Ramadan The Month of Hope
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T20:37:58.235052+00:00 | Topic: Ramadan
Ramadan: The Month of Hope - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Prayer and Introduction
I want to start by praying to Allah (عز وجل) that Allah allows all of us to benefit as much as we possibly can from this coming month and that He makes it a means for our continued guidance, our forgiveness. It is a means by which our hearts are softened not just towards Allah but also towards one another.
The Connection Between Adam and Ramadan
Adam's Original State in Paradise
What I wanted to share with you is actually something from the surah that is the only surah that actually talks about Ramadan - Surah Al-Baqarah. Where this ayah is mentioned, or the ayat about Ramadan are mentioned, are actually a progression that was mentioned something much, much, much before.
This discussion actually begins with Adam (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ) himself. Adam (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ), this incredible creature that Allah made that He even commanded the angels because of his creation to make sajdah. This incredible creation was given Jannah, the place that we eventually want to go back home. This is important to know because about Jannah, Allah describes believers as:
Those people that will go back to heaven are actually gaining an inheritance. Inheritance means your ancestors owned it - that's what that means. That was the home given to our father Adam (عليه السلام) and that's where humanity began, which is why when we go back to Jannah we're actually وارثون - we're actually inheriting what was already meant for us.
The Nature of Jannah as Inheritance
You know there are some treasures, some monies in life that you have to earn by the work of your hand, and there are some that are yours because the family passed it down to you. There's a property that was passed down, money that was passed down, a car that was passed down and it's yours, or jewelry that was passed down. Jannah is a bit of both - it is meant for us because it was given to our father and we cannot get it without work. It's kind of both things at the same time.
Allah's Direct Communication with Adam
But in any case, Allah (جل و عز) gave this amazing gift to Adam (عليه السلام) and used to speak to Adam (عليه السلام) directly. He gave him advice directly. He told him to eat freely. He told our mother and our
father both of them that they can have whatever they want in this Jannah. You all know the story, except for this one tree.
When He gave all of this advice, one thing that I want your attention on is that Allah (جل و عز) addressed Adam (عليه السلام) directly:
He talked to them directly.
The Elevated Status of Jannah
Can you imagine Jannah? What Allah Himself describes is:
Jannah is very high up. Like the earth, this worldly life is called Dunya. Dunya in Arabic comes from the word Adna - it's the feminine form of low and it actually means the lowest possible life you can have. You can only get higher from here, and the higher is actually Jannah. It's the highest, it's right under the Arsh of Allah - in one ayah described in Surah An-Najm it's right in that proximity.
So what I'm trying to get at is not only is Adam (عليه السلام) speaking with Allah and Allah is speaking with him, he's very close to Allah. One of the great marvels of Jannah isn't just the trees and the food but actually the closeness to Allah Himself (سبحانه وتعالى). That's a remarkable gift of Jannah.
The Fall and Its Consequences
The Mistake and Misunderstanding
And yet Adam (عليه السلام) made a fatal mistake. The waswasah of Shaytan was successful, his whisper was successful and the mistake took place. A lot of people misunderstand and think that as a result Adam (عليه السلام) was punished and the punishment was that he will be sent all the way down to this planet, Earth. That's how life here began for human beings - Adam (عليه السلام) was sent here as a punishment.
The True Nature of Earth
When you study the Surah and the Quran carefully, you discover that actually Adam (عليه السلام) was not sent here as a punishment. That's actually a common Christian view - that this life is a curse and man is paying for the original sin and all of that. We actually believe:
(Bukhari hadith 1358)
Every human being is born on a predisposed goodness.
As a matter of fact, even describing this Earth within the context of the story of Adam, Allah (جل و عز) says about this life on this Earth:
He put a lot of things here for you to make sure you can live really well. You're so little that you're grateful. Like Allah didn't describe this Earth as a punishment, He described this Earth as something marvelous and beautiful.
The Beauty of Creation
As a matter of fact, the more you study Quran, the more you appreciate the creation around you. He'll describe the beauty with which He made a camel or the mountain, or the sky, or the tree or the food that you eat, or even the wrappings of the food:
In other words, Allah did not make this world ugly, He made this world beautiful and He made this world a means of sustenance for us so that we could become grateful.
This World as a Preview of Jannah
In many places in the Quran you'll learn that a lot of the gifts of this world, one of their purposes is to remind you - if this is so beautiful, imagine what the original home was like. It's supposed to remind you of the original, meaning Jannah. It's a preview. Even though Jannah is beyond our imagination, but there are some things in common, isn't it? Allah will talk about trees in Jannah - how would you and I know what a tree is if Allah didn't give us trees in this Earth? He'll talk about rivers, He'll talk about milk, He'll talk about honey, He'll talk about the flesh of birds. He'll talk about these things - you would never appreciate those things if you didn't have some taste of it here. So it's because He made this world, He made it in a sense a preview of what is coming next.
The Feeling of Distance from Allah
The Reality of Life on Earth
But regardless, let me get back to my point. The point is Adam (عليه السلام) used to be very close to Allah and now as a result of that slip up, Allah is sending him down to the Earth. Again, you and I know it's not a punishment but it feels like it because you just left Jannah and you've been brought down here. Jannah is Jannah tul khuld - you don't get old, you don't get sick, you have nothing to fear, you have no sadness. When you come down here, human beings are going to be drowning in toil, in labor. They're going to be hungry, they're going to be sick, they're going to get weak, they're going to have to work. They can't just be fed without any problem. This world is just full of problems - that's what it comes with. As beautiful as it is, it's not easy. Every one of us has struggles in life.
The Sense of Separation
So Allah (عز وجل) put us on this Earth and one of the worst things about it that you can imagine Adam (عليه السلام) feels is that he used to be so close to Allah and now he's so, so, so far from Allah. He was so highly ranked and dignified that even the angels were commanded to do sajda and now he's being sent down. By the way, in the ayah in which he's been sent down, it's him, our mother Hawa and Iblis - all of them are being sent down. Meaning now I have to share this place. I used to be above the rank of angels and now I have to share this place even with Iblis and his lineage. This is what I've been brought down to - it's humiliating, it's a humiliation and he feels very distanced from Allah (عز وجل).
Allah's Promise of Hope
The Promise of Guidance
But as Allah was sending him down, Allah gave him an opportunity and reminded him: by the way, there will be a way that you and your children and their children and their children will be able to make their way back up. You've been sent down but you'll have a way to come back up. And so He says to him:
Come down from here, meaning descend from heaven, come down on this Earth, on this planet. But He says if and when guidance comes to you - any guidance comes to you from me - and that means the plural, not just guidance to Adam but to his children. At any point in history when I decide to send you guidance, whoever decides to follow my guidance, there's not going to be any fear for them, they're not going to be scared of anything and they're not going to be sad.
That's not just a reference to what's going to happen in this life actually. In its truest sense, to have no fear left and to have no sadness left is actually one of the greatest gifts of Jannah itself. It is as though Allah is telling him: follow this guidance and watch - you can come and get upgraded once again, you can elevate once back again to the original home. That was the promise made to Adam.
The Fulfillment Through Prophets
The Chain of Guidance
History goes through, centuries pass, millennia pass, prophets after prophets after prophets, each one of them fulfilling little by little the promise that was made to Adam. Guidance will come - if you follow it then there's not going to be any fear or sadness for those who follow it. That promise kept getting fulfilled.
Some, just some of those prophets Allah mentions in the Quran:
There are among them who we didn't even tell you about. There are so many more prophets that we don't even know about. So this promise of Allah of guidance coming, kept being fulfilled until that - the promise reaches its climax.
The Final Message
The last time that that promise was fulfilled was when Allah decided to send His final message to all of us to His final messenger, because there's no more messengers coming, and that is Muhammad Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and that is the Quran.
One of the things about the Quran - it's really beautiful - the prophet himself would describe it as:
(Tirmidhi hadith 2906)
It is an extended rope of Allah from the sky to the earth. The Quran is a rope of Allah from heaven to the earth. The Quran will say:
Hold on to Allah's rope all together. And Allah's rope, as many of the companions commented, is actually the Quran - hold on to the Quran.
The Permanent Connection
The Unbreakable Rope
I told you before, we've been sent down - there has to be a way that we can go back up, and now we're learning that a rope was given and this rope لا انفصام لها - it cannot crack. Like a chain that link would be broken, it will not snap, it will remain and it will remain extended until humanity comes to an end. Generations will come and go but this rope of Allah, that final rope of Allah that has been given will never be cut.
The Difference from Previous Guidances
Once again, the teachings that were given, the guidance that was given to Musa (عليه السلام) to Salih (عليه السلام) to Shuaib (عليه السلام) to Nuh (عليه السلام) those guidances that they were given - a time came where people forgot them and they were lost or people changed them and they couldn't find the truth anymore. But now Allah gave this guidance that will forever remain a means by which people can make their way back to Allah again, and that is the word of Allah, that is the Quran.
The Climax: Ramadan and the Quran
The Ultimate Gift
The Gift of Divine Closeness
Allah's Direct Address
And so as I conclude this khutbah, I want to share with you one of the gifts of this month. There are several mentioned in the ayat of Ramadan, I just want to leave you with one, that I really hope that you and I can take full advantage of Allah عز وجل says:
When my slave asks you about me, then certainly I am near.
Allah's Optimism About Us
Allah did not say "if my slave asks" - He says "when my slave asks" because He expects that absolutely it will happen. He's optimistic about you. You may not be optimistic about yourself, Allah is optimistic about you. He tells His Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم "when they ask you about me."
Our expectation was that Allah would tell him "when they ask you, you tell them that I'm close," but no - when they ask you, Allah stops talking to His messenger and talks to you and me directly and says "I am close for sure." Halfway through that ayah, the conversation is no longer with the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم,the conversation is between you and Allah directly.
Breaking Down the Barriers
You haven't talked to Allah in a long time. You feel like when you don't talk to someone you feel like they don't want to talk to you. "Where were you all this time? You want to go through somebody else, is he still mad at me?" You don't want to deal with them directly. But Allah عز وجل breaks that wall, He comes to you directly and says "I am most certainly near."
Immediate Response to Prayer
And then you feel like "you've been so far away, why would He answer my prayers?" And He says:
I immediately respond to the single dua, of the one who makes dua - the single prayer, the single request, the single call of the one who made the call.
In other words, in this beautiful ayah Allah isn't even talking about the one who makes hours and hours of dua. He's talking about someone who turned to Allah just one time, even one time. Allah doesn't say "Oh, okay, all this time you party and now you need something and you come to me for dua, get lost." No, no, no, no. "I will immediately respond even to that person at that one time that they made the dua."
The Only Qualification Needed
No Prerequisites Required
And what are his qualifications? We feel like, if you're going to be able to address someone important, you should have prerequisites - it's always the case. And even spiritually speaking, people might feel, "Well if you're going to make dua to Allah, then you better be dressed properly, you better be in the masjid, it's the best place to make dua, it's the haram, or the kaaba or masjid al-nabawi, or you have better have stopped sinning and then you should make dua," etc. And all of those things are true, but in this ayah of hope, Allah says the only qualification I need from you is that you're ready to make the dua, that's it.
From the Lowest Point
You could be in the lowest, in the pits of darkness - just turn back to Allah. Nobody else - you're not doing this to show anybody else how religious you are, or to impress anybody else, or you're not concerned about the judgment of anybody else.
Beyond Human Judgment
People around you and me, will think much - they either think much better than who we are or much worse than who we are. People around you think you're a really good person, and you know what you are. Or people around you think you're a horrible human being, there's no goodness in you. And neither of them know - Allah knows. Allah knows and you know. You don't let the judgment of people fool you, you don't let yourself do that. You don't even know where you stand, only Allah truly knows.
Focus Only on Allah
So you leave all of those judgments behind. Doesn't matter what people say about you good or bad, it doesn't matter what they say about you, you just turn to Allah and you ask Him. You forgot about the noise, all the other noise. And whenever you make that dua, "I will respond to the one who makes the call," Allah says, "respond immediately whenever He makes the call."
Practical Application in Ramadan
The Context of Ramadan
This is in the context of the month of Ramadan, especially in the month of Ramadan, because Allah has extended His rope. Call on Allah, ask Allah for things, speak with Allah.
Speaking in Any Language
Speak with Allah when you're alone, speak with Allah when you're in the car. You don't have to speak to Allah in Arabic, it's okay. You can speak to Him in Punjabi, it's fine. You can speak to Him in Bangla, you
can speak to Him in English, it's completely fine. You don't have to speak to Him in Fusha, you can speak to Him in Amiya, it's cool. Allah عز وجل taught all languages. If you don't know the language of the scripture, it's fine.
The Essential Connection
But the thing Allah wants from you is to connect to Him directly, first and foremost to speak with Him, to call on Him, to call on Him. How many people actually call on Allah, talk to Allah, beg before Allah, cry before Allah? The more you will talk to Him, you know, we feel awkward - "somebody might see me talking to myself in the car, you know, maybe I've got a psychological problem."
Iman Bil Ghayb
This is what's called Iman Bil Ghayb - you truly believe in the unseen. If you feel awkward, then you feel like he's not really listening. If you truly believe that he's listening, talk to him. Who cares about what anybody else thinks? That's just between you and him.
The Two-Way Conversation
Allah's Request for Response
And so He makes a request of you - He gave you an offer: "I'll answer your prayers when you call, whenever you call I will answer." But on the flip side of it, He made a request from you. He says:
Then at the very least they should at least try to respond to me. You're talking to Allah, and Allah says "I'll respond to you," but now Allah says "you should respond to me too," or at least try to respond to me too. He didn't say "respond," because that would mean you have to be perfect, he said "try to respond" - istijabah - at least show me the desire to respond.
Listening to Allah First
But if you want to respond to someone, you have to hear them first. It's impossible to respond to somebody unless you listen to them. If there was no request made there's no response, if there's no questions asked, there's no response. So the fact that Allah is asking for a response means he's asking you to listen to him first.
But how do you listen to Allah? Oh wait, that's what the word of Allah is. When you're reciting the word of Allah, when you're listening to the word of Allah, when you're thinking about the word of Allah, you're listening to things that require a response - that's Allah talking to you.
The Complete Conversation
The Essential Ingredients for Life
How to Fix Our Lives
"Will you believe and continue to believe in me so they may be set straight?" We are now learning the essential ingredients for how to fix our life. How do I fix my life, how do you fix your life? It's actually to truly be in conversation with Allah. I will speak with him, and he will speak with me. I will speak with him with my dua, with my request, with my supplication, with my confessions to him, with my admissions to him about where I stand, what I need, what my mistakes are, how sorry I am, what I hope to accomplish, what could better myself, how I am hopeful when I meet him that I don't disappoint him, that he forgives me for the mistakes that I made - all of those are my conversations to him.
When Allah Speaks to Us
And then when he speaks to me - when he speaks to me by the way, he is not just telling you what to do. When he speaks to you, when he speaks to you, he is giving you hope, he is making you grateful, he is making you conscious and aware, he is making you aware of the people around you and how you treat them, he is opening your eyes to reality. This conversation will set you straight.
The Need for Conversation
There are some people, you know, when you have a problem you just need to talk to somebody. These ayat are telling you, these 30 days are days to talk to Allah. This is the conversation we have to have with Allah.
Conclusion and Practical Advice
For Those with Busy Schedules
If you can accomplish that - some of you are working at night time, you can't make it to taraweeh prayer. Some of you are, you know, you are going to have a hard time coming into the masjid, you can't listen to lectures or durus or whatever. Some of you have exams or you are taking extra courses in the summer, you have a busy Ramadan, it's not going to be an easy time for some of you, it's going to be very, very busy.
The Fundamental Understanding
Those of you that can make the time for extra ibadah, wonderful. Those of you who can't, understand this fundamental and your Ramadan will be beautiful - it's not just about fasting, it's about reconnecting and reengaging Allah (عز وجل) in conversation in this prescribed, in this guided way.
Final Prayer
May Allah (عز وجل) make all of us those who directly speak with Allah and Allah (عز وجل) speaks to our hearts through His book.
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon His servants whom He has chosen, especially upon the best of them and the seal of the prophets, Muhammad, the trustworthy, and upon his family and companions all together. May Allah benefit me and you with the verses and the wise reminder, the wise Quran, and to you Allah said.