Remaining Steadfast In Times of Trial - Dr Ahsan Hanif

Remaining Steadfast In Times of Trial

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, ask His help, ask His forgiveness and repent to Him.

We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can misguide him. Whoever He misguides, no one can guide him.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, there is no partner for Him. I bear witness that our Prophet and our Master Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He sent him with the truth before the Hour as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. He was a caller to Allah by His permission and a shining lamp. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions.

O you who believe, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

As for the rest, the most truthful hadith is the Book of Allah. The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

The Final Days of Ramadan

Today is the 29th of Ramadan. The 29th day of this blessed month and it may well be the last day of Ramadan. Ramadan began five Fridays ago. And on this Friday it may well be the last day of this Ramadan in the year 1433 — 1433 years since our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, made hijrah from Mecca to Medina.

So at this junction, at this point, there are a number of things that we need to have in mind. Allah has blessed us in this month with the ability to perform many acts of worship. Not least of which is the obligation of fasting.

For 29 days so far, and perhaps for 30 days, we have fasted for the sake of Allah. Leaving off our food, our drink, our desires. Leaving off everything that we would normally do in our daily lives from our routines. Changing the way that we live. Changing our routines just for the pleasure of Allah.

Throughout this month and these 29 days that have passed, we have stood insha'Allah every single night to stand in prayer in front of Allah. Praying for the sake of Allah. Acts of worship which are optional, voluntary. Allah has not obligated them upon us. But we did so out of the fear of Allah. We did so hoping for the mercy and the reward of Allah.

Throughout this month, we've given charity. Perhaps some of us have given our obligatory zakah. But others from amongst us have just given sadaqah, charity, to a wide variety of causes. Throughout this month, we've recited the Qur'an. You come into the masjid during the day and you see that the brothers and sisters, when they have a spare moment, they go and they pick up the Qur'an. Someone comes in the month of Ramadan 10–15 minutes before the prayer and they pick up the Qur'an. So we've attached ourselves to the Book of Allah.

Throughout this month, during the days and the nights, we've made du'a to Allah. Raised our hands, shown humility and submission to our Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Asking Him for our needs. Groveling to Him for what we need in this dunya and in our akhirah.

Gratitude to Allah for His Blessings

We've done, walillahil hamd, by the grace of Allah, many good deeds. A lot of actions insha'Allah in this month of Ramadan. So one of the things that we need to do at this juncture, perhaps on the last day of Ramadan, is that we need to show gratitude to Allah for what He has given us the ability to accomplish in this month of Ramadan.

All of your fasting, all of your prayer, all of your du'a, all of your recitation of the Qur'an, all of your charity, the many people that you probably fed in this month of Ramadan, all of the good that you have done — all of it is only by the grace of Allah and Allah alone. You and me had nothing to do with this. You and me are insignificant when it comes to the bounties and the grace of Allah. And this is one of the greatest lessons that we learn from the month of Ramadan and from this exercise of fasting that we go through every single year as a reminder, as a reminder for us, as a reminder for the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us.

So that you may complete the appointed days of Ramadan and you may glorify Allah for the guidance that He has given you and so that you may show gratitude towards Him.

It is from the greatest blessings that Allah has bestowed upon anyone sitting here today in this masjid — whether you're in the main hall or you're upstairs or you're outside in the marquee, wherever you are — anyone sitting here today: from the greatest, if not the greatest, blessing that Allah has bestowed upon you, more so than your health, more so than the fact that you can see and you can hear and you can speak, more so than the fact that you have family and wives and children and you have loved ones surrounding you, more so than the money and the wealth that Allah has given you and the peace and the safety and security that you live in, more so than any of these blessings and all of them combined — the greatest blessing is that Allah chose for us this religion of Islam, that He guided us towards this path of iman, that Allah has bestowed upon us from amongst all of His creation — the billions of people that are living today upon the earth, that have preceded us and that will come after us — Allah has chosen us to be showered with His guidance, to be from the ummah of the Prophet ﷺ. And so we need to show gratitude for this.

This is something that we don't normally acknowledge. It's something which normally passes us by.

Allah did not create us except for His worship alone. So if in your life you realize this purpose and you take steps in order to achieve this purpose and to fulfill your purpose in this world, then that in itself is a great blessing from Allah.

My brothers and sisters, you only need to look around you. You only need to drive down Green Lane or Country Road or Alum Rock to see how many even of our brothers and sisters — many from amongst the Muslims — even in the blessed month of Ramadan, when Allah chains the devils and He opens the gates of Jannah and He closes shut the gates of the fire, they still delve deep into disobedience. They still spend their time disobeying Allah.

You only need to drive down one of these roads to hear music blaring even in the days of Ramadan, even in the nights of Ramadan, on the night of the 27th and the 29th, when it may be Laylatul Qadr. Is it not then from the great blessings of Allah upon me and you that He made us insha'Allah from amongst those people who during these days and nights have spent our time in the masjid, have come to the masjid, have spent our time worshiping Allah?

And no doubt fasting was difficult. Fasting these long days is not easy — for 30 days on the trot, every single day, day in day out — to come every night and to pray the Taraweeh prayer, all eight rak'ahs, when the Imam makes the recitation long, it's not easy. But we do so in the hope of the reward of Allah. We do so to show gratitude for the blessing of the guidance that Allah has shown to us.

Our Prophet ﷺ, the best of this creation, showed that same type of gratitude inside the month of Ramadan and outside the month of Ramadan when he would stand the whole night in prayer until his feet would gain blisters. When he, in a single sitting, would make more than 100 istighfars, saying أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ more than a hundred times in a single sitting, or in a single day more than 70 times. The Prophet ﷺ, despite all of the blessings of Allah upon him, and despite being guaranteed the highest rank in Jannah, and despite having all of his sins — past, present, future — all of them forgiven, he still showed that gratitude to Allah.

The Fear of Non-Acceptance

And that's why, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, even though 29 days of Ramadan have passed, and we've fasted and we've prayed, and we've recited the Qur'an, and perhaps we've finished that Qur'an once or twice or three times or more — still, we as believers, as Allah describes in the Qur'an, we remain in a state of awe. We're fearful that perhaps despite all of our best efforts, despite everything that we've done, we don't know for a surety, we have no guarantee, whether these actions will be accepted in the sight of Allah. Allah describes this as one of the characteristics of the believers.

Those — the believers are those who, even though they spend and they give and they perform many actions, their hearts remain afraid that they will return to their Lord. And as the scholars of tafsir have mentioned what they remain afraid of: when they return to Allah on Yawmul Qiyamah, and Allah brings out and presents for every single individual the deeds that they have performed, whether good or bad, perhaps Allah for those good deeds will render them null and void. None of them will count. Perhaps it was a lack of sincerity on our part. Perhaps those actions that we performed were not in accordance with the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Perhaps there was some deficiency in the way that we worshipped Allah. And so Allah does not accept any of it.

Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu, the son-in-law of the Prophet ﷺ, his first cousin, and the fourth khalifa of Islam — he used to say that we, the companions, were more fearful that Allah would not accept our deeds. We would be more fearful of this than performing the action itself. Performing the deeds were not so difficult upon us, but wondering whether Allah will accept it from us — that was difficult.

Imagine, subhanallah, after all of this effort that you've put in, perhaps because of a lack of sincerity, perhaps because you were showing off, perhaps because your heart is not purified, it is not clean in the way that you worship Allah, perhaps because you didn't follow the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — none of this is accepted.

Allah only accepts, only accepts the deeds of those people who have taqwa. How many of us can say, standing or sitting here today, that we are from amongst the people of taqwa? Not even the companions of the Prophet ﷺ had that audacity to claim that they were from the people of taqwa.

So don't let shaytan deceive you. Don't let shaytan come and render all of these 29 days of worship null and void. Because from the traps of shaytan is that even when you perform a good deed, if shaytan can't come and stop you from worshipping Allah, then he will come and try to corrupt your good deeds. He will try to corrupt the worship that you have performed.

Shaytan will come and he will tell you to be amazed by yourself. He'll tell you that you've done an amazing job. That you have done more than you've ever done before in any previous Ramadan. Or that you've done more than anyone that you know around you. Shaytan will say: look at the Muslims outside on the streets. Look at those people that you know. How little worship they performed. And look at how much you did. Look at how much Qur'an you recited. You never missed a single Taraweeh prayer. You stood up every single night in prayer. You gave charity every single day. You stood up for every single one of the last 10 nights. So insha'Allah, you've reached Laylatul Qadr. And then through this — through this pride and this arrogance that we display — Allah renders our deeds null and void.

No doubt, it is from the greatest blessings of Allah that we perform these acts of worship. And it is only through the blessings of Allah and His grace and His bounty that these acts of worship will be accepted from us. And that's why the companions of the Prophet ﷺ for 6 months of the year, they would make du'a that Allah accept their deeds in this month of Ramadan. From the very first day of Ramadan, this du'a would begin. And throughout the whole month of Ramadan and 5 months after Ramadan, their du'a would be: O Allah, accept our deeds in Ramadan. Imagine — half a year you're worried about just having your deeds accepted from this month of Ramadan. None of us sitting here has a guarantee.

Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu, the great companion of the Prophet ﷺ and one of those individuals that was given a cast iron guarantee that they will enter into Jannah. The Prophet ﷺ in more than one hadith said that Umar will be from the inhabitants and the people of Jannah. In fact, in one hadith, the Prophet ﷺ even saw his palace in Jannah — the palace that Allah has prepared for Umar in Jannah.

Umar radiyallahu anhu would say: if I knew from all of my deeds that Allah has accepted only one, I would place all of my trust in that one deed. All of my trust in one deed.

Umar radiyallahu anhu participated in every single battle of Islam — Badr and Uhud and Ahzab and the conquest of Mecca and Tabuk, every single battle of Islam. Umar radiyallahu anhu was one of the companions who gave the most charity, who fasted the most, who worshipped the most. He was a Khalifa of Islam. Many of the things that the Muslims did go back to his scale of good deeds — being the Khalifa and facilitating that for the Muslim Ummah. Yet even so: a single good deed. If only Allah accepts one, then I will place all of my trust in this.

Because Allah says: إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ — Allah only accepts the deeds of those people who have taqwa. And we don't know if we have taqwa.

And that's one of the greatest lessons that Allah impresses upon us through this month of Ramadan. That this month of Ramadan was a month of taqwa.

O you who believe, fasting was legislated upon you just as it was legislated for those who came before you so that you may increase in taqwa.

Accounting for Ourselves Before Ramadan Ends

And so my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, 29 days of Ramadan have passed. And perhaps this is the last day of Ramadan. And only Allah knows whether we will ever see another Ramadan ever again. So we need to hold ourselves to account. We need to stop and ponder and reflect.

What have we done truly in this month of Ramadan? Have we hit those goals and met those targets that Allah has set for us in the Qur'an? Not that me and you set for ourselves. Not the aspirations and the ambitions that we have. That Allah laid down in the Qur'an: that we become people of taqwa. That we show gratitude to Allah. That we glorify Allah for His blessings. That we show patience upon the decree of Allah. That we show patience as we did in this month of Ramadan upon the obedience of Allah. That we show patience in staying away from the disobedience of Allah. Have we fulfilled those targets? Have we met those goals?

We need to hold ourselves to account. Because Ramadan, my dear brothers and sisters, is not yet over. Ramadan is not over. And only shaytan can come and fool you. Because even though Allah has chained the devils, the devil that runs inside each and every single one of us is still free. He still whispers.

And so many of us today, and perhaps yesterday and the past couple of days, and even tomorrow if it is still Ramadan, we've now switched off. Ramadan for us is over. And now we're in Eid mode. So people are shopping — go to any supermarket and they're full. People are buying presents and they're getting ready and they're getting their clothes ready. Because we're already in Eid mode. We've already finished the month of Ramadan in our minds. And this is from the traps of shaytan.

Perhaps the act of worship that you do on this last day of Ramadan. Perhaps today's fasting. Perhaps the Qur'an that you recite today. Perhaps tonight's Taraweeh prayer, if there is a prayer tonight. Perhaps the du'a that you make today. The sadaqah that you give as you leave this masjid. Perhaps that will be the cause of your salvation.

29 days of Ramadan — perhaps only Allah knows whether it was worthy of His acceptance or not. But perhaps the act that you do today is sufficient for your salvation. It only takes one deed. Only takes one act. And that act of repentance. That act of forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness from Allah. Perhaps that is sufficient for your salvation. It is only that one moment when you realize this, and you do that act that Allah accepts. Perhaps that is sufficient for your salvation.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 87 — the Prophet ﷺ said: "Do not belittle any good deed.")

Maybe there's only a few hours left. But don't belittle any good deed. Don't think that it is insignificant — if after 29 days you haven't done much in this month of Ramadan — that there is no point doing anything today. You still have a number of hours from this day of Ramadan left. And from the mercy of Allah, this day has come on a Friday — one of the most blessed days of the week, the most blessed day of the week, and one of the most blessed days of the year. So use this time wisely.

Worship your Lord until certainty comes to you — until death comes to you. Until that time comes when death approaches us, there is always an opportunity.

One Act Can Change Everything

When we look at the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we realize that it only takes sometimes one act of worship, one act of sincerity, one act of tawbah for our salvation in this life and the next. In the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we have the story of that woman who was a prostitute. She spent her life disobeying Allah. Spent her life doing one of the most abominable acts that is in the sharia. One of the most hated acts to Allah.

Yet in that single moment, when she took some water from a well in her shoe, and she gave it to that dog that was dying of thirst, that single act of good was enough to wipe away a whole life of evil and sin. One act towards a dog. And every single one of you knows the status of a dog in Islam. A dog is not an animal that is honourable in Islam, but rather a dog in Islam in the eyes of the sharia is an animal which is filthy, an animal which is lowly. Yet even so, Allah showed her mercy because of the mercy that she showed to that dog.

So what about me and you? When insha'Allah we haven't reached that level of sin that she reached. And Allah has given us this blessed opportunity of Ramadan. And Ramadan is not yet over. What about that fasting that we can still do? That charity that we can still give? That recitation of the Qur'an that we can still recite? And the help that we can give to one another as Muslim brothers and sisters? This month of Ramadan is not over.

The Prophet ﷺ said: O people, do that which you are able to do. For Allah will not become bored until you become bored. Allah does not close the scrolls of our acts of worship until we close them.

If a person was to stand all night in prayer and spend that time worshipping Allah, Allah will not turn away from him until he or she turns away from Allah. If we were to open the Qur'an and recite as much as we can on this last day of Ramadan, hoping for the mercy and the reward of Allah, then Allah will not become bored with our recitation. Allah will not become fed up. Allah will not ask us to speed up our recitation so that we can finish quickly. But rather Allah will continue and Allah will listen and Allah will continue to reward you until you yourself give up and become bored and become fed up and turn away from Allah.

So the Prophet ﷺ said: Allah does not become bored until you become bored. So the most beloved actions to Allah are those that are constant even if they are few in number. Those that are consistent and constant even if they are few in number.

Ramadan: A Training Ground for the Year

Perhaps after the month of Ramadan, we can't fast every day or every other day as is the sunnah. But perhaps we can fast three days in a month. Perhaps we can fast the six days of Shawwal. Perhaps we can fast on the day of Arafah and on the day of Ashura.

In this month of Ramadan, we pray every night Taraweeh. Perhaps we can't do that after the month of Ramadan — praying Tahajjud every single night. But perhaps every other night we can pray just two rak'ahs. Perhaps in this month of Ramadan, we gave charity every single day and we can't do so outside of the month of Ramadan. But perhaps we can do so every other day or once a week or at least once a month.

Don't leave off these acts of worship that Allah has made so beloved to you in this month of Ramadan. The month of Ramadan is a training ground for the rest of the year. You energize yourself in the month of Ramadan through one month. And for the remaining 11 months of the year, you continue to show Allah your piety and your gratitude. And you continue to glorify Allah for His blessings.

Second Khutbah: Signs of Accepted Deeds

The scholars of Islam have mentioned to us some of the signs by which we recognize whether Allah is more likely to have accepted our deeds or more likely to have rejected our deeds — and this doesn't just apply to the month of Ramadan but it applies throughout the whole year.

From the signs that Allah wants good for you and that this month of Ramadan has had a positive impact in your life, and that Allah by His grace and His bounties has accepted your deeds in this month of Ramadan, is that Allah then allows you to continue to do good deeds after the month of Ramadan.

One of the main lessons in the month of Ramadan that we learnt is that worship is of many types and of many varieties and that once we finish one act of worship it is very easy to move on to another act of worship. We would fast during the day and at the same time we would recite the Qur'an and we would give charity and we would make du'a and we would feed our family members and make iftar for them. And then during the night, after we finished our fasting, we would pray and at the same time we would still make du'a and recite Qur'an and give charity. And so Allah has given us the ability to follow up one good deed with another good deed. And if you can continue this after the month of Ramadan — you continue to perform your obligatory deeds and you continue to move from one act of worship to another act of worship — then that in itself is a good sign that insha'Allah Allah has accepted and He has blessed your fruits in this month of Ramadan.

Worship Becoming Beloved to Your Heart

From the signs that a deed has been accepted is that Allah makes worship beloved to you. That Allah makes obedience to Him beloved to your heart, just as the Prophet ﷺ, despite all of the favors that Allah gave him and all of the different virtues that he had, Allah made worship beloved to him, and so he would still worship Allah despite being sinless. He would still worship Allah despite being guaranteed Jannah, because Allah gave him that love of worship. So if Allah gives you that same love of worship — that you enjoy praying and you enjoy fasting after the month of Ramadan and you continue to enjoy reciting the Qur'an and so on and so forth — then that in itself is also a good sign.

The Ability to Make Tawbah

From the signs that Allah has accepted your actions in the month of Ramadan is that He gives you the ability to make tawbah. That He continues to give you the ability to turn to Him in submission and humility and humbleness and to seek forgiveness for your sins. To repent to Allah for the sins that you commit inside of Ramadan and outside of Ramadan.

The Balance of Hope and Fear

From the signs that Allah wants good for you is that you fear that Allah perhaps has not accepted your good deeds, and you live with that fear, and you hope in the mercy of Allah and His reward. And as the scholars said, the true believer is like a bird flying with his two wings — hoping for the mercy of Allah and fearful of the punishment of Allah.

These are good signs. But if we have the opposite of this — if after Ramadan we find that we can't do any more good deeds, that we stop reciting the Qur'an, that we stop standing in the night, that we can't fast after the month of Ramadan, that we find it difficult to give charity — then that, my dear brothers and sisters, is not a good sign. And you don't need to wait till after Ramadan to find this, you can tell right now.

Every single person knows themselves better, even if they throw off excuses. Even if you make an excuse, deep down in your heart you know already now through this month of Ramadan whether it has made a positive impact in your life or not — whether you feel that connection with Allah, whether your iman has grown, whether your taqwa has been strengthened. You can tell right now sitting here.

And so if the case is that you have found that change, and that you have come closer to Allah, and that you insha'Allah have found some good from this month of Ramadan, then continue on that path, continue on that path.

And if you find the opposite — that this month of Ramadan has not lived up to those expectations, that you find that you are still weak in your iman, that even through this blessed month of Ramadan you find something still lacking — then don't waste any time today. Don't waste any time today. But go back to Allah and ask Allah for the means to salvation. Ask Allah to shower His mercy upon you, to forgive you your sins, and to give you the ability to have worship and ta'ah — obedience — beloved to your hearts.

Don't waste this opportunity. Ramadan is not over until Eid is announced. And until Eid is announced, you still have an opportunity to be from amongst those people that Allah frees from the fire of hell.

I ask Allah with His most beautiful names and His most lofty attributes that He accepts the deeds that we perform in this month of Ramadan — our fasting and our prayer, our recitation of the Qur'an, our du'a and our charity — and that Allah gives us the ability to continue upon this path of goodness after the month of Ramadan. That He makes worship beloved to us and our families and our children, our husbands, our wives and our parents. And that Allah by His grace and His mercy accepts the deeds that we perform, showers His mercy upon us, frees us from the fire, and allows us to witness many more months of Ramadan for many years to come. And that insha'Allah that will be a means of salvation for us in this life and on Yawmul Qiyamah.

The masjid is extremely busy today — this being the last Friday of Ramadan. Make space for your brothers and sisters. Make sure that the rows are complete and full. Look at the rows in front of you — if there's space or there's any gaps, then fill those gaps. Squeeze together as close as possible. From the good deeds that you can perform on this day of Friday, on this perhaps the last day of Ramadan, is that you make space for your brothers and sisters and you facilitate the acts of worship for them. Look down your rows, look to your left and to your right, make sure that your rows are straight. The brothers in the marquee, the sisters upstairs, those in all parts of the masjid — all of the brothers and sisters — make sure that your rows are straight. For straightening the rows is from the perfect and the complete prayer.