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How to Build Your Laylatul Qadr Du'a List | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
As Laylatul Qadr approaches, have you thought about what you will ask Allah for? The last ten nights of Ramadan are the most powerful nights of the year, especially the odd nights.
These are moments filled with mercy, forgiveness, and the opportunity for life-changing du’a. In this khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman shares four essential du’as you should make during the last ten nights of Ramadan that can transform your life in this world and the next.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah, the Exalted, 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 enter into the final phase of Ramadan, may Allah, the Exalted,
allow us to be amongst those that catch Laylat al-Qadr. Allahumma Ameen. I wanted to use this khutbah as an opportunity to build out a du'a framework, because many
times people ask, how should we make du'a in this time? What du'a should we say here? And I think this is a way to draw it all out, and of course the first reminder is that your du'a should be sincere and let your heart speak with whatever words come. As long as
they do not transgress the bounds of du'a and they follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), then those are the best du'as. But what this actually ended up becoming is more of how to build a du'a framework in general. So it's not necessarily
specific to Laylat al-Qadr. But really something, subhan'Allah, elaborating on one narration from Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), about what a person should hold on to in Ramadan.
Now the narration that I'll cite, it's a long narration. And Imam Ibn Khuzaimah (rahimahullah) classes it as authentic, al-Bayhaqi, and others. Hafiz Ibn Rajab includes it in his monumental work. Some of the scholars, they dispute the authenticity of the hadith, but if you take
every piece of it, then there is something to back up every sentence of it, and there is a wording here that I want to focus on. And it's the hadith of Salman al-Farisi (رضي الله عنه),
that is narrated that the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), said, "Qad a'dallakum shahrun azeemun mubarak," that verily there has come upon you a blessed and
mighty month, "shahrun fihi laylatun khayrun min alfi shahr," a month in which there is a night that is greater than a thousand months. But here's what I want you to pay attention
to in terms of a framework. He says, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), "fastakfiru fihi min arba'i khisan," so hold on to four qualities in this month that is ahead of you. Hold on to these
four qualities. Now usually when you hear a du'a or a hadith that says do these two things, do these four things, you might be expecting something that's foreign to you, or something
that's very different, or a wording that's unfamiliar to you. But the beauty of the prophetic methodology is that it's comprehensive, it's simple, it's easy to remember. Because Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
does not want you lost in poetry. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is giving you consistent methodology. And so you get your one-on-one time with Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), what should I do? Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), ask Allah
to be spared. Ask Allah for forgiveness. Very simple prescriptions. But it's the way that this narration words it that is incredible. So four qualities that you should increase
in. And he says, "khaslatani turudoona bihi ma rabbukum." Two of those qualities you increase
in your pleasing of your Lord. Two of those qualities you increase in your pleasing of your Lord. "Wakhaslatani lazeena bikum anhuma." In fact this was the wording that caught my
attention most and that I want to spend the majority of the khutbah on. And two things that you cannot live without. Two things that you please your Lord by and two things that
you cannot live without, that there is no way for you to be independent of. So he says,
"Fa ammal khaslatani allatani turudoona bihi ma rabbukum." As for the two things that you please your Lord with, he said, "fashahadatu an la ilaha illallah, watastaghfiroonah." That you say "la ilaha illallah," that you bear witness to the oneness of Allah, the Exalted,
and that you seek forgiveness from Him. These are the two things that will increase your closeness to Allah, the Exalted, and you really need to increase in this time of
Ramadan where you are seeking this blessed month. He said, "Wa ammal khaslatani allati lazeena bikum anhuma." As for the two qualities that you cannot live without, he said, "fatas'aloona
allaha al-jannah, wata'oodhoona bihi min al-nar." That you ask Allah for Paradise and that you ask Him to protect you from the Fire. These are four extremely simple things but I want
you to dig into the framing rather than simply four things that we all know as basic Muslims. "La ilaha illallah, astaghfirullah, Allahumma as'aluka al-jannah, Allahumma a'udhu bika
min al-nar." Bearing witness to the oneness of Allah, seeking forgiveness from Allah, asking Allah for Paradise and then asking Allah to protect you from the Fire. Why is this so
significant? There is an authentic narration in Sunan Abi Dawood and I want to give you a framing of it. Imagine if you walked into the masjid and you saw Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
and his most elite companions, specifically Mu'adh ibn Jabal (رضي الله عنه). And they are making these beautiful du'as and you can hear their dandana. Dandana
means the humming sounds, like the murmuring sound. So if you are walking into the masjid and you see Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) sitting and making du'a and then you see Mu'adh ibn Jabal and people like Abu Bakr and Umar making du'a and it just seems to flow so
beautifully. You can't make out the exact words that they are saying but it's just a beautiful flow. And then you are like, I'm going to go to Allah and make du'a and I have
no idea what these people are saying. Clearly what they are saying is far different than what I'm saying. I come to Allah with a very broken du'a. It doesn't rhyme, it's not poetic,
it doesn't sound in any way like what I'm hearing from Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and Mu'adh. So this man who is a simple man, he comes to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and he says, "Ya Rasulullah, I don't understand your dandana and the dandana
of Mu'adh. I don't get it. I don't understand what you are saying, what you are murmuring, what you are humming." Now Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) could have said, alright now take out your notebook and write. Right? Or listen to what I have to say and memorize
this. But instead Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, "Kayfa taqoolu fi al-salah? What do you do when you pray? What do you say when you pray?" You see the prophetic wisdom? Instead
of telling him what he says, he says, well what do you say? So he said, "Atashahadu, first I say, 'Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah,' I simply say the
shahada. And I say, 'Allahumma as'aluka al-jannah wa a'udhu bika min al-nar.' I ask Allah to grant me Paradise and to protect me from the Fire. My whole du'a is bearing witness to
the oneness of Allah and by implication shahada to the prophethood of Muhammad (ﷺ) because maybe he's a new Muslim, maybe he just learned the shahada. And I ask Allah for Paradise and I ask Allah to protect me from the Fire. That's it. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
said, "Hawlaha nu'dandan." He said, "Me and Mu'adh, all we do is we take those four things and we build around them. You're good. That's good enough." And so what
do you say to someone who just converted to Islam and like this Arabic seems overwhelming and I've got to memorize this and I've got to memorize that? You bear witness to the oneness of Allah, you send praise on Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), ask Allah for
Paradise, ask Allah to protect you from the Fire. You're good. Build on that. That's fine. Whether it's Arabic, English, whatever it may be, that's fine. Build on the principles on what
brought you into this deen in the first place. And so that's why even when our mother Aisha (رضي الله عنها), there's wisdom to this as well. Ask Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
for a du'a to say in the last ten nights, Aisha is an incredibly intelligent woman. Aisha (رضي الله عنها) could memorize a book on the spot. Right? I mean, this is incredibly literate,
thorough, intelligent, eloquent woman, poetic woman. "Allahumma innaka afuwwun wa tuhibbul-afwa fa'fu anni." Just say, "Oh Allah, you are al-Afuw, you are the Pardoner, you
love to pardon, so pardon me." Of the wisdoms is that Aisha (رضي الله عنها) is going to repeat thousands of things that Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) taught her. Imagine if Aisha (رضي الله عنها) gave us something that we have to read off a paper, and we're
going to be walking around in the last ten nights trying to remember this. But Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was making that du'a. And Aisha (رضي الله عنها) was making that du'a. However, let me come back to the narration. Four foundations, at least, that
we can build a du'a structure around, because it is wonderful to prepare yourself for du'a. It is wonderful to get yourself ready for how you're going to exert yourself with Allah, the Exalted. "Khaslatani turuboona bihi ma rabbukum." Two things by which you
please your Lord. The first one is that renewal of tawheed. That renewal of the oneness of Allah, the Exalted, and your covenant with Allah, the Exalted, and praising
Allah, the Exalted, and sending salawat on Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Whether it is the last ten nights, or it is as you are on your way to do umrah or hajj
and you're saying "Labbayk Allahumma labbayk," or it is as you're standing on the day of Arafah and you're saying "La ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulk wa lahul-hamd
wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer." It always starts with this. "Turuboona bihi ma rabbukum." And Surah Al-Fatihah gives you that equation as well. The first half is for your Lord,
the second half is for you. And that is in the hadith Qudsi that I have divided Surah Al-Fatihah into two. The first half for the Lord, the second half for my servants. And
so that first half is the praise of Allah, the Exalted. Al-thana, al-tawheed, al-thana. All of those things by which you renew that covenant with Allah. And in that
you don't have to simply repeat the prophetic prescriptions though they are beautiful. The elaborations of tawheed. So "Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah alladhi an'ama alayna bil-Islam,
alhamdulillah alladhi anzala al-Kitab, alhamdulillah." You can grow the hamd with different prophetic prescriptions and that's beautiful. You can grow the tahleel, the "la ilaha illallah" with
prophetic prescriptions and that's beautiful. But the point is is renewing that oneness of Allah, the Exalted, praise of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, alone and the praise and the salawat
on Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) because before you ask you anchor. Before you ask you anchor. You anchor yourself in the one that you are about to ask from. And you say
the things that are pleasing to him, the Exalted. So before you ask Allah for anything even of the Hereafter, you renew that covenant with Allah, the Exalted, and you anchor
yourself in that praise. And you seek his forgiveness. And the scholars mention that of the benefits of this is that seeking forgiveness is how you clear the pathway to anything that
you are going to ask Allah, the Exalted, for. And of the profound nature of even the way the Quran words the greatest gift which is Paradise and what is attained in Paradise.
Allah will forgive you for your sins then he'll enter you into Paradise. Allah will expiate your sins and then enter you into Paradise. Almost to say that just as seeking
forgiveness is a requirement to the entrance into Paradise, that if forgiveness is attained then Paradise is guaranteed. And so every time Allah talks about entering into Paradise
there is the forgiveness that comes before that. And so is to clear the way. Subhan'Allah, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) tells us that every night there is a du'a for the
fasting person that's accepted. Correct? Like we make du'a at the time of iftaar. And Abdullah ibn Amr al-As (رضي الله عنه) every single night in Ramadan he would say, "Allahumma as'aluka maghfirataka." Oh Allah I seek your forgiveness. The last ten nights
"Innaka afuwwun wa tuhibbul-afwa fa'fu anni." You are the Pardoner, you love to pardon so pardon me. Every single night at the time of the breaking of the fast, "Allahumma as'aluka maghfirataka." Oh Allah I ask you for your forgiveness. If Allah forgives me everything
comes good after that. Because sins block barakah in this life, they block the blessing of anything I'm going to ask Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, for in this life. And they block the acceptance
or the entrance into anything I'm going to ask Allah for in the next life. And so the focus on asking Allah, the Exalted, for forgiveness, cleaning the heart, clearing
the way of all of the obstacles. And in the framework that I want you to think about, because you're not just making du'a for yourself in the last ten nights, you're not just making du'a for yourself in general. The greatest thing that you could make du'a for for someone
else is forgiveness as well. And that's why even for your parents, before you ask Allah, "Oh Allah grant my parents good health. Oh Allah grant my parents a nice house. Oh Allah
grant my parents comfort. Oh Allah make this easy for them." Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says the greatest gratitude that you show to your parents, "Allahumma ighfir li-walidayya wa arhamhuma
kama rabbayani sagheera." Oh Allah forgive my parents. Forgive them. Forgive them. Because that's the greatest thing you could ask for them. What do you make du'a for the previous generations
when you think about those who came before? Right? Tastaghfir. You seek forgiveness. "Lilladheena sabaquna bil-iman." For those who preceded us in faith. You seek forgiveness for your
brothers and sisters. Yes, even in Gaza, in Palestine, and all over the world. You seek forgiveness for them. Because forgiveness is the greatest thing that could be given to them that clears the way for everything else. So ask Allah to forgive you. Ask Allah
to forgive your parents. Ask Allah to forgive your ummah. Ask Allah to forgive those who came before. Ask Allah to forgive those that will come afterwards. And so this is the second
thing. And in that process as well, you'll notice that Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is showing the humility in seeking forgiveness by showing us that we should seek
forgiveness from Allah for the hidden sins and the obvious sins. Ma asrarna wa ma a'alanna. Ma qaddamna wa ma akharna. That which we have done, that which we have yet to do. What we
know and what we don't know. There are sins that we commit that we don't even know. And to admit to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, in the process that Allah, 'Azza wa Jal, has blessed us with so much and that there was
no justification whatsoever in presenting those sins to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. These are two things and Subhanahu wa Ta'ala when you're talking about the divine attributes,
human qualities only give us a window. If you're really mad at someone and you know that your child is going to come and ask you for something and before they ask you for something you still hold something. Like they never really showed regret. They never actually
sought forgiveness for something that they did that was very upsetting. They never showed any humility in that. The moment that they do that, look how much your heart softens to your child. Like, oh wow, he's really sorry. She's really sorry. She gets it.
Qaslatani turudoona bihi ma rabbukum. Two things that you please your Lord with. And then ask. What do you ask Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala? Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, the words
that caught me in this narration, laagheena bikum anhuma. Ask Allah for the things that you cannot live without. I want to be real here for a moment. Ask Allah for money, but
you can live without money. Ask Allah for health, but you can live without health. Ask Allah for all of these things of this world, but you can technically exist without those
things. You can survive in the ultimate sense without those things, but ask Allah for them. But Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is saying, prioritize the things that you
could not survive without. And what are the things you absolutely could not survive without? The entire incentive of what exists at the end of this purpose of living. Entrance into
paradise and protection from the fire. So go there and start with that. So you ask Allah for al-jannah. Tas'aloon Allah al-jannah. And when you ask Allah for paradise, ask Allah for the highest of paradise. So you just admitted your sins and you should be feeling
low. But because of the fact that you're admitting your sins to the Most High, then those lowly sins disappear. Ask Allah for the highest of paradise. Ask Allah for al-Firdaws al-A'la. Ask Allah to be the rafiq of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in jannah, to be his companion
in jannah. Ask and ask and ask and ask of the highest levels of paradise. And ask Allah to grant other people jannah that you love as well. Pray that Allah, 'Azza wa Jal, enter them
into al-'Illiyyin as well. Ask Allah that your family be with you. But let that be the North Star that you're constantly asking Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, for now. This is before you get
to the rizq, the sustenance. Ask Allah for jannah. And then ta'udhoon abihi min al-naar. Ask Allah for protection from the fire. I want to share something here that some of the 'ulama of tazkiyah mention. That one of the best ways to increase your du'a when you're
asking Allah for jannah is to ask Allah to grant you the qualities of the people of jannah. And ask Allah to facilitate for you the deeds of the people of jannah. That way you will extend. So you're not just asking Allah for jannah and then the parts of jannah that you
want and the people that you want in jannah. But you're asking Allah for the qualities and the deeds that get you into jannah. So oh Allah facilitate this for me and open this for me. And you can then build out your list of the dreams and the aspirations you have
for the sake of Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And then the same is true with wa ta'udhoon abihi min al-naar. And you seek refuge and protection from hellfire. That ask Allah to
protect you from hellfire. And ask Allah to protect you from the qualities that lead you to hellfire. Ask Allah to protect you from hypocrisy. Ask Allah to protect you from insincerity. Ask Allah to protect you from the deeds, the lying, the cheating, the weak moments where
the Shaytan can exploit and you get pulled into committing certain sins. The arrogance and the pride and the desires and the things that lead you astray. Ask Allah to clear those
away. Not just protect you from hellfire but protect you from being with the people of hellfire and like the people of hellfire. And when you see your brothers and sisters
suffering ask Allah, 'Azza wa Jal, that they will not suffer again in the hereafter. That what has taken place for them of suffering in this life will not be repeated of suffering in
the afterlife. That it is an expiation. Now with all of that being said, and I'm at the end of my khutbah already. As you come into the end and you include your ummah. La yu'minu ahadukum. No one of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves
for himself. Yuhib li akhihi ma yuhib li nafsihi. Right? Everything that you will ask for yourself you ask for your brothers and sisters. Subhan'Allah as we're witnessing right now the expansion of
the war on the innocent. On the war on the mustada'afeen. The school girls that were killed in Gaza now school girls in Iran. The starvation that took place and that continues to take
place in Sudan. You will see it expand to the regions that will fall apart because the natural resources cannot reach them anymore. Because when the global economy crashes the last to suffer will be the global elite. Right? It's always the poor people that have to eat
the pain in the middle. And our ummah has to suffer. And there's a common reflection that I was hearing from brothers and sisters that I was checking upon over the last few
weeks that live in some of those Gulf countries where they can just see the things in the sky. All they do is they can see it in the sky and they can hear the explosions. And
most of them, I don't want to say all of them because it might have been just one person who didn't respond with this in their reflection. Subhan'Allah this made us think of the people of Gaza. How could they live with this without the protection and air defenses and things
of that sort? Like we are on the edge just seeing explosions in the sky. How could they live with this destruction constantly falling upon them? It doesn't need for you to live
an experience to pray for someone that is in that experience. You know enough about your suffering ummah. Bring them to your du'a. Bring them to your du'a bi-idhn'illah. Everything
you ask Allah, 'Azza wa Jal, for yourself, ask Allah for them as well. May Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, grant them as we seek protection. May Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, grant them acceptance as we seek acceptance. May Allah, 'Azza wa Jal, allow us to be amongst those who are accepted
in Laylat al-Qadr and beyond. May Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, forgive us for all of our sins and protect us from the fire and accept all of our good deeds and enter us into the highest level of paradise. Allahumma ameen.
Al-hamdu lillah, wa as-salatu wa as-salamu 'ala Rasul Allah wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walah. Allahumma ighfir lil-mu'minin wa lil-mu'minat wa lil-muslimin wa lil-muslimat. Al-ahya'i minhum
wa lil-amwat. Innaka Sami'un Qareebun Wajeebun da'wat. Allahumma ighfir lana wa arhamna wa 'afu 'anna wa la tu'adhdhib na. Rabbana dhalamna anfusana wa in lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna la nakun min al-khasirin. Allahumma innaka 'Afuwwun Kareemun tuhibbu al-'afwa fa'fu
'anna. Allahumma ighfir li walidayya. Rabbir hamhuma kama rabbayani sighar. Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhurriyyatina qurrata a'yunin wa ja'alna lil-muttaqina imama. Allahumma nsur ikhwan al-mustada'afin. Fi mashariq al-ardi wa magharibiha. Allahumma nsur hum fi Filastin
wa fi as-Sudan wa fi kulli makan. Allahumma 'alayka bi-a'da'ika a'da ad-din. Allahumma ahlik adh-dhalimin bi-adh-dhalimin. Wa akhrijna wa ikhwana min baynihim salimin. 'Ibadallah inna Allah ya'mur bi-al-'adl wa al-ihsan wa ita'i dhi al-qurba. Wa yanha 'an al-fahsha'i wa al-munkar
wa al-baghi. Ya'idukum la'allakum tathakkarun. Fathkuru Allah yathkurkum. Wa shkuru 'alayhi ni'amahu yazid lakum. Wa la dhikru Allahi akbar. Wa Allahu ya'lamu ma tasna'un. Wa aqim as-salah.
May Allah bless you.
