KHUTBAH 24TH SHABAN 1439 (11-05-2018)

I enjoin you and myself to fear allah; honor, happiness, and dignity are with the faithful ones because the fear of allah is a great treasure, allah says: “and take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear of allah” [02:197]

Verily, acceptance of any good deed is tied to the fear of allah, and that’s why allah says in his magnificent book: “indeed, allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear him].” [05:27] he the exalted also says: “that home of the hereafter we assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous [who fear him].” [28:83]

After a few days, a month among the greatest months would rise, the month in which allah had dignified and our messenger had glorified, it is the month of ramadan, the month which allah made unique among other months in terms of good deeds and blessings. It is therefore a month of self-discipline; fasting is a soul-based act of worship with which the minds get purified and abstaining from evil is encouraged no matter how minute the evil is. That’s why the messenger (peace be upon him) guided the youth saying: “o young men, those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes (from casting evil glances) and preserves one from immorality; but he who cannot afford it should observe fasting for it is a means of controlling the sexual desire.”

Also, this month is a month of behavioral discipline: if not because of fasting, the rich wouldn’t feel the hunger faced by the poor, the vulnerable and the destitute all over the world.

Ramadan is a month in which provisions are taken for the journey to the hereafter. Indeed, allah has some seasons of closeness, in which servants seek closeness to him the exalted; he has in these seasons bounties he gifts them to whom he wishes among his servants out of his mercy, sins are expiated and pious deeds are raised as a result.

In a narration by muslim, the messenger of allah (peace be upon him) said, “the reward of every (good) deed of a person is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times. Allah (swt) says: ‘the reward of fasting is different from the reward of other good deeds; fasting is for me, and i alone will give its reward. The person fasting abstains from food and drink only for my sake.’ the fasting person has two joyous occasions, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time of meeting his lord. Surely, the breath of one observing fasting is better smelling to allah than the fragrance of musk.”

Among the virtues of this holy month; it is a month in which the fasting muslims are honored (by allah), they will enter the jannah on the day of resurrection through a gate that no one except them will enter the paradise through. Sahl bin sa’d (may allah be pleased with him) narrated:

The prophet (peace be upon him) said, “in jannah there is a gate which is called ar-raiyan through which only those who observe saum (fasting) will enter on the day of resurrection. None else will enter through it. It will be called out, “where are those who observe fasting?” so they will stand up and proceed towards it. When the last of them will have entered, the gate will be closed and then no one will enter through that gate.”

It is mandatory upon all of us to carry out the following tasks as we approach this blessed month, they are mandatory because it is with them that we benefit from the bounties contained in the holy month and with them we harvest the fruits of fasting.

First task: repentance and returning to allah…

Servants of allah! All of us have sins, and we will all carry our sins on our shoulders, so it is mandatory upon us as ramadan approaches to get them off our shoulders, this happens not except with repentance and returning back to allah the most high. Every son of adam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those who repent and seek for forgiveness.

Just as sinning is human, and a characteristic feature of the son of adam, so also repentance should be a character of the son of adam most especially the believers. Allah says: “and turn to allah in repentance, all of you, o believers! That you might succeed.” [24:31]

Allah the exalted is calling you o believers to repent so that you succeed; it is therefore binding on every muslim to face this month with true repentance from all sins. The messenger (peace be upon him) who is ma’sum (doesn’t sin) said: “o people, seek repentance from allah. Verily, i seek repentance from him a hundred times a day.” This is the forgiven prophet of allah, it is therefore more binding on us the sinners to emulate and repent.

Second task: hastening towards good deeds…

O brothers! Whoever is spared to witness this blessed month should as a matter of necessity make it lively with pious deeds. Allah says about hastening towards good deeds: “so race to [all that is] good” [02:148]

It is part of hastening towards good deeds o believers! To see a servant of allah fasting in the day and praying in the night, you see them frequenting the remembrance of allah (zikr) and perfecting their prayers because they heard the hadith of the messenger: “when ramadan begins, the gates of jannah are opened” that’s why they turned towards acts of obedience and goodness.

They didn’t ignore his saying: “may the man upon whom ramadan enters and then passes, before he is forgiven, be humiliated.” Such have understood that ramadan is part of their lifetime so they hasten towards good deeds. Alternatively, there are people who are entirely opposite, they are the people of heedlessness and ignorance, those who spend their times in what have no goodness in it, their daytime is full of folly instances, and in the night they are asleep, then in the hours before the dawn they are heedless.

Third task: being keen of harvesting the fruits of fasting…

allah says: “o you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous” [02:183] the ultimate goal of fasting is therefore obtaining piety (the fear of allah), and piety is gotten through doing what is enjoined and abstaining from what is forbidden. Whoever doesn’t achieve piety through his fasting has lost the fruits of fasting, allah had not ordained fasting just to punish us, but for the actualization of its fruits. The messenger (peace be upon him) said: “if one does not eschew lies and false conduct, allah has no need that he should abstain from his food and his drink.”

This is how ramadan is welcomed; with repentance and hastening towards good deeds, obedience and achieving piety. Unfortunately, the picture has changed in this era, welcoming this month has become to a lot of people just a matter of lighting the streets and houses with varieties of sparkling lights, storing food and buying drinks, such people are just giving their selves what only is sweet and delicious, to them it is not a season of obedience to allah, but a stomach feast with varieties of dishes, competition has become on how many varieties of colorful dishes are prepared.

Among people are also those who welcome ramadan with sleeplessness; not because they pray night prayers, but for watching tv series and shows, when you see them in the daytime, you either find them sleeping or doing things that don’t please allah or draw them close to him; their nights are a waste and their daytimes are a loss; and that’s not how ramadan is welcomed!

Before i conclude, we have two points to outline:

Firstly, allah says: “[fasting for] a limited number of days.” [02:184], allah has made the fasting of ramadan to be for days of limited number because of his mercy upon his servants. Also, he described it as such because the days finish quickly, so this is a stimulant that stimulates us to utilize this month and not allow it get exhausted uselessly.

Secondly, it has come in between the verses of fasting allah’s saying: “and when my servants ask you, [o muhammad], concerning me – indeed i am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon me. So let them respond to me [by obedience] and believe in me that they may be [rightly] guided.” [02:186], and this clearly shows that fasting has a great impact on getting our supplications answered/granted, you should therefore display your needs before your creator and lord, and the messenger (peace be upon him) said: “indeed allah is shy to return the hands of his servant rejected/empty after spreading them (in supplication) towards him asking him (of something).

O allah! Aid us to fast obediently and make us among those who get their deeds accepted out of your mercy and count us among the freed ones from the hell out of your blessing.