أذكركم ( you Ramadan Special: Remember Me, I will remember Day 1 Allah s Names (فاذكروني Introduction Alhamdulliah for all of Allah s blessings. Ramadan is an opportunity to raise your building. The foundation should already be in place before you start and this foundation is your faith. Faith is to have feelings entering Ramadan, and to have feelings towards Allah (swt) only. You find many issues happening before Ramadan so all other feelings are cancelled before Ramadan begins, subhan Allah. What are these distractions? The tangibles such as people, money, position, etc. It s important to have a clear heart. Imagine if you have a big exam that will determine which university you go to, do you go with an occupied mind? No. You go with your mind focused, so we want to do our best in Ramadan. We will take some names of Allah (swt) and we want to end Ramadan with taqwa. Faith is something you need to feel and taqwa is something you need to act upon. (فاذكروني أذكركم ( you Remember Me, I will remember We need to remember Allah (swt) and how do we connect this to Ramadan? Any other time besides Ramadan is a time of ease. Imagine an hour of exam, this hour is Ramadan, and all other times are ease. Since this is the time of exam, you don t revise then, you have to work. So you need to prepare before Ramadan. When do you need to remember Allah (swt)? Before Ramadan, you need to refresh your faith in preparation for Ramadan. Know Allah (swt) in times of ease and He will know you in times of difficulty ( هللا في الرخاء يعرفك في الشدة.(اعرف What does it mean Allah (swt) will remember you in Ramadan? He will guide you to worships. Don t depend on your might and power. Imagine you re in an exam hall and the teacher gives you clues, and to Allah (swt) is the best example, He will remind you and inspire you to do this. You will be guided what to do without tension, you don t need a timetable. You need to deal with Allah (swt) as a poor slave, you don t know what to do. When you feel you can do it yourself, you can plan it, then you re left with it. May Allah (swt) remind us in the time of exam. Ameen. (اسم هللا التواب ( Tawwab Name of Allah At When Allah (swt) calls Himself any name then it means we need it, it will reform us, it will help us in our heart, mind, and actions, and it will save us in the duniya and akhira. Who will benefit from the names of Allah (swt)? We will benefit. We want to change our behavior, the way we speak, and this doesn t change unless you change yourself within. Changing your outer is the way of the hypocrites. Allah (swt) will not change a people until they change themselves. (المعنى اللغوي ( language Meaning of At Tawwab in the Page 1
To return :(رجع) to return to an original state after being in another state. The default state you return to is pure, good, perfect it s the fitra. The state you went to was a dispraised state, and you return to your origin. Allah (swt) created us pure, in the state of fitra balanced, pure, clean, perfect. But what happens in our life? We go through fitnas, we change, etc, so we want to return back to our origin. What does Allah (swt) (تاب) mean? It means He s pushing you to go back to your original state. Imagine a mother with 24 children going to a park for the first time, they re wild, running all over the place, now imagine all of the creation of Allah (swt) being wild and going right and left, you have those worshipping an idol, doing mischief, etc. That s why we need Allah At Tawab to take us back to our origin. Allah (swt) loves the tawbah and He called Himself At Tawwab. There are many people that are refusing to go back, though Allah (swt) is pushing them, subhan Allah. To apologize :(إعتذار) there are three levels of apologizing:, the best being the third: o I didn t do it أفعل) :(لم to do a mistake, and deny and say I didn t do it. o I did it because of this ألجل ذلك) :(فعلت to do a mistake and give a reason. For example, you didn t wake-up for a fajr and you say to yourself because the alarm didn t work, I m tired. I reacted badly because I m hormonal, I backbited because she deserved it. You give excuses for your evil-doing, whether to look good in front of the people or to look good to yourself, and this is deception. Majority of people fall in this category and after reading Surah At Tawbah you don t want to give excuses because it s the trait of the hypocrites. :(توبة) this is tawbah (فعلت وأسأت ولكن أقلعت) o I did a mistake, I m wrong, and I need to stop it I backbited, it s wrong and it s a sin, so I need to stop it. You don t give an excuse to yourself. Tawbah / repentance is admitting and stopping it. We need to make an apology to Allah (swt). Allah (swt) loves people to return to Him and apologize to Him, this is tawbah. When you apologize to a person you beautify your words, but when you apologize to Allah (swt) you need to beautify your inside. (المعنى الشرعي ( deen Meaning of At Tawwab in the Allah (swt) is At Tawwab and this is in the excessive form ( مبالغة,(صيعة we need to always return to Allah (swt), imagine a minute spent not remembering Allah (swt) or thinking bad about Him, istaghfar Allah. We all make mistakes, but the best of ones who make mistakes are the ones who repent and ح د ث ن ا ع ل ي ب ن م س ع د ة ع ن ق ت اد ة ع ن أ ن س ق ا ل ق ا ل ر سول هللا صلى هللا عليه وسلم : ( Hadith: apologize to Allah (swt). (ﷺ) (It was narrated from Anas that the Messenger of Allah (" كل ب ن ي آد م خ ط اء و خ ي ر ال خ ط ائ ي ن الت و ابو ن said: Every son of Adam commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent. ) Sunan Ibn Majah Book 37, Hadith 4392 Imagine how many need to return to Allah (swt) and how many times they need to return. Even if there is no creation or sinners, Allah (swt) is At Tawwab, subhan Allah. Regardless of who you may be, Allah (swt) is pushing everyone to tawbah and to repent to Him. It s not only for certain people. Two types of tawbahs from Allah (swt): Page 2
o Before tawbah سابقة) :(توبة Allah (swt) will bring the means to the person to initiate the feelings of tawbah. Allah (swt) creates the tawbah in the heart, tawbah is a creation, Allah (swt) creates all of the feelings, subhan Allah. For example, we are raised to be the best, the number one, and with time it will make a person proud, arrogant, exceed his boundaries, hurt others, etc. Even if everyone is doing it, but Who knows it s bad? Allah (swt). You might not have the feeling it s bad, but Allah At Tawwab will initiate the feeling of tawbah to make you feel it s bad and wrong, how? You will learn about it, or by advice, or a situation, or a dream. Allah (swt) will initiate a situation in front of you to show you someone doing what you re doing, and you feel how ugly and bad it is, subhan Allah. The feelings of tawbah are you want to return, you want to come back and apologize. You re feeling restless and unhappy with yourself. This is tawbah. May Allah (swt) create in our hearts the tawbah from our sins, even the ones we don t know ( تب علينا.(اللهم Ameen. We don t know all of our mistakes, the hypocrites don t know they re hypocrites, the mushrikeen don t know they re mushrikeen, subhan Allah. And out of Allah s mercy, He doesn t show us all of our sins in one go, otherwise we would be disabled. Allah (swt) brings out the sins in priority, for example, you backbite, you re jealous, you re proud, and you commit shirk. Allah (swt) will show you shirk first. And this will continue until you will even repent for wasting time, asking too much, and for not doing a voluntary, subhan Allah. o Last tawbah اآلخر) :(التوبة Allah (swt) is showing you your mistakes and you re going far, and now it depends on you, are you going to admit and apologize that you re doing wrong? Allah (swt) makes you feel you re lost, but are you ignoring it and feeling you want to play more, or do you want to return back home? If you re truthful then Allah (swt) will take you home step by step, and this is a beautiful journey, subhan Allah. Someone lost in life is different from someone lost for a 5 minutes, subhan Allah. So your truthfulness comes in between the two tawbahs. You need to admit and apologize, don t give excuses. Allah (swt) initiates the feelings of repentance for all, even the disbelievers. This is general tawbah / the first tawbah. The second tawbah is Allah (swt) will guide you to apologize and return. Allah At Tawwab will not expose the sin of the person. Imagine when a child is lost, a picture is placed so people know he s lost, but with Allah (swt) there s no picture of you that you re lost. Allah (swt) will not expose the mistakes of the people. If a person s mistake is exposed then it makes it difficult for him to repent because there is pressure from the people. Allah (swt) wants us to repent sincerely for Him, not for the people. For example, someone wants to propose to a lady but he drinks, and drinking is haram. He s told we won t marry you off if you re drinking, so he repents for the people and not for Allah (swt). If you have a sin then don t tell others because it will help you to return back home step by step sincerely for Allah (swt). Allah (swt) is the First in the tawbah and He s the Last in the tawbah, and you re in between. What s needed from you? Heart, you need to admit you re wrong. If you don t admit you re sick, then you won t be cured. When you admit then Allah (swt) will guide you to your treatment. Allah (swt) will slowly cure you to go back to your initial state, subhan Allah. You take this dose first, then you need to increase this dosage, etc. If you do tawbah for the people then you ll reach the wrong home and you re told to leave this is deviation. Page 3
بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم When you return hope in peace then Allah (swt) is happy with your repentance. Though Allah (swt) ع ن أ ب ي هر ي ر ة ق ا ل ( Hadith: doesn t need us to return home, but He s happy when we do, subhan Allah. (Abu Huraira reported (.ق ال ر سول هللا صلى هللا عليه وسلم " ل ل أ ش د فر ح ا ب ت و ب ة أ ح د ك م م ن أ ح د ك م ب ض ال ت ه إ ذ ا و ج د ه ا " Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant when he turns penitently towards Him than one of you would be on finding the lost camel.) - Sahih Muslim 2675 Allah (swt) is the One Who initiates the feelings and He s the One Who guides, He s doing everything and He s happy for you, subhan Allah. It s just a heart feeling from you, it s something so minor from you. You truly feel we didn t worship You as You deserve to be worshipped. You see there is no one like Him and no one deals with us like Him so He should be worshipped the best worship. (التوبة منهج األنبياء ( messengers Repentance: the way of the Adam (as) First human being to sin is Adam (as) and he sinned in paradise. If Adam (as) committed a sin in paradise, so what about anyone else? Subhan Allah. Allah (swt) knows Iblis has a sickness of the heart, but he didn t repent, he became rebellious, how? He didn t feel he made a mistake. When any situation happens to you it s because Allah (swt) wants you to repent to Him. Adam (as) didn t give an excuse for making a mistake. ف أ ز ل هم ا ٱلش ي ط ن ع نہ ا ف أ خ ر ج هم ا م م ا ك ان ا ف ي ه و ق لن ا ٱه ب طو ا ب ع ضك م ل ب ع ض ع دو و ل كم ف ى ٱأل ر ض مس ت ق ر ( :36 Surah Al Baqarah (Then the Shaitân (Satan) made them slip therefrom (the Paradise), and got them out ) و م ت ع إ ل ى ح ي ن from that in which they were. We said: "Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.") Adam (as) sinned from the pressure of Iblis. Allah (swt) is the One Who initiates the feelings in Adam s heart to repent. What did Adam (as) do? He accepted it, he admitted it and didn t blame anyone he didn t say it was from Iblis. As a result, Allah (swt) cast inspiration to Adam (as) and this is the last tawbah. Surah Al Baqarah :37 ( ء اد م م ن ر ب ه ۦ ك ل م ت ف ت ا ب ع ل ي ه إ ن ه ۥ ه و ٱلت و اب ٱلر ح يم (ف ت ل ق ى (Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful) Allah (swt) taught him what to say. When Allah (swt) taught Adam (as), he taught him the names, but not the meanings and feelings, that s why it s.(كلمات) For example you teach a child this is a pen, but he will not know it s ق ال ر ب ن ا ظ ل م ن ا أ نف س ن ا و إ ن ل م ت غ ف ر ل ن ا و ت ر حم ن ا ( :23 meaning until he uses it. These words are Surah Al Araf (They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and (ل ن كون ن م ن ٱل خ س ر ي ن bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.") We think we just say words without feeling, but we need to have feelings, and then Allah (swt) will accept your repentance, meaning He accepts your apology and will guide you back. How do you know your repentance is accepted? If there are feelings in your heart. Adam (as) Page 4
بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم ف أ ڪ ل م نہ ا ف ب د ت ل هم ا س و ء ٲتهم ا و ط ف ق ا ي خ ص ف ان ع ل ي ہ م ا م ن و ر ق ٱل ج ن ة و ع ص ى ء اد م ر ب ه ۥ ف غ و ( :121-122 Surah Ta Ha (Then they both ate of the tree, and so their private parts )١٢١() ثم ٱج ت ب ه ر به ۥ ف ت اب ع ل ي ه و ه د ١٢٢( ) became manifest to them, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise for their covering. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray (121) Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness, and gave him guidance (122)) Allah (swt) (اجتباه) He chose Adam (as) for repentance. Adam (as) accepted this repentance by admitting and not blaming anyone, so Allah (swt) accepted his repentance and guided him. What is the sign Allah (swt) will accept your repentance? He will guide you to do good deeds and make it easy for you, subhan Allah. Allah (swt) will bring hasanat to you, and the sign of an accepted good deed is more deeds are followed. For example, you weren t reciting Quran, then you are, then you pray qiyam al layl, then more good deeds open for you. Ibrahim (as) و إ ذ ي ر ف ع إ ب ر ٲه م ٱل ق و اع د م ن ٱل ب ي ت و إ س م ع يل ر ب ن ا ت ق ب ل م ن ا إ ن ك أ نت ٱلس م يع ٱلع ل يم )١٢١( ر ب ن ا ( :127-128 Surah Al Baqarah (remember) (And ) و ٱج ع لن ا مس ل م ي ن ل ك و م ن ذر ي ت ن ا أم ة مس ل م ة ل ك و أ ر ن ا م ن اس ك ن ا و تب ع ل ي ن ا إ ن ك أ نت ٱلت و اب ٱلر ح يم )١٢١( when Ibrâhim (Abraham) and (his son) Ismâ'il (Ishmael) were raising the foundations of the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), (saying), "Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us. Verily! You are the All- Hearer, the All-Knower." (127) "Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manâsik (all the ceremonies of pilgrimage - Hajj and 'Umrah), and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful. (128)) Is there a sin mentioned here? No, but they re doing the best of deeds, they re raising the foundation of the Sacred House. So you do tawbah for good deeds as well. You re saying even the good deed I m doing has shortcomings because I m not thanking You enough and I m not worshipping You as You deserve to be worshipped. So ( علينا (تب guide us to repent. And this takes away the ego even from doing good deeds. What can be an obstacle from doing good deeds? It s our sins. If I do a future sin then guide us to repent to You so there is no obstacle to good deeds. If you notice there is disturbance in your good deeds then you need to repent. For example you used to memorize Quran and now you re not, or you used to recite Quran and you re not; repent to Allah (swt). Musa (as) و ل م ا ج ا ء موس ى ل م يق ت ن ا و ك ل م ه ۥ ر به ۥ ق ا ل ر ب أ ر ن ى أ نظ ر إ ل ي ك ق ال ل ن ت ر ٮ ن ى و ل ك ن ٱنظ ر إ ل ى ٱل ج ب ل ف إ ن ( :143 Surah Al Araf ٱس ت ق ر م ڪ ان ه ۥ ف س و ف ت ر ٮ ن ى ف ل م ا ت ج ل ى ر به ۥ ل ل ج ب ل ج ع ل ه ۥ د ڪ ا و خ ر موس ى ص ع ق ا ف ل م ا أ ف ا ق ق ا ل سب ح ن ك تب ت إ ل ي ك و أ ن ا أ و ل (Allâh) (And when Mûsa (Moses) came at the time and place appointed by Us, and his Lord (ٱل مؤ م ن ين spoke to him, he said: "O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You." Allâh said: "You cannot see Me, but look upon the mountain; if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me." So when his Lord appeared to the mountain[], He made it collapse to dust, and Mûsa (Moses) fell down unconscious. Then when he recovered his senses he said: "Glory be to You, I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.") Page 5
Musa (as) made tawbah for misbehaving with Allah (swt), subhan Allah. He realized he asked something he shouldn t ask which is to see Allah (swt). From the goodness of a person s Islam is to leave what doesn t concern him. Allah (swt) cannot be seen in life, only in the hereafter. How did Allah (swt) guide him to repent? Through an experiment. He told him to look at the mountain, if the mountain can stand seeing Me then you can see Me. But this is a universal rule, no one can see Allah (swt) in this life. When Allah (swt) appeared a little bit to the mountain, the mountain crumbled and crushed, and Musa (as) fell down unconscious. He realized what he did was wrong. Sometimes you notice when you misbehave, you get burned, or slip, or fall sick. What did Musa (as) say? Subhanaka Glory be to You I repent to You. May Allah (swt) guide us to repent to everything in our life. Ameen. What else did he say? And I am the first of the believers; he s already a believer before, but this incident affected his faith so he s renewing his faith. May Allah (swt) make us welcome Ramadan with repentance every moment. Ameen. Page 6