Post Ramadhan advice

1st Oct- Post Ramadan Advice, Gratitude and Reflection

Notes from Sheikh Ibrahim Osi-Efa's kalima at the Mawlid- 1st October 2009, Liverpool.
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Alhamdulilah for the bounties that Allah swt continuously extends upon us- Alhamdulilah we are of those that embrace and receive them, in sha Allah with hearts that are grateful to Allah.

Our hearts need to show some sort of gratitude so we may be of those that are “few”- We ask Allah to make us from the few. "Very few of my servants are truly grateful" - And we ask Allah to not take us from this temporal abode except that we are of those who show eternal and perpetual gratitude to Allah, swt for His blessings-

Amongst them we heard about Ramadan- and why did Allah single out this ummah and single out each and every one of us to be members of his ummah- and allowed us to have Ramadan- which communities before us did not have the privilege to enjoy. Allah allowed us to enjoy the great fruits of this blessed month-

Sahih hadith- in response to the great prayer of the great Archangel Gabriel "The one who reaches Ramadan and exits the month is not forgiven therein- may Allah render him distant" – the Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa alih wa salam) said: Ameen..

In Ramadan Allah swt continuously extends towards us His mercy and grace, such that we may enter into the sphere of His forgiveness, and move to His grace in the world to have- [...]

Allah chose each and every one of us, and if we were to stop and ponder- and Allah summons each and every one of us to contemplate and ponder- and if we were to ponder the great signs around us, the signs that are in the web- and the spider is a great creature- it is a creature of the Quran- the spider is great because it came pre-eternally on the “tongue” of Allah sub7an wa ta3ala. From the speech of Allah- that Allah should mention such a creature-

But likewise, the things that Allah extends to us- are also from the greater signs of Allah – and Allah wants each and every one of us to ponder- From the signs that Allah forgives in Ramadan is the blessed month of Shawwal – because the sign for any sign of acceptance- Qabool- of an act by Allah- is that we become people of thabat- we become firm upon the act and we increase in it thereafter.

So when we look at the blessed month of Ramadan- and we tie the 29/30 days to the 6 days of Shawwal- and among the signs of acceptance is that a person moves into Shawwal looking forward to the continuation of the great deeds and nafa7at that Allah gave them in Ramadan. They fasted in Ramadan so likewise they fast in Shawwal. They stood in night prayer in Ramadan – their sides left their beds in the night of Ramadan- so likewise they yearn to experience the nights in Shawwal and the months that come after Shawwal- They were of those who gave charity to needy people in Ramadan and they continue and allow this to overflow into the month of Shawwal..such that Allah will allow His great bounty to overflow unto each and every one of us.

That is the purpose of Ramadan because Allah does not give us gifts in order to abase us - though He is the one who abases/ lowers - but "I am in the opinion of My servant so let him perceive me as He wants”- so therefore we see Allah in a beautiful manner and He extends Ramadan to us in order to raise us - May Allah render us in the sphere of His ennoblement- Ameen

So we ask ourselves- how are we with Allah- because it’s so easy- because of the great deeds we do in Ramadan- to rely upon our deeds- Allah will then show the one who relies upon his deeds in Ramadan, what life is like when we are not receiving this type of sustenance from the divine- when we move into Shawwal we are not of those who fast- when we move into Shawwal we are not of those who frequent the mosque- when we move into Shawwal we are not of the ones who stand by night and tears fall from their eyes- when we move into Shawwal we are not of those who seek forgiveness- when we move into Shawwal the right hand is not above the left hand (the left hand is aware of what the right gives)- When we move into Shawwal we develop a Religious amnesia and forget the great things Allah bestows upon us in this blessed month-

We must become people who are more loftier than that- we must become people who do not just sit around the camp fire and sing the praises of the Messenger of Allah- but we should be like those great companions, who did not necessarily have to sing the praises often because they lived the praises of the Messenger of Allah- and every single one of us has been given examples in Sayedina Abubakr al Siddique, given examples in Sayedina Umar bin al Khattab, given examples in Uthman bin Affan- Dhun-Nooaryn- and given examples in the great Ali bin Abi talib- and the great Ayesha al Siddiqa, or Khadija al Kubra- the great men and women who walked in the presence of that great and lofty being sallallahu alayh wa ala aalih- and we should take them as guides unto Allah – because no one reaches the Prophet except through those blessed people- and no one reaches Allah except through whom- through the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa ala alaih.

Things to ponder- when Allah extends gifts He also extends many things to each and every one of us to ponder- each and every one of us should ponder 'afiya- when we sit here in wellbeing- wellbeing in terms of Allah bringing us to a blessed gathering- wellbeing in terms of health- we all see, we all hear- if we ask people to speak, they can speak- look at what Allah gave us, but when last did we thank Allah for speech? Thank Allah for sight? Thank Allah for ‘afiya? The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam told his uncle Abbas- “When you ask Allah for anything, ask for ‘afiya”- wellbeing inwardly and outwardly.

We raise our hands to Allah for one of our dear sisters, sister Sobia- [...]
How temporal and flimsy this life is, and life in and of itself is fragile- and Allah wants us to ponder this- and when we ponder this we ponder the creator of that fragility, and that life and hearts, and intellect to ponder those things-
So a sister who was like each and every one of us- who would frequent these gatherings- blessed gatherings- and nafa7at that Allah sends and extends to us- Now she is under Grace of Allah and the subtlety of Allah- as she recovers in sha Allah with the dua’ of each and every one of us- in hospital – This could be any of us, it can happen to us-

And stepping behind the veil is inevitable- and yet why are we people who prefer this world over that which is to come- that which is temporary over that which will remain forever- were we to ponder the trees, we would understand that the trees glorify Allah- were we to ponder the vast oceans we would understand that the oceans in their vastness glorify Allah, the mountains glorify Allah- were we to move beyond the veil this thick dense existence we would see creatures that glorify Allah- so why then is it that we glorify this world? And many of us glorify with the tongue, or ponder with the mind, and yet were we to gaze at our hearts they are turned to the Qibla of this world – so when are we going to the Prophet as an example where he says to Syedatina Aisha- “If you want Allah and dar al aakhira, you must give up this world”-
Why don’t we listen to the words of Sayedina Umar bin al Khattab- “if Allah was to give anyone the dunya and the aakhira he would give it to me because I joined between harshness and gentleness- but Allah does not give the dunya and aakhira to anybody”- So which one of us is going to be of those who will prefer the other?
And Allah is the ultimate other- which one of those will be of those who prefers the Other- as what we have been given is lofty-

We see the Prophet, when he saw a man strike another in the face, said: "Don't strike him in the face as Allah created Adam in His ‘form’" – and the ‘form’ is in terms of meaning – Allah gave to Adam life, and He gave to each and every one of us life- when did we thank Allah for hayaa, for the fact that we live? Allah gave Sayedina Adam knowledge – when did we thank Allah for the knowledge He has given us? Many of us sit in this room as university students- Allah could have given you a sheep’s brain and allowed you to sit in exams and make an utter fool of yourself- but Allah gave you an intellect- but ponder, why? He gave you an intellect to become a pharmascist? A doctor? An engineer? A computer programmer? He gave you an intellect to become an 'abd- a slave to Allah – so when are we going to become slaves to Allah- When we pray we take the intellect and place it on the floor and we say “Allahu Akbar!” That’s why Allah gave us an intellect and that is from the signs of the divine- Allah who has the attributes of Knowledge and Perception. Allah gave us the ability to will and to want- Allah gave us eyes so we could see, ears so we could hear, tongues so we could speak-

Were we to ponder creation without life- in the real sense- or knowledge- like trees- they have no sight, or hearing, or intellect and yet they still ponder and glorify! We were in Spain recently with one of our teachers, Dr. Umar Abdullah- and we walked outside the mosque at 3am, pitch black, no artificial light- and we hear something like an ocean- like a roaring ocean- and he asked “What’s that sound?” and I said, “That’s the wind..” and he said “Its not ordinary wind- its wind Allah sends to the pine trees- the vocal sounds of the pine trees- and that sound is the sound of the pine trees glorifying Allah”- That’s pine trees! What about us?!

Let us become new people after Ramadan, because Ramadan is about tajdid, bringing ourselves back to life- and by Allah we need to be living creatures- Allah did not give us life in order for us to be dead. And we see the Prophet said “human beings are asleep, [and sleep is synonymous of death]- and when they die, they wake up”-