 Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. He started with the name of Allah Azza wa Jalla. The one whose mercy encompasses all things. Ar-Rahman, whose universal mercy encompasses us and his particular mercy encompasses us. Ar-Raheem. Allah Azza wa Jalla gave us existence and after that he continues to give us existence. He gives us food and he continues to give us food. And he has set certain bounds in the Sharia and that is Ar-Raheem. Ar-Raheem is the one through whom his mercy we have received guidance. His particular mercy has come to us that it doesn't come to every individual. Ar-Raheem is the one whose mercy is the particularities. Among those particular mercies that Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us is the fact that he has made us believers. And he has made us people who have times in the year that remind us of our connection to him. And tonight might very well be the beginning of Ramadan or tomorrow might be the beginning of Ramadan depending on the moon side. And this month is one of those times where we reinvigorate our relationship with Allah Azza wa Jalla. We connect our hearts back to Allah Azza wa Jalla. We connect our hearts back to the sunnah of his Habib sallallahu alaihi wa sallam who that prophet alaihi wa sallam is amongst his great, is the greatest of his particular mercies. And amongst the particular mercies is that he has made us an ummah that has this particular fast in this particular way, that we are strained from food, we are strained from conjugal relations, we are strained from particular things. And previous ummam, previous nations have had fasts prescribed unto them, but their fasts were harder, that they were denied speaking during their fasts. So Allah Azza wa Jalla says, Ya ayuhalladina amanu, O you who believe. And this is Allah Azza wa Jalla's pre-eternal address to us. We have to realize that that Allah Azza wa Jalla is addressing each and single one of us, that none of us are excluded from this address. Ya ayuhalladina amanu, kutiba aleykum al-siyam. That fasting is prescribed upon you kama kutiba aalalladina min qablikum as it was prescribed on previous nations. And this is Allah Azza wa Jalla's reminder to us that other nations have received the mercy of knowing to fast, but their fasts was not like ours. Kutiba al-siyam, kutiba aalalladina amanu, kutiba aleykum al-siyam, kama kutiba aalalladina min qablikum, why? La'allakum tattakun, so that you might have taqwa, that you might have God weariness, that you see Allah Azza wa Jalla, that you see Him and His command. You see what is demanded of you in every moment. You see Allah Azza wa Jalla and you see that He is addressing me, that had He not had care for me, He would not have addressed me. We see that as a mercy and He has charged me with the responsibility of holding Him in front of us as is appropriate to His majesty through taqwa, through God weariness, being aware that Allah Azza wa Jalla exists and He has commands and prohibitions. And those commands and prohibitions are in our interest. And He has given us this fast as a reminder that nothing really is stopping us from eating, drinking and so on and so forth other than the fact that Allah Azza wa Jalla said you cannot drink and eat during these times. It's God weariness. It's taqwa that stops the believer from consuming something that's illicit, that's legal, that they're allowed to consume in any other time, a cup of water or whatever it may be, your favorite meal, mac and cheese or biryani or whatever it may be, that that's illicit for you. But taqwa, your consciousness of Allah's command and prohibition is what stops you from eating, drinking and so on and so forth. But this month is a reminder that we are in a consistent ascent, a consistent journey towards Allah Azza wa Jalla. And that's a journey of taqwa, that's a journey of finding ourselves aware, to be aware of Him, to whatever degree that we may reach in that. And so there's different levels of fasting. The Prophet SAW said that some people fast and stand in the nights of Ramadan and all they receive is hunger and tiredness. And if that's what we receive then perhaps we haven't really ascended. We haven't taken steps on the journey. And so this fast is not to make us hungry. The nights of prayer are not to make us tired. The lack of sleep is not to make you tired. It's not to give you brain fog. It's not to give you the inability to focus at work or at school. It's for taqwa, for God consciousness, for God weariness. To put Allah Azza wa Jalla at the forefront. To see Him Azza wa Jalla come first before everything else. And this happens in six ways. Number one, to protect the eyes from that which you shouldn't look at. To protect the eyes and use the eyes for what it is made for. To give shukr for the blessing of eyes by using what it is made for. To look onto Allah's creation. And to appreciate that Allah Azza wa Jalla has made this for us to behold. Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us our eyes to allow us to use them for finding direction. But Allah Azza wa Jalla has not given us these eyes to disobey Him. And the first step in our fast is to use the eyes for what they're made for. To not allow our gaze to go left and right, even if it's by accident. That if there's any time that we want to practice averting our gaze from that which we shouldn't look at, that this is the month. This is the month that you tell yourself, I can show myself that I can hold myself from eating the lisit from drinking what I'm allowed to drink in any other time. Then I can surely avoid looking at what I shouldn't look at, that which is haram. If I can avoid the halal, I can definitely avoid the haram. Number one, the eyes. Number two, the tongue. That we tell ourselves that I'm holding myself back from eating because Allah Azza wa Jalla commanded me to not eat. And I'm avoiding eating that which is allowed in other times of the year. Then definitely if I can do that, then I can hold myself back from using the tongue for that which it shouldn't be used for. For speaking about someone how we shouldn't speak about them. For saying words that might put hurt into somebody else's heart. To allow ourselves to think about words that if somebody else would hear them, that it would hurt them. That we know that Allah Azza wa Jalla, if we have taqwa, if we have God wearing this, that we know that Allah Azza wa Jalla knows our thoughts better than we do. That even our thoughts that precede our words on the tongue. That we can hold that back as well. If we can hold back legal food and drink, then we can hold back words that we shouldn't be saying. And if we can do it in this month, we can do it in the other months. That if we can build the habit now, we can build the habit and allow that habit to continue after the other months. Number three is that we hold ourselves back from using the ears for that which is not made for. The ears are made for a number of reasons, right? They're made for a number of reasons, help to assist you with communication. To listen to the sounds of Allah Azza wa Jalla, Allah Azza wa Jalla to listen to and appreciate the beauty that He has created. To remind you that there is a Creator. That if I can use my ears in this month to avoid listening to that which I shouldn't listen to, whatever it may be that distracts us from Allah Azza wa Jalla, whatever it may be. If it's abstaining from listening to the words of a friend that you know that might bring up faults in others, abstaining from listening to some song that keeps you distracted from the words of Allah Azza wa Jalla, then we tell ourselves in this month I'm going to use these ears for what they're made for. To listen to what Allah Azza wa Jalla wants me to listen to and nothing else. Number four, to use the rest of our limbs and our body parts to avoid sin. That if we can use our hands to eat food that is allowed for us at its thought, and use our hands to avoid to not use our hands to pick up food that we shouldn't be touching, we shouldn't be tempting ourselves with during the daytime that we can use our hands for that which they weren't made for, to use our feet for that which they weren't made for, to walk towards where Allah doesn't want us to be, to use our hands in a way that's displeasurable to Him. Number four is our hands and the rest of our body parts, our extremities. Number five is that if Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us the opportunity to avoid food as a reminder and avoid drink and whatever else that we may be avoiding, to avoid those things during the daytime that we don't try to compensate for what we missed out in the daytime by overeating, over drinking, so on and so forth, over indulging in the nighttime. That this time is for you to, this is a time for us to decrease our engagement with the material, with food and drink and so on and so forth. So that we're able to be more in line with the immaterial. This is a time for us to feel the hunger and remind you of your dependence on Allah Azza wa Jalla. That Allah Azza wa Jalla is the one who puts satiation inside my stomach. That before sahur comes, we don't drink three, four water bottles hoping that it'll be preserved throughout the day, that it'll keep us going throughout the day. We don't eat, we don't try to fit three meals in between 7.30 and 5.30, in between those nine hours. If tawr, enough to keep your back straight and pray, and sahur, enough to allow you to do your actions of the day. Number six, and after we break that fast, to not allow our engagement with the things that we've been avoiding throughout the day, to distract us from the purpose of the month. And that is for our hearts to be attached to Allah Azza wa Jalla's messenger, As-Salaam, that even in the time when we are eating and drinking and spending time with family, whatever it may be, this does not become a time, at least in this month, that it does not become a time when we allow our hearts to become attached to things that our hearts shouldn't be attached to. That there's nothing wrong with spending time with the family, there's nothing wrong with being in our jobs, there's nothing wrong with keeping ourselves entertained enough, but in its place, in its place, justice is to put things in their place and to show justice to this month, that we put Allah Azza wa Jalla first. And when we see that we can put Allah Azza wa Jalla first and thus this month, and we can never fulfill completely justice to Allah Azza wa Jalla, but we can at least begin to try and show ourselves in this month how much we can do. Generally, the advice is before Ramadan are quite simple. We hear this growing up, we hear this every day. It's at the forefront of our minds, there's nothing new. It's to put Allah Azza wa Jalla in his messenger asa asana first. And that's what this month is for. To remind ourselves that we're not here for the distractions that exist. We're not here for Fali, we're not here for play, we're here to keep Allah Azza wa Jalla in his command and his prohibitions as he came through his messenger asa asana at the forefront, to show our love for Allah Azza wa Jalla in his messenger asa asana. That because Allah Azza wa Jalla commands this thing, we do it. Because he prohibits this, we avoid it. There's nothing haram about water. But because Allah Azza wa Jalla says, during this time, I don't want you to drink water, you're saying the big wa sa'adig. I'm here for you, Ya Allah. And I'm here for your pleasure. So may Allah makes the people who strive for His pleasure, may Allah make us people of taqwa, may Allah makes the people who give priority to Allah in his messenger asa asana. May Allah makes the people who are the sa'a-e min, are those who fast. Or may Allah makes the people whose hearts are not connected to that which we shouldn't be connected to. May Allah Azza wa Jalla allow us to abstain from that which He prohibits us. May Allah Azza wa Jalla allow us to be people who enact the acts that He wants us to enact. May Allah Azza wa Jalla allow us to keep Him at the forefront. May Allah Azza wa Jalla allow us to be people who in every step we take, we put Allah in His messenger asa asana first. And we first think about what Allah and His messenger asa asana want. May Allah makes the people of love for Him and for His messenger asa asana and for our families and for this month and for the other months and for the lives that we've been given and to value those lives that we've been given and to value the people that we've been given, to value the families that we've been given, to value the food that we've been given and to value the drink that we've been given, to value the relations that we've been given. May Allah makes the people who value what we've been given to give shukr, to give gratitude for what we've been given and to give shukr by means of taqwa, to see him, Azad Jannah is the one who gave it to us and give us shukr that he is the one who gave it to us in the most perfect manner. Had anyone else given it to us, though it is impossible that anyone could give it to us, that had anyone else given it to us it would not be in the manner that he gave it to us. May Allah makes the people find no solace except in him, so he say, Allahumma anta salam, wa minkas salam, taba'at iyad al jalani wal ikram, hayyina wa dkhinad ar-as-salam. Rabbina aatina fi dduniya hasina wa fil aakhti hasina wa khinada bina. Rabbina hablina min azwajina wa dhuryatina Rability is the most important thing in the Quran. Rabbir hamuma kumarabbiyani segira, rhabbir hamuma kumarabbiyani segira, rhabbir hamuma kumarabbiyani segira, rhabbir hamuma kumarabbiyani segira, rhabbir hamuma kumarabbiyani segira, rhabbir hamuma kumarabbiyani segira. We ask Allah that He gives mercy on our teachers, particular first teachers, our parents. When we ask Allah Azza wa Jalla, He sends the salutations, his blessing on the teacher, ourball teacher sallallahu al-sallam, and He will recognize him and his angels and the blessed those salutations upon him He says Allah Hu malak hithui salloon al-nabiyya ya ayyuha ladheena amru sallo alaihi wa sallimutasneema Allāhumma sallīya ala Sayyidina Muhammad wā alli Sayyidina Muhammad wā ala azwāci Sayyidina Muhammad wā ala asḥābi Sayyidina Muhammad wā ala atba'i sayyidina Muhammad wā ala ahba'b Sayyidina Muhammad wā ala ummatī Sayyidina Muhammad wā ala fatik wa sallimas alani yārahi innallāhi amr bʿAūdhī wa l'ʿiḥsānī wa yaitā'idin qurbā و ينهان ينفح شاء والمنكر والبغي يعذركم نعلكم تذكرون اذكروا الله يذكركم Remember Allah and He'll remember you و دعوه يستجب لكم Call upon Him and He'll answer you و لذكر الله أكبر The remembrance of Allah is greater و أقيم الصلاة