Are We Prepared For RamaDaan

Are We Prepared For Ramadan

Opening Salutation

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim)

Opening Khutbah (Khutbat al-Hajah)

(الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ - Alhamdulillahi nahmaduhu wa nasta'inuhu wa nastaghfiruhu wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina man yahdihillahu fala mudilla lahu wa man yudlil fala hadiya lahu wa ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la shareeka lahu wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh)

All praise belongs to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His forgiveness and His guidance. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own egos and the evil results of our own deeds.

Anyone whom Allah guides, then no one can lead him astray. And anyone whom Allah leads to stray, then there is none that can guide him. And I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship, and no gods in reality, except Allah, who is alone, having no partners.

And I bear witness that Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, is His slave and His final Messenger.

Opening Verses

Allah says what could mean in the Quran:

"O you who believe, fear Allah, respect Allah, be conscious of Allah, as it is Allah's right to be feared, respected, and held in consciousness. And don't you dare die, except that you die as Muslims."

"O mankind, fear your Lord, respect your Lord, be mindful of your Lord who created you all from one soul, Adam. And created from that soul its mate, Eve. And raised up and spread from the two of them, many men and women. And fear Allah, respect Allah, be conscious of Allah, the one whom you ask things for. And don't cut ties with the wombs that bore you. Indeed, Allah above you all is laying in watch."

"O you who believe, be conscious of your accountability to Allah. And in light of this consciousness, then open your mouth and say a word that goes straight to the point."

"If you do this, Allah will rectify your affairs. He will straighten out something that you did wrong and forgive you your sins. And whomsoever is already obeying Allah and is already obeying His Messenger, has already achieved the highest aspirations anyone could ever hope to achieve."

Introduction

As for what follows, then we have to understand and be constantly reminded that the best speech, the best speech in every way possible, is the speech of Allah, the Quran. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad )صلى الله عليه وسلم( in the Sunnah. And the most evil of affairs, the worst things in the world, the most tragic things, are those things that we as individuals, we ourselves come up with.

Each one of these ideas that we come up with that is not part of Islam is something that leads us astray and will eventually lead us to the hellfire.

Main Body: Preparing for Ramadan

This year has almost come full term in Islam. And even though Ramadan is not the beginning of the year for us, it's a time of festivity, it's a time of shauqa, great anxiety, and hope.

People, we wait all year for the coming of Ramadan. Similar to the kuffar when they get in November, they start having hopes for Thanksgiving and Christmas and they get in this mentality. That happens to us if Allah is giving you that tawfiq, that success, that feeling of the urgency, the anxiety that Ramadan is on our heels, it's almost here.

And there are a few things that we shouldn't wait to the last moment to prepare for. Because the funny thing about Ramadan is that it's a marathon, it's an ongoing and a consistent struggle to attain the true benefits of Ramadan. Why? Because the days become shorter.

Even though we're fasting all day and during that daytime period, we're trying to fit in there the time that we're fasting, our reading and our jobs and our day-to-day, what's going on. Our real life starts after Asr, as it gets closer and closer to Maghrib. And we start finding ourselves, namilu, we start inclining towards the houses of Allah.

If we're lucky. If we're unlucky, we just find somewhere to sit down and break our fast. But if we have the opportunity where our schedules permit, we start shifting ourselves.

We're like the birds every day. If you notice the birds, a little bit before Maghrib, everywhere in the world, the birds go and find some place to rest. This street over here on Goldenrod, they line up. And it's like a long line of birds. And you know you're late for Salah when you see those birds. Because they get to their positions before Maghrib drops.

And that's what we find ourselves doing. And then our real life begins. We break that fast. We start the prayer. If we have good time, we stay at the masjid with our families. And we enjoy the interaction between the brothers and sisters. And the children, they get to know each other. And then the isha comes. And then we start the taraweeh.

And inshallah after that we go home, sleep, get up, make suhoor, and start the whole thing again. But there are certain things that have to be in place before or to allow and to facilitate all that interaction.

Practical Preparation: Shopping Before Ramadan

One of the most difficult things to do during Ramadan is to go shopping. Or to do anything that will break the schedule. Because as soon as you start breaking the schedule, you get knocked off your reading schedule. And you may not be able to complete reading the Quran during the whole month.

And this is one of the things that Ramadan is supposed to do. The whole thing for Ramadan is not just the fasting that you get hungry from, but it's to increase your level of consciousness. How so? One thing, from a practical perspective, you have more time on your hands because you don't have to cook two meals.

You don't have to take that break at lunchtime and go eat. So you have some more time on your hands. But not just left alone idle time. You're told what to do with that time. And that is read the Quran.

And it should be everyone's desire and objective to complete the reading of the Quran as many times as they possibly can throughout the month of Ramadan. The least of it being once. The least of it being once.

The Practice of the Sahaba: Reading the Quran

Did you know that the sahaba in general considered it sinful, sinful to allow one whole day to pass and you didn't read or look at the mushaf? You didn't look at any papers that had Quran on it? They considered that sinful.

The sahaba considered it sinful if two months went by and you didn't complete reading the whole Quran within that time frame. That means that you were at least reading ten pages a day. If you were doing it equally, you were reading ten pages a day, which is a hizb, half of a juz.

And this was their norm. Did you know the majority of the sahaba would complete reading the Quran every week? The majority of them would complete the reading of the Quran every week. Let me say it again.

The majority of the sahaba would complete the reading of the Quran every week. Where are we? We say we follow the sunnah. When we talk about following the sunnah, we say I follow the Quran and sunnah.

How? How can you follow something you never hardly read? How can you follow something if you're not constantly looking at it and going to it for guidance and rereading and reviewing and keeping the pace that they used to keep, the least of it being complete reading it within two months' time.

So Ramadan, the month here, is to recharge our batteries, to let us reset and struggle and strive through this month to read. But what you have to do is you have to go shopping now. You have to go out. You can buy dates outside of Ramadan. Some people think they're not on sale. They're on sale. You can go buy dates now.

You can buy the meat you need now and put it in the freezer or whatever you can. Do that. Now you can buy your rice. You can buy whatever you need now so that it would lessen the time that you need to take away from your Ramadan to do those things.

Alhamdulillah, we live in the dirty, dirty south. There's Walgreens. I'm sorry, Walmart. I forget the name of the place. Walmart over here, and it stays open 24 hours. So we can go in the middle of the night and break our schedules and get out there, but then that's going to take away from our sleeping.

So what I'm suggesting to everyone is consider, before Ramadan comes, the things that you're going to want, the things that you're going to need, so you don't wait till the last minute to do so.

The Purpose of Ramadan: Increasing Iman

Also consider what the objective of Ramadan is. By reading the Quran, the ulama are in total agreement, not Madhhab Shafi'i, not Madhhab Malik or Ahmed or Ahnaf. All of the scholars are in total agreement. Nothing will increase your iman. Nothing will increase your iman more or faster than reading the Quran.

Nothing can increase your iman more or faster than reading the Quran. Why and how so? Whenever the Sahaba, whenever the Prophet )صلى الله عليه وسلم( in his life and the Sahaba during their life with the Prophet )صلى الله عليه وسلم(whenever they had a problem, what did Allah do? He sent down more Kitab. He sent down more revelation to settle their hearts, to make them feel firm and to put them at ease.

"To increase their iman, to increase their iman on top of their iman."

Reference: Quran 48:4

So again, the purpose of Ramadan and reading the Quran during Ramadan and praying the taraweeh during Ramadan is to increase our iman. The most open sign of your belief is the Salah.

The distinguishing thing or action between us and Kufr is the Salah, whoever leaves the Salah has left the deen. The only argument our scholars have about somebody who leaves the Salah is on what Assad's do we kill him? Not in this country but in the land of the Muslims. Did they kill him as a Kafir or did they kill him as a fasic bad Muslim and still give him a janazah? That's the only argument with that.

But they all agree that if he leaves the Salah after three days, head, they chop his head. So this is the most distinguishing factor for us in Islam. So during Ramadan what is imposed there? More Salah, an increasement of the Salah. So that it can increase our Iman.

All praise belongs to Allah and that's enough for a person to understand and the Salah to a Salam, the Salah, our dhikr, our reminder, our dua for the Prophet Muhammad and the our sending the salutations to him and our submitting to his Sunnah. Go to the best of those, the chosen one, al-Mustafa, Muhammad, his family, his companions and those that follow him until the last day.

And may Allah make us amongst those that follow him. Ameen.

Children's Poem About Ramadan

There's a children's poem that talks about Ramadan. It says:

When doors in heaven open wide and hell is locked, devils inside. When sha'ban month strikes 29, the Muslims search the sky to find the Ramadan new moon's approach with taqwa blessings and new hopes. So if they cite the moon we fast, but when it's cloudy 30 pass.

From sha'ban before Ramadan, the month of fasting and Quran, the month we pray the taraweeh and wake up early if we sleep. The Sunnah is to eat or drink a light suhoor for Fajr's break. And then from sunrise till it's set, we fast and leave all nourishment.

It's what strong Muslims have to do, obligating me and you to intend the night before a day of fasting for our Lord. But for the traveler and the sick, this obligation doesn't stick. And girls, when menses come your way, you must stop fasting right away.

To those who sneak in, eat, those who make themselves throw up or sneak and eat, they should grow up. Because those are two dumb dirty tricks that break a fast you'll have to fix. Allah don't need us not to eat if we still lie and act like creeps.

When you're fasting, be generous. Just read Quran and don't you rush. When you're fasting, play it cool and don't respond to any fools. But if someone disturbs your vibe, I'm fasting twice is our reply.

Remember not to sleep all day or talk a lot with too much play. And soon as you can't see the sun, from way up high your fast is done. The thirst is gone, your veins are wet, we hope that the reward is set.

Like this we pray before we eat, then bismillah and start the feast. First with dates or water if there are no dates to break it with. When no water, eat a sweet. But do not wait to start to eat.

And if you're fasting, took a break for sickness or for travel stake, then make it up some other day. And if you can't, you gotta pay.

Now this is children's fiqh, the basics of Ramadan. We as adults should know. We as adults should imbue.

Our Legacy and Responsibility

There's an old statement that says you have to be that which you want others to be. As fathers, as leaders, as examples for our children, we have to become more knowledgeable and we have to express through our movements, through our mindset, through our sweat, through our tears what this deen is about and put it into action so that our children, so that our generation after us can pick it up and imbibe that on themselves.

Because this is the legacy that Allah is talking about. When he says, that we leave the legacy, means that we leave a legacy of the reality, the true reality of what this life is all about. And we're patient upon the annoyance, the difficulty that comes with trying to learn this deen, trying to apply this deen, trying to teach this deen, and trying to leave this deen behind as a legacy and not let it die on this planet while we're here.

We say read the Quran during Ramadan. There is nothing better for you to be doing. One of the tricks of the shaitan is to get people busy doing all types of things that are not the actual goal in order to get them away from the goal.

If you say, if you say you believe, you love Allah, you believe in Allah, then follow the Prophet Muhammad. And he )صلى الله عليه وسلم( would read the Quran during Ramadan. Now I'm going to tell you something.

The Quran Addresses the Heart

The Quran is talking to your heart. I'm putting this in there right now. Whenever you read the Quran, every juz, every ten pages almost, Allah is mentioning about the hearts and how he is addressing the heart.

And in our western mind, we've relegated the heart down to this physiological lump of flesh that just circulates the blood in our body. And we seem to have forgotten the psychic matters of the heart, the intellectual capabilities and qualities that the heart has. But Allah has it.

He says your eyes don't go blind, but it's your heart that goes blind. It's the heart. Allah tells us in the very beginning of the Quran that there are three types of hearts.

Right there in Surah al-Baqarah, the believing heart, then the heart that Allah has sealed their hearts. And then he says, these other people, their hearts, there's a sickness. And he says because of their sickness, they have wickedness after wickedness because of the heart.

So here we have to recognize what is being addressed because it doesn't help you just to read the Quran just like that. Open your minds to it today. When you read the Quran, remember what I told you. He's talking to your hearts. And then the ayat will jump out to you where Allah is mentioning this heart.

This is the thing that determines your whole character, even in the medical field that is outside of Islam. What type of heart does he have? And this determines your character. He says soft-hearted, hard-hearted, cold-hearted, black-hearted. We have all these expressions because we recognize subliminally that the heart is the determining factor.

And actually, any actions done without the heart, it seems to be void of any humanity. You know? It's void. They say, look at, aw man, his heart's not into it. Can't operate properly. He lost his heart, his ability, his drive. So check your hearts.

The Prophet )صلى الله عليه وسلم( said:

"There is a piece of flesh in the body. If it is healthy, healthy, then the whole body is healthy. And if it is wicked, corrupt, then the whole body is wicked and corrupt. Don't you know that it's the heart that's corrupt? Our hearts."

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 52, Sahih Muslim 1599

So now, when you look at the Quran, look to see who Allah is addressing. Stop thinking that Allah is addressing just your intellect, your ego. He's checking your ego. He's letting your ego know that it really has got itself all twisted up. But he's conversing with that heart, pleading and telling this heart what to do.

And when the heart is the strongest thing, it doesn't make a difference if you're physically strong, as long as you've got heart. May Allah give us a clean heart.

Closing

"I say what I have said, and I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and for you and for all Muslim men and women. So seek His forgiveness, indeed He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

(السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

END OF KHUTBAH