- It is unfortunate that we are in such a condition, that the very little of Ibadah we

do, pleases us. How many a times have we done good, and thought to ourselves "Allah must be happy with me." The reality is this: our aamaal, our birr, our taqwa, our iman is nothing like those that came before us. - The names will keep on coming to mind, the excellence will keep on coming to mind, the virtues will keep on coming to mind, the contribution these people made will keep on coming to mind. These were indeed the followers of Muhammad ! These were people that elevated the Kalima- La Ilah Illallah Muhammad Rasool Allah- in every corner of the Globe. - Everywhere these people went, people became intersted in Allah, people became interested in Muhammad , people became interested in Islam. WHY?! Because these people believed in:

And those Foremost (in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter).

These will be those Nearest to Allah [56:10-11]

- and as a result, there was no such thing as "walking to paradise". For these people, it was all about:

And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord [al-i-Imran 3:133]

- striving and sacrificing and running to Paradise and performing the deeds. They didn't have an inferiority complex,

So do not weaken and do not grieve [al-i-Imran 3:139]

- there was no such thing as weakness. A fire burned in their hearts, it did not let them rest, till they excelled, till they elevated the Kalima - La Ilaha Illallah Muhammad Rasool Allah. - WHEN it came to reciting the Quran, the very book which you and I have forgotten what it looks like, such was the zeal that you had the Ummatis of RasulAllah would recite the entire Quran in 7 days! They would

number in the thousands! They had businesses like you and I have, they had children like you and I have, they had families like you and I have, and yet, they would recite the Quran in 7 days. - There were those for whom 7 days was too much. They would recite the entire Quran in 3 days! You know, you and I we became confused, as to how?! We make calculations, it takes 5-10 mins to recite one page. HOW DID THEY DO IT?! It was passion, it was love for the Words of Allah. - There were also those that would recite the entire Quran in 1 day and they numbered in the 100s. - For some, even 1 day was too much. The likes of Ali al Azzdi would come at the time of Maghrib and he would open the Book of Allah in the Masjid. He would begin: Bismillah, Alhamdu- and he would keep reciting until he reached MINAL JINNATI WAN NAAS. After this, he would offer Isha salah and then go home. - There were Ummatis of Rasool Allah who would come home from a hard day's work and at night, at their homes, or in the masjids, they would stand, say Allahu Akbar, and would not go into Ruku until they read the entire Quran in 1 rak'at!! I.E, ---- Usman ibn Affan, Tamim ad Dari would do this, Imam Bukhari would do this, Imam Shafi would do this, Imam Abu Hanifa would do this,
Waqib ibn Jarrah would do this. - Salim ibn Idir, the Qadhi of Egypt, he was so intoxicated with the Quran that he

would recite the entire book 3 times in 1 day! - When Abu Jaffar al Qari died, on his heart they say a circle of light, a circle of light. Every person that was present had no doubt this was the noor of the Quran. And then the circle of light moved between his eyes and remained there. - Abu Bakr ibn Ayash, for 40 years of his life, the man recited 1 Quran minimum every day and night! He's on his death bed and his sister is sitting there near him and she begins to cry. He turns to her and says, "My sister, why are you crying?" He points to a corner in the room and says, "Your brother sat there and finished the Quran 18,000 times. You have no need to cry!" ------------------------ When it came to fasting, you had the likes of Amr ibn Qays al Mala-i who fasted for 20 years of his life. Even his own family didn't know. If you think that is amazing, Dawood ibn Hind doubled that. He fasted for 40 years of his life with such sincerity that his own family didn't know he was fasting. In the narrations, it is mentioned: This man was a silk dealer, everydat when he would leave from home, he would take his lunch and on the way he would give it to the fuqura. He would return in the evening and make iftaar with his family! ALLAHU AKBAR.

- Even the women excelled. You had the likes of Nafeesa, who would fast by day and prostrate to Allah by night. It was once said to her, "Nafeesa take it easy upon yourself." She replied, "I see barrier before me and only the faaeezin/ the successful ones will be able to cross the barrier. That is why I do, what I do." The woman was on her death bed, and even on that day she was fasting!!! People are sitting near her and trying to force her to break her fast. She turns to them and says: "I have been beggin the All Mighty Allah for the last 30 years and this was my Dua: "O Allah! I beg you, that when you send the angels to take my soul, send them on the day which I am fasting for you." And today you are telling me to break my fast? This is something that can never happen. And she leaves the Dunya reciting the verse:

Say, "To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth?" Say, "To Allah." He has decreed upon Himself mercy. [al An'am 6:12] - When it came to prayer, learn from the Beloved of Allah . He

would stand in prayer for such a long time that his blessed feet would become swollen, his blessed beard would be wet with tears. Even the earth would become wet on which he would prostrate! - The likes of Saeed ibn Musayyib, never mind missing a salah, for 50 years of his life, this man did not miss Takbeer Ula!!! For 50 years, he did not see the back of any man in any prayer. The only way to do that is if you're standing in the first saff! - Abbaad ibn Bashr is standing in Salah, he's keeping a watch on Rasul Allah . The enemy makes him out and arrows now begin to pierce his body, he's

bleeding heavily, and takes the arrows out 1 by 1, but does not break his prayer. It is only when the thought crosses his mind, that his death may jeopordize the saftey of RasulAllah does he break his prayer. - The likes of Urwa ... has his left knee amputated while he was awake, while he was concious. Even on that night, the man stood up for his Tahajjud and prayed in front of Allah. - The likes of Khubair is about to be executed, the Kuffaar ask for his last wish. He says to the Kuffaar, allow me to offer 2 rak'ats, allow me to speak to my Creator. After offering his 2 rak'ats he says "Had it not been for the fear that you people think Khubair is afraid of death, I would've asked you to allow me to offer another 2 raka'ats. - Rabee was paralyzed, but even then he would asked to be carried to the masjid and the people would say to him, "O Rabee, you're a mazoor, you don't have to come to the

masjid, Allah has given you Ijzat." He would say to them, "Indeed, what you are saying is correct, but I can hear the caller call out HAYAL AS SALAH, HAYAL FALAH (Come to success) and one should respont to that call, even if he has to crawl over his feet!"

- Thaabit al Bunani: never mind praying in this Dunya. He would make dua to Allah, "O Allah! I beg you, if you allow anyone to pray inside his grave, I beg you, allow me to pray inside my grave!" - There was Mu'adha al Adawaia, first night of marraige, when you and I were probably in the 7th heaven, she wakes up her husband, Silah ibn Ashyam, and they spend the entire night, first night standing before Allah the Almighty in salah and thanking Him for His blessings!....Every night, this thought would cross her mind, that tonight is my last night. After fulfilling the rights of her husband, she would spend the entire night in worship of Allah. - WHEN it came to seeking knowledgem where will the Ummah find the likes of Aby Ayub al Ansari r.a.- He traveled all the way from Medina, 100s of miles to Egypt, just for the sake of 1 hadith of Rasul Allah . He gets to Egypt, he meets Uqba. Uqba seeing the Sahabi embraces him and asks, "what brings you all the way from Medina?" He responds, "1 hadith of Rasul Allah . Out of all the people that directly heard it from Rasul Allah , only you and I remain alive. --- The hadith was in regards to concealing the faults of the believer. Uqba related the hadith to him. Aby Ayub responds with "Sadaqt" (you have spoken the truth). The man does not even get off his horse, after hearing the hadith, he returns back to Medina. - You had the likes of Ibnul Qaasim, who stayed at the feet of Malik for 17 years aquiring hadith. Ibnul Qasim is sitting with the great Imam Malik, a young man who has his face covered and asks Imam Malik, who is Ibnul Qasim. Imam Malik points to him and this young man kisses the forehead of Ibnul Qasim. Ibnul Qasim didn't even know that this was his flesh and blood. This young man was none other then the son of Ibnul Qasim. WHY? Ibnul Qasim had left his wife 17 years ago whilst she was expecting! - There were the likes of Baqee ibn Maqht al Qutubi who remained absent from his house twice. The first time he was absent for 14 years and the second time was 20 years! IN TOTAL, HE SPENT 34 YEARS, traveling from Spain, ON FOOT. He walked from Spain all the way to Hijaz and Iraq to acquire hadith. Upon occasion, he would have to sell his trousers, just so that he could buy some paper. He lived upon cabbage and leaves which people would throw away just to sustain himself. - Hafiz ibn Mandah left his home for the sake of learning hadith. He left at the age of 20. When do you think he returned home? 30? 40? 50? NAY! HE RETURNED HOME AT THE AGE OF 65!!! ALLAHU AKBAR, ALLAHU AKBAR!

- Imam Shafi'ee would eat only as much dates as he needed for 16 years. He couldn't afford paper so he would write on leather and on bone. - the great Yahya ibn Ma'een inherited 1 million dirhams. Every single dirham he spent acquiring hadith of Rasul Allah !!! So much so, that upon occasion he had to sell his own slippers just to buy papers. - Imam Yusuf did not attend the burial of his own son. He offered the janazah, but did not attend the burial out of fear that he would miss the lecture of Imam Abu Hanifa. - 30,000 people would attend the lecture of Imam Firyabi when he came to Baghdad. Sometimes there were 70,000 people! Even Jinn would come attend the duroos. WE CAN NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO THE ZEAL AND PASSION OF THESE PEOPLE FROM THE SALAF. THE MAQSAD IS TO INSPIRE AND INSPIRE THE CHILDREN. AS WE MENTIONED BEFORE, LET US MAKE THIS RAMADHAN, A RAMDHAN OF CHANGE. OUR AIMMA, THE SALAF SAALIHEEN LEFT A LEGACY THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED TILL QIYAMAH. WHERE IS OUR LEGACY?!