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Spiritual MOT
English Bayan, 31 mins
7th April, 2022

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Spiritual MOT

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ 

"Oh people of belief, I have made fasting obligatory upon you."

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ 

Allah ta'ala says that I have made fasting compulsory upon you and alongside that Allah ta'ala, first Allah ta'ala has explained the importance that the fasting is fard upon you, compulsory, not just upon you, but also the previous nations, that came before you. Fasting came in the same way and then Allah ta'ala explains the purpose of the fasting. لعلكم تتقون
"So that you may attain Taqwa." In Ramadan, due to these fasts, through this Ibaadah I have given you, so that you can become clean and pure.
Become the Muttaqi so that you can attain Taqwa. Because the purpose of Ramadan, Allah ta'ala here, in other words, Allah ta'ala has mentioned the objective of fasting, in other words, the fast, it is such an act of worship, that it will totally clean and purify you. Just like the merciful Prophet, the gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did dua for this month in the month of Rajab, two months in advance, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said then, two months in advance that this month is extremely great and blessed that is about to come to you. 2 months in advance. Rajab. The greatness of this month and the glory of this month is this, that the most sinful and sinful of people, he can become a Muttaqi. God-fearing. A person, a human being is totally standing at the banks of Jahannam. Hellfire. He's about go into Hellfire. He doesn't even know how much of his life is left and all of his actions that he is doing and occupied in the dunya, he has no awareness that totally he is at the banks of Jahannam, at the border of Jahannam. He is arrived at Jahannam. But Allah ta'ala's Mercy and Karam and grace and that's why the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us this dua that, Oh Allah give me that much life that I can at least somehow arrive in to this month of Ramadan. And deliver us to this month. Somehow or another Oh Allah. Get us into this month of Ramadan. So soon as a person enters into Ramadan, that individual who is extremely sinful, so sinful, practicing wrong that he is so close to Jahannam. In other words, if death came to him prior to Ramadan, then there will be no gap between him and Hellfire. Jahannam. But as soon as the moon of Ramadan is visible and it is born and it touches this month and he rises to this month, that person and he touches this month, soon as he enters into this month, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala takes that person very close to paradise. Where was that man who was close to Jahannam before? Hell. But due to the glory and greatness and blessings of this month. The same month of Ramadan that when it arrives, it takes him closer to jannah. Paradise. One example i'll give you so you understand this point I am making. I'll give you an example. Today in accordance to this day and age we are in, in this era, everybody who is sitting here has a car or a vehicle or a mode of transport. Alhamdulillah. It is essential and it is part of our lives nowadays. Rather, in one house there is two or three cars not just one, so the car that we have the vehicle, after a year you get a letter, just like Allah ta'ala sends us in the month of Ramadan, in the same way, after one year, 
from the government a letter arrives to our door step, for the car. For your motor vehicle. And all of you do this? What's that? That you have to do the MOT test for the car. It is laazim. It's compulsory to do the MOT test. If the letter was not to come or if we were not to do it, so if we didn't get that letter or the reminder, we wouldn't do the MOT, we would be lazy, who is going to spend the money. And to not do the MOT is very, you could say dangerous or negligent that there could be accident due to the fact that there is negligence on that car. So a person has to do an MOT by way of habit and regulation. And what is the MOT? It's a test that when a person takes his car to the garage, to the MOT test centre, then that MOT tester, the mechanic, he checks everything, he checks the tires, he checks the engine, he checks the steering mechanism, he checks the windscreen wipers, he looks at all those moving components, A to Z, top to bottom, he looks at the car what is there and what is not there. And then the defects, he eliminates them so that the car can come back on the road. For which reason? So that there is protection. That same tyre, the defective tyre, if it gets worse and he is driving fast and he's on the motorway and the tyre bursts, or punctures and there's an accident, he could pass away, die and he's gone. That person. So what is the benefit of MOT? The benefit of MOT is that the car is overlooked properly. Completely. And that person is safeguarded from an accident, from death. He is saved. So Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala with His mercy and His grace that all year long we drive our vehicle of life with disobedience, with sins and our whole life is full of defects. And we are in a dangerous move or a dangerous turn. And then Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala sends us this month of Ramadan and He does the MOT test for our deen. For our religion. Just like the car when it goes to the MOT test centre. Soon as this month comes then Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala, our deen, just like the car, it drives, there is wear and tear, things are worn out. We don't know if the tyre or the engine of our deen is in a bad way. It's worn. It's torn. Same way our deen, our religion, we don't know, just like I said, we are very close to the border of Jahannam due to the sins. Our lying. Our bad actions. Because we are living in this dunya. This negative environment and a person is immersed in sins. So out of Allah's Grace and Mercy, he has given us one month on this ummah, this nation of believers that as soon as he enters into the month of Ramadan. Automatically Allah ta'ala has prepared that the human being he is overhauled. He is refreshed and his MOT takes place.
And the whole of his deen, his religion, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala, in this month, He revives the deen of that person. He refreshes the deen of that person. Renews the deen of that person. And then what is the conclusion? That individual, due to having his MOT done on his deen, just like the car and components are renewed and then he gets a certificate. The MOT certificate that it has passed. And you get that certificate in your hand. Same way. When a human being goes into Ramadan and the MOT through the 30 days, everything of his is checked in that 30 day period. Because Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala's deen, every part of his deen is checked and analysed. And this is the Maqsad that Ramadan has told us. لعلكم تتقون.
That you must do the MOT test during this month of your deen. There is no other action in this month. So what happens. The human being he goes through that scan. That analysis. And alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah, his whole life and deen, A to Z is renewed and refreshed. He is overhauled and after that just like when a person gets a MOT test for his car, then Allah ta'ala gives you a certificate that you have become a Muttaqi. You are now capable. So the most simple of simple persons, when he enters into Ramadan alhamdulillah, and when he comes out of Ramadan, the end of month, such a great certificate Allah ta'ala gives him in his hand that you are now Muttaqi. "Go. You are pure and clean." So defects, sicknesses, diaseses, Allah ta'ala washes them away, cleans them. The most dangerous thing for example, which drags a person into hellfire and it becomes a means for him to go to hellfire. What is that? That is sin. Committing wrong. A wrong action. Now sin. Why does a human being commit a sin? What's the reason for it? Why does a person practice sin? We need to think. For a sin, there is one statement that makes us commit a sin. One statement that we utter. "My heart feels like doing it." So the hearts feeling to do that, is what spoils everything for the human being. "Oh I feel like today. My heart feels I do this today."
"Oh why are you doing this brother?" "Oh my heart feels like, I want to do this. I felt like it in my heart to do this dirty action. I felt like I wanted to do this impure action." So due to the heart wanting. Whatever the heart wants for the human being, that he obeys the instruction of the heart. Even the biggest of disobediences, the heart, the person runs after it. So the heart making you feel to do something wrong is a very dangerous thing. When your heart feels like it, you do a bad action, an evil action. So the desire of the heart, makes a person practice. Basically that's the bottom line. The foundation, the pillar is that it is your desire. "My heart said to me I felt like doing this" "I felt like this"
When your heart feels like doing, you're prepared to do every sin. 
So the reality is this, that the human being, in his nature, there is the ability to sin. That is the desire of the human being. Naturally, habitually, the desire for sin is created within, Allah ta'ala has instilled that within our fitrat. Yes we are human beings. We can't say that we won't commit sins. Our heart will feel and make us want to do that. But. But the right of our Imaan and Allah ta'ala's hukm is "don't do that." But the heart says, "do it." So we don't believe and follow Allah's hukm. We are weak and we accept the order of our heart and then we go and commit that wrong action. So this is the main summary you can say of why a person goes towards Jahannam. The reason for it is? That the human being inside him, the qalb, and he obeys the order of the heart within him, that control power. The power to control himself, to stop himself. To cease that, that power has gone. It has evaporated. I'm telling you the MOT. How Ramadan performs the MOT on human being.
I'm explaining it in detail now. The car. When it is lacking the right things, then the MOT tester says, "This is lacking. This is lacking. This is wrong. This is worn out. Change this, for this reason your car will fail and an accident will happen." So the sin, look how we are overhauled during Ramadan, look at how Allah ta'ala scans us in Ramadan that to stop us doing sin, yes, because it is in our Fitrah, in our natural traits that we will have the desire to sin. We will go towards sin. We will want to sin. That person who is against Allah ta'ala's order, whatever there is in our heart to do against Allah's order, we will do it. So what we realise and learn that there's a component that's lacking inside us that is making us do sin and that is the power to control ourselves. We cannot control our desires. We  cannot stop ourselves at that time. So we are lacking that power to control our nafs. Our ego.  Our desire. Because that sin, the Fitrah of a person that naturally we have the desires that are generating and developing within. But the power to control ourselves at that time, that has failed. So Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala in this month of Ramadan,  he generates and re-empowers us with the ability to stop. Because this is not the definition of a Muttaqi that a sin invites him and he commits a sin. The question doesn't arise that a sin and taqwa are two opposite things.  
So Allah ta'ala says I make you a Muttaqi in Ramadan so most definitely if Allah ta'ala makes us Muttaqi, then we will stop having that desire and want and drive to commit sin. And the other power will increase that will stop us from going to sin. SubhaanAllah. So when Ramadan comes Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala, He, for 30 days, makes us practice. Allah ta'ala makes us develop and re-generates that powers and it comes back into us. What is that power? That power is called Sabr. SubhaanAllah. Patience. Endurance. Sabr is such a power that it stops you committing sin and that's why it is stated in hadith that this is the month of sabr and the reward for sabr is paradise. SubhaanAllah. Allah ta'ala hasn't given us any other Ibaadah in this month. Just one ibaadah. What is that worship we have to do in this month? Fasting.
Now look at it. That is the fact that already we have other ibaadaat before Ramadan, we have Quran. We have salaah. Before Ramadan there is dhikr. All of these ibaadaats of worship, actions, were there before Ramadan. Ramadan hasn't given us anything new. But there is an extra action which we are given in this month through which, due to which our system comes into control and we abstain from sin. How does it control? Now we will see this point. How does fasting teach us to control ourselves so we get that power and only fasting generates this power. 30 days, Allah ta'ala strengthens that power, due to which, when a heart says, 'oh do zina, adultery.' He says no. The question doesn't arise. "I'm not going to. Allah won't be happy."
It says, "Drink alcohol."  And he says, "never will I drink alcohol." When our heart says, "oh let's listen to music and singing." And you say, "no I'm never going to do this." And so if our power has to cease, become strong, we get the strength not to do it. Then the strength to sin diminishes and the strength to leave it, increases. What is that which creates that? When the human being gets the power of sabr. Endurance. So sabr has a high status in our deen. For this reason, the meaning of sabr in Arabic is to stop yourself. This is the meaning of sabr, that when a human being stops himself from committing a sin, then alhamdulillah inside him, the power and strength has come of sabr. And he becomes a great human being. The Darajah of a human being is increased at that time, remember this point that a human being becomes a wali Allah, a friend of Allah at that time when he strengthens this power of sabr that one side the sin is pulling him and he knows that it is a sin. And despite it being a sin, alhamdulillah he has so much power within him that he says, "I am not going to do this action. I am Allah's servant. Allah will become unhappy with it." SubhaanAllah. This is the main learning here. 30 days is making us practice this and we practice this. Yes even unconsciously. What's the benefit? We don't know what is the benefit of fasting but the benefit of the fast, 30 days and nights, is that automatically, Allah ta'ala is inserting into us the strength of sabr.
That strength of sabr is increasing within us. How? Let's go and understand this point aswell. The fast. The fast depends on sabr and endurance and patience. A whole fast is pivoting on this one point of sabr. On this one point. When the morning comes, Allah ta'ala has given us food. After that, what is the order? What is the order? That now, you wont eat, you wont drink. And halal things that are normally lawful for us, Allah makes haraam during the fast. The halal things that are normally lawful for us, Allah makes haraam.  So now the parts of the days pass, that food was halal before but we are not eating. The drink was halal, but we're not drinking. Wife was halal for us before, we're not going close to our wife. All halal, lawful things normally we're not going because Allah ta'ala told us to stop going towards them. Otherwise it's a sin. SubhaanAllah, so much power due to the fast has come into us that infront of Allah ta'ala's orders, our other parts of our life that has now, we have put the brakes on it. The most weak perosn. The sinful of sinful is now doing this action. What action is he doing? He is not a Ghaus, that the Ghaus and the Kutub and the Wali's of Allah do this normally. In normal days, we don't do these actions do we? The great Wali's of Allah do these actions, that when you are invited towards sin and due to Allah ta'ala, they break that desire. So this, the reason a person becomes a wali Allah. Remember this. On these points that we endure during Ramadan, due to these challenges and tests, on these points a person passes the test and on these points a person's decision of Jannah and Jahannam will be made that "how much does my servant understand my laws?", Allah ta'ala says. And how much does he fear me. And how much due to my fear does he leave his sins. This is very easy. All night long you can pray Tahajjud. Its very easy that 15, 20 Quran's you can complete in a day. It is very easy that you can give sadaqah and charity in big amounts but it is very hard for a human being that there is a sin infront of him and you're sat alone and you, due to a certain reason , you save yourself from the sin. Look at what happened to a Prophet of Allah that for example when Yusuf alayhis salaam was invited towards the sin of Zina and how Allah saved him. What an environment was made for him to sin. Yusuf alayhis salaam, but Yusuf alayhis salaam, he saved himself. Allah ta'ala says, "I put into his heart, even he could have generated that desire strong to sin, to commit zina. Because he's an insaan. He's Bashar. And nafs attacks a person but look at him. His ego. He was a Prophet of Allah. And what was the miracle there. The achievement? That he stopped obeying his nafs. Such a great Prophet of Allah. Allah has given the example in the Quran so if we, the human being, want to become Muttaqi, want to become pious human beings then it is not a miracle that we have done alot of Ibaadah, worship. Remember this point. There is no great achievement that in Ramadan you recite so many Quran, so many juzz of the Quran, so many nafil salaah. The miracle achievement will be that we alhamdulillah, we have strengthened our power that wherever the order or Allah ta'ala come that don't go towards wrong and if the nafs forces us to sin, we will not go towards that sin. That's the achievement. That's when a human being becomes a Muttaqi. When he has the power to leave the sin. So 30 days during this month, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala is making us practice this, not one day, not two days, the whole Ramadan is for this purpose. The whole fast is for this purpose. That stop yourself from sin. Abstain from the sin. 
So your Baatin and Dhaahir, internal and external, we practice both because Ramadan, the fast, is with this condition that you don't backbite, you don't lie, don't consume anyone's rights, don't consume anyone's wealth. Don't do hasad. Don't envy anybody. Don't hate anybody. Otherwise you will spoil your fast. So this is all sabr. Endurance, patience. This is called sabr. Practicing patience. Endurance. Steadfastness. So the strength of your sabr becomes stronger along with the fast everyday, everyday, everyday SubhaanAllah. 30 days when the human being practices all of this, then his power of endurance, of sabr and abstaining becomes stronger and he increases and it strengthens and after 30 days when he graduates after Ramadan, he graduates out of Ramadan. Allah gives him a certificate alhamdulillah. "My servant, your course, your MOT has been passed." Yes. Now you are a complete and total Muttaqi. A person who fears Allah. So in this way Allah ta'ala let's us free, sets us free in the open field of the dunya for the rest of the year. And for the rest of the year if you practice that then, the pious predecessors have told us that when you practice in Ramadan, the same way, just like you practiced during Ramadan, and it's not restricted to just Ramadan that we obey Allah's orders and we just do that during Ramadan while we're fasting that Allah ta'ala makes us stop sin and that's why we say we are fasting. "Don't do bad. In fasting don't do this. Don't do that. X,Y,Z" it's not restricted to just Ramadan. Rather a person should become such a Mu'min, such a believer, that he gets the power of sabr and he understands that due to sabr, I have stopped doing this action of sin. So when the human being then arrives to the rest of his life, after Ramadan, then in the same way, same style, he should save himself from sinning. So inshaaAllah, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala will then, then his conclusion, the end point of that human being will be that he will get the highest level of being a Muttaqi and he will arrive to paradise. This is Ramadan's overhauling of the human being. His every component of life is overhauled and refreshed. So now what we need to understand is that Allah ta'ala has given us such a great month, Ramadan, we need to do understand it and what do we need to do is to understand it properly. Don't just use it for Ibaadah. Worship. Don't just utilise the month of Ramadan for worship. Actions. Rather the real message لعلكم تتقون when Allah says "I've made fasting fard for you," Allah has not said this for any other Ibaadah. Allah hasn't said, "do this Ibaadah, do this worship." Allah hasn't put any condition down. Allah says I have only given you this month so that completely, a hundred percent you overhaul yourself. You practice the conditions of Ramadan. Do your MOT and graduate after Ramadan. Become such a human being that in the court of Allah you will be written as the Muttaqi. The person. The one who is God-conscious. Fearful of Allah. And a person who is not God-conscious, cannot become successful in the Hereafter. Only those people who go into paradise who adopted Taqwa and became Muttaqi. So there is a great learning for us alhamdulillah. We revised this point time and time again that keep your focus on the genuine reason for Ramadan. Yes, Allah has given us tawfeeq to worship, we should do worship. We should do it before Ramadan, during Ramadan,  after Ramadan but Allah has put barakah in Ramadan so you should do more worship because you will get more reward in Ramadan. It's Nur Alaa Nur. Light beyond light. It's Nur Alaa Nur. This month is light beyond light. That on one side, Allah is curing us, he is curing our inner state, our baatin, our inner self, our ego, the MOT is being connected. So normally just like before Ramadan, when we did nafil and read Quran and prayed salaah, in this month, Allah ta'ala multiplies the reward and heightens the reward for those actions and why do we get more thawaab in Ramadan? The reason Allah ta'ala has increased the thawaab in this month is that we are practicing the right action in Ramadan, that we want to clean our baatin. We want to become pious servants of Allah. We want to become righteous people. So this is the meaning brothers. Think about what I'm saying. Fast isn't just get up at suhoor time, pre-dawn eat, and then break the fast in the evening and you have become jannati. You wont become jannati's until and unless inside us we won't develop taqwa. Our fast will be the best fast, when? When? Remember I have kept a fast today so in the evening I have to analyse my day, that my fast of today, how was it? How did I pass my day? How much was Allah pleased with me due to my fast?
How much did I stop myself? So what should I analyse? On what points? Maybe you have understood what I am saying. At the end of the day, at iftari time, you break the fast. What should you do Muraqabah on? What should you contemplate? That today, what do we do? "I've read this many juzz of the Quran. I've done this much recitation of the Quran. I've done this many tasbih's of dhikr. I have prayed this much nafil. Alhamdulillah that's good you do that. But this is not the measurement stick for Ramadan. This is not our objective. What we need to think at the end of the fast is that Allah gave me the fast today, how successful was I? How much did I strengthen my Taqwa? How much did I become a Muttaqi today? What is the condition of becoming a Muttaqi? Today the fast that I kept, during this day, how much did I control myself and not commit the sins. That analysis is better than 1000 Quran completion in the day. Remember your objective that when the fasting day ends, you do Muraqabah, you analyse, today I didn't lie, today I didn't backbite, today I controlled my ego, today I controlled my tongue. I controlled my private parts. I practiced the Sunnah. I didn't go against the Sunnah. Externally I didnt commit any sins, I didnt disobey Allah and internally, inside myself I didnt commit any sins. I didn't listen to music. I didnt look at any evil scene. My heart was feeling so much and my heart was attracting me and that's the point remember we have to stop the heart. Its the month of sabr. The month of sabr. My heart was attracting me, inviting me, do wrong. Even now the heart is attracting us! Even during the fast, your ego, your heart will attract you towards sin. But "I didn't obey it at any time of the day." And if we keep stopping ourselves until the evening. Remember this. If we do this then our fast is first class, number one. Ibaadaat, don't count ibaadah, worship as a success factor for your fast. The quantity of ibaadah. When you want to count the success of your fast, "Today I didn't lie, I didn't do any disobedience to Allah, I didnt commit a sin due to which Allah would've been unhappy with me." Then Alhamdulillah. Then it is announced that your fast is the real fast. And really you have promoted and fulfilled the right of the fast and you have arrived close to Taqwa. So with this caution we need to spend the month of Ramadan. This is the caution we need to adopt in Ramadan during our fast because one year we have committed sins. One year we are used to sinning during the year before Ramadan. So this is how you attain Ramadan. Every fast, measure like this. Every fast, measure like this. That are you free from the sin? For example, we are told by scholars that this is a sin, this is a sin, don't do this action it is a sin. This action A is a sin. This action B is a sin. So make a list of the sins that today have I committed any of these sins, the list infront of me. Alhamdulillah if you get a positive answer then know today that my day was very positive and all these sins today I controlled myself, despite having the desire. And when you start practicing this, alhamdulillah so much barakah is there in Ramadan. No man, if he really wants, because everything is according to the desire of a man. Totally 30 days there is so much barakah that the month of Ramadan generates the Jazbah, the passion inside a human being. All of us will get that development of passion because Allah ta'ala hasn't said wrong in the Quran, لعلكم تتقون. That Ramadan will make you graduate with Taqwa. And this Jazbah passion is generated. Even the most sinful of persons he, will generate passion within him, if he really wants it. That despite knowing all of these facts, if after 30 days of practice, if someone really wants that the rest of my life, I want to spend my life like this like I did in Ramadan. Alhamdulillah 30 days I have done this, I have become a Muttaqi, but I want the rest of the year, the rest of my life, when I get to death, I am departing this world, Allah I want to depart in such a way, it's like the day when I departed Ramadan.
And this is the struggle and effort of life my friends. This is the effort in reality we have to make in our lives. And if we don't make this effort and we don't work hard like this, then don't think that due to traditions in Ramadan, praying Taraweeh, and fasting, staying hungry, we will be saved. No way. With hikmah, Allah ta'ala gives us His ibaadaat. Every Ibaadah has wisdom behind it.  Every ibaadah has a result that the human being becomes successful and he saves himself from the sins and he goes into paradise and Allah becomes happy with him. So if any human being today wants and he understands the message of the 30 days of Ramadan and he understands that really, the reality of Ramadan and the rest of my life I need to live like this that whenever I am invited and I think about sin and my heart forces me towards haraam in any action then I will suddenly put the brakes on. 'No. I cannot do this action, A, B,C, D, E.' Then understand that alhamdulillah, as long as you keep tussling and clashing with that desire, then you are taking the taste of Ramadan and the barakah of Ramadan is travelling along with you. As long as you do this. Even if Ramadan has passed and you continue this practice in your life and you continue this principle, then you will see alhamdulillah that praise be to Allah, inside you, you will have the same feelings, same emotions, same nur. The light of Ramadan will stay with you. For such human beings Allah ta'ala doesn't take those feelings back. Allah ta'ala doesn't pull those emotions back. Allah ta'ala never gives somebody nur and light, then that human being himself wastes it. Then if we really want it, then we should preserve this. When we've understood that what is taqwa. We develop our Taqwa, we strengthen our taqwa during Ramadan and we want to save ourselves for the rest of our lives from the sins, then we should keep that with us. So brothers let's do dua to Allah, let's pray to Allah, Allah gives us all the ability, the tawfeeq, the rest of our lives we live like this that Taqwa stays and comes into our lives. Ameen. Let's do Dhikrullah now for a little while.
8th Apr, 2022
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