Preparing the Heart for Ramadan | Shaykh Okasha Kameny | Isha Khatira

To our respected brothers and our dear sisters, and under the auspices of our Shaykh and our مُرَبِّي and والد جزاه الله خيرا here at EPIC, we would like to share with you the following, asking almighty Allah to guide us in saying that which is pleasing to Him and accepted from all of us.

The Month We Are All Waiting For

If I were to ask you a question: what is spiritually the best thing that you are anticipating or waiting for? Conclusively we will say the month of Ramadan. That's what we are all waiting for - the month of Ramadan. May Allah bless us in this month of Shaaban and allow us to be of those who will witness the month of Ramadan.

The Preparation Must Start Early

To begin with the preparation of Ramadan - if you start in this month you are already late. If you start to prepare for Ramadan in this month of Shawwal you are already late. But it's not too late for you to start if you have not started yet, because the Sahaba and the rightly guided predecessors - the latest that they will start preparing for Ramadan is in the previous month Rajab. And that's why the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام constantly, when Rajab is around the corner, he will start the dua.

The Virtue of Shaaban

This month of Shaaban, عِبَادَ اللهِ, in itself is a virtuous month. If there is no virtue that is attached or next to this month other than the fact that it is the only month that we have to pass through to get to Ramadan - if there is no virtue for this month other than this, that would have been sufficient and enough.

Don't you see they say: he that accompanies the righteous and the noble people and imitates them by default becomes noble himself, but he that associates himself with the ignoble ones will be also ignoble? And then the author said: don't you see that the despicable skin becomes revered and honored and loved simply because it is adjacent and next to the mushaf?

Right now if I ask you: do you have the same reverence for the binding or the cover of Encyclopedia Britannica the same way you have reverence and respect for the cover of the mushaf? The answer is no. Why do you revere this so much? Because it's next to the words of Allah. So although the name of Allah is not written on the binding cover, the cover itself may be empty, but you respect it as much as you respect the words or the papers that have the words of Allah. Why? Because they are covering the words of Allah even if nothing is written on them.

Similarly, this month of Shaaban, عِبَادَ اللهِ, is the only month that we pass through to get to Ramadan. It is the closest month to the month of Ramadan, and that's why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is reported to have been observing fast in this month of Shaaban.

The Four Components of Ramadan

In the month of Ramadan that we are all anticipating and waiting to welcome and witness, Ramadan has four components, namely:

First Component: Fasting

The first component of Ramadan is to fast - fasting is prescribed unto you.

Second Component: Qiyam al-Layl

If you combine the two, the combination of Siyam and Qiyam actually result in your forgiveness. But there is no way for a person to really get to that level comfortably when you begin in the month of Ramadan - you have to start before Ramadan gets here.

The Importance of Preparation

I ask you a question: you have finals to take, final exams for you to take, and then in the examination hall you started studying - will you pass? Answer is no. You have to study before. And just this past week, the Senegalese that lifted the trophy - were they to be practicing in the Moroccan soil before actually the finals, they wouldn't have lifted it up. So this indicates that you always prepare before, not inside the month itself.

If you look at some of us when Ramadan comes, we become so energetic - dorsal battery in us, energizer in us. But the first 10 days of Ramadan the masjid is packed. As we are transitioning to the second 10 days, the number reduces because we started practicing some of us that stand for prayer when Ramadan gets in.

It's similar when you are walking - after a few days you will start to feel that your body is sore. But if you start earlier, what happens is that the soreness will go away before the month itself comes.

Practical Preparation Steps

So dear brothers and dear sisters, what I want to share with you here is this is the month for us to prepare ourselves in Siyam and also Qiyam. Imagine I just got home, I'm preparing mentally for Ramadan. I start my Qiyam right now - tonight I will pray for 35 minutes to 40 minutes or an hour, and I carry out this act until Ramadan arrives. When Ramadan comes, it becomes a natural thing to you. Likewise, you start to pray at night before Ramadan. When Ramadan comes, the last 10 days of Ramadan becomes easier on you.

This was the practice of the Salaf as-Salih when it comes to the preparation for Ramadan and even after Ramadan.

Examples from the Righteous Predecessors

Amir Ibn Abdullah Ibn Zubair

I will share some names with you. Have you heard this man's name: Amir Ibn Abdullah Ibn Zubair? Amir Ibn Abdullah Ibn Zubair was the nephew of Musab Ibn Zubair, and Musab Ibn Zubair was his uncle. Musab Ibn Zubair was the son of Zubair Ibn Al-Awwam, the companion that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم called his Hawari. This is his grandson.

According to the uncle of Amir Ibn Abdullah Ibn Zubair, he said when he was passing and returning to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, while he was going through the throes of death, the agonizing pain of death, he heard - while he was passing away, dying on his deathbed, عِبَادَ اللهِ - he heard the adhan. He said: "Please help me out, take me to the masjid."

His uncle Musab said: "We then said to him, you have the excuse, you are sick, you are actually dying." He said: "How dare will I? This soul of mine will be such that I'm listening to the call of Allah - Allah is calling me - and because I'm dying I will not respond? I'm responding to Allah. And if you cannot hold my hands and I cannot walk, lift me up and send me to the masjid, because I cannot listen to Allah's call and I will not respond to it."

So they took him to the masjid. In the first rakah of Salat al-Maghrib, in sujood, he passed away. This is how they responded to Allah. عِبَادَ اللهِ, "I will never turn myself away from the caller of Allah."

Saeed Ibn al-Musayyib

And here is Imam Saeed Ibn al-Musayyib. He was the leading figure among the Tabieen. He said: "I've never heard the caller of Allah calling without responding." He said: "I never missed the first takbirah with the imam for 40 years." In 40 years he never missed Takbirat al-Ihram with the imam.

Imam Ahmad

And here is Imam Ahmad - he was the qadi of Baghdad. He also said he only missed one single Takbirat al-Ihram in 40 years. In 40 years he only missed one Takbirat al-Ihram with the imam in 40 years. عِبَادَ اللهِ, according to him he said: "I never missed Takbirat al-Ihram, the first takbir with the imam. In 40 years I never missed it except one day - that was the day my mother passed away, so I took her to her cemetery, to the grave. That's why I missed salah with the jamaah."

He said: "To pay for what I missed of Takbirat al-Ihram that day, I prayed 25 times - 25 prayers extra - just to pay for the Takbirat al-Ihram that he missed."

And here is another scholar who said he never missed Takbirat al-Ihram for 70 years. I don't know how many of us are 70 in this gathering. عِبَادَ اللهِ, for 70 years he never missed Takbirat al-Ihram.

The Hadith that Motivated Them

Do you know why those men were so attached to the masjid and to the house of Allah when it comes to Allah's call? It's because of the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that Imam at-Tirmidhi collected in volume one, book number two, hadith 241.

40 nights, عِبَادَ اللهِ. 40 days prayer with jamaah - you will be saved from hypocrisy and also saved from hellfire. Just 40 days! But those predecessors, they translated 40 days into years. That's why for 40 years Saeed Ibn al-Musayyib never missed Takbirat al-Ihram, and Imam Ahmad for 70 years he never missed Takbirat al-Ihram.

Masrooq - The Student of Aisha

عِبَادَ اللهِ, here is Masrooq رضي الله عنه. Do you know who Masrooq was? Masrooq was the student of our mother, the student of our mother Aisha. Masrooq - whenever night comes, he will not miss night prayer in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan. Every night, his wife's nightmare is the salah of her husband. She will come outside crying because she said: "When the night comes, this man Masrooq will never go to sleep. He will continue praying until his feet are swollen, every single night, whether in Ramadan or outside Ramadan."

عِبَادَ اللهِ, and it is said when he went to make hajj, he never slept. They've never seen him sleeping except in sujood - that's the time that he goes to sleep, always in sujood. عِبَادَ اللهِ, all of this preparing themselves, preparing themselves to answer Allah the day that they stand before Allah.

And here is Imam Tawus...

Following the Example of the Righteous Predecessors

Tawus was the student of Imam Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu. Imam Ibn Abbas said, "I believe that this Tawus is among the people of Jannah." Do you know what Tawus used to do radiallahu anhu? Every single Jumu'ah, when Salatul Asr is concluded, he turned and faced the Qibla. He would not return from the Qibla from making du'a until Adhan Maghrib is called. When Adhan Maghrib is called, it's when he stops making du'a. He said because the Prophet said on the day of Jumu'ah at Asr time, it is said that is most likely to be that time. So every Jumu'ah after Salatul Asr, he would face the Qibla.

And he came upon a man who was sleeping during suhoor time. He looked at him and said, "I never thought that there could be a human being who will be sleeping at this moment when Allah is asking 'Who is there to call upon me?' and you sleeping."

The Example of Abu Muslim Khawlani

And I conclude with this, Ibadallah. Here is an Imam al-Kabir, the Imam of Yemen. Here is Abu Muslim Khawlani. Every night in his night prayer, he used to put next to him a long stick while he is making salah throughout the night. Whenever his feet could no longer carry him, he would grab the stick and start beating his own legs and he said, "You are more deserving to be beaten than my own animal. Either you carry me to Allah or I will continue beating you."

"Do the companions of the Prophet think that they will keep the Prophet to themselves? We will challenge the Sahaba of the Prophet in action until they will know that they have left men worthy of them behind." Let me just make a U-turn right here. He said, "We will challenge the companions of the Prophet in action." Us, we try to challenge them in knowledge when we are not up to their level. Abu Muslim Khawlani said, "We will challenge whatever they did. We will try to do it and we will challenge them in all what they did. They used to pray, we will pray like them. They used to do for Allah, we will do for Allah." And he said to his feet, "Wallahi, either you carry this body to Allah or I will continue beating you every night." That's what he used to do, Abu Muslim Khawlani.

I know you also have a stick at home, but the stick for the children! Those people, they kept the stick for their own feet to be able to stand. So leave the stick with them, wallahi!

Lessons from Their Dedication

So this is how they prepare themselves before and even after Ramadan. All what we want to see here: who among the names that we shared with you will you be able to capture and mimic? They were the predecessors that their memoir will never be wiped from the history.

So Ibadallah, we talked about the first person - Amir. What was he known for, Ibadallah? He asked to be carried to the masjid for Salat al-Maghrib and that was his last salah. The second person we talked about... we talked about Masrook and then Tawus. And remember all what we are talking about here, Ibadallah: look at someone among them that you can copy. He responded to Allah upon hearing Adhan.

From today I want to be like Amir. You only imitate them happily, you be with them on the day of Qiyamah. Be like Amir, be like Saeed, be like Tawus, be like Masrook, and also try your best to be like them.

A Leader's Perfect Concentration

And lastly, we conclude with this: He said, "I led the Salah - he led people in the masjid of Homs for 60 years. 60 years leading people. He said he never forgot in his prayer, no سجود سهو ever. He never made sujood sahaw for 60 years." They asked him, "Lima?" He said, "Because I never entered the masjid while somebody other than Allah is occupying my mind or my heart for 60 years," Ibadallah.

Preparing for Ramadan

So let's try our best to imitate them. Get your energy from now and prepare for the month of Ramadan. And remember, the month of Ramadan is also the month of Sadaqah and charity. Try to begin from now so that you can get used to giving. When Ramadan comes, you are already in the system of giving.

The Story of Abdullah Ibn Umar's Donkey

Here is Abdullah Ibn Umar. He had a donkey, and you know, a donkey to the people at that time is like Ferrari to us. So you know, a donkey to them is like Ferrari to us. Even a person - you know, in Egypt, someone's son Muhammad passed away, he kicked back, he started thinking. And then when the wife told him your donkey had died, he jumped, started screaming. She said, "I told you your son died, you didn't cry. Your donkey died, you crying?" This young boy said, "He's not benefiting, but my donkey, that's my company." You see? So that's how the people respected and honored donkey.

Abdullah Ibn Umar had a donkey and he loved that donkey so much, so much so that they thought that Imam Abdullah Ibn Umar will never ever get rid of it. One day he woke up and he went and sold it. They said, "Why did you sell it?" He said, "This donkey is taking a piece of my heart, and I don't want anybody in my heart other than Allah, so I have to get rid of it."

You get your Lamborghini? No! It's taking my time. I give you sadaqa, give me the key, I make du'a for you!