to open the Quran. Where Allah Ta'ala says, إِنَّا لَذِينَ آمَنُ وَعَمُونَ صَالَحَاتَ سَيَجْعَلُوا لَحْمَ رَحْمَنُوا بُدَّةَ Those who believe and do righteous deeds, Allah will make love for them in the hearts of the people. سَيَجْعَلُوا لَحْمَ الرَّحْمَنُوا بُدَّةَ Allah will make love in the hearts of the people. So you got to trust in Madison Avenue. You got to trust the New York Times. Put a nice glossy ad. Or you got to trust Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. I'll put my trust in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allahumma kfirli al muslimin wa al musliman. Wa al mu'mineen wa al mu'minaad. Al-hiyyā'i minhum wal amwāt. Rabbana na tuziqqulubana. Ba'di ibhadeetana. Wahablana illa dunga rahmah. Innika anta al wahhab. Rabbana frag alina as-sabran. Wa thafl aqdamana. Wa ansūrna alal qawmi al-kāfirīn. Rabbana firg alina as-sabran. Wa thafl aqdamana. Wa tawassana muslimin. Wa a'afu anna. Wa fylana. Wa rhamna. Al-ta'mi al-lana al-qawmi al-sūrna alal qawmi al-kāfirīn. Allahumma inna na'ūdubika minal hammi wal-hazan. Wa na'ūdubika minal azzi wal-kasal. Wa na'ūdubika minal jubni wal-bukhru. Wa na'ūdubika minal qawmi al-ghalaqat al-daym wa qahr al-rijāl. Wa na'ūdubika minal faqri ila ilaykum. Wa minab'idla illa lakum. Wa minal khawf ilamik. Allah baqsimlana min qashyatika. Ma ta'ūdubihi baynana wa bayna ma'asīk. Wa min ta'atika matubal l-lughuna biha jannatak. Wa minan yaqīn imā yuhūn alayna ma'sa'ib al-dunya. Wa maqti'ina bi'asma'ina wa aqsārina wa kūwatina. Ma āhyaytana. Waj'al hulwārita minna. Waj'al thā'uram alamā gholamana. Wa mūsūrna alamā adāna. Wa la taj'al mus'ibatana fī dhīnina. Wa la taj'al mus'ibatana fī dhīnina. Wa la taj'al mus'ibatana fī dhīnina. Wa la taj'al dhunya akbarahamina. Wa la madr'a ilmina. Wa la tusabak alayna bi dhulūbina. Ma la yukhafuka wa la yarhamuna ya ahmar-rāhidi. Wa āfua'anna wa fīrana wa rhamna. Anta beulāna fa mūsūrna alad qawmi'l kāfirīn. Allahumma'nsur al-muslimīna fi kudi makam. Allahumma'nsur al-qawlana al-muslimīn al-fashyam. Allahumma'nsur al-nasrran min ʿundaki al-lāḥ. Allahumma'nsur al-muslimān al-muslimīna fi sūrīya ya'Allah. Allahumma'nsur al-muslimīna fi fawafīn wa fi l-irāq. Fi ibn Ghal. Fi al-Masr. Allahumma'nsur al-muslimīna fi Masr. Wa fi tūnis. Wa fi nībīyah. Fi al-māhrid. Fi mūretānia. Fi al-jazayir. Fi s'ana ghal. Fi al-sūdān. In Somalia, everywhere, in Turkey, Allah is the best of Muslims in Turkey, O Allah, and in Europe, Allah is the best of us in this country, everywhere, O Allah. Allahumma, man arada khayran lihalihi al-Ummat al-Muhammadiyyah, fa wafakul kula khayr. Wa man arada sharra lahawul al-Muslimiyyah, fa khudu akhla azeezin wa qtadir. Waj'at tadbirum tadmirum. Allahumma alayk bi'a'da'il ismaam. Anta ma'ulana au unsurna lul qawmul kāfireen, Wa natawassu ilayka bi'jaami'i ya'mal al-sualahat. Qama bi'hal muslimuna fi haad al-shahr al-lobarikla, Allahumma natawassu ilayka bi'haad al-sualahat. Kamā tawassu ilayka ashab al-kaaf. salim walhamdulillahi rabla alameen wa sallallahu ala seerina muhammarin wa ala abihi wa sahbihi wa sallam akim as-salah yurhamdi bi hurmukum Allah