 Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh Bismillahirrahmanirrahim Wa's-salatu wa's-salamu ala ashrafil mursaleen Sayyidina wa nabiyina Muhammadin wa ala ali wa sahbihi wa salim Ya Rabbana lakal hamdu kama yambaghili Jalal wa jihika wa azeem Sultanic, Allahumma ftahaleena Ftuh al-arifin Allahumma alimna ma yanfa'una wa anfa'na bima al namtana ya Allah We mentioned earlier that in this series we will talk about the ten outer actions that would draw us closer to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and these outer actions would also get us more prepared for the day when we will leave this dunya to meet Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala So the outer action that we are going to talk about today is fasting Fasting is an older way of worshiping Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala All previous messages talked about fasting and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala mentioned that in Surat al-Baqarah in ayah 183 he said Oh you who have believed its decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous so fasting was decreed before Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is giving us the result of fasting at the end of the aria he says so that you may become righteous Taqwa you will have taqwa and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has talked about taqwa in so many ayas and Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam emphasized taqwa in so many narrations so Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam pointed one day at his heart and he said he repeated that three times taqwa is here and he was pointing to his heart so if you want to know what is taqwa and you want to get into taqwa you want to become righteous you have to connect your heart to the heart of Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam so that there will be a download from his heart to your heart so the taqwa would be downloaded to your heart so the outcome of fasting is to achieve taqwa so what is fasting fasting is a known worship and it is to abstain from something for a certain period of time and that thing is eating drinking having relation with this spouse and that would be from fajr adhan until maghrib adhan so you stop a little bit before the adhan of fajr the calling for the adhan of maghrib starts with Allahu Akbar you make your dua and you start your food there are certain rules for fasting there is a lot of fiqh issues there are a lot of jurisprudence about it we're not going to talk about that here we're talking about fasting spiritually what does fasting do to us so fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said so Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said the superstructure of Islam is raised on five pillars and he's counting now the five pillars witnessing that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is his slave and his messenger establishing the prayer paying zakah performing pilgrim to the house of Allah s.w.t and fasting the month of Ramadan so fasting is one of the five main pillars in Islam in fact it's a way it's a form of worship that involves mainly the heart shaitan runs in man the same way blood does so we have to tighten the passages of shaitan and Sayyid al-Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says so shaitan runs in man as i mentioned the same way blood does so tighten it from tighten it for him make it hard for him to do what he is doing to do whatever he wants to do by being hungry which means by fasting all that deeds that a person accumulates are mainly because of shaitan he whispers he adorns the haram he makes a person's lip the first lip is very hard for the believer he would say how can i do this this thing i cannot i cannot watch something that Allah s.w.t has forbidden me from watching i cannot hear something that Allah has forbidden me of reading it i cannot steal something that Allah because Allah s.w.t has forbidden stealing so shaitan would whisper and whisper and adorns haram until he makes a person's lip and the first slip is very hard for the believer but once this first slip happens the next slip will be easier it won't be hard for that that believer and so on the the the next slip will be easier until a person would not think that he is disobeying Allah do you know what's the reason for that it's simple Allah s.w.t has explained this in ayah 14 of surah al muqaffifin when he said no rather the satan has covered this sorry the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning so each bad deed leaves a black dot on the heart if a person does not clean it with istaghfar and toba trying to erase this dot then with the there will be another black dot with the next sin and until the heart becomes all black because there was nothing done against this black dot there was no istaghfar there was no toba there was no asking Allah s.w.t for repentance nothing so the whole heart now is black and the person when he gets this black heart he will not be able to differentiate between what's right and what's wrong so when a person fasts and especially in Ramadan he cares a lot about his banners why because he doesn't want to say anything that would humiliate his fasting or make him lose the reward of his fasting so he keeps away from lying he keeps away from backbiting he keeps away from breaking the hearts of people he keeps away from all similar deeds he cares about his fasting he stays alert to his words he stays alert to his actions so that he will not be classified with the group of people who's fasting is nothing but being hungry and being thirsty and he by doing this he always remembers the hadith of Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t so by being alert he always remembers the hadith of Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t when he said Abu Huraira narrated on Abu Huraira s.w.t he said so Abu Huraira s.w.t narrated that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t said fasting is a protection so how does it protect someone so when when when you are fasting do not behave tactlessly do not behave thoughtlessly do not behave foolishly and if someone argues with you or abuses you just say so ignore people Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t also said so Prophet Muhammad s.w.t said if one does not avoid lies he does not avoid false conduct then Allah s.w.t has no need that he should abstain from his food or his drink so we have to be very careful in Ramadan so what happens in Ramadan what are the levels of those who fast in Ramadan so what are the levels of fasting in Ramadan there are three categories for fasting the first one is called Saumul Awam Saumul Awam is the basic the basic way of fasting and it happens just someone is hungry and is thirsty and he doesn't have a reward for that so Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t says some some people who fast they get nothing except being being hungry and thirsty why because they don't care about any other thing they don't care about their eyesight they don't care about their hearing they don't care about their tongue they don't care about what they say they don't care about anything the only thing that they are doing is they are not eating, not drinking and not having a sexual relation with their spouse the other category the other level of fasting is Saumul Hawas the fasting of the elite so what is this type of fasting it is to abstain from anything that breaks the fast but it also it also takes care of the eye the ear the tongue the hand and the the the the feed so what the eyes are hearing what the the the sorry what the eyes are looking at what the ears are listening to what the tongue is saying what the hands are doing where the feet are going so that person stops from anything that is prohibited now the third way the third level of fasting is called Saumul Hawasil Hawas it's called the fasting of the elite of the elite so what is it what is this level this is where all of us should be it's the fasting of the heart for anything other than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so not only abstaining from eating drinking or having a relation with this past no nothing nothing doing nothing except what pleases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so the heart abstains from anything except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so the heart would always be busy mentioning Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the reward for this type of fasting the reward for this level is very high once one of the companions said I heard the messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam saying so the Ramadan the gates of paradise are opened and the gates of fire are closed the devils are chained up a caller calls out every night oh doer of good proceed oh doer of evil desists so we want to we want to be of the group of the doers of good not only in Ramadan and out of Ramadan also we want all our days to be like the days of Ramadan we want to be alert to worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala all the time say that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam we know that he was the most generous of people and he he was the most generous even during Ramadan he used to give alms to poo and to the needy and he would say to his companions the best charity is charity in Ramadan he was the most generous so people always try to imitate Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and for this reason you find that most people like to pay there is a gaj during Ramadan knowing that the reward will be multiple it will be multiplied and so Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was once asked which fast was most virtuous after Ramadan so people wanted to know so he said Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said Shaaban in honor of Ramadan and you know that the Siyam of the six days in Shaaban sorry so in Shaaban we have to to fast in Shaaban but do not fast after the middle of Shaaban just to get your body to be stronger for Ramadan of course except for the for the ladies who have makeup of course they can make it up of course so so when he was asked which charity is best he said charity in Ramadan when he said charity in Ramadan he did not mean only giving money in Ramadan he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam urged the companions to to break the fast of other people who were fasting and he emphasized a big reward for doing so so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam uh he said he who provides a fasting person something with which to break his fast will earn the same reward as the one who was observing the fast without diminishing any anyway the reward of the letter so how generous that is from Allah swt so this is what Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says to be generous in Ramadan now ibn Atta Allah secondary we all know that he has the book of wisdoms and one of the wisdoms that he talked about in that wisdom he said maybe he gives you and it ends up to be a withhold and maybe he withholds and it ends up to be a giving to you how can this be applied to Ramadan how can this be applied to fasting um one fasting it's apparent that food drink and in addition to some permissible things they are prohibited so you are being withhold without from doing some stuff so Allah swt withholds you but he gives in return many rewards so outwardly it's abstaining it's prohibition of something but in return in fact it's it ends up to be a giving how so let's let's correct this every good deed is for me every good deed is for me so every good action is rewarded by 10 falls up to 700 times except fasting which is for me and this is Allah swt fasting is for me and i rewarded it i rewarded it so angels know that if you do this type of good deed you will get this reward if you do this you will get this reward except for fasting Allah is saying fasting is for me and i reward for it so for all these reasons and for many other reasons people like to fast and they know that Ramadan is the month of being in a school how Ramadan is a school itself by itself as we mentioned it's it makes a person alert of what to say what not to say what to do what not to do where to go where not to go so a person would be alert that Allah swt is over watching him so he tries his best to be the most obedient person so this is how as if someone is in a school and the principle is always present the principle is always present so he behaves that person behaves and Ramadan is also a school that would make a person behave so what happens Ramadan is a school that would make a person behave he would be alert so people loved the month of Ramadan they know that they are challenging themselves and they are winners they know that shaitan is chained so the effect of shaitan is not there on them and they know that with with giving a little bit more effort they will overcome other things that would whisper the nafs the howa they so they can they can control themselves so Ramadan by itself is a month of being patient that you don't want to do anything that would break your fast you don't want to do anything that would lessen the reward of your fasting and they know that when they do this then they will be highly rewarded why because they will attain the status of taqwa and they know that Allah swt said that in surat al-zumar al-zumar ayah number 10 so those who practice patience they would get their reward without without any reckoning without so so so their reward will be high they will enjoy that reward so fasting would make a person victorious over his nafs so he knows that he is doing his best to please Allah swt so fasting is nothing but a school to teach a person to be on the right track so what happens now people went to want to do more fasting outside of Ramadan so the messenger of Allah was asked one so some one of the companions came to him and he said to him he said i want to fast and he said okay fast one day during the month and you will get observe fast for a day and there would be the reward for you for the rest for the rest of the days he said i am capable of doing more than this Ya Rasulullah so Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said observe fast for two days and there will be reward for you for the rest and he said Ya Rasulullah i am healthy i am capable of doing more than this so Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said observe fast for three days so observe fast for three days and there will be the reward for you for the rest of the days and the man insisted and he said to Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Ya Rasulullah i am capable of doing more than this so Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him thereupon after after hearing this Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said then observe fast which is the best that Allah's consider it's the fastest of Dawood alayhi sallam Prophet David and he said he used to observe fast one day and break on the other day so that companion loved this and he he kept on doing this all his life but when he became older he fasting became a little harder man and the older he got fasting becomes more harder on him until one day he said i wish i took the advice of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam it is good to do your best in worshiping Allah s.w.t but don't overburden yourself don't overburden yourself always think that if you want to do something you need to maintain it so where is your limit where is your limit and do not go over your limits do not because one day you will regret doing that and you don't want to do something a type of worship and then you stop that worship you want to go on and for this reason Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam once said if you do something even if it's just a virility but it continues it's way more much better than doing one thing very in in you at most and you cannot keep it you cannot maintain doing it you stop it after a while you cannot keep up doing it so when you do your worship you need to know what what to choose and how much of you time you can give to this type of worship and how much time you can keep maintaining this how long can you maintain it an important thing that while fasting a person feels closer to Allah s.w.t do you know why no shaitan no spirit one feels hungry what does this mean the nafs or the spirit becomes closer to Allah s.w.t when it has less when the person eats less so you feel that you want to make more to ha you want to make more worship you want to pray to many rakats of terawi and after that you want to wake up before pleasure you want to pray more you want to read Quran you will do things during Ramadan while you are fasting what you don't normally do out of Ramadan this spirit gets closer to Allah s.w.t and worshiping Allah s.w.t becomes easier when this happens always remember to make dua and Allah s.w.t says so Allah s.w.t is reminding us in this ayah this is surat al-baqarah ayah 186 Allah s.w.t is saying when my servants ask you o Muhammad about me concerning me indeed I am near them so I'm close to them I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon me I answer someone's call so make sure to wake up before pleasure and make your dua this is the closest time to you between you and Allah s.w.t Allah descends down to the lower sky and he says so is there someone who is repenting I would accept the repentance is there someone who is asking for forgiveness I will forgive him is there someone who is asking for anything I will answer him so just know when to ask and what to ask Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t told us that we have to ask Allah s.w.t for things that would benefit us for the day after so the best if you don't know what to ask then ask Allah for the best that Sayyidna Muhammad s.w.t used to ask him and the dua is known and I will I would say it now let me finish the ayah so so let them respond to me by obedience and believe in me that they may be rightly guided so make dua Allah will answer your calls so what is the dua and I will end up with this so if we want to talk more and more and more about fasting it's not enough to cover it with just this short period of time so I will end up with this dua that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t told us so we will say I'm asking you of the goods that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t has asked you for and I seek refuge in you from the things that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t has so refuge in you from Allah s.w.t and asking you from the goods from the khair all of it close or away from I ask you from the whole thing and I seek refuge in you from the evil that's close or far away with which I know or I don't know so this is what Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t used to ask Allah s.w.t we are asking Allah for the goods that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t used to ask him we are asking Allah to keep us away from the bad from the evil that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t asked you to be away from so this is what they say Sayyidina Bilal came to Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t and to see there was Sayyidina Omar and Sayyidina Abu Bakr and they were making lots of duas and duas and he looked at them and he said to Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t I don't know how to make same similar duas I just say so and he said around it we make our duas so this is the core ask Allah s.w.t to fix your heart to give you the sound heart because Allah s.w.t says on the day of judgment nothing will benefit you except if you have a sound heart so on the day of judgment if you are on a good relation with Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t in this dunya so on the day of judgment you go to Allah s.w.t and you say to him yeah Allah I came with a good heart it's the heart of Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t this is the sound heart so yeah Allah we ask you to give us the blessings of fast to grant us the blessings of taqwa we ask you of the khair that Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t has asked you from and we ask you to keep us on the right path we ask you to guide us to guide our children to whatever pleases you to always provide us with the good sohbah for us and for our children we want you to help us raise good children who who follow the five pillars about around which the whole islam is built up we want them we want our children to be righteous Ya Rasulallah and one way of doing that is by fasting so we want you Allah to make it easy for us to make it easy for our children and to guide us to whatever pleases you Ya Allah so we want to have the good manners that we follow during brahmadan and when we are fasting we want to have the good manners not only while we are fasting but all the time we want you to help us Ya Allah and insha Allah until we meet next next session insha Allah I send my salam and your salam to Sayyidina Muhammad s.w.t