Jump to:
Khutbahs
Has Allah Chosen You This Ramadan? | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
Allah grants His mercy to whom He wills and raises whom He wills in faith. What does it mean to be among those chosen, and how can we strive to be included?
Listen to this khutbah to reflect on how Allah selects His servants for special mercy, guidance, and increase in iman, and what we can do to seek that honor.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah by bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) 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, as we come to the end of the series of 'Ibad ar-Rahman, may Allah 'azza wa jal make us from 'Ibad ar-Rahman, and we enter into the month of mercy, in which we seek the mercy of Ar-Rahman, Ramadan.
I wanted to let this khutbah serve as a bridge between the series that we had on 'Ibad ar-Rahman and entering into the month of Ramadan with the very last verse.
When Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that say, and it's incredible because over these verses, Allah 'azza wa jal is extolling the best of the best of His servants, 'Ibad ar-Rahman.
And then suddenly Allah 'azza wa jal delivers a message to the opposite of 'Ibad ar-Rahman, through 'Ibad ar-Rahman. And the ultimate 'Abd ar-Rahman, Rasulullah (ﷺ), now you say this to them.
Qul, you say this to them. You have no worth.
Your Lord does not care about you if it is not for your du'a, if it is not for your supplication.
And verily, you have denied, and so you will suffer the consequences, and be stamped with that denial, and punished with that denial.
Before I go into the details of this verse, I want to begin with a very important premise as Ramadan starts to come around to us.
That Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has to choose you in order for you to be granted any grace or any gift from Him in the first place. Allah 'azza wa jal has to choose you.
You see, when we talk about the people as they enter into the season of Hajj, and into the place of Hajj, we say that you are duyuf ar-Rahman. You are the guests of the Most Merciful. You've been chosen by Ar-Rahman.
There is a level of choosing that comes from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for every single one of us when something good is unlocked for us.
When Allah 'azza wa jal talks about Al-Mustafa (ﷺ), the chosen one, Muhammad (ﷺ), with everything that the Prophet (ﷺ) had of amazing qualities and amazing akhlaq,
and he was raised for the moment, 'alayhi salatu was-salam, Allah chose him as the vessel for the Qur'an before the Prophet (ﷺ) was even born.
And so it wasn't because he was As-Sadiq Al-Ameen that he became Rasulullah (ﷺ).
It was that Allah 'azza wa jal prepared him with the proper ingredients to be most ready when revelation would come into his heart, (ﷺ),
when faith would be transferred into him and through him, 'alayhi salatu was-salam, to the billions of people that have benefited from the reception of that revelation. Allah chose him. When Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
Wa dhkur fil kitabi Musa, remember Musa 'alayhi salam, and we know all of the preparation and the stories of Musa 'alayhi salam. Allah 'azza wa jal says,
Innahu kana mukhlasan wa kana rasulan nabiya. Mukhlas sounds very similar to mukhlis, a person who is sincere due to their work of sincerity, right?
They strove for Allah 'azza wa jal. Wal ladheena jahadu feena lanahdiyannahum subulana. And they strove and Allah 'azza wa jal opened up pathways for them. But Allah 'azza wa jal says about Musa 'alayhi salam,
Mukhlasan, he was purified, made to be in that place by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And all of us, by extension, have some level of being chosen.
Huwa jtabaakum, Allah 'azza wa jal chose you as an ummah, as a people that would carry on the message of Islam, the legacy of iman, transferred through all the prophets. You're a chosen nation.
And that does not mean that you have no responsibility. That means that you spend your entire life trying to be worthy of that choice and to not lose what Allah 'azza wa jal has bestowed upon you. To not lose it.
So you know that you did not earn any of this because of you. But you also know that you could lose it because of you. And you don't want to lose it. And so as we come back to this ayah,
Qul ma ya'ba'u bikum rabbi lawla du'a'ukum. Say that your Lord would have no care for you. Has no value for you if it is not for your du'a.
Allah 'azza wa jal says, lawla du'a'ukum means lawla imanukum, if it is not for your iman. Your iman is what gives you value in the sight of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Allah 'azza wa jal chose people with iman. He does not turn away the sincere pursuance.
But there is a selection process here that makes this verse so deeply profound as we come into Ramadan.
May Allah 'azza wa jal choose us to be amongst those who witness Ramadan with iman, with ihtisab, with faith and with seeking the reward. And choose us to be amongst the forgiven. Allahumma ameen. You have to be chosen.
Lawla imanukum, if it was not for your faith. And it comes to a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
He said, 'alayhi salatu was-salam, inna Allaha yu'ti ad-dunya, yu'ti al-mala man ahab wa man la yuhib.
Allah gives of this world those whom He loves and those whom He does not love. People receive from the distribution of this world.
Those that Allah loves and those that Allah does not love.
Because it's distribution and that distribution of this material world is not necessarily a manifestation of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's love and blessing and favor.
So there is a distribution. Some receive and are tested and fail. Some receive and are tested and blessed.
Some are denied and they are elevated because of their patience as a result. But it's distribution. It's not random. It's divine. But it's not a distribution of Allah's divine favor.
When Allah 'azza wa jal distributes this dunya. Wala yu'ti al-imana illa man yuhib. But Allah does not give iman to someone unless He loves them.
There is a difference between divine distribution and divine selection. Iman is divine selection. And it's also not random. It comes through something.
But you have to be chosen. And show to Allah 'azza wa jal that you are worthy of that choice and that you will not lose the blessing that He chose you for.
And there is a way of engaging this process. Let's not talk about anyone claiming to be chosen people yet doing everything. That is in contradiction to what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commanded of humanity.
No, no. You don't get that type of chosenness here. If there is any group of people that could claim to be the chosen people of Allah in this world today, it is the people of Gaza.
If there is any group of people in the world that could make the claim that they are the chosen people, it is the people of Gaza. But let's not go there for a moment. Let's come back to us on an individual level.
How do you engage that iman if Allah 'azza wa jal bestows it upon you as a favor, as a choice? And why would Allah 'azza wa jal use the word du'a?
You see, SubhanAllah, first and foremost, Say to them, my Lord has no need for you.
Because there is a level of exclusivity that now comes with your Lord. This is a relationship with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that can only be engaged through iman and through du'a.
That can only be engaged through the means by which He commanded you to engage Him. And so it's not that your Lord doesn't care for you. It's my Lord has no care for you. And my Lord is the one who is commanding me to tell you,
Allah is our protector, our Lord. You have no protector. You have no protective friends. Why use the word du'a?
Du'a is worship. And as you come into this month of Ramadan,
Faith is increased by the worship of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, by good deeds, by acts of obedience. And it's decreased by acts of disobedience. It's a month in which you engage your iman in a way that it grows.
The Qur'an increases a person in iman. It's a month in which you will water your iman with the Qur'an in a way that you don't do at any other time of the year.
And don't feel bad unless you completely neglect the Qur'an outside of Ramadan. Because even the people of Qur'an engage the Qur'an more in the month of Qur'an. Imam Ash-Shafi'i rahimahullah ta'ala would always read the Qur'an.
But in Ramadan it was a different level. Imam Abu Hanifa rahimahullah, the same thing that's narrated about him. You go through the examples of the Salaf. And the Sahaba of course, being the premiers of the Salaf.
They all engaged it more in Ramadan, but that doesn't mean they abandoned it outside of Ramadan. And so you do more good deeds, more acts of obedience in Ramadan, your iman grows. You avoid the sins that diminish iman.
You read the Qur'an and engage the Qur'an which grows iman. And du'a, this is the month of du'a.
You engage in that closeness with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in a transformative way that grows that relationship. And that grows a closeness to Him. And that grows your value. You see, Qul ma ya'ba'u bikum rabbi
Say that, my Lord has no care for you. The opposite is also to be understood. That with your du'a and with your iman, Allah 'azza wa jal loves you more and more and more and more and more.
Every time you make du'a to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, you get closer to Him if it's sincere. Every time you do an act of good, you get closer to Him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. You grow in your relationship with Him.
Why am I talking about this on the footsteps of the month of Ramadan? I'll tell you why. And I'll use a narration about our mother 'A'ishah (رضي الله عنها) for a moment.
And that'll help us bi-idhnillahi ta'ala to understand this idea of divine distribution versus divine selection. How to have not a transactional relationship with Allah, but a transformational relationship with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
It was narrated about our mother 'A'ishah (رضي الله عنها). Kanat idha tasaddaqat bi-dirham aw dinar tutayibuhu bil-misk That our mother 'A'ishah (رضي الله عنها), when she would give her sadaqah,
she would perfume her charity. Please, for a moment, think about the love and the reverence of Allah in the heart of that woman, (رضي الله عنها), our mother, the stories of our mom.
Think about the love and the reverence in her heart for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Think about what's going through your mind as you're doing that. As you're taking these coins, you're taking these little pieces and you're perfuming them.
What are you doing, mom? What is this all about? And she said, Hadha yaqa'u fi yad Allah qabla yad as-sa'il
This goes to the hand of Allah before the hand of the one who's asking. This goes to the hand of Allah before the hand of the one who's asking. What a relationship. And so while everybody else is maybe thinking,
Ad'af, I get this much, give this much sadaqah, get this much, give this much sadaqah, get this much. And you know what? You should have in your mind that Ma naqasa malun min sadaqah that charity is not decreased or charity does not decrease your wealth
and that Allah 'azza wa jal will give you ad'af Man dha alladhi yuqridu Allaha qardan hasanan fayuda'ifahu lahu If it wasn't an incentive, Allah wouldn't have mentioned it in the Qur'an that you give and Allah gives you more in return.
But she took it a step further. She said this goes to the hand of Allah before it goes to the hand of the beggar. Not from a place of need. It's a place of love.
She personalized what is the most transactional 'ibadah of all the 'ibadat. What's more transactional than calculating your money and taking a cut of it and putting it in zakah? Out of all of the 'ibadat,
the one that has the most likelihood of becoming transactional is your zakah and your sadaqah. But she even took that and turned it into a deeply personal
relationship between her and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so I ask you dear brothers and sisters, what does it look like to perfume your recitation of the Qur'an as you present it to Allah?
What does it look like to perfume your siyam as you present it to Allah? What does it look like to perfume your taraweeh as you present it to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala every single day and every single night? This is a deep relationship.
Ya Allah, are you happy with this? Ya Allah, are you pleased? And here is what I want you to think about every single night. If Allah 'azza wa jal chooses you to live to see Ramadan and to be accepted in Ramadan, may
Allah choose us all to be amongst those people. Allahumma ameen.
If Allah allows us to witness this blessing, when it comes to the pursuit of Allah's reward,
pursuing Jannah is noble. The higher level of ihsan, of excellence, is to pursue what will guarantee you Jannah as well, which is to pursue the rida of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, to pursue the pleasure of Allah.
To make this about Allah 'azza wa jal and to make the greatest gift that you seek, His pleasure with you Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if you are amongst those, lilladheena ahsanu al-husna wa ziyadah, for those who do acts of
ihsan, of excellence, is excellence in return and more. And that more is an-nadhar ila wajhillah, to stare at Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, to see Allah while He's pleased with you.
The greatest way of doing a good deed is to pursue Allah 'azza wa jal's pleasure as well. Not just paradise, but to pursue His pleasure. And all that will do is increase the beauty, the love, the quality of everything that you
do. There's also an equivalent to that when it comes to muhasabah, when it comes to sins. Obviously we seek refuge in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala from the fire and we seek refuge
in Allah from the punishment of our sins. But there is another layer of muhasabah, of holding yourself accountable. And you know what that layer is? Madha aqulu lillah?
What will I say to Allah? What will I say to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala when I meet Him with this deed? You see, because there are things that are haram and then there are things that border
haram, they're shameful. What will I say to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala? It's the opposite of perfume. You know, someone could come and dress right for the interview, but they didn't put deodorant or put something on themselves. They stink. They smell bad. It's the opposite.
They fulfilled the requirements, but there's still a smell that's there. It's the opposite of this. Madha aqulu lillah? What will I say to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala?
You know something, dear brothers and sisters, it's one way to think about this on the day of judgment. What will I say to Allah on the day of judgment? But here's a practice that I want you to carry every single night in Ramadan.
Every single night in Ramadan. I guarantee you it will transform your Ramadan. You know what it is? Every single night you ask yourself, what is Allah saying about me right now to the
angels? You see, your name is never stagnant in the heavens. Either Allah is praising you or dispraising you. Either Allah is telling them how much He loves you or He's telling them the opposite, how
angry He is with you. What is Allah saying about me tonight? When I present this package of fasting to Him today, madha qala 'anni?
You see, because you can't fully engage the process of du'a unless you're thinking about the other side of that equation. The same thing is true for muhasabah. It's not just what will I say to Allah?
It's I wonder what Allah is saying about me right now. I wonder what Allah is telling the angels about me right now. I wonder how Allah sees my actions today, what He's saying about those actions today. Personalize it.
Allah chose you, choose Him. Allah 'azza wa jal bestowed iman upon you. That is a sign, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, that there is some level of love for you. Increase that love. Lean into that love.
Make this affair of Ramadan an affair of love between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that increases. When you do your deeds, don't just think about the reward of those deeds.
Think about the rida of the one who prescribed those deeds in the first place. Did I increase in that rida or not? And by the way, this is not just a practice in Ramadan. Every single night when you go to sleep, you ask yourself, what did Allah say to the angels
about me today? And if there's something that you think would have caused that conversation to go in a direction that you're not pleased with, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.
I seek your forgiveness, O Allah, and I repent to you. Allahumma adkhilhu 'alayna bil-amni wal-iman, was-salamati wal-islam, wa diwari minash-shaytan, wa ridwani minar-rahman. Allahumma ameen.
Aqulu qawli hadha wa astaghfirullah li wa lakum wa li sa'ir al-muslimeen. Fastaghfiruhu. Innahu huwa al-ghafur ar-raheem.
Alhamdulillah. As-salatu was-salamu 'ala rasulillah wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walah. Allahumma ghfir lil-mu'mineen wa lil-mu'minat, wa lil-muslimeen wa lil-muslimat, al-ahya'i minhum wa l-amwat.
Innaka sami'un qareebun mujeeb ad-da'wat. Allahumma ghfir lana wa arhamna, wa 'afu 'anna wa la tu'adhibna. Rabbana zalamna anfusana. Wa in lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lanakuna minal-khasireen. Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun kareem.
Tuhibbu al-'afwa fa'fu 'anna. Allahumma ghfir li walidayna. Rabbir hamhuma kama rabbayana sighara. Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhuriyatina qurrata a'yun. Waj'alna lil-muttaqina imama. Allahumma ansur ikhwanana al-mustad'afeen fi mashariq al-ardi wa magharibha.
Allahumma ansur hum fi Ghazza, fi as-Sudan, fi al-Yaman, fi kulli makan. Allahumma 'alayka bi-a'da'ika a'da' ad-deen. Allahumma arina fi adh-dhalimeen 'aja'iba qudratik. Allahumma ahlik adh-dhalimeen bi adh-dhalimeen. Wa akhrijna wa ikhwanana min baynihim salimeen.
'Ibadallah innallaha ya'muru bil-'adli wal-ihsan. Wa ita'i dhi al-qurba wa yanha 'an al-fahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghi. Ya'idhukum la'allakum tadhakkarun. Fadhkuru Allaha yadhkurkum wa shkuruhu 'ala ni'amihi yazid lakum. Wa ladhikru Allahi akbar. Wallahu ya'lamu ma tasna'un. Wa aqimi as-salah.
