Bismillah. Allahumma ahillahu 'alayna bil-amni wal-iman was-salamati wal-islam. Rabbi wa-rabbuka Allah is what the Prophet (ﷺ) would say every month
upon the entering of the month, the sighting of the moon of that month. And so we say it of course also about the Ramadan month. Oh Allah, allow this Ramadan moon to come over us while we are in a state of amn (security) and iman (faith), was-salamati wal-islam
and safety, soundness and submission to Allah. My Lord and your Lord are Allah, he used to say to the moon. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And then he would say to the people, atakum
shahru Ramadan, there has finally come to you the month of Ramadan, shahrun mubarak, a blessed month in which Allah Azza wa Jal has obligated you to fast and in which the gates of hellfire
are locked shut and the gates of hellfire are locked shut and the gates of paradise are opened wide and the devils in it are chained. And in it is a night that is superior to a
thousand months. And on the first night of this month, he said, Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, on the first night of this month, Allah Azza wa Jal has a caller call out from the heavens. This
evening has a caller call out from the heavens, Ya baghi al-khayr aqbil, O seeker of good, come forth. You will not find an opportunity like this one. Ya baghi ash-sharr aqsir, O
seeker of evil, desist, stop. If not now, then when? And then he said, whomever is deprived of the good of this month has truly been deprived. May we not be deprived. May we
not be deprived of a better relationship with the Quran. May we not be deprived of the sweetness of siyam, of fasting. Allahumma ameen. May we find our better selves in this month, our
more generous selves, our more patient selves. Allahumma ameen. May we not underestimate the immense priceless fortune of reaching this month. I said today at Jumu'ah that one Ramadan
for sure, guaranteed would be your last. And for some people it was the previous one. And for some people it will be this one. You know, the great scholar Ibn Rajab, he says, and
it is befitting that when someone first reaches the month of Ramadan, like these earliest hours of the month, they are, they should fall on their face in prostration, prostration
of gratitude. He would do that. Not a prayer, just prostration. When there would be immensely
big news, exceptionally big, good news, he would make sujud called the prostration of thankfulness. He says, you should do that because if not upon reaching Ramadan, what better
news is there in life? And it is enough to capture that the hadith of Talha. I will share it with you in close. Talha Ibn Ubaydillah (رضي الله عنه), one of the 10 promised Jannah. He says, two
men became Muslim from my tribe in the same year, close in time to each other. And one of them was a much harder worker than the other. Would worship more, fast more, pray
at night. He was a harder worker in his devotion. And Allah chose him for shahada, for martyrdom. And then his friend lived for a complete year after him. Then he died as well. And I saw
in my dream that the Day of Judgment had begun and someone exits from beyond the gates of Jannah and brings in the one who died later, the less hardworking one, the one who died
later and brings him into Jannah first. Then he comes back out and invites in the one that died earlier, even though he died earlier and died a martyr, he was brought in second.
He says, so I woke up very confused, like how could that be possible? Working harder, died a martyr, all of this. How? And so I'm sharing with the people and they're also perplexed. They're like amazed. How can that be true? And so they bring it to the Prophet (ﷺ)
and they mentioned to him the dream. And so he said, Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, min ayyi shay'in ta'jaboon? What about that surprises you exactly? Alaysa hatha
makatha ba'dahu bisana? Didn't this second man to die remain behind for a full year? They said, yes. He said, wa adraka Ramadan. And so he got to reach Ramadan. Fasamahu
fasted it. Wa salla katha wa katha min sajdatin fitilkasana. And he also prayed X number of prostrations in that year. How many prayers fill a year? And then there's Ramadan on
its own, he's saying, Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. They said, yes. He said, fama baynahuma ab'adu mimma bayna as-sama'i wal-ard. The distance between these two is bigger than the distance
between the sky and the earth. It could be it. It's, it could be what differentiates between someone that doesn't make it to Paradise and someone that does. One Ramadan could
make all the difference. It could be the differentiating factor between who enters Jannah and who gets to be with the Prophet (ﷺ) on a daily basis in Jannah. One Ramadan perhaps
can make a difference. One more year of life can make all the difference. And so we ask Allah Azza wa Jal to make this Ramadan the biggest difference in our goodness, in our
salvation, in our propelling through the many, many levels in the elevator of Jannah. Allahumma ameen. Jazakallahu khayran wa sallallahu wasallam wa baraka ala nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
