The month of the Quran as Allah declared it to be. This month my dear brothers and sisters comes once a year and it enters into our homes and it visits visits us for a brief moment of time. In this month our hearts are alive. The messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he said to us that as soon he said to his companions the month of Ramadan has come upon us. The gates he said Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam of Jahannam are closed and the gates of paradise are open. The gates to God's mercy are vast and wide and the gates to God's punishment are closed. My dear brothers and sisters, this is the month that we turn to Allah Ta'ala and we seek from him forgiveness for the year that we have lived for the expe

experience that we have made in this dunyah. The deeds that we have collected, whether good or bad, we turn to Allah Ta'ala in this month and we seek from him mercy. Mercy that he accepts our deeds and mercy that he forgives our sins. For he is Ar-Rahman and he declared to all of his servants that his mercy is greater than his punishment. Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Our experience in Tarawih this month bi hawl Allah, we will finish the Quran in this masjid. We will hear the verses that are recited just as the Messenger Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam recited them to his companions. With an unbroken chain of narration. An unbroken chain of narration

that goes from our Sheikh Ismail to his teachers all the way back to the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Every moment of our evenings will be spent hearing a miracle of God. The preservation of this book and its recitation and its itqan. These are miracles of Allah Ta'ala. Do not let it hit our ears and enter into our hearts except that we have given it its honor and its due. Because this is part of the month of Ramadan. It is the book of Allah Ta'ala Shahru al-Qur'an. It is the month of the Qur'an. This book begins with Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. This book be begins by declaring that God is the most compassionate and the most merciful.

And it ends with rab al-nas. It ends with the lord of all people. Insha Allah taala we will finish this entire book and hear every one of its letters. And it will testify on our behalf as a khatam, as a completion of the Quran on the day of judgement for us a good deed on our scales. In the tarawih tonight we will be hearing from the first juz of the Quran. The Fatiha is known as umm al-Quran because it is the opening of the book and the greatest of its chapters and the most beloved by Allah taala for it to have been recited each and every unit of our prayer twice. Four times. However many of the raka'at that we have it's recited.

and it's given its honor and the ab says Ameen after its completion. Then we will hear from the Fustat al-Quran. Al-Fustat means the great tent. It is a great tent, Surah al-Baqarah. What do we put inside of a tent? Everything. Everything fits under a tent. There is no Surah in the Quran that encompasses so much content, so many gems, like the Surah of al-Baqarah. Its name comes from but a small section of it, a few five or six verses. But the impact of the entire Surah encompasses much greater. We will hear in its opening Allah Ta'ala declaring

The existence of three hearts. The heart that is a believer, that is a mu'min, that they do actions that are pious for the sake of God, and they fear the day of judgment. So their piety reflects the end of their life. There will be a second group, and these are the people who disbelieve in God. These are the people that God declares about them that they have not been the those from salvation, and they will be punished in the worst form of punishments due to their arrogance and their denial of God's favors. Because in Surat al-Baqarah, Allah doesn't just condemn the kuffar. He brings example after example, mercy after mercy he has placed before the disbel

believers and they still ignore the commands of God. They say "Innama nahnu mustahzi'een." "We're just joking with you, Messenger." Then Allah Ta'ala declares the third heart and it is the most wretched of hearts. It is the heart of a munafiq, the heart of a hypocrite, the one who says to the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, "I believe in you." and then makes every effort to reject, to deny, to turn away, to counter all of the acts of the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Can you imagine seeing khair al bashar, the most beautiful of creation, the most elegant and eloquent of creation sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, who would glow, who would

smell of musk and and beautiful scent. Who would smile and people would say about his face, "It is a qamar. It is like looking at the moon." Who would come sallallahu alaihi wasallam with miracles. Water would emerge between his fingers. The moon would split in half. The Quran would be recited and no one could replicate a verse like it. And they laughed in his face and rejected him. These people deserve the worst of punishments. So that's what Allah gives them. Later in the first juz of Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala transitions from these first 20 verses describing Al-Munafiqun and the believers and the Kafirun into the stories of Bani Isra'il. Because Bani Isra'il were chosen.

Over all of the ummah that were before them to receive prophets after prophets. Unlike our ummah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. We are the ummah of the messenger peace be upon him. So Allah Ta'ala said about this said about us kuntum khaira ummatin ukhrijat linnas. You are the best of umam and people that have ever come. The prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he said my ulama the knowledgeable scholars of my ummah are like the prophets of Bani Isra'il. My dear brothers and sisters Bani Isra'il lived an experience where they saw prophet after prophet miracle after miracle. And Allah Ta'ala brings their stories because

because they continuously argued with the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam about his prophethood. And when the Messenger came to them and said, "I am a prophet of God. I match the exact description that are in your books." They said to him, "You are a prophet of all of the Ummi's. You are the prophet of all of the non-Jews, not ours." So Allah Ta'ala gave them example after example after example. We saved you from Pharaoh. We split the sea. We gave you food from heavens and you rejected it. We told you to enter into the blessed land and you rejected entering into it. We sent you Musa and Harun. We sent you Isa ibn Maryam. And you reject my messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The story of Bani Israel continues.

throughout the entire Surah of Al-Baqarah, the entire Surah. We reached the end where Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala declares a final message for these people and a reflection for us to take with us. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says that this was a Ummah that has come and gone "Leha ma kasabat wa lakum ma kasabtum." It has or it has taken what was given to it and for you with your efforts you will take what is deserving for you. But entering into Paradise and being from those who are saved has nothing to do with who your father was, who your race is, where your background

comes from. The entrance into Paradise comes from belief in Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and his ultimate mercy for you to enter it through its gates. Allah Azza wa Jalla says a beautiful ayah. He says Sibghat Allahi wa man ahsanu min Allahi sibghah. The stain of Allah. The paint that we put on a wall can be chipped and can be removed and can be painted over. But a stain that is applied to wood, applied to our clothing, applied to something stays and is permanent. The stain of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is the Iman and its permanence is the yaqeen that this Iman gives you, the certainty

that it gives you. It is an empowering element that makes the believer see beyond the distractions of this dunya and declare beyond all that is in this world and all of its possessions and all of its distractions. All of its beautiful cars, all of its beautiful homes, all of its money and wealth, all of its magical pills. Beyond all of this, the believer says, "Leave this all for the dunya. I want what is in the akhira." Allah Ta'ala He says, "To ridu al ajila, that you love what is in front of you of the dunya, wa tadharun al akhira, and you throw away what is in the afterlife." My dear brothers and sisters, Surat al-Baqarah is but a few verses in the Quran. It's the largest chapter. And we will spend

a couple of nights with it. When we go home, spend moments at home with your book of tafsir. Read on its stories because we don't have enough time to give its tafsir. This is such a remarkable chapter of the Quran. There's not enough time. Read on the story of Prophet Ibrahim alayhi wasallam. When Allah Ta'ala gave him his mission and told him, "You will be the prophet and you will establish a Kaaba and a legacy." Read about its chapters and its lessons. And may Allah Ta'ala accept from us our salat. And may Allah Azza wa Jall accept from us our fast. And may Allah Azza wa Jall give us these 30 nights and these 30 days in beauty and in peace and in serenity. May Allah be with our brothers in Gaza and our sisters in Gaza and our children in Gaza and our brothers in Sudan and sisters in Sudan and children in Sudan and wherever they are in the ummah that

that are in their that are in your need, ya Allah, we ask that you are with them, that you that you raise them, that you make them stronger and united, and that you unite our ummah. Wa sallallahu wa sallim wa barik ala sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira. Wa assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi Mashallah. Today's day one. And we have done well, alhamdulillah. I'm all going to say. Uh so just a quick announcement. A few of them and we're going to have to repeat them. Number one.

No cursing while entering the salah literally. We're in the month of Ramadan. We have to I think I didn't hear the khatera because we were outside. Number one thing is that we have to live the Quran. This is the month of Quran. So we recite, we listen, but we have to also live it. So everybody raise your hand right hand and say I make the nia for the month of Ramadan. Come on, let's do it. And inshallah, I will be in my best behavior. No matter what happens. If I get returned from the parking or pushed or my shoes are not

found or the bathroom is not clean, I will forgive the volunteers of MCGP. Insha'Allah. I'm going to repeat this neeya because one must refine it as we move along. And I really mean it. You're in the masjid, it's day one of Ramadan and you make the neeya. Let's not break it. So a couple of housekeeping announcements. Safety is our biggest concern at MCGP. Number one. So if you're if this if there's a fire alarm that goes on, we leave to the nearest fire exit. If you look on the left and the right, there's plenty of signs which says exit. That means exit the room and exit the masjid. I'm

If you're in the middle of salah, we have spoken to Sheikh Ismail. We will break and we will leave. If the house is on fire, we're not going to continue to pray because everybody is in trouble, right? Okay. I don't want to say inshallah, we make dua and we have protection from Allah. We don't need protection from anyone else. But there could be some bad guy that can walk in. So if we make an announcement that we exit, we exit. And you know what I mean. I don't want to get into the details, but if there's a bad guy, we leave. We protect ourselves. Number three, which is the biggest problem, parking. We have been working tirelessly for at least

East what? 2 months? 2 months to figure out the best parking arrangements for all of us, including myself. So we have two shuttles that can transport approximately 13 passengers from the 379 building, bring you here and take you back. They're going to run from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 at night, 11:00 p.m. Alhamdulillah, I've noticed tons of people are coming. So the the 379 building, there's a lot of actually parking taken. This parking lot is full. It was actually full around 7:40 something, 7:45 or so the parking lot was full. And people have been going there. Some of them went proactively, but many of them because the parking lot's closed.

So, there's plenty of parking. Now, when you have to leave, there are shuttles. Please be nice to the drivers. If there's only one person sitting and there's a scheduled time, if there's one person sitting, that person will be taken to the next, you know, 2379. We are following the schedule. However, if the if this if the van is full, then there's no point standing so that driver will take you. But if you're alone and there's 5 minutes remaining to the schedule, please be patient to the driver. And the schedule, I printed only 25 because it we live in a digital age and I didn't want to waste money. So, I printed about 25. You can see it, but it's on the it's on the slide deck, right? It's on the it's on the slide deck. And it was sent out

by the volunteers. Uh it was sent out to WhatsApp, Instagram, and all that. It all there. So again, let's live the Quran in the month of Quran is the theme of MCGP this Ramadan. Let's not just recite it or listen, but also live it insha Allah taala. So welcome to the Muslim Center of Greater Princeton again. Ramadan Mubarak. Insha Allah, we are expecting house full and we expect all of you to make dua for all the volunteers that are working outside in the cold. Zack