2015 06 05 Friday Prayer Imam Nadeem Bashir

Preparing for Ramadan: A Du'a for Reaching the Blessed Month

Respected brothers and sisters, we are in that time of the year that every single day we should be making du'a to Allah the way the Prophet ﷺ would make the du'a:

We have heard, we read on Facebook, we read on Twitter, that every single day people are passing away. Until the month of Ramadan starts, we are going to find out about other people passing away. And when we hear about these people passing away, this should be a wake-up call for all of us — that life, there is no guarantee to life, and if Allah wants, He can take our life before Ramadan.

Ramadan as an Opportunity for Self-Transformation

The month of Ramadan is another opportunity for all of us, and it's a time to reflect upon our own selves. In the month of Ramadan, we have heard the Quran so many times being recited, we have experienced and gone through so many other months of Ramadan, and the question is: if I am the same person who I was 15, 20, 30, 40 years ago, then there is a serious problem with us. Because the Quran is such that Allah says in the Quran that if this Quran was revealed on a mountain — think about a mountain, how firm a mountain is — Allah says that this mountain will turn into dust.

If the heart absorbs the Quran for so many Ramadans — we hear the Quran being recited, we hear the tafsir of the Quran being mentioned to us, we've been through fasting so many months of Ramadan, so many years — if we are the same person, then there is a serious problem. And that's why Allah is giving us another opportunity: if you have not made use of the previous Ramadans during your life, I am willing to give you another opportunity. How Raheem and how merciful is Allah that today in the world that we live in, no one — no one — will give you this many chances the way Allah gives you chances.

And in the month of Ramadan, the one thing that we do pick up and the one thing that we do learn is that we have to build up the level of tolerance within ourselves. And that is what I want to talk about today. SubhanAllah, this is something that I had already thought about talking about, and in the earlier khutbah given by Imam Khalil Abdul Rashid, he was talking about the same thing — that in times today, where Islamophobia is spreading like wildfire, people are against Islam, people are talking against Islam. We heard about the woman on the plane who was refused an unopened can of diet coke. Why? Because she was told that if she was given an unopened can, she could use it as a weapon.

So when things like this take place, what are we supposed to do? And what did the Prophet ﷺ do that we can learn from? Because he is, without a doubt, the greatest role model of all time. In the Quran, Allah says:

The greatest example is in the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. And many times in these kinds of times — when we are intolerant, when we become depressed about what's happening with the Muslims here in America, what's happening with the Muslims overall in the entire world — we need to always reflect and study the life of the Prophet ﷺ.

And especially the Mecca era, when the Prophet ﷺ was being persecuted by the Quraysh, and the Sahaba were being persecuted by the Quraysh. Everything that we see today — the media, the propaganda, the bigotry, the hatred that is spread against Islam — when we reflect on the life of the Prophet ﷺ, we will learn that the same exact thing was taking place during his time. And it was magnified; it was on a much bigger level than we are going through today.

The True Purpose of Ramadan

But the month of Ramadan is coming, and the purpose of Ramadan is not only to build a connection with Allah. We always hear the same ayat over and over again:

That you need to build up the awareness of Allah, the awe of Allah. But in fact, and in reality, the reason why Allah is giving us the month of Ramadan is to make ourselves a better person. This is what Ramadan is all about.

Whatever weaknesses I have — if I have weaknesses in regards to Salat, the month of Ramadan is there to build that, to recover and to get rid of that weakness. If my weakness is that I am intolerant towards my children, I am intolerant towards my spouse, Ramadan is coming to change that habit. If I am in the habit of being rude with others, then Ramadan is there so that I can change myself to become a much nicer, calmer person. I can become a person that is more tolerant.

The Prophet's Extraordinary Tolerance

When we study the life of the Prophet ﷺ, he was the epitome of tolerance. Throughout the entire life of the Prophet ﷺ, from beginning to end, there was tolerance, there was sabr, there was patience — again and again. The Prophet ﷺ's family went through struggles. They were attacked, they were tortured, but not a single time did the Prophet ﷺ seek revenge.

When we study the life of the Prophet ﷺ and his daughters and his own children — think about a man. Today we have people in our communities who lost one child, and they cannot get over the loss of that one child. Think about the Prophet ﷺ, a man who, out of seven of his children, buried six of his children with his own hands during his own lifetime. Think about the sabr the Prophet ﷺ had to go through.

Think about his own daughter, Zaynab رضي الله تعالى عنها. When she was leaving Mecca, she was expecting a child. The Quraysh did not want her to leave in peace, and rather than letting this simple woman leave alone, they attacked her. She fell off the horse and she experienced a miscarriage. Not only that, but it is said that the wounds sustained because of this attack were the primary cause of her death. Yet did the Prophet ﷺ ever get upset? Never did the Prophet ﷺ get upset.

The Lesson of Ta'if

Think about Ta'if. Think about the tolerance of the Prophet ﷺ. Many of us do not know that when the Prophet ﷺ went to Ta'if, the reason he went there is because the people of Mecca and the people of Ta'if were very much connected with one another. People in Mecca had property in Ta'if that they owned, and there were some people in Ta'if that had property in Mecca. They were very much connected with one another, and the Prophet ﷺ thought that if he went to Ta'if, hopefully he could convince some of them and gain some support.

In return, instead of simply refusing his message and letting him leave in peace, they stoned the Prophet ﷺ to such an extent that he was bleeding profusely. He was bleeding to such an extent that some say his sandals may have been stuck to his skin because of the amount of blood. But subhanAllah, the Prophet ﷺ, when he had the opportunity to take revenge, when he had the opportunity to get even with them, he chose the path of tolerance. He was able to forgive them.

And we don't know this — the majority of us sitting here today, especially those of us who come from the subcontinent, we are Muslims today because of the forgiveness of Rasulullah ﷺ. Because there was a man who came from Ta'if, whose name was Muhammad bin Qasim, who played a very vital role in spreading Islam in India, and as you know, Islam did not just stay in India — it spread throughout all the surrounding countries. Think about this: we are today Muslims because of the tolerance of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Practical Tolerance in Ramadan

So the month of Ramadan is coming. And as I said earlier, one of the reasons Ramadan is here is to build up that tolerance. The tolerance is not only in the form of staying hungry — because as you know, it's hot, and we are going to struggle in our fast — but the month of Ramadan is there to build an overall nature of tolerance.

When we see people at the masjid, be tolerant. When we see people at home, be tolerant. Our kids are at home — it's summer. Ramadan is in summer. The kids are going to be running around, driving us crazy at home. What we do at that time is we try to be tolerant with our children. As they say in English, a hungry man is an angry man. It is very easy to get upset in Ramadan. It is very easy to get upset at other people in Ramadan. But that's why Ramadan is coming — to build up that level of tolerance. We need tolerance in every aspect of our life.

Second Part of the Khutbah: Tolerance in Our Community

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ

Respected brothers and sisters, there is a story in the life of the Prophet ﷺ that we have all heard — not one time, but numerous times. But still, every single incident and every single story in the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ has numerous lessons that can be derived from it.

The Man Who Urinated in the Masjid

The story I am referring to is the story of the man who came inside the masjid and urinated inside the masjid. This is something that we have all heard. The Sahaba got upset. The Prophet ﷺ simply said: let him finish, let him take care of his business. When he was done, the Prophet ﷺ called him over and very nicely — without raising his voice, without getting upset — he taught him the manners of the masjid.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 220)

Now I ask all of you — and I want you to really think about this: this man who came inside the masjid and urinated — if he was a man who came to the masjid every single day, who saw the Prophet ﷺ every single day, who learned from the Prophet ﷺ every single day, who was always in the majlis of the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم — do you think he would have done something like this? The answer is no.

This man who came and urinated inside the masjid clearly tells us one thing: this man did not know the etiquettes of the masjid. He did not have the understanding of the status of Rasulullah ﷺ. He did not have the understanding of what the sanctity of the masjid is all about. That is why he came and he did something like this. We would not do anything in the wrong place — this tells us that this man simply did not understand where he was.

Welcoming New Visitors in Ramadan

The reason I mention this is because in the month of Ramadan we are going to have a lot of people coming to the masjid — people who don't come throughout the entire year, people who don't come for Jumu'ah, people who only come in the month of Ramadan. When they come, their spouses come, their children come. They may not know how to behave in a masjid. They may make some noise. They may do something that for most of us who come to the masjid every single day seems very abnormal.

Now we have two choices: either we can get upset at that person, or we can explain to that brother or sister. And do not get upset at the children — build this up. This is where Ramadan is all about tolerance. This is where our tolerance will be tested. We see a person who does something wrong inside the masjid — if we lash out at them, then we have not learned tolerance. This is just like the man who came inside the masjid and urinated.

Children in the Masjid

When we have kids inside the masjid — there is not a single hadith, never in the life of the Prophet ﷺ or in the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ — where we find that the Prophet ﷺ yelled at a child inside the masjid. You show me one hadith — there is not a single hadith where the Prophet ﷺ expressed his displeasure for children being at the masjid.

People in the month of Ramadan bring their children to the masjid. The parents want them to come because after a few years, when Ramadan falls during the school year, they may not have the opportunity to come every single night — they have obligations, homework, projects. So this is the time when parents feel they can bring their children. But then there are people in the community who keep yelling at these children — "go here, do this, do that." There are people saying that people should not be bringing their kids to the masjid. That is not from the seerah or the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. The children should be welcomed to the masjid. Yes, they should be taught. We should be more tolerant. Explain to the parent — but do not get upset. It's all about tolerance.

Special Needs Individuals in Our Community

When we have children who come to the masjid who are special needs children — and the number of children considered as special needs is growing every single year; it is a problem here in America — when we have those children in our masjid and they may do things which are very unusual, they will make sounds that are unusual, they will do things which are out of the ordinary, it is our job instead of getting upset to realize that these children, these adults, these teenagers who are considered as special needs are part of our community. They are part of us.

Look at the Prophet ﷺ — he made part of his own community people who were considered as outcasts. People like Bilal رضي الله عنه, who did not have any rights, who was considered an outcast — the Prophet ﷺ made him part of the community.

A person like Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum رضي الله عنه — think about this. Today, would any blind person get a job? No, because there would not be any efficiency in their production. But the Prophet ﷺ — even a person like Abdullah who was blind — if you study the fiqh, especially during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, there were always two adhans for Fajr. There was one adhan given by Bilal رضي الله عنه and there was a second one given by Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum رضي الله عنه to signify that Fajr had actually started. And people would have to come to Abdullah رضي الله عنه and tell him that it was now time for the adhan.

Today in our jobs, no one comes and tells us "do this, do this" — we do things on our own. But think about a man like Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum رضي الله عنه, who would not have any kind of efficiency in that role, and yet the Prophet ﷺ made him part of the community too. Everyone was part of the community. So when we have children or teenagers who are considered as special needs, they are part of our community. Do not get upset with them.

Tolerance in the Parking Lot

When people who don't come to the masjid too much double-park or block your car, there are two things you can do — once again you can go and get upset at that brother, and there's always a yelling match, and there is profanity that is used even in the month of Ramadan. Once again, Ramadan is not only to build tolerance when it comes to hunger and thirst — it is to build an overall nature of tolerance.

Building Connections in the Masjid

So this is the month of Ramadan that is coming. We are going to see many different people coming, and it becomes our job — and I've said this before here on this minbar — it becomes our job, especially in Ramadan, that whoever we see, we build a connection with them. The biggest problem that we have in our Muslim communities is that new people come in the month of Ramadan and no one meets them, no one says assalamu alaykum to them, they are not met with love. They make a mistake and people get upset with them.

These people who are coming to the masjid may be coming for the very first time in their life. But when they are met with anger and disgust, this may be the moment they close the door upon themselves from ever coming back to the masjid. So that is why we have to always understand what tolerance is — build a higher level of tolerance with our community members, with our family, with people who are spreading hate against Islam. Once again, this month of Ramadan is all about tolerance. The month of Ramadan is coming to build that tolerance.

I pray to Allah that He builds within us the tolerance of the Prophet ﷺ, or gives us at least a measure of what the Prophet ﷺ had in terms of tolerance, so that everything becomes easier for us and we are more pleased with the Qadr of Allah.

Du'a

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونَ — Establish the Salat.

Appeal for the East Plano Islamic Center

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. For those of you who know me, I am Nadeem Bashir, the Imam at the East Plano Islamic Center. Alhamdulillah, we are in the process of building a masjid. In the past three years we have come a long way, and the intent and the hope is that inshallah we can perform our Ramadan prayers in the new masjid inshallah.

The management has permitted me to make an appeal: we are in need of funds. Alhamdulillah, we've had some great fundraisers in the past, but one reality about fundraisers is that we take all the pledges, but a lot of times the pledges do not come through — for any reason, whether the person cannot give or they take time in giving to the masjid. Right now we are in a deficit which is close to around a million dollars. I am not asking for a million dollars from this congregation — the only thing I am asking is for you to give whatever you can. On the way out, there are people near the doors from the EPIC Masjid collecting funds.

Honestly, you will notice that people who come here for fundraising or appeals usually dedicate the entire khutbah to their organization. I have not done that. The reason is because I have respect for the minbar of Rasulullah ﷺ, and I don't want to abuse the khutbah. I want to give my message and then make my appeal — and that is what I did. I don't want to circulate my entire khutbah just around the masjid and giving money.

We are trying to emulate the success that this organization has experienced. On your way out, give whatever you can inshallah, for the sake of Allah. If you can help our community pray Ramadan inshallah in our new masjid, inshallah Allah will give you the reward for that community praying in that new masjid inshallah.

Jazakumullahu khayran. Assalamu alaykum.