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What have you prepared for the Last Ten Nights? Biryani?

what have you prepared for the last ten nights? biryani?
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May 19, 2019
in Khutbah, Q&A, Quran Blog
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Catching the gold dust

The last ten nights of Ramadan are just round the corner. Alhamdulilah we wait for Ramadan for 11 months and Ramadan comes full of blessings, khairat and goodness. The Prophet (peace be on him) as Aisha, Ibn Abbas and others (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated, said that he was the most generous person. And his generosity would peak in Ramadan.

Being generous beyond generous in the last ten nights

Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) was the most generous of people and he was the most generous in the month of Ramadan, when Jibril would meet him. Jibril used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Quran. (Ahmed, ibn Majah, Tirmidhi)

When he was so generous all year round, why did he increase his generosity in Ramadan even more?

As rewards are multiplied. Good deeds in Ramadan are multiplied by 70 which is why people choose to pay their zakat and sadaqa in Ramadan. The Prophet (peace be on him) knew what was behind the scene and he increased his good deeds even more in the last ten nights, when blessings are falling like gold dust.

How to prepare for the Last 10 nights

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that in the last ten nights the Prophet (peace be on him) would do three things:

 When the last ten days of Ramadan came, the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) would stay up at night, wake up his family (to pray), strive hard, and tighten his waist belt. (Bukhari and Muslim)

The example we have to follow is teaching us to:

  1. Perform extra ibadah in the last ten nights.
  2. Wake up the family for night prayers.
  3. Tighten the belt. (Refrain from intimacy with your spouse)

The concept of ibadah is not just salah and siyam (fasting), but everything that is classified as beneficial and done purely for Allah Almighty’s sake is ibadah.

Cut down on food. Cut down on guests Ramadan is not about banqueting and feasting it is about fasting. It is not about spending the whole-time cooking and washing dishes. The last ten nights should not be dedicated to the kitchen. They should be dedicated to Allah Almighty.

Ramadan was created for women as well as men

Ramadan shouldn’t be dominated by men – so often, while the men go out to tarawih, the women stay home cleaning and cooking. That is not the spirit of Ramadan. I would even say that women, if possible, should cut down on their cooking, make a few dishes, get some take-aways, and while the husband is focusing on his ibadah, they can focus on theirs too.

Prepare for Lailatul Qadr

The blessings of the last ten nights offer the pinnacle of the blessings. Whoever meets lailatul qadr, begins again with a new page. New life.

Imagine the last ten nights are the last ten nights of your life. What will you prepare? Biryani or Haleem? Or prepare yourself to meet Allah Almighty. This is our real concern.

This is our opportunity. We can increase our closeness to Allah Almighty in many ways, by increasing our ibadah, salah, tarawih, recitation of Quran and our sadaqah.

What did you leave behind?

In the hadith, when the son of Adam dies all his good deeds stop except three things:

The best that a man can leave behind after his death are three things: a righteous child who makes dua for him, an ongoing sadaqah whose rewards continue to reach him, and a knowledge that continues to be implemented after him.  (ibn Majah)

So from this hadith we know to focus on the three things that will continue benefiting us:

  1. Pious children who pray for us
  2. Continuous charity – sadaqah jariah, like building a school, hospital, mosque – anything beneficial.
  3. Knowledge that we left behind.

If you were leaving the world after ten days, you would not be watching your bank account right now, you would be spending. So transfer your wealth from your dunya account to your akhirah account.

We ask for Allah Almighty to enable us to witness Lailatul Qadr and become closer to Him especially in the last ten nights and accept our goods, purely for His sake. Ameen.

Talk delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 18th May 2019 at the Read Foundation, London.

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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.

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