Joe Bradford - 4-4-25

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 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.

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 is an innovation.

And everything which is an innovation goes astray. And everything which goes astray leads to the hellfire. And there is nothing that you can do to avert what is to come.

The Blessing of Ramadan and Its Continuation

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed us with the month of Ramadan.

The month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was revealed. He revealed the Qur'an from the heavens to the lower heavens.

And then sent it down over 23 years to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam as guidance for mankind. We revisit the Qur'an every month, every Ramadan. Once a month, every 12 months.

But in that is a reminder. Just as the Qur'an was revealed over 23 years. And was recited by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam throughout the year.

It is upon us to remain consistent in our good deeds after Ramadan. There is no doubt that any of us that fasted Ramadan or stood in prayers did so with the hope that those prayers and those fasts would be accepted. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 37 & Sahih Muslim, Hadith 759)

Whoever stood the nights of Ramadan out of faith and taking that to account with Allah, then his previous sins would be forgiven.

May Allah grant us that reward. Ameen. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept it from us.

To accept each and every one of our prayers, our fasting, our charity, our good deeds, our fidya. Everything that we were able to put forth during Ramadan is something that we hope that we will find filling the scales of our good deeds on the day of judgment.

Signs of Accepted Good Deeds

For our good deeds to be accepted, there are certain signs.

One of the signs that your good deeds of Ramadan are accepted is that you are able to continue those good deeds after Ramadan. One of the signs that the good that you did during Ramadan is that it becomes not just a habit, but a norm for you after the month of Ramadan ceases. There are different indicators and qualities that suggest that those actions are accepted.

One of those is that we find ourselves more inclined to doing good. Meaning that we have overcome the evil of our own selves, and now throughout the year we simply need to stave off and avoid the whispers of shaitan and the whispers of others, and stick to the good that we know is beneficial for us in this life and in the next. When we find ourselves after Ramadan inclined towards goodness, inclined towards good character, good conduct, and a little bit of extra worship.

It doesn't take much. It doesn't take much, but a little bit of extra worship, and we can know that the deeds that we put forth during Ramadan, insha'Allah ta'ala, were accepted.

The Wisdom of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiallahu anhu, that he was asked, When is Laylatul Qadr? As we know, scholars differed as to when Laylatul Qadr was.

Is it the 23rd night, the 25th night, the 27th night? Is it any of the 10 nights? Is it only in the even-numbered nights or the odd-numbered nights? We know that there is a higher probability that it is going to be in the odd-numbered nights of the last 10 nights. But Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, when he was asked, When is Laylatul Qadr? He said, Every night of the year.

Explaining this, Imam al-Saraqsi, a great scholar of the Hanafi school. He said, what Abdullah ibn Mas'ud meant by this was not that yes, you can pray any night of the year and find Laylatul Qadr. But what he meant by it was, if you don't remain consistent with good deeds every night, if you don't pray your witr every night, if you don't pray two extra raka'as every night, then it's more likely you're going to come to Ramadan and not find yourself inclined to stand up all night and pray. To not find yourself inclined to try and seek Laylatul Qadr.

So the journey starts now for next Ramadan. It's not about just doing it during Ramadan, but the journey starts now.

The Test After Ramadan

If you come out of Ramadan eager for more worship, committed to your obligations, consistently praying in the masjid and congregation, loving what is right and acting on it, hating what is wrong and avoiding it, warning others from it, then that is a sign that the good that you did during Ramadan was accepted.

But if your state after Ramadan is just like it was before Ramadan, or it's even worse, if you're back to neglect, if you're back to laziness in fulfilling your duties, indulging in those things which are forbidden, or even worse, encouraging others to do those things which are forbidden, then this is a sign of true loss. It means that you've missed your chance to take advantage of a truly blessed time. You went through the motions of Ramadan, but you missed out on its blessings.

You failed to seek Allah's mercy and forgiveness during a season that was filled with divine generosity, and didn't even ask for what He subhanahu wa ta'ala was offering. What a tragic waste. What a tragic waste to come out of a month of blessing, a month of mercy, a month of forgiveness, a month of emancipation from the hellfire, and find ourselves throwing ourselves back in to the same old same old that we were up to before the month even began.

How deep of a loss, and how big of a misstep, and how heavy are the consequences for those types of actions. Ramadan is an opportunity for us to become used to obedience, to making the obedience of Allah a norm in our lives, to pushing ourselves to worship more, to race to do good. So it's ugly for someone to go back and walk away from the worship that they had become used to during this month, and go back to the same thing that they were doing before that.

Questions for Self-Reflection

It's ugly for you as a believer to only remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala during Ramadan. If you find yourself this type of person, then consider this. You learn during Ramadan that you have a Lord who deserves your worship, your obedience, your fear, and your hope.

So how do you forget Him after Ramadan? You came to the masjid every day for prayer. How could you ignore that obligation now? You avoided sin because Allah made it clear. So why return to that sin now? You remembered heaven and hell.

You remembered reward and punishment. So why act like it's not real anymore? You used to fill the masjids and recite the Qur'an daily. So why have you disappeared from the masjid? And why has the mushaf disappeared from your hand? It's bizarre.

It's truly bizarre that some people only recognize Allah in Ramadan, only fear Him during that month. One of the salaf used to say, one of the early righteous people, when he was asked about people like this, he used to say:

What a terrible people are those who only know Allah during Ramadan.

Allah is Our Lord Throughout the Year

What a terrible people are those who only know Allah in Ramadan. Or do not know Allah except in Ramadan.

The truth is, Allah is our Lord in Ramadan. In Shaaban the month before, in Shawwal the month after. In all of the other months, Dhul-Qi'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Al-Muharram, As-Safar. In all of the other months, Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى is our Lord.

A believer's duty, our duty as believers is to worship Allah and stay away from His disobedience at all times.

Worship your Lord until certainty comes to you, meaning death. So we have to be in a state of constant worship, constant remembrance until we die.

We have to be in a constant state that there is something greater than us. A reward that is waiting for us. And that reward cannot be sought one time of the year and then all of those good deeds canceled out for what we do the rest of the year.

Say, my prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. He has no partner. That is what I have been commanded with and I am the first of those that submit.

The Importance of Consistency

So someone spends their time, their energy, their health, their wealth, their intellect, everything that they have on things that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى didn't command but that His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم did not teach without even the intention to seek closeness to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى then they've wronged themselves greatly. They'll regret it on the day of judgment in proportion to how much time they wasted.

And whoever holds on to something consistently will likely die in that state as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6607)

Actions are based on your final actions.

That's how Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى system works. This is why He commands His servants to stay firm on their faith until death. He says:

O you who believe, be mindful of Allah as He should be minded and do not die except as Muslims.