 Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahirrahmanirrahim. Wa Salatu Wa Salam ala Sayyidil Mursaleen. Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salam tasliman. Kathira. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. This is Imam Zayi Shaker. And I'm here to talk to all of my wonderful brothers and sisters out there about the virtue of the days we are about to enter, which are the first 10 days of the Hijjah. And some of the things that we can do, most of us would not be going to Hajj anyway. The overwhelming majority of us would not be going to Hajj in any case. So the fact that foreigners are not allowed this year, wisely, I think, to make the Hajj doesn't affect what we should be doing. And what we should be doing, brothers and sisters, is taking advantage of the tremendous days that we are about to enter. Our prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, is related to have said on Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, in the days of the righteous, I love Allah, in the days of the righteous, I love Allah from these 10 days, that is, the 10 days of the Hijjah. They said, Ya Rasulallah, Walad jiharu fi sabi lilaa Qala, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Walad jiharu fi sabi lilaa illa radulun khara jaa bimalihi wa nafsihi thumma lam yarjaa min dalika bishay. And so the prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, this hadith is found in the compilation of Imam Al-Bukhari and others. He says that there are no days as related by Ibn Abbas, there are no days of the year during which the righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala than these days. They said, oh messenger of Allah, not even jihad, struggling in the way of Allah, in a way that places your life in jeopardy. He said, not even jihad in the way of Allah, not even struggling in the way of Allah, except a man who goes forth in the way of Allah, with all of his wealth and with his life, and then he returns with neither. In other words, he loses all of his wealth and he loses his life struggling in the way of Allah to defend the faith and the faithful. La ilaha illallah. So that tells you the virtue of these days, that the only action during these days that's better than saying la ilaha illallah, than saying Subhanallah, than saying la hawla wa la quwwata ila billah, than saying alhamdulillah. The only action that's better is a man who goes forth with all of his wealth and his life and he loses them all struggling in the way of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So brothers and sisters, what does that tell us? It tells us that we should take advantage of this incredible opportunity that Allah Ta'ala is extending to us. Allah Ta'ala is extending to us an opportunity to engage in actions during this time. The reward is multiplied over and beyond the reward of anything other than the action of the man that we mentioned, la ilaha illallah. In fact, the hajj that many people undertake is described as being jihad. The prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasall, mentioned ni'ama al jihad and hajj. That hajj is the most excellent form of struggle in the way of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So we should take advantage, brothers and sisters, we should fast during these days. These days are an incredible opportunity to earn immense reward for our fasting. We should recite the Quran during these days. We should try to do if we have an opportunity and many of us have more time than we normally have because we're still not commuting back and forth to work. Many of us are still working from home, rather. So that time can be spent with the book of Allah, az-wajal. We can engage in a rod and a car that normally we might not engage in anticipating the enhanced reward that's promised to us from Allah by the messenger of Allah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasall. So we should take advantage of that. On the subject of jihad or struggle, we should note that as we prepare to enter into these days, that these days are described as having a reward or the action, rather, the action of these days are described as having the reward of a man who loses his life and all of his wealth defending the faith. Iroh, and then we have our Eid on the 10th day. Iroh Fitr is preceded during the last 10 days of Ramadan by Leila Tulaqadr and one of those nights, most predominantly, there are different opinions, but the strongest opinions is one of those nights and many scholars are pying that the most likely night is the 27th of the month. Leila Tulaqadr, which precedes Iroh Fitr, how is it described? Allah ta'ala mentioned in the Quran, Leila Tulaqadr yakhirum min alfi shahr, that the night of power is better than 1,000 months. Now is this just any 1,000 months? Our prophet, Salallah, is related that these 1,000 months, these 83 years are 83 years of a man who dons his armor, who puts on his armor, goes forth and defends the faith for 83 years and during those 83 years, while he's defending the faith, he's praying, he's fasting, he's remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Leila Tulaqadr is better than the worship of that man in that state. So note, brothers and sisters, Leila Tulaqadr Iroh Fitr is preceded by days whose actions are described as being better than the actions of a man who goes forth to defend the faith and he loses his life and his property. So doing Iroh Fitr is preceded by days because Leila Tulaqadr can be any of those last 10 days. So Iroh Fitr is preceded by days, the actions during which are described as a night's weather, the actions during which are described as being better than a man who dons his armor and goes forth to defend the faith for 83 years, approximately 1,000 months. So what does this tell us, brothers and sisters? Number one, it tells us that we have a generous Lord. We have a generous Lord and the Hajj is our humble, meager human attempt based on our limited and scanty human resources to go and acknowledge the great bounties and gifts of our Lord and to worship him at his sacred house. This is what we're endeavoring to do. It tells us that our Lord is generous. It tells us that our religion is a religion of struggle. Struggling the way of Allah should rightfully be the case. So the Hajj, which is a struggle is preceded by days which we should struggle in our religion. We have to understand this religion is not cheap. This religion being, it's the best thing that this dunya can give us. As Imam Ali mentioned, minna'im ad-dunya in yakthiaka l-islamu ni'matan. That from the blessings of the world, Islam suffices as a blessing. Islam suffices as a blessing. If we got gold, silver, diamonds, precious jewels, yachts and cars, whatever the world could give us and we didn't leave this world with Islam in our heart, we leave impoverished. But if we leave this world without the gold, the silver, the diamonds, the cars, the yachts, but we leave this world and la ilaha illallah, Muhammad or Rasulullah, there's no God but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. If that gold, that saying is firmly nestled into the depths of our hearts, we've left this world rich. We've left this world with everything we need to succeed in the Akhirah. And so these days are an opportunity for us to enrich ourselves, brothers and sisters. These are days where we should extol the greatness of towhi la ilaha illallah. This is the best, one of the best things we can say. Not because I want it to be so, but our prophet is related to, I've said, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, khayru ma quttuhu ana. Wa ma qaluhun nabiyyuna min ba'di. I'm in qabli, excuse me. The best thing that I've said, khayru ma quttuhu ana. The best thing that I've said. Wa qaluhun nabiyyuna min qabli and the best thing that the prophets who preceded me have said, la ilaha illallah, is la ilaha illallah. And these are days when we say la ilaha illallah, the reward is unimaginable. The reward is unimaginable. May Allah give us towfiq, may Allah give us taisir, may Allah give us qabul. These days also contain a day, the ninth day of this month, the day of Arfa, Yama Arfa. And this day, excuse me, fasting it involves the reward, or the expiation of this year, the current year, present year, and the coming year sin. Two years of atonement for our sins, for fasting one day. Again, this illustrates the generous and magnanimous nature of our Lord. And this is for sinners, it's for the pious who might slip into sin inadvertently. It's for the sinners who might consciously sin. It's a reminder that our Lord wants good for us. And so we should try everything in our power to be good to our Lord. Our Lord wants good for us. We should strive, we should endeavor, we should try to do everything in our power to be good to our Lord. And one of the ways that that goodness from us is expressed. And what does the Messenger of Allah say about this goodness? Inna allaha payibun walaya qabalu illa payibah. That Allah is good and pure and only accepts that which is good and pure. And one of the ways that we render ourselves good and pure brothers and sisters is with a good Niyah and with pious actions that are based upon those intentions or Niyah. Niyah meaning intention for those who might be unfamiliar with the Arabic term. So brothers and sisters, what are we waiting for? What are we waiting for? And just as in Ramadan before Ramadan we're encouraged to fast during the month of Sha'ban. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallamah was related to not to have not fast voluntarily in any month to the extent that he fasted during the month of Sha'ban. Why? To prepare himself for Ramadan. When Ramadan comes, we're already in fasting mode. And one of the wisdoms of fasting, the entirety of the first eight days if you will of those 10 is to prepare us for the ninth day. And so when Yom Al-Arafah comes, we are already in fasting mode. So it's easy for us to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity for our current years and our coming year sins to be expiated. La ilaha illallah, la ilaha illallah. This Yom Al-Arafah, this day of Arafah is a day it's related by our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that there is no day of the year when more people are liberated from the hellfire than the day of Arafah. La ilaha illallah, la ilaha illallah. And this is the real liberation. You know, people are talking today about liberation in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, the tragic incident that happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and then the uprising for racial justice and liberation of black lives and everything that you're all familiar with. But the true liberation, and this is something Muslims must remain cognizant of. We cannot abandon our faith, our teachings, our Akhira, and then instrumentalize Islam, making Islam an instrument that serves one purpose, racial or ethnic justice or liberation. So justice, of course, is an integral part of Islam. But if we don't first and foremost liberate our souls, liberate our minds, liberate our consciousness from our carnal appetites, lust and desires, from our greed, from the diseases that assail the heart and the soul, and we attain those other liberations. Yom al-Qiyama, those would definitely benefit us in the world, and we're not trying to dismiss the fact that this is also a part of Islam striving for worldly freedom and liberation. Kumu qawaminu bilqist, shuhadah alillah, be upright for justice, witnesses for Allah. So we have to be upright for justice. E'adinu wa aqarabul taqwa, be just, that's greater to God consciousness. This is part of our religion. But we have priorities, and our first and foremost priority is liberating ourselves from the hellfire and brothers and sisters, as we mentioned. On this day, Allah liberates more people from the hellfire than any other day of the year. And so what do we have to do? It's what, it's all into what? It's not all into our actions. Our actions are necessary, but not sufficient to use that language. Our actions are praying during these days and on that day. Our reciting the Qur'an during these days and on that day. Our fasting during these days and on that day, these days being the preceding days of the hijjah. All of those are necessary, but proficiency comes through the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. La niyaqolul ahadin, a'maluhu l-jannah. No one's action will enter them into a paradise. Wa la anta ya RasulAllah, not even you all messengers of Allah wa la ana illa ana ga na'iyya Allahi fi rahma bi fatnimu rahma. Not even me. Only if Allah envelops me in His grace and His mercy. So the grace and the mercy of Allah, that's where the sufficiency comes from. And so we have to expose ourselves through our actions to be recipients of the grace and mercy of Allah. This is a beautiful hadith, one of my favorite hadiths with the Prophet Muhammad, he said, there's a beautiful hadith, one of my favorite hadiths with the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is related to have said, اطلوب الخير دحركم كلها. See good every moment that you spend on the service. We mentioned, ان الله طيب ولا يقبلوا إلى طيبة. Allah's good and pure and only accepts that which is good and pure. We have to be people of goodness. And so اطلوب الخير سيك good, سيك good دحركم كلها. Every moment you spend on the service. Brothers and sisters, don't waste your time with wickedness. Don't waste your time with evil. Don't waste your time retweeting garbage. Don't waste your time engaging in the rumors that are circulating. Don't waste your time finding the faults in others. When a law wants to destroy a person, this is something related by many of our spiritual sages, the akhavir of the past. When a law wants to destroy a person, he preoccupies that person with the faults of others and makes that person oblivious to their own faults. And so that person is so busy, they might even set up a website where they just pursue and document the faults of others. And they're so busy doing that, they never take the time to consider their own faults. And as a result, their life expires and their own faults have gone unaddressed. Their own sins have gone unrepented for and they end up in a bad situation. May Allah protect us from that. May Allah bless us to see our faults. May Allah bless us with honest people who appoint our faults out to us. May Allah give us the personal integrity to address those faults and to eliminate those faults so that we don't meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we're not payeb. Therefore we're not acceptable. And Allah payebun. Allah is good and pure. And only accepts that, which is good and pure. So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So So Exposed ourselves through our Uh Our Rod and our Eff car for our litanies and our supplications. We exposed ourselves through our doaa. We exposed ourselves through all of the righteous deeds that a believer might perform. And as we expose ourselves during these days the days the beginning days of the el hedja. And then on the day of Arafah, the breezes of Allah's mercy are blowing stronger during these days than any other days. And so the likelihood of one of those breezes touching us is greatly enhanced. And then the hadith goes on. And Allah certainly has gentle breezes of His mercy that He touches with whomsoever He desires from His servants. And then, as mentioned, I'm not sure if it's part of the narration or it was added by some of the commentators. I didn't have an opportunity to check, so I'll say it's mentioned. And whomever is touched by one of those gentle breezes of Allah's mercy experiences joy that's so profound they're never saddened for the rest of eternity. فَمَنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَائِدَ سَعَدَتَنْ لَا يَشْقَابَادَهَا أَبَدَهَا لَا الْحِلْ اللَّهُ Brothers and sisters, this is what life is all about. This is what life is all about. Because these breezes they're not confined to the wealthy nor the poor. They're not the exclusive providence or domain of the wealthy nor the poor. They're not blowing upon the black to the exclusion of the white or the white to the exclusion of the black. They're not blowing to the Arab to the exclusion of the Ajam, the non-Arab or the non-Arab to the exclusion of the Arab. They're blowing freely and any one of us be us rich or poor, be us black or white or anything in between, be we Arab or non-Arab. Any one of us has the power within ourselves to expose ourselves to one of those breezes of Allah's mercy. So we pray that during these days we're touched by one of those breezes. We pray that Allah SWT inspires us and gives us Tawfiq, creates in us the propensity to expose ourselves to those breezes and to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that are associated with these blessed days. In conclusion, I'd like to refer to one of the verses of Hajj in the Qur'an where Allah Ta'ala He mentions, أرجو بالله من الشيط عن الرجيمي بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم وأدنمس الناس بالحج يطوك الرجالا وعلى قول دا بامر يتينا من كل فجن عميق. So I proclaim Allah is addressing Ibrahim AS وأدنف الناس بالحج. Proclaim the pilgrimage amongst humanity. There will come responding, walking, writing on every means of convenience from every deep and distant mountain pass. وأدنف الناس بالحج. It's related that when Ibrahim AS was given that command, he said to his Lord, he responded to his Lord that my voice cannot reach all of humanity. I'm in this valley surrounded by mountains. Even for my voice can't even penetrate the mountains that surround me. And this is part of our spiritual history, history, brothers and sisters. And our spiritual history is not confined to the laws of social science, anthropology and sociology, nor to the empirical scientific method. These are affairs of the rule. These are our affairs. All of that, the laws governing physical science, any social sciences we might observe or think we observe because people are very nuanced and complicated and social theories usually fail to capture that nuance and complication. But be that as it is. All of that is associated with this seeing world, this part of the creation that can indeed be empirically verified. But the affairs associated with many aspects of our religion are connected with the unseen world. And Hajj helps to keep the reality of the unseen world alive in our hearts. And as Muslims, when we become so overwhelmed by the seeing world, we can actually lose touch with the unseen world. But Allah reminds us the first specific aspect of our belief mentioned in the Quran is our belief in the unseen world. Alif, Lam, Meem. This is the scripture. There's no doubt concerning it. It is guidance for those mindful of their Lord. Those who believe in the unseen establish regular prayer and they spend from what we have bestowed upon them. The first belief mentioned in detail specified is belief in the unseen. This is a reminder for us. And so when Ibrahim, why do I say that? Because the things that I will relate right now, they'll seem strange to a person whose heart, whose senses, whose sensitivities and sensibilities have been overwhelmed by the reality's laws associated with the seen world. So Ibrahim says, my voice can't reach them. And Allah, to Allah, responds, you make the call. That's what you've been ordered to do. We're advin, finnasi bil hajj. You make the call. I will call. I will allow your voice to reach them. And it's related that the mountains, they humble themselves. They fell low. They even themselves out. And so when Ibrahim made the call, his voice carried to every corner of the earth. And he said, that everyone heard the stones, the earth, The trees all heard the call, as well as everyone who has been decreed that they will make the pilgrimage to the Day of Regurrection, and they all responded, labbaik allahuma labbaik. We are coming, our Lord, Ya'o, our Lord, we are coming. We are responding, our Lord, we are responding, we are coming. And so, brothers and sisters, understand, when you make your intention for Hajj, when you realize the power of these days, you're not alone. You might be alone in your house because of this virus. You might be in one of those states or cities where the virus is spiraling out of control and you're locked down in your home and shelter-in-place orders are enforced, but you're not alone, brothers and sisters, because the trees, the stones, the earth, the birds, the animals, they're all saying labbaik allahuma labbaik with you. They're all joining you. They're all glorifying Allah with you, but we don't know their tessbih, as Allah informs us in the Qur'an. We are never alone, brothers and sisters. So as you deal with the isolation of this pandemic, as you deal with the stress of these days and the tension, understand, you're not going through this alone. And so, join the chorus of creation that is singing the praises of Allah along with you. Glorify Allah, Subhan Allah. Thank and praise Allah, Alhamdulillah. Extoll the oneness of Allah, and this is the Hajj. This is a great assembly of human beings coming together to extoll the greatness of Allah, but this is not just for the hujjaj, for the people who are not on Hajj. We make the tessbih, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah. There is no God, Allah is the greatest, there is no, Allah is the greatest, there is no God but Allah. And so, we are extolling the greatness of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, but we're not doing it alone. We're doing it with all of creation, we're doing it with all of creation. And when we understand that, brothers and sisters, we know the power of this religion and we know that our soul, the power, the potential rather that we have that's actualized when that potential joins the rest of creation and glorifying Allah and extolling the greatness of Allah, of submitting and humbling ourselves to Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, as those mountains humbled themselves when Allah, Ta'ala, commanded them to do so so that the call of Ibrahim of Abraham could reach every single one of us. May Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, give you ta'fiq, brothers and sisters, may Allah give you tessir, may Allah create in you the propensity for success, may Allah make things easy for you. All of our brothers and sisters struggling during this time, may Allah remove the anxiety and grief created by this pandemic, this virus. Oh, did I wash my hands when I came home? Was I, did I touch something that had the virus on it? Did I, did I, was I exposed when that person sneezed? Was it the common cold or did they have corona? Is it really carry aerosol and airborne, as they're saying now, because I was only 10 feet away, but they said it can go beyond six feet. Did it reach me? It's anxiety. But if we are close to Allah, that anxiety will vanish like a, a, a small shallow expanse, small, small portion of water. If it was an expanse, it wouldn't be small, but a small, shallow portion of water dissipates in the desert sun. Our grief, our worry and our anxiety will dissipate when the light of truth and the light of a thicker and the light of Quran and the light that's generated in our hearts from fasting reaches those griefs and those anxieties. They will dissipate as that shadow puddle of water dissipates in the advancing seat, heat and light of the desert sun. May Allah bless us to do the things that will dry up our anxiety and grief. May Allah bless us to take advantage of these days. Keep your tongues moist with the remembrance of Allah. Keep the words of Tauheed on your tongue, extoll the greatness of Allah. Keep the teqbir on your tongue, especially during the, uh, the from the, from the time of the morning of the. Eid until the end of the third day of tashreeq. That's four days in total. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Wa Lillahi l-hamd, all praise is due to Allah is the greatest. There's no God but Allah, all praise is due to Allah. This is Imam Zayshak here and praying that Allah blesses you during these days, inspires you, motivates you, uplifts you, causes you to rise up and worship him with fervor and enthusiasm that's born of love and that he blesses all of us with a very, very special Eid. Just as many of us, if not most of us, us, if not all of us, virtually saw that indeed, despite the circumstances, we had a very, very blessed Ramadan. This is Imam Zayshak here. Jazakum Allah khairan. May Allah bless all of you. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.