Ismail ibn Musa Menk Don t wait for the Season

Don't Wait for the Season - Mufti Ismail Menk

Opening and Introduction to Taqwa

"and know that the best of speech is the Book of Allah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and the worst of affairs are the newly invented matters and every newly invented matter is a bid'ah and every bid'ah is misguidance"

My beloved brothers and sisters, every single time we speak about a reminder that will draw us closer to Allah, it is important that we start off by reminding each other about something known as taqwa Allah.

Taqwa is to create a barrier between oneself and the punishment of Allah, in a way that would ensure that we fulfill what Allah wants from us, and we stay away from what He has prohibited. Our entire life is a mission to please Allah. He has created us as human beings, and humankind is weak, and He has spoken about this in the Quran.

The Story of Adam and Divine Forgiveness

The fact that Adam (peace be upon him), the first of our species, had fallen into the trap of shaitan, but when he addressed Allah with remorse and repentance, Allah says, we forgave him. And thereafter, the Almighty sent him onto earth in order for us to be able to understand, my brothers and sisters, wherever you have faltered, and whenever you have faltered, never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Seek the forgiveness of Allah.

The Importance of Immediate Repentance

For this reason, there are different seasons, and different days of the week, not every day of the week is the same in the eyes of Allah. Yes, every moment is a moment of tawbah and seeking forgiveness, indeed. But there is a moment in the darkest hours of the night that is far more blessed than any other moment where we should not wait in order for that moment to arrive, to seek the forgiveness of Allah when we have faltered, but rather, we should repeat the repentance and the seeking of forgiveness at that time.

Repetition. Say it again. If I commit a sin now, I must repent now.

I must not wait for the time of tahajjud, the last hours of the night, just before salatul fajr, to say, I will wait until that time because it is a blessed time and then I will seek forgiveness. I might die before that moment. My brothers, my sisters, don't wait for a season or a moment in order to seek forgiveness.

Beyond Seasonal Obedience

Those seasons and moments are there in order for you to repeat and reiterate the fact that you have sought the forgiveness of Allah. And in the same way that we will not wait for the time of tahajjud to come before we seek forgiveness, we will not wait for a Friday to come before we become obedient to Allah. Ask yourselves, my brothers, my sisters, how serious do we consider the issue of salah? How seriously do we take the issue of our dress code? Do we really think that we are going to be okay without tasting the negative effects of disobedience? May Allah grant us an understanding.

Yes, it is a good sign that we respect the month of Ramadan because indeed it is sacred. But it does not mean that success is for those who obey Allah only in the season or in the month of Ramadan or on a Friday and they forget Allah thereafter. My brothers, my sisters, in the same way that today we have flocked to the obedience of Allah, let us ask ourselves when we hear the muadhin so many times a day, "Come to success."

The Reality of This World and the Hereafter

That is the Almighty telling us that if you would like success, there is a certain method, there are ingredients that you will have to put together in order for that success to be achieved. But unfortunately, my brothers, my sisters, let's face reality. For us, sometimes our food and drink, our work and business, our wealth and our leisure becomes more important than that call to success.

Whereas the day we leave this earth, nothing will come to our help and benefit. Look at those who have left the earth while they were wealthy, healthy, while they had the holidays of their lifetime, while they enjoyed their food and drink, they had family members and they did everything they wished. When they died, their clothes were removed and replaced with a shroud and they were placed a few meters or at least a meter under the ground and they were buried with the same soil that they were created from.

And what helped them? Their deeds. Just like if you were to go to a country, you would need the currency that is acceptable in that country in order to make purchases. When we go into our grave, we would need the currency that is valid in that grave in order to make purchases.

One might say, what purchases would one like to have in a grave? The reality is we will purchase through our deeds and the accounts that we have on that day, the goodness that is to come. Remember, we believe that in the grave, we already commence the journey known as the hereafter and already a window is opened based on how you led your life.

The Mercy of Allah and the Traps of Shaitan

My brothers and sisters, the good thing is we never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Allah is Rauf, Rahim, Rahman, Ghafur, Tawwab and so many other names that he has made mention of. He is most forgiving. He often forgives. He loves those who seek forgiveness. He has a specialized type of forgiveness and he has a common general forgiveness for all. And his mercy encompasses all his creatures, not just humankind.

And from amongst humankind, all of them, not just the Muslims. It's amazing how the mercy of Allah has been explained to us by Allah alone. And yet we lose hope in the mercy of Allah.

The difficulty is the devil continues to try. The traps of the devil are many. Don't allow yourself to become comfortable committing a sin because it becomes an extension of who you are.

If a sin is committed, you should feel regret and remorse. And if you feel regret and remorse, it is a true sign that you're a believer. Believers are not those who are angels alone.

But from mankind, we are believers and we do know that we will falter. But my brothers and sisters, the moment you decide that it's okay to falter and we are human, so therefore we are forgiven and excused. So I will continue in my bad ways.

That is the very moment that shaitan has got hold of you from a different angle. In the same way, we are very hopeful regarding the mercy of Allah. Never let the idea of the hope in the mercy of Allah make you become a person who commits a sin, claiming that Allah is going to forgive me.

Because when that happens, we start committing more and more sins and we forget Allah. We become distant from Allah. And Allah says regarding the hypocrites, Allah says they forgot Allah.

So Allah left them as well. Allah forgot them basically. That's the word used in the Quran by Allah.

Preparing for Ramadan - The Importance of Starting Now

So my brothers and sisters, we all know every year, a week or two before Ramadan, we start hearing lectures about preparation for Ramadan. I want to say something today. As much as we speak about preparation for Ramadan prior to Ramadan, let's ask ourselves, it is only if something is the most important event in the year or month in the year that we will be speaking about it.

Speaking in advance regarding the preparation of the month of Ramadan. Subhanallah. To prepare for the month of Ramadan, you need to start off by thinking about what it is, how blessed the month is.

It's the month of fasting. It's the month of the Quran. It's the month of the sacrifices made by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions. It's a month of forgiveness and softening, seeking forgiveness from Allah and forgiving others. If you have not softened your heart prior to Ramadan, how are you going to be able to dig through the soil of that heart in order to sow the seed of the fruit that you would love to nurture within that heart? When you have not cultivated, you will not be able to sow. You will not be able to reap anything because you would not have sown.

So start softening the land from now. Start digging. Sow your seeds.

When Ramadan comes, we will water the seeds. Seedlings will grow into fruit and on the day of Eid, we will pick from that fruit and we will declare the greatness of Allah. That day of Eid is in order for us to realize we've completed the prescription and we will declare the greatness of Allah because of his guidance to us.

So those who declare on the day of Eid, the Takbir, they are declaring the greatness of Allah because they are celebrating the fact that Allah guided them. Allah guided them.

Declaring the greatness of Allah upon the fact that Allah has guided you.

The True Meaning of Eid Success

Which means those who consider the day of Eid a day where they will close the Quran, those are the ones who have lost. A day where they will bring back the beer bottles, those are the ones who have lost. A day where they will bring back the adultery, the pornography, the other sins they may have been committing, the gambling, the hatred, etc.

Those are the ones who have lost because Allah says those who declare the Takbir truly deserve to celebrate on that day due to the fact that their lives have changed and they have achieved the guidance. My brothers, my sisters, within that month there is one night which is more powerful than or more blessed than a thousand months. Surely from now we need to ask ourselves, if I want to succeed in life and everyone of us would love to see success, I need to realize success in this lifetime is closely connected to the success of the hereafter.

True Success vs Materialistic Success

Subhanallah, success and true success in this world is closely connected to your success in the hereafter. When you are bothered about what's going to happen to you after you are going to die, you will be able to prepare correctly and live a life of contentment. Unfortunately, many of us, may Allah forgive us and guide us, starting with myself, ameen.

Many of us consider materialism a source of success. When I can afford this car, this house, this watch, this phone, these accessories, this perfume, these holidays, these clothes, then I have succeeded. That is temporary, my brothers and sisters.

When your salary is a million dollars, it does not mean you have succeeded holistically. Rather, that success is very, very limited. It is only a portion, perhaps 5%, of what we as believers would consider success.

And for that reason, Allah's plan is always that those who have the world with them and the materialistic world with them are not necessarily the happiest. In fact, they are not from amongst the happy ones. Because happiness and contentment is achieved primarily by understanding Allah's plan.

By understanding you have to worship Allah alone. You have to build a relationship with the one whom you are going to go back to one day helplessly. Helplessly.

I'm going to go back to Allah. The day

The day that your wealth and your children will not help except for the one who has healthy heart that is free of sickness and ailment and disease. And what is that ailment? If anyone has worshipped or associated partners besides Allah, with Allah, they have faltered.

Practical Steps for Preparation

So my brothers and sisters, we have a beautiful month of Ramadan. Let us seek the forgiveness of Allah now. That's how we prepare for Ramadan. And in Ramadan we will repeat it. And we will continue repeating it. When a Friday comes, we repeat it. When the time of tahajjud comes, we repeat it. That's what I want to say today. That your preparation for Ramadan is a commitment from now to say, I've started it.

This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the month of Sha'ban, he used to fast a lot. A lot more than other months. It was the run-up to Ramadan, the softening.

Mashaallah, we enter the masjid on a Friday, we notice a lot of the brothers reading the Quran.

May Allah accept it from us. Your duty unto that word.

And I started off mentioning a hadith, that the best of speech is the speech of Allah. The best of words are the words of Allah. Connect yourself to the words of Allah.

The Power of the Quran

If you have a very successful businessman, a really successful person on earth, and there are so many names that spring to my mind right now about people who have achieved the millions and the billions, and they have a story. They've written about their lives. Many of us would know parts of that story.

What about Allah? When Allah has told you that I have sent to you the most powerful message, and that is my word. Many of us have not bothered to try to look into the meanings of the word of Allah. And for that reason, we sway from the left to the right, from the right to the left.

And we are not connected to Allah the way we should be. I promise you, if you were to make an effort with the word of Allah, Allah will come closer to you, more than you can imagine. The closer you get to the word of Allah, the more the doors of contentment and happiness will open for you.

And that is a promise. If you have problems on earth, if you have difficulties with your health, with your wealth, with your social life, with your financial, economic life, pick up the Quran and start becoming close to the word of Allah. When you show dedication, you will notice the calmness in your heart, in your mind, in your system, and you will become happy with what Allah has apportioned for you.

A Real-Life Example of Allah's Plan

I remember a brother who complained regarding his business having been burnt down, and I told him, get closer to Allah. Three years later he came back and told me that was the biggest blessing of Allah. I did not understand it at the point, but today I have a business ten times bigger than what I had three years ago.

Allahu Akbar. I promise you my brothers and sisters, when you surrender to the plan of Allah and you understand that whatever Allah does, even if we perceive it to be negative, it's not negative, it's actually an opportunity, and it's a positive, and it will bring you closer to Allah. That's the reason why we have difficulty and hardship, because if we did not, we would not have been close to Allah.

Many of us, we are far from Allah when we are in days of ease. Nothing wrong. The minute something happens and there is a problem, we say, oh Allah. For the first time in your life you are saying, oh Allah. Where was that all the time? Allah says, we loved you enough to give you a problem to be able to make you realize and understand, you have a creator, so you raised your hands, so you said, oh Allah, so you came close to us, even if you lost your entire life, the fact that you came close to us, it was actually a bargain. May Allah help us.

Building Relationships - With Allah and His Creation

May Allah guide us. So my brothers and sisters, I call on myself and yourselves to get closer to Allah, to seek forgiveness, to become softened, to improve our relationships with our spouses, with our children, with our parents, with our in-laws, with our uncles and aunts, with those whom Allah has made our relatives, and with our communities, with the ummah, with humanity at large, and even with the other creatures of Allah. Improve our relationship.

It's a reality. You want to get jannah, you need to have a connection with Allah, and you need to have a connection with the rest of the creatures of the same Allah. That's the only time you really understand Allah.

When you understand that with you, He has made others as well. Just like He made you. For a reason. He had the power not to make them, He made them. So let's try and understand. We fulfill the rights of everyone, we become better people, we are softened, we work on our bad habits of two different categories.

One, the habits of the heart. And two, the physical habits or the other apparent habits that people could actually see. In the heart we have jealousy, we have hatred, ill feeling, et cetera, et cetera.

And outwardly, subhanallah, the words we utter, the vulgar words we need to eradicate and cut all this bad. Start off now.

The Urgency of Change - Don't Wait

Never ever say, I am waiting for this month of Ramadan, I have a big plan. Because you might never see the month of Ramadan. Your big plan, if it is only for Ramadan, you have failed. Your big plan needs to be now.

I am putting it into effect now, and if Allah gives me the life to see the month of Ramadan by His will, by His mercy, I will reiterate and confirm that I am indeed a changed person. May Allah grant us the ability to change here and now. May Allah make us people who can eradicate our bad habits.

May Allah make us from those who can follow the sunnah of Muhammad (peace be upon him). May Allah make us from those who love one another, who can reach out to one another. May Allah make us from those who take the message of the Quran seriously. May Allah make us from those whom when we hear the muadhin calling, come to success.

We believe truly that that is the success and we go towards it. May Allah not make us from those. May Allah not make us from those whom when we hear the caller calling to success. While we are searching for success, we are walking in the other direction. May Allah grant us the goodness of this world and the next.

Closing Dua