Ramadan 2025 | The Power of Prophetic Prayers | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 03/10

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Words Given to Adam — A Du'a at the Greatest Turning Point

Allah azza wa jal mentions in Surah al-Baqarah:

Adam عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ received — talaqqā, he received — min rabbihi, from his Lord, kalimāt, some words. This is regarding the incident after committing the mistake of eating from that which he was not supposed to. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala let him know that He was displeased with this action. Fatāba ʿalayhi — so he turned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with certain words. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepted his repentance. Allah turned His attention towards Adam. Innahu — indeed Allah, huwa al-Tawwāb al-Rahīm, is most accepting of repentance, and all-merciful.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in Surah al-A'raf:

Adam and Hawwa — when they left paradise and they realized their mistake — they both said: Rabbanā, O Allah, ẓalamnā anfusanā, we have oppressed ourselves. Wa in lam taghfir lanā — and if You do not forgive us — wa tarḥamnā — and if You do not have mercy upon us — lanakunanna min al-khāsirīn — most definitely we will be from amongst the losers.

So this was a big turning point, naturally — not only in the life of Hazrat Adam and Hazrat Hawwa, but in the history of mankind. If it wasn't for that whole system, if it wasn't for that mistake, and if it wasn't for the whole process, we wouldn't be sitting here today. Every single thing happened because of that. So it was a really big incident. And what did they do when this big incident happened? They recited this du'a.

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا — this du'a is no small du'a, which we usually — I mean if someone doesn't know any Arabic du'as, he knows this du'a. He knows رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً and he knows this one. But this is a really powerful du'a. Because this is a du'a that was recited by Hazrat Adam and Hazrat Hawwa at this very delicate juncture.

And Allah then told them:

O Iblis and Adam — both of you get removed from Jannah, descend to the earth as enemies to one another. Now you will be fighting with one another for the entire existence. Shaytan will always be out to get Banū Ādam. And Banū Ādam will always have to seek protection in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the plots and plans of Shaytan. All the time. It's never gonna stop. It's gonna be continuous chasing.

The Way of Adam vs. The Way of Iblis

So our Ustadh, honorable teacher, Mawlana Suleiman Choksi, when he would explain this verse — or actually he would just tell us in class — he said: when you make a mistake, which who amongst us does not make mistakes, right? Top to bottom, all of us are sinners. Every day we are making countless mistakes. But when you make a mistake, you have two options.

One option is you try to give an excuse for what you did — an explanation, a long drawn-out explanation — because of this, actually this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened, that happened. Whether it's sometimes true, sometimes it's not even true, so you make it up. That's one method.

And then the other method is to say: I made a mistake, I'm sorry, I will definitely try my best never to do this again. So you've got two ways to do it.

He said: Adam a.s. made a mistake. And Shaytan obviously made a big mistake as well — a huge one. When Allah asked him, why did you not prostrate? He could have simply said: I'm sorry, I should have. I wasn't feeling it at that time. My bad. You know, I was in a bad mood. It happens. All these things happen. And you seek forgiveness, no matter what it is. So if Iblis had simply said that, Allah, Most Merciful, would have — we expect Allah would have forgiven him. But instead of saying that, he came up with an elaborate excuse.

And this is so problematic, because exactly what you see in today's kids — little ones especially. Previously, if someone did something wrong, you just look down: okay, sorry, done. But now, it's you — the guy who corrects the kid — he actually feels bad after two minutes, because the child will say something that you wonder: oh my God, how do I answer this one? But you said that yesterday. This is what our Ustadh called حُجَّةْ بَازِي — coming with proofs, back and forth. Like we are in court, going back and forth with a lawyer, with the opponent, or with a judge or something like that.

So this has become something really normal now — that children go back and forth. Pretty much you go in any home, you'll see this. A four-year-old, five-year-old will go back and forth with their parents on every single thing. What's the goal? That I am never, ever proven wrong. I should have a 100% clean record, no matter what I have done, no matter how horrible it may have been. For example, something falls — a glass, water falls. What happens? "You broke that?" "It fell." Okay, but that was over here. "It fell." Of course it fell, but who pushed it? No, it will be: "Not me, it fell on its own." That's just how it is. Find another scapegoat, blame it on someone else. This is the mindset.

So our Ustadh would say: if you get caught doing something wrong, you have two ways. You have the way of Iblis, and you have the way of Hazrat Adam. Iblis is the one who came up with logical proofs:

"You created me from fire, and You created him — Adam — from soil and mud. That's the reason why I did not, because it makes no sense, it goes against logic." But no one asked you for logic here. The idea is you have orders, you have to follow the orders. Who asked you about logic?

But that's the point, right? The children also do the same thing now. That same parent — they remember what the parent said, or an uncle or aunt, or a teacher said three weeks ago, a week ago, and they will quote that. And they will try to use your words against you. This is an Iblisi method.

The Iblisi method is: ya Allah, there's a status for everything, there's a hierarchy You have built in this world. And so based on that hierarchy, You have created fire to be stronger than mud. Because fire can burn down a whole building. And mud is such that even if you throw it up, it comes down — it can't even stay up. Fire, you push it down, it goes up. So the logic is: a'lā should be served by adnā. Something lower should prostrate to something higher. Not the other way around. Otherwise the world would be messed up if the one who is in a lower status becomes makhdum — the one being served by those of higher status. So based on the laws of nature, I think it's not going to work if I do sajda. See how he rationalized it?

And on the other hand, your Hazrat Adam, who said — okay, forget all this stuff — when the forbidden tree was taken from, immediately:

O Allah, we're sorry. We didn't harm You — we harmed ourselves. By sinning, we have not harmed Allah. We have harmed no one besides ourselves. And ya Allah — if You don't forgive us and You don't have mercy upon us, then whatever situation we're in now, this is nothing compared to how bad it's going to get. We're going to become the biggest losers. So we'd rather sort it out right now than have Your wrath and anger on us, which will lead to a much, much greater problem afterwards.

So if you come late — بھئی کہاں سے آئے ہو؟ — he said: two options. You can simply say, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come late to class." Or you're gonna give the whole long story. So he would say: I don't want to hear long stories. Use the method of Hazrat Adam — say, "I'm sorry," finish, wrong. And don't get into all this other stuff.

Now of course there are times when a person genuinely has an excuse. We're not saying don't share that. But you don't have to elongate it. You preface it with: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been late. However, this is what happened." That might be good. And depending on who you're speaking to, sometimes people don't even like to hear the "however." So that "however" you can give to them afterwards. Once the storm passes, once the mood gets better — then you can go and explain the background of what happened. But at the moment when there's a storm going on, to come and try to give لَكِنْ، لَكِنَّ، لَيْتَ، لَعَلَّ is not a good idea.

So, khair. This is what we learn from Adam a.s. — our elder, our father Adam a.s. What happened to him? He made a mistake, and he simply apologized for it and moved on. And all of us have to create a mentality.

Learning to Say "I'm Sorry" — and the Hadith of the Three Houses in Jannah

So what do I suggest to myself and all of us? Make a habit of learning how to say "I'm sorry." Yourself and your children — make this training. Learn how to keep on saying "I'm sorry" — to Allah and to the makhluq when we make mistakes. If we cannot learn this at a young age, this is one of the main reasons why divorce happens so much today. Because people simply do not know how to say: "Okay, you know what, my bad." Even if it's not your wrong, just say it.

When the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4800)

مَنْ تَرَكَ الْمِرَاءَ — whoever leaves argumentation — وَهُوَ مُحِقٌّ — even while he is on the truth, he has a right to defend himself, but he says, let me give it up — then Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ guarantees him a beautiful place inside Jannah, inside the middle of Jannah — for the one who gives up his right and does not want to argue.

So this is something — if we were to do that within our own marriages — subhanAllah, how nice it would have been. You won't have issues. Because people are looking for — the shaytan in us and the nafs — we're looking for a fight. You know what happens? You're just in a bad mood, looking to pick a fight. When your spouse is in that mood, don't let the shaytan or the nafs — they've got her or they've got him already — why are you letting them get you? Because they're just argumentative right now. They just want to argue. For what reason? Stress, sadness, they had a bad day. So our job should be: no, you're not going to drag me into this fight. "This is all your fault." "Yes, all my fault." And then you want to set the record right — you do that afterwards. Once the storm passes, once the mood gets better — then you can go tell them, "This is what the issue is."

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says: I am za'eem — I am taking responsibility — for a home in Jannah. The sides of Jannah, رَبَضُ الْجَنَّةِ, for whoever gave up argumentation, even if he had the right in this affair and was on the correct side, but he gave it up.

Beloved friends, if you can just literally take this one point — how our lives will change from today. That whoever argues with me, at school, at work, at home — I'm just not going to argue back, at least at that moment. Even if I have to come back a week later, a day later, and set the record nicely. But at that moment, if we can just simply stay quiet and say: "Okay, fine." What are we going to get? Besides your dunya, inshAllah, having very good relationships with everyone around you — you're going to get Jannah.

Then Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: وَبَيْتٌ فِي وَسَطِ الْجَنَّةِ لِمَنْ تَرَكَ الْكَذِبَ وَإِنْ كَانَ مَازِحًا — and I guarantee you a house in the middle of Jannah for the one who gives up lying, even if he is joking. Even if you're joking — no psyche, no "just kidding," no "cap" — he gives up lying even while joking. Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is guaranteeing a house فِي وَسَطِ الْجَنَّةِ — in the middle of Jannah.

Then number three: وَبَيْتٌ فِي أَعْلَى الْجَنَّةِ لِمَنْ حَسَّنَ خُلُقَهُ — and I guarantee you a house in the highest levels of Jannah for the one who makes an effort to make his character beautiful.

So all of these things — notice how Jannah is interconnected with others. And in the month of Ramadan, such an important point. We think: my Jannah is just to come sit in a corner of the masjid, read fifteen juz, do a hundred thousand dhikr, not even break my fast with more than just a date, force myself to stay hungry — I will go to Jannah just by that. And then go home and fight with this one, get mad at that one, say this to that one, cheat someone, lie to someone, backbite someone. This Jannah doesn't come like that.

Notice — all three things the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ tied with who? With others. Stop arguing, even if you're right — you get your house on the side. Don't lie to people, even while joking — I get you a house in the middle of Jannah. And you work on your character with other people — I guarantee you a house at the top of Jannah.

Such an important point. The ummah is not focusing on ibadah as much as we should. The masjid, salah, du'a, dhikr — there's a small percentage that's doing it. But a large percentage is very ghāfil and heedless, even in the month of Ramadan, from all of these a'mal. And then that group that does — mashAllah, the top 5% who show up to the masjid programs and the tafsir — what percentage of them, alongside all of that, are ensuring that their akhlāq are good? See how much smaller that is now.

So gently — you have to have both things. You have to have beautiful ibadah, and then you have to couple that with beautiful akhlāq. You cannot do one or the other. And so we need to all ask ourselves this question. For those who are, alhamdulillah, connected to the house of Allah, doing dhikr, du'a, ibadah — ask yourself: what is my connection with the people around me? Especially people in my household. To what degree is my character in good shape? And to what degree is it in bad shape?

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us all to recognize our flaws and faults. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala enable us to make a sincere, sincere effort in the remaining twenty days we have to bring massive changes to our character and improvement. There's no end to how much improvement. If someone says, "I haven't hurt anyone" — but how much ihsān are we doing? How much ikrām are we showing to others? There's no end to that. You can continue to improve on that.

Adam's Du'a Through the Wasīlah of the Prophet — A Narration from Durr al-Manthūr

So this is the way Adam a.s. responded. And this is the method of Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — that whenever a mistake happens, you simply apologize.

So now, talking about what other kalimāt — we talked about رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا — one kalimah that Adam a.s. said. We got the background of this. Now the other riwāyah — I'm reading from the Tafsīr of Durr al-Manthūr of Suyūtī, rahimahullah. He says here, narrated by al-Tabarānī in al-Mu'jam al-Saghīr, and al-Hākim, Abū Nu'aym, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Dalā'il, and Ibn 'Asākir, from Umar ibn al-Khattāb radiyAllahu 'anhu, who says:

(Cited in Tafsīr Durr al-Manthūr of Imām al-Suyūtī, also recorded by Ibn 'Asākir — note: there is scholarly discussion regarding the strength of its chain of narration)

It says that when Adam a.s. made the mistake which he made, he lifted his head to the heavens and said: "I ask You in the name of haqq Muḥammad — the right of Muhammad — that You forgive me."

What is haqq Muḥammad? The right of Muhammad. You could understand that as the love Allah has for Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. That I'm asking You in the name of the right of Muhammad صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ upon You — meaning the love Allah has for Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

The Story of the Servant and the Master — The Love of Allah

There is mentioned in Fadā'il al-Sadaqāt a story of a man who had a servant at his home. He thought this servant was behaving strangely while he was sleeping — he heard crying, and woke up. He woke up and he saw this lady, the servant, standing in tahajjud, crying in front of Allah. He was not as pious as her. So he listened to her, and then he said: "What's wrong with you? What kind of du'a are you making?"

Because in the du'a, she was crying and crying, making lots and lots of du'a. Part of the du'a was: "O Allah, I ask You in the name of the love that You have for me — that You forgive me." So the master said: "What a fool you are, uneducated fool. You make du'a like this? Who told you to make du'a like this? You're supposed to say: Ya Allah, I ask You in the name of the love I have for You that You forgive me. You're supposed to express your love to Him. What is this other way around?"

So he corrected her. She said: "No. I know what I'm saying." Allahu Akbar. "If it wasn't for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's love for me — and His dislike for you — He would not have allowed me to stand up and spend my night like this, and for you to spend your night like that. SubhanAllah. Why is Allah allowing me to stand here today? It's because He loves me. He is inspiring me to stand for hours and cry in front of Him. This can be nothing but a sign that He loves me. So I know that I'm here because He loves me. Now I'm saying: now that You love me, You have to forgive me."

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to understand this and inculcate this, implement this. And most importantly, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow His khusūsī fadl, His khusūsī nazar, His khusūsī tawajjuh to be upon us. That we become from amongst those who fall in love with Him, and then He falls in love with us. SubhanAllah. Ameen.

What Adam Realized from the Throne of Allah

So this is what Adam a.s. says: "O Allah, I ask You in the name of the right of Muhammad صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that You forgive me." So then Allah reveals to Adam: "Who is Muhammad? Where did you get this name from?" He says: "O Allah, Your name is all blessed. When You created me, I lifted my head towards Your throne, and I saw written on Your throne: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ. So I realized that there is no one who is greater in status in Your eyes than the one whose name You have put with Your own name."

Which adhān is not complete without it? Which tashahhud is not complete without it? Which iqāmah is not complete without it? Which acceptance of Islam is not complete without it? مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ — it is everywhere.

Then Allah responded back to Adam a.s.: "O Adam — he is the last of the prophets from your children, and if it wasn't for him, I would not have created you." Meaning Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — Allah has made him a source of so much mercy in this world. And the fact that he has the largest ummah — that he has become the means of introducing billions of people to Allah — hence you have the largest ummah on the Day of Judgment. So the status of Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is of a very central figure in the entire galaxy — not only of humans, but also in the galaxy of the prophets. I don't think anyone can doubt that.

When it comes to the wording of this, yes — as I said earlier — there is a lot of kalām and discussion amongst the scholars of hadith about its authenticity, and it being very weak. And that is in its place. But when it comes to the meaning, that's what we're trying to derive here — the fact that Adam a.s. was inspired by Allah with various du'as. One du'a we share from the Quran, and one possible du'a is saying: "Ya Allah, forgive me in the name of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ." That's what we call wasīlah.

Understanding Wasīlah — The Intercession of the Prophet

What does wasīlah mean? Ya Allah, we ask You to forgive us in the name of the love that You have for Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, and in the name of the love we have for him.

I give an example to people: let's say your elder is upset — a father, a grandfather. And so now you find his most favorite grandson, his most favorite granddaughter, and you just let her walk up and say: "Dada, how are you?" or "Nana, how are you?" — and the mood lightens up. And then you just kind of walk behind them a few minutes afterwards. So what happened? This is the unsaid shafā'ah. The child was a way to soften up the elder, because the elder really loves this grandkid. And so we were able to — after softening the mood — get ourselves in and seek forgiveness.

وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَىٰ — Allah is above and beyond any examples. But the idea is: when we take Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ's name, we know that Nabi صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is the only one who — when there will be complete silence on the Day of Judgment — billions of people, and there is literally:

— for Allah knows best how many hundreds of years — all you hear is footsteps of people. Not one person, no sneezing, no coughing, no asking, no whispering, nothing. Everyone is so, so, so scared. And the only one who will have the ability to speak to Allah Azza wa Jal is Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

And he will fall into sujood — well-known hadith — he will fall into sujood and he will praise Allah in a manner in which Allah has never been praised before like this, and never will be praised again. How will he do that? Because Allah will inspire him. Allah will inspire him with the proper words of praise. And after he praises Him, the voice will be heard:

"O Muhammad, raise your head. Ask, and you will be given. Intercede, and your intercession will be accepted." There is no other person who can have this — only him.

So if Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is so close to Allah, then why not take his name at the beginning and at the end of our du'as? That's why you have Durūd Sharīf. That's why you have Salah 'ala al-Nabī all the time. That is the etiquette. Because Salah 'ala al-Nabī is a du'a that can never get rejected. "O Allah, send salutations upon Muhammad صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ" — Allah will never say no to that. Never. So that du'a is 100% going to get accepted. And then, if you sandwich your du'as between two du'as that will definitely be accepted, then inshAllah we have hope that our requests that come in between — sandwiched in between — will also be accepted. That's why we do salawāt.

And so similarly, when you say — ya Allah, accept our du'as through the barakah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — this is not a serious crime as some people may think of it to be. This is actually, like I just explained, a very simple way. You are hoping that through the barakah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, through your love, you say: "Ya Allah, not only do You love him — I love him too. In the name of my love for him, I ask You to also accept our du'as. I'm a Muhammadi. I'm from his ummah." So this is how we present ourselves.

You know when in an exam, sometimes students who know they didn't write it too well — they take another exam from someone else, put it below their own. If the teacher is looking at it, he's going to give this guy 100%, and he's going to be in such a good mood — when it comes to mine, maybe the little happiness from the previous exam will leak into this exam. So this is the thing: you're sandwiching your du'a with Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ's name, hoping that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will accept that. SubhanAllah.

A Third Du'a of Adam — Coming Tomorrow

There is one more du'a that Adam a.s. recited, subhanAllah — regarding the time when he was descending from Jannah. InshAllah, if Allah wills, we'll cover it tomorrow. And this is also a very lengthy, beautiful du'a, which we can use for ourselves. We can use رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا, we can use the wasīlah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, and then this du'a as well — we'll try to cover that tomorrow.

Let us inshAllah proceed downstairs and we'll begin dhikr and du'a, inshAllah.

Du'a Session

Oh Allah, we ask You to accept our first ten days of fast. Oh Allah, we ask You, ya Allah, to allow us to end these first ten days in a state where we have enjoyed Your mercy. Oh Allah, that we become worthy of Your mercy. Oh Allah, allow every single one of these ten days — no matter how weak our fast may have been, no matter how many flaws and faults they may have had, no matter how many mistakes we may have made — oh Allah, we ask You, through the mercy that You shower upon us every day and every night, and especially during the first ten nights and ten days, to grant qubūl and acceptance to those ten days.

Oh Allah, through the barakah of these, inshAllah, ten days being accepted, allow our remaining days of the month to be even better. Oh Allah, accept our fasting, accept our qiyām al-layl, accept our sadaqah, accept our feeding of people. Oh Allah, accept our good character, accept our patience. Oh Allah, whatever good we have done — oh Allah, we ask You to allow us to see the fruits of it in this world and the fruits of it in the hereafter.

Oh Allah, we ask You to mold our character. Oh Allah, make us righteous people who fear You, ya Allah, who fear Your disobedience. Oh Allah, please make us people who fear Your disobedience. Oh Allah, save us from ever having any doubts about our deen. Oh Allah, save us from ever having doubts about any obligation of Islam. Oh Allah, save us from ever having doubts about Your power and Your qudrah. Oh Allah, save us from the wasāwis of Shaytan. Save us from the whisperings of the nafs and Shaytan.

Oh Allah, we ask You, ya Allah, to grant strength and help, ya Allah, to our brothers and sisters in Palestine and our brothers and sisters in Syria, in Sham. Oh Allah, in Damascus, ya Allah. Oh Allah, in Gaza. Oh Allah, in Sudan. Oh Allah, in India, and in all other parts of the globe. Oh Allah, we ask You, ya Allah, to grant victory to the oppressed ones wherever they may be. Oh Allah, please grant victory to the oppressed ones wherever they may be.

Oh Allah, accept the shuhada who passed away — ya Allah, accept them. And oh Allah, the injured ones, the severely injured ones, the crippled ones — oh Allah, the disabled ones, Ya Allah, You have special mercy upon them. Grant them patience, grant their families patience. And allow them, ya Allah, to gain the highest levels of Jannah through their patience.

Oh Allah, we ask You, ya Allah, to allow us to enjoy our du'a, enjoy our salah, enjoy our fast. Oh Allah, make it easy for all of us to spend more time making du'a to You. Oh Allah, make it easy for all of us to spend quality time making du'a to You. Oh Allah, make it easy for us to not miss a single salah or jama'ah in the masjid. Oh Allah, save us from missing our Fajr and Isha in the masjid. And allow us all to spend adequate time in tahajjud making du'a for ourselves and for the ummah.

Oh Allah, whoever has any need, ya Allah, we ask You to accept their needs. Oh Allah, whoever is sick in our families, oh Allah, we ask You to grant them shifā'. Oh Allah, we got the news of the passing away of many of our community members, ya Allah. Oh Allah, we ask You, ya Allah, to grant forgiveness. Oh Allah, to brother Mas'ud Siddiqi — a long-time founder and member of the CPSA school — oh Allah, we ask You to grant him Jannat al-Firdaws. Oh Allah, who passed away just a few hours ago — oh Allah, we ask You to allow his past suffering of many months and years to become a means of his status being elevated in Jannah. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant all those whom we are unaware of who also passed away from the ummah — grant each and every one of them Jannat al-Firdaws. And allow them to enjoy the barakah of Ramadan in their graves.