Welcome to the University of Sufism's Ramadan reading of Rosina Fawzia al-Rawi's book,
The Call of Allah,
A companion to the holy month of Ramadan.
Today I will be sharing day 18 about time,
Also known as waqt.
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim And there is no living creature on earth but depends for its sustenance on God.
And he knows its time limit on earth and its resting place after death.
All this is laid down in his clear decree.
Quran 11 6 The month of Ramadan is filled with blessings,
Divine mercy and merits and it goes by very quickly.
Allah gave us a special month where time is especially precious.
During Ramadan,
The value of good deeds is multiplied and bad deeds are erased.
We have received so many gifts from Allah and an essential one is time.
We hold our finiteness in this world out to him and he gives us eternity as a present.
Allah tells us in the Quran how crucial time is and how we should use it.
Consider the flight of time.
Verily,
Man is bound to lose himself unless he be of those who attain to faith and do good works and enjoin upon one another by keeping to truth and enjoin upon one another patience in adversity.
Quran 103 1 to 3 In the mad rush of everyday life,
Time and time again,
We lose sight of the true meaning of our existence and it disappears from our hearts.
Although the heart never forgets Allah's love,
Our outer life can distract us to the extent that we no longer hear the longing voice of our heart.
Allah knows our weaknesses and how we tend to sluggishness,
Greed and forgetfulness.
He points at our weaknesses and who turn away from all that is frivolous.
Quran 23 3 He knows that we tend to forget our true peace loving and kind inner nature amidst the struggles of everyday life or mistakenly believe that we should ignore it.
Our attachment to outer life has allowed clouds to gather between us and the light of truthfulness.
You are obsessed by greed for more and more until you go down to your graves.
Quran 102 1 to 2 What did Allah give us?
He gave us one month every year during which our familiar daily rhythm and routine,
Our usual habits come to an abrupt halt.
Although Ramadan is a strenuous month,
For many a Muslim it remains the most beautiful and joyful month of the year.
It is the month in which we use our time to do precisely that for which we were born.
To worship Allah and serve him in this world by supporting the poor and the lonely,
By controlling our ego,
By bringing people together in love in order to draw together gratefully from his countless gifts.
We read and reflect on Allah's words,
The Quran.
We take the time to see where we stand and how we can use our lifetime to put aside that which is not useful and accept that which furthers us on the path of our inner and outer refinement.
This time is here for us to sharpen our inner eye for what is essential.
Allah calls us to him so that we may grow through him.
Our wise Prophet Muhammad brought our attention to the following.
There are two things which carry great blessings and which human beings make light of,
Good health and time.
Beware of not having time for the one who created time before the moment comes which he has assigned for your time to be over.
All of us can look back on our past with a certain amount of remorse.
We have spent so much time in half sleep,
Done things we should not have done,
And neglected to do other things that we should have done.
Some of our deeds bring out much melancholy,
Pangs of conscience and shame,
And we become engulfed in a great wave of self-pity and depression.
Our ego,
Nafs,
Loves it when we insult ourselves and become suffocated by our uselessness,
And when we would like nothing better than to shut ourselves off or distract ourselves in order to feel less desperate and downcast.
Never think that you are not good enough,
That your mistakes,
Past or present,
Are so big that you cannot turn to Allah.
Allah tells us,
O you servants of mine who have transgressed against your own selves,
Despair not of God's mercy.
Behold,
God forgives all sins,
For verily he alone is much forgiving,
Al-Ghafur,
A dispenser of grace,
Ar-Rahim.
Quran 39,
53 Allah's love shows itself in that he has created you for a very special,
Unique purpose,
And given you all the capacities and virtues to take your place here and carry out your task.
So return,
However long you have been lost.
The present moment now is in your hands.
Return,
Let Allah's forgiveness heal you.
Allay your sorrow with his peace and widen your heavy heart with his love.
Be the daughter,
The son of the moment.
Let the rucksack of the past slip away from your shoulders and return to Allah,
Even if you go astray again and again.
In his endless mercy,
He is waiting.
He has created you,
And he knows that you are worthy.
For Allah makes no mistake.
He who gives unto everything that exists its true nature and form,
And thereupon guides it towards its fulfillment.
Quran 20,
50 To be the daughter or the son of the moment means to live out all the abilities that Allah has given you,
To allow them to blossom and then give them to creation.
Do not be a victim of yourself,
But a grateful,
Active being who trusts in Allah.
Surrender to Allah's plan with love and interest,
For every atom and all the galaxies are signs of Allah's wisdom.
Soon we will be asked,
And he will ask the doomed,
What number of years have you spent on earth?
They will answer,
We have spent there a day or part of a day.
Quran 23,
112 to 113 Looking back,
Our time here on earth will seem to us like one short day.
Whether we turn our time into a gain or a loss is in our hands.
It is therefore important to plan our time well,
For the day,
The week,
The month,
And the year,
And to set goals,
Times to pray and to reflect,
Times for work and study,
Times for breaks and relaxation,
Times for family and friends.
When we are capable of performing all our outer deeds while remaining in our heart constantly in remembrance,
In closeness,
In dialogue and divine guidance,
In other words,
When everything becomes deen,
Faith and decency,
Then we know Allah's words in our heart.
O thou human being that hast attained to inner peace,
Return thou unto thy sustainer,
Well pleased and pleasing him.
Quran 89,
27 to 28 Practice suggested for today.
Today,
Keep repeating,
Ya Allah,
Ya Shafi'i.
O Allah,
You healer of all wounds,
All pains,
All sorrow.
May our confidence grow.
Thank you for listening.
May you have a beautiful day.
