2015 07 10 Friday Prayer Sheikh Mokhtar Maghroui

The Last Third of Ramadan

We are in the month of Ramadan still, walhamdulillah. But we are in the last third of the month of Ramadan. The last third of the month of Ramadan.

Does it remind you of something? It should in a spiritual sense — the last third of the night. The last third of every night is the most special, and most spiritual, and most beautiful gift of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the night. The qiyam of all night is beautiful.

The last third is even more beautiful, for Allah azza wa jal — in ways beyond contemplation — descends into the realm of this world subhanahu wa ta'ala, in the last third of the night, to give, to give more than before subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is the last third of Ramadan.

The last third of Ramadan. Twenty days have passed during which the gifts of Allah have been abundant for those who seek them. The gates of paradise are open, and the gates of hell are shut, and the devils are chained.

The last third of the month of Ramadan is even more special. So instead of relaxing after twenty days — and that's what the nafs sometimes feels to be and to do — this is telling us: now this is the last third, you should do more ijtihad. More striving spiritually and physically for spiritual achievements, in order to gain more and harvest more of the beautiful gifts of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala during this month.

The Sunnah of I'tikaf

And of that striving and that special attitude we should have for these last ten days and nights — as many of you know — is the sunnah of i'tikaf. The sunnah of i'tikaf. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the Rasul, the one whose heart and soul are always with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — and yet during Ramadan, all Ramadan, he had a very special orientation of his heart and life towards Allah — and in the last ten nights, and in his last year, the last twenty nights, he, with all that he was, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, orients himself fully to Allah azza wa jal in i'tikaf.

The busiest human being on earth, as you would all agree, and yet he goes into i'tikaf to teach us something very important. The i'tikaf during the month of Ramadan.

During those last ten days, he puts himself away — he retreats. And he is always in retreat in his heart. Yet he teaches us — he retreats physically, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and pitches a canopy, or a tent, or a shelter inside the masjid, and goes into it.

And he retreats therein with his Lord, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in full contemplation.

Because before he was a rasul, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he used to perform i'tikaf. Where? As you know, in Ghar Hira — in the cave of Hira. And as Sayyidah Aisha relates, radiyallahu ta'ala anha, he went also to do i'tikaf for a month, and it happened that that month was Ramadan. This is before he was a rasul, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

And in that i'tikaf, the anwar and the altaf of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala overwhelmed him, and he was made a rasul, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It is in the condition of khalwa, it is in the condition of i'tikaf, it is in the condition of retreat, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him that gift which He always wanted to give him. But for us to learn — he was in a state of khalwa, in a state of i'tikaf, in a state of retreat, in a state in which he pulled away from anything that distracts from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Objective One: Pulling Away from Distraction

That is fruit number one and objective number one of i'tikaf, of retreat. So in retreat and in i'tikaf, my dear brothers and sisters, it is not to get together. It is not to sleep over in the masjid. It is not an opportunity to socialize and to receive guests and visitations. It is not an opportunity to talk, to tell stories, and to talk about many other things.

I'tikaf is not for that. I'tikaf is to pull away from that. I'tikaf is not texting and surfing, even in the masjid. Why do you parents give these iPhones to your children in the masjid? Why do you do that? And you bring that into the masjid also and they are on. And in salah you should be in retreat. In salah you should be in i'tikaf. Now in i'tikaf, upon i'tikaf — keep that away.

Don't surf. Surf with your heart in the meadows and the waves of spiritual beauty of dhikr of Allah azza wa jal. Surf with your tongue in dua and in dhikr and in Quran. Text to Allah azza wa jal with your heart. And speak to Him with your heart subhanahu wa ta'ala. Keep away from other than Allah azza wa jal.

That is why the ulama of ilm and the fuqaha of that ilm say: in i'tikaf, not even teaching fiqh is appropriate — teaching fiqh is makruh. Reading textbooks is makruh. Focus on your heart. Retreat with your heart — in your heart with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's objective number one.

Keep away from idle talk. Keep away from talking except in dhikr of Allah azza wa jal and in dua. This is the opportunity — reminding us of his i'tikaf in Ghar Hira. He pulled away from everything, every sight, and every distraction. And by doing that honestly and sincerely, Allah gave him the greatest of all gifts.

But if we are in i'tikaf and we still feel connected to creatures, and yet we bring that machine inside — that is not i'tikaf. I don't want to use strong terms that some of the ulama use. They say it is jahl. They say the juhala do that — the ignorant among us do that. That is what they say. I am quoting some of them — like Imam Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah and others.

Objective Two: Seeking Ikhlas

Number two. To do that is to seek ikhlas. We want to do that to learn ikhlas — to learn to be sincere with Allah azza wa jal. Despite all the challenges and all the attractions, we want to learn to be sincere. And we cannot learn to be sincere if we are always with people. Because it is with people that we learn all the tricks and the manipulations in life — and qeel and qal, and he said and she said and they said and we did, and pointing fingers. And when we are like that, our hearts are always bound by what people think of us. And that is the recipe for lack of ikhlas.

So we put away to learn to be alone with Allah azza wa jal — despite everything. And to learn to disengage in our qulub from other than Allah azza wa jal. I don't want to think of other than Allah azza wa jal. I don't want to think about somebody else thinking about me, or saying this about me, or doing this about me, or I saying this about them, or doing these things about them, or talking about them, or being too obsessed inside of me about them and what they think. I am going to be free from all of that. Because all of that is a stain to ikhlas. All of that stains ikhlas.

And most of us have that problem. Talabul ikhlas — we seek to develop ikhlas. Sincerity in our qulub. Sincerity in our qulub when we are free in our emotions and feelings and internal experiences from other than the awareness of Allah azza wa jal. That is ikhlas.

Objective Three: Seeking Uns with Allah

And thirdly — by that, in that, by that i'tikaf — talabul unsi billah. We seek to actually attain, internally, an experience of solace and comfort and delight in being alone, aware of Allah azza wa jal.

Uns is something very, very beautiful. Uns is that peace in the heart that no joy can match. That no pleasure — underline my words — no pleasure of this dunya, legitimate even, can match. Great succulent food when you are very hungry, and the taste of it and the delight of it — does not match uns. If you eat more you will vomit. The other relationship — the human intimate relationship with spouses — how much of that? At one point you can't. Nothing matches uns.

Uns, if we have it, even for three seconds or a minute, we will spend the rest of our lives seeking those thirty seconds to come back. Because it is always more. It is something beyond that. In i'tikaf, in khalwa, we seek uns with Allah. Because it is a condition of being in Jannah. It is a condition — in this world — of being like in Jannah.

Because when were we in Jannah? We were. In our father's genes, in our mother's genes and genome. We were in Jannah. We are citizens of Jannah. When I go home — Jannah. I want to go home in this dunya to get back my uns when I was in Jannah. In Jannah we were in uns because we were in the company of Allah azza wa jal. And in the company of Allah azza wa jal, the qalb is in that condition which is indescribable — of uns, of solace, of comfort, of delight spiritually.

And we in Jannah were insan — true insan. And an insan is insan only if he has uns with Allah azza wa jal. If I lose uns with Allah azza wa jal, I lose it inside — I lose my insaniyyah.

Uns — insan. A real insan is not a true human being, not a true Adamic person, if we do not have uns with Allah. That is why we have the opposite of it: wahshah. Uns is by having Allah in our qulub, and nothing else. And the more I have of other than Allah, the less I have of uns.

In i'tikaf I seek uns. The opposite of uns is wahshah. And wahshah comes from the word in Arabic of wahsh — and wahsh means a beast, a wild beast. I am in wahshah, not in uns. Because inside of me I am a wild beast. And I am afraid of a wild beast. I am afraid of me. I don't have uns. I am the wahsh inside.

So that is why many of us cannot stand to be alone. And then we have to talk. We have to text. We have to surf. We have to call. We have to speak. We have to argue. Spiritually, it is a way to get rid of that wahsh inside. Because alone, I am with me. And me is wahsh. So I am in wahshah. In i'tikaf, I seek to develop uns with Allah.

As the beautiful spiritual teacher who tasted the delights of khalwa said:

What has he found, ya Allah, the one who loses You? And what has he lost, the one who finds You?

This is the essence of i'tikaf.

Practical Guidance for I'tikaf

And to keep from eating too much — eating moderately. I should not eat as I eat regularly. In Ramadan it should be the rule anyways. In i'tikaf it should be more so. Because khalwa, alone, with less eating — eating little and clean, not compound complex foods, eating clean and little — and speaking only dhikr of Allah azza wa jal, and being in khalwa, and sleeping less as you are in qiyam, walhamdulillah, and in tarawih and dhikr — nothing else. Not again texting, or surfing, or talking. In doing that, I shall multiply the chances, by the grace of Allah, to attain some special nur from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Announcement of Eid

My dear brothers and sisters, I say these words and I remind myself, insha'Allah ta'ala, and yourselves, that we are in the last third of the best time of Allah's offerings and gifts.

My dear brothers and sisters, Eid is in one week, and it is either Friday or Saturday. Most likely, for those of us who follow strictly the teaching of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — literally and in spirit — to sight the crescent, most likely it will not be sighted the first evening, but we will watch. It will be impossible for it to be sighted in all of Central and North America, and East of the Atlantic — all of it is impossible. There are chances, very good chances actually, for it to be sighted in the Pacific, West or Central America, and in parts of South America.

Insha'Allah ta'ala, we will practice that sunnah as we have practiced it in the beginning of Ramadan, and we will wait — insha'Allah ta'ala — either Friday, which is unlikely, but Saturday for sure it is Eid, insha'Allah ta'ala. But we will also watch on Thursday evening, just in case. In North America and Central America it is absolutely impossible, and East of the Atlantic it is absolutely impossible, in accordance with the exact signs — not the probabilistic one. The part that is exact — it is impossible. East of the Atlantic, and in North America and Central America.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala help us be of those who — in letter and in spirit, I underline, in letter and in spirit — pursue what Allah and His Rasul, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, love for us. And we pray for all our brothers and sisters in the world — whichever way they do that, right or wrong — we pray insha'Allah ta'ala that Allah may accept from all, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, and forgive us, and bless us, and forgive our shortcomings and our wrongdoings.