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AlHamdulillah was Salatu Wassalamu 'ala Rasulullah wa ba'ad
It's really never too early
to begin preparing for the month of Ramadan.
The Prophet Alayhi Salatu Wasallam
would fast extensively in the month of Sha'ban.
And we also know that the month of Sha'ban
was known as Sha'ruhl Qura'
because it's when the reciters of the Quran
would begin their intensive preparation
for leading the prayers in Ramadan.
Some of them would even shut down their shops.
One of the things that we can do as regular Muslims
to begin to prepare for the month of Ramadan
is to learn the du'as
that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
would make frequently throughout the month of Ramadan,
or at specific times in the month of Ramadan.
Now, du'a is important
in the life of the Muslim at all times,
not just in Ramadan.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
ad du'a huwal ibadah
That du'a is the essence of worship.
Everything that we do, every act of worship
has du'a connect to it either explicitly or implicitly.
But du'a in the month of Ramadan is especially important.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said
thalatatun la turaddu da'watuhum
There are three, I mean three categories of people
whose du'a is not rejected,
meaning that it is answered by
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
He mentioned from amongst them,
wassaaimu hatta yuftir
"The one who was fasting until he breaks his fast."
Meaning that, at that time, when you are starving for food
but you're feeding your soul,
it is one of the best times to call upon
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
But not just when you're fasting.
The entirety of the month of Ramadan,
when those gates of heaven are open,
when the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
is close,
it is that time when you want to be calling upon
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
Familiarizing yourself with your Lord,
Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
man taArrafa allalahi firrakha ya' li'fu fishshiddah
Those who get to know Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
at times of prosperity,
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
will know them at their time of difficulty.
So what about du'a and Ramadan?
It is so special that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
specified a verse about du'a,
and placed it in the middle of those verses
that deal with the ahkam-us-siyaam
or the rulings that are related to fasting.
Those verses that come in surat-al Baqarah
that are specific to the month of Ramadan.
Right there in the middle,
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
talks about calling upon him, invoking him,
making du'a to him.
He says, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
Wa-itha saalaka AAibadeeAAannee fa-innee qareebun
ojeebu daAAwata addaAAiitha daAAani
If my servants ask you, oh Muhammad, about me,
then I am near.
I answer the call of the caller
when he calls upon me.
This, in the context of Ramadan,
shows us how important it is
for us to make this a month of not just fasting,
but a month of du'a,
a month of calling upon Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
How do we do that?
And the best du'a that we can make?
No doubt, the du'a that
the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
himself would make
is the best du'a that any of us can make.
He was sent as guidance for mankind.
He was the Uswatun Hasanah
He was the best example for us.
So the du'as that he makes
are the du'as that we should make.
Does this mean that if you have a particular circumstance
or something that you want to just call upon Allah for,
from your heart, that you shouldn't do that?
Absolutely not.
Of course, we all have our own needs
and our own circumstances,
and we wanna call upon Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
from our heart,
but when it comes to formula
and the words that are being said,
then there are absolutely no words
that are better than the words
that The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
used to call upon Allah.
And this is why we want to learn the du'as of the Prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
That being said, many times our memorization
of the du'as of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
is simply that we just memorize it.
We know what the words are,
but we don't really know what they mean.
And sometimes, they don't have that importance to us
'cause we haven't really studied them.
And it's very important that as we memorize
these words of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
which are the best words, the best formula,
that we also know what they mean.
Because if we don't know what they mean,
then we can't actually have presence of mind.
Our hearts won't be in it when we're making these du'as
to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
And that's a recipe for disaster.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said
la yaqbalullahu dua'an min qalbin ghafilin lahin
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
does not accept the du'a
that comes from a heart that is inattentive,
or a heart that is distracted.
How can we not have distracted hearts
when we don't even actually know what we're saying?
So this shows us the importance
of not only learning the formula
or the words of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
but also memorizing what these du'as mean.
Knowing what they mean
when we call upon Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
this is what is going to put our heart in the du'a.
And this is what we need for our du'a to be accepted.
You know, Ibn al-Qayyim Rahimahullahu ta'ala
He mentions this beautiful similitude
of the bow,
a worn out bow.
So you have this worn out bow.
When you pull it back,
even if the arrow is a beautiful arrow,
it's a really good arrow.
It's not gonna go that far, right?
It's not gonna pick up because the bow is worn out.
Similarly, when you're calling upon Allah
Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
even if you're calling upon him with the du'a
of The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
but your heart is not actually in the du'a,
you don't have the presence of mind
'cause you don't really know what you're saying.
The arrow is good, the du'a is good,
but it's coming from a worn out bow
because your heart is not into it.
So we want our hearts to be into the du'as
when we make these du'as.
bi-idhnillah Ta'ala
That's why, in this series,
we're not just going to tell you what the du'a is
or what the formula is.
We're also going to teach you bi-idhnillah Ta'ala
some of those meanings.
With that, we hope that you will learn the du'a,
that you will learn what it means,
and that you will teach it to others.
That's right.
Teach it, convey it to others.
Because if you do that,
then you will be from amongst the people
who are preserving the sunnah
of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
And hopefully, you will get the reward
of someone who preserves the sunnah.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"May Allah make radiant the face of one"
"who memorizes something that I have said"
"and who conveys it to others."
May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
make your face radiant,
may grant you ease and success,
and give you the best in this life and the next.
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