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Prophet Muhammed (sal Allahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said, “…And the gates of Heaven will be open in this month and the gates of Hell will be closed. And the devils will be chained.” [Musnad Ahmad]

Why do we sin during Ramadan when the devils are chained? Because the poisons of their whispers still oozes through our veins. But now is the best time to detox, flushing bad habits and forming good ones. Learn how to accomplish this goal.

Start from the beginning - What is our purpose of existence?

• “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Qur’an 51:56]
• What is ‘uboodiyya? - it can be defined as living our life in such a way that our intent is in accordance with the intent of our Creator

Attaining peace

• “And Allah invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path” [Qur’an 10:25]
• Two componenets in order to attain peace from Allah (swt): 1) knowledge and 2) purification of the innerself

Allah (swt) gives us Ramadan in order to assist us in this process

• There are two blocks that keep us from attaining peace: (1) shaytan - the source of outer whispering (2) the nafs - the inner inclination, your own self’s inclinations to doing bad
• You can attain that peace by being near to the source of peace i.e. Allah (swt)
  • “Allahumma anta salaam wa minka salaam…” - dua of the Prophet sallAllaahu ‘alayihi wasallam)

Devlls are chained in Ramadan

• Narrated by Abu Huraira (rAa): Allah’s Messenger (sallAllaahu ‘alayihi wasallam) said, “When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.”  [Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol. 3 : No. 122]

Why do we still sin? —> It is because of your own nafs

• to be truly liberated is to free of the desires of your nafs because when your nafs is in control of you, you’re actually a slave, you are not free

• Unlike the secular definition of the phrase “freedom of the self”, in Islam it is defined as the freedom from the self. It is important to realize that true freedom is not of the self, it is from the self.
• a lot of times when people say “follow your heart”, they really mean “follow your nafs” because sometimes the nafs is so strong that it takes control of your heart
• indulging in the self prevents you from engaging yourself in more knowledge and gaining nearness to Allah (swt)
• if we are so busy in eating, etc. we are focusing on our physical pleasures which means our focus is not on the spiritual aspect (i.e. heart and soul)

Fasting liberates us

• fasting liberates us from our physical addictions to food amongst other things, we realize that our physical nourishment is not the means to pleasure and happiness
• Fasting disengages us from food and drink and engages us in the spiritual world, it interrupts us from our addictions, from our attachment to the Dunya. And Allah (swt) gives us the means through his mercy, to re-focus on the internal and to make sure that our hearts do not get fixed on the addictions in the Dunya.
• this is Allah’s prescription to us, to be able to live in the dunya without being addicted to it, without drowning in it, without being a prisoner to it
• with fasting (as well as with salaah) we are taking breaks from the dunya to stop and look inward, to re-orient ourselves, to begin to free ourselves from the diversions and preoccupations of the dunya
• If you never take a break from the Dunya and stop, and look around, your whole world, defines your view of the world. You BECOME all about what is happening in the world . One will never have internal Peace. 

The dunya’s effects

• the dunya is nothing but change and inconsistency, its all about ups and down. 

• so if you are all about the external, if you are all about the dunya, you will never have consistency and peace on the inside because your entire focus is on the outside
• but if you pray 5x a day with khushu’, the proper way, you are disconnecting from the dunya, stopping to take a break, and looking at the unseen, focusing on the internal and not letting the dunya take over
• in the case of siyaam (fasting) its almost like you are disconnecting from the physical world because eating is a physical need, so you are cutting off the physical satiation and you are filling yourself with what is spiritual, so you are feeding your soul .. you are starving your body but feeding your soul.
• when you dont break away from the dunya your heart begins to die because all of your attachments are to the dunya and so you start to develop internal ailments, more diseases of the heart
• We are more than just a body form and we have a soul. When we feel joy, when we feel pain, when we think, these form a part of the non physical components of our beings. 
• fasting is an opportunity to liberate yourself from these physical external addictions

Over-Indulgent Iftars

• indulging in food at the end of the day after fasting all day is missing the point. Because after you eat that much you get drowsy, you are unable to focus in salaah afterwards, the mind is sluggish now. Because we have eaten so much our mind is clouded and we are tired. This goes against the sunnah of the Prophet (sallAllaahu ‘alayihi wasallam)

What does Allah (swt) say about fasting in the Qur’an

• “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous” [Qur’an 2:183]

• so the purpose of fasting is for you to attain taqwa
• what is taqwa?
• it is derived from waqaa waqee - literally means to protect or to shield
• it also comes from ittaqa - which means to protect oneself

What are we shielding and protecting ourselves from through siyaam?

(1) from the displeasure and wrath of Allah (swt)

(2) from distance from Allah (swt)

(3) from excessively indulging the nafs

(4) from shaytan

Ramadan is about mercy

• Allah (swt) is very near to us at certain times, some of which are:

  • one of those times is sajdah
  • when we are close to the Kaaba
  • Allah (swt) has also done this through Ramadan
• Ramadan is a time when the entire universe is closer to the mercy of Allah (swt), everything and everyone is closer to the mercy of Allah (swt). This is the time we should take advantage of the mercy of Allah (swt) and change ourselves
• Allah (swt) is the owner of mercy

  • the Prophet (sallAllaahu ‘alayihi wasallam) tells us that when Ramadan comes, its beginning is mercy, its middle is forgiveness, and its ending is liberation from the Hell fire

The Heart

• nothing and no one can feed your heart other than Allah (swt)
• so when you empty out everything from your heart (what fasting is all about) you can fill it with the One who can actually help your heart … Allah (swt)

Intention

• innamal a3maalu bin niyaat
• make the intention that you will not make this Ramadan just about being hungry and thirsy but you will make this Ramadan about inner purification, about building your connection with Allah (swt) and seeking His mercy
• the Prophet (sallAllaahu ‘alayihi wasallam) tells us that whoever fasts during Ramadan with sincere faith, all of his sins wll be forgiven

Check points for Change:

• the way you know that Ramadan really fulfilled its purpose for you is if you remain changed after Ramadan. The change has to be lasting

…..jazzak Allah khair to our beloved audience members Suha Cassim and Sumayya Fatima Hussaini for their notes!