 I start in the name of Allah, the Beneficent and the Merciful, and I seek salvation from shaitan the accursed. Dearest viewers, my brothers and sisters from across the world, may the peace and blessings and the protection of Allah SWT be with you. Welcome to another episode of the Ramallahan Show with me, your host Dr Shabir Tejani. Insha'Allah tonight we commemorate the martyrdom of one of the greatest ladies within the Shi'a faith and that is Lady Khadija, As-Salaamu Alayhi Alaih. During the course of this show, insha'Allah, we'll be talking a little bit about her life, her biography, her teachings, and also we'll want to go through other things as well like we've been doing in other episodes, which is medical and health advice. And insha'Allah, we hope to allow you to get as much as you can out of these nights of Ramallahan. Before proceeding onto the show, I just want to leave you with a quote. And that quote is that, the religion of Islam survived because of the wealth of Khadija and the sword of Ali. As we see in these nights, we commemorate the martyrdom of Lady Khadija tonight. And then as we go down, later on in this month, we'll be commemorating the martyrdom of Amir al-Mu'minin, Alayhi Salaam. Insha'Allah, we'd like to once again remind you to send in your videos and also join in on social media, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on YouTube. In this episode of Spiritual Refinement, we continue our discussion from yesterday about friendship, but also we will extend it into the life of Lady Khadija, the great lady whom we are remembering on this particular night. Just expanding on friendship, Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, Alayhi Salaam says, friendship entails certain trusts and duties. Those friends who abide by these obligations are true friends and those who breach them are unworthy of your friendship. What are these obligations? Number one, it should be the same on the outside as he is on the inside, i.e. he shouldn't have a dual personality or they shouldn't have a dual personality. He will consider your good virtues, his good virtues, and consider your bad virtues, their bad virtues, i.e. meaning your good virtues, your good traits will cheer them up. Your negative ones will cause grievance to them. Third, if he acquires a position of power or authority, it won't change him or his attitude. In other words, prosperity must not transform the individual adversely. As we see sometimes we find that when friends get a higher station or a higher status in this world, they tend to forget their close friends and family. They start to think about their station and their lofty position and they change their attitude in a negative way. Number four, he must give his friendship priority over his worldly possessions. In other words, in times of adversity he must be willing to help and redeem you. And last but not least, he must never leave you alone in the times of misfortune and distress. The holy prophet peace and blessings be upon him has also given some advice regarding friendships and people who should be friend and keep good friends with. He was once asked what person can be the best friend and he replied by saying, he who helps you remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and reminds you when you forget him. It is also important to have a friend who is truthful when we've not done something right. Imam Ja'far Sadiq says, my best friend is the one who gives me my weaknesses and my shortcomings. In other words, a good friend or a true friend will draw your attention towards your defects, your faults. Yesterday we talked a little bit about people who we shouldn't have as friends and today we've talked about people who we should have as friends. But the question is, once we have a good friend, how do we keep them in a stable friendship? There's a few practical tips that I have for you. Number one, try not to be hostile towards them or dispute with them. Do not ridicule them or quarrel with them. Instead, give your friends respect. Imam Hassan alaihi salam says, befriend people in the manner that you would like them to befriend you. Do not hold them in contempt or consider them to be lower in position to you. And do not claim precedence or supremacy over them. Instead, forgive their shortcomings, advise them, give them help when it's needed. And finally and probably the most important is to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us righteous and give us companionship and companions who will take us closer to Him and keep us away from the wrong paths and keep us away from doing things that will bring about His displeasure. After talking about friendship, we come to Lady Khadija, peace and blessings be upon her. After all, she was one of the Prophet's greatest friends, the lady that stood by him in his time of need, the lady that helped him when it came to spreading the religion of Islam. This pure lady is known as the mother of believers, Umul Mu'minin. And the first wife of our beloved Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, she was thought to be the first person to ever accept the religion of Islam after it was revealed by the angel Jibrail. Lady Khadija, peace and blessings be upon her, was one of the eyewitnesses to the birth of the religion of Islam. She nursed it through its infancy. She fed it with her wealth. She gave Islam a scaffold, a structure. And she created her home to be the home of Islam, where the Prophet used to live, where her and the Holy Prophet raised Sayyidah Fatima. If anything could be called the cradle of Islam, it would be her home. Lady Khadija was one of the greatest women in the world. It is said that, well, the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said that there are four great women in the history of humanity. And they are Lady Fatima, peace and blessings be upon her, Lady Khadija, peace and blessings be upon her, the lady whom we're remembering tonight, Maryam, the mother of Prophet Isa, peace be upon him, and Asya, the wife of Pharaoh. Khadija combined in her person all the attributes, which equal perfection. As the saying goes, Islam did not rise through, except through the sword of Ali and the wealth of Khadija. We're just going to take a few minutes to look at the life of this blessed lady before we end this segment. After the death of her father, Khuelid, Lady Khadija, peace be upon her, took charge of her family business and as a result, she rapidly expanded and gained considerable wealth with the profits she made. Lady Khadija helped the poor. She helped the widows and she helped the orphans. She helped the sick and the disabled. If there were any poor people in her area, she would help them. If there were any poor women in her area, she would try and get them married off and gave them the dowry. When Islam came under mounting pressure from its enemies, Lady Khadija, peace and blessings be upon her, sacrificed her comforts. Remember, she was brought up in a life of wealth, but yet she was prepared to sacrifice it all for the religion. And it is such a profound statement that during her life, during the siege, she had to endure not only pangs of hunger and thirst, but extremes of heat in the summer and extreme colds in the winter. The amazing thing is, despite her upbringing, despite the wealth she had and the sudden change in her life, she never once complained to the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him. Whether times were good or bad, whether she had plenty or very little, she was always cheerful and always thanked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. She was very calm around her husband and would be a source of comfort for the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, should give him courage and strength. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him was very sorrowful and very upset when Lady Khadija passed away because of the love and affection that he had for her. It is said that in the year that Lady Khadija died in the same year, Abu Talib, peace be upon him, died also. And the Holy Prophet calls the year of grief. Lady Khadija, peace and blessings be upon her, passed away on the 10th of Ramadan in the 10th year after the proclamation of Islam at the age of 65. She was laid to rest in the city of Makkah. The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, dug the grave himself and laid her into the grave. And for a few moments he stood there and watched. After that, he smoothed the earth and said his final goodbyes to her. Let's remember her on this very night. Remember her for her great and elevated status and especially remember her for the great sacrifice she gave. As I've said, she had everything worldly within her possession and within a split second, without even batting an eyelid, without even thinking twice, she gave it all up for her love, for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and her faith in the religion of Islam. We should try and follow that too in our day to day lives. Ponder, think and reflect about how we can also sacrifice, sacrifice our worldly possessions in the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Holy Prophet Muhammad may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny has said, It Ramadan is the month whose beginning is mercy. Its middle is forgiveness and its end is emancipation or liberation from the Hellfire. For today's episode, as we travel around the world and look at how people change their day to day lives in the month of Ramadan, we will go to that city of knowledge, which is known as Najaf. Najaf is a city in Iraq and it is the place where the shrine of Amir al-Mu'minin is. Having done some research and having spoken to some people about what happens and what's so special about the city of Najaf, I've learned quite a few things. Inshallah, this is what I'll be discussing over the next few minutes with you. Firstly, in Najaf, at the shrine of Amir al-Mu'minin, before the time for Adhan, Fajr Adhan, there is a small poetry recited over and over again so that people can hear it. And that is that when you're drinking your last drink before the fast, don't forget the thirst of Imam Hussain al-Islam. As is similar to other cities in Iraq, people try to alter their day-to-day working lives in order to accommodate for the holy month. If they can, they try to open their shops during the hours where it's not so hot, so early mornings and late in the evenings. And the other things that they do are that they have iftar and they come together as a community, as a family, to have the iftar. Now, the specific things that are special to Najaf obviously are the fact that the kufa is based close to Najaf and so is Maslul Sahla. And as we know, Sahla is one of the... Well, it is the headquarters of the 12th Imam, peace be upon him. And every Tuesday, people not only from Najaf but all around Iraq go to Sahla because it is said that that's where the Imam is present. In the shrine of Amir al-Mu'minin, after the Maghrib Adhan or after Maghrib Salah, there is Dua Hamza Thumali and also there is Quran recitation in the Haram after Zohar and after Fajr Salah. On the nights of the 19th of the month of Ramadan, people tend to flood into Maslul Kufa because that is where Amir al-Mu'minin was struck on the head in prayer. And on the 21st of the holy month of Ramadan, people go to the shrine of Imam Ali, alaihi salam, to pay their respects and to remember the martyrdom of this great personality. This is the special and unique qualities about the month of Ramadan in the city of Najaf. The other thing that people do is just one hour before the time of Sahur, they will go into the streets and hit drums in order to wake up the population for Sahur and also for Salat al-Fajr. And the Najafis also enjoy very specific foods. They have very unique foods for their city. We've all heard of the very famous Qeem in Najafiyah, but this is eaten all around, well, eaten throughout the year. It's not specific for the month of Ramadan. My request to you at home and humbly, I ask you to send in your videos, send in your pictures. Let us know how you spent the month of Ramadan, how your working life changed, how your day-to-day life changed, how you prepared for Iffar. It'll allow us to air this on our show and also allow the world to see how people from around the world can prepare for this great month. I would like to ask you to, once again, send in your videos, send in your pictures so that we can see and we can allow the world to see how you prepare your day-to-day lives, how you prepare your activities, your commitments, how you prepare Iffar, how you go to the mosque, how your month changes in this holy month of Ramadan. And you shall, if you can send it to us, we can air it and let the rest of the world also see your preparation for the month of Ramadan. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Dearest Imam Hussein TV viewers, dearest brothers and sisters, assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Piety is the best beauty that everyone can have. Yet, there are some other beauties. Among these beauties are jewelries. Today, we are in one of the markets of the holy city of Karbala and one of the stores that sells jewelry. Let's go inside the store and have a word with one of the brothers inside. Dearest Imam Hussein TV viewers, I have one of the brothers here. I will have a few words with him. Assalamu alaikum. Assalamu alaikum, assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Can you tell us about the situation of Karbala during this holy month of Ramadan? First of all, I want to thank Imam Sahib al-A'truw al-Zumman and the Muslim Ummah and our great return during this holy month of Ramadan. May Allah bless him and all of us. May Allah bless him and all of us. Alhamdulillah, thank you. Karbala during this holy month of Ramadan is full of security and security. It is due to Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas and the visitors who have been to Karbala for the whole year, Alhamdulillah, thank you. And due to this speciality, the city of Karbala has become a Muslim capital. May Allah grant us a peaceful and safe city. Alhamdulillah, thank you. May Allah grant us this blessing. And we will end our sins. Brother is congratulating you and the Islamic Ummah and our grand scholars on the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan. He is saying that the holy city of Karbala is a very well city now during the holy month of Ramadan. The visitors coming to the holy city from all around the world and it is all the places in the holy city of Karbala are safe and we do not have any problem here. And he's praying that we can get rid of ISIS, insha'Allah. ISIS, insha'Allah. Yes, you can say that it is the month of Ramadan until it affects your work if you don't do it. Of course, it affects, but how can we understand the month of Ramadan so that we can open in the normal days in the morning until dawn and after dawn until we get rid of it. While the month of Ramadan is open, it is the month of Ramadan from 5 to 7. After the Eftar, we go from 9 to almost the remaining month. Praise be to Allah. I ask a brother about whether the holy month of Ramadan is affecting their job or not. He's saying that during the normal days of the year we usually come to our stores from morning until after the dusk prayer. But in the holy month of Ramadan, they come for two hours before the Eftar and after the Eftar, they stay open until 1am in the morning. In today's episode, I want to be concentrating on our series that's been going on recently over the last couple of nights regarding the risk factors for heart disease and strokes. And insha'Allah, tonight I want to focus in on diabetes. It is quite a misunderstood condition and it's very common within our community so I think it's very important to try and address it. Firstly, I'll talk about what it is. Secondly, I'll talk about treatment. And thirdly, I want to just talk a little bit about what will happen to you if you have diabetes and you don't treat it, the long-term risks and complications associated with it. A couple of nights ago, I talked about high blood pressure and I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but one of the advice that they have given or one of the advice that's been found in studies is that cutting salt out of the diet or reducing salt in the diet will help to help reduce blood pressure. And then we talked about cholesterol last night. Insha'Allah, after tonight I hope to continue talking about risk factors for heart disease and then also talk about symptoms and potential red flag signs that you may have if you do have a heart attack. Diabetes is a condition which causes abnormally high blood sugar levels. Now, there are two possible causes for diabetes and insha'Allah, I'll talk about them. There's type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. What is diabetes essentially in essence? It is the inability of the cell to utilize the glucose that is there in the blood. Now, we have a hormone in our body that's produced called insulin. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it. Maybe some of you are not sure about what insulin does. When a normal person with a good metabolic system takes sugar into their body, the blood senses or the body senses that the sugar levels have gone up and as a result, the pancreas, which is an organ in the body, releases a hormone called insulin. The higher the sugar level is, the more insulin is released and what insulin does is it takes the sugar from the blood into the cells to be utilized for energy. In people who cannot produce insulin for whatever reason, sometimes people are born without the production of insulin. Some people are going to develop it later on in life. For them, they find it difficult to take the blood from the sugar into the cells because the insulin is not acting on the cell membrane, on the cell surface and as a result, the blood sugar levels go up abnormally. The other symptoms they have associated with this type of diabetes because they cannot utilize the sugars, they find that they lose weight very quickly. Also, the other symptom that is important to look out for because the sugar is usually kept in the cells and not in the blood, in people with diabetes type 1, the blood keeps the sugar and as a result, when it filters through the kidneys, the sugar actually passes into the kidneys. Now, the physicist amongst you will know that when sugar or any other material is there in a lumen inside a tube, it causes an osmotic pressure, i.e. it holds on to the fluid and as a result, more fluid is kept within the tubules in the kidney and therefore you excrete it out through urine. As a result, there's a couple of things here that I want to say. Firstly, in people who are suspected of having diabetes, one of the quickest ways that they can test for this is testing the urine using a urine dipstick test if a blood sugar monitor is not available and you will find that they'll have quite high amounts of glucose in the urine. Secondly, because you lose a lot of fluid as a result of keeping hold of the sugars within the kidney, what happens is that you feel very thirsty so people with diabetes type 1 tend to be extremely thirsty, tend to go to the toilet quite regularly to pass urine and they tend to be very dehydrated all the time and they tend to lose weight very quickly because they can't utilize the energy of the sugar. Then I'll move on to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, essentially, is the inability or the resistance of the cell membrane to the insulin that is produced in the body. So people with type 2 diabetes generally tend to be people who are quite overweight and what happens as a result of the adipose tissue which is the fat cells, they produce certain hormones and those hormones actually make the cell membrane less resistant to the effects of insulin so when the insulin sits in its receptor on the cell wall it doesn't work as effectively and as a result the sugar isn't taken into the cell. Because of the metabolic components people with type 2 diabetes tend to have several metabolic components going on at the same time. They tend to be quite overweight. They have other medical problems associated with it and as a result you won't see these profound symptoms that you get with type 1 diabetes in type 2 diabetes. However the best treatment for type 2 diabetes is often thought to be exercise and diet. However if this is not possible people can sometimes start on medication such as metformin or sulfonolureas. There are some more and more medications that are coming out these days very specialized medications that have to be started by a specialist. I won't go into them because they differ from country to country and even in the UK they differ from place to place. People with type 1 diabetes often are started on insulin. Insulin, an artificial type of insulin which is injected into the body they have to take it specific times and usually specialists will tell you when to take it in people with type 2 diabetes. Sometimes even they start on insulin if their blood sugar levels are not improving with the medication and if that is the case then you should start the insulin as soon as possible because raised blood sugar levels as I'll be going on to explain can have detrimental effects on the body. Other possible things you can do to the medication with the metformin I would just like to speak a little bit about that because it's very important for the month of Ramadan. There's a lot of people, a lot of Muslims who are type 2 diabetic who fast as well and for them it is important to know what to do with the medication. So the advice I normally give my patients is that if you're fasting take one third of your dose of metformin in the morning before beginning your fast at sahur time and take two thirds of the dose after iftar after you've had your evening meal. This usually tends to work for people who are fasting however it is important to note that for those of you who are type 1 diabetic and who are on insulin it is often not healthy or physically possible to fast because you will have hypose which are hypoglycemic states into which you can go into a coma so it's very important that if you're type 1 diabetic you stay away from fasting for health reasons. It is very important to understand and appreciate the profound impact that high blood sugars can have on one one's body and if you're diabetic it's important that you take your condition seriously. After many many years as you come through your life and towards the end of your life people tend to find they have many many health problems linked to diabetes such as problems with their eyes, problems with their heart kidney problems, problems with their blood vessels but if you're diabetic make sure that you take good care of your blood sugar levels. The way that diabetes causes problems primarily firstly through the blood vessels and the way it affects blood vessels it causes glycosylation of the endothelium which is the first lining of the blood vessel and what happens is that this effect of the glucose on the cell wall on the endothelium actually allows other things to stick to it and as a result you get a plaque formation and in the coronary arteries this plaque formation as things build up upon this lining of the blood vessel can then go on to cause a blockage and therefore can cause damage to the heart as I'll go on to explain in future shows how heart attacks are caused. Similarly in the eyes as the blood vessels in the eyes are very narrow and very small if there's even a very small blockage of these the oxygen that is needed to keep the retina healthy cannot get to it and as a result you get formation of new blood vessels now what happens because of this excess production of blood vessels it causes a shearing effect or a mechanical effect on the retina itself and can cause detachment on the kidneys is a similar thing the blood sugars can actually block the filtration mechanism of the kidneys and therefore cause kidney problems and also for people who suffer from recurrent infections of the feet recurrent infection of the body high blood sugar levels can also affect your immune system high blood sugars are firstly a breeding ground for bacteria and also it affects because of the effect on the immune system it can cause recurrent infections finally people who get leg ulcers if you're diabetic your leg ulcers are that much more severe for many reasons firstly because I've mentioned the supply of blood to that particular part of the skin is compromised because of the effects of the blood sugar and blocking those blood vessels secondly as I've mentioned because the ulcer is open the infection can actually get into the skin and because I've mentioned before the high blood sugar levels affect the immune system so your immune system doesn't react to this infection this ulcer and fourthly like I've mentioned because it's an exposed surface to the blood the blood itself acts as a breeding ground for the bacteria so it can get very quickly infected the leg ulcers can get infected very quickly finally I just want to say that for those of you who are wondering what you can do in order to keep on top of your blood sugar levels my advice to you would simply be number one take your medications regularly and go and see your GP for regular checkups now some GPs may specify that you have to come every six months or every year for blood tests or for other just general health checks to make sure that your blood pressure is stable make sure you go to those checkups and also I would request you to check your blood sugar levels on a regular basis so if you type one diabetic check it more than once or twice during the day if you type two diabetic I'd consider that you either check it with a home monitor every so often or go and see your doctor for a HBA1C HBA1C is the new test that we use in order to check how good your compliance is with medication how good your blood sugar levels are over the period of about three months inshallah if we can do that we can keep ourselves healthy keep our hearts healthy, keep our bodies healthy inshallah it will allow us later on in life to stay active and also keep our minds active and keep our souls active inshallah today Islam is the greatest force among the world its enemies cannot do it any harm it is like a mighty oak which the storms of the world cannot uproot yet there was a time where this mighty oak was a tiny sapling and desperately needed someone to protect it from the hurricanes of idolatry and polytheism which threatened to uproot it Muslims may have forgotten this fact but Islam cannot forget its infancy this is where Abu Talib and Khadija played a significant role in protecting the tree of Islam they made Islam invulnerable Abu Talib protected the sapling of Islam from the attempts of misbelief and heathenism while Khadija irrigated it with her wealth she did not let the sapling of Islam die from drought as a matter of fact she didn't even let it wilt from neglect Islam was their first love and it was a love where they passed on and grandchildren if they, Abu Talib and Khadija had protected the tree of Islam from its enemies during the lifetime Prophet Muhammad SAW had irrigated it with the vast quantities of gold and silver then their children have done the same however was their holy blood of course their blood was the most sacred blood in all creation after all it was the blood of Prophet Muhammad himself the last and the greatest messenger of Allah the chief of apostles and all prophets Khadija going back to Khadija Khadija was an eyewitness of the birth of Islam she nursed it during its infancy through its most difficult and through its most formative years Islam was given the shape and design in the home of Khadija if there was a home which can be called the cradle and axis of Islam it would be the home of Khadija this was the home of the Quran the book of Allah the religious and political court of Islam as we commemorate the martyrdom of Lady Khadija peace and blessings be upon her I want to recite a poem that's been written by my good friend Nouri Sardar in which he describes how Lady Zaynab remembers her mother on the night of Shamir Ghariba she says the tents ablaze alone here I stand when no one left to embrace as both my feet are being burnt by the sand and fire scorches my face today someone has steps I retrace there was not death upon this land they did not there was no house of Faltima too so they burnt all the tents of her children on each one a scar I remember Zahra I remember when I saw the tents burning with fire I remember the house of my mother alone in Karbala I remember Zahra I remember when I heard Hussain's child crying from our father I remember the child who before birth cried mother please protect me when the vein soon after birth met with his death one met his death long before his first breath in my shocking horror I remember Zahra when I was alone and I faced danger I cried help me remember your voice crying for Haidah when your chest nails pierced and just like into a curse the one who crushed you with hundreds just like him into our tents pool I remember Zahra I remember when I saw the tents burning remember the house of my mother Karbala I remember Zahra I remember The Holy Prophet Muhammad may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him in his progeny has said It Ramadan is the month whose beginning is mercy its middle is forgiveness and its end is emancipation or liberation from the Hellfire As we concluded another episode of the Ramadan show I want to leave you with a final thought something that you can ponder over and reflect over in this holy month and that is that it is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you're not if we look at the life of Amir Al-Mu'minin this is a very similar saying to what he said he was always on the path of truth and he found that when he was on the path of truth there was no one besides him he was always left by himself but in life it's very important to stay with the truth and be true to who you are be comfortable within your own skin and don't be afraid of other people because after all in your heart you know what the right path is and which way is the right way to go I once again ask to for you to send in your videos from around the world so that we can air them on our television station and show the world exactly how you prepare your day to day lives for the month of Ramadan please don't forget to join us on Twitter using the hashtag IHTVRamadan don't forget to join us on Facebook Instagram and YouTube finally I humbly ask you to remember seeing your du'aas in these holy and inspirational nights please also don't forget to pray for the reappearance of the 12th Imam alayhi salam and that is the most important du'a of all I want to bid you farewell with the following words wa salamu alaykum jami'an wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh