 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Alhamdulillah. We welcome the people of the world, peace be upon you, to Sayyidina Muhammad and his family and companions, and we welcome many people. Alhamdulillah. As we find ourselves in these blessed days, we remind ourselves of the tremendous opportunity that Allah SWT gives us in Ramadan. Our beloved Messenger, peace be upon him, in a sound hadith related by Sayyidina Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah SWT said, If'al bin khaira, dahraqul. Do the good in your entire lifetime. Wa ta'aqra dulyna tahaati rahmatillah but turn yourselves to the breezes of Divine Mercy. Do the good your entire life. But turn yourself, make yourself ready and avail yourself of the breezes of Divine Mercy because there's times when there's special opportunities that Allah SWT facilitates. And one of these times is the month of Ramadan. But in our lifetime, each of us knows that there's opportunities where there's some good that we could do, some care of concern, of assistance, of turning to Allah SWT that one could avail oneself of an opportunity of drawing close to Allah SWT that we could take to the Prophet SAW said, Do the good your entire lifetime but make the most of the breezes of Divine Mercy. Wa ta'aqra dulyna tahaati rahmatillah You seebubiha min yasha'u min ibadih for Allah has breath of Divine Mercy. These winds of opportunity that reach whomever He wills of His servants. So turn yourself to those opportunities and one of those opportunities is this month. And what is the opportunity in this month? The opportunity in this month is not simply the acts of good that we do. The opportunity in this month is not the acts of good that we do but what there a means to. Allah SWT tells us in Surat al-Batara about the month of fasting. And what is it a means of? La'allakum taktakum that you may attain taqwa. La'allakum tashkuroon that you may attain thankfulness. But what people don't pay attention to that even taqwa of Allah SWT is not an end in itself. Thankfulness of Allah SWT is not an end in itself. Typically when people quote the verses on fasting they quote verses 183 to 185. But many of the scholars of Tafseer and the ulamas of Islam have mentioned that the ultimate purpose of fasting is mentioned in the very next verse. After the verses of fasting the very next verse is And if my servants ask you regarding me then I am indeed near. If my servants ask you regarding me what is my reality? I am close. This is the purpose of fasting, right? The acts of worship that we engage in those spiritual aims that we have of attaining taqwa of Allah of attaining thankfulness for His blessings these are all means. To what? To closeness to Allah SWT is what we should be striving for which fasting opens the door of realization for the one who reflects. And Allah SWT tells us I answer the call of the one who calls upon me when they call. So let them answer my call because we call upon Allah and this calling upon Allah of course is not just through dua your prayer, your fasting, your charity and your life are all potentially calls to Allah SWT the sincere believer, their state at any moment is expressing a calling upon Allah the righteous believer breathes with a sense of neediness for Allah their state calls to Allah their yearning for Allah SWT I answer the call of those who call upon me when they call. But then Allah SWT says so that they answer my call when you mean to be and let them believe in me so that they may be rightly guided rightly guided to what? to realize that closeness that is reality very often we forget the higher aim of our religion that what are we seeking in life and ultimately it is this reality of closeness to Allah SWT in the Hadith related by Imam Bukhari and it's a divine Hadith it's a Hadith Qumsi the Prophet SAW relates that Allah SWT says whoever shows enmity to a friend of mine to one of the awliya of Allah I declare war upon and then who are the awliya of Allah those beloved to Allah SWT Allah SWT says my servant draws close to me by nothing more beloved to me than what I have made obligatory upon them and my servant continues to draw close to me through supragatory works until I love them but who is a friend of Allah SWT who is close to Allah SWT the acts of good both obligatory and supragatory are Nawafil the Sunnahs these are means they are not ends in themselves they are necessary means to what to attain closeness to Allah SWT and this is a reality that is repeated and we recite through it and Allah SWT tells us three categories of people there's those of the left hand who are the failures who fail who turn away from Allah SWT but then of those who are successful there's Ashabu Yameen the people of the right but then what's the other category here is the Muqarrabun like Ashabi Qun the foremost Wa Ashabi Quna Ashabi Qun Wulatika muqarrabun the foremost who are they Wulatika muqarrabun they are those who've been brought close to Allah SWT wa ta'ala and this is something that we should reflect on because it's a reality that Allah SWT reminds us of Allah SWT categorizes his creation actually his servants from amongst creation into three levels in SWT verse 28 amongst them are those who have wronged themselves Wa minhum muqtasid and amongst those are those who are and muqtasid has several senses those who are moderate who are doing a moderate amount or it can also mean that they are between excellent struggle and sometimes they do well and sometimes they have serious struggle Wa minhum saabiqum bil khairati bi idin illa Allah and amongst them are those outstrip others by permission of Allah outstrip others in what in drawing close to Allah SWT in attaining closeness spiritual works that we're engaged in and all the great social dimensions of Ramadan that we're engaged in we should strive to make these clearly a means of seeking the closeness of Allah SWT don't just have an iftar because oh my goodness, I've been inviting my uncles for iftar so you just invite them for iftar just because make all these actions means to seek closeness to Allah SWT there's people in Canada who are kind of worried because I just came from Toronto because there's a phenomenon that Muslims are congregating in large numbers at 12.30 at night at Tim Hortons which is like our more refined version of Dunkin Donuts and there's like long lineups at 12.30, quarter to one, one o'clock I know I've been part of those lineups so you take your kids for some donuts or some ice cream at one o'clock at night and you know you could just do it because you know they're kind of upset that they had to be in Tarawih I was standing next to this one kid at our Tarawih in Toronto and after six rakahs the man got up and said Allah SWT and the kid looked up and his dad said there's more, right? you just did it to placate your kids but all of these things why would you do it to seek closeness to Allah SWT to earn His pleasure through the good in all its manifestations but to be able to seek the closeness to Allah SWT there's a few things that we need to remind ourselves of the first of them is to be able to seek the closeness of Allah SWT we need to gain beneficial knowledge what is beneficial knowledge Imam Ghazali defined it really beautifully he said it's it is the knowledge that enable you to draw closer to Allah SWT and it's not just you know what's called the BIM the bare Islamic minimum that you just want to know can I get out of the haram but there's much more than that for example this recently a few of us were going through the sunnahs of travel we were covering the fifth of travel in this class so I paused and covered Imam Naoui in his encyclopedic work of Mejmour covers 62 sunnahs related to travel and there's amazing sunnahs almost 10 of them if you want to learn about what Islam has to say about the treatment of animals and the environment read the sunnahs of travel many of those don't apply directly to us so they do at one level because if you treat your car properly it will pollute less and give you more mileage but 8 to 10 of the sunnahs relate to how you treat your animal in travel which teaches you so much just about the broad ethos of our religion that not only do you take care of the animal but Imam the expression of Imam Naoui is and you rai then you take care of the best interests of the animal in terms of how long you ride the animal how much you burden it with whether you stop and he mentions a whole number of considerations related not just to fulfilling the rights of the animal but the best interests of the animal to learn how to grow closer to Allah we need to gain knowledge traveling is all kinds of opportunities and you appreciate not just by the things you do of the teachings of the blessed prophet one of the sunnahs of travel is that if you're going in a group and you're the person responsible for the group you're able to assist the group the sunnah is to walk behind the group and it's not just out of humility it's out of practicality if you've ever been at an airport one of the common things to see is these young people look back and their elderly parents are lost like 20-30 steps behind or the kid ran into the toy shop to the parents got ahead the prophet salafi used to walk behind his companions why? to look it did someone need assistance could someone be helped is someone struggling so they should slow down a bit so he was commanding what he was going with from behind it's going together there's many many lessons to be learned from it but this is a critical aspect and very often we get complacent because seeking beneficial knowledge is not just I know how to pray, I know this, I know that my being is a functional whole but it is about bringing excellence bringing the beauty in a prophetic way taking advantage of all those opportunities that the prophet salafi has shown us of seeking the postings for Allah and that's something what should always connect to this is why the prophet salafi salam said in the hadith related by muqtadi muslim whomever Allah wishes well for maya yuridil lahudi khairan yufaqtikhu fi dheem he grants deep understanding of religion deep understanding of religion is what is to have the ability to seek Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in whatever circumstances he's placed you in like how do you seek Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at work there's all kinds of sunnahs related to work and most people many people when they become religious they see work as a distraction from their spiritual life but if you look at the sunnah of the prophet salam your work is central to your spiritual life it is a key daily spiritual work you engage in the prophet salam said that seeking a lawful living is a duty after the prescribed duties that it too is of the most beloved means of drawing closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but how do you do that you need to be understanding of religion to be able to seek Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that's a commitment that one should be nurturing in this month and how do I take the means of drawing closer knowledge is not just about learning new things it's also about reminding oneself if you did a personal analysis and you looked at your prayer and ask yourself are these sunnahs that I'm forgetting to be omitting one of us could easily identify five sunnahs that we don't do just because oh I forgot about that or you stop caring about doing that one of the benefits of knowledge is that it reminds you of what you already knew otherwise you just read before I once and I read it you keep repeating it because the lessons take time to be internalized the second key of seeking closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is that you have to bring consistency in your spiritual works that the most beloved of religion meaning the most beloved of religious practice to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and therefore to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was that which was done most consistently by someone because that consistency is indicative of sincerity of trueness and that's one of the the things that one should be thinking of as a person as a person as a person the things that one should be thinking of as we slowly begin to enter the second half of this month that of the spiritual works that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has reminded me of in this month what can I make part of my consistent routine what routine of fasting will I have after Ramadan, what routine of night worship will I have the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam taras about tarawih but Allah mentioned the hadith about praying 8 rakahs at night and after Ramadan and one of the wisdoms by the walima mentioned that hadith in the chapter of tarawih is that if you do tarawih in the month of Ramadan there's something that comes after which is this is meant to be a bridge to bring the sumna of night worship into one's life look at the other spiritual works how does one bring them in a consistent basis and to strive to bring excellence into them each of those things that you do in your religious life have this commitment how will I be able to seek Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through it and to be always working on that the third and this is arguably the most important means of seeking the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is that you have to always remember that the way of seeking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not relate only to your relationship with Allah but it relates to how you are with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's creation the believers most perfect in faith are those best in character they're not those who are best in worship and prayer and Quran those who are best in character the closest door to the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is how you conduct yourself with this creation and that's something that you have to be thinking about in this month that how do I change my relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's creation because that is the key to changing your relationship with Allah you want to know what you're standing with Allah is look at how you are in challenging encounters with other people when someone annoys you when someone upsets you when someone says those harsh words how do you respond the believers most perfect in faith are those best in character and where is this tested it is tested in three relationships and you want to see where you are in terms of closest to Allah look at how you are with your parents the Prophet s.a.w said the pleasure of Allah is in the pleasure of one's parents and Allah's anger is in their anger so ask yourself how you are in that relationship how are you with your spouses in the hadith on the perfection of faith being excellence of character the Sahih hadith by non-termini the Prophet s.a.w continued and the best of you so if you're coming every day to the masjid then pray your sinna but your harsh and mean and rude to your husband or your wife this means that you have the forms of Islam but its realities are not yet in your heart and you need to rectify if you want to seek the closeness of Allah you will not attain it without working on how you are with this creation and the third critical relationship is how you are with children whoever is not respectful of our elders and merciful to our children is not of us and that's critical how are you with your children and it's not how you are generally it's when they test you is what character is manifest when they annoy you when they upset you you convince yourself to get the new macbook pro and you're looking at it and your kid came and he saw some cartoon and it smashed how are you then? that's the test of your character and so this is one of the keys how are you with Allah's creation if you want to seek the closeness of Allah remember the words of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam it is only the merciful who are granted mercy by the all merciful be merciful to those on earth and the lord of the heavens will be merciful to you so ask yourself if I'm seeking the closeness to Allah what am I with Allah's creation and finally in terms of seeking the closeness to Allah one of the most important sunnahs of the month of Ramadan that a lot of people neglect is to make a great amount of dua there's three categories of people whose dua is not rejected one of them is the fasting person until they break their fast and the sunnah throughout the day to make dua and particularly when breaking the fast Imam Shafiq said as Imam Naoui relates from him that it is understood from the sunnah that one should make dua not only for oneself and one's family and the people one knows but one should also be actively making dua for the general interests the masalif, believers and of humanity and you should be making dua the purpose is not to go up because of the drought for relief for Allah's creation you should be making dua for the environment the Prophet ﷺ made dua for the milk that was in the udders and the crops that were in the fields that's part of concern for Allah's creation to make extensive dua and what does dua express dua expresses that meaning of closeness of recognizing your neediness to Allah SWT all creations neediness for the mercy of Allah SWT so take advantage of that opportunity and the best of what you could ask from Allah is what he asks of you the best of what you could ask Allah is what he asks of you so these are three of the keys to seeking the closeness to Allah SWT the first being seek beneficial knowledge knowledge that enables you to seek Allah SWT for the closeness in your life secondly consistent spiritual routine of worship that you sustain throughout your life that's the sunnah of the Prophet and the third is transform the way you are with Allah SWT have deep concern what is religion religion is sincere concern religion is sincere concern it is wish that is concern expressed in righteous conduct when tested in those relationships particularly with your parents with your spouse with your children and that concern is manifest in your dua what you care about in your relationship with Allah is manifest in what you ask Allah in your dua what you ask for in dua you just parrot some words or just make demandless to Allah SWT or are you truly seeking his closeness and pleasure and love what you ask for his creation how much dua do you make for others that's a sign of how much you care about them and these are tremendous days of opportunities we will close with this Hadith Qudsi this Divine Hadith that the Prophet said relates that Allah SWT says if if my servant draws close to me by a handspan I draw close to them by an arm's length and if they draw close to me by an arm's length I draw close to them by two arm's length and if they come to me walking I rush to them this is the mercy of Allah SWT that door of mercy is always open and we just have to direct ourselves we just have to direct ourselves we just have to direct ourselves and we just have to direct ourselves to it and turn to it and find a way of actually walking on the straight path we are on the straight path we have faith but we always ask to guide us to the straight path you want to be of those who are taking consistent steps of seeking the closeness to Allah SWT this is the opportunity that we have throughout our lives do the good throughout our lifetimes but Allah has in the days of your lifetime divine breaths of mercy so avail yourselves of them if my servants ask you regarding me then I am indeed near this is what Allah SWT tells us of this month I am indeed near I answer the call of the one who calls upon me when they call so let them answer my call in order that they be rightly guided we ask Allah SWT to be of those who answer the divine call who seek his closeness and to take the means of attaining his closeness and Allah SWT does not let down the hopes of anyone who hopes in him Allah SWT Allah SWT Allah SWT