Why The Righteous Sob After Each Ramadan Is Over

Why The Righteous Sob After Each Ramadan Is Over

Opening: The Divine Prescription of Fasting

Alhamdulillah, Allah says in the Qur'an:

"O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it was prescribed upon those before you, that you may attain taqwa (piety)."

(أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّحِيمِ - aʿūḏu bi-llāhi mina-š-šayṭāni-r-rajīm) - I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

The 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.

The School of Taqwa and Sabr

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, it's learning to be patient. 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 جمعة is the weekly time, the prayers are the daily times that we return, we realign ourselves with the divine.

The Disease of Heedlessness

Human beings are in heedlessness. Allah says:

"Do you wonder at this statement, and you laugh and do not weep, while you are in heedlessness?"

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: A Divine Mercy

But there's another reason why Allah gave us this practice of fasting. In the verses that follow, Allah says:

(أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ - ayyāman maʿdūdāt)

"Days numbered (limited)." (Quran 2:184)

جمع قلة is called أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ it's a plural of paucity, it's a plural that indicates that there is not much of it, like أموال because wealth, مال, there's not much of wealth, people don't have a lot of wealth, so أموال is the plural of wealth to indicate that wealth is something that is limited. أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ limited days, you have a few days.

"But whoever among you is ill or on a journey, then [he should fast] a number of other days."

You can make up those days if you were sick or traveling.

That was abrogated by the verses that follow:

"So whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it."

So people used to be able to do فدية if they were wealthy, they could do فدية but that was removed, and everybody has to fast, unless you're sick, and then you can do فدية for that, but other than that, everybody has to fast.

The Power of Voluntary Fasting

So Allah said about this, and whoever does extra, this is better for him. Again those were abrogated, but they still apply to نافلة fasting.

(Hadith Qudsi - Sahih Bukhari 6502)

"My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts until I love him."

You draw near to your Lord with extra 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 ﷺ. Some of the Sahaba practiced the fast of Dawood عليه السلام which was every other day. Some practiced Monday and Thursday, but the Prophet ﷺ himself, his practice was three, the three days of the white days.

So the fasting (وَأَن تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ - wa ʾan taṣūmū ḫayrun lakum) - "but to fast is better for you" (Quran 2:184), 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 Quran

Then Allah says:

"The month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed."

This month is the month that the Quran, the inzal of the Quran. Allah says:

"Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree."

On the 27th according to most of the scholars, but the Prophet ﷺ told us to seek it in the last 10 days. The Quran came down to سماء الدنيا, the entire Quran. Jibril عليه السلام brought the Quran 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 ﷺ.

So the Quran came down إنزال one time, and then over 23 years Allah revealed it through Jibril عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَى piecemeal. So this is the month of the Quran, which is why we return to the Quran in شهر رمضان.

The Intercession of Fasting and Quran

The Prophet said in a sound hadith:

"The fasting and the Quran will intercede for the servant." (Musnad Ahmad 6626)

Allah gives them a voice on يوم القيامة and they intercede for people that practice it. What does صیام say?

"The fasting says: I prevented him from his food and desires during his day, so allow me to intercede for him."

"And the Quran says: I prevented him from sleeping at night, so allow me to intercede for him."

"So they are both granted their intercession." (Musnad Ahmad 6626)

These are the things that we do, so fasting is not just in the daytime. There is 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 intercession - فَيُشْفَّعَانِ - He grants them their shafa'ah for the servants that do this.

The Prophet's Practice: A Life of Gratitude

Look at the Prophet ﷺ, he didn't increase his tahajjud.

"And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you."

He didn't increase his prayers in Ramadan. We do to get closer to the practice of the Prophet that he did all year.

"O you who wraps himself [in clothing], arise [to pray] the night, except for a little - half of it or subtract from it a little, or add to it, and recite the Quran with measured recitation."

That was his practice the whole year. The Prophet was practicing, he didn't increase his practice.

The Story of Aisha: A Lesson in Devotion

Aisha said:

"I entered upon Aisha and said: O Aisha, tell us the most wondrous thing that you saw from the Messenger of Allah."

And she said 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.

"Then he said: O daughter of Abu Bakr, leave me to worship my Lord."

And she said:

"By Allah, I love to be close to you, O Messenger of Allah, but I prefer what you prefer."

"So he went to a water skin and made wudhu, and it was a light wudhu."

"So he began to pray and cry until the tears covered his chest, then he bowed and cried, then he prostrated and cried, until Bilal came to call him for the prayer."

So Aisha said:

"What makes you cry, O Messenger of Allah, when Allah has forgiven you all your sins, what passed and what is to come?"

And the Prophet said:

(Sahih Bukhari 4836, Sahih Muslim 2820)

"Should I not be a grateful slave?"

In the hadith in Bukhari:

(Sahih Bukhari 4837)

"He stood until his feet had the edema from standing so long, and he said: Shouldn't I be a grateful slave?"

Allah Wants Ease, Not Hardship

Gratitude. Allah says:

"And whoever is ill or on a journey, then [he should fast] a number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship."

He doesn't want hardship for you.

"We have not sent down to you the Quran that you be distressed."

He didn't reveal this Quran for you to be miserable. He wants ease for you.

"And [He wants you] to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful."

The Command to Be Grateful

"O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship."

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?

"Work, O family of David, in gratitude. And few of My servants are grateful."

Do things out of gratitude, O Family of Dawood, and how few of My servants are always grateful, always grateful. (أَفَلَا أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا - He didn't say أَفَلَا أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَاكِرًا) shouldn't be a grateful servant. You can be شاكر one time or another time, when you're شكور it's called صيغة مبالغة it's the form of hyperbole, it means you're always grateful.

The State of Constant Gratitude

Our Prophet ﷺ was always in a state of gratitude. This was 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 educations, they're ungrateful for everything. People just complain all the time.

And Allah جل جلاله says:

"And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'"

Your Lord has declared: if you're grateful, I will increase you in blessings. To be 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.

The Law of Gratitude and Ingratitude

This is a metaphysical equation: gratitude equals increase in blessings, ingratitude equals decrease in blessings. This is a قاعدة 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. 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.

The Science of Gratitude

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.

"And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them."

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.

Three Blessings in Every Tribulation

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.

The Test of Life

People now are complaining. Allah said:

"That He may test you [as to] which of you is best in deed."

He's going to try you to see who of you are the best in actions.

"And you will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves."

We're going to try you in your wealth and in your lives.

"And you will surely hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah much abuse."

Allah told us you're gonna hear all these people telling how horrible you are and how terrible. That, what does He say? How's our response? What's our response?

"But if you are patient and fear Allah - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination."

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 said:

"And Allah presents an example: a city which was safe and secure, its provision coming to it in abundance from every location, but it denied the favors of Allah. So Allah made it taste the envelopment of hunger and fear for what they had been doing."

Allah wants you to think. 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، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، شُكْرًا لِلَّهِ), they were ungrateful - (فَكَفَرَتْ بِأَنْعُمِ اللَّهِ). This is the meaning of kufr. Kufr is ingratitude. You can be a Muslim and be a kafir in the meaning that you're ingrate. This

is ingratitude. That's the essence of kufr. The essence of Islam is gratitude, a feeling of blessing that Allah has given.

The Greatest Blessings

The biggest blessing is that we exist: (نِعْمَةُ الْإِيجَادِ وَنِعْمَةُ الْإِمْدَادِ) - 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 at the blessing of food - in hunger and terror, hunger and terror: (لِبَاسَ الْجُوعِ وَالْخَوْفِ) Why? (بِمَا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ) - what's the cause? Because of their ungratefulness.

Understanding Tribulation Through the Lens of Faith

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. This Malik ibn Anas said, and these weren't ignorant people, these were genius people, because he lived through civil wars. He saw what happens when things break down.

The people of Damascus six 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 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.

How Muslims Traditionally Viewed Calamity

This is the way Muslims traditionally looked at things. When the Mongols came down, they didn't say "these evil Mongols," they said "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 مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ) - Allah, Owner of Sovereignty. 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 going to be an Abu Ghraib that you hear about. See if there's going to be any way, recourse to redressing

any wrongs. I don't know, but sometimes the worst things are answered prayers.

A Different Way of Looking at the World

We don't know. A different way of looking at the world. People don't want to look at it that way, but I read the Quran, and the Quran, it comes back to me: where did this calamity come from? Allah says it's from your own selves. It didn't say "oh, it's from those evil Quraish, those evil Quraish." No, Allah wanted the Quraish to become Muslim.

اذْهَبُوا فَأَنتُمْ الطَّلَقَاءُ

"Go, for you are free."

You're a noble son of a noble, you're free today, I forgive you. He said what Yusuf said to his brothers who threw him in a well and left him to die, 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 a question.

The Command to Show Gratitude

Allah said:

"And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor].''

(Quran 14:7)

These are days of shukr.

لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ

"The fasting person has two joys." (Sahih Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151)

فَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يُفْطِرُ وَفَرْحَةٌ حِينَ يَلْقَى رَبَّهُ

"A joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord."

He has a joy when he completes, he breaks his fast because he's completed the ibadah, and then the delight of the food. Most of the big ulama said it's completing that act of obedience, that's the farha. It's not the food, it's actually finishing the ibadah. Imam Nawawi said this is a high maqam.

The True Meaning of Gratitude

Allah says, right, the Prophet ﷺ was but he told us to be شاكر One of the arifeen said: that's a high maqam,

ARABIC TEXT (CRITICAL - PRESERVE EXACTLY)

it's where you're always grateful.

(شُكْرُ الْعَبْدِ صَرْفُ مَا أَوْلَاهُ اللَّهُ مِنْ نِعَمِهِ فِي رِضَاهُ - shukru al-ʿabdi ṣarfu mā awlāhu Allāhu min niʿamihi fī riḍāh)

"The gratitude of the servant is to utilize what Allah has given him from His blessings in His pleasure."

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

(وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا - wa ʿibādu ar-Raḥmāni allaḏīna yamshūna ʿala al-arḍi hawnan wa iḏā khāṭabahumu al-jāhilūna qālū salāmā)

"And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace." (Quran 25:63)

The servants of the Merciful who walk, tread lightly on the earth. You know, they talk about carbon footprints now. Carbon footprints? (عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ - ʿibādu ar-Raḥmān) don't have a carbon footprint. They tread lightly on the earth.

Laylatul Qadr: The Night of Power

Allah says:

"Indeed, We sent the Quran down during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months."

We revealed this book on Laylatul Qadr, and what will convey to you what Laylatul Qadr is? Laylatul Qadr is better than 83 years of worship. The Prophet ﷺ was so covetous, so 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 khaṣāʾiṣi raḥmatihi wa min khaṣāʾiṣi 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.

The Forgiveness of Ramadan

And this is why Allah, the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Bukhari 2009, Sahih Muslim 759)

"Whoever stands (in prayer) during Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven."

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

(وَمَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ - wa man ṣāma ramaḍāna ʾīmānan wa-ḥtisāban ġufira lahu mā taqaddama min ḏanbihi)

(Sahih Bukhari 38, Sahih Muslim 760)

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

(الصِّيَامُ لِي وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بِهِ - aṣ-ṣiyāmu lī wa ʾanā ʾajzī bihi)

(Sahih Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151)

"Fasting is for Me and I reward it Myself."

That's what Allah says.

(وَمَنْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ - wa man qāma laylata al-qadri ʾīmānan wa-ḥtisāban ġufira lahu mā taqaddama min ḏanbihi)

(Sahih Bukhari 1901, Sahih Muslim 760)

"And whoever stands (in prayer) on Laylatul Qadr with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven."

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

The Expiation of Sins Through Worship

The Prophet ﷺ said in the hadith:

(Sahih Muslim 233)

"The five prayers, and from one Jumu'ah to the next, and from Ramadan to Ramadan are expiation for sins committed in between them, so long as major sins are avoided."

That your prayers each day you pray, as long as you avoid major wrong actions, the prayer, the five prayers that you do, and then Jumu'ah to Jumu'ah, praying Jumu'ah from Jumu'ah to Jumu'ah, Friday prayer to Friday prayer, and then Ramadan to 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. The minor sins get removed from wudhu, from prayer, from fasting, from Jumu'ah, all these things. But the major wrong actions, and the ulama differ on them, but the major ones are well known (مَعْلُومٌ مِنَ الدِّينِ ضَرُورَةً - maʿlūmun mina ad-dīni ḍarūratan): drinking, stealing, cheating, lying, fornication, adultery, all those things that Allah has declared foul (فَاحِشَةً - fāḥishatan)

Ramadan: A Time of Special Gratitude

So this Ramadan is a great gift to 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. The Prophet ﷺ was the most

generous of men, always, but he was even more generous in Ramadan. Why? The sense of blessing, the gift. It's a great gift.

I say this and ask Allah to forgive me and you. Alhamdulillah, and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family and those who are with him.

Second Khutba: Addressing Our Tribulations

We have a lot of tribulation in our community at home and abroad. 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 هَذَا الدُّنْيَا - dāru al-balāʾi hāḏā ad-dunyā) - 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.

The Disease of Complaining

So this is my advice. We need to show more gratitude and stop complaining. Complaining - Iblis, 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 theories and victimology, all of it. It's a disease that Iblis has spread amongst this humanity. It's a disease.

Addressing Racism and Prejudice

Racism is a reality. What, racism didn't exist in the past? How did people respond to racism?

(أَنْتَ امْرُؤٌ فِيكَ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ - ʾanta imruʾun fīka jāhiliyyah)

"You are a man in whom there is still some jahiliyya (ignorance)." (Sahih Bukhari 30, Sahih Muslim 1661)

The Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Dharr, "You're a man that still has jahiliyya 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.

So how do we deal with racism? Because clearly it's a problem on the planet. It always has been. How did the Prophet ﷺ deal with it? He educated people. (أَنْتَ امْرُؤٌ فِيكَ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ - ʾanta imruʾun fīka jāhiliyyah) - you could do better than that, Abu Dharr.

Abu Dharr put his face on the ground and begged Bilal to put his foot on his face as an expiation, just for saying (يَا ابْنَ السَّوْدَاءِ - yā ibna as-sawdāʾi) - "O son of a black woman," which is like using the N-word. That's what he asked him to do. That's what he asked him to do: forgive me. Ignorance is from jahiliyya.

That's what the beauty of Islam is. 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?

Letting Go of Grievances from the Past

All this grievance from the past. The English did horrible things. They did horrible things to my ancestors, 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.

I just met an Armenian man in the doctor's office, and he said... I said, "Have you ever been to Turkey?" He said, "No, I can't go there." I said, "Why?" He said... 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."

What War Does to 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.

We have to let these grievances go. We're all cousins. If we went back far enough, we would see somewhere down the line we're cousins. We're family. This is the human condition. 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.

The Path Forward: Remembrance and Gratitude

How do we make it better? Remember God and don't forget Him, and be grateful and don't be ungrateful. That's what we say.

Zakat al-Fitr: The Obligation

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

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 dates or wheat or rice or something. So there's a monetary option.

So it's between $5 and $7. To get out of khilaf, it's always good to go to the higher. So I would say give $7 for each person in your family, and they have the boxes and everything. But do that because the fasting is (مُعَلَّقٌ - muʿallaq) - 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 8 categories in Tawbah, in the 60th verse in Surah al-Tawbah (Quran 9:60). So this is a (فَرِيضَةٌ - farīḍah). It's only for (الْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ - al-fuqarāʾi wa-l-masākīni) - the poor and the needy. That's the Zakat al-Fitr.