Navigating Ramadan with Taqwa | Shaykh Mohamed Almasmri | Miftaah Circle

Navigating Ramadan with Taqwa

Shaykh Mohamed Almasmri | Miftaah Circle

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. How's everyone doing? Wow, that was a good response. I think if Cleveland had some coffee places they would be more energized. So inshallah you can come by to Michigan whenever you get a chance inshallah. It's good to see everyone, it's always a pleasure.

Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi man walah.

We ask Allah to bless this gathering, to shower upon us His mercy, to reward you all for joining and participating. It's always a blessing to see our communities come out and show up. Oh you came, you drove from Detroit? Wow, mashaAllah. So we got people from Detroit here. You know what, I saw you with the turban and I didn't see your face. I said that turban has to be from Michigan. Wallahi, now it's here. So mashaAllah, mashaAllah. Alhamdulillah.

We ask Allah to make it easy for our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world. May Allah give them victory over their oppressors. May Allah give victory to our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Palestine. And may Allah be with our brothers around the world. Any place where people may be suffering, may Allah relieve them from their suffering and be with the children, the elderly, and the weak. Ameen, Allahumma ameen.

Jazakumullah khair, Miftaah — always for bringing our communities together. And thank you to all the volunteers. Give the volunteers a round of applause.

The Hadith of the Traveler

Anas رضي الله عنه mentions that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said:

"O Messenger of Allah, I intend to travel, to embark on this journey. So provide me with provision."

SubhanAllah, it was part of the sunnah that the sahaba would always go to Rasulullah ﷺ before embarking on their journeys, and they would seek advice. So Anas رضي الله عنه mentions that this man came to Rasulullah before departing and said, "Give me something that I can leave with."

The Prophet ﷺ then said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3444)

"May Allah allow you to be mindful of Him. Be mindful of Allah. Be conscious of Allah."

Of course, as you all know, this is a basic nasiha that we give all the time. This is an advice that we listen to and we hear every Jumu'ah:

We hear it all the time. So this sahabi had a similar response, saying, "Ya Rasulullah, give me something else. Okay, we know and we understand what it means to be conscious of Allah." The Prophet ﷺ then said: "Allah will forgive you." Did he give him a nasiha when he said Allah will forgive you? No, he didn't. The Prophet ﷺ just mentioned the reward of being mindful of Allah.

He then responds to the Prophet ﷺ, "Ya Rasulullah, give me more." He said:

"And Allah will always facilitate your khair wherever you may be." And that man then left the presence of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Morning and Evening Du'a of the Prophet ﷺ

The Prophet ﷺ, every morning and evening, would make this du'a. Please add this to your list of du'as:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2721)

"Oh Allah, I seek Your guidance. Oh Allah, allow me to be mindful of You. Oh Allah, grant me chastity. And self-satisfaction and contentment." Every morning and evening he would ask Allah to make him among those who live their lives with taqwa. And this is why Allah, my dear brothers and sisters, clearly mentions in the Qur'an — He loves people of taqwa.

What is Taqwa?

Allah loves people for their mujahadah, for their sacrifice. Anytime, even in relationships — talk is cheap. You can say you love someone, but what if you smack them right after? You can say you love someone, but what if you betray them a second later? This love is meaningless, because love — the best definition of love — is action. It's not an emotion. This emotion is a result of an action. And this is why people misunderstand love. "I fell in love from the first sight" — it doesn't happen like that. It comes through action. And Allah loves the muttaqin, people of taqwa, because they live a life of strife and struggle.

Who can give me a good definition of taqwa? A simple one, a nice one. It doesn't have to be philosophical. A nice definition that we all can learn from and take away.

[Responses from the audience: "God consciousness." "Belief in Allah's plan." "Fear of Allah." "Worshipping Allah, staying away from whatever Allah has prohibited." "Constant remembrance of Allah." "Worship Allah as though you can see Him — but since we believe as Muslims we are unable to see Allah, we must believe that Allah is all-observant."]

I'm going to give you a definition of taqwa that you will never forget in your life. I promise you won't. This is a promise.

The best meaning of taqwa is "No."

لا. That's taqwa. How do I tell myself no? How strong am I when my desires take over? How strong am I to tell myself — to go and suppress my shahwa — by saying no? My eyes want to go free and engage. I say no. Someone angers me. I want to respond and I have the ability to respond. But no. My parents may upset me. I want to respond. No. Taqwa is mastering "no."

So if you and I think that taqwa is just fear of Allah and we live our lives, it's hard. It's a long life process that one has to live by day in and day out to master "no." What has allowed us to engage in sins except that we did not perfect the art of saying no to ourselves? We say yes when we give to people, but we say no to our shahwa. We say no to our listening that is haram. It's "no."

And this is why the Prophet ﷺ made sure that you and I diversify our a'mal. It's not just one act of worship that allows you and I to be among the people of taqwa. It has to be something that I am mindful of every single day. And this is why the Prophet ﷺ says: be mindful of Allah wherever you may be. Anything that you are doing. When it's khair, you are mindful of Allah. You experience spiritual presence. I am aware of why I'm doing what I'm doing. I am not only reminded of Allah in the masjid — not in a Miftaah conference, not among righteous people — I am reminded of Allah throughout my day, throughout the night.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Always follow a bad deed with a good deed." Why would you follow a good deed after a bad deed? Because you're mindful of Allah.

Taqwa is a Process, Not Perfection

Taqwa is creating a process towards mastering "no." It's a whole process. It's not a khutbah that we hear about Jahannam and I leave the hall and I'm afraid. It's a process. It's creating a whole system — setting boundaries between me and Shaitan, between me and my desires. The Prophet ﷺ says: every time you do a bad deed, follow that with a good deed. Because we don't give up. Taqwa does not mean perfection.

Unfortunately, when we talk about taqwa, we give people this image of perfection — that if you are a muttaqi, you are perfect. No. A muttaqi is a person that mastered the process. Perfected the process. That's it. But are they perfect? No.

Allah says — people of taqwa may be touched by Shaitan. A devil's touch. A whisper. Desires. Then they fall. But what makes this group special? The moment they fall, they remember Allah. They've created a process for themselves that allows them to be mindful of Allah, that allows them immediately to wake up:

They wake up right away. It's easy for them to wake up. It doesn't take a month or two. They realize they're wrong.

Allah says also in the Qur'an, when He speaks about Jannah:

It was prepared for the God-conscious. Who are they, ya Allah? Those who give — يُنفِقُونَ — in times of ease and times of difficulty. So taqwa is a journey. They're always giving, they're always sharing, they're always moving. It's not a one-time thing. It's not that you and I just make du'a and somehow, someway we gain it all.

وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ — they suppress their anger. وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ — and they forgive. They're people of goodness. You see how they're diversifying their actions? It's not all into one bucket. It's not just Ramadan when we talk about taqwa. It's a lifestyle.

And then Allah says:

Even those who may engage in animalistic behaviors and engage in haram — what makes these people unique, ya Allah? Immediately they wake up and seek Allah's forgiveness. None of us are perfect. Wallahi, Allah has hidden our sins. And never think that the speaker is better than the listener. Allah has beautified us by concealing our wrongdoings. We can walk after this, give salam to each other, everyone is smiling, and everything is beautiful — and we may have committed a sin last night in the midst of darkness where no one is watching except Allah. But again, we're doing it for the sake of Allah. We're fighting for the sake of Allah. We've made this decision to be among the muttaqin.

The Wisdom of Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه beautifully says:

It's so hard to even translate. He said: be mindful of Allah through your worship. Our lives as Muslims is worship until death. If I sleep and I am tired, and my intention is to regain energy to start a beautiful day, I get ajr for my sleep. My sleep becomes ibadah. There is no religion that tells you and teaches you that everything you are doing is ibadah. Even when you sleep, even when you eat, even when we play basketball, even when we play sports — for the sisters, volleyball, whatever — there's ajr. There's ajr, everything. But we have to be intentional about it.

And Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه says: اتَّقِ اللَّهَ بِطَاعَتِهِ — be mindful of Allah through everything you do. Imagine if I was mindful of Allah when giving my charity. Would my charity be different? Would I just give money? Or would I think of the process of how I'm giving money? Someone comes in need, I can throw the money on their face — I still gave, but the process was wrong.

Allah says:

Do not destroy your charity by bragging and belittling others. That's what taqwa does. Now you're aware of the system. So when I'm doing khair, I'm aware. I'm volunteering, I'm aware. I'm playing, I'm aware. And then he says: وَأَطِعِ اللَّهَ بِتَقْوَاهُ — and worship Allah through being conscious of Allah. It's not easy. It's not an easy journey.

Ramadan: The University of Taqwa

My brothers and sisters, if this was easy — what Allah has given us — He has given us a whole month just to become among the muttaqin. You and I think it's easy. Allah gave us a whole month. Ramadan is the month of taqwa for a reason. Why? Because throughout the day, I am training myself to be a muttaqi. This water right here — no one is watching, I want to drink — oh, I'm mindful of Allah. This is why we capitalize on Ramadan. Because in Ramadan, whatever you do throughout the day, you are conscious of Allah. Oh, I saw a delicious plate — I can't eat. I heard of this restaurant — I can't go. It's daytime, I have to fast. So what happens in the end? We've graduated from this university of taqwa, this mindfulness of Allah.

And this is why Allah says:

What is the closest to your body? Your clothes. Allah is telling you and I — taqwa should be your garment. This is what you and I put on every single day. When we walk out, we are mindful of Allah.

Taqwa as a Force of Attraction

My dear brothers and sisters, subhanAllah — what taqwa does, the ulama, alayhim rahmatullah, said:

What taqwa does — it allows our reception, this connection that we have with Allah, to be very clear. Taqwa creates this force of attraction. You're attracted to Allah. وَقُوَّةُ الِاجْتِنَابِ — you experience this force of distancing yourself from haram. So you gravitate to Allah and you're pushed away from haram. And this is what taqwa does because you and I are mindful of Allah.

SubhanAllah, al-Hasan al-Basri, alayhim rahmatullah, says:

"May Allah's mercy be upon a person that stops at a moment of concern and overwhelming desire. If they find any khayr in that which they're about to go about and do, then they go along. And if they find sharr and evil and wrong, they stay away from it."

This is what taqwa does. I'm concerned, I'm overwhelmed, I am consumed — I want to do this haram. I want to do it. You know it starts off with a thought. Sometimes we tell people — and this is very destructive, and please never accept advice like this — where they say: "You know what, we're not held accountable for our thoughts. So you can think haram. As long as you're not engaging in haram or practicing haram, your thoughts are legitimized." That is very destructive, because a passing thought becomes that which consumes you, and then it turns into action, and then it becomes an addiction. It's very destructive when it comes to our thoughts.

Two Pieces of Advice

I end my talk, my dear brothers and sisters, with two pieces of advice that I give myself and everyone here — that allows us to be among the people of the muttaqin, among the people of taqwa, and among those whom Allah has declared His love for in the Qur'an.

1. Spiritual Presence

Be present. I need to be present in everything we are doing. Even when you give salam — how many people have you given salam to and they did not acknowledge you? Didn't that bother you? It shows you — it bothers you. Spiritual presence. When we pray, I am present. When I'm smiling, I am present. When I give nasiha, I am present. When I'm with my spouse, I am present. When I'm with my children, I am present. When I'm playing sports, present.

What happens when people get out of the court immediately? Everyone jumps on their phones — enjoy the moment! SubhanAllah. Even when people hike — I think Muslims are the only people who, when they hike, they're on their phones. I've seen many people hike and they're just living the moment. Muslims, they're just on their phones. I was like, just live the moment.

So teaching ourselves how to be spiritually present in everything. Even if it's a simple act of salam — be aware that you and I are rewarded for that salam. And wallahi, that will go so far inshallah. Because now you're going to realize how much good you are doing because you're aware of the good.

2. Allah's Remembrance

The last piece of advice that I give myself and everyone here: one of the strongest forces that allow you and I to be among the people of taqwa is Allah's remembrance — as much as you can. It helps. Never underestimate the power of saying Bismillah. Don't think that you have to do so much just to be a person that is mindful of Allah. It's what you do that matters, and how you do it is what matters.

Never underestimate committing to saying astaghfirullah a hundred times in the morning and a hundred times in the evening. Fighting our temptations doesn't just happen. We remember:

(Musnad Ahmad; also referenced in Jami' al-Tirmidhi — narrated from Ibn Abbas)

"Remember Allah at moments of ease for you to be remembered at moments of difficulty." We can't expect Shaitan to present all the desires all at once and I fight it. I have to prepare myself for this battle.

Just commit to a hundred times of istighfar in the morning — when you're walking to your car, when you're walking to your class — astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah — or la ilaha illallah, or subhanallah. And what's even better: combine all of that with the morning du'as and the evening du'as. You begin your day with du'a and you end your day with du'a — and you will see, bi-idhnillah, and I will see, how far this will take us.

May Allah make us among those who are mindful of Him. We ask Allah to assist us in this journey, to make it easy for us as we embark on it. Ameen, Allahumma ameen.

Jazakumullah khair. As-salamu alaykum.