Rise & Reflect | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | Winter Intensive 2023 | Sun, 12/24

Rise & Reflect — Winter Intensive 2023

Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | Sunday, December 24, 2023

Regularly every year for the past five years, Alhamdulillah, are here, every single winter. And we are hoping that through their sacrifice, Allah brings lots of khair to us and our community. And inshallah, inspires the locals as well to benefit the way these brothers, Alhamdulillah, are doing.

As we are all well aware that one day has been complete, Alhamdulillah, we still have another two days. So if we did not get a chance to attend the classes the past two days, let's try our best to attend today, tomorrow, inshallah. Starting at ten, and inshallah ending at six. Isha is at six o'clock.

The Statement of Abu Darda — Part One: Protecting Yourself at Home

Yesterday we covered a statement of Abu Darda رضي الله عنه, regarding the importance of us benefiting from our stay at home, and how that would protect a person from the harms of being out and about in a marketplace.

(Recorded in Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, from the statements of Abu Darda رضي الله عنه)

How nice is the monastery of a person in his home, in which he protects his tongue and his eyes. And stay away from excessively going to the store, excessively going to the marketplace, going out of the home — for indeed that creates an environment of heedlessness. That's what we covered yesterday.

And if you may remember, I mentioned that when it comes to leaving the house and being careful — don't go out of the house unnecessarily — this can be, in today's example, given about: don't go on the internet, and go on the phone unnecessarily. Because just like going out can open a person to the opportunities of sinning, similarly would be those who go online. Whenever we go out online, there is always a chance. So surfing, etc. should be done only when needed, and done so for a limited amount of time. So Alhamdulillah I spoke about that yesterday, and we ask Allah to grant all of us the tawfiq to practice on it. Ameen, Rabbil Alameen.

The Statement of Abu Darda — Part Two: Four Pillars of Wisdom

Now another statement of Abu Darda رضي الله عنه — it's a very comprehensive, beautiful piece of advice that has been recorded in various books, from Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah. He said:

Pillar One: Worship Allah as Though You See Him

This is the famous concept of Ihsan, from the Hadith of Jibreel. What is Ihsan? To worship Allah as though you are seeing Him.

Worshiping Allah as though you can see Him means that when a person keeps on reminding himself that whatever he is doing, he is doing it only for Allah — number one. Number two, he is not only doing it for Allah, but Allah is in front of him and He is watching him. Remember the hadith says: if you do not have the ability to have the level of conviction that you are seeing Allah, know very well that He is watching you. But the first degree is that a person worships Allah as though he is actually seeing Him.

We can well imagine what level of ibadah will be present within our lives when we worship Him as though we are actually right in front of Him. That cannot allow us to be haphazard in our deeds or be rushing through our deeds. Every single thing will be done with full quality. Our Quran will be of quality, our salah will be of quality, our sadaqah will be of quality, our sawm will be of quality.

We are so far away, honestly, from where we need to be in terms of the quality of our own individual ibadah. But this will improve when a person starts preparing himself before the ibadah begins, during the ibadah, and then at the end of it, reflecting about what happened. We just prayed Fajr salah — what was the quality of my concentration in this Fajr? In my ruku, in my sajda, in my qiyam — what was I thinking? Did I recognize that I am standing in the presence of Allah? And did I show that in the form of my focus, in the form of my desire to beseech Allah's help and to gain His pleasure?

So if a person does not have that, then this is where the sunnah salah comes in. This is where you have the adhan and iqamah — the time between adhan and iqamah for a person to prepare for that salah.

The Quality of Wudu: The Key to Prayer

It starts off with making sure our wudu is done properly. The more quality that we have in wudu, and the more sunnah that we have in our wudu, and the less water that is used in wudu, the better inshallah — not only will be the wudu, but the quality of our salah. Because this is the key to the prayer. When that key is placed properly and the quality of that key is great, then the end product also will be great.

So it starts off actually from wudu — that a person is ensuring that it is done with all the sunnahs in mind. And this is nice — there in the books of fiqh, there are du'as written for wudu, just to help concentrate. You may not need to say it in Arabic if you don't know it; it's fine. In Urdu, in English, or just think about it as you're going through each limb:

Washing the face: "Oh Allah, brighten my face on that day when some faces will be bright and lit up, and some other faces will be absolutely dark with dhulmah — with the darkness of sin."

Putting water into his nose: "Oh Allah, allow me to smell the fragrance of paradise, and do not put me in a situation where I have to smell the stench of hellfire." The Prophet ﷺ speaks about how the fragrance of Jannah can be smelled at a distance of five hundred years. And then the Prophet ﷺ also mentions how there will be certain individuals who, even though it's a five-hundred-year distance in which the fragrance can be smelled, will be deprived of it. And amongst those people are people who do not dress appropriately — people who are clothed yet are naked. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that there will be such people who will be wearing clothes but will be naked — meaning there will be no point in them wearing those clothes. That's exactly the era we live in, SubhanAllah. So the sin of that — the Prophet ﷺ is mentioning that they will not be able to even smell the fragrance of paradise, even though it can be enjoyed five hundred years before entrance into Jannah.

Washing the right hand: "Oh Allah, grant me my book of deeds in my right hand."

Washing the left hand: "Oh Allah, do not give me my book of deeds in my left hand."

"And make my hisaab easy for me." And as you wash the left hand: "Oh Allah, do not allow me to receive my book of deeds in my left hand."

"Nor behind my back."

Doing miswak and brushing the teeth: "Oh Allah, please purify my mouth — not just from all the germs there, but beyond that, allow me to have a clean tongue. That's a very big problem. Oh Allah, purify my heart. If the heart is clean, inshallah the tongue will also be clean."

"And oh Allah, make my body haram upon the fire of Jahannam — that the fire of Jahannam cannot burn it."

Wiping the head (masah):

"Oh Allah, give me the shade on the Day of Judgment of your throne — on a day in which there is no shade besides yours."

Wiping the nape of the neck:

"Oh Allah, grant freedom to my neck and the neck of my fathers and my forefathers from the fire of Jahannam."

Washing the feet:

"Oh Allah, keep my feet firm on that day when the feet will be slipping off the bridge into Jahannam." SubhanAllah — you're washing your foot, making that du'a.

The final masnoon du'a after wudu:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 55; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 470)

We proclaim Allah's greatness. We absolve ourselves from shirk. And then we say: Oh Allah, make me from amongst the people who repent profusely. And then make me from amongst those who attain purity fully. Make me from amongst your righteous, pious servants —

— who've got nothing to worry about the future and nothing to grieve over the past.

When a person recites this du'a, it's mentioned in a hadith that Allah allows all eight doors of Jannah to open for this individual at the end of wudu. You're making wudu five, six, eight times a day. You're reciting this final masnoon du'a — then imagine the reward we're getting: all eight doors being opened for us so that we can enter from whichever door we can.

A person is also trying to fix the qiblah direction when doing wudu, using as little water as possible. And there is also a masnoon du'a throughout wudu — besides starting off with Bismillah — asking Allah to forgive your sins, create barakah in your home, make it expansive and comfortable, and put barakah in your sustenance.

SubhanAllah — imagine these things we just shared. This is now your wudu, which you have focused on in all these things. What kind of quality wudu is this? It's not going to be a mindless wudu. It's going to be a very mindful wudu.

Mindful Eating and Gratitude

Doctors and nutritionists say: abstain from ever having mindless eating. Every time a person eats, they should also be focused on what they're eating, they should watch and look at what they're eating. SubhanAllah — from a physical health perspective, that is true, they say. Definitely from a spiritual perspective, that is true as well. As you're looking at the food, you are thinking about what type of journey this food has had to come onto your plate. And how Allah has subjugated hundreds and thousands of people — and even animals — to work together to be able to get you that bowl of cereal, that burger, or that plate of rice and gravy. How much effort has happened?

And then when you eat this and you read the du'a, it means something so much more. "Our praise belongs to Allah who has fed me this food without any effort on my end." This is the du'a — no strength and no effort of mine was put in there. I thought I went and worked and earned some money and bought an eight-dollar burger. No. The tawfiq to be able to earn money, the physical ability to go earn money, and the ability to have a job — how many people, SubhanAllah, are so highly qualified but don't have jobs? So many qualified people right now do not have rizq. May Allah provide for all those who don't have rizq, halal rizq.

So the fact that you got money or earned it doesn't mean anything stands on its own — it's Allah who is inspiring us to do all of that and making it easy for us. So similarly, mindless eating is not beneficial, physically nor spiritually.

There's a famous story where the Prophet ﷺ was very hungry. Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه also came by — he was also very hungry. Then after a while, Umar رضي الله عنه came by, also very hungry. And all these three are the best of the creation, yet so hungry — they hadn't eaten for such a long time. Eventually they entered the garden of one of the Ansari's, who brought dates and went to prepare some food. So as they were eating the dates and drinking the water, the Prophet ﷺ spoke about being questioned by Allah about these blessings. Umar رضي الله عنه said, "Ya Rasulullah, we're going to be asked about this? We haven't eaten for so long, and now we've gotten just dates and water — Alhamdulillah, a huge thing, but we haven't eaten for so long." The Prophet ﷺ said, yes, you will be. And he recited:

"Indeed you will definitely be asked about the blessings." So when you think about that, how can I have mindless eating? I have to be focused on what I'm drinking, what I'm eating, and then constantly be praising Allah after every morsel, as Rasulullah ﷺ would do — praising Allah throughout. So every action of a believer should be with focus and concentration. And that's going to bring quality.

So Abu Darda رضي الله عنه once again said: Worship Allah as though you see Him. We're going to improve our ibadah when we slow down and we start focusing. Then inshallah the quality of that ibadah will become better.

Pillar Two: Count Yourself Amongst the Dead

A person should realize that our life on this earth is so short, it's as though it's already over. When a person is traveling today — say he has a flight at 10 AM or later — in his mind, what is it? If anyone says anything to him, he says, "I'm a musafir today." He's traveling after eight hours, but in his mind, since I'm traveling at the end of the day, it's as though I'm traveling now. His mindset is that I need to be preparing. So a person who knows that he has to leave this world — you might as well regard yourself as already dead. Meaning, I do not have time to waste. I do not have time for idle talk. I do not have time for useless, mindless activities, useless entertainment, etc. Whatever I do has to be preparing me for the akhirah. Because I'm almost dead.

Die before you die. Take stock of your actions before your actions are weighed. Weigh your own actions before someone else weighs them for you on the Day of Judgment.

Same example of traveling — all of us, when we go to the airport, we weigh our suitcase before that, if you're going internationally. You don't wait in front of the line while there are fifty, eighty, a hundred people behind you, open your suitcase there at that time, and find out it's ten to twelve pounds extra. Some people do that. And then it creates a big ruckus. They're crying. Why? You don't have to go through this if only you weighed your suitcase before. Because now you're sitting there in this dilemma — what do I take out? Everything is precious. If any of you have been through that dilemma, you know how it works. So that's why we're being told here — weigh your actions before they are weighed. Just think: that statement I just said, how is that going to do tomorrow in front of Allah? That glance of my eyes — how is that going to fare with Allah? Listening to what I've been listening to — how is that going to fare with Allah? Spending or earning money from a place where I shouldn't — how is that going to fare with Allah? Having these types of goals, ambitions, desires — how is that going to fare with Allah? Constantly I need to ask myself: it's just a matter of a few hours I have left on this earth, and the actions I do now will have repercussions forever.

My beloved friends, this is how a person comes out of a state of ghafla — this is what we are trying to run away from, ghafla, heedlessness. When a person is heedless, he doesn't think about what's going to happen tomorrow. Why is the ummah involved in sin? Because they are in the state of heedlessness. Because they're not thinking about death enough. Because they think they're going to live forever. So they say, "We'll repent afterwards. Right now, let's just go ahead and enjoy life. Life is short."

Isn't this so strange? That "life is short" — we're hearing about it. But look at how that phrase is completely turned to the opposite meaning. They say, "Life is short, so enjoy it." We're saying by "life is short" — so prepare for the akhirah. It's like: we only have eight hours left before we travel. So let's just enjoy it. No one says that. You say: no, you can enjoy it at your vacation destination. Right now, prepare for the journey. Then you can enjoy on the plane also, over there also. But what the average person today says is: "Life is short, brother. You're not going to get two lives. You don't have nine lives. Enjoy as much as you can." This is from the Quran — it is what the disbelievers would say:

"We only have this worldly life, in which we shall live and we shall die — and we are not going to get raised up. There's no resurrection." So we need to ensure that we spend our life in the most entertaining, enjoyable manner. This is what the disbelievers of the past said, and that's what the disbelievers and the weak Muslims of today say.

MashaAllah, the youth here — maybe a question or thought comes: "I can repent; I can stay in the masjid like the older uncles, inshallah when I reach 80. Right now is the time to have fun. Why would I be here?" But honestly, all of you — congratulations once again to those of you who are here. You don't realize, or maybe you do realize, what a rahmah of Allah upon you — when millions of people of your age, in your background, SubhanAllah, do not have the tawfiq to even pray Jum'ah. The vast majority of them. Look at your university classmates. Just to increase your appreciation for Allah, you should think about that. Think about your high school Muslim mates, your college Muslim mates. How many times were you able to see them in the masjid — for Jum'ah, for Eid, for Salah? And Allah has brought you for Salatul Fajr. This is the second day in a row you're praying here — SubhanAllah, imagine how lucky we should feel that Allah chose us.

So why are people not waking up? It's because they're constantly thinking: we have only one life, a short life, and death is still far away, and we need to make the most of it. They don't realize that making the most of it is by preparing for the akhirah.

So the second piece of advice here: count yourself amongst the dead. And that means weighing your actions before they are weighed, doing muhasabah. What is muhasabah? It is a method where a person focuses on what he has done and begins to weigh the pros and cons of each action from the whole day.

Let us ask Allah protection from heedlessness. And let us ask Allah to be blessed with the ability to have self-awareness. Self-awareness — this is the key thing. When a person knows, as soon as he said something or done something, that wasn't right — then immediately you don't need anyone else to tell you. You and I should have enough knowledge of ourselves and introspection that we immediately ask Allah's forgiveness for what we have done. Mistakes we shall always be making — all of us. It's about what happens after the mistake. How quick are we to repent? How quick are we to turn around and ask Allah forgiveness?

Pillar Three: Sufficient Wealth is Better Than Excessive Wealth

Know very well that that small amount of wealth which makes you self-sufficient is far better than lots of wealth which will create within you heedlessness. What do we need? We need just enough to live — enough that allows you not to extend your hand in front of people begging. You want enough to be able to take care of your needs. And you definitely do not want so much that it creates within a person heedlessness.

That is why the Prophet ﷺ, in one beautiful hadith, encouraged and exhorted his Sahaba — and all of us of course — to make the best use of the present and to run towards good deeds. And then he said: what are you waiting for?

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2306; narrated by Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه)

"Race towards good deeds before seven things: Are you waiting to be afflicted with poverty that will make you forget Allah? Or wealth that will make you rebellious? Or sickness that will make you incapable of doing anything? Or old, senile age where you forget everything and become bedridden? Or sudden death that will take you from this dunya immediately? Or the Dajjal — and he is the worst absent thing to be waiting for? Or the Day of Judgment — and the Day of Judgment is indeed very bitter and very difficult?"

So — too much poverty, not good. Too much wealth, not good. Especially that poverty which creates within a person forgetfulness of Allah. And there is even a hadith that mentions:

(Referenced in various collections; see Shu'ab al-Iman of al-Bayhaqi)

Poverty can lead a person all the way to disbelief. This is something we see in the world — NGOs that say, "We'll give you a bag of flour if you renounce Islam." So poverty will make a person forget. And especially that wealth which will create within a person rebelliousness — rebellion against Allah.

When a person is sick, he may say, "I'll stop my bad habits when I break my leg." Why would you do that? While Allah is giving you a beautiful healthy body, do something now. And when you become old, you might not be able to do the ibadah you want even if you desire it. So this teaches a believer to live in the moment and to not waste time.

You know, people sometimes accuse practicing Muslims: "Brother, you only think about akhirah — you've got to think about this dunya and prepare for it. You're always talking about akhirah." But actually, in reality, the one who thinks about the akhirah a lot — his life on earth will be very efficient. You won't be wasting time.

Look at why we're sitting here, honestly. If you slept at eleven last night, you've got your full night's sleep. Yeah, I know it's Sunday, December 24th — but why does it mean I have to waste it? You're sitting in the house of Allah. It doesn't mean I have to be knocked out sleeping, pray Fajr in my bedroom, and go back to sleep. No. It could be Sunday, December 24th, or Monday, December 25th — this year, or next year, or any year. For us, it's a day of our life, and we need to spend it in the most productive manner.

Hazrat Mufti Qudratullah Haqq, may Allah bless him and grant him mercy, would always tell us: make sure your Sundays are just like your weekdays. After Fajr, no sleeping. Because he used to have his Dhikr Majlis on Sunday mornings. He would say: "Don't use this time just because it's Sunday to sleep." And one of the physicians who gave a talk here said that yes, there is actually a concept of catching up on your sleep. But it should not be done immediately after Fajr. It should be done after Ishraq — after you do your morning adhkar and other chores. Ideally, you pray your salah, and then Alhamdulillah you can rest for some time.

And the Prophet ﷺ said there is barakah in this ummah's mornings — what you can get done in the three to four hours after Fajr, you won't get done in eight or nine hours later in the day. So the ideal is that a person stays awake and gets things done until ten-thirty or eleven or twelve, whatever you can. And then you do Qaylulah — you rest during the day. This is the sunnah method. But we have a completely opposite schedule. The Prophet ﷺ did not like people speaking after Isha — this is called Samar. His habit was of course waking up before Fajr. And his habit was also resting during the day. All three things we've messed up: we stay up late after Isha, we don't wake up early, and we don't rest during the day. So how can we have a productive, sunnah-filled day?

So a person needs to realize that thinking about akhirah and death is actually an amazing energy booster. It will make you the most efficient director, the best manager, the best employee. Anything you do, you say: I have limited time, I can't waste it. What can be done in three hours I should not do in eight — let me work harder and get it done. Then I can read a book, do my dhikr, my a'mal, etc.

One person was telling me he was a physician in a jail. He said, "Ya Shaykh, there's nothing for me to do — I only have to see one or two patients the whole day. And I sit there reading Tafsir and Quran." He felt guilty about being paid while reading Tafsir. I said: "This is a rizq from Allah. Why are you feeling guilty?" If the rizq is taken care of and you can sit there, make mutala'ah, read, and study — Alhamdulillah. Otherwise he's going to be on his phone, watching this and that. But a person who's preparing for the akhirah will sit there and use his time in the most productive manner.

And then, so basically, the idea is: let's not just make du'a for a lot of wealth. Let's make du'a for wealth that is mubarak, that is blessed. The worst thing is to have so much that it will make us heedless from Allah.

Pillar Four: Good Deeds Never Wear Out, and Sins Are Never Forgotten

Know very well that righteousness and good deeds never become old. بَلِيَ, yabla — it means to become worn out, like clothes that become old and worn. Good deeds never wear out. You could have done a good deed twenty years ago — you will continue to reap the rewards of that twenty years later. And you will reap the rewards in the akhirah. So never hesitate to do a good deed, because it's not like it has a shelf life of only three minutes or three hours. Once you do a good deed —

You've done one good deed — you shall see it for sure. Nothing can destroy a good deed. Nothing can destroy it. As Allah says:

Is the reward of excellence anything but excellence? All these verses of the Quran speak about the reward of doing good — that it will be repaid back with goodness.

And then, when it comes to sin — don't think: "I was quiet, no one saw it. I'm young, or I'm on holiday." No. Nothing goes unnoticed by Allah. And nothing is forgotten by Allah. As Allah says in the Quran:

Allah has retained, gathered, and saved every single action of mankind — and they have forgotten. On the Day of Judgment, people will say:

"What is wrong with this book of deeds?! It has not left a single small deed or a large deed except that it has enumerated it." They will find whatever they have done, present before them. And your Lord never oppresses anyone. It's in the book because you did it. That's it.

But we have this habit — we have a habit of arguing all the time. "No, I didn't." Everyone says, "No, I didn't." Then you have to pull out the evidence and say: "No, look at this. This is why you got a 60. Look at all this — what do you want to say?" So this human being — عَلُودُ الْخِصَامِ — argumentative, denying. So Allah Azza wa Jalla has everything ready: our book of deeds, our angels —

— writing every single thing. Nothing that Allah has decreed to be recorded is forgotten.

This is the beautiful statement of Abu Darda رضي الله عنه. To summarize once more:

1. Worship Allah as though you see Him.
2. Count yourself amongst the dead.
3. Know that less which is sufficient for you is better than a lot which makes you heedless.
4. Know that indeed good deeds never wear out — and sins are never forgotten.

Question & Answer: How to Maintain Istiqamah

The question is: how do you maintain istiqamah and steadfastness in your life? All of us notice the ups and downs we go through in special seasons — Ramadan, the ten days of Dhul Hijjah, Muharram when people fast, Rabi'ul Awwal — different things give people moments. But then we see such huge dips.

Going up and down is normal — it will always happen. You cannot expect what you have in Ramadan to be present outside of Ramadan. If you were reading six to eight juz a day, or on the last night of Ramadan the whole masjid is full and everyone is trying to complete their khatam — that's not natural to maintain throughout the year for a person who doesn't have that stamina. Some people, MashaAllah, do a khatam of Quran every single day throughout the year. Mawlana Badaat rahimahullah, who was one of the students of Sheikh Zakariyya, used to do this — I would see him in Masjid al-Nabawi in Madina Munawwara, every single day after Isha, he would be on the last juz, reading the last twenty surahs. He passed away during COVID. It was a well-known fact that he would sit in Masjid al-Nabawi and do one khatam of Qur'an every single day.

Most people can't do this. So going up and down is normal. However, when you go down, you cannot fall into haram, and you cannot neglect your fara'id — your obligations. That's what we have to keep in mind. If you just keep on getting upset at yourself — "Man, I was like this in Ramadan, not like that outside Ramadan" — that's natural. That's going to happen. What is Ramadan if you're always exactly the same outside of Ramadan? Ramadan is a special time. Even if you're at a high level, you're going to reach a super high level in Ramadan. So let's not try to keep Ramadan's level as the goal for outside of Ramadan.

The goal should be the basics. What are the basics?

• Reading Quran daily.
• Coming to the masjid daily.
• Working on your ilm, seeking some knowledge daily.
• Making sure we're not looking at haram, listening to haram, eating haram, consuming haram, thinking of haram, walking towards haram, touching haram, having relationships that are haram.

In order to stay away from haram, we need to make sure that we surround ourselves with a Ramadani environment and Ramadani people — people who can give us a spiritual high continuously and keep us strong. Good company is important. And every week we should attend a gathering — in your city, a majlis, a gathering of Quran, tafsir, dhikr, or commentary of hadith. Something where you go and get motivated. The effort of da'wah and tabligh is there — just going, listening to a talk on iman and yaqeen for fifteen to twenty minutes. These are simple small ways to charge yourself throughout the week.

Number two: you have to have a list of non-negotiables that you must do every single day — written down. Our students here, Alhamdulillah, all have charts — dhikr charts where they mark every single day. So all of us should have a chart. You choose your basics. Maybe:

• I will pray Fajr and Isha in the masjid.
• I will read fifteen minutes of Quran.
• I will do my morning and evening du'as.
• I will do dhikr a hundred times — istighfar a hundred times, salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ a hundred times, the first kalima.
• I will spend twenty minutes reading a book of seerah.
• I will do khidmah and chores of the house for a half hour.
• I will call my parents, or visit them if they live nearby.

These type of non-negotiable things — you come up with them. Do it right now. Those of you who are in i'tikaf, definitely do not go home without making those lists. Make a list of non-negotiables, put it on an Excel sheet, print it out, and paste it on your bedroom wall or keep it on your phone. Mark it every single day. Before you go to bed, look at what you've got left. Don't go to sleep until you finish it. That's how we bring tarteeb — a schedule — into our life. If we do that, inshallah, we'll benefit tremendously. May Allah give us tawfiq.

Closing Dhikr and Reflections

When we do لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ, imagine all the false idols from our heart are being broken, and only Allah — the love of Allah and the love of what Allah wants us to love — is coming into our heart. When we seek forgiveness from Allah, we should have a sense of deep remorse — thinking about the mistakes we have committed in the past, begging Allah for forgiveness. And when we send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, imagine you are receiving a response from him — your name with your father's name is being presented to him: "So-and-so, son of so-and-so, is sending salutations upon you." And for every salutation, Allah is sending ten salutations upon us, ten rewards are increased, ten sins are forgiven, and ten levels in Jannah are increased — SubhanAllah. So much ajr.

Beloved brothers and sisters, these days that are holidays — let us utilize this time. Besides the time we're studying, let's try our best to take some time out for dhikr. And make a habit now of taking time out every day, ten to fifteen minutes, for the dhikr of Allah. The level of relaxation and enjoyment you will get in life through the barakah of dhikr is unbelievable:

• Dhikr will calm you down.
• Dhikr will remove frustration and anger from your life.
• Dhikr will remove depression from your life.
• Dhikr will give you happiness.
• Dhikr will give you contentment.
• Dhikr will give you a sense of achievement.
• Dhikr will give you pleasure with Allah's decree.

There's just no limit to how many blessings have been mentioned in Quran and hadith about the dhikr of Allah. So after every salah, take a few minutes — SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah. But daily, fifteen minutes, ten minutes after Fajr, after Isha. Especially those brothers who are doing i'tikaf — besides class, if you're tired, get some sleep, no problem. But then after eight or nine PM, Alhamdulillah, sit down. You're in the house of Allah, surrounded by this beautiful environment. If we do not sit and pick up a mushaf and read Quran here, if we do not do dhikr here, then where are we going to do it? Sit in a corner and do dhikr of Allah for five minutes, ten minutes. Do muhasabah — reflect on all that you're hearing. Think about what's going on in your life and what are the things you've been hearing in the talks so far. And pick up the mushaf and read. There is nothing greater as a way to gain spirituality than reading the Book of Allah.

So I encourage myself and all of us to make the best use of these next two weeks that we have, to push ourselves to do a lot more dhikr than we usually do — so that we start our next school year, academic year, or work year at a higher note.

Du'a

Ya ilaha al-'alimeen, Ya Rabbal 'alimeen. O Allah, Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

O Allah, we ask you to accept all the brothers who are sitting here patiently after Salatul Fajr, Ya Allah — without moving, leaving their place — sitting here listening to the talk of Deen, engaging themselves in Your remembrance. Ya Allah, we beg you to make every one of us amongst Your chosen, forgiven ones. O Allah, make every one of us amongst those who have been blessed with Your love — and the love of the Quran, the love of the Sunnah, the love of the family of the Prophet ﷺ, the love of the Sahaba, the love of Rasulullah ﷺ, the love of the pious of the past and the pious of today.

O Allah, we ask You to remove all the spiritual diseases from our hearts. O Allah, cure our sick hearts. Ya Allah, remove the desire for those things which You do not want us to like from our hearts. And allow us to fall in love with every one of those things that You want us to love, Ya Allah. O Allah, turn the direction of our hearts away from this worldly life towards the hereafter. Away from Your creation towards Your Creator. Away from wealth towards good deeds, Ya Allah.

O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah, to fill our hearts with contentment, with happiness, with gratitude. O Allah, create within us a repugnance and hatred for sin. And create within all of us, Ya Allah, a desire to continue to improve ourselves. O Allah, give all of us a sixth sense through which we can continuously be self-aware and continuously be involved in self-reflection — and continuously be looking forward to see what various trials, tribulations, fitnas, and issues may arise that could derail our lives. Allow all of us to be able to see those fitnas long before they come. And allow us all to distinguish between, Ya Allah, vice and virtue — between right and wrong.

O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah, to allow all of us and the ummah at large to regard haram as haram. O Allah, please save all of us from falling into the fitna of making haram into halal. O Allah, whatever You have decreed as permissible, allow us to long for that.

O Allah, we ask You to grant every one of us the ability to remain a student of knowledge for the rest of our life. Allow us all to become thirsty for seeking knowledge. Grant us opportunities to seek much, much more knowledge than we have. Grant us a desire to read Quran, to do Your dhikr, and to read books of seerah and books about the Sahaba. Allow us to truly love the Sahaba and want to follow and emulate them. Grant all of us the qualities that You gave the Sahaba, and then use those qualities for the service of Deen the way You used the Sahaba.

O Allah, grant us yaqeen in all the promises of the Quran and Sunnah. And grant us yaqeen and conviction in all the warnings of the Quran and Sunnah. O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah — grant us the ability that whatever good deed we do, we do with conviction and with the full expectation of reward from You, Ya Allah.

O Allah, have mercy upon our brothers and sisters in Palestine. O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah, to allow this suffering to end. O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah — allow this to become a means of destroying batil, Ya Allah. Allow every single innocent person that is being killed, O Allah, to shake Your throne. And allow Your promises to become true, Ya Allah. And for the world to see that, Ya Allah, You are absolutely not ghafil — You are not unaware. Rather, it is Your sunnah and Your method that You give oppressors some time. And Ya Allah, You allow the oppressors, Ya Allah, some time to reflect. And when they don't, then You continue to still give them time to build their own pit in Hell.

O Allah, this is what You have done and this is what You are doing. O Allah, but the ummah is waiting, Ya Allah, to see Your assistance now. O Allah, those brothers and sisters over there are begging You, Ya Allah, to see Your assistance. O Allah, miraculously, Ya Allah, bring such assistance that will baffle the world, Ya Allah.

O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah, to grant all of us conviction and yaqeen — that in their dying moments, in their demolished homes, in front of the corpses of their whole families, they are far more successful, Ya Allah, than we are sitting in the luxury of our homes amongst our families — because we are involved in heedlessness, in haram, in all sorts of reprehensible things. While those brothers and sisters, Ya Allah, have nothing on their tongues besides Your name. O Allah, we ask You to grant us that level of resilience and conviction and yaqeen. O Allah, through their suffering, allow the ummah to awaken, Ya Allah — allow all of us to come running towards You.

O Allah, we ask You to guide our children, guide our parents, guide our siblings, guide our family members. O Allah, grant us the ability to make lots of du'a for one another and du'a for the ummah, Ya Allah. O Allah, all those brothers who are here in i'tikaf — O Allah, we ask You to give them special rewards and special ajr. Allow them to open up and see things that they hadn't seen before, and understand things about deen and dunya that had never been opened up to them before. O Allah, we ask You to allow them to spiritually and academically benefit — and all the attendees of this Winter Intensive — tremendously. Allow them to go back to their areas, states, and homes. Ya Allah, take all this khair and goodness back there. And allow this masjid to become a means of khair spreading in all continents and all parts of the globe, Ya Allah.

O Allah, protect the masjid, madrasa, students, staff, volunteers, musallis, patrons, and well-wishers of this institution from every makrooh and every single harmful thing, Ya Allah. O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah — whoever has requested us to make du'a for them, or for whom it is a right upon us to make du'a — we ask You to grant them, Ya Allah, the best of both worlds.

Announcements

Inshallah, now we can perform Salat al-Ishraq — two raka'at and two raka'at. For the first two raka'at, inshallah, you can recite anything you want. You'll get the reward of an accepted Hajj and Umrah — this is an enormous reward. And all the needs of the day will be fulfilled. Let's make a habit of that.

Number two, inshallah, after you pray Ishraq — for those thirty or so brothers in i'tikaf, we've made arrangements for breakfast. Breakfast will be served after Ishraq, not at nine-thirty or ten. You can go downstairs and eat after Ishraq. And I request all the youth to please also get rest because you have a very tough, busy day ahead — you want to be in front taking notes. So do get some rest after your breakfast, inshallah.

Let's not try to bother others who are trying to rest. If any of you need help — itikaf brothers — please come see me. Any issues you're dealing with, logistics, or anything you need help in, I'm here inshallah to try to address that.

Jazakallah khair. Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.