Ramadan and Charity

Ramadan and Charity

Imam Zaid Shakir

Introduction: The Waning Days of Ramadan

Inshallah, we'll try to be brief because these are the waning days of Ramadan and these are the days of Qur'an and the days of Muslim farq. And so, you don't want to take too much of your time because of Qur'an. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2910)

"Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will have a reward, and the reward will be multiplied by ten. I do not say that Alif Lam Meem is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter, and Meem is a letter."

So, even is not a single letter. Rather (أَلِفٌ - Alif) is an individual letter, (لَامٌ - Lam) is an individual letter, (مِيمٌ - Meem) is an individual letter. And every letter that we recite will be, the reward of that will be multiplied 10 times. And in Ramadan, 700 times because it's 70 times, it's normal reward, 10 times of 70 is 700. So, there's too much opportunity for good to be sitting listening to long lectures. We'll try to be brief, Inshallah.

Understanding Real Charity in Ramadan

So, what do we mean by real charity? Real charity is understanding, first of all, in this month of Ramadan, how much charity is a part of the month. So, it's a month of (مَغْفِرَةٍ - Maghfirah) it's a month of (رَحْمَةٍ - Rahmah)

As the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Its beginning is mercy, its middle is forgiveness, and its end is freedom from the Fire."

So, the first part of Ramadan is dominated by mercy. When Ramadan comes, the doors of mercy are opened. If someone fasts this month, he's forgiven. So, it's all maghfira and it's all liberation from the hellfire. In Ramadan, every night Allah liberates people from the hellfire. So, Allah liberates from the hellfire and that occurs every night.

So, how do we reconcile those three hadith? The first one mentions mercy, forgiveness, and liberation from the Fire. The scholars say the first part is dominated by mercy, the middle part forgiveness dominates, and the third part liberation from the hellfire is the dominant characteristic of the month.

Charity as Part of Ramadan

Charity is also a big part of Ramadan. Alhamdulillah, many people, they pay their Zakat in Ramadan. Many people, they give extra Sadaqah in Ramadan. You see the chart on the wall? Give some extra Sadaqah in

Ramadan. And the reward is multiplied. And that's also is following the Sunnah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala) the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Sunnah of Allah because Ramadan is a month that Allah is especially generous to us and His generosity is manifested in His mercy.

His generosity is manifested in His forgiveness. His generosity is manifested in His liberating us from the hellfire during this month. So, if we look at mercy of forgiveness alone we can get an idea of how generous Allah is during this month.

The Avenues of Forgiveness in Ramadan

So, He says we mentioned let's see just from the top of my head how many avenues of forgiveness Allah Ta'ala has opened up for us during Ramadan. So, He said:

"Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan with sincere faith anticipating reward, their previous sins will be forgiven." (Sahih al-Bukhari 38, Sahih Muslim 760)

And:

"Whoever stands for prayer during the nights of Ramadan with sincere faith anticipating reward, their previous sins will be forgiven." (Sahih al-Bukhari 2009, Sahih Muslim 759)

That's two.

"Whoever stands for prayer and worship during the night of power, most of it. Not all of the evening." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1901, Sahih Muslim 760)

But scholars say if you sleep a little so you're fresh and have energy for your worship that's good. Then their previous sins will be forgiven.

As the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever gives the fasting person something to break their fast with in Ramadan, their previous sins will be forgiven." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 807, Sunan Ibn Majah 1746)

That's four. The one who remembers Allah during Ramadan will be forgiven. That's five.

The Value of Teaching and Benefiting Others

Okay? This is good, but the good that is lazim (confined), its benefit is confined to the person who does it. Someone who teaches people, learns something and then teaches others, their good is (مُتَعَدِّي - muta'addi) (transitive), meaning

the benefit spreads to others. That's why saying (سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ للهِ وَلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَاللهُ أَكْبَرُ - SubhanAllah, walhamdulillah, wa la ilaha illAllah, wa Allahu Akbar) is good for one's soul, it relieves stress, but it's lazim, the good is confined to him. The one who teaches some good to people, that benefit spreads to others. So, the benefit that spreads to others is considered of a higher station in Islam.

So, lessons in dhikr, the gathering of dhikr also includes gathering of learning and teaching as had been mentioned. So, that's good that benefits the person and benefits others. For that reason, the scholars say: A wealthy person who is thankful is better than a poor person who doesn't have wealth and patiently endures his poverty or earns with dignity. So, they're both good as we said, but the wealthy person's good is (مُتَعَدِّي - muta'addi) because it's contagious, it goes to others. The poor patient person, his good generally is confined to himself.

So, always what we do to benefit others is good and that's true charity, that's a form of charity. If you have knowledge, if you're wealthy and you're also knowledgeable and you spend your wealth but you don't teach anyone from your knowledge, then you're not being charitable. Because there are other people who have money who don't have knowledge who can spend it. It would be better for you to hold your money and to teach people because as the scholars say, and all this is associated with charity, true charity:

الشَّكْرُ مِنْ جِنْسِ النِّعْمَةِ

"Gratitude is categorical to the type of blessing."

The gratitude should be in the area a person's been blessed in, and the evidence for that is the address to the Prophet ﷺ in the Qur'an:

"Did He not find you an orphan and gave you shelter? And He found you lost and guided you, and He found you poor and made you self-sufficient?"

He gave you shelter, and we found you not having the specific knowledge of the religion and we guided you or taught you, and we found you impoverished and we enriched you. So:

"So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him]." (Quran 93:9)

So just as you were given shelter as an orphan, don't you treat the orphan more harshly.

"And as for the petitioner, do not repel [him]." (Quran 93:10)

Just as you were poor and we enriched you, don't turn away the beggar without relieving him or her.

"But as for the favor of your Lord, report [it]." (Quran 93:11)

And just as we guided you to the knowledge of the religion and the details, he was Hanīf but the Hunafa' they didn't have the sharī'ah and they didn't have the details of 'aqīdah and Allah Ta'ala taught the Prophet ﷺ and he

taught the ummah. So speak of these blessings to others, teach others and convey this blessing.

Forms of Charity Beyond Money

So in each of the areas he's blessed, he's encouraged to reciprocate in his relationship with others and so that's giving, that's charity: giving knowledge, giving of one's time, giving assistance.

"Allah will continue to help the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother." (Sahih Muslim 2699)

So that's charity and a proof for that, that charity can be all of those things and many things we didn't mention. Allah Ta'ala says:

"Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah] from that which you love. And whatever you spend - indeed, Allah is Knowing of it."

You will never attain righteousness until you spend from that which you love, that which you sacrifice, but the point is here (وَمَا تُنفِقُوا مِن شَيْءٍ - and whatever you spend) - this is what the scholars of (أُصُولُ التَّفْسِيرِ - usul at-tafsir) the scholars of the fundamentals of Quranic exegesis, call this (شَيْء - shay') an indefinite expression in a conditional context. (وَمَا تُنفِقُوا مِن شَيْءٍ - wa ma tunfiqu min shay') benefits generality, so that (شَيْء - shay') could be anything. It could be money, everyone doesn't have money. You have time, you have talent, you have ability, you have a tongue to speak a good word, you have a mouth to give a smile - that's a smiling in the face of your brother. You see your brother is coming depressed, something's happening, you smile, you cheer him up - that's (صَدَقَة - sadaqah)

So that's real charity. So it's not just spending money. Real charity is in all the areas Allah Ta'ala has blessed us, we extend that good to others and that as we said that's from the sunnah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala). Look at that that's from because Allah Ta'ala has been charitable to us. Allah Ta'ala has been charitable to us and that charity is manifest in this month.

Additional Avenues of Forgiveness

So if we didn't finish, we went on a tangent, we will miss the categories of forgiveness. Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه mentioned a big path: everyone in Ramadan will be forgiven, said Abu Huraira, except one who refuses to be forgiven. Whoever refuses, Abu Huraira, whoever refuses to ask Allah to be forgiven. All we have to do in this blessed month is ask Allah with sincerity to be forgiven and to do what he asked us to do by what we pray, we fast, ask Allah to be forgiven. Allah will forgive us. Whoever refuses to ask Allah, so that's six or seven.

The final one who mentioned is the angels seek forgiveness for the fasting people until they break their fast and at the time of iftar. So that's number eight - the angels are making istighfar, seeking forgiveness for the fasting people as long as the fast is going on and at the time of iftar. That's number eight.

He mentioned a ninth one:

لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ فَرْحَةٌ عِنْدَ فِطْرِهِ وَفَرْحَةٌ عِنْدَ لِقَاءِ رَبِّهِ

"The faster has two delights: the delight when he or she breaks their fast and the delight when they meet their Lord." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151)

One of the delights of the fast: how about doing this and it melts in your mouth, nothing else, nothing else, that's farha. So we eat all day and then we drink some water, cold water, meet a date at maghrib, it's good but it's not the same. Some nice juice, pure juice, cold - and I'm torturing myself too, I'm not just torturing you guys - but that's it's not the same. If we eating all day, it's a normal day outside of Ramadan, we're eating, had lunch, had dinner, then maghrib comes, we eat a date or what, it's not the same. So that's the farha, that's the delight.

Another delight is knowing that this is one of the times the prayer is answered. This is one of the times when the dua is accepted - when we break our fast. So this is the time Ibn Umar رضي الله عنه when he broke his fast, he said: اللَّهُمَّ يَا وَاسِعَ الْمَغْفِرَةِ اغْفِرْ لِي - "O Allah, the Most Expansive in forgiveness, forgive me." That's how Ibn Umar would break his fast. He'd break his fast and say: Allahumma ya wasi'al maghfirah ighfir li - "O Allah who has the most expansive forgiveness, forgive me my sins." So this is another avenue of forgiveness Allah Ta'ala has opened up for us during Ramadan. So this is from the generosity of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala) during this month.

The Sunnah of Being Generous in Ramadan

So, being generous is from the Sunnah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala) in Ramadan. And this is real charity. So, not only is the charity made real by giving it and giving it freely, but by understanding why we do it. This enhances the reality of the act. And so, one reason is that it's from the Sunnah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala). Just as when we start any noble thing, we say Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. That's from the Sunnah of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى - Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala). So what does Allah Ta'ala open his book with?

It's from the Sunnah of Allah. It's from the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. So, he said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud 4840)

"Any action of any import that's not opened up with Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim is cut off from blessing."

So, this is from the Sunnah of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah. Sunnah would be charity, and especially charity in Ramadan. Allah Ta'ala has been charitable to us. The Messenger of Allah:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 6, Sahih Muslim 2308)

"The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people. And he was even more generous during the month of Ramadan when the angel Jibril would come to him and review the Qur'an with him."

And one of the reasons for that is, as he reviewed the Qur'an, these verses of charity would keep coming up:

"O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession. And the disbelievers - they are the wrongdoers."

(Quran 2:254)

So, verses like that, they keep coming up. But we will believe still from what we've bestowed, even in the very beginning of the Qur'an:

"This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah - who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them."

So, many of those who believe in the unseen and they spend from that which we have given them. Or you will believe, spend from what we've bestowed upon you, and before a day comes upon you when there's no spending. And there's no friendship, there's no intercession. So, this is the message of the Qur'an.

True Righteousness and Charity

"Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves."

And again, this is true charity. So, it's not righteousness. And look, look, look, subhanAllah. Look how the Qur'an, part of it explains the other part. Allah Ta'ala says:

It's not righteousness to turn your face in the direction of the east or the west. So, the Christians were facing the east at that time, the direction of the sunrise. And in relation to Madinah, the Jews were facing the northwest, towards al-Quds, towards Jerusalem. And so Allah Ta'ala is saying, that's not the essence of righteousness.

But true righteousness is to believe sincerely in Allah, and in the last day, and in the angels, and the scriptures, and in the prophets and messengers. So:

And what does Allah Ta'ala mention:

"You will never attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah] from that which you love."

So, it's a general statement. You will never attain to righteousness until you spend from that which you love. But spend for whom?

وَآتَى ٱلْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ

And he or she spends their wealth, in spite of their love for it:

ذَوِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ - for the relatives وَٱلْيَتَٰمَىٰ - and the orphans وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينَ - the poor people وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ - the wayfarer وَٱلسَّآئِلِينَ - those who are forced to beg and to ask وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ - for the liberation of slaves

So, all this spending that's mentioned, is in our society, and to help others, and to benefit others. All of it, is to benefit others. And that's the real charity. What we can do, and give from our hearts to benefit others, to make our society better. All of that makes society a developed Qiblah, to have stronger relationships between the family. And one of the best ways, spending and being charitable.

Taking Care of Orphans and Society

Taking care of the orphans. Because if we don't take care of the orphans, what happens? They drift into the streets, and then they become problems for society. So, in this country, in America, all these kids out there, shooting each other, going into the school. Many of them, I would even say, most of them are functional orphans. What is an orphan? Someone that's lost their father.

So, a lot of these kids, there's no father in their life. And in American life, increasingly, that's the reality. And all you young Muslim brothers and sisters, some of you are here, there should be more of you here. Some of the Shabab. Thank Allah, you have your mother and your father. Most of our Muslim families in this country, the mother and the father are together. Most of the families. And that's a great blessing for the young people, that when they grow up, they'll appreciate it, inshallah.

So, if your kids are giving you grief right now, just be patient. They'll come back, they'll have presents, they'll give you presents. What's that for? For being a good family? I thought you couldn't stand me. Yeah, that's when I didn't have any sense. Now that I got some sense and matured a little bit, I appreciate you. And, ooh, I love you. Only I love you. Stop crying. It's coming, believe me. Don't, don't, don't give up.

But it's a great blessing that all the young people should appreciate. Because those kids, they drift out in the street, there's no guidance from the father in the house. They join the gangs, get involved in criminal activity and end up doing terrible things. So, all these benefits society.

When the poor people, when poor people are enriched and given a dignified living, again, that benefits the whole society. Because they don't become a burden on the society. And they don't demand, they don't fall into criminal activity.

The Power of Zakat to Eliminate Poverty

And Zakat alone could eliminate poverty, not just in the Muslim Ummah, on the face of this earth. If we all organized ourselves and everyone paid their Zakat, it would generate enough wealth. Because you think, how many trillions of dollars does this Ummah earn every year? Even the poor countries, but we have rich countries,

we have middle countries, from the oil, from the other resources, from this gross general economic activity. Trillions of dollars, trillions of dollars, two and a half percent. That's a conservative estimate, let's say 10 trillion dollars.

The Arabs in general have 20 trillion invested in America. I'm not a mathematician, but that's billions of dollars, billions of dollars. And those billions could eradicate poverty. Just the American military budget, which is about a trillion now, could eradicate poverty. So, that's a vision we should have, to try to organize ourselves and starting locally, making sure we pay our Zakat. And then moving and expanding outwards. And then having a vision that we can create a whole community here in North America, the start, this is where we live.

Whether we like it or not, most of us like it, even if we don't admit it. Because even with all of this anti-Islamic propaganda, there is still freedom. We don't have to get an application from Mukhabarat to have Jumu'ah. It's a Muslim country, you have to get permission, if they even open the masjid. Taraweeh, khalas. Because if you have Jumu'ah, you know, Mukhabarat can't monitor everything. You sit in there in the middle of the night, conspiring, you know, these people always hang on. So, they want to know what's going on. So, Taraweeh lower, last Jumu'ah.

So, they are listening. As soon as the last Jumu'ah finishes, they start coming with the key. I have one out, I don't know. Sometimes you don't have to do that. You just come up, come to the masjid, you know, just sit there, put your stuff and stay. Make dawah. You don't have to, they have earlier today, a group of non-Muslim people. You don't have to get permission from anybody to just openly call people to Islam. So, there's a lot, there's a lot to be thankful for.

There's a lot to be thankful for:

"If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]."

So, and we said we are not going to take a long time, so we will wrap up.

Spending for Different Categories of People

So, in the essence, let's finish these categories. So, the poor, the needy. We spend for the poor people, it strengthens our society. The wayfarer, this is unique to Islam. Islam is the only religion that mandated spending. Here, this salat I'll mention here is voluntary. Afterwards, later in this verse:

وَأَقَامُوا ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ

This is mandatory. But, in other verses:

إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ

There وَابْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ - it's mandatory. Islam is the only religion that mandates spending for the poor person, I mean for the traveler.

And in Islamic society, we have three hotels. So, here you have Motel 6, we have Motel 5. You come and do your five prayers. Motel 5, you know, you come and do your five prayers. We have Motel 3, you stay three days for free. We have Motel 3. So, no seriously, the caravanserai, you come and it's free, your horse gets taken care of, get some new shoes on your horse, got new tires nowadays. Go take your tires, look at them, this one's bald, give you a free tire, new tire, feed you for three days.

They have hospitals, at the hospitals, they have a doctor, you know, you look a little sick, come here, let me check you out, open your mouth, say, ah, ah. Just like I thought, here, take some of this, free, free. And none, because you're a traveler. And spends for the travelers.

The Purity of Heart Through Charity

And one of the reasons, how does this connect with real charity? Real charity, real charity should come from the heart. And Allah Ta'ala says:

"And they give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, [Saying], 'We feed you only for the countenance of Allah. We wish not from you reward or gratitude.'''

So, they fed the people, we don't want anything. Hey, that's alright, maybe I'll become Muslim. No, you become Muslim, more because you think it's right, not because I fed you. And don't think, hey, thanks a lot, man, that was a really nice day, thank God, thank God. We just hope we will succeed.

"Indeed, We fear from our Lord a Day austere and distressful."

So, how does that relate to a wayfarer? It helps to purify our heart, because when we spend for the family, the family is still around. So, they can remind us, yeah, that was really nice of you, make that nafs feel good, you're so generous. Or we can remind him, you know, remember I gave you a hundred dollars that time, I'm a nice guy, huh? So, our intention can be corrupted, but the wayfarer, he takes the charity, he's gone.

So, he's not there to remind you what a nice guy you are, and you can't remind him what a nice guy you are. So, that helps to purify our heart, and to make our giving just for Allah سبحانه وتعالى. So وَالسَّائِلِينَ - and those who are forced to ask, when someone is forced to beg, generally speaking, if they're people of religion, and taqwa, they're in bad shape when they have to come. And so, we should be especially considerate of those people.

Sincerity of Worship in Ramadan

All of their previous sins are forgiven. Whoever stands for worship during the night of power, with sincere faith, anticipating a reward from Allah, all of their sins are forgiven. So, what is that? What is qiyam? It's worship. What is qiyam in Ramadan? It's worship.

So, Ramadan is emphasizing the worship for us. And it's also emphasizing that that worship has to be sincere. This is one of the greatest lessons we take from Ramadan. That that worship has to be sincere. Why? Because

Ramadan, there's no way we can show someone we're fasting. So, only Allah knows.

So, at the end of the day, a person of sincerity, that fast is between him or her and Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Now if this lecture was at Dhuhr, or Asr, the middle of the day, who in here would know that I'm fasting? I'm sitting here. No one knows I'm fasting. No one knows when I made wudu for Dhuhr. No one knows except Allah سبحانه وتعالى . I can't show you I'm fasting.

I can show you if I pray. I can show you if I go to Hajj. I can show you I'm paying my zakat. Even if it's just one person who gets the zakat, somebody knows from human beings. No one knows if I'm fasting. So, fasting focuses the sincerity of our worship.

The Special Reward of Fasting

And this is one of the reasons Allah Ta'ala says, Hadith Qudsi. It starts out Hadith Nabawi, Hadith Qudsi. The Prophet ﷺ says, as Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه relates:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1904, Sahih Muslim 1151)

"Every action the human being does is for him. And good deeds are multiplied from ten to seven hundred times. But fasting, and Allah says that it moves from Hadith Nabawi to Hadith Qudsi. Accept fasting. Fasting is for me and I will determine its reward."

So, Allah says that fasting is for me. And the scholars say, one reason for that is because no one can know if we're fasting or not, except Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And because the fasting is for Allah, then the reward is a reward that's determined by Allah. وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بِهِ - "And I will reward for it."

So, fasting is not multiplied ten to seven hundred times like the other actions. Every other action ten to seven hundred times. Accept fasting. Allah says, that's for me, I will reward you.

So, why? Only Allah knows if we're fasting. Why the multiplication of the deeds? Some of the scholars say, the fasting is an aspect that involves patience. It's not over in five minutes. Salat: Allahu Akbar, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Five minutes is done. Even Taraweeh, twenty minutes is one rakat. Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes. Fasting is all day for twenty-nine or thirty days. So, it takes patience.

The Three Types of Patience in Fasting

Fasting is overcoming. Right before Salat, we drink. Right after Salat, we drink. Fasting all day, no drinking, no eating. It takes patience. A whole month. Not for three or four days. Not for one week. For four weeks. And then some extra. So, it involves patience. It involves patience, we mentioned, worshipping Allah. That's why we're here.

Patience in dealing with the discomfort and hardship of worshipping Allah - الصَّبْرُ عَلَى الطَّاعَةِ )As-Sabr 'ala at-Ta'ah) - Obeying Allah. الصَّبْرُ عَنِ الْمَعْصِيَةِ )As-Sabr 'an al-Ma'siyah) - And patience in avoiding the things Allah

The Blessing of Time and Place

We go to Mecca, what happens? You go to Mecca and Medina. You don't pick up the Qur'an all year. What happens when you go for Umrah? You sit in the haram and you pick the Qur'an up and you read five, ten hours without stopping except for the salawat. Is this true? That happens? It happens.

We go to Haram al-Madani. We sit in the Prophet's mosque all day reading Qur'an. But before we got there, we could barely pick the mushaf. Why is that? Because the blessing Allah has put in that place. The (شَرَفُ الْمَكَانِ - sharaf al-makan) - the nobility of the place. And in Ramadan, the same thing.

The Qur'an is on the shelf all year. Ramadan comes, take the Qur'an off the shelf. Dust it off. Bismillah. And read the Qur'an for a month. All month, read the Qur'an. Allahu Akbar. The (شَرَفُ الزَّمَانِ - sharaf az-zaman) - the nobility of the time.

So Allah has made this time noble.

And by nobility, He's put blessings in it. Why is He made it noble? How is He made it noble? What's different about Ramadan? Ramadan is not one of (الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمِ - al-Ashhur al-Hurum) - the four sacred months. Rajab, Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram. It's not Ramadan where Ramadan. Instead of Rajab, Ramadan. Dhul Hijjah, Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram. No, it's Rajab, not Ramadan.

What makes Ramadan special? Other months we're encouraged to fast. Other days we're encouraged to fast. Ramadan is the month Allah Ta'ala has blessed with the obligatory fast. And Allah Ta'ala loves the fara'id more than anything else. What does He say? Another hadith quotes to you:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 6502)

So, the obligatory fast. That's one of the greatest means for us to draw near to Allah. One of the greatest means of taqarrum. From Allah Ta'ala, Allah is putting this month. And in putting it in this month, He's ennobled this month. And He's blessed this month.

And so it becomes easy to pick the Qur'an up. It becomes easy to stand behind the imam for an hour and a half, two hours. Outside of Ramadan, we try to do Qiyam al-Layl, ten minutes. And it's difficult. Ramadan, one hour, two hours. The end of Ramadan, we come back at three in the morning to pray more.

And Allah Ta'ala makes it easy because (شَرَفُ الزَّمَانِ - sharaf az-zaman), the blessing of this time that Allah has put this obligatory fast in. So, these are the worships that we do. And this worship, this is why we're here.

Our Purpose: To Worship and Serve

"I've only created the jinn and human beings that they worship me."

There's another reason we're here. We're here to serve other people. We're here to serve Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And we're here to serve our fellow human beings. We're here to serve our fellow human beings.

"You're the best community raised up for humanity."

So, raised up to worship Allah:

"O mankind, worship your Lord who created you."

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ - And we're here to serve the people. We're here to serve the people. And Allah Ta'ala loves us to serve the people. The Prophet ﷺ, he said, and this indicates this is one of our purposes for being here. If it's not our purpose, then we'll benefit being in this world. And we'll have Allah's help and Allah's Tawfiq.

But the Prophet ﷺ reminded us:

(Sahih Muslim 2699)

"Allah will continue to help the servant, as long as the servant is helping his brother."

Which means if we're not helping our brother, and sister, and humanity, then we're not fulfilling one of our purposes for being in this world.

(Mentioned by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)

"All of humanity are the dependent servants of Allah. And the ones He loves most are those who are best in serving and benefiting their dependents."

This is why we're here. And an indication of that is this is one of the things Allah Ta'ala loves وَأَحَبُّ الْخَلْقِ إِلَى اللهِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِعِيَالِهِ - the most beloved of them to Him, those who are most beneficial to their dependents. So we're here to serve other people. We're in this world to serve other people.

Serving Versus Oppressing Others

And again, the people who don't realize why they're here, they don't worship Allah at that time, number one. What's the second thing that they don't do? They don't serve other people, they oppress other people. The people who don't realize why they're in this world, they oppress other people, as opposed to serving other people.

They take from other people, as opposed to giving to other people. They take from other people, as opposed to loving other people. Allah Ta'ala has preached us the love of people.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 13, Sahih Muslim 45)

"No one of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."

Loves for his sister, what he loves for himself, what she loves for herself. These are the things that Allah Ta'ala loves, and this is why we're here. This is why we're here.

We're here to worship and to serve Allah Ta'ala. We're here to worship and to serve our fellow human beings. And just as Ramadan encourages us, and accentuates for us the worship of Allah سبحانه وتعالىit accentuates for us the service of our fellow human beings.

Ramadan: The Month of Mercy, Forgiveness, and Liberation

Because Ramadan is the month of mercy. Allah Ta'ala is merciful to us, and He encourages us to be merciful to others in Ramadan. Ramadan is the month of forgiveness. Allah Ta'ala forgives us in Ramadan, and Allah Ta'ala encourages us to forgive other people. If you have grudges, Ramadan comes, forgive the grudge. Apologize to people. Mend the fences. Make up. This is why we're here.

And so Ramadan : (أَوَّلُهُ رَحْمَةٌ وَأَوْسَطُهُ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَآخِرُهُ عِتْقٌ مِنَ النَّارِ - And Allah Ta'ala liberates us from the hellfire during this month, and in the old days when people had slaves, they were encouraged to liberate their slaves during Ramadan.

تَخَلَّقُوا بِأَخْلَاقِ اللَّهِ

"Adorn yourself with the character traits of Allah to the extent possible."

So this is the month of mercy. This is the month in Ramadan to encourage, if you have employees, lighten their load. If you have employees, lighten their load. So that they can benefit from this month. It's the month to be merciful to people. To forgive people. And it's also the month of charity.

The Prophet's Generosity in Ramadan

And charity benefits other people. The Prophet, he described in sound hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 6, Sahih Muslim 2308)

"The Messenger of Allah was the most generous of people. And he was most generous during Ramadan when Jibril would come to him and review the Qur'an with him."

And why was he more generous during that time? Because as he reviewed the Qur'an, what are the messages that would come to him?:

"You will never attain righteousness until you spend from that which you love."

وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ

And he, righteousness is spending one's wealth in spite of one's love for it. In spite of one's love for it. So charity, what does spending benefit?

ذَوِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ

It benefits needy human beings. And that's why we're here. That's why we're here. We're not just here to worship. We're here to worship. We're also here to serve.

So when Allah mentions what true righteousness is:

لَّيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ

He mentions worship, faith, and service to humanity, to human beings.

وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ

And worship:

وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُوا

And then, being patient and dealing with the truthful.

The Importance of Truthfulness

And in conclusion, as the time is coming for the Salat, we're here to be truthful:

"Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous."

And which brings another point, and we'll close on that point, those are the people of God Consciousness. We're here to be truthful. Which reminds us, and this is the point we'll close on, we're also here to be tested. And one of the tests is our truthfulness, which emphasizes that's why we're here. To be truthful, and to be tested.

"Do people think they'll be left alone saying 'We believe' and they will not be tested? This world is a test for us. And we should not think there won't be tests. When we've tested those who preceded them, in order that Allah will show which of them are truthful, and which of them are liars."

So, we're here to be truthful, and we're here to be tested.

The Reality of Tests in This Life

"Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, 'When is the help of Allah?' Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near."

They were afflicted with poverty and hardship, them? They were shaken until the Prophet and those who were... the Messenger and those who believed with him said, how much does it take? How many of you know a person right now? Nothing upsets them. 9-11? No problem. All of this anti-Islamic propaganda? No problem.

He is worshiped by Allah, Inshallah. How many of you know somebody like that? I'm sure you do. I do. But if we have people that it seems like nothing in this world can shake them, what would it take to shake a Prophet?

What would it take to shake a Prophet?

وَزُلْزِلُوا - They were shaken.

حَتَّى يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَى نَصْرُ اللَّهِ

When does the help of Allah come? When does the help of Allah come?

أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ

We're going to be tested.

"So Allah said He's created death and He's created life to test you which of you are best in deeds."

So we're going to be tested in this world. We're going to be tested.

"You're going to be tested in your wealth and in your persons."

Some people are shaken up. Their stocks were bad a few years ago here in Silicon Valley. Everyone's riding the dot-com bubble. And then the dot-com bubble burst. And all those stocks the company was giving everyone instead of some salary were worthless. And people were all upset. Oh, everyone's really upset. That's the test of this world. Allah says:

لَتُبْلُوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ - You're going to be tested in your wealth.

وَأَنفُسِكُمْ - And in your person.

You're going to have illness. You're going to have disease. You're going to have weakness. Some people might be killed. Some people were killed. You hear all this hatred. You think people aren't going to... Who heard about the Iranian lady? She does the fingernails for all the stars. J-Lo and all the movie stars. Some people in New York just recently went and smashed her head.

Just because she's a Muslim. And wrote all kinds of anti-Islamic things on the wall. You think that those tests are coming? Why do you think they're happening? What's going to happen next month on 200 college campuses in this country? You should know these things because it's going to affect you. It's going to affect us as Muslims.

What's happening? Where's the students? No one's here in MSA? SubhanAllah. There's going to be Islamofascism week. How many of you heard about that? Islamofascism week on over 200 campuses. Where you got these people that hate Islam. They're going to go to 200 campuses and try to get these other people that hate Muslims.

And presenting films that distort our religion. Giving them literature that presents lies and distortion about our religion with one purpose. To make people hate you and be afraid of you. And you think when people hate people and they're afraid of them, they don't go out and start killing them? This precedes every genocide. So, Allah Ta'ala is going to test us. He's going to test us.

In our lives, in our wealth:

"And you're going to hear from those given the scripture before you, some of the Jews and Christians, and from those who associate partners with Allah, much harm."

Like you're hearing now. You turn on the radio. (أَذًى كَثِيرًا - much harm)

Staying Strong Through the Tests

So, what should we do? And this is how we get through the test. Keep doing the good things you're doing. That's why they're doing all this. They want Muslims to stop making dawah. And they want Muslims to stop feeling that we have opportunities here. They want everyone to pack up and leave. To get afraid. And to pack up. And to leave. So they can have this country.

And they can dictate how the power of this country is going to be used. And there'll be no dissenting. And there'll be no resisting voices. That's what they want. But they don't know something about a Muslim. A Muslim isn't a coward. Right? A Muslim doesn't pack up and run away.

Like the Muslims. They want Muslims to run away from Palestine. I can't take it anymore. But they're not. Those brothers and sisters are staying there. Saying, this is my home. This is my father's home. My mother's home. My grandfather's home. My grandmother's home. My great-great-grandfather's home. My great-great-grandmother's home. And I'm not going anywhere. Unless I go in a coffin. Unless you kill me and put me in a box. That's the only way you're going to get me out of here.

You can boycott me. You can blockade me. You can cut off the water. Cut off the gas. Cut off the electricity. I'm not going anywhere. Is that their attitude? That's the attitude of the people. That's what a Muslim is.

The Attitude of American Muslims

And an American Muslim should have the same attitude. We're not going anywhere. You can talk about us. You can slander us. You can vilify us. We're not going anywhere. We're going to stay here. (حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ - Hasbunallahu wa ni'mal wakeel) - "Allah is sufficient for us and the best of protectors." And we're going to do the good we're doing.

We're not making trouble for anyone. We're feeding people. We're helping people. Our community are educated people. We believe in education. We're not criminals. We clean up the criminals. How many criminals in the prison become Muslims? Tens of thousands. If not hundreds of thousands. That's the Muslim. So we're not going anywhere.

And we'll just ride out the test. Because Allah tells us. And no matter what the time is. If it's an easy time or if it's a hard time. If you're strong or if you're weak. And sometimes we'll be strong. Sometimes we'll be weak. We say we're in this world to be tested. How can we be tested if we're always strong? How can we be tested if we win every battle? How can we be tested if we're always wealthy? Then it's easy to be a believer.

But Allah Ta'ala said. And what do we start with? You say Allah doesn't love oppressors. So Allah says He alternates the strength and the weakness:

"And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people."

Among people. So sometimes you're going to be strong. Sometimes you're going to be weak. Sometimes you're going to be rich. Sometimes you're going to be poor. Sometimes you're going to be healthy. Sometimes you're going to be sick. Sometimes you're going to be happy. Sometimes you're going to be sad. That's life. And that's the test.

Enduring with Faith and Patience

And the Muslim is the one who endures those tests with faith, with patience, with good character, with worship, with service to others, with charity, with all the things we've mentioned in this khutbah. That's the Muslim. And that's what Ramadan is teaching us. Ramadan is teaching us to worship Allah sincerely. Ramadan is teaching us to be patient. Ramadan is teaching us to be charitable. Ramadan is teaching us to serve others. Ramadan is teaching us to forgive. Ramadan is teaching us to be merciful.

All of these things that Ramadan is teaching us, these are the things that are going to help us get through the tests of this life. And these are the things that are going to help us attain success in the next life. So let us take advantage of these blessed days that remain in Ramadan. Let us increase our worship. Let us increase our charity. Let us increase our service to others. Let us increase our seeking of forgiveness. Let us increase our remembrance of Allah.

And let us ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to accept from us our fasting, to accept from us our standing in prayer, to accept from us our charity, to accept from us all of our good deeds. And to forgive us our sins. And to make us among those who are freed from the hellfire during this blessed month.

وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

"And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And may Allah send blessings upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions."