Our Sacred Duty: Protecting Families and Embracing Ramadan

Khutbah: Protecting Our Families and Preparing for Ramadan

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And to the righteous. And there is no aggression except against the wrongdoers. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Him, Lord of the worlds. And I bear witness that our Master and our Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger — the one sent as a mercy to the worlds. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions, the good and the pure, and those who follow them with goodness and supplicate their supplication until the Day of Judgment.

The Opening Verse

Allah, the Exalted, said in the book of His revelation. We seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan:

O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.

Our Greatest Blessing — and Our Greatest Responsibility

My dear respected brothers and sisters, respected elders and young friends. Allah, the Exalted, has given us many blessings in this world, in our worldly life. And with every single blessing from Allah, the Exalted, there are responsibilities associated with them. And amongst our greatest blessings that we love and hold dear to our hearts are our families — our spouses, our wives, our husbands, our children. And Allah, the Exalted, will definitely question us regarding this blessing.

With this month of Ramadan approaching in a few days, a few nights, inshallah — this is an opportunity for us not only to reflect on our individual turning back to Allah, our individual tawbah, but as this ayah makes it very clear, this is an obligation upon the heads of the household, the father figure of the home, that he has to have concern for the tarbiyah, for the tazkiyah, for the ta'leem of his wife, of his children.

Allah, the Exalted, says: this is such a fire, the fuel that is burning it are men and stones — the idols, according to one tafsir, or stones itself. Stones that do not burn in this dunya will be the fuel for the fire of Jahannam. So this is our responsibility: to protect our family members.

The Storm We Are Living In

And the environment we are living in — everyone knows — is an environment of kufr, environment of disbelief, environment of disrespect, an obscene environment of following one's shahawat, following one's desires, that is leading the entire ummah astray. There are so many challenges around us.

It is as if we are not on a ship in an ocean, not on a raft or a boat, but rather the boat has been destroyed, and there is a plank of wood that we are just grasping onto, and the sky is dark, and it is thundering and lightning, and the rain is falling very heavily in this hurricane, the waves are crashing all around us, and we are just clinging on to one raft, one plank of wood. So how in the world will we reach our destination? How will we reach land and firm earth and be able to save ourselves? We cannot afford to sleep at this time. No matter how exhausted a person may be, if he chooses to fall asleep, then that will definitely be his end.

May Allah awaken us to how dire the situation is. For us, the eternal najat and salvation is what is at stake.

Ramadan: A Time for Real Change

We have this month of Ramadan approaching us. We have to make the niyyah that it should not be like the Ramadans of the past — that we will make a definite effort to improve our condition and improve the condition of our family members, and to have concern for the humanity at large, the ummah at large. We have to fulfill our responsibility at whatever level we can, and we have to make du'a for the entire ummah.

Sometimes we just get overwhelmed by the global conditions, and then we end up putting our hands up and surrendering to our nafs and to all of the external forces, and just become resigned to our fate and say nothing is going to change. And on the other hand, we become completely oblivious and have absolutely no care about what's happening.

The reality of iman is:

Al-iman bayna al-raja' wal-khawf — Faith is between hope and fear.

We have to be between hope and fear. Continue to have hope in the mercy of Allah. Continue to make effort, but never become complacent as well.

The believers are those who invoke Allah — they beg from Allah with fear and with hope.

So may Allah allow us in this month of Ramadan to make practical changes in our families, and turn the condition of our family around in focusing towards Allah. May Allah give me and all of us here tawfiq to do so.

The Most Important Element: The Mother

In Surah al-Tahrim that Allah mentions — يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ قُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ — then at the end of the surah, He gives the examples of the most important element in the family, and that is the mother. Allah gives examples of women:

Allah gives examples of two kafirat, two disbelievers, and Allah gives the examples of two believing women — showing us that the most important element in the tarbiyah of the children is the mother. But the tarbiyah of the mother is the responsibility of the father. It is not that we can outsource the tarbiyah to the mother and say that she is responsible. Rather, the father is responsible for the tarbiyah of the mother, the mother is responsible for the tarbiyah of the children, and primarily the father is responsible for the tarbiyah of the whole family, including the mother. SubhanAllah.

Two Prophets, Two Sons, Two Mothers

This comparison I was sharing with the earlier crowd here a few days ago, and then many people came back and said it was very thought-provoking, so I share it once again in this larger forum.

Allah gives the example of two anbiya' alayhimus salam — Nuh Najihullah and Ibrahim Khalilullah. Both of these great prophets of Allah in the Qur'an are inviting their sons, reaching out to them with love and affection, and saying: "O my dear son, O my dear son." There are two ayahs, both starting with "O my dear son." One of them is inviting his son to save his life, and the other is inviting his son to sacrifice his life.

Nuh is inviting his son: "O my dear son, climb onto the boat and save your life. Don't be with the disbelievers." Ibrahim is inviting his son to give his life. He says: "O my dear son, I see in my dream I am sacrificing you, so think about it — what is your opinion?"

So Nuh's son, when invited to save his life, refuses. He says, "No, I am not going to join you on the boat. I will go climb a mountain — I'll be safe." Nuh tells him, "No one can save you." But he does not listen. A wave overtakes him, and he is drowned.

Ibrahim's son responds with the well-known answer: "O my dear father, fulfill the order of Allah exactly as you have been commanded. You will find me indeed one of the patient ones."

SubhanAllah. When one is invited to give his life, he is ready. When he is invited to save his life, he refuses. The difference between the two is that the mother of Ismail alayhis salam is Hajirah, and the mother of Kan'an is a kafira.

SubhanAllah — this is the impact of the mother. Hajirah alayhis salam had such a profound impact on Ismail alayhis salam. He grew up seeing her tawakkul, seeing her sabr, seeing her iman, seeing her yaqeen — even though for the majority of the time his father, Ibrahim alayhis salam, was not even there. Right from the beginning, per the order of Allah, he had left them. That was a test for the father. He was not there — it was the karama of the tarbiyah, the tarbiyah of Hajirah alayhis salam. SubhanAllah.

On the other hand, Nuh alayhis salam's son followed his mother's deen. The language a child speaks is not the father tongue — it is the mother tongue. This is the impact she had, such that he rejected the father's command. And what happened? The one who refused the order to save his life ended up drowning. The one who accepted the order to sacrifice his life ended up surviving. Allah turned the tables around.

My dear respected brothers and sisters, this is the role of a mother — but the role of the father is in making tarbiyah of the mother. With this month of Ramadan coming, let us make this niyyah that we as a family will get together and improve our conditions before it is too late. May Allah give us tawfiq.

Announcements: Ramadan Food Program

I ended the khutbah a bit early to give time for this detailed announcement. We have a guest here today who is helping us fulfill an obligation. Allah asks us to strive in His path with your wealth and with your lives. And with a few exceptions, the majority of the time whenever Allah asks us in the Qur'an, He mentions spending in the path of Allah with our money, even before He mentions with our person.

Alhamdulillah, today we have a helping hand. The month of Ramadan is coming, which is not only a month of fasting, but also a month of sadaqah. There is an ibadah badaniyyah component and there is an ibadah maliyyah — physically we fast, but financially also we must give sadaqah in the path of Allah.

Please support the Ramadan food program, providing suhoor and iftar for global refugee families in need. Last year, over 3.6 million people were served, and with your support we aim to reach even more families this year. This is a zakat and sadaqah eligible program, so you can feed a family with your zakat and sadaqah this Ramadan. Your donation of just $100 can feed one family of 7 to 8 people for the entire month of Ramadan.

Our condition, unfortunately, is that we end up spending so much money on frivolous pursuits. As was famously said: we buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like. SubhanAllah. That is fundamentally the whole system — to keep us in debt. People graduating from college and university with very lucrative careers who could pay off their student debt quickly are actively taught that that is the least advisable path to take. "Why would you want to pay off your debt? Get into more debt. Buy things you cannot afford now and remain enslaved to us." So we are in this cycle. If we cut back on that, inshallah, we can spend on more rewarding causes.

$100 can feed one family of 7–8 people for the entire month of Ramadan. Their address and details are on the flyer outside on the table. Please stop by, grab a flyer, and donate generously. Donations can be made via check, cash, or credit card. May Allah reward you. Jazakumullah khair.

Ramadan Program Announcements

For the masjid expenses, which will also increase significantly in the month of Ramadan, please pass the donation boxes. Sadaqah given on the day of Jumu'ah is more rewarding.

We will have, inshallah, a 29-day khatam right here in the main hall, and inshallah a 7-day khatam as well. The 7-day khatam, we typically hold on campus, but because of the parking situation it added a lot of burden. With everyone's help and support and with Allah's fadl, we hope to complete the full paving of the parking lot where the stones are, on the North Avenue and Swift Road intersection — when everything is paved and smooth, then we can use the snow plows to clean it. Right now, if it snows on the stone side, we cannot use the snow plows as they will pull up the gravel. So if it snows in Ramadan, parking will be impacted. Because of this, we had to move the seven-night taraweeh. Instead of in the masjid here, it will be at Shalimar Banquets. Our graduates, Qari Sulayman Mahmood and Qari Hassan Abid, will be leading it for the first seven nights.

There is a Pray, Play, and Learn program for children four years and older during taraweeh. There will also be a sisters' recitation circle — an online Qur'an recitation halaqa every day with the alim al-niqa muqeem, from Ramadan 1 to 20. They will recite the whole Qur'an, followed by du'a, translation, and some discussion.

We will have a Fiqh of Zakat Workshop on Sunday, February 22, after Zuhr Salah. There is a fatwa circulating about giving zakat money to non-Muslim politicians that many people are asking about — this will be addressed in more detail there. The fatwa circulating from the Council of North America from Amjad stated that we can give zakat money to non-Muslim politicians to compete with AIPAC. The pros, cons, and validity of that fatwa will be covered in the Fiqh of Zakat workshop.

Community iftar for everyone is on February 28. Register for I'tikaf on our website inshallah — visit mazlidds.org to RSVP. If you would like to sponsor iftar here, please sign up — the available dates are on the office door in the lobby, inshallah.

Jami Masjid, a very important masjid here in Chicagoland, has their annual fundraiser this weekend — this Sunday at 6pm at Shalimar.

Du'a for Those Who Are Ill

We have several close members of the Dar al-Islam family who are sick and in hospital. Our staff member Hafiz Abdul Hadi, who is in charge of the Jumu'ah arrangements, has been in the hospital — going to ICU and back to the floor, and back to ICU again. Please make du'a for him. Brother Mas'ud Bey, whose wife is the coordinator on the women's side of the whole seminary, is also in the hospital, very sick. And one of our takmil students, Husayfa Ansari, is also having difficulty breathing and is in the hospital.

O Allah, heal our sick and the sick of the Muslims.

Hifz Completion Ceremony — Hafiz Zaid Mir

MashaAllah, TabarakAllah — we have Hafiz Zaid Mir who will be finishing his memorization of the Qur'an. I'd like to call up his respected father, Muiz Bhai, as well as his respected teacher, Maulana Shomik, and of course our guest of honor, Hafiz Zaid, to come up and take his seat. Hafiz Zaid will be reciting his final lesson, followed by words of advice and du'a by Mufti Minhajuddin, inshallah.

Recitation of Surah al-Baqarah (Final Verses)

Words from the Father — Muiz Bhai

This is a very special day for us, for our family. Especially his extended family members are here. I thank everybody for coming. And it's not only my journey — it's a family that all put together in this effort whereby Zaid was able to accomplish this milestone.

Especially my wife — she was really influential. She saw the hope that he can do it. Sometimes my confidence was shaky, but she kept moving and said, "Yes, Zaid can do it, Zaid can do it." And alhamdulillah, today we are here. Alhamdulillah, he was able to do it.

And I especially wanted to give my wholehearted thanks to the teachers — Maulana Shomik, Maulana Usman Akhtar, Mufti Tahmid, Brother Haritha, Brother Grant — all the teachers who nurtured him and helped him achieve this milestone.

My father, late Mir Anwar Hussain Sahib, used to say that whatever you do, you have to leave a mark in the world before you go, so that someone can take that path and keep continuing it. So I feel like I tried — we as a family tried our best — to set an example to teach the Qur'an, and then keep continuing and enlightening others with the same. Whoever comes across it, inshallah.

Jazakallah khair for everyone for coming up. And to the future huffadh who are sitting here — please continue to be steadfast, and inshallah you will be here one day as well. We wish everyone good luck. Jazakallah khair.

Words from the Teacher — Maulana Shomik

SubhanAllah. The teachers don't ever talk at these — but this week I took off, so I guess I have to talk. I'll just share one story. This is a reflection of the fact that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree — like father, like son.

I remember one time we had evaluations. I was preparing for a conference and meeting with Muiz Bhai, and he told me, "You know, Maulana Usman usually asks me to bring some samosas — this time he didn't ask me, I wonder what happened." Just out of the kindness of his heart. And that got me thinking about something I noticed with Zaid.

One time we were in the gym and they were playing kickball. There were teams with older and younger students. There was one little kid on Zaid's team who went up to kick the ball, kicked it, and the ball didn't go very far — which happens. It's just a normal part of kickball. The game goes on, nobody really notices, nobody says anything. But I noticed on that younger student's face a slight look of, "Oh my goodness, everyone just saw me kick the ball and it wasn't so good." A little look of sadness.

And I remember Zaid was on his team, not even standing next to him — he was standing far away. And I see him walk up to the kid and say, "MashaAllah, you did good." Which is exactly what the teachers would do. I'm sure you've all had a teacher come up to you on a day you did badly and say, "MashaAllah, you did good," just to help make them happy. The kid probably understood — you know, I did bad, it's part of the game — but there was that slight look of discomfort on his face. So Zaid noticed it, and walked up and said, "MashaAllah, you did a good job."

That kid probably doesn't even know who Zaid is right now. He probably forgot about that day. Zaid probably forgot about that day. But I remember it very clearly.

So Allah Ta'ala — this is a lesson for all of us to learn about being kind to one another. Looking out for other people. Looking out for the masjid. Looking out for fellow students, fellow colleagues, your parents, your teachers — whatever they need. We've had students — I'm sure Mufti Sahib can speak about this — who, before the teacher says that they need something, the student already understands and acts. The teacher's pencil falls, and by the time the teacher goes to pick it up, there's already a student grabbing it and putting it back on the table. Or it's 12 o'clock and the teacher is busy, and they'll say, "Should we put the tarps down?" Always being thoughtful of others.

I feel there's something we can all take from Zaid's journey, inshallah — to pick up where he left off and continue with that.

Words of Advice from Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

As he said — the apple does not fall far from the tree. So this is a direct result of the tarbiyah of his parents, and we witness that, alhamdulillah. This is a known fact: when someone dedicates their life to the khidmah of the masjid, to the khidmah of the people, the guests of Allah, then Allah accepts their children.

So in this particular case, mashallah, Hafiz Zaid is the one completing the hifz today. But we cannot overlook the factors that led him to this day of success. A big part of it is, mashallah, his parents — the mother who made so much effort at home and was inspiring the father, as he mentioned himself — and the khidmah that we see of the father. One part is what is happening at home in the confines of the home — the effort the mother is doing. We see the result. We don't see the effort. But we know the effort through the result.

When it comes to the father, this is something that we are experiencing, that we are witnessing, that we are part of. We see how much dedication over all these years he has shown to Dar al-Islam and all of its activities, and even outside of Dar al-Islam in so many different capacities — doing khidmah. So he is an inspiration for us. May Allah allow us to follow his footsteps.

And the month of Ramadan is coming as well. The house of Allah needs all of us. May Allah accept us in some shape or form to do khidmah of His deen, wherever it may be — whether at Dar al-Islam or outside of it. And inshallah, we will see the barakah in our own homes. We'll see the results in our own children.

One of our guest speakers came for professional development at Dar al-Islam for the alim teachers and gave a presentation. Something he said stuck with me. He said: "Children listen with their eyes." It's a known concept, but it's a beautiful way of phrasing it. He said children listen with their eyes, not with their ears. Meaning, whatever you are saying will have a limited impact — I cannot negate it entirely and say it has no effect whatsoever — but what has a much greater impact is what they see.

So over here, Zaid's eyes — he's seeing his mother and his father working so hard for the khidmah of the deen, internally and externally, supporting one another. That is why we see the product today.

And of course he was not going to talk about his own efforts, but alhamdulillah — it is the dedication of the teacher and of Mufti Tahmid who set him on the right path through the HifzPrep program. I know a lot of people have different opinions about how important HifzPrep is. Frankly, it gets a lot of criticism — "What's the point of this? It's slowing us down." But the reality is the HifzPrep program will set the student up for success. Because:

How many a person recites the Qur'an and the Qur'an curses him [for reciting it incorrectly].

There is no reward for memorizing the Qur'an incorrectly — in fact it could be a source of 'adhab. The HifzPrep program will set a person for success so that whatever they are reciting, they recite it correctly; whatever they are memorizing, they memorize it correctly; whatever they will be teaching going forward, they will be teaching it correctly.

So mashallah, mubarak to Zaid. Many people have their diplomas hanging on the walls, but you have the kalam of Allah in your own heart. Imagine — the kalam of Allah in your heart. If you guard this kalam of Allah, then Allah will guard you. If you guard the kalam of Allah that He has granted you in your heart, then Allah will protect you and guard you, inshallah.

So this is a day to thank Allah, to celebrate and be happy for His blessings, and also to make the niyyah for the future — that we have to continue inshallah to work on preserving the Qur'an. Number one: daily recitation. Reciting in salah itself to whatever ability, as easily as you can, try your best. And then inshallah, stay in the company of righteous people. It is not that because you graduated from this class, you will not see these huffadh again and create a new set of friends — naudhu billah. You need to continue to have good huffadh friends, whether huffadh or ghayr huffadh, but good mu'min friends. That will be a means of preserving your iman and protecting your Qur'an, inshallah.

Du'a for Hafiz Zaid and the Ummah

Mubarak to the family. May Allah accept. Ameen.