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Ramadan Joy and Gaza Depression | Khutbah
How do we deal with the excitement we should feel at the coming of Ramadan, with the sadness of Gaza in the background? How do we balance two contradicting feelings we are experiencing simultaneously?
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, with Ramadan just a week away, and with the continued genocide in Gaza, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for our brothers and sisters in Gaza and in Palestine and all over the world. Allahumma ameen. There's a sentiment that has been circulating around, and I have to admit, I feel some of it myself. Which is, it doesn't feel like the Ramadan spirit is really in the air. It feels very different when Ramadan is approaching, while every single day you're continuing to watch an unfolding tragedy before your eyes, where the images only get worse, and we can't unsee the things that we are seeing, and we can't remove the impact that they're having on us, while also anticipating seeing the Hilal of Ramadan and beginning the month of Ramadan. And that sentiment is a legitimate one, that it feels different this year, and it should feel different this year. But I wanted to speak about it in the capacity of how the Prophet ﷺ and his companions sort of dealt with this constant movement between joy and grief, this constant movement between tragedy and a moment of respite, which is a common theme in the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. And as I was, subhanAllah, thinking about some of the ahadith that we have in this regard, there's a very interesting line from our mother Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala anha, where she describes Fatima al-Zahra radiAllahu ta'ala anha,
in those moments with the Prophet ﷺ as the Prophet was leaving this world. As the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was dying, we know of a famous story where he called Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anha to his bedside, and he whispered something in her ears radiAllahu ta'ala anha that caused her to cry severely. And then the Prophet ﷺ called her once again, and he whispered something in her ears that caused her to laugh. And Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala anha did not know what the conversation was. But as she was watching the emotions of Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anha, there's one line in this narration that's very profound. She said, مَا رَأَيْتُكَ الْيَوْمِ فَرَحًا أَقْرَبَ مِنْ حُزْنٍ I've never in my life seen joy and grief this close. A person go from grief to joy that quickly, like the way that her body language transformed in a moment was deeply profound. And Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala anha was the one who said about her father Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu anhu on the hijrah, that I've never seen a person cry happy tears like my father when the Prophet ﷺ informed my father that he would be on the journey of the hijrah accompanying the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. SubhanAllah, how incredible it is to see a human being go from intense grief to intense joy in a moment. And of course when she inquired and she asked Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anha, what was it that your father ﷺ said to you? Eventually Fatima tells her that the first time he let me know that this would be his last moment ﷺ, that he was going to pass away. And the second time he let me know that I would be joining him ﷺ.
And indeed Fatima radiAllahu ta'ala anha would be the first to pass away after the Prophet ﷺ and join him in that blessed gathering. But SubhanAllah, the joy and the grief, how is it that you could switch that off? How do you go from being in so much pain to being so happy in just a moment? The Prophet ﷺ described on Laylatul Isra'ul Mi'raj, on that blessed journey, that night, as he was going through the heavens, seeing Adam ﷺ. And before he knew who Adam ﷺ was, he said, I saw this man sitting. And as he's sitting in the center, there are some souls going to his right and some souls going to his left. When he looks to his right, ﷺ, he laughs. And then when he looks to his left, ﷺ, he cries. And I asked Jibreel, ﷺ, Ya Jibreel, man hatha, who is this man? What is this man? What's going on here? And he said, this is your father Adam, ﷺ. The souls that are transitioning on his right are the souls of paradise and he's in joy over their being saved. And the souls that are to his left are the souls of hellfire and he is pained over their doom. The same man, ﷺ, going from intense joy to intense sadness in a moment. And the scholars mentioned that this is the nature of how he programmed us, how Allah ﷻ created us. That we witness things that make us happy and we witness things that make us sad. And we are constantly between those two things. But the difference between the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and the righteous ones, and most people who try to balance those emotions,
is that the companions of the Messenger ﷺ go from intense grief to intense joy over that which Allah ﷻ has promised. They don't go from grief to heedlessness. But they go towards happiness when they see something that is of what Allah ﷻ has promised the believers. And that is a precious happiness that cannot be found except through iman, except through faith. And that's why you could be watching the scenes of Gaza, and you could be in intense grief as you should be in intense grief. When you see someone who physically is torn to pieces. Barbarity that we should not be witnessing on our screens, but a world that has failed them. Intense grief when you see the way that their bodies are torn. But then you can also find joy in knowing that that same body that has been torn has a soul that has now flown to Allah ﷻ. And is experiencing what Allah ﷻ has promised that soul. فَرِحِينَ بِمَا أَتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ That's perspective. And both of those emotions are valid in the moment. And as Muslims, when we sort of take a step back and we say, well, how do I find joy in Ramadan, in a month of worship, while also knowing that this is happening? Is my only way to enjoy my Ramadan and to make the most of it ignoring Gaza for a few moments? Ignoring the plight of the Muslims for a few moments? Absolutely not. It is in fact to combine both of those emotions with perspective. Why are you grieving when you're grieving? Why are you in joy when you are in joy? If Ramadan to you is a month of festivity, if Ramadan to you is a month of iftars, if Ramadan is a month of great community, if Ramadan is a month of light, if Ramadan is a month of looking forward to Eid and looking forward to the spirit of Ramadan in that sense,
yes, Gaza is a true spoiler for you. But if Ramadan is a month of worship, is a month of ibadah, what better month to get close enough to Allah ﷻ, that's where our du'as for our brothers and sisters are more impactful. What better month to have perspective than when the last five months have been giving us a smacking perspective in our faces, inescapable. What better month to lose your appetite for this dunya if you haven't lost it over the last five months watching what's happening in Gaza? It actually is the exact same thing. It's not about the manifestation of the emotion, it's about the driver of the emotion. And Allah ﷻ keeps us balanced and grounded to that foundation by the events that happen in our lives, to our community, and then to us as individuals. And that's why the day of Badr, which happened in Ramadan, the day of Badr, which was a great day of joy for the Muslims overcoming an oppressive enemy, the day that the pharaoh of this ummah, the fir'aun of this ummah was finally taken out, the day that the Muslims were supported by the angels. Imagine the joy coming back to Medina with the victory of Badr. And the first news that you hear when you enter into Medina is what? That the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ died on the exact same day. Ruqayya passed away on the same day. You're coming back with joy and then you hear the news of the death of the Prophet ﷺ's daughter and you realize, as the Sahaba used to call it, a day of great joy and a day of great sadness, that every single day, subhanAllah, and every single momentous occasion and every single milestone in our lives combines the two emotions so that we can maintain our perspective, so that we don't worship the emotions or become too intoxicated by the emotions or submit ourselves to the emotions, but we submit ourselves to the Lord of all emotions and all circumstances.
الَّذِي أَضْحَكَ وَأَبْكَىٰ We submit ourselves to Allah ﷻ who gives us reason to laugh and reason to cry. But the good reasons to laugh and the good reasons to cry drive the same level of sincerity. And so what's a Ramadan with a Ghazza in the background? It's a Badr with Ruqayya passing away because there are many Ruqayyas that are passing away right now in Gaza. What's a Ramadan with a Badr in the background? It is a moment in which we all anticipate that there are many more battles to come, many more difficulties to come, and there are many more promised victories to come as well. But knowing that Allah ﷻ will test us with good and with bad, will test us with hardship and ease, and yes, Allah will test us with happiness and sadness. Every single moment in the seerah. What's a more legendary day than Fatih Makkah? The opening of Makkah. But you don't think the Prophet ﷺ was a little bit sad remembering that Khadijah ﷺ had died before he was driven out of Makkah as well. And that's what the ulama mentioned, of the Prophet ﷺ's desire to stay in Hujoon, close to Al-Mu'alla where Khadijah ﷺ is buried. You don't think there's a moment of, well, how much can I really enjoy this moment when I don't have all of the people with me that died so that this moment could happen? Isn't that the case for all of us? We lose our loved ones, or we go through devastating circumstances, and when we finally taste what we were seeking, it's not as sweet because it's missing someone or something. That's Allah ﷻ's way of keeping us balanced. That's Allah ﷻ's way of keeping our perspective there. And on that day of Fatih Makkah, when Abu Bakr ﷺ's father finally becomes Muslim, and as joyful as he is at the Islam of his father, he starts to cry. Why? Because I remember the Prophet ﷺ and how badly he wanted that for his father figure, Abu Talib. Perspective.
So he goes from laughing to crying because he remembered. And that's actually the point. There's a word in the English language that we say multiple times. The word is bittersweet because everything in this dunya that has some sweetness to it also comes with its share of bitterness. And everything that comes with bitterness also has its share of sweetness if there's patience and if there's perspective. And I want to end with this one narration, it's a narration from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رضي الله تعالى عنه in the Tirmidhi. It's an amazing narration because he describes the Day of Judgment. He says, إذا كان يوم القيامة أُتِيَ بِالْمَوْتِ كَالْكَبْشِ الْأَمْلَحِ He said that, or he narrates that on the Day of Judgment, Allah ﷻ will bring forth death as a ram to be sacrificed. The end of death. And he says, فَيُوقَفُ بَيْنَ الْجَنَّةِ وَالنَّارِ And death is set up between paradise and hellfire. You want a moment to scare you? When the Prophet ﷺ describes people looking out at that ram because the people of paradise are called and the people of hellfire are called to watch that ram. May Allah ﷻ make us from the people of paradise that are watching it from that perspective. The Prophet ﷺ mentions everyone is watching what's going to happen with this ram. Death manifested in a ram. And the Prophet ﷺ said, فَيُذْبَحْ وَهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ It is sacrificed while they are watching. And at that point, subhanAllah, in the narration of Abu Sa'id رضي الله تعالى عنه قال فَلَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدًا مَاتَ فَرَحًا لَمَاتَ أَهْلُ الْجَنَّةِ وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدًا مَاتَ حَزَنًا لَمَاتَ أَهْلُ الْنَّارِ In that moment, if there was any group of people that could possibly die out of happiness, it would be the people of jannah. And if there was any group of people that could possibly die out of grief,
it would be the people of an-nar. May Allah ﷻ protect us. Allahumma ameen. What does that tell you about the nature of this life? That the joy is not meant to delude you and the grief is not meant to kill you. It's all meant to give you that sense of perspective. Today, dear brothers and sisters, we will be praying janazah on the mother of our dear brother Faiz Uthman. He's been our brother and a member of our community who's done a lot for us. Alhamdulillah, may Allah reward him and make this a sadaqah jariyah for his mother. It's a day of great sadness when we bury a believing woman, when we bury someone that clearly was dedicated and devoted to her deen. May Allah ﷻ accept her and forgive her. Allahumma ameen. And in the same moment where you see a salatul janazah after salah, you're going to see a brother who is taking shahadah. May Allah ﷻ give him great thabat, give him sincerity and steadfastness upon this new way. In one moment, you send someone to their new life. In another moment, you welcome someone to their new life. That's the way this dunya is. That's the way this life is. And you know what? It's meant to be that way. That's not a flaw in the scheme. That's actually divine wisdom in the scheme, even if sometimes we don't like it. May Allah ﷻ allow our brothers and sisters in Gaza to find relief and ease and victory in this month, the month of victory. May Allah ﷻ be with our brothers and sisters that are suffering all over the world. May Allah ﷻ allow this Ramadan to be a Ramadan not in which we become more heedless of him, but in which we become more aware of him and in the process more aware of our brothers and sisters around the world. May Allah ﷻ ease the suffering of the oppressed all over the world. May Allah ﷻ uplift the Ummah of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam all over the world. May Allah ﷻ forgive us for our shortcomings in regards to him and in regards to our brothers and sisters all over. May Allah ﷻ have mercy on our deceased brothers and sisters.
And may Allah ﷻ allow this moment in history to be a moment in which the da'wah takes hold and many more people find Islam. And may Allah ﷻ make us able vehicles. Allahumma ameen. Aqoolu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah wa liyaakum wa nisaa'il muslimeen. Fastaghfiru. Innahu al-ghafurur raheem. Alhamdulillah. As-salatu was-salamu ala rasulillah wa ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa manwala. Dear brothers and sisters, as I mentioned after salah there will be janazah and shahada. That means there will be an Allah Akbar of the exit of someone from this world and an Allah Akbar of the entrance of someone into Islam. May Allah ﷻ allow our hearts to be overwhelmed by the greatness of Allah ﷻ so that we see Allah ﷻ through our sadness and through our happiness. Allahumma ameen. Allahumma khfiru al-mu'mineena wa al-mu'minat wa al-muslimeena wa al-muslimat al-ahya'i minhum wa al-amwat innaka samee'un qareebun wajeebu da'wat Allahumma khfiru lana wa arhamna wa a'afu anna wa la tu'adhibna Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam takhfiru lana wa tarhamna la nakoonnana minal khasireen Allahumma innaka a'afuun kareem wa tuhibbu al-a'afu wa fa'afu anna Allahumma khfiru liwalidina Rabb arhamhuma kama rabbuna sigara Rabbana habalana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurra ta'ayun wa ja'anna lilmuttaqina imama Allahumma ansur ikhwan al-mustada'afina fi falastin Allahumma ansur ikhwan al-mustada'afina fi falastin Allahumma ansur ikhwan al-mustada'afina wa al-mujahidina fi kulli makan Allahumma alayka bi a'daika a'da al-deen Allahumma ahlik al-dhalimeena bil-dhalimeen wa akhrijna wa ikhwana min baynim salimeen Ibadullahi allahi ya'muru bil-adli wal-ihsan wa ita'ilil qurba wa yanha'a al-fahsha'i wa al-munkari wa al-baghi ya'idhukum la'alakum tathakkaroon fathkuru Allah yadhkurukum wa shkuruhu wa ala ni'ma yazid lakum wala dhikru Allahi akbar wallahu ya'mu ma tasna'oon wa aqeem as-salam
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