The Urgency Of Gratitude And Repentance In Late Ramadan

Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Ihsan in the Final Days of Ramadan

He says, even if it means you meet your brother with a smiling face, thank Allah for that, don't look down upon it. Even if you give water to another brother, thank Allah for it, do not look down upon it. We do not know which small action of ours or large action of ours may be able to get us into paradise.

So here we are being asked by Allah to be grateful. And the verses of Surah Al-Nasr are a reminder:

When you see the help of Allah and the conquest — meaning the conquest of Makkah, and Makkah coming into the fold of Islam, and the people of Makkah coming into the fold of Islam — Allah says, O Rasulullah ﷺ, when you see that victory at last, and you see people entering into Islam in large numbers, throngs of people coming to Islam, the first thing we need to do — فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ — is glorify Allah with His praises. Thank Him for everything that He has allowed you to do.

Allahu Akbar. The Prophet ﷺ, the effort that he was making on his family, on his relatives, on his tribe, on the people of Makkah, and generally speaking, the entire world — was so much. But the results, subhanAllah, Allah has His own way, His own hikmah, His own wisdom, that the results are not meant to come immediately.

They take time. And many times we are not able to see the results of our own actions. And that should not make us despondent, but it should remind us — we should take that point to remind ourselves of the sacrifices of the previous Prophets, including Nuh ﷺ at the forefront, who had a very long life, but was not able to see early on the benefits of his effort. And even when passing away, that number was not very large. But nonetheless, whatever khair and good happened, it happened because of Allah. So we have to glorify Allah and thank Him for that.

Seeking Forgiveness at the End of Ramadan

Then we don't stop there — we seek forgiveness from Allah. Rasulullah ﷺ is being asked by Allah: as your mission comes to an end, and you see amazing things happening, make sure you still seek forgiveness from Allah. If the Prophet ﷺ is being asked to seek forgiveness from Allah at the end of his mission, imagine where I stand, where do you stand, at the end of this blessed month, as we thank Allah for what we were able to achieve. Imagine the level of sadness and remorse we should have.

Ya Allah, I wish I would have done better. I wish I could have done more. Ya Allah, I wish I had exerted myself to a higher degree. Because I do not know if I'm going to get this chance again. And that's for everyone of us — not just the elderly, but for the young, for the middle-aged. Everyone, subhanAllah, knows.

Yesterday I was in one masjid and they were just saying that there used to be a time when they used to do one janazah per week, one janazah per month. And he says now we have multiple janazahs per week, and just in this month of Ramadan in that one masjid, they said we did 10 janazahs. So subhanAllah, who's going to be here next year — we don't know. So it is now even more necessary for us to be seeking forgiveness from Allah for the fact that we may not have been able to reach our full potential in this blessed month of Ramadan.

إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا — and who else should we seek forgiveness from? The best person to seek forgiveness from is Allah in the first place. Because Allah is the one who is most willing to accept our repentance. He's the most interested in turning His direction towards us, His attention towards us. What is He waiting for? He's waiting for us to be interested in turning back to Him.

Honorable brothers and sisters, we have still a few days left. And these two actions that Rasulullah ﷺ is being asked to do right before his demise — the companions say that after these verses were revealed, the Prophet ﷺ would be so busy continuously throughout the day and the night praising Allah and seeking forgiveness from Allah.

SubhanAllah, alhamdulillah, subhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, subhanAllahil azeem — all various ways of praising and thanking Allah. And istighfar of course. Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. Allahumma inni astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk. Thinking of the fact that, O Allah, what have I sinned? I have not praised You the way You ought to be praised.

Every sunnah, every non-fard was treated like a fard. And every fard was treated with 70 times 70 in this blessed month. Every single moment, subhanAllah, had multiplied rewards. I wasn't able to make the most of it.

But we still have a little bit of time. And indeed, actions are based on their intentions or their endings. So right now in these final moments that we have, we still can make up for any losses — simply by being humble in front of Allah, and doing proper istighfar.

Cultivating Ihsan in the Final Moments

Honorable brothers and sisters, one of the key things we need to develop in these final moments, and ask Allah to grant us, is the sifah of ihsan. That — O Allah, I need to worship You as though I am seeing You. The sifah of ihsan. Even a simple action, but done properly, can have immense value.

Quality — now we have to focus: this Jumu'ah that we're going to pray right now, and the Tarawih for tonight, the final Tarawih for tonight and possibly tomorrow. A person does it with proper quality. The tahajjud that we do before suhoor — with quality. Worshipping Allah as though we see Him. When we are raising our hands in dua, asking Allah as though we see Him. And if we cannot see Him, then know — فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ — that He sees you.

Allah loves those who do ihsan. This quality of ihsan is what you and I need to work on in these final moments — hoping that we can reach a quality of ibadah that Allah loves. And when Allah likes that ibadah of ours, the doors will open for even more.

Love for the Ummah

Number two, beloved friends — in these final moments, a person should ensure that we build within ourselves love and muhabba for the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. What do I mean by that? That in our heart, we should try to ask Allah to inculcate more love of the ummah in our heart the way Rasulullah ﷺ had. And that love of the ummah will be so necessary and so beneficial in this world and the next — this love of the ummah will inspire us to pray for one another. This love of the ummah will encourage us to remember others in dua.

Those who are oppressed across the world, and who are oppressed in this country, who do not have anyone to represent them, do not have anyone to speak on their behalf, do not have anyone to shed a tear for them — this is our time in these final moments to shed tears on behalf of the ummah. Not only for those who are suffering physically in this world, my beloved friends, but those who are leading such a life that they will suffer physically, spiritually, and psychologically — and in every sense of the word, for eternity — if they do not repent.

If they do not repent. In these final moments, the ummah that is sleeping, the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ that is sleeping — that still has not made it out to the masjid, that still does not realize it's Ramadan, that still has yet to fast a single day, that still has yet to come to the masjid once — and they are all over the world, and there are millions of them, hundreds of millions of them. They are from the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ, even from those who said لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ. We have to think about them. We have to show to Allah that we care about them, that we love them. And in these final days and moments, we need to make lots of dua for those people.

Ya Allah, those who have been distant from Your house — ya Allah, please bring them back. Ya Allah, in these final moments, something can happen. Seriously — Jumu'atul Wada', Khatmal Quran — these are the famous days and nights when even someone who never showed up to the masjid the entire year shows up. We have to make sure that that number is huge. That thousands and thousands of people who never came to the house of Allah — that Allah is inspiring them, Allah is pulling them out of their homes, Allah is pulling them out of their offices and their businesses, and they're able to close their shop for one night to come to the house of Allah.

And we don't know, my dear friends, who might just come and sit — and because there's no space inside, sits outside and listens on the speaker system to the Khatmal Quran dua. And he listens to a talk at the end. And there he sheds a tear, and he seeks forgiveness from Allah, and everything is done.

A Story of Repentance in the Final Night of Ramadan

I remember there was a beautiful story that was mentioned: a youngster, a young lad in Pakistan had begun to change his life. He had some CDs and cassettes of Shaykh Maulana Tariq Jameel. So he would bring them home and he would play them. His mother was, subhanAllah, not just any sinner — she was a sinner who ran, unfortunately, a brothel out there in Karachi. But this boy was changing his life, he would listen. The mother would be at home, and at times a little bit of what Maulana's talks were, she would listen to. And bit by bit, over some time, the words of Maulana entered her heart.

So one day, in the month of Ramadan, in the final moments of Ramadan, she told her son, "I want to go to the masjid." Now in that area, of course, there's no women's section either. So he goes and says, "There's no section." But now the mother is saying she wants to come to the masjid. He goes to the imam and says, "You know, I come from this home" — everyone knows what home he's coming from — "and my mother would like to come to the masjid today, in the evening, during Tarawih." He says, "This is not possible. There's no space here." But then when the committee discussed, they said, "Okay, we have to create space for this sister who wants to come."

So somehow or the other, they did create that space. And subhanAllah, she came on those final nights of Ramadan. Tarawih was performed, dua was made, and so forth. And in that very same night, dear beloved brothers — in that very same night, in that same masjid — Allah took her soul away, in the house of Allah, on that last night of Ramadan. On that last night of Ramadan, as someone who had fully repented. لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ.

What Allah has in store for someone, we don't know. The one who has fallen into the worst of crimes — the worst of crimes — but if Allah wants to pull him out, He can pull him out instantaneously. We cannot pull ourselves out. How can we pull anyone else out? Our job simply is to be able to inspire people and to pray for people.

So I encourage myself and all of us — in the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ — let's increase our love for one another. Let's increase our duas for one another. Let's increase our concern for one another. And let's invite, through our various means, as many people as we can, inshallah, to the final night of Tarawih, to the final khatmah of Quran dua.

People who haven't spoken for years — whatever means you have, do not let this chance go. It might be they have not received a single reminder message for the entire month of Ramadan. They have not heard a single inspiring talk the entire month of Ramadan. Your one text message of muhabba and love may actually change their heart.

I ask Allah to allow us to end this blessed month on an extremely high note. And I ask Allah to make us amongst those who will be opening up doors of goodness wherever we go, and closing doors of evil wherever we go. Ameen.

Announcements

InshaAllah, let us all stand up and perform our sunnah salah.

Beloved brothers, tonight the Salat al-Isha will still be at 8:45. And thereafter we'll have our Tarawih salah — our final Tarawih — our last 20 surahs of the Quran being recited. Along with that, inshallah, we'll have some dhikr, some dua. And inshallah, this will be the perfect opportunity for us to reconnect and shed some tears in front of Allah. I ask Allah that He allows us all to inspire everyone, and allows us to make an effort to get people in the door. And inshallah, as we make this the largest gathering of the entire year — and hopefully make this a gathering where thousands and thousands of people are forgiven, inshallah.

Zakat Appeal — Sponsoring Students of Knowledge at Dar-ul-Salam

Honorable friends, alhamdulillah, today is the final few minutes of Jumu'ah. Today I want to give an opportunity for those who might be visiting here for the first time this Friday at Dar-ul-Salam, or who simply have not gotten a chance to discharge their zakat because they're waiting for the last day to do so — as there are many of us who discharge our zakat on the final night of Ramadan.

Alhamdulillah, here we have an opportunity to utilize our zakat specifically for sponsoring students of knowledge from across the country who come to study here. For those who were here for Tarawih on the 21st night — alhamdulillah, we talked about the fact that, mashallah, we have been hosting students from all over the country since 2008. And today as well, we have around 650 students. And we continue to, alhamdulillah, have more brothers and sisters from across the country join.

I actually received a message from an imam a few days ago from the west coast. He said, "Alhamdulillah, we have a Cuban convert who's trying his best. He's now learned how to read Quran, and he wants to come study." The imam messaged me and said, "I want to send him to Dar-ul-Salam. But the brother does not have any resources to support himself to study, to travel there and study for as many years as he can." And I said, "Alhamdulillah, that's exactly what Dar-ul-Salam does through the help of Allah and the community." No matter who that person is, if they want to come study for one year up to seven years, inshallah — if he doesn't have the means — Allah will be providing him a place to stay, Allah will provide him two meals a day for lunch and dinner and breakfast as well if needed. And Allah will give him a beautiful place like this to study, tuition-free.

This is something we have been doing for years. And alhamdulillah, about a million dollars plus now, increasing every single year, is given out in those scholarships. There are people here who say, "I don't have a son or daughter that wants to study — either I don't have one, or they're too old, or they're simply not interested. But I'd like to sponsor a student who comes in the first year and leaves after seven years. And this is my investment." Alhamdulillah, every single year — if I can call it — my adopted son or daughter that studies at Dar-ul-Salam for seven years or six years and graduates as a scholar and moves on.

I had a brother who came to me crying because he lost his son. He lost his son — passed away in his sleep, 22 years old. He met him at Isha, gave a hug to his dad, went to sleep, and didn't wake up in the morning. And he drove for so many hours to come talk to me. He was perturbed naturally, very perturbed. And after that he said, "Shaykh, I want to be able to let my son's legacy live. Can I sponsor a student?" And then he said, "Can I have a good student who needs assistance and mashallah is a hardworking student?" I said, "Okay." I went to the office, I requested our brother in the office to give me a student's name. And subhanAllah, I presented it to the brother.

I said, "This is one student who is from such and such city, who mashallah is a very good hardworking student and doesn't have the means." Can you imagine — when I handed the file to him, he just broke down. Because the name of that student was the name of his own son. The same name. And he said, "This is too good to be true." He came all the way from another state. He said, "Please, I need to see him." And subhanAllah, this was about two or three years ago. And he made a point, subhanAllah, every couple of months to come on Jumu'ah and he would take him out to eat and sit down and say, "I just want to spend some time with you, because I want to relive the memories of my son." And mashallah, that student got married and moved on, and he's finishing up his studies. And the brother contacted me and said, "I want to be a part of his entire journey." I was so happy to simply be there as an instrument to bring closure to this brother, and to make sure that he has an amazing student, mashallah, working on behalf of himself and his son.

These are the opportunities that a person, subhanAllah, can get by sponsoring a student. Beyond that, one on behalf of your mother, on behalf of your father — whatever the case may be. It's $8,800, mashallah, for a year.

So I'm requesting, inshallah, those who would like to give sadaqah or zakat to sponsor a student. We're going to spend a couple of minutes quickly, inshallah, to do an appeal. If you are feeling shy to raise your hand, you can take your phone out and text the masjid number: 630-360-2373. There are many who haven't given their zakat yet — this is that opportunity, brothers and sisters. Alhamdulillah, we had a zakat workshop as well, and that's available online for you to listen to and see how to calculate it. You can also donate at donate.masjiddeas.org and zakat.masjiddeas.org.

This, what you're giving today — if you were to give it on Monday, it's not going to be the same thing. This is Ramadan, the barakah of Ramadan that is multiplied by 70 times. This ajar is not going to be there on Monday. And this ajar may not be there on Sunday. So I request all of us here, inshallah, who want to give and who have not been able to give yet — this is your opportunity. This is the first time in Jumu'ah we're asking. This entire month we have not done any fundraising in Jumu'ah. And subhanAllah, of course, the rest of the year we don't do any fundraising in Jumu'ah either.

May Allah make this a means of your children also becoming students of knowledge. May Allah allow this to become a means of you continuing on your path of knowledge. May Allah grant you success in dunya, qabr, and akhirah. Whatever difficulty we're going through, may Allah remove those difficulties through the sadaqah that we're giving, inshallah. I ask Allah that whatever we have been able to collect today, allow it to be given back to you tenfold. Whatever niyah you have right now while you are giving, may Allah fulfill every niyah of yours. All those who are giving — a dollar to a thousand dollars and eight thousand dollars and more — may Allah make this a means of the entire fast being accepted. All the qiyam to be accepted. May Allah make this a means of giving long life and health to your parents. And may Allah make this a means of giving sadaqah jariyah to those who passed away from your family. Ameen.

May Allah give our sadaqah and zakat that we gave today and are giving today, to make us amongst those who get the accepted ibadah of Laylatul Qadr. May Allah through the barakah of what we've collected inspire the entire community to fill up the masajid tonight in numbers that are unprecedented. And may Allah allow it to become a means of the ummah seeking forgiveness from Allah — such forgiveness after which Allah will send His special mercy. Ameen, Ya Rabbil Alamin.

Local Elections — April 1st

Lastly, I would like to simply remind everyone — with everything that's happening in the world and locally as well — it is, along with our sadaqah and along with our dua tonight, we have to be at the table. We have to ensure that we have Muslim representation in our local politics. April 1st is the local elections here. This is not a Democrat or Republican party business. This is local, non-party related — village hall, library, and local elections are taking place. April 1st is election day.

I encourage every single one of us — this entire crowd that's listening to me — to give 10 minutes for the sake of Allah. There are, alhamdulillah, beautiful brothers running for local elections. If you don't know about it, you can find out about it. But let us not — this is not the time to be selfish. This is not the time to say, "I just got to do my ibadah in and out." No, my friends. The local people are the ones who make these zoning laws for the next 100 years for masajid. They're the ones who bring laws, subhanAllah, that affect you locally.

If we do not have representation, then horrible things can happen. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, learn about it. There are some really crazy things going on right now against masajid in this country. And one big reason is because we do not have people from our community — or who care about us — on the boards. There are people who are warmongers and haters who are creating, subhanAllah, an environment of absolute falsehood and propaganda against the masajid. We really, really need to worry about the next decades in our communities, in Lombard and beyond. So on April 1st, make sure — between now and April 1st — that we go spend 10 minutes and inshallah cast our vote. I ask Allah to allow the results of the election to be in favor of the ummah. Ameen.

Jazakumullah khairan.

Second Jumu'ah Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي.

سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ.

Amma ba'd. Allah says in the Glorious Quran:

Alhamdulillah, we have been enjoying the blessings and the virtues of the month of Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ in numerous ahadith has mentioned that in the month of Ramadan the doors of Jannah are left wide open and the doors of Jahannam are sealed shut. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that the shayateen, the devils, are chained and they are locked up. The Prophet ﷺ mentions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

Whoever fasts in the month of Ramadan with iman, with faith, and seeking reward — all his past sins are forgiven. The Prophet ﷺ mentions...