 with the praise of Allah. We praise him, we seek his aid and we seek his forgiveness and we seek his protection from the evil of ourselves, from the evil of our actions and from the evil of this world. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide and whomever he misguides, none can guide. And we bear witness that there's no God but Allah alone. He has no like and we testify that Muhammad is Allah, the man of praise, Muhammad is a slave and final messenger. Praise be to Allah as well for bringing the hearts, for bringing the Muslims together on this day of Juma, a day of gathering as we all know. It is a day, it is an auspicious day that is both a warning and a reminder. It's a reminder of that first day, of that first gathering when we were all brought out from the loins of our father, Adam, alayhi salam. On that day, Allah asked us, Alastu bi rabbikum, am I not your Lord? And we all testified and we all bore witness to Allah's Rububiyah and we said, bala shahidna, indeed you are. This gathering then is a reminder of that first gathering and it's a reminder and a warning of that upcoming gathering of Yom al Qiyamah when we will be asked whether we remain faithful and loyal to that first covenant. We always begin with this reminder of the day of the covenant and the day of resurrection because this dunya is what lies in the middle of those two. The day of the covenant, that primordial day of Yom al Astu was our life before this life and Yom al Qiyamah is the beginning point of our life after this life and these two lives then situate this life of the dunya. It gives it context, it gives it meaning and it designates for us the starting place of our journey in this life and the ending place of our journey in this life. And it is only in remembering where our journey begins and where our journey ends that these things are set, these are not things that we determine of our own accord that we can properly orient ourselves. It is only through knowing where the journey begins and where the journey ends that we can face forwards, that we can face the direction in which we are inevitably heading rather than facing backwards and facing where we came from. Allah says in the Quran, Inna lillahi, inna ilayhi rajoon. Indeed we come from Allah and to Him do we return. This purpose of returning to Allah, this purpose that we have in life we need reminding of because in our days and our nights in the business of our lives we might become distracted with school, with work, with family, with friends and all these engagements, although they might be important they are not the purpose of being here. And so what this reminder reminds us of is that we need to hold ourselves to account. We need to do a muhassabah, a self-accounting, a self-reckoning. Our activities that we do, the actions and behaviors that we are accustomed to, are these behaviors in line with our purpose or how we switch to order of things or how we made our daily lives of purpose unto themselves. And so ask yourself, have I made my purpose, my ultimate objective in life, the advancement of a career, climbing up the corporate ladder to gain the admiration and perhaps even the jealousy of peers and friends all so that I can feel important, all so that I can be seen as someone successful? How do I explain my actions to myself? Because we all know we will all need to explain our actions one day before our Lord. Have I made my purpose something else? Have I made my purpose arguing on social media, on Twitter, on Instagram, mocking, let's say, political views I don't agree with, shouting out my poorly thought opinions on matters that I have no knowledge of, all so that I can feel like I'm important, all so that I can feel like I have something to say. How do I explain my actions to myself? Because one day we will need to explain our actions before our Lord. Fa'ayn atad haboon, this is a question that Allah asks us. Where then are you going? Where then are you headed? And there are reminders built into our lives, there are resets built into our lives to see for us to correct course, for us to come back onto the straight path when we inevitably start to stray. There are five reminders, five daily built-in resets for this. We call these the prayers. There is a weekly reminder, a weekly reset for this, we call this Juma, and there's a yearly one as well that is Ramadan. But what these reminders require, what they need in order for them to be effective in pulling us back into and onto the straight path is tafakkur, tafakkur is contemplation, tafakkur is reflection, it's an ibadah that Allah speaks about. It is an ibadah however, it is a practice however, it's often neglected, it's often forgotten because in our busy lives, when we run around distracted always preoccupied with what's the next obligation I have. Those moments of stillness, those moments of khushur, those moments of tafakkur come rare. And yet they are needed. This moment of leisurely rest in the middle of our day is needed so that we forget the dunya and we always remember our purpose. We always orient ourselves in the right way and that is the way of returning to Allah. Allah says in the Quran about the people of Fikr, that they are the people of innermost heart. Allah describes them those who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides and those who contemplate the creation of the heavens and the earth. And they say, what? Oh Lord, you have not created this meaninglessly. You have not created this in vain. Glory be to you. You are far above creating things in vain. And you are far above creating things in vain. And you are far above creating things in vain. And you are far above creating things in vain. And if we do contemplate this ayah, if we do reflect on this ayah and compare it with another hadith, there is a slight paradox to think about. Which is that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he praised a poet. He praised a poet and he described the words of the poet as the truest verse a poet ever spoke. And these words are Everything other than Allah is meaningless. Everything other than Allah is meaningless is the truest words a poet ever spoke. But what is then to be done with this? On one hand, everything created is meaningless because it's other than Allah. And on the other hand, everything created is meaningful for the people of reflection, for the people of contemplation because they do not find it as baratul. So what gives? What's the middle ground? This middle ground is to be found in another of Allah's verses, indeed, if we reflect. We shall show them our signs on the horizons and in themselves until it is clear to them that he Allah is the true, that he Allah is the real. And so everything in creation is meaningless. You will find it purposeless. You will find it unsatisfying and without meaning if it is taken for itself, if it is taken at face value, but if it is taken as coming from Allah, if it is taken as returning to Allah, then it becomes an ayah. And this is what it means to be an ayah, to see something as coming from Allah and returning to Allah. It becomes a sign of Allah and that's where the meaning is found. That's where the purpose is found. And this ability to see Allah in the world, to see Allah, to see the Creator in His creation is tafakkur. It is contemplation. It's the habit of seeing Allah's signs and seeing them as a sign of Allah. Hassan al-Basri, the great Tabi Imam and some scholars attributes this saying to the companions. He said, تفكروا ساعت الخير من عبادة الف سنة. A moment's contemplation is better than a thousand years of worship. Contemplation for a single moment is better than a thousand years of worship. How is this? How can this be? Isn't abadah the greatest thing a person can do? How can tafakkur be greater than abadah? The reason for this is that we know that at the time of al-Hassan al-Basri that people's worship had diminished and it had become rote. They had begun to worship just going through the motions with no engagement of the mind, with no engagement of the heart and with no contemplation. And if that wasn't the time of the tabi'in, you can only imagine the state of things now. And so in that sense, tafakkur is greater than an abadah done without tafakkur because the purpose of abadah is tafakkur. رب تالى للكرآن والكرآن يلعنوا. These are the words of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Many will recite the Qur'an and yet the Qur'an curses him. Curses him because he will recite a verse about the punishment of those who backbite and gossip. All the while he is in the habit of backbiting and gossiping and perhaps he intends to do it all the while he is reciting the Qur'an. Where is the tafakkur fi ayatillah? Where is the contemplation? Where is the reflection on the signs of Allah? How can a prophet be able to recite the Qur'an? How can a prophet be able to recite the Qur'an? How can a person recite these ayat that describe his state exactly, that describe his own wretched state and not change and not at least have tawba, at least not repent from his actions? Only because he does not have tafakkur. As examples of tafakkur, as examples of contemplation, I want to look at a few daily du'as that we all recite that are narrated in the sunnah as being places and times of contemplation. When these du'as are narrated, we should ask ourselves, why was such and such a du'a narrated for such and such an occasion? What was in the hearts of our beloved Messenger, peace be upon him, when he said this? What was he thinking? We know that when we wake up, we say, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ أَحْيَانَا بَعْدَمَ أَمَاتَنَا وَإِلَيْهِ النُشُورَ Glory be to he who gave us life after he caused us to die, and to him is the gathering, meaning the gathering after resurrection. Why is this said upon waking up? What is the meaning? The meaning is that waking up is akin to regaining life, and so sleeping is akin to a death. There's a passing away in both death and in the sleep, and there's a resurrection after death and after sleep. And so waking up each day is a reminder of Yom al-Qiyamah. Waking up each day is a Yom al-Qiyamah, it's a moment of resurrection. And so it is a time and a place to remember that day of resurrection, that final day of resurrection. And it's also a moment for witnessing, because the dua says, subhanAllah the ahyana, glory be to he, meaning Allah who revived us. And so it's a moment for witnessing, it's a moment for recognizing that it is Allah who gives us life. And so in the morning we are witness to, we are subject to al-Muḥī, we are witnessing the giver of life. And every night when we pass away we are witness to and we are subject to al-Mumīt, the giver who brings death. And then as another dua we know that the dua for entering the masjid is Allahumma ftahli abwaba rahmatik, O Allah open for me the doors of your mercy. What is the meaning of this dua? What do we understand if we reflect on this dua? We know that when we enter the masjid we pass through doors, and those doors then are doors into mercy. And so the masjid then is akin to Allah's mercy. It is a symbol, it is a sign of Allah's mercy. And we know that another location that is a symbol and a place of Allah's mercy is paradise. Indeed, you could say paradise is anything where Allah's mercy resides, it is being in the presence of the all-merciful, al-Rahman. And so when we enter into the masjid, when we say O Allah open for me the doors of mercy, we are entering the masjid as though it is as though we are entering paradise itself. And so we should treat entering the masjid as with the same joy that we would find in entering paradise, because there's a mercy here, there's a mercy in the masjid that is not found in other places just like there's a mercy in Jannah that is not found in other places. Consider also the dua for beginning travel or for driving. SubhanAllah the Sakhara lana hada wa maakunna lahumukrinin wa inna ila rabbina adhamun qalibun. Glory be to He who gave us control over this, and we were not the ones who subdued it to us. And indeed to our Lord do we return. Consider that this dua, we know that it is in all times and places that the only reason we have power over anything is Allah's giving us that power. But consider that this dua is narrated when we are in the moment and place in our lives where we seem to be in most control. Is there anything, is there anything that we have more control over, that we have more fine motor control and power over than a car? A car that is seen as a symbol of freedom that we can do with whatever we please and we can take wherever we please. And yet this place where we seem to be in control of our own destiny Allah is reminding us we are not in control of our own destiny. Allah is reminding us that whenever we turn the wheel, the wheel only turns because Allah has placed power in our hands, the power to turn the wheel and the wheel only turns because Allah turns the wheel and makes it happen. We are not the ones who subdue it to us. And so in those moments when we are feeling most empowered, when we are feeling like we are free and independent of Allah, Allah humbles us. He reminds us that we are not free. He reminds us that he is watching, that he is close, that he is near, that he enables us to exist whatever we come to choose. And so because he is all aware, we should also be aware that he is all aware. Inna ila rabbin ad-damun qalibun. And therefore, verily to our Lord, do we return? Should we recognize the purpose and the meaning of what we are doing? And so this is the practice of tafakkur. This is contemplating Allah's signs in the book of nature on the horizons and in themselves and contemplating Allah's signs in the book of revelation that is the ayat of the Quran. This tafakkur, this contemplation brings life back to dead hearts. It brings life back to lifeless worship. It corrects the human being. It sets him back on a straight path. It sets him back on his purpose. And this is only through, however, not being busyed by the dunya. This is all through recognizing that we need moments of stillness, moments of rest in our lives, moments of attentiveness. Allah says in His Noble Scripture,