Ramadan: Reassessing Our Connection To The Holy Qur'an

Opening — Praise and Testimony

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and the end for the righteous, and no aggression except against the wrongdoers. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and no partner for Him — He is the 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 may He protect us all, and beyond.

The Verse of Ramadan

Allah, the Exalted, said in the wisdom of His revelation — after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

The month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was revealed — a guidance for the people, and clear signs of guidance and the criterion. So whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast.

Ramadan: The Month of the Qur'an

My dear respected brothers and sisters, respected elders — when Allah introduces the month of Ramadan in the Qur'an, in Surah al-Baqarah, you would imagine that the first thing that comes to our mind is that Allah could have begun the description of the month of Ramadan by saying: this is a month in which fasting has been prescribed. Or it could have been described as the month in which the qiyam of the night has been made a sunnah. Or it could have been the month of feeling the hunger and pain of others who are less fortunate, and creating bonds of love, brotherhood and sisterhood. These are all different attributes of the month of Ramadan, for sure.

But the first thing that Allah mentions is that this is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed. So amongst all of the attributes of Ramadan, the one that Allah is highlighting — by mentioning it first — is that this is the month of revelation. And not only was the Qur'an revealed in the month of Ramadan, but all of the previous scriptures — the Torah, Zubur, Injil, Suhuf of Ibrahim, and Suhuf of Musa — all were revealed in the month of Ramadan.

So this month has a very strong bond and relationship with revelation. And this is an opportunity for us in this month to once again reassess: what is our relationship with the book of Allah? What is our connection with the book of Allah?

The Complaint of the Prophet on the Day of Judgment

At a massive level, across the entire ummah, we are all guilty of turning our backs to the book of Allah. And we need to remind ourselves that Allah mentions in Surah al-Furqan that on the Day of Judgment, Rasulullah ﷺ will actually complain to Allah — he will express his pain and how hurt he is by members of his ummah.

May Allah protect us and our loved ones and our family and our progeny from being amongst this group that Rasulullah ﷺ will be complaining about in the court of Allah. It is a very, very scary ayah. Considering that Rasulullah ﷺ is the Shafi'ul Mudhnibeen — the one who will intercede on behalf of the sinners. He is the one about whom Allah says:

It is very difficult for him to see you in any pain. He always desires good for you. He has love and mercy for the believers. And yet he will say:

The Rasul ﷺ on the Day of Judgment will say: Ya Rabb — O my Lord — inna qawmi, verily my people, my ummah after me, ittakhadhu hadhal Qur'ana mahjura — they turned their backs from the Qur'an.

A Call to Reflect on Our Time and Priorities

In this day and age we have, subhanAllah, the mental faculties, the time, and the energy that we are spending on things of this dunya — which is necessary for us to spend some time in, as this dunya is a darura; we have to spend time ensuring our basic needs are being fulfilled. But beyond that, if you look at how much time we are giving and devoting to the Qur'an —

One of the greatest tragedies would be if the month of Ramadan comes and the month of Ramadan goes, and there is hardly any change in our schedule when it comes to how much time we are giving to the book of Allah. There are all the different Eid celebrations, Eid decorations, Ramadan decorations, different foods, cultural things that we are all celebrating and enjoying — but if we honestly look, there are only some selected servants of Allah who may be worthy of envy, as Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5025; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 815)

There is no one worthy of envy except for two: someone whom Allah granted and gifted with the Qur'an and they are reciting it and standing with it in ibadah throughout the hours of the day and the night; and someone whom Allah grants wealth and they are spending it by day and by night.

Besides a few of them — selected by Allah — the vast majority of all of us show hardly any change in our schedule. So this is something for us to wake up to before the month is over — we need to ensure that we are among those for whom the Qur'an testifies in our favor, not against us.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 223)

Rasulullah ﷺ said: the Qur'an will testify in your favor or against you — it will testify either for you or against you.

The Two Revelations of the Qur'an in Ramadan

This book that Allah has revealed — this is the month in which the revelation of the entire Qur'an occurred: from the Lawh al-Mahfudh (the Protected Tablet) to the Sama' al-Dunya (the nearest sky). And from the Sama' al-Dunya, the second revelation also began in this month.

There are two types: one is the Inzal of the Qur'an — Allah revealed the entire Qur'an in its entirety on the Night of Qadr, and the Night of Qadr is of course in the month of Ramadan. And also the Tanzeel of the Qur'an — the gradual revelation upon the heart of Rasulullah ﷺ — Allah sent it down in small pieces based on the need of the time: as Nabi ﷺ needed consolation upon different challenges he faced, as well as different injunctions and ahkam that had to be revealed at the appropriate time. This second revelation, the Tanzeel, also began in the month of Ramadan — but of course, since it was over the span of 23 years, it was not only in Ramadan; it began in Ramadan but it had to continue in the other months of the years, over the course of 23 years.

The Rights of the Qur'an Upon Us

Allah says this Qur'an is a guidance for mankind. Allah has granted this Qur'an as a source of guidance — if we are turning our backs towards it, running in the opposite direction or ignoring it, then how do we hope to ever achieve guidance? It is clear evidence, signs, and a criterion to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

So there are multiple rights of the Qur'an. The first is tilawah — this is something we must all ensure we work on. This is the right of the Qur'an. Allah says those to whom We have granted the Book, they make the tilawah — they recite the Qur'an by fulfilling the right of its recitation — including learning the tajweed. Many students end up learning second languages in school as a requirement; so for the book of Allah, can we not at least learn how to recite it with tajweed? This is an obligation. Allah says it is a command that you must recite the Qur'an with tajweed — to recite the letters correctly, to know where to pause, and to learn the rulings regarding that.

After learning tajweed and how to recite the Qur'an, then along with it we must also focus on the meanings. Allah revealed the Qur'an for us to gain guidance from — so that you may understand, so that you may ponder, so that you may take a lesson. How are we going to take a lesson if we completely ignore the translation altogether? So as we are making a khatam of the words through tilawah, we also have to make khatam of the accurate interpretations and tafaseer written by the ulama, so that we can understand what Allah is saying — not that we start deriving our own rulings and coming to our own conclusions without knowledge, but those scholars who have explained the Qur'an through the Sunnah, through the Qur'an itself, through the deep understanding of the language — we need to benefit from that.

We should not have a hands-off attitude — that this is not for us, this is for others, we are common folk, this is only for scholars. No. This Qur'an is revealed for everyone. Allah says He has made the Qur'an easy for us to take admonition and advice from, and then to see how we can make amal on it to the best of our ability, and propagate it.

May Allah give me and you and all of us the tawfiq that before this month is over, we turn around our relationship. We are heading in the opposite direction from the Qur'an — how is it that we turn around and, insha'Allah, embrace the book of Allah? May we make it a part and parcel of our life at a daily level — it should be part of our schedule, how we can spend time with the book of Allah. May Allah give me and you and all of us tawfiq to make amal.

Announcements and Community Reminders

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right. Please donate generously — sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. Just a reminder again: no parking in the condos next door, as that causes difficulty for the neighbors, and we will be losing all the thawab of our salah if we cause difficulty to our neighbors.

We have a lot of different Ramadan programs — please register on our website. For the last 10 nights, alhamdulillah, we have i'tikaf and daily programs starting on Sunday night — before Maghrib on Sunday, we need to be inside the masjid. Please join for sunnah or nafl i'tikaf.

The blessed month of Ramadan is one of reformation. It was the continuous sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ and the righteous ones of the ummah that they would always spend the final 10 days in i'tikaf — where one isolates himself in the masjid with no distraction between him and his Creator. We have a beautiful environment and logistical support — food and everything being provided — along with a lot of great programs, so let us avail of this, insha'Allah, and benefit.

We also have a very special program today for our sisters — Sanctuary: Conversations and Connections — Upholding the Threads of Modesty — a halaqa, Q&A, dhikr, du'a, dinner, and dessert. This is from 5pm to 8pm for sisters ages 18 to 30 — young college women, high school students. Registration is required so we can order the iftar.

Du'a Requests

There is also a du'a request for the brothers and sisters in Palestine — for sure. May Allah relieve them of their difficulties, hardships, suffering, starvation, pain, and destruction. May Allah make it easy for them and for the entire ummah to wake up to their responsibilities.

We also ask for du'a for Tanvir Zaman who is suffering from pancreatic cancer, for Asad Tanvir who is having surgery, and for Dr. Usman Alvi who, on the way back from Umrah, had a pulmonary embolism and is currently in critical condition. May Allah grant all of them shifa and make it easy for them.

Fundraising: Supporting the Masjid

As we conclude, alhamdulillah, I just wanted to humbly remind everyone that all of the programs being conducted represent opportunities for us to spend in the path of Allah and to become a part of what is happening here. Alhamdulillah, there are many activities happening — and there is an opportunity for us to support them and, insha'Allah, earn sadaqa jariyah on the Day of Judgment.

When a person passes away, all his good deeds come to an end — his book is closed — except for three things: a continued form of charity, knowledge that he has imparted that people are benefiting from, or righteous children who make du'a for him.

Alhamdulillah, we have an armed police guard throughout the day for the school — from the morning till night, with double shifts — not only in Ramadan, but throughout the year. From the lights to the AV to the gas, all of the different expenses — insurances and everything — in our modest homes and our businesses, we know how many expenses we have. Such a great facility that Allah has provided for us as an amanah for the ummah — we can only imagine how many costs are associated with it.

So we are looking to see who can sign up for any amount on a monthly basis. We only have this drive in Ramadan — the rest of the Fridays we do not do fundraising. But we are doing this in the month of Ramadan because of the added expenses and because this is a month of mercy, a month of deeds being multiplied many-fold, and a month of sadaqah. So who is there, insha'Allah, for any amount — whether it is $100, $80, $75, $50 a month — please raise your hand. Volunteers are on the right and the left and behind.

The Bay'ah Campaign — 1400 Supporters

The particular campaign right now is — taking the baraka and taymmunan of the 1,400 Sahabah who took the pledge on the hand of Rasulullah ﷺ in the Bay'ah al-Ridwan. Allah declared He is pleased with them, and Allah revealed ayaat regarding them:

Allah is pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree of Hudaybiyyah — Allah promises them forgiveness, will give them victory, and sent His sakinah upon them. So we want to raise 1,400 individuals at various levels who are ready to continually support, insha'Allah.

The Parking Lot Capital Project

If you are a visitor here for the first time and are not sure if you can commit on an ongoing basis, there is also a very important and urgent capital project: our parking lot project. As you can see, all the brothers and sisters are parking in different areas — a welder's lot, different areas at different gradients, some higher and some lower, with trip hazards, fences in between, and buildings that have to be demolished.

This project is currently in the permitting process — the drawings have been completed, and insha'Allah with the fadl of Allah we will embark on this this year as soon as we get the final permit. We want to complete it by the end of this year. The demolition permit is already there and demolition work has already started. We have hundreds of cars throughout Ramadan — about a hundred per night — and over multiple nights that is thousands of cars, many of which have been turned back from our night programs and taraweeh due to lack of parking. This is a real need.

So how can we become a part of this? If you want to give a one-time check for the parking lot project, or if you want to do slow and steady — something you want to sign up for monthly — both options are available. On the way out, please visit the kiosk or donate online. Do not forget to be a part of it — this is an opportunity Allah is giving us, so let us not turn our backs to it.

Allah will grant us more barakah — this is the promise of Allah. Allah will grant us protection and preserve our children. Whatever niyyah we make when we give — whether it is sadaqa jariyah for our parents, or that the rewards reach them in their graves — insha'Allah with that niyyah, when we give, Allah will definitely see the niyyah in our hearts. He knows, and He will reward us accordingly. May Allah accept from everyone.

Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.