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Was my Ramadan Accepted? | Khutbah
How to use the last few days of Ramadan to ensure the entire month is accepted.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, as we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for giving us the opportunity to have fasted this month and to come to the final Jumu'ah of this month and to have ahead of us a blessed night, the 29th night of Ramadan, which is of course one of those nights which could possibly be Laylatul Qadr. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us amongst those who have an accepted Ramadan and an accepted Laylatul Qadr. Allahumma ameen. Everyone comes to these last days of Ramadan with a mindset and with some baggage. There are some who come to these last days of Ramadan and feel like they're finishing a ritual. We've done this many times before and so we know how this goes. Once the khatm of Qur'an finishes, then it feels like the khatm of Ramadan. There's no need to further pursue anything from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's time to focus on Eid with some of the most special moments ahead of them. And there are those who come to this final stretch of Ramadan and feel like they did not finish their recitation of the Qur'an and they wanted to have their own khatm of Qur'an. They wanted to have that own, you know, form of celebration when they finished their own personal recitation and they didn't get there. And they make this plea to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as they're trying to get through it, that Allah azzawajal either forgives them because they will not be able to finish it or that the stress is relieved by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala powering them in their last moments. And subhanAllah there are those who would make the promise and say, yeah Allah, I couldn't finish but I'm not just going to give up here. I will finish within the first few days of Shawwal. And there are those who wonder whether or not the time that was wasted, the busyness that they felt, the time that was spent at work, the lack of tears, the lack of moments of khushu' that they had hoped they would have in these last ten nights, whether that's
going to come back to bite them or not. And I wanted to subhanAllah come to this one scene that for me encapsulates so much about how we approach these last moments. Abdullah bin Mubarak rahim Allah ta'ala and he is one of the greatest of the pious predecessors. He said that, Jitoo ila Sufyan ashiyata Arafa, wahoo ajathin ala rukbatayhi wa'inaahu tahmiran. He said that, I came to Sufyan al-Thawri rahim Allah ta'ala on the day of Arafa. And the day of Arafa of course being the day in which we seek the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and it's very apparent as you see the different people in their different states. And he said, I came to Sufyan al-Thawri and I saw him on his knees crying his eyes out. And so you would think that as you see this man on his knees crying his eyes out, there's a fear that maybe he didn't do enough. Qala fabakayt. So he said, I started to cry. So Sufyan turned around towards me and he said, ma sha'nuk? What is it with you? Why are you crying? So I said to him, man aswa'u hadhal jam'i haana? Who is the person amongst us who is in the worst state right now? You know, because obviously when he saw Sufyan in that state, he wondered about himself. And subhanAllah, you might have prayed qiyam here and you saw someone else crying or you felt like someone else was immersed or you heard these amazing Ramadan stories from other people. You heard someone saying, best Ramadan of my life and you didn't feel it that way. And you felt a naqs, you felt a deficiency because you know you could have done better even if you're comparing to a previous Ramadan. Man aswa'u hadhal jam'i haana? Oh Sufyan, who amongst us is in the worst situation? And he responded, alladhi yadunnu anna Allah azza wa jalla la yaghfiru lahum. The one who thinks that Allah will not forgive him. The person who's in the
worst state is the one who thinks that Allah will not forgive him. Dear brothers and sisters, as we come to this final stretch, you have to remember your Lord would not have given you Ramadan if he wasn't inviting you to something. He wouldn't have given you these last 10 nights if he wasn't inviting you to something. And as he would come, Jibreel alayhi salam to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in those last 10 nights and say, nalladhi tatlubu amamak, that that which you're seeking is still ahead of you. Keep going, keep going, keep going. It's still ahead of you. We remind ourselves of what Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab rahimahullah ta'ala said, that those who have failed to make the most of the first days of Ramadan, make the most of the last days of Ramadan, because all actions are judged by their endings. And there are people, subhanallah, who will stay there on the 30th night, when most people have already switched to Eid mode, on the 30th night of Ramadan and say, ya Allah, all the odd nights I felt a deficiency. I don't know if I felt it. I don't know if I connected to you. And Allah Azawajal forgives them on the 30th night of Ramadan. There are those, and we don't say this as a possibility. We say this as fact, as the ulama mentioned, because Allah Azawajal forgives different people at different times. There are people in the last minute of Ramadan, the last minute of Ramadan, that will reflect on their Ramadan and say, ya Allah, I could have done more. I'm sorry. Astaghfirullah. Please accept it from me with all of its holes, with all of its deficiencies. And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, ya abdi, I've forgiven you, not just for your Ramadan, but ghufir lahum ma taqadam min dhanbihi wa ma taakhhar, all of your previous sins, because that is the guarantee of Ramadan. And the way that we should approach this, dear brothers and sisters, the last moments of Ramadan with the first moments of that Hilal coming. You know, when the Hilal of Ramadan came, you had the
hopes and the expectations that were mainly revolving around your own potential to act in a certain way. All right, it's go time. I set up all of these, I set all these standards for myself, all these goals for myself. Now it's go time. So when the Hilal of Ramadan came, got to start this, got to start that, got to start this, got to start that. The Hilal of Shawwal is the Hilal of asking Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept what you've done with all of its shortcomings. To accept what you've done with all of its shortcomings. As the ulema mentioned, Ibn Rajab rahim Allah ta'ala has a powerful statement about Ibrahim alayhi salam. He said, do not think that when Ibrahim alayhi salam finished the construction of the Kaaba, he thought, what an excellent job I have done. You know, when he said, Rabbana taqabbal minna, oh our Lord, accept from us, you can, you can, you can bet that there was a sense in Ibrahim alayhi salam that maybe one brick wasn't done right. Maybe I was absent-minded for a moment, absent-hearted for a moment. Even Al Khalil alayhi salam in those moments felt a naqs, felt a deficiency. But the approach of the believer is that the believer understands that it wasn't your deeds that was going to attain you that acceptance in the first place. It was the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. With that being said, what do we do in these last days? What do we do in these last moments? Number one, Eid starts when the Shawwal, Hilal comes, not any moment before that. Don't kick your guest out before it leaves. This is the most noble guest of the year. Don't send him out of your house prematurely or walk him to the door and have that conversation with him like, it's time for you to go. Let him sit with you in your living room until the very last moments. Eid starts with the Hilal of Shawwal, not a moment earlier. Don't waste too much time on your Eid shopping. Don't waste too much time on your Eid plans. Think about the guests that you have until the very last moment. And so my invitation to all
of you is to be here in this masjid even, in that last hour before the Shawwal, Hilal comes, before Eid comes, and to spend that last hour seeking forgiveness from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Come with your family, pack the masjid, do it at home, but the point is spend that last hour in that way. The next thing that I would say dear brothers and sisters in this regard is that force yourself to shed some tears in that last hour of Ramadan and in these last two nights of Ramadan. Force yourself to shed some tears, have some tears to wipe when that Eid Hilal comes. And this is the beauty of it all is that exerting yourself and crying, exerting yourself and weeping before Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and seeking forgiveness from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. But as soon as that Hilal shows, as soon as Eid comes, you wipe those eyes and you put your trust in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and you say Alhamdulillah. You know, SubhanAllah, the Salaf in those last moments would be as if they thought Allah accepted everybody's Ramadan but theirs. That's the way that Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu pushes himself, right? Like if there was an announcement from the heavens, Allah has forgiven everyone but one person. I would fear it might be me. That's how you're pushing yourself in the very, very last moments, in the last days, the last hours of Ramadan. Ya Allah, have you forgiven me? Ya Allah, how do I include myself amongst that group? But there is a switch in heart as soon as the Eid Hilal comes of Husnudhun and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. A good expectation of Allah. At that moment, and Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu said you will not prepare anything more beloved to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala than Husnudhun billah, than a good assumption of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. At that moment, Allah Azawajal doesn't want you to wonder anymore. At that moment, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't want you to beat yourself up over Ramadan anymore. At that moment, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala does not want you to despair. Now to the
ibadah of Shawwal and the rest of the year. But Husnudhun and Allah, Alhamdulillah, because your Lord did not bring you to the masjid all of these nights and bring you to the Quran all of these days and bring you to that dua all of these days and nights to turn you away if you were sincere in asking him for forgiveness. He is Al-Kareem. Just as he loves al-afwa, he loves to pardon and forgive. He loves all of those things that his noble attributes denote, all of them. He loves to be generous. So at that moment, make sure that there's pure Husnudhun and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. Ya Allah, you brought me to this point. Ya Allah, accept it. Ya Allah, you brought me to this point. Ya Allah, accept it. Make sure you have some tears to wipe away them. Then I have a challenge for each and every single person that is here. Every single person that is here. I want you to think of two statements that you can take with you, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, as you leave this Ramadan. One I quit statement and one I start statement. Simple as that. It's not that difficult, but it does require some introspection. One I quit statement, I quit fill-in-the-blank. Either a sin that you repeat on a daily basis or a sin that sometimes you fall into or a bad quality that you have. It's an aspirational statement. It's an intention. And by the way, if you can't think of a single thing, if you're sitting here thinking, mashallah, you know, I can't think of anything to quit, but I hope the brother next to me is listening to me. No. Ma amina an-nifaq illa munafiq. Ibn Mas'ud radiyaAllahu anhu says, the only one who feels safe from hypocrisy is a hypocrite. No, no. Think. I've been messing up. You know, it's last year I've been noticing that I've been leaning in this direction in a negative way. My tongue has been a little bit loose against my brothers and sisters. My heart has been a little
bit more absent. That haram that comes into my money, that haram that comes into my practice, I quit. I quit. One I quit statement. Even if it's a bad sleeping habit. One I quit statement. I quit, fill in the blank. That's all I ask of you inshallah ta'ala, one of those statements. And write it down. Write it down somewhere. And I start. What's the one ibadah you're keeping with you that will be added from this Ramadan? I start from here on out, this ibadah. Small ibadah that you know that you won't give up. Small ibadah that you know your schedule can accommodate, but I start and I won't let this go. And then next Ramadan, bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, you make the intention that you can revisit that I quit and that I start statement. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to quit all of that which is displeasing to him. And to allow us to have our hearts opened towards all of those pathways back to him. Allahumma ameen. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive us for our shortcomings this Ramadan, to accept our Ramadan. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept our qiyam, to accept our qiyam, to accept our qiraat al-Quran. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the Lord of Ramadan, to make us worshippers not of Ramadan, but to make us worshippers of the Lord of Ramadan. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the turner of hearts to make our hearts firm on his path. Allahumma ameen. Aqooloo qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah li walakum wa risalatil muslimeen. Fa astaghfiru. Inna huwa alghafurur raheem. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wasalatu wasalamu ala rasulil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een. Dear brothers and sisters, one more thing I want to ask of you. Alhamdulillah we've been crowded, you know, together for all of these days. If you think that you have hurt someone in this masjid, go up to them and seek their forgiveness. Don't let them be a barrier between you and Allah's
mercy in these last days of Ramadan. The brothers, the sisters, even if it was a rough conversation at the shoe rack or when you were driving into the masjid and you cut somebody off or you took someone's parking spot or you... If you think there's someone that may feel hurt by you, go to them and seek forgiveness. And on that note, I ask you to forgive your brother and I ask you to forgive all of your brothers and sisters at VRIC on their behalf as well that have been volunteering. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward them for the great work that they have been doing. Allahumma khfirl almu'mineen wa almu'minat wa almuslimeen wa almuslimat. Al-ahya'i minhum wa al-amwat. Innaka samee'un qareebun wa jeebu da'wat. Allahumma khfirlana wa arhamna. Wa'afu anna wa la tu'adhibna. Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa inna btakhfirlana wa tarhamna. Lanakunana minal khasireen. La ilaha illa anta subhanaka inna kunna minal zalimeen. Allahumma innaka afuun. Tuhibbu al-afwa fa'afu anna. Allahumma innaka afuun. Kareemun tuhibbu al-afwa fa'afu anna. Allahumma khfirli walideena. Rabbir hamhumma kamar aboona sigara. Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhriyatina qurra ta'ayun. Wa ja'anna lilmuttaqina imama. Allahumma munsul ikhwanina al-mustad'afina fi masharikil ardi wa magharibiha. Allahumma ahliki al-zalimeena bil-zalimeen. Wa akhrijna wa ikhwanina min bayni misalimeen. Ibadullah. Allah ya'mur bil-adli wal-ihsan wa ita'ilil qurba wa yanhaa anil fahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghi. Ya'idukumil a'alakum tadhakkaroon. Fathkuru Allah yadhkurukum wa shukuru huwa a'ala ni'ma yazid lakum. Waladhikru Allahi akbar. Wallahi ya'lamu ma tasna'oon. Wa aqimu s-salam.
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