THE VIRTUES OF RAMADAAN BY HUSAIN AAL ASH-SHEIKHInnalhamdaLillaahinahmaduhuwanasta’eenahu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na’oodhubillaahi min shuroorianfusinaa wa min sayi’aatia’maalinaa. Man yahdihIllaahufalaamudillalahuwa man yudlilfalaahaadiyalahu. Waashhadu an laailaaha ill-Allah wahdahu la sharikalahu wa ashhaduannaMuhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluhusallalahualayhi wa alaalihiwasallam.
إِنَّ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
(Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the One, having no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger).
]يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُون[
O you who believe! Fear Allaah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islaam. Soorat-ul-Aal-i-'Imran ayah 102
]يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمِ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا[
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah , through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer. Sooratun- Nisaa' ayah 1
]يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا]
O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice.He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.Soorat-ul-Ahzaabayaat 70-71 [1]
HamdAll praise is due to Allaah, Lord of all the worlds. May peace and blessings of Allaah be upon His Messenger, his family and companions.
Introduction
Brothers in Islaam! A great month has come to you carrying with it great blessings. It is a month in which good deeds are multiplied and bad deeds are overlooked.
QuranWitnessing this month is a great blessing for which we should be grateful to Allaah. It is an opportunity to do good deeds that can win one Paradise and safety from Hell. Allaah says, “O you who believe! Observing fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may be pious.” Quran Surah Al Baqarah: 183
HadithThe Messenger of Allaah said, ‘Fasting and reciting Qur’aan intercede for the slave on the Day of Resurrection. The fasting will say: O Lord, I prevented him from eating and satiating his lawful lust, so let me intercede on his behalf; and the Qur’aan will say: I prevented him from sleeping during the night, so let me intercede for him.’ Sahih Al Jamee 3883
O Muslims ! Ramadaan is a month of forgiveness and mercy. The Messenger of Allaah said, ‘When Ramadaan comes, the doors of Paradise will be opened and the doors of Hell will be closed, and the devils will be chained.’ Sahih al-Bukhari 1899 (Vol.3: 123)
He also said, ‘Whoever observes the night of Al-Qadr (Decree) with faith and for the sake of Allaah, his past sins will be forgiven; and whoever fasts the month of Ramadaan faithfully and for the sake of Allaah, his past sins will be forgiven.’ Sahih al-Bukhari 37 and Sahih Muslim 760
Therefore let the month of Ramadaan be an opportunity for self-examination in order to amend what is damaged. Let this month be a good starting point towards a bright future and a turning point toward better conditions, sayings and deeds.
Worship is for Allah aloneBrothers in faith! There are lessons in the changing of the times as there are reminders in the pages of history. Whenever a month of Ramadaan passes by us, the memories of the great Battle of Badr and its victory is rekindled in us. Yes, Ramadaan reminds us of the victories of Muslims like those battles of Yarmook and Al-Qaadisiyyah. We should then bear in mind that those distinguished Muslims who fought in those battles and won did not attain glory and victory nor achieve happiness and power except through their strict adherence to Islaam in all spheres of their lives. They dedicated all their acts of worship to Allaah alone and earned as a result glory and exaltation for this religion.
Let the present Muslim nation – who live in different kinds of affliction be aware that there is no way out of the present predicaments except by making a sincere return to Allaah and make a real adherence to the path of His Messenger. Those are the basics for reform, glory, success and victory for the last of this (Muslim) nation can never be in order except by what put the earlier Muslim nation in order.
Being GenerousBrothers in faith! The month of Ramadaan is a month of generosity and kindness. Ibn Abbaas(R) said, ‘The Messenger of Allaah was the most generous person and he used to be even more generous in the month of Ramadaan when Jibreel would meet him. And he used to meet him every night in Ramadaan until the end of the month while the Prophet would recite the Qur’aan for him and when Jibreel met him he was more generous than a rain-bearing wind.’ Sahih al-Bukhari 6
Dear brothers, there are various ways of being generous. Let everyone, then, be generous in whatever way he can. Whoever is generous to the slaves of Allaah with favour and gifts, Allaah will also be generous to him. Among the most prominent types of generosity is to feed the hungry and attend to the needs of others. The Messenger of Allaah said, ‘Whoever provides food for a fastingMuslim to break his fast, he will have the same reward as that of the fasting Muslim without reducing anything of his own reward.’ Classed as Sahih by Shaikh Albani in Sunan Ibn Majah 1746 and Jami` at-Tirmidhi 807
Spend in the way of AllahLet me give you an example for selflessness: a righteous man was craving for food while he was fasting. As the food was being presented to him – when it was time to break his fast – he heard someone saying, ‘Who will loan to the rich, the reliable and the Self-Sufficient One?’ The righteous man answered, ‘His slave who is deprived of all good. He then rose up, took the plate of food and gave it to the beggar and passed his night in hunger.’
Allaah says, “And they give (others) preference over themselves, even though they were in need of that. And whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, such are they who will be successful.” Quran Surah Al-Hashr: 9
Dear Muslim! There are in the world of Muslims today poor people who have been exiled from their lands. They presently have a difficult life. They are killed, expelled and have their homes demolished. Do remember them and spend what whatever you can to feed clothe and obtain drugs(Medicines) for them. Allaah says, “And whatever you spend of anything (in Allaah’s cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers.” Quran Surah Saba’: 39
The Messenger of Allaah said, ‘Charity reduces nothing from one’s wealth.’ He also said, ‘Protect yourselves against Hell even if it be with a slice of a date.’Sahih Muslim 1016
Etiquettes while fastingMuslims Ummah! Let your fasting be a shield with which you protect yourselves against sins in all times. The Messenger of Allaah said, ‘Fasting is a shield. Let no one of you – during his fasting day – behave in an obscene manner, or become angry. If anybody abuses or fights with him, let him say: I am fasting.’Sahih al-Bukhari 1894
The purpose of fasting is to control the soul and refine it and to protect the limbs. The Messenger of Allaah said, ‘Whoever does not refrain from falsehood in sayings and deeds and acts of ignorance, Allaah has no need of his abstention from food and drink.’ Sahih al-Bukhari 1903
Reading QuranDear Muslims! Recitation of the Qur’aan increases one in inward and outward beauty and in estimation and honour in this world and the next.
Among the purposes of reciting the Qur’aan is to reflect over its aayaath and understand its meanings and the end result of all that is to put those meanings into practice, for there is no glory nor power, strength, peace of mind or safety from punishment except by adhering to the teachings of the Qur’aan and Sunnah. Allaah says,“Verily, this Qur’aan guides to that which is most just and right.” Quran Surah Al-Israa’: 9
ConclusionBrothers in faith! The month of Ramadaan is a great period for the attainment of blessings. Of its blessings is the fact that it is a month of supplication, night prayers and moving close to Allaah. Endeavour then, dear brothers, to observe SalaatulTaraaweeh in congregation as a token of emulating the Prophet and whoever observes it with the Imaam till he finishes it will be written down for him that he has performed the night prayer.
Summary
See also: other Khutbas
References[1] http://d1.islamhouse.com/data/en/ih_books/single/en_selected_friday_sermons.pdf [2] http://www.alminbar.com/khutbaheng/2234.htm
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Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah, for the fear of Allaah is the source of all good, the means of attaining blessings and removing sorrow..