Joe Bradford - 3-28-25

Opening Praise and Testimony

Allah is whom we praise, we praise Him and we thank Him, and we seek refuge in Him from the evil of our own souls, and the evil of our actions. Whomsoever He guides, none can misguide Him. And whomsoever He leads astray, none can guide to the truth.

And I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship but God Almighty alone, and that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His slave and messenger. O you who believe, be mindful of Allah as He should be minded, and do not die except as Muslims. O mankind, be mindful of your Lord who created you from one soul, and from that soul its mate, and from those two spread many men and many women.

And be mindful of those you ask your rights from, and be mindful of the wombs that bore you, for indeed Allah is ever watchful over you. O you who believe, be mindful of Allah and speak the truth, He will guide you to righteous deeds and forgive you of your sins. And whomsoever obeys Allah and His messenger has achieved the greatest achievement.

The best of speech is Allah's speech. And the best of guidance is Muhammad's guidance, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of affairs are those newly introduced into faith, and everything newly introduced into faith goes astray, and everything which goes astray leads to the hellfire.

And that which is promised will come to pass, and there is nothing that can be done to avert it.

The Blessed Month of Ramadan

We started this month of Ramadan, remembering the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:

A blessed month has come to you. The doors to the heavens were opened. And the doors to the hellfire were closed. And the demons were chained. In it is a night, which is better than a thousand months. Whoever reaches that night, then he is truly blessed.

The time that we spent in this month, meant that it was time, either with ourselves, wasted, or with Allah, and improving. Today, we're in the final Friday of Ramadan, with only a few days left.

We have to ask ourselves, what have we done this Ramadan? Before the doors to heaven are closed, before the doors to the hellfire are opened again, before the demons are released, before the opportunities for the great blessings and mercy that we have, in this special time, are no longer there.

The Final Hour and Our Preparation

How have we spent our Ramadan? Have we spent it thinking about what will happen to us, afterwards? Have we thought about, eventually, where we'll end up? Allah says:

They come and they ask you about the final hour. Say, the knowledge of the final hour, is only with Allah.

They ask you about the hour, when will be its final appointment. What do you have to do with knowledge of that? To your Lord belongs its final determination. You are only a warner for the one who fears it.

Have we been fearful enough that our final day will come and we'll be questioned by Allah? Have we used this blessed time enough to return to Allah? Have we spent the days and the nights of Ramadan doing that which is beneficial for our soul in this life and in the next?

The Day of Judgment and Regret

Allah tells us on the day of judgment, we will come and have all sorts of excuses about the time that we spent in this life. He will say to us:

Did we not give you a life long enough that in that life you could remember, you could recollect, and a warner came to you on top of that? Allah gave us time, He forgave us for our forgetfulness, and He sent reminders to us. Did we take all of that to heart?

On that day, man will come to remember, but it should not be that he would remember.

Things on the Day of Judgment will be so difficult, so profusely harsh, because the way that we live now will be completely different. The nature of the heavens and the earth will completely change. From the stress of the Day of Judgment, a woman will leave her breastfeeding child, a man will run away from his own family.

But with all of that difficulty, Allah says:

On that day a man will remember his life from before, even though it shouldn't be. He'll say, if I had only done more in the life that I left behind. If I had only put forward more in the time that I had.

The Scales of Justice

Allah says in Surah Al-Mu'minoon: The scales on that day are true. So whoever finds their scales heavy, then they are those who are successful. And whoever finds their scales light, then it is they, they've lost themselves. And in the hellfire, they will eternally abide.

It's there in a hadith from Abu Bakrah that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Reported by at-Tirmidhi)

The best people are those who have long lives and many good deeds. And the worst of people are those who have long lives and many bad deeds.

Ask ourselves we've made it to one more Ramadan. One more year has passed. Have we filled our year or at least this month with the good deeds that can get us to the next year?

Allah asks us: Do you not see when we have given them respite, we have given them ease for years. Then what was promised to them came to them. Whatever pleasures they had, didn't do anything to save them from that day.

On the day when every soul will find the actions that it had done present before it. And all of the evil that we've done, all of the evil that he's done, he'll find it present before him. Wishing that there were thousands of miles between him and that. All of the evil that you've done, right in front of you on the Day of Judgment. All of the good that you've done, right in front of you on the Day of Judgment. But when you see the evil that you've done, you're gonna wish that you were thousands of miles away from it. Allah then says, and Allah Himself is warning you.

The Reality of the Hereafter

Brothers and sisters, what have we done with the time that we've been given? A time when we can't blame Shaytan. We can't blame anyone but ourselves.

In Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim)

The most materially blessed person, the person who had the most material pleasure of this life will be brought on the Day of Judgment and dipped once into the fire of hell. And then he will be asked, Did you see any good in your life? Did you have any pleasure in your life? He will say, No, Allah, I swear by You, I saw no good in my life. I had no pleasure in my life.

The person who had the most difficulty in this life will be brought and he will be dipped once into the waters of Jannah. And he will be asked, Did you see any difficulty in your life? He will say, No, by Allah, I never saw any difficulty in my life.

Our reactions on the Day of Judgment will be commensurate to the actions that we put forth in this dunya. Those who spent their time in righteousness, Allah says:

And they say, All praise is due to Allah who removed from us our sorrow. We won't have any punishment or any hardship in here.

But the person who wasted their time, they will say:

But when their hour comes to them and surprises them, they will say, Woe to us due to the time that we wasted in what passed.

Living in the Present Moment

We only have a few days left but we're not people who give up hope. The Muslim is not the person who dwells on the negative. I wasted time in Ramadan, those days are gone. I didn't do as much as I thought I should, those days have passed. What could I do now from Friday until Eid to be able to earn the pleasure of Allah?

The most important time in your life is right now. You can't worry about the past and you can't predict the future. The only thing that you can do is control the moment that you're in. And when you live a life controlling the moment that you're in doing what is best for you, best for your faith, best for those around you. Then you can be a person who can praise Allah for everything that they find.

Allah says in the Hadith Qudsi:

(Sahih Muslim)

Oh my servants, these are only your actions. I count them for you, then I deliver them to you. So whoever finds good, let him praise Allah. Whoever finds other than that, then should blame no one but himself.

May Allah allow us to be from amongst those that do the best actions in these days that remain of Ramadan.

Zakat al-Fitr: Our Final Obligation

One final reminder. One of the most important acts of worship that we will be coming upon is Eid al-Fitr. One of our two major celebrations throughout the year. But there is something that you need to do for your own Akhirah before Eid al-Fitr comes. And that is pay Zakat al-Fitr or Sadaqat al-Fitr or Fitrana or Fitri or whatever word that you use for it.

It is enough food that you would feed someone to feed them for the day. Maybe around 10 to 12 dollars. That should be paid before the Eid. Eid should preferably be given in foodstuff to the poor.

Think about it like this: If I make a mistake in prayer, I pray two Sajdas at the end to make up for the mistake. When I make a mistake in Ramadan, I pay my Zakat al-Fitr to make up for those mistakes.

The Prophet ﷺ said that it must be paid for every Muslim. Male and female, old and young, slave and free. And it must be paid before Salat al-Eid. Whoever pays it before Salat al-Eid, it is Zakat al-Maqboola. It is an accepted Zakat. And whoever pays it after that, it is Sadaqat al-Sadaqat. Then it is a charity, he gives of the charity. You still have to pay it. But you have less reward and you did not meet the stipulation of it.

Closing Du'a

May Allah bless us in these days that remain of Ramadan. To be from amongst those that do the best. So that these days wipe out any mistakes that came before it. And our Zakat al-Fitr wipes out any mistakes from Ramadan. And that we meet Allah joyous and pleased with the good deeds that we find before us.

O Allah, forgive us of our sins and our transgression and our affairs. And make our feet firm, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, make us from amongst those that have the joy of Eid together. And have the joy of looking to your face on the Day of Judgement.

O Allah, we have wronged ourselves greatly. But we have hope in Your mercy. O Allah, have mercy upon us in these days that remain from Ramadan. O Allah, make us from amongst those that succeed through your mercy.

O Allah, make us from amongst those whose necks are emancipated from the hellfire in these days that remain of Ramadan. O Allah, allow us to be emancipated and free us from the hellfire. O Allah, free us from the hellfire and allow us to enter Jannah.

O Allah, accept our fasting, and our sadaqat, and our zakat, and our taraweeh, and all of the good deeds that we put forth. O Allah, overlook and pardon us. O Allah, you are clement, and kind, and merciful, and giving. Pardon us for the mistakes that we've made, for you love to pardon.