Samira starts with a prayer (dua) 

“Bismillahi rahmani raheem rabbish rahlee Sadree wa yassir-lee 'amree wah lul 'uqdatan min lisaani, yaf qahoo qaulee. 

In the name of God the Most Gracious, The Most merciful. My lord open for me my chest, and ease for me my task and remove any impediment in my speech that they may understand me. 

Ramadan commemorates the month of guidance, so whether you are a born Muslim, a convert, transitioning to Islam, or just simply taking an interest, we can all share the same values of wanting to grow as individuals both academically and spiritually.

A lot of us here like myself ended up at this school because we share the same ambitious values hoping to, inshallah (God willing in Arabic), reach high places through our hard work. After being at LAET for just under two full terms, I can definitely say the academic rigour part is not a joke. I have definitely found it difficult to balance work, studying, exams, hobbies, deen, taking care of myself, family life, social life, sport, UCAS stuff. You know, the never-ending list of things that you feel like you should be doing every single second of every day can become exhausting, and for many that I know, extremely overwhelming. And despite working to our limits, a lot of the time it can still feel like you're not doing enough. It can be easy to compare ourselves to others when everyone else seems like they are put together, but in reality the majority of us here have struggled this year.

It's because of this in particular that I wanted to share an ayah that helped me get through difficult times that I'm sure many of you already know.

Allah (SWT) say in the Quran:

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ‌ يُسْرً‌ا إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ‌ يُسْرً‌ا (So undoubtedly, verily along with every hardship there comes ease 94:6)

The ayah is repeated twice to affirm its promise. If your creator Allah (SWT) has promised you relief from your suffering, then who are we to believe anything different? To me that means that as long as I cultivate patience and gratitude despite any hardships, Allah (SWT) will undoubtedly take care of the rest for me.

I feel like this is even more so important during the month of Ramadan where we are given more time and opportunity to focus our intentions on worshipping Allah (SWT) and making dua to him. Regardless of your level of imaan, knowledge of Islam or how deserving you believe you are of Allah’s help, your Lord is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem (the most merciful and the most kind) who is 70x more merciful to his servants than a mother is to her child. The doors of Allah's mercy never actually close, regardless of how much you have sinned, how far away from Islam you have gone or whether you don’t even practise Islam anymore. Your lord is only one dua away. This opportunity of Allah’s mercy is amplified during Ramadan especially throughout various ways, and I feel these hadiths showed this especially:

 Abu Hurayra (RA) reports that the prophet Muhammed (SAW), said:

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  “When Ramadan enters, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hellfire are closed and the devils are chained.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
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  He also narrates: “Every action a son of Adam does shall be multiplied—a good action by ten times its value, up to 700 times.”
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  And lastly “Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)”

These are just some of the many blessings that occur during the month of Ramadan. Take advantage of this month and utilise it wisely for success in both this life and the next. That could be by waking up for tahajjud or praying Nafl salaahs more often, spending more time refining your routine to cut out distractions, or cutting out bad habits that cause displeasure to Allah. No one is saying that we need to be perfect Muslims by the end of this month, but we should all try to improve just a little each day so that we are at least one step closer to Jannah.

Lastly, I'd like to end on a short dua: 

“O Allah, and with Your praise, and blessed is Your Name, none has the right to be worshipped but You. We thank you for allowing us to reach another Ramadan and for allowing us to be in the righteous company of people who are dedicated to your worship. Ya Allah, I ask of you to forgive the sins of all in this room and to guide us all in our endeavours. Ya Rab, I ask of you to ease the suffering of us all and those suffering across the ummah. Ya Rab, I ask of you to grant us happiness, health and success in this world and to allow this Ramadan to increase our iman, taqwa and love for you. Please allow us all to die in a state that is pleasing to you, and expand our graves with light and comfort. Please shade us with your Arsh on Yaumul Qiyamah and ease the crossing of the Siraat. Ya Rab allow us all to reunite in Jannah and be amongst the ranks of those in your pleasure. Ya Allah allow us to remain in the company of the righteous and receive the intercession of Rasulullah SAW on behalf of our deeds.” Ameen

I hope that we all gain the blessings of this month in one way or another, and just one short last note. Jannah (paradise) is full of sinners. Yes, sinners. But it is sinners who repent. Sinners who return back to Allah each time they turn away from him. So with that being said, thank you all for listening.