The Blessing of Gratitude

The Blessing of Gratitude

Opening Praise and Introduction

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, we praise Him, we ask for His help and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, there is no misguider for him, and whom He misguides, there is no guide for him.

And His blessings and peace be upon our Master and Beloved, the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and those who follow him. Alhamdulillah, the One who taught the Qur'an and created man, and taught him the Bayan. Alhamdulillah, the One who gave us the month of Ramadan as a reminder for us to return to the Qur'an.

And He made a special door in Paradise for the fasting people, his name is Al-Rayyan. Alhamdulillah, we praise Allah, the Exalted, and we thank Him for you. And I advise you and I advise myself to fear Allah in secret and in public, for Allah's fear is the head of all good.

The Prescription of Fasting

Alhamdulillah, Allah says in the Qur'an:

"O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may learn piety."

Peoples before us, all of the previous religious traditions had some element of fasting in their tradition, the Christians used to fast for 40 days, the Jews also had fasting, and Allah gave us fasting, and then He gives us the reason, it's called تنبيه الكتاب when Allah tells you why He's doing something : لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ - in order that you learn piety. This is one of the most important elements of fasting is to learn piety, and from piety is صبر, and that's why Ramadan is the month of patience, is learning to be patient.

Ramadan: The School of Taqwa

Allah also says, the command that He gives in البقرة is that He created us, and those that were before us, and then He told us to worship Him, that we might be pious, that we might learn this تقوى. And so Ramadan is a مدرسة, it's a school, it's like continuing education that you go back to, like a physician, or anybody that's in a type of practice that needs the skills to be upgraded, enhanced. Ramadan is the yearly time that we return to this school of تقوى and of صبر. The Jumu'ah is the weekly time, the prayers are the daily times that we return, we realign ourselves with the Divine.

The Days of Fasting

Human beings are in heedlessness. Allah says: (وَأَنتُمْ سَامِدُونَ - you laugh and you're in a state of heedlessness, that you forget your Lord. This is one of the deepest illnesses of the human being. Imam Al-Junaid when he was asked what he thought the foundational sin of the human being was, he said that it was غفلة it was heedlessness, because all sins emanate from heedlessness.

The Days of Fasting

But there's another reason why Allah gave us this practice of fasting. In the verses that follow Allah says: (أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ )(Quran 2:184). Ayaam is called plural of paucity, it's a plural that indicates that there is not much of it, like أَمْوَال because wealth, maal, there's not much of wealth, people don't have a lot of wealth, so أَمْوَال is the plural of wealth, to indicate that wealth is something that is limited. (أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ - limited days you have a few days.

And then (فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا - make up those days if you were sick or traveling. (وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ or (فِدْيَةٌ طَعْمُ مِسْكِينٍ - that if you're able to do it, then you can give fidya, so you pay, that was abrogated by the verses that follow : (فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ )(Quran 2:185). So people used to be able to do fidya if they were wealthy, they could do fidya, but that was removed, and everybody has to fast, unless you're sick, and then you can do fidya for that, but other than that everybody has to fast.

Voluntary Fasting and Drawing Near to Allah

So Allah said about this: (فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُ - he who does extra, this is better for him. Again those were abrogated, but they still apply to nafilah fasting. (وَلَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ - you draw near to your Lord with nawafil, with voluntary acts, until Allah loves you. And so fasting is one of the ways, three days out of the month, it was the practice of the Prophet. Some of the sahaba practiced the fast of Dawood (عليه السلام which was every other day, some practiced Monday and Thursday, but the Prophet himself, his practice was three, the three days of the white days.

So the fasting of voluntary days: (وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُ وَأَن تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ - but to fast is better for you, that's if you have a choice, like if you're traveling, it's better to fast. Some say though if there's difficulty, that you should leave it.

The Month of the Qur'an

Then Allah says: (شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ )(Quran 2:185) - this shahr, this month, is the month that the Qur'an was revealed, the Qur'an, the inzal of the Qur'an. Allah says: (إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ )(Quran 97:1) - on the 27th according to most of the scholars, but the Prophet said look for it in the odd days of the last 10 days. The Qur'an came down to سماء الدنيا the entire Qur'an. Jibreel (عليه السلام brought the Qur'an down to this earthly canopy, the heavens, the earth of the heavens, and then over 23 years, (كَانَ مُنَزَّلًا مُفَرَّقًا - it was revealed piecemeal to the Prophet based on the circumstances and the incidents over the lives of the Sahaba and the Prophet himself.

So the Qur'an came down inzal one time, and then over 23 years, Allah revealed it through Jibreel (عليه السلام piecemeal. So this is شهر رمضان and represents the gift of the Qur'an, which is why we return to the Qur'an in شهر رمضان

The Intercession of Fasting and Qur'an

The Prophet ﷺ said in a sound hadith: (إِنَّ الصِّيَامَ وَالْقُرْآنَ يَشْفَعَانِ لِلْعَبْدِ - the Qur'an will intercede for you. Allah gives them a voice on يوم القيامة,and they intercede for people that practice it. What does صيام say? (الصِّيَامُ يَقُولُ مَنَعْتُهُ الطَّعَامَ وَالشَّهَوَاتِ فِي نَهَارِهِ فَشَفِّعْنِي فِيهِ - I prevented him from his appetites in the daytime, and from his food, and so allow me to intercede for him. (الْقُرْآنُ يَقُولُ مَنَعْتُهُ نَوْمَهُ بِاللَّيْلِ - I prevented him from sleeping at night. These are the things that we do.

So fasting is not just in the daytime, there's an element in the nighttime, which is sleeping less than we normally sleep, so we eat less than we normally eat, and we sleep less than we normally sleep, and what is the gift? Allah accepts their شفاعة - فَيُشْفِّعَانِ - He grants them their شفاعة for the servants that do this.

The Prophet's Practice Throughout the Year

Look at the Prophet, he didn't increase his prayers in Ramadan. We do to get closer to the practice of the Prophet that he did all year. (يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا نِصْفَهُ أَوِ انقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا )(Quran 73:1-4) that was his practice the whole year, the Prophet was practicing, he didn't increase his practice.

The Story of Aisha and the Prophet's Night Prayer

One of the Salaf, Aisha said: (يَا عَائِشَةُ أَخْبِرِينِي بِأَعْجَبِ مَا رَأَيْتِ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ - tell us the most wondrous thing that you saw from the Messenger of Allah. And she said: (دَخَلْتُ عَلَى عَائِشَةَ فَقُلْتُ لَهَا - وَلَكِنْ دَخَلَ عَلَيَّ لَيْلًا فَدَخَلَ فِرَاشِي - he came one night to me and he entered into the bed with me. (حَتَّى مَسَّ جِلْدُهُ جِلْدِي - I could feel his flesh up against my flesh. (يَا ابْنَةَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ ذَرِينِي أَتَعَبَّدُ لِرَبِّي - let me go and pray to my Lord.

And she said: (وَاللهِ إِنِّي أُحِبُّ قُرْبَكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ - I love to be close to you. (وَلَكِنْ أُوثِرُ هَوَاكَ - but I prefer what you prefer. (فَقَامَ إِلَى قِرْبَةِ مَاءٍ وَتَوَضَّأَ وَلَمْ يُكْثِرْ صَبَّ الْمَاءِ - he got up to the water skin and he did wudhu, and it was a light wudhu. (فَقَامَ يُصَلِّي فَبَكَى حَتَّى سَارَتْ دُمُوعُهُ عَلَى صَدْرِهِ - so he began to cry until the tears covered his chest.

ثُمَّ رَكَعَ فَبَكَى ثُمَّ سَجَدَ فَبَكَى وَلَا يَزَالُ كَذَلِكَ حَتَّى جَاءَ بِلَالٌ - and he continued like that until Bilal came and he told him the prayers come in. In other words, Fajr. So Aisha said: Why do you cry when your sins or anything you've done and his sins are doing a virtuous thing when a more virtuous thing could be done - when all your sins have been forgiven what passed and what is to come?

And the Prophet ﷺ said: (أَوَلَمْ أَكُنْ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا - should I not be a grateful slave? Should I not be a grateful slave?

In a similar hadith in Al-Bukhari: (حَتَّى تَوَرَّمَتْ قَدَمَاهُ فَسَأَلْتُهُ فَقَالَ أَوَلَمْ أَكُنْ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا - he stood until his feet had the edema from standing so long. And he said, shouldn't I be a grateful slave? Gratitude.

Allah Wants Ease for You

Allah says: (وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ )(Quran 2:185) - Allah wants ease for you in this fasting. He doesn't want hardship for you. He didn't reveal this to make it difficult for you. He wants ease for you. In order for you to complete this fasting, in order for you to elevate your Lord, to declare His greatness, and in order for you to be grateful. Gratitude.

This is the secret of Ramadan. This is the time to be reminded.

The Command to Be Grateful

O you who believe, eat of the good things of Allah. But show gratitude for those things. If you are truly worshipping Him. One of the most blessed things that we have in this world, is food.

It brings us together. It nourishes our bodies. It sustains us. And then, the pleasure of food itself. This is a great gift. Allah could have made brackish water that we had to drink. He could have given us rocks that we had to crush as our nutrition. But He gave us cherries, and grapes, and figs. He gave us varieties of meat. He gave us all of the blessings that the earth brings forth.

What does Allah ask us? Shukr.

Work. Do things out of gratitude. O family of Dawood, and how few of my servants are always grateful. Always grateful.

Being Shakur: Always Grateful

أَوَلَمْ أَكُنْ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا

He didn't say : أَوَلَمْ أَكُنْ عَبْدًا شَاكِرًا - shouldn't I be a grateful servant شاكر - you can be شاكر one time or another time. When you're شكور it means you're always grateful.

Our Prophet was always in a state of gratitude. His whole experience of the world was gratitude. One of the worst things about modern times is ingratitude is cultivated in people.

They're ungrateful for the police. They're ungrateful for government. They're ungrateful for their education. They're ungrateful for everything. People just complain all the time.

The Metaphysical Law of Gratitude

And Allah says: (وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ )(Quran 14:7) - if you are grateful, I will increase you in blessings to be grateful for.

But if you are an ingrate, if you lack gratitude, in fact, if you show ingratitude, I will give you more reasons to be ungrateful. I will give you more reasons to be ungrateful. This is a metaphysical equation.

Gratitude equals increase in blessings. Ingratitude equals decrease in blessings. This is a qaeda, it's a law. It's a metaphysical law that's as true as the Newtonian physics that you learned in high school. If you're ungrateful, then Allah will give you more to be ungrateful about, more to whine about. You think it's bad now? You have no idea how bad it can get.

Read history to know how bad it can get. You think Syria is bad? Read about the Mongol invasion. They didn't have any place to flee to. You think the Muslims are having tribulation in America? Read about Nazi Germany, and what happened to the Jews. We have to be grateful, because if we're ungrateful and always complaining, Allah is going to give you more to complain about.

The Reality of Complaining

I was in one of the Gulf states, and somebody was complaining about the price of gasoline. The taxi driver, 25 cents at the time. Now it's a lot higher. Why? Because they keep complaining. Go ahead, complain all you want. Because if you love to complain, Allah will give you plenty to complain about. But if you want to show gratitude, Allah will give you plenty to show gratitude about.

They did a study at Davis. It's called the Gratitude Study for Depressed People. They had them write down every day, every morning, 10 things they were grateful for. Over a period of a month, people's depression started being lifted.

Counting Blessings

If you start counting the blessings of Allah, you'll never come to an end. And you can count blessings like just eyelashes. People don't have eyelashes. They fall out. Eyelashes are a wonderful blessing. Or some people have dry eyes. So if you have moisture in your eyes, what a blessing. If you have teeth, what a blessing. If you don't have teeth, if you have dentures, what a blessing. There are people that don't have dentures. If you lose one arm, what a blessing. You didn't lose both arms. If you lose both arms, what a blessing. Now they have prosthetic devices that enable you to do things.

Ibn Abbas said, in every tribulation in dunya, there are three blessings hidden that you have to recognize. The first is that it could have been worse. The second is that it's in your dunya and not in your deen, in your worldly affairs and not in your religious affairs. And the third, it's in this world and not in the next. And you should be grateful for that.

Patience and Piety in Trials

People now are complaining. Allah said, He's going to try you to see who of you are the best in actions. We're going to try you. You will be tried in your wealth and in your lives. And then kathira, Allah told us, you're going to hear all these people telling how horrible you are and how terrible your religion is. Allah said that.

What does He say? How's our response? What's our response?

And if you show patience and show piety, restraint, control yourself - that is at the essence of this matter. That is at the essence of this matter. This is our deen.

The Parable of the Ungrateful City

Allah says:

A similitude. Allah strikes a similitude for you to reflect. A township, a city, a hamlet that was peaceful. It was tranquil. It had provision in abundance coming from every place. Like we have today. We eat berries from Chile. And we drink tea from China. And we have rice from India. Basmati rice in your homes from India. You get all this blessing from all over the world.

So what did they do? Instead of saying (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَشُكْرٌ لِلَّهِ - al-hamdu lillah wa shukru lillah)

This is the meaning of kufr. Kufr is ingratitude. You can be a Muslim and be a kafir in the meaning that you're an ingrate. Right? This is ingratitude. That's the essence of kufr. The essence of Islam is gratitude.

Gratitude: The Foundation of Existence

Shukr. A feeling of blessing that Allah has given. The biggest blessing is that we exist. (نِعْمَةَ الْإِيجَادِ وَنِعْمَةَ الإِمْدَادِ - ni'mat al-ijad wa ni'mat al-imdad) - the blessing of giving us our existence and then sustaining our existence. He could take away that sustenance at any time.

So Allah says that He enveloped that city in hunger. Look, of the blessing of food. In hunger and terror. Hunger (لِبَاسَ الْجُوعِ وَالْخَوْفِ - libas al-joo'i wal-khawf).and terror

Why? (بِمَا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ - bima kanu yasna'un) - what's the cause? Because of their ungratefulness. And this is where we've lost an understanding of our religion. We look at all these events and we don't see the real source of these events.

Ingratitude. If we want to change the world we have to change our state and our attitude about all these blessings that we've been given. Government is a blessing. Even the worst form of government is better than

anarchy. Even a tyranny is better. Imam Malik ibn Anas said this. These weren't ignorant people. These were genius people. Because he lived through civil wars. He saw what happens when things break down.

Reflecting on Modern Tribulations

The people of Damascus 6 years ago were eating beautiful food. They had good clothes. It was one of the few countries on the planet that was actually self-sustained. And now all of this tribulation. And if you say, you know why is it happening to them and not us? Maybe because Allah loves them more. Because we know Ahl al-Sham have a maqam. So Allah will put all of the torment of the akhira. He'll put it in the dunya for a short period. And then they go back to Allah completely free of any tribulation or punishment. Maybe it's the places that aren't being afflicted that deserve to be afflicted that should be worried. This is the way Muslims traditionally looked at things.

When the Maghul came down, when the Mongols came down, they didn't say these evil Mongols. They said: (هَذَا عَذَابٌ بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا لِذُنُوبِنَا - hadha 'adhabun ba'athahu Allahu 'alayna li dhunubina) - this is a punishment God has sent to us because of our wrong actions.

That's how they looked at it. Muslims don't look at that anymore. Evil America, evil Israel, evil... Okay, good. (اللَّهُمَّ أَمَارَكَ الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ - Allahumma amara kal mulka man tasha') - Allah put them in power. He says, He gives power to whomever He pleases.

Muslims had it. If Muslims had nuclear weapons right now with the idiots that we have, we would have nuclear conflagrations all over. Allah knows what He's doing. Allah knows who He gives power to. Yes, they abuse their power. But to what degree? Who would be worse? People want the destruction of America. Well, let's see what happens when China gets the world power. See if there's gonna be an Abu Ghraib that you hear about. See if there's gonna be any way, recourse to redressing any wrongs.

(اللهُ تَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ - Allahu ta'ala a'lam) - Allah knows best. I don't know. But sometimes the worst things are answered prayers.

Understanding Calamities

We don't know. The different way of looking at the world, people don't want to look at it that way. But I read the Qur'an, and the Qur'an, it comes back to me.

When they were asked, where did this calamity come from? Allah says: (قُلْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِكُمْ - qul huwa min 'indi anfusikum) - it's from your own selves. It didn't say, oh, it's from those evil Quraysh. Those evil Quraysh. No. Allah wanted the Quraysh to become Muslim.

(مَاذَا تَقُولُونَ فِيَّ ؟ أَنْتُمْ أَخٌ كَرِيمٌ ابْنُ أَحْ كَرِيمٍ - madha taquluna fiyya? antum akhun karim ibn ah karim) - when the Prophet ﷺ entered Makkah: You're a noble son of a noble. (اذْهَبُوا الْيَوْمَ أَنتُمُ الطَّلَقَاءُ - idhhabu al-yawma antum al-tulaqa') - you're free today. I forgive you. He said: (لَا تَشْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمْ - la tashriba 'alaykum) - he said what Yusuf said to his brothers who threw him in a well and left him to die. (لَا تَشْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمْ - la tashriba 'alaykum) - because that's the state of believers.

When they get angry, yes, we get angry. But they realize, what am I really getting angry at? At a test that God sent me? Who am I really angry at? See, you can be humanly angry, but who are you really angry about? If everything is a test from Allah, then who are you really angry at? That's the question.

Days of Gratitude and the Two Joys

Allah said: (وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ - wa idh ta'adhana rabbukum la'in shakartum la'azidannakum) - (لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ - la'allakum tashkurun la'allakum tashkurun) - these are days of shukr.

(لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ - lis-sa'imi farhatani) - you have two joys. (فَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يُفْطِرُ وَفَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يَلْقَى رَبَّهُ - farhatun hina yufiru wa farhatun hina yalqa rabbahu) (Sahih Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151) - the joy of having completed the ibadah. And then the delight of the food, most of the big ulema said it's completing the worship, that's the farha, it's not the food. It's actually finishing the ibadah. That's Imam Nawawi, high maqam.

The Meaning of True Gratitude

وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ : Allah says

The Prophet was shakur, but he told us to be shakar. One of the arifeen said: (هُمْ عِبَادُ الذَّاتِ، هَؤُلَاءِ عِبَادُ الذَّاتِ، ضَمِيرُ الذَّاتِ - hum 'ibadu adh-dhat, haulai 'ibadu adh-dhat, damiru adh-dhat) - those who worship the Divine Essence, where you're always grateful.

(وَالشَّكْرُ صَرْفُ الْعَبْدِ مَا أَوْلَاهُ مَوْلَاهُ مِنْ نِعَمَاهُ فِي رِضَاهُ - wash-shukru sarful 'abdi ma aulahu maulah min ni'amahu fi ridah)

This is what all the ulama taught and Muhammad al-Musawi said is the meaning of shukur, real shukur. Shukur is to utilize what God has given you.

اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا

To utilize what he's given you out of gratitude. He gave you an eye to see, not to look at pornography. He gave you a tongue to speak the truth, not to lie, not to cheat, not to backbite. He gave you a hand to work and not to steal or to embezzle or to take things that aren't yours. He gave you feet to walk in righteousness.

The servants of the merciful who walk, tread lightly on the earth. You know they talk about carbon footprints now. Carbon footprints. (عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ - 'ibadu ar-rahman) don't have a carbon footprint. They tread lightly on the earth.

Laylatul Qadr: A Special Gift to the Ummah

Allah says:

And what will convey to you what Laylatul Qadr is?

It's better than 83 months of worship. The Prophet was, because he was so covetous about, solicitous for his ummah, he was concerned that his ummah would not have a lot of rewards when he knew that the ancients had much longer lifespans. So this is (مِنْ خَصَائِصِ رَحْمَتِهِ وَمِنْ خَصَائِصِ أُمَّتِهِ - min khasa'isi rahmatihi wa min khasa'isi ummatihi) - this is a specific gift to this ummah that they have a night that is worth months of ibadah.

And so in a lifetime, you can literally get years added on to your ibadah. This is a great gift from Allah. And this is why Allah, the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Bukhari 2009, Sahih Muslim 759)

Whoever stands doing extra acts, tahajjud and the taraweeh, stands doing extra acts, he has his sins forgiven of what has passed.

(Sahih Bukhari 38, Sahih Muslim 760)

And whoever fasts the month of Ramadan, believing in Allah and believing that the reward is from Allah.

(Sahih Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151)

The fasting is for myself. That's what Allah says.

(Sahih Bukhari 1901, Sahih Muslim 760)

Whoever stands on Laylatul Qadr, in belief and expecting a reward from Allah, he will have his sins forgiven. In another hadith:

(Sahih Muslim 233)

That your prayers, each day you pray - (مَا اجْتَنَبَتِ الْكَبَائِرُ - ma'jtunibat al-kaba'ir) - as long as he avoids major wrong actions. The prayer, the five prayers, and from (جُمُعَةٍ إِلَى جُمُعَةٍ - jumu'atin ila jumu'ah) - Friday prayer to Friday prayer. And then (رَمَضَانُ إِلَى رَمَضَانَ - ramadanu ila ramadan) - these will remove your sins. They will remove your sins. As long as you avoid major wrong actions, that means a specific type of tawbah.

Saghair get removed from wudu, from prayer, from fasting, from jumu'ah, all these things. But the major wrong actions, and the ulema differ on them, but the major ones are well known. (مَعْلُومٌ مِنَ الدِّينِ ضَرُورَةً - ma'lum min ad-dini darurah) - drinking, stealing, cheating, lying, fornication, adultery, all those things that Allah has declared foul, fahsha.

Ramadan: A Time of Sharing and Generosity

So this Ramadan is a great gift of this ummah. It's a time of special gratitude. One of the hallmarks of gratitude is that you share your blessings with others. You share your blessings with others.

(Sahih Bukhari 6, Sahih Muslim 2308)

The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people, and he was most generous in the month of Ramadan, more generous than the freely blowing wind. Why? (زِيَادَةُ السُّكْرِ - ziyadatu as-sukr) - the sense of blessing, the gift. It's a great gift.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

Second Khutbah: Focusing on Our Blessings

We have tribulations. Each person has their own. Each one of you can give me a litany of tribulations. This is just dunya. (دَارُ الْبَلَاءِ دُو دِينِ دُنْيَاهُ - daru al-bala'i du dini dunyahu) - this is dunya. So, all those tribulations that you have, if you put them next to all the blessings you have, they're nothing.

And that's why if you focus on your tribulations, you'll become ungrateful. If you focus on your blessings, you'll become grateful. I advise myself and all of you to count our blessings. This is my advice. And Ramadan is one of the greatest.

People say, oh, it's so hard. How do you fast a whole month without water? Oh, my God. People cry. The righteous cry when Ramadan ends. You see the blessings of this month. What hunger do we really have? Really. It just makes you appreciate the cornucopia of food that you have. Wallahi. So, this is my advice. We need to show more gratitude and stop complaining.

The Disease of Ingratitude

Iblis is the complainer in the Quran. He complains all the time. He's so upset about things. And he wants to just make us ungrateful. It's his favorite thing to do. Make us ungrateful. Make you ungrateful for your wife. Make your wife ungrateful for you. Microaggressions. You know, all these grievance theory and victimology. It's a disease that Iblis has spread amongst this humanity. It's a disease.

Racism is a reality. What? Racism didn't exist in the past? How did people respond to racism? Abu Bakr, Abu Dharr, the prophet said: You're a man that still has Jahiliyyah in you. He didn't say: You're a racist. How dare you, Abu Dharr. You racist man. He didn't say that.

He said: There's still some ignorance in you. That's what racism is. Just ignorance. What? Because your color is different from me. Means that you're less than me or I'm more than you. Or you're more than me and I'm less than you. That's ignorance. You cut the person, he bleeds. Tickle him, he laughs. Deprive him of food, he gets hungry. Make him angry, he gets angry. Right? Human beings. That's a human being. It's a human condition.

Dealing with Racism Through Education

So how do we deal with racism? Because clearly it's a problem on the planet. It always has been. How did the prophet deal with it? He educated people. You could do better than that. Abu Dharr put his face on the ground and begged Bilal to put his foot on his face. Just for saying, which is like using the N word today. That's what he asked him to do. Forgive me. Ignorance. It's from Jahiliyyah.

That's what the beauty of Islam. It teaches you how to be different. All these problems have been around. How do we address them? How do we look to the future? All this grievance from the past. The English did horrible things. They did horrible things too. My ancestry is mostly from Ireland. 700 years of oppression. That's not the English people today. They didn't do that. They didn't conquer India. Those people are all dead.

Letting Go of Historical Grievances

I just met an Armenian man. It was in a doctor's office. I said, have you ever been to Turkey? He said, no, I can't go there. I said, why? And then I looked at him. He looked Armenian. I said, are you Armenian? He said, yeah. And then he was like, why do you say that? I said, because that prejudice that you're displaying is cultural. Those Turks today had nothing to do with what those Turks did 100 years ago. Don't blame them. They're good people.

I said, war makes people do horrible things. American boys that went to Iraq, they were nice boys, many of them. If you met them, you'd find them pleasant people. You'd sit with them, have coffee, talk to them. When they went into that horrific condition of war, they became murderers. This is what war does to people. And now they come back, and what do they do? They get addicted to drugs. They commit suicide because they cannot believe what they actually did. This is what war does to people. That's why it's such an evil.

The Human Family

We have to let these grievances go. We're all children of Adam. We're all cousins. If we went back far enough, we would see. Somewhere down the line, we're cousins. We're family. It's the human condition. And we have uncles that people want to kick out of the family, but you can't. Right? There's people, they're terrible. But this is the reality. How do we make it better?

Closing Du'a

"Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira. Allahumma taqabbal minna siyamana wa qiyamana wa ghfur lana wa rhamna wa tub alayna. Allahumma tub ala al muslimin jami'an."

"Allahumma khaffif al masa'iba ya Allah fi kulli makan. Allahumma ja'alna shakirin bi alsinatina wa shakirin bi jinnatina wa shakirin bi jawarihina. Allahumma ja'alna shakirin."

"Allahumma adkhilna al-jannata bi shukri. Allahumma adkhilna al-jannata bi shukri. Allahumma kaffir al dhunubana wa ja'alna min utaqa'i Ramadan. Allahumma ja'alna min utaqa'i Ramadan. Allahumma ja'alna min utaqa'i Ramadan. Allahumma barik."

"Salli wa sallim wa barik ala Sayyidina wa Habibina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman."

"Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving [help] to relatives and forbids immorality and wrongdoing and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded."

اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوهُ وَلَا تَكْفُرُوهُ

Remember God and don't forget Him. And be grateful and don't be ungrateful. That's what we say.

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ

Important Reminder: Zakat al-Fitr

The last thing I wanted to say: Eid al-fitr, when we have the fitr for people, just a reminder zakat al-fitr is an obligation on everybody that you have nafqa for. In other words, all of your dependents you have to give the zakat al-fitr.

And the sa', traditionally it was given on the day, on the way to the prayer. The Hanafis permit it before, which is a blessing. We can use these opinions because it's difficult in America for people to do things always. And they also permit it with money. The other imams, they say you give it with like dates or wheat or rice or something.

So, there's a monetary. What is it? How much? Okay. So, it's between five and seven. And to get out of khilaf, it's always good to go to the higher. So, I would say give seven dollars for each person in your family. And they have the boxes and everything. But do that because the fasting is mu'allaq. It's suspended. It won't go to Allah until you've done the zakat al-fitr.

Zakat al-fitr is only for, there's eight categories in Surah At-Tawbah. In the 60th verse in Surah At-Tawbah:

"Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakat] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise."

So, this is a faridah. It's only for the eight categories of people that receive zakat.