 الله رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم وبارك على سيدنا ونبينا محمد ذل قدر العظيم وعلى آله وأصحابه والتابعين والتابعين لهم بإحسان وهدا إلى يوم الدين اللهم ثقهنا في الدين وعلمنا التأويل والهمنا رشدنا يا رب العالمين وجعلنا من عبادك المتقين الصادقين يا أكرم الأكرمين أما بعد it has come from our beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم that in the days of your lifetime there are from Allah breezes of divine assistance so turn yourself towards those breezes because Allah has placed particular assistance in certain actions and in certain times and in certain places and in certain people certain times such as the noble day of Jumu'a and most particularly the time of the Friday prayer so turn yourself towards them because Allah has placed particular assistance in certain actions and in certain times and in certain places and in certain people so turn yourself towards them because Allah has placed particular assistance in certain times such as the noble day of Jumu'a and most particularly the time of the Friday prayer similarly the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has mentioned about the great virtues of certain days of the year amongst those days is the day of Ashura the tenth of this Islamic month that we're in the tenth of Muharrab likewise we have Ramadan we have days in which there's opportunities we have circumstances in which there's opportunities from Allah and those are to use the beautiful prophetic expression نفحات their breezes of divine assistance if you turn to that opportunity and turn with it to Allah سبحانه وتعالى it's an opportunity of great good and we have such opportunity sometimes coming up in our lives you find out for example that someone was in an accident and you can get there to the hospital to be with them before someone else that's an opportunity for you of what? of directing yourself to the breeze of divine assistance because when you're in the aid of another Allah will be in your aid as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that والله في عون العبد مادام العبد في عون أخي الله is in the aid of his servant as long as his servant is in the aid of others and this is one of the reasons that we listen to the news why should a believer listen to the news? it's not simply to hear what's going on because that's mere idle curiosity but you want to gain an understanding and see what can you do of the good so for example you find out that there are 6 million refugees plus now in Syria many of them internally displaced and many in the country surrounding it which are not wealthy countries Lebanon which is a very troubled country has taken in over a million Syrian refugees Jordan which is a small country has taken at least a tenth of its population worth of refugees it's a country of only 6 million people and it's not a wealthy country it's one of the countries in the world that has the least water per capita of any country yet they've taken at least half a million some estimates much more than that of refugees about a tenth of its own population worth of refugees but they're struggling they're living in camps and when you hear about things like that you watch some documentary about there's not any camp in Jordan what do we do about it? and you can sit back and be an armchair critic that well what are the Americans doing what are the rich Gulf countries doing what are these people doing what are those people doing and that may feel good but what does that mean? the believer considers what can I do about it and if you're able to raise political awareness to do something big then go ahead and do it but you can't do something big that is of benefit look at what you can do and one of the things one can do is to give charity to make دعاء charity is an expression of practical concern دعاء is an expression of spiritual concern and these are opportunities that arise there are opportunities that arise to do good and one should direct oneself to them and just like we follow the news one of the things that the believer always does is we go back to the great news the great news عن النبأ العظيم الله سبحانه وتعالى refers to the Quran as the great news عما يتساءلون what are they asking each other about عن النبأ العظيم about the great news because it's informing you for what purpose so that you make the right choices in life and turn to الله سبحانه وتعالى going forward but it also gives you news of the people before us what we did not know about the people before us why? so that we can see the choices that they made so that we can be informed about the right choices the choices of those beloved to Allah and the wrong choices the choices of those who lost out in life and very intriguingly it's a sunnah of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that great events in history happen in clusters and one of those great days in history is the day of عاشوراء the 10th of محرم it has come in hadith that this is the day when Sayyidina Adam was forgiven this is the day when Sayyidina نوح عليه السلام was saved this is the day when Allah سبحانه وتعالى the people of Sayyidina يونس عليه السلام this all come to us from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in various narrations and other great events are mentioned we know from the hadith in صحيح المسلم صحيح البخاري المسلم that this is the day in which Allah سبحانه وتعالى saved Sayyidina موسى and Bani Israel from the oppression that they were in and this was a day that had many many other great virtues that were recognized by the Jews of Medina but even before that the monotheists in Mecca and the Christians who were around they all recognized that there is something special about this day so even in the جاهلي period in the pre-islamic period قرش used to consider this a great day and they used to do a type of fasting on that day before Islam because they considered this a great day and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to fast عشورا even before migrating to Medina because of this because it was an auspicious day and it was a day where people did good they fasted so he used to fast as well and then when they got to Medina they found out that the Jews of Medina would fast that day and he asked why are they fasting said because this is the day when Allah سبحانه وتعالى saved موسى and his people so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said we are even more deserving of Mousa than they are so he encouraged all the believers to fast that day and however the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم encouraged them after to fast either the ninth of محرم with it if able to or the eleventh because the believer does recognize the good of others and even in their practices but when adopts it in a manner that is distinct and according with our values because someone that great day you could do other things on that day but the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم adopted the distinct way of fasting of the Muslims and they did it in a manner that was their own so that he encouraged us to fast the ninth and either the ninth and the tenth or the tenth and the eleventh and he gave us many teachings of good related to that day that this is an auspicious day this is a day of particular divine concern so in the spirit of Allah has in the days of your lives breaths of divine assistance نفحات so turn to them so it's encouraged not only to fast on the day of the tenth of محرم but it's come that it's particularly virtuous to give in charity as well particularly virtuous to give in charity particularly virtuous to give in charity it is also very virtuous on this day and this is there's some hadiths about this but this became a well established practice of the first generations of Muslims of the Salaf as mentioned by بن رجب الحمبلي and others in their works on the virtues of the days of the year to spend expansively on one's family and the men may not like to hear this so much but it is from the sunnah on the tenth of محرم to spend expansively التوسع على العيال to spend expansively on one's family expansively doesn't mean extravagantly but one may get for example get them a nice meal if you're going to we're going to get a gift for someone this is a day to give that gift etc to spend because one of the ways to seek increase from Allah سبحانه وتعالى is spending in ways of good out of thankfulness to Allah سبحانه وتعالى because this is one of those days where Allah lifts up his servants and this is manifest throughout the year so this is one of those days where it's an opportunity to repent to Allah سبحانه وتعالى to reconnect with Allah سبحانه وتعالى to ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى for increase but how does one do that one fasts oneself but one it's a day to give in charity widely it's a day to spend expansively on one's family to share in that blessing you may have difficulties in your in your own family this is a day to say okay this is an opportunity to fix things up to reconnect with relatives others so it's a very special day and the believer plans the believer plans if you talk to people who get vacation time during the winter break for example they've been planning since I know my younger brother he's been planning what he's going to do in his winter break since summer time because people plan ahead but we should also plan ahead for our religious opportunities that okay the tenth of محرم is here what am I going to do to make the most of this great and auspicious day which is a day where Allah favors those servants who make the right choices so we have days till the tenth of محرم this is an opportunity to think about how we prepare ourselves for that day and build up the momentum to try to make the most of one's day the great early Muslims and the righteous throughout the year they would take their holidays not official holidays like a break from work on these special days and that's one of the things that one should try to make a commitment for and of course don't call them sick if you're not take a legit break you have vacation time one of the things to use it on use it during the last 10 days of Ramadan use it for the tenth of محرم in the other special days of the year or you know for example some great conferences coming that you wish you could attend but you typically work so you adjust your schedule not both for your worldly interests you want to go visit family overseas or do this and that and that is a recognized good in our Dean and it's a great work of seeking Allah's pleasure by reconnecting with family by giving one's own spouse and children a break a vacation etc but one also plans for these religious benefits and one of these great days is the day of if you can't take the day off then at least for example say okay I'll sleep early the night before and stay up after after Fajr engaging in some extra acts of worship I'll make sure by going to sleep early etc that I am able to get up with my family for iftar and to make these days of the year memorable days so the whole family plans okay let's go to sleep early let's have our iftar already and make it a beautiful memorable day and don't give a long lecture to bore your whole family but remind them of the greatness of this day and the great mercy of Allah SWT and on those reminders of history of what has happened on this day of Allah SWT assistance to his servants and his granting victory the story of Sayyidina Musa and Sayyidina Fir'aun Sayyidina Musa and Fir'aun شكرا of Allah SWT granting the most unexpected of victories to Sayyidina Musa and his people and they're fleeing and the army of Fir'aun was behind them and they would have been caught and slaughtered Fir'aun's army was was the most powerful army arguably in the world at that time and they're chasing them they had horses and all kinds of other equipment and when they reached the Dead Sea Allah SWT parted the Dead Sea for Musa and his people and this is how Allah SWT's victory comes it doesn't come on our terms it comes on his terms in the way that he deems fit but to whom to those worthy to those worthy of it and that's one of the lessons of this day and this Sunnah of Allah SWT manifested itself beyond the time of the Prophet SAW in one of the great moments and lessons in Islamic history the 10th of محرب is also the day in which the grandson of the Prophet SAW سيدنا الحسين رضي الله تعالى عنه was martyred with much of his family of the prophetic household قربلا and there's many lessons in that because we view that killing of سيدنا الحسين not as a great loss we do not see it as an occasion of great sorrow rather we see this as a tremendous honor bequeathed by Allah SWT to the grandson of the Prophet SAW because martyred him is of the highest of ranks is of the highest of ranks and he died upholding truth upholding justice standing up to tyranny and wrongdoing and in that stance that one takes a noble principle stance even if one knows one's going to lose there are numerous lessons for us there are numerous lessons you may not be faced with that degree of a calamity but you may find a lesser struggle you may find a lesser struggle someone I know personally at the local mall which is where everyone in our neighborhood goes and shops they're going to open a pub so they started a petition that in a mall where you have families going etc. to have an all day pub and they got many petitions etc and they changed the name of the restaurant from pub to a family restaurant they still serve alcohol but they don't promote it as a pub it makes a slight difference what one does what one can in the situations that Allah SWT facilitates because the believer cares about the good they stand up for the good not just in doing good themselves but the lessons we see from the prophets before us the righteous, the great they care about the social good the political good the good of others and they stand up for it in the right way and that's one of the great lessons from what happened to Sayyidina Hussein and those with him and we should be familiar with our history we should know intimately the lives of the prophets and we should nurture the knowledge and understanding of the lives of the past prophets the lives of the great companions and prophetic household and the righteous of this Ummah because Allah SWT calls us that اتبع سبيلة من أنابة إلي follow the path of those who have turned to me truly إنابة is true turning back to Allah SWT what is that path that path is the path of the prophets the path of the righteous how can you know what is their path unless you study it you read it so we should familiarize ourselves when we recite the Quran we should make a commitment every once in a while to dip into the works of Tafsir and read about the background and context of the great stories of the Quran the stories of Sayyidina Musa and Haroon the stories of Sayyidina Ibrahim with his people the other great stories in the story of Sayyidina Yusuf we should make a commitment and it's a new Islamic year and one renews one's commitments when things like this happen that I want to I want to read at least one complete book about the stories of the prophets this is not just something for little kids to read the whole reason there's a tradition of children reading about the prophets because that from the get go we should all be learning about the prophets and their example should be alive in our lives so then when we have the difficult choices to make we have that light not just as an as an abstract light that yes I believe and I want to do the right thing but we have embodied examples of right choices of those who have come before us and this is very critical Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us about this right in Surah Al-Fatiha when we ask to be guided to the straight path we say إهدنا السراط المستقيم guide us to the straight path سراط الذين أنعمت عليهم the path of those whom you have blessed before us and they say in order to go straight going forward you need to know about the example of those who went straight before you of those who went straight before us so this should be a commitment that every one of us makes and in our families we spend on all kinds of things since you know I live in Mississauga and since Afis came to Mississauga there's all these need to take need to go to Afis like it's like you know people say need to go to Hajj need to go to Afis need to go here need to do this the aquarium opens downtown Toronto need to go to the aquarium but they say you know there's a really good set of books about the lives of the prophets it's three volumes say how much is it say oh it's $40 oh that's so expensive and you just spend $300 at the aquarium with the family nothing wrong with going to the aquarium apparently it's really good but we should have a sense of priorities as well that we should be willing to spend in the ways of good to seek benefit to seek benefit and one should build a library at home of books that enable us to seek that benefit and encourage and you have you have now all over the city whether this is your local mosque or other mosques you have mosques الحمد لله we have teachers in our communities we should we should be demanding we should be asking for programming for our children programming for ourselves so that we can gain a deeper understanding of the Deen because as the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said من يريد الله به خيرا يفقه في الدين whomever Allah wishes well for He grants deep understanding of religion and that is a constant and why do we seek deep understanding of the religion not because it's just a nice thing to do not because you know about Islamic trivia not so that you can throw facts in family gatherings that guess what happens in the Mousa and you give the volunteer lecture that no one wanted to hear but rather right so that deep understanding serves as a light so that in our life we know what we should be doing we can set our priorities with a higher standard and when tested we can make the right choices when tested so that we can make the right choices may Allah make us of those who illuminate our lives through the renewal of our faith through learning about and reflecting upon those who've come before us but taking heed from that so that we can direct ourselves to that path of high resolve and high concern for Allah and consciousness of Allah and making the right choices that they took so that we too can be guided and honored and favored and drawn close as they were أقولوا قولي هذا وستغفر الله لي ولكم فاستغفروه إنه وفور رحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله عليه وسلم وبارك على سيدنا بينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلمة اسليما كثيرة الحمد لله one of the lessons from those past prophets and how they were honored on this day and of the prophetic practice related to the month of to the day of عاشوراء is this sense of neediness to Allah سبحانه وتعالى of neediness to Allah سبحانه وتعالى to whom does Allah answer Allah سبحانه وتعالى says that he is the one who answers the dua of the desperate when they call upon him يجيبوا دعاء المطر إذا دعاء and اترار desperation is of two types you can be just in a general desperate state that befalls you you got in an accident you have an exam you're about to go and propose to sister زبيضة to asking her father for her hand in marriage or زبي is coming to ask your father if he can marry you and you're worried and desperate and you make a lot of dua that's one situation but the other desperation is when you recognize the reality that at every moment we are in desperate need of Allah سبحانه وتعالى how do we express that we express that we are returning to Allah سبحانه وتعالى in worship in general anytime you recognize your neediness to Allah you turn to Allah سبحانه وتعالى in worship on the tenth of محرم specifically the central act of worship on that day is fasting so put it on your calendars tenth of محرم make a commitment to fast and plan so that you are able to do it in the best of ways gather your family to doing that remind yourselves and your families in a beautiful way of the great merits of this day and also of some of the great historical events that took place on this day and use it as a time of reflection that how can I return to Allah سبحانه وتعالى the answer is obvious but you need to nurture within yourself the capacity to be able to make those right choices may Allah سبحانه وتعالى inspire us to the best of responses to the opportunities and challenges that He sends to us and may we illuminate our lives by the light of the example of our own beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم and those who've come before Him of the great prophets and messengers and righteous and those who have walked on the footsteps of our beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم of the most virtuous of this Ummah and may Allah سبحانه وتعالى make us of those who strive for virtue and excellence who don't just find sufficiency in our lives just to be plain vanilla Muslims but who strive to be of the righteous who strive to be of the سابقين of the foremost of Allah سبحانه وتعالى servants so we call upon Allah سبحانه وتعالى ربنا هبلنا من أزواجنا وذورياتنا قررة عيني واجعلنا للمتقينة إمامة O Lord grant us in our spouses and in our offspring a joy for our eyes and make us and them of the foremost of the foremost of your servants those who are of the متقين يا رب العالمين we ask you that we strive for the highest of good the highest of virtue the highest of excellence in our worship and our conduct in our life we ask you O Allah that we lead lives of noble purpose that we direct ourselves in our work to work with excellence to direct ourselves in our careers to make the choices that will make us of the greatest benefit to your creation يا رب العالمين we ask you that we do all that we do in the most beautiful of ways the ways most consonant with the radiant example of your beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم we ask you that we be ever appreciative of the tremendous gift of mercy and good that you have gifted us with by sending us our beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم so we say out of gratitude and love اللهم صلي على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد كما صليت على سيدنا إبراهيم وعلى آل سيدنا إبراهيم اللهم بارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد كما باركت على سيدنا إبراهيم وعلى آل سيدنا إبراهيم في العالمين إنك حميد مجين اللهم اخفض للمسلمين والمسلمات والمؤمنين والمؤمنات الأحياء منهم والأموات ربنا إنك قريب سميع المجيب الدعوات يا أرحم الراحين يا حنان يا منان يا ذات جودي والإحسان يا أكرم الأكرمين اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صالح اللهم صال وضع أن يُظنيننا تقل北ك two ourselves we ask you that you make us of those who seek to gain Life in our knowledge of the example and embodiment of mercy that is your Beloved Messenger سلى الله عليه وسلم we ask you that you make us ourselves embodiments of mercy in our dealings with others in our relationships with our parents and our spouses and our Children يا رب العالمين we ask that you we embrace the gentle beautiful way of للمساعدة صلى الله عليه وسلم who was firm on the truth yet was never harsh even with his enemies صلى الله عليه وسلم we asked you that you grant us that deep prophetic concern by which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed even for those who were trying to kill him in battle يا رب العالمين as he said at Mount Uhud wiping blood from his face كيف يفلح قومهم أدمع وجه نبيهم وهو يدعوهم إلى الجنة we asked you that you grant us of the spirit of your beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم who on Mount Uhud after Puraish counterattacked and he got hurt صلى الله عليه وسلم he was wiping blood off his face and praying for those trying to kill him that oh Allah how can a people attain true success فلح when they make the face of their Prophet flow with blood when he is only calling them to paradise we asked you that you place that depth of mercy and beautiful concern in our lives so that we illuminate our lives with that beautiful light of your beloved messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم we asked you that you preserve the good for us and our parents and our families and our community and the society that we live in and that you facilitate relief for all those in distress particularly those in situations of crisis in Syria and Burma and Egypt and across the world يا رب العالمين وصلى الله وسلم وضارك على سيدنا ونبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليمة وأخذ عوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين وأقيم الصلاة