Last Friday before Ramadan; at Croydon Mirch Masala after Jumah

Sheikh makes analogy of human to Aston Martin; how we are better built, but wear and tear makes steering wheel lose its ‘obedience’, same with us, we need to maintain ourselves, then we will have that look and awe greater than people can give an Aston Martin going past them.

Sahrul Mubarak – Month of Blessings.
Sahrul Ramadan – Month of Ramadan.

Just as with car, you go for check up. Same with yourself, if heave to do obedience, if struggling to stay on straight path, like in a car with dodgy steering, then go check it out with Sheikh. We need to have regular service checks like we do with cars with our own selves.

Value comes from Allah wanting us to fast and Him looking at us, not because we want to fast. If we were fasting just because we wanted to, nothing to do with Allah wanting it or not, how can we have value in our fast? Our lower self gives perspective from us looking at Allah, not other way round.

Make Niyat(Intention) for Fast for Allah, of Fard, this month, this year and then also for every day, at the start of Ramadan and then also every single day after Maghrib.

Remember Sheikh telling us that with intention we must check before, during and after/or at end. So with fasting, we should make intention to fast for Allah, for seeking His Pleasure upon us, after Maghrib, when we are to go to sleep, when we have finished Suhor (breakfast before fast), at Fajr time and also to remind ourselves during the day.

Even in Hanafi, we have to make intention every day, the only difference is that if we forget, we have up until just before Zuhr to make intention for fast.

Ilahi Anta Maqsoodi dua is refreshing intention for Allah again and again, so practice constantly throughout fast.

General population don’t see Allah, but see their peers and community. So they feed off their company, which has more effect upon them than presence of Allah in their lives.

Make real sincere intention for Terawih, before and during. From Maghrib, make intention to eat to have energy for Terawih and other worship to Allah. Do not over consume to be heavy in worship and fall asleep. Remember that the nuffs can only be hurt through hunger and is fed mainly through an indulgent full stomach. Do not be indulgent, just because you can not break your fast, for indulgence reinvigorates the lower self. We are fasting to defeat and discipline our lower self.

Obedience means/implies Taqwa – God Fearing-ness. Look beyond humanity and see all other Creation that is in obedience. All of Creation is set up as Allah wants.

Sheikh gave example of a car that has no Taqwa, we won’t feel safe to drive it. We feel security due to state of Taqwa of all things around us. Things that are stable and not chaotic gives security. Blind chance can only give chaos. Unified order is what gives security.

Remember the Third Point in The Merits of Belief lesson. Belief in Allah alone requires Unity (Tawheed), for Unity to be possible there needs to be Submission (Islam) and Submission is made possible by Trust in Allah, which all yields Happiness in both Heaven and Earth.Happiness struggles in disbelief, in disunity, in rejection and rebellion.

You only get into car if you can trust that it will be in state of obedience, that the steering is not dodgy, that all its components are true and honest, not deceptive, showing false safety. The car has to comply with the Laws of Nature and Physics, you don’t want it to just float off, to do something unexpected suddenly.

Sheikh stressed importance of being honest with oneself, eg treat things as they are, like a bottle of water, accept as that then you can deal with it as such and enjoy drinking it, as it is intended for. Otherwise you will be treating it on wrong basis and not to its true intention or purpose. If it is dirty water and you treat it as clean water, you will drink it fooling yourself its clean, then when you get ill you blame other than yourself for being foolish and blind and blame other than the water which you believed to be clean when it was actually dirty. You will thus keep drinking from this dirty bottle of water, the more you drink, the more upset and ill you get, yet you will keep drinking more and more, blaming all other things more and more, you will not stop falling further ill. This is the very nature of jahil moracab; compound ignorance.

What you know has to be 100% (Yakeen Jazaam) Certainty, in accordance to Truth, otherwise you can find not find true stability and will remain in a state of doubt.

Some people due to their compounded ignorance can not understand why they have no stability, as they believe they know truth fully, thus they can’t be wrong and thus they should have stability and no doubt. Others have to be wrong, not them. Even when Truth comes to them, as they have already accepted something else as 100% Truth, they are blind to it completely.

In Malaysia Sheikh said that whilst waiting for the time to break fast they practice performing 40x Salawat Sukr and Salawat Ramadan, with Hope and Fear that Allah accepts their fast.

Sheikh also said that Ajwa (small black dates that come from the 1400yr old date plants that the Prophet PBUH himself planted) is the best dates to have, then Rutub (the Fresh Yellow Hard ones). Sheikh emphasised the blessed and healthy practice of having 7 dates a day, as a Traditional Practice of the Prophet (PBUH). Sheikh said people can and should come to him personally regarding this practice; ie – to ask for Ijaza.

To go Jabariyah and not accept that everything is from Allah for you to take responsibility, to respond accordingly, to expect from Allah, as all is from Allah, and not have any expectation of your own self, this is entirely egotistical and from your lower self.

People can tafakur and speculate forever, but if they do not accept things as they are, are not open and honest to themselves, it is pointless as its based on foolish ignorance, blindness and egotism.

All happiness and ease, must check that all of it goes back to Allah, otherwise Carelessness & Heedlessness will develop, making worship heavy and not light. If you attribute all happiness and ease to Allah, and not to your own self or to Created beings, then you will be happy to worship Allah. Attribute to yourself, then you feed your ego, your lower self, you follow the path of one who is to worship their own self. To attribute to Created beings is foolish, for Created Beings have nothing, except that they are Created by Allah the Creator, just as you are.

Dates kill worms in digestive system, specific worms that nothing else can really kill. One date lasts you 8 hours. To have dates is an act of Murabith and Sunnah!

Sheikh said start fast 10 minutes before Fajr comes in. Rasul(SAW) stressed waking for Suhor, as it’s a highly blessed time, even to have a morsel, or mouthful, or a sip of water.