Attaining Allah's Mercy | 15th of Sha'ban Program | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening Recitation

Follow the best of what has been sent down to you from your Lord before the punishment suddenly comes upon you and you do not perceive — or you say, "O soul, regretful of what I have neglected in the presence of Allah, and indeed I was of those who mocked" — or you say, "If Allah had guided me, I would have been of the righteous" — or you say, when you see the punishment, "If I had a second chance, I would be of the doers of good." Indeed, My signs have come to you, but you denied them and were arrogant, and you were of the disbelievers. And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allah — their faces will be black. Is there not in Hell an abode for the arrogant? And Allah will save those who fear Him because of their success. Evil will not touch them, nor will they grieve. Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Guardian over all things. To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth, and those who disbelieve in the signs of Allah — they are the losers.

Hafiz Muhsin recited this portion of the Quran from the 24th Juz. This is what we'll begin our muzakarah and our discussion with today. Let's all make niyyah: Ya Allah, whatever is most needed for me at this moment, allow me to hear that. Ya Allah, allow me — whatever I'm hearing and whatever I'm speaking — to immediately be able to put it into practice. Ya Allah, allow the knowledge that I'm gaining to be a proof for me on the Day of Judgment, and not a proof against me. Ameen.

The Auspiciousness of Laylatul Bara'ah — The 15th Night of Sha'ban

Tonight, known as Laylatul Bara'ah — Laylatul Nisf al-Sha'ban — is an auspicious night. Before we get on to the mercy of Allah, I would like to begin our discussion on the auspiciousness of this night.

In different parts of the world, people really commemorate this night with attendance in masajid, similar to what you see almost on Laylatul Qadr. Whether it's Indo-Pak, whether it's Turkey — this is a very big occasion where people gather for ibadah. Alhamdulillah, Allah is to be worshipped every night. But there are definitely special nights where the special mercy of Allah descends. We have to take full benefit of nights like that, and this is one of those.

The Hadith Narrations on the Virtue of This Night

There are several prophetic narrations on the benefits and the specific virtue of this night that have been mentioned by Rasulullah ﷺ. I'm going to quickly go over those first.

The first hadith is narrated by Sayyidina Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه. Rasulullah ﷺ said: Allah pays special attention to His entire creation on the 15th night of Sha'ban, and forgives all of them — except the one who ascribed partners to Him, and the one who harbors enmity in his heart.

(Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat of Imam al-Tabarani; classified as Sahih by Imam Ibn Hibban — Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 5665)

The second hadith is narrated by Sayyidina Abu Bakr al-Siddiq رضي الله عنه. Rasulullah ﷺ said: On the middle night of Sha'ban — which is the night of the 15th — Allah's mercy comes to the first sky, and He forgives all, besides the polytheist and those who harbor enmity for their brethren.

You know we have people traditionally asking forgiveness from one another on this night? People send text messages: "Please forgive us" — or they call each other. This is reality; it's a very serious issue. Because as you hear these narrations, the people who are not going to be forgiven on such an auspicious night — when millions are being forgiven — are the people who hate one another, who harbor malice and hatred and misunderstandings. We see many times this is a big plague in our families: people not liking one another, or harboring hatred for one another, for no real reason. Is it really worth it to become deprived from Allah's forgiveness on a day like this? Obviously not. So this is something where we are taught that we need to learn how to forgive others and seek forgiveness from others.

This hadith has also been classified as sound by al-Mundhiri رحمه الله in his book Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, and Ibn Hajar has also classified one of its chains as hasan.

Besides these two narrations, there are many other Sahabah who have narrated hadith regarding the merit of this night, amongst them:

• Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه
• Sayyidina 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها
• Sayyidina Abu Tha'labah رضي الله عنه
• Sayyidina 'Awf ibn Malik رضي الله عنه
• Sayyidina 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr al-'As رضي الله عنه
• Sayyidina Abu Musa al-Ash'ari رضي الله عنه
• Sayyidina 'Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه
• Sayyidina 'Uthman ibn Abi al-'As رضي الله عنه
• The great tabi'i, Kathir ibn Murrah رحمه الله
• The great tabi'i, Yahya ibn Abi Kathir رحمه الله

These twelve narrations put together cannot be something that is fabricated or worthy of refutation. Imam al-Bayhaqi رحمه الله mentions that when all of these are combined, they acquire some strength. Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله has also accepted the collective strength of these narrations. And the great mufassir, Allama al-Alusi رحمه الله, in his tafsir, mentions that those who refute the virtues of this night entirely — these people are rash and reckless. Shaykh 'Abdullah Siddiq al-Ghumari رحمه الله, a great scholar and muhaddith from Morocco, has termed this as an exaggeration on behalf of those who completely reject the virtue of this night.

The general virtue of this night has hence been accepted by a vast number of great ulama of the past — from the tabi'in all the way to the fuqaha.

The reason I even mention this is because many of you are receiving messages saying there is no virtue tonight to make ibadah. Many of you have come across articles like that. There is always another opinion. There is always a study — whether you are doing dhikr collectively, someone will say "I came across this is bid'ah." But there is more than one way to understand the deen. There are ulama who have researched and shared this — not from today or tomorrow, but from the earliest of centuries. There is leeway; there are differences of opinion. As long as you are genuinely following a school of thought that has been passed down from generation to generation, preserved and protected by Allah through the service of scholars, that is fine.

No one is going to force you to change your ways. I am not going to force you to change your ways; you shouldn't force me to change my ways either. We need to understand and appreciate the differences that exist within our deen. This is not "my way or the highway" — it was never meant to be like that. Alhamdulillah, there is so much si'ah — such a wide range of opinions — that makes following the deen easy for us. This type of difference is actually rahmah, and it is not a punishment.

So when it comes to the 15th night of Sha'ban, it is incorrect to say that this is completely fabricated and there is no significance to it. We've shared an article on the WhatsApp groups — from al-miftaah.com — written by our great scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Awwamah 'Abbas 'Umar, who is from South Africa and is currently based in Turkey. He actually supervises our hadith specialization course here — the two-year course that follows the seven-year 'alim program. This website focuses on hadith research, and if you want further details, you can check it out: al-miftaah.com. The article is titled The Significance of the 15th of Sha'ban, and it addresses all the various narrations, hadith criticism, and the answers to that.

The summary of this discussion is:

1. The virtue of the night is reported by more than ten Sahabah and tabi'un.
2. There are verdicts of over ten scholars from the tabi'un onwards that support this.
3. To engage in worship on this night — in addition to other occasions — has been the practice of numerous scholars.
4. Those who totally refute the merit of this night have been labeled as reckless and extreme.
5. This night is considered the second most auspicious night of the Islamic calendar — after Laylatul Qadr.

What to Do on This Night

In addition to dua and istighfar on this night, one should engage in any act of worship that one feels comfortable with. There is no specific type of salah prescribed for this night — that is one important thing. The Sahabah and the tabi'un would increase their Quranic recitation during these months, especially in Sha'ban, in preparation for Ramadan. But there is no specific dua to be recited on this night in a certain way. Some people have innovated certain types of recitations, certain types of adhkar, certain types of ibadah, saying this needs to be recited only on Laylatul Nisf al-Sha'ban — and if you do so, you get this and this reward. We cannot promise rewards; that is not in our hands. That is from Allah and His Rasulullah ﷺ. This is innovation if someone says "if you recite this this-many times, you're going to get this." So that is the middle ground.

Now, since we're here in the masjid — or you're going to go home after Isha and you want to do ibadah — what should you do? Salatul Tasbeeh takes time. It's a longer salah, and it forces you to focus. That's a great way to spend a portion of this night. You'll see the detailed method of how to perform Salatul Tasbeeh on the TV screens outside. And that's also going to be shared on the events group inshallah. That's fine — you don't have to do it only tonight. And the auspicious nights of Ramadan are coming up ahead of us; we can utilize those nights as well and make a habit of performing it on all these blessed nights.

The Mercy of Allah

The title of this talk is about the mercy of Allah. Why? Because Allah is specifically looking at people today and forgiving millions and millions. In one hadith, the example has been given — equivalent to the strands of hair on the backs of all the sheep and all the livestock of a tribe. How many strands of hair on not one animal, but the entire livestock of a tribe? Hundreds of millions. Allah is willing to forgive that many people on this blessed night. But He wants to see us show some level of desire. That is why we are encouraged to gather and to work and seek forgiveness from Allah.

The Verse of Hope: "O My Servants Who Have Transgressed"

The verse that was recited at the beginning by Hafiz Muhsin — Allah says to Rasulullah ﷺ:

Say: "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves — do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful."

Look at how Allah is speaking to the sinful ones. What does He call them? يَا عِبَادِيَ — "O My servants." This itself should melt our hearts. Allah is speaking to the sinful ones, yet He doesn't say "O sinful people, O this and that." He calls them: "You are mine. You are my servants who happened to have slipped, who happened to oppress themselves." By the way — when you sin, you haven't done any harm to Allah. You've only harmed, unfortunately, yourself. That is what Allah says: أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ — "You have harmed yourselves."

Then: لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ — "Do not become despondent from the mercy of Allah." This is the big trick of the devil. First he gets us to commit sins, pushes us into that — and once we do, then he says, "You've gone so deep, there's no point, there's no way you're going to get out."

The Story of Barsisa: A Warning Against Despair

The famous incident of Barsisa — who was an abid, a worshipper in the past. There were three brothers who went out on an expedition in jihad at that time, and they told Barsisa, the worshipper, the monk, to look after their sister while they were gone. He was looking after her by providing food and taking care of her needs. But as Shaytan had it, this was a very long, drawn-out plan of his: that by the time the brothers came back, he was going to make this person slip.

It started off with just dropping off the food from the outside, checking how she was doing. Slowly things became more intimate, and went further and beyond that — and then the sin happened. And it didn't stop there. A child was born, because they had gone out for over a year. Now he realized he had crossed all the limits. This monk who was so pious and well known — trusted to the extent that the brothers said "we entrust our sister with you" — now had a child out of wedlock.

What did he do? He said: if the brothers find out, what is going to happen? He ended up taking the life of this child and burying the child. After that, of course she became so angry and so upset — "How dare you do this? You committed zulm on me, and on top of that you took and killed my child?" An argument ensued, and he killed her as well. So now we have two murders. Where he had started off from — within a span of a year — to where he ended: zina, murder of a child, and murder of an innocent lady.

The brothers came back. They found out the news — that she had given birth to a child, and then they were murdered. They brought him out and had him prepared for hanging. As he was brought up and his neck was placed in the noose — the one who had played these tricks with him, who plays the tricks with me, who plays the tricks with all of you — Shaytan showed up for a final viewing. He showed up and said: "Listen, you're pretty stuck right now. You're about to lose your life. Your whole life has tumbled down. There's no one who believes you and no one is going to be able to get you out of this mess. All you can do right now is seek help — I'm here to help you get out of this mess. What I need you to do, as your neck is in the noose and they're going to remove the platform — I need you to simply gesture with your neck and your head that you are prostrating to me, obeying me, taking me as your God, as your Wali."

What was he going to do? He gave up. He was stuck in a corner. He didn't see any way out. So he lowered his neck — and as he lowered his neck, the platform was pulled from below him, and he died as a worshipper of Shaytan.

This incident that happened in Bani Israel is a lesson in so many ways for us. But specifically for tonight's topic: no matter what a person does, the ultimate fool is the one who falls into the trap of Shaytan and thinks there is no way out. Shaytan is the last one who has solutions for you — he's the one who got you into the mess in the first place. Why would he ever have solutions for us? So when he tells you: "Give up, there's nothing — what are you going to go do in the masjid? Where are you going to go? You're not worthy, you're so dirty, I'm not worthy of going to the masjid, I'm not worthy of sitting in the house of Allah, I'm not worthy of sitting with people of knowledge" — this is presented in the shape and form of humility and humbleness and self-pity. But in reality, this is nothing like that. This is making him despondent from Allah's mercy and closing the doors of repentance. That's what that is.

The way to earn — to get ourselves out of any mess — is to turn to Allah and say, "Allah, I'm stuck here. I need Your help to get me out of this mess." The biggest sin is not any of these things that you and I have in mind. The biggest sin is to lose hope in Allah.

More Quranic Verses on Hope in Allah's Mercy

Allah says in Surah Yusuf — after Yaqub alayhis salam had lost one son, then a second, then a third, and was getting old, had cried so much he lost his eyesight, and said "I will only complain of my pain, my worry, my stress to Allah" — Allah reminds us:

Do not become despondent from the mercy of Allah. Three sons gone — guess what? Allah has the capacity to bring all three of them back to you. There's only one who can help you out in this situation, and it's Allah. There is no such thing as "it's too bad, it's too much, it's overload" — nothing like that for Allah. "Do not become despondent from the mercy of Allah. No one becomes despondent from the mercy of Allah except for the disbelieving nations." That is called kufr — to say "Allah won't forgive me." That's kufr, my friend. It's not self-pity. Whatever you did — saying "Allah will never forgive me" — that is the worst thing you could say.

Another place Allah says:

"Who would become despondent from the mercy of Allah except those who are astray?" So this is the very important point we are learning from all three of these verses: despondency in the mercy of Allah — there is just no chance for that. There is no choice. Instead, what is there? Only one thing. What should we do? What else do we have besides hope?

My son has gone astray for five years. My daughter has left home three years ago. What should we do? There's only one thing: hope and dua. And use whatever means you have. There is no other option besides that.

Tonight is a night when destiny can change. The destiny of whatever we are worried about — whether it's a marriage, someone going through a divorce, someone not married, someone worried about sickness, someone needing health, someone without a job needing rizq, someone worried about the misguidance of themselves or their loved ones — tonight is the time when we ask Allah for all of that.

Allah Introduces Himself Through His Names of Mercy

Allah says: what's my profession? You want to know who I am? I'm Al-Ghafoor and I'm Al-Raheem. That's what I do — I am the Most Forgiving and I am the Most Merciful. And that is why we see Allah introduces Himself through the Basmala before we recite anything — before we recite Quran, before we eat our food:

In the name of Allah — the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All of us say Bismillah all the time, and we always say it with these two names. We don't say Bismillah al-Muhyi al-Mumit, or Bismillah al-Qahhar al-Aziz. We only take the names of Al-Rahman, Al-Raheem. Then we recite Surah al-Fatihah: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ — All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Who is the Lord of the worlds? الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ — Most Gracious, Most Merciful. There it is again. Both attributes are focusing on Allah's mercy — meaning Allah wants to be known through His mercy.

The problem is, we've done the worst PR job possible. If we were part of a marketing firm, we would be fired long ago — maybe even sued in court for defamation. Because we have completely misrepresented Allah — to non-Muslims, to Muslims, and to our own family, to our own children. We have misrepresented Allah as the one who enjoys torturing people, punishing people, and putting people into hell.

Allah says in the Quran:

What will Allah do by punishing you, if you are grateful and you have faith? He's asked that question. Allah's greatness doesn't increase by punishing. He doesn't have to prove a point. What benefit does He gain by throwing you into hellfire? People in the world have to prove points — but Allah does not need to prove Himself. That's what He's saying here.

Making Others Despondent: A Grave Warning

There are two types of people when it comes to despair: one is those who become despondent from the mercy of Allah themselves and harm themselves — and the other is those who make other people feel despondent. You do not want to be the latter. Big, big problems. Do not become despondent yourself, and do not make others despondent.

The Story of the Man Who Had Himself Cremated

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه in Bukhari and Muslim: A man who had never done a single good deed said to his family, when death came to him — he instructed his sons: "When I die, I want you to burn my body to ashes. Take the ashes and spread them — half in the river, in the water, and half on land." His sons asked, "Why, dear father? Why do you want to do this?" He said: "Because if Allah will ever gather me together and raise me, I have committed so many sins that He will punish me in a manner that He has never punished anyone else." So he was trying to run away from being gathered and risen by Allah.

When he passed away, they did exactly what he had asked. But there is no place to run from Allah, and no place to hide — except by going back to Allah. Allah says: wherever you are, Allah will bring you all back together. He says:

Does a human being think that We will never be able to gather his bones? We will even gather the very fingertips — the fingertips will be lined up with the proper nail, with the proper finger, with the proper hand, with the proper arm, with the proper body. Every single atom will be put back together as is.

Allah ordered the oceans: فَأَمَرَ الْبَحْرَ فَجَمَعَ مَا فِيهِ — and the ocean gathered all the ashes together. Then Allah ordered the land to bring all the ashes of this man. He was gathered together and brought back to life. And Allah asked him:

"Why did you do all of this?" The man said: "O Allah, I did all of this out of Your fear — and You are well aware of that. I was so afraid of You, so afraid that You were going to punish me, that is why I did all of this." And فَغَفَرَ لَهُ — Allah forgave him for that. Allah forgave him for what? For the fact that he had that level of fear — because of which he did all of this. Yes, he was ignorant that this tactic was not going to work — but the reason was fear, and that fear was so beloved to Allah that He forgave him.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3478; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2756)

The Story of the Two Friends: A Warning Against Making Others Despondent

Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned a hadith — narrated by Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, related by Abu Dawud and Imam Ahmad:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4901; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 8292)

There were two friends in Bani Israel — مُتَحَابَّيْنِ — they loved one another. One of them was hardworking in his ibadah, a really good worshipper, and the other one was loose — a sinful person. The worshipper would keep telling his friend: أَقْصِرْ أَقْصِرْ — "Stop, stop sinning." And the friend would say: "Leave me to my Lord. We're friends — don't advise me too much. Don't worry about me. Leave me to my Lord."

One day the worshipper came and found his friend committing a sin that he thought was over the top. So he told him:

"Wallahi, Allah will never forgive you — ever. And Allah will never allow you to enter Paradise — ever."

Allah sent an angel to both of them. Both of their souls were taken, and they were gathered in front of Allah. Allah told the sinner: أُدْخُلِ الْجَنَّةَ بِرَحْمَتِي — "Enter Jannah through My mercy." And Allah told the other one — the worshipper: "You have constricted My mercy away from My servants." He said: "No, no, ya Rabb, I'm very sorry — I don't want that." Allah said: "Take him to the Fire" — because that is exactly what he did. He spoke on Allah's behalf — who can go to Paradise and who cannot.

Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه says:

"I swear by that Being in Whose hand is my life — this man said one statement, one word, by which his entire dunya and akhirah were destroyed." Something to consider. How many times do discussions like this happen amongst ourselves? If you and I are worshipping and sitting here tonight — on whom are we doing ihsan? For Allah. And how did we come here? Because Allah enabled us to. Not because we have a car — everyone has a car. You came here because Allah gave you an invitation. That's why you came.

So when we speak in a derogatory manner to someone else, look down upon them and say, "You're not doing this, you're not doing that" — it's as though we are counting our favors upon others. When in reality we should be counting Allah's favors upon ourselves — that He allowed us to practice and gave us the concern for others.

Winning Hearts Through Love and Mercy

Should we stop speaking to our siblings, friends, and cousins about the deen? No — we must. But we have to do it with kindness, wisdom, mercy, and love. In a manner that even though the person doesn't want to do it, he'll do it out of the love he has for you.

I know people who have shared stories with me. They say: "Today I'm sitting in the masjid in front of you. Thirty years ago, that friend, that uncle of mine in the masjid — he just showered me with love. I was the guy not worthy of love. I was not the person you would want to even look at. The type of crowd I used to hang out with — why would a masjid-going uncle even look at me? But he always kept smiling. He'd always share something with me, give me sweets, always call me with nice names, even though everyone else wrote me off. And eventually, it was the love of that individual that just forced me to leave my ways and make tawbah and come to the masjid."

How many times have we seen people who share this story? And how many times have we heard someone say, "I got beat so bad that I decided to make tawbah"? I haven't met anyone like that — and I'm still looking. So this is not how it works. Especially with older people — we have to win them over through mercy, mahabbah, and love. So much good character that a person says, "Okay, fine, I'm going to do that."

The Lesson of Mawlana Ilyas رحمه الله

Mawlana Ilyas رحمه الله — Allah gave him this extraordinary concern and fikr for the ummah. He was a top-notch scholar who would speak in a scholarly language, very deep words. One day he was giving a bayan and two great ulama — Mawlana Abul Hassan al-Nadwi and Mawlana Manzoor al-Nu'mani — were present. They're also top-notch scholars, much younger than him, but the world came to know them 30 years later. They were sitting there in the talk, and the talk was so advanced. At the end, he said: "Who's ready? Who's ready to go out in the path of Allah?" So all of these villagers from Mewat — who don't even know Urdu properly, they speak their own language — all stood up and gave their names.

Mawlana Abul Hassan al-Nadwi and Mawlana Manzoor al-Nu'mani looked at one another and said: "Did you even understand what he just said? It was so advanced — the words so heavy, the concepts so heavy — and you're acting like you understood everything, nodding and standing up?" The answer they gave was priceless. They said: "No, we didn't understand anything he said. But we know that if we don't stand up, we are afraid he's going to die out of sadness and remorse. So just out of pity for him, we stood up. We don't know what he's even saying — but he's saying something about standing up, so we're ready to stand up." SubhanAllah.

That's what we're talking about. When your sibling, your parent, your nephew or niece sees this concern in your heart and love that you have for them — continuously — one day they will break and say: "Why do you love me so much? Why do you care about me so much? When no one cares about me. You never give up, even though I always give you a cold shoulder. It's been three years, four years — you have never stopped messaging me, never stopped calling me, never stopped sharing some good pieces of advice." One day, that love of yours and that fikr of yours, Allah will make it a means of hidayah for that person. But it takes time — that's what I'm trying to tell you.

And when those people turn around — MashaAllah — they turn more than anyone of us can imagine. They go full scale, because they've been there, they've done that. They've lived a life of heedlessness for decades, and they're like: "Brother, I don't need to taste that anymore. I'm done. I'm going to throw it out, spit it out, and never take it back."

Making a List: Invest in Ten People

Tonight, make a list of those people that you want to work on for the next year. Give them at least one year. Usually one year is not sufficient — depending on how deep they've gone. But one year is a solid amount of time. Go into your notes and write down ten names. Ten high school friends, college friends — for the elders, from long ago, people you haven't spoken to about the deen. Come up with that list. And the youngsters here — you already have tens of people you can work on. Take a group of ten and say: "These are my ten investments." You're going to get a huge, huge return on them.

And maybe after one year he still doesn't turn around. But is Nuh alayhis salam a failure? The greatest of the prophets worked and worked and didn't see results many times. So we are not result-oriented either — in the sense that we are work-goal-oriented. We are not result-oriented when it comes to the matters of deen. The result is in the hands of Allah. The result was never in my hands or in the hands of any prophet. That's why Allah made it very clear to the Prophet ﷺ:

O Muhammad ﷺ, you cannot guide whoever you love. Allahu Akbar. I'm remembering the statement of Bilal رضي الله عنه where he says: "I thank Allah who kept hidayah in His hands. I thank Allah who kept hidayah in His hands — otherwise, where would Bilal al-Habshi ever get a chance, in front of all these noble Quraysh?" Allah kept hidayah in His hands, such that Bilal al-Habshi went ahead of the rest. Khabbab ibn al-Aratt went ahead of the rest. Allahu Akbar — in front of all of these big shots. Your job and my job is to work. Can we do that?

Tonight, message those ten people. Nothing about "brother, get up, wake up" — nothing. Just: "Brother, tonight is a blessed night, subhanAllah, and I'm remembering you in my duas. I hope you do the same." That's it. These small snippets. Mawlana Tariq Jamil Sahib — I've heard him say this and I've heard others as well — he systematically messages people across the globe, especially people he's been working on, on nights like this. Allah jaza khairun to him.

And I remember our beloved Junaid Jamshed رحمه الله — like many of you sitting here, I received a message from him on the Day of Arafat, saying "I'm remembering you." Wallahi — out of all the millions of people, why did I receive that? It's amazing how Allah put my name in his mind. That is how you're supposed to make fikr: "I need to have a couple of representatives in the US, a couple in Australia, a couple in Africa" — these are the people you're going to look after, these are your investments. When you receive a text message from any of us on a special night saying "I'm making dua for you, I hope you do the same" — how long can he resist? Before his heart will burst open and he'll say: why is this? This is all from Allah.

A Story: The Colombian Muslim in the Uber

I recently had to use a ride-share to drop off my car at the mechanic. The driver looks at me and says "Assalamu Alaykum!" — SubhanAllah, jackpot! I couldn't tell where he was from. I thought maybe Eastern European, Bosnian. He said: "Nope, keep guessing." I had absolutely no idea. He said: "I'm Colombian." SubhanAllah! Colombian! And he gave me his story. I asked: "When did you accept Islam?" He said: "During COVID — just two years ago." No one in his family is Muslim — they're all still in Colombia. He said: "I pretty much gave up on God and gave up on all deen and religion, and I started exploring. I came across Islam, started reading about it. This whole idea of dying for someone else — it didn't make sense to me. I started reading about Islam and it made a lot of sense." SubhanAllah.

This person — no one taught him how to do wudu, no one taught him how to pray, nothing. Two years a Muslim with no contact with Muslims. Throughout our ten-minute conversation he said: "I swear you've been sent by Allah to sit in my car — because I was slowly getting away from the deen. I have no connection, no Muslims to teach me anything. I was losing touch." And here Allah brought me in his car to speak. Alhamdulillah, I was able to give him a bunch of good websites and YouTube channels of ulama who speak Spanish in South America — some of them are my classmates and they give amazing khutbas and khatiras in fluent Spanish. I shared those with him, had him listen in the car. He said: "Wow, this is amazing."

My point is: when we are trusting in Allah's mercy, Allah will send us the messengers we need. So if you be someone else's messenger — if you be the carrier of the message of mercy to someone — then when you and I one day fall into the ditch, Allah will send messengers for us too. If you look out for people when you are in your high, Allah will send people for you when you are in your low. But the idea is that it has to come out of genuine love and concern — what Rasulullah ﷺ left us with:

"I am a sincere well-wisher for you" — (Quran 7:68, said by the Prophet Hud alayhis salam; and similarly Quran 7:79, 7:93)

"I'm a well-wisher for you and you can trust me. I don't want anything in return. I have no ulterior motives." That was what the prophets were about. And that is what Allah loves the most.

Making Allah Beloved to People — and People Beloved to Allah

Your child gets lost in the grocery store for one minute — what happens to you? You get so scared. Someone carries your child and brings them back: "Is this your son?" How appreciative you are. Allah forbid someone loses their child on the street and someone brings them back — how can we ever forget them? Allah gets even greater joy for that individual who finds Allah's lost servants and brings them back to Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ said: there are certain people who on the Day of Judgment will be sitting on pulpits of Nur, and will be awarded such a status that the prophets and the martyrs will be envious of their rank. The companions said:

"Please describe to us who these people are, O Rasulullah ﷺ." The Prophet ﷺ responded:

(Referenced in the works of scholars of hadith; similar narrations in Musnad Ahmad and other collections)

"They make Allah beloved to the people, and they make people beloved to Allah." How do you make Allah beloved to people? By speaking about and introducing Allah to people — speaking about His mercy, His love, how much He's done for you and me. Making people think outside the box they're in right now and say: "You know what, you're very right. I never thought about it like that. Allah has had my back all my life. That's the only reason I'm sitting here. Why am I running away from the one who is the only one who cares about me?"

And the Sahabah asked: how do you make people beloved to Allah? Rasulullah ﷺ said: you instruct them to do what Allah wants, and prohibit them from doing what Allah does not like.

When people begin to do what Allah wants them to do and stay away from what Allah doesn't want, Allah loves them.

My beloved brothers, tonight is that night for us to make that niyyah: "Ya Allah, I'm going to become Your agent." We need to become agents of Allah's mercy — "I'm here to bring Allah's mercy to your door, I'm here to introduce Allah to you." And we have this unbelievable gift from Allah — so much mercy — that Allah will honor us in a manner that people will be envious of our status on the Day of Judgment.

Jannah Is Closer Than Your Shoelace

Nabi ﷺ said in a hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6488)

Jannah is closer to anyone of you more than your shoelace. You just lean down and tie your shoes — that's how quick, that's how close it is. Jannah is that close. It just takes one action for us to become worthy of Allah's mercy to get into Jannah. And similarly the flip side: Jahannam is also that close. One slip of the tongue, one breaking of someone's heart — it can completely ruin a person.

The Story of the Man Who Committed Every Sin

One time an elderly man came — he had long eyebrows over his eyes, was leaning on a stick, and stood in front of the Prophet ﷺ and said:

"What do you have to say about someone who committed every single sin possible? He didn't leave any sin but that he committed it. So many sins that if they were to be spread out amongst all the dwellers of the earth, it would have destroyed all of them. Is it possible for him to gain forgiveness?" The Prophet ﷺ looked at him and said: هَلْ أَسْلَمْتَ؟ — "Have you become a Muslim?" He said:

Rasulullah ﷺ said: تَفْعَلُ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَتَتْرُكُ السَّيِّئَاتِ فَيَجْعَلُهُنَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ كُلَّهُنَّ خَيْرَاتٍ — "Start doing good deeds now, and stop committing sins now — and Allah will make all your sins replaced with good deeds." If you did one million sins, you make tawbah now — all those million sins will be turned into a million good deeds. SubhanAllah. He asked: "What about غَدَرَاتِي وَفَجَرَاتِي — my acts of evil and lewdness?" The Prophet ﷺ said: نَعَمْ وَغَدَرَاتِكَ وَفَجَرَاتِكَ — "Yes, all your acts of evil and lewdness — they are also going to get forgiven and replaced with good deeds." The man turned around and said الله أكبر، الله أكبر, put his hand on his staff, and began to praise Allah and walked away until he was out of sight of the Sahabah.

No matter what the situation is — the day you make that U-turn, it's over. Someone going in the opposite direction instead of toward Milwaukee ends up toward Louisville — even if you're ten minutes away from Louisville, if your maqsad is Milwaukee, make a U-turn. And as soon as you make the U-turn — it's just a matter of time. Yes, it's going to take extra hours, but you're on the right track now. Allah is waiting for you and me to simply make the U-turn. Once we make the U-turn and pass away anytime on that journey — we will be raised as though we have arrived at the destination.

The Man Who Killed 100 People

You all know the hadith of the one who killed 99 people in Bani Israel. After killing 99, he went and asked a worshipper he found. The worshipper said: "What? You killed 99 — get out of here!" So he made a mistake and paid for it with his life — he wasn't a scholar, just a praying man. He said: "You know what, if there's no hope, I might as well kill you as well." And he killed him — so now 100 murders. But he still had the tawfiq to go to a real scholar. He went and asked: "Is there tawbah?" The scholar said: "Of course there's tawbah! Who said there isn't? But you are a product of your environment. The reason you've messed up so bad is because of the company you're in. You cannot do tawbah here — you need a game plan. Get out of here. Make hijrah. Go to another town where there are pious people. Sit in their company, and through the mahool and the sohbah of the pious, you will be able to fully repent."

He turned and started walking. Midway, the time of death written for him came — the angel of death pulled his soul. As his soul was pulled, the angels from Illiyyin (where the souls of the pious are stored) and from Sijjin (where the souls of the evildoers are stored) both showed up, arguing over who takes this soul. Allah sent a third angel as an arbitrator. He said: "We will measure. Wherever he is closer to — that's where he goes. If he is closer to the town where he was intending to go for tawbah, he goes to Illiyyin. If he is closer to the place where he was sinning, he goes to Sijjin." But Allah is so merciful — He spoke to the earth: "O earth, expand... O earth, constrict." And the earth constricted such that he became closer to the place he was intending to go. Hence his soul was taken to Illiyyin and he was forgiven — based on that niyyah alone.

He didn't even arrive at the destination. But look at the mercy of Allah — He is looking at your intention.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3470; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2766)

Making Tawbah Tonight: A Practical Guide

As we wrap up, beloved brothers — what we need to do is tawbah, seeking forgiveness from Allah tonight. For major sins, we don't just say "Allah forgive my sins." We must list the major sins that we know we are involved in or have committed in the past:

• Riba — a major sin
• Drinking — a major sin
• Zina — a major sin
• Looking at haram — a major sin
• Cursing and being disrespectful to parents
• Disobedience to parents
• Zulm on our spouse, on our parents, on our children
• Seizing someone's money, not paying our dues
• Not giving the other party their due in a dissolution of a marriage or business deal

Until and unless we repent from each of these, we can't just say "Ameen, Ameen" and walk away. We have to ask Allah specifically to forgive us for those major sins tonight. And then the minor sins as well — we ask Allah to forgive all of them; we can't even remember how many there are.

What are the sins for which people are not forgiven on this night, unless they make tawbah? One is what we talked about at the very beginning: shirk. The second is anger, hatred, and grudges for one another. If you're feeling that heaviness, you can't just give up — ask Allah to lift that burden off you. Ask people to forgive us, ask Allah to enable us to forgive one another. Additionally, in certain narrations, 'aq al-walidayn — habitual disobedience to parents — and the habitual drunkard are also mentioned as not being forgiven on this night, unless they seek forgiveness from Allah and from the people they have harmed.

Tawbah consists of a few points:

1. Immediately leave the sin you're involved in — الكَفُّ عَنِ الذَّنْبِ — back out of it immediately.
2. Repent — say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ, "Tawbah ya Allah, please forgive me, I'm sorry."
3. Nadamah — to feel guilty, sad, and remorseful about it.
4. Make a firm resolve never to go back to it again.
5. Have a game plan — remember the story of the man who killed 100 people. We must have a game plan of how we are going to become punctual in our Fajr, punctual in our sadaqah, how we are going to stay away from haram.

Addressing the Fitnah of the Phone and Screen

One of the biggest, most common sins — which has spread across the globe like wildfire — is watching haram through our cell phones and devices. This is the elephant in the room. When a person feels guilty about it, that's good. But without a game plan, nothing is going to change. One must not only feel guilty, not only give up immediately, not only feel bad, not only do tawbah — one must also come up with a game plan.

For example: cut down the time spent on these devices in private. When in private, don't have access to that. Move the computer out of the room. The laptop is not in the room. The cell phone is given away before bed — children put their phones in their parents' bedroom. Put on locks, delete all these apps, put on an app lock and have someone else type in the password. Put a safe browser — put a privacy browser that keeps away all filthy images, even accidentally. Put on a password and have your spouse type it in for you. For youngsters, have your friends work with you on it.

This is leading to depression, anxiety, fighting between spouses, falling grades, people not keeping up their jobs, and overall apathy from the deen — even on nights like this. There is a lot of help available online, great websites, and dedicated self-help books. But what we need to recognize is: if you know someone in your family has this problem, do not look down upon them, do not feel disgust towards them — otherwise it takes one second for Allah to put us in that same situation. Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2505 — similar in meaning)

Whoever mocks his brother for a sin that he repented from — Allah will ensure that he falls into that same sin before he dies. So we need to show love, be open, and say: this is something that can happen to anyone, and I'm here to assist and help. As fathers and mothers, when we open up the discussion, statistics are mind-boggling — how many of our youth could not feel they could depend on their parents to help them. So I'm asking all the elders to open up the conversations, make yourselves available to your youth, and say: "I'm your dad, I'm your mom. We love you unconditionally and we're here to help overcome any issues." When you see the patterns — a student falling in grades, no longer wanting to come to the masjid, spending extra time in the room — use the wisdom Allah gave you. And if you feel you can't handle it, at the very least connect them with ulama. That's what we're sitting here for. Connect your children to the scholars of your local masjid or the counselors at Darussalam — both male and female scholars — and let them share whatever the issues are.

Six Things to Do Tonight

1. Engage in dua — make a list of all your duas. Tonight is a night where destiny can be changed. If anything can change destiny, dua can.
2. Fast tomorrow — the 15th of Sha'ban. Get up for suhoor, make dua at suhoor, and fast tomorrow.
3. Increase in istighfar — make a goal of a thousand istighfar and a thousand salawat. At least a thousand of each.
4. Tilawah — recite a portion of the Quran: Surah al-Kahf, Surah Yasin, Surah al-Waqi'ah, Surah al-Mulk, Surah al-Sajdah, Surah al-Dukhan. Since tonight is also Jumu'ah night, Surah al-Kahf is especially recommended.
5. Give sadaqah — sadaqah is a way to extinguish the anger of Allah. Give whatever you can.
6. Perform Salatul Tasbeeh — the method is on the TV screens outside and will be shared on the events group. It takes time and forces you to focus — a great way to spend a portion of this night.

The Vastness of Allah's Mercy

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله mentions: one day a scene took place — a mother took her child out of the house, yelled at him, made him sit outside, and closed the door. He was throwing a tantrum. A man coming back from salah saw this incident. When he came back, he saw this child who had walked away some distance — then came back and realized that all the other doors were closed and no one else was willing to take him in. He truly had no place to go besides his mother's house. So he came back to the house. When he found it locked, he lay down on the doorstep, sobbed away, and went to sleep with his cheek on the ground.

After some time the mother opened the door, saw her child sleeping there, screamed, picked him up, hugged him, and said: "How are you sleeping here like this? Did I not tell you — do not upset me and force me to do something which I don't like to do. I don't know which mother wants to kick her son out of the house. I am a mother and I want to show nothing but love and kindness to you. But you did something which made me do this." And she started crying.

Ibn al-Qayyim writes: this sheikh reflected on the hadith where the Prophet ﷺ says that indeed Allah loves His servants more than a mother loves her child. Allah's asal — His nature — is mercy. He says: when Allah created the 'arsh, it was written on it:

Indeed, My mercy overpowers My anger. And what does the Quran say?

Indeed, My mercy encompasses everything.

The Prophet ﷺ was sitting with his companions when prisoners of war were brought. One lady, a prisoner, saw a baby in the arms of someone else. When she saw it, she lost herself — she went and grabbed the baby, hugged it, kissed it, crying, and began to nurse it. Nabi ﷺ said: "Would you think this mother would willingly throw this child into fire?" They said: "Ya Rasulullah ﷺ, absolutely not." Then the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Allah is far more merciful to a believer than this lady is to her child."

The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that when Allah created rahma — the concept of mercy — He created it into a hundred parts. Out of these hundred parts, Allah kept ninety-nine parts with Him and distributed one part amongst the entire creation. And it is through that one part of a hundred that every mother has love for her child, every parent has love for their child — even a powerful, swift horse is very careful where it puts its hooves lest it ends up harming its little one. All of that comes from that one percent. And the ninety-nine parts Allah has kept with Him, which He showers upon us and will shower upon us on the Day of Judgment.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6000; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2752)

And then it comes in hadith — subhanAllah, so amazing — that on the Day of Judgment, even Shaytan himself will have this misconception for a little bit that maybe he'll get forgiven. The one who is behind every single evil, who causes fasaad with his millions of helpers — even he, for some time, will begin to think he might get forgiven. SubhanAllah — that is how vast the mercy of Allah is.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6469; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2755)

If a disbeliever were to know how merciful Allah is, no disbeliever would despair of the mercy of Allah — even the biggest disbeliever would think he might get forgiven. And if a believer were to know how powerful Allah is when He comes to punish, then no believer would think he was going to be saved. The reason we sit so relaxed is because we don't know how merciful Allah is, and we don't know how powerful Allah is when it comes to punishing. Both of these things we are ignorant of.

How many people are crying because of what is being done to them by other human beings — and a human being cannot even control his blink without the permission of Allah. If this is the azab of a human being, what do you think when Allah Himself wants to punish someone? Allah says in the Quran:

Indeed We are going to make you taste a smaller punishment and not the bigger punishment in this dunya — with the hope that you will one day return and make tawbah. So when we go through problems, when people make us cry, when people hurt our feelings and break our hearts — remember: this is a tiny, tiny azab from a small human being who cannot even control how many times he uses the restroom, yet he is bringing tears to our eyes. Imagine when the Rabb of al-Alameen comes after us if we continue to anger Him and He chooses to make us a target. How are we going to escape that? But when a person doesn't know about Jannah and Jahannam, he makes such foolish mistakes.

Collective Dhikr and Du'a

Let us now engage in some dhikr — first with our tongue and heart, then quietly in our hearts. Let us do a hundred times, slowly, focusing on the heart:

Allah is sufficient for me and He is the best of caretakers.

There is no god but You; glory be to You; indeed I have been of the wrongdoers. This is the Ayat-e-Karima — and similarly various adhkar have specific effect in bringing the mercy of Allah and granting us salvation from difficulties:

Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best Caretaker. I turn all my affairs towards Allah. Allah is all-watchful over His servants.

Nabiyy ﷺ mentioned: whoever recites ten times after Salatul Maghrib:

Allah will grant him ten good deeds — each sufficient to take him to Jannah — will forgive him ten sins each sufficient to take him to Jahannam, and will grant him the reward of freeing ten Muslim slaves. Just by reciting this ten times.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3474; classified as sahih)

The one who recites سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ a hundred times — Allah is willing to forgive all his sins, even if they are equivalent to the foam of the oceans.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6405; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2694)

The one who recites سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ ten times, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ten times, and اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ ten times after every fard salah — just thirty in total — Allah will grant him forgiveness and rewards that no one else will be able to compete with on that day.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 597)

The one who goes to sleep with wudu and does some dhikr before going to sleep — then anytime he wakes up and makes dua, that dua will be accepted. So: if you really want something tonight, go to sleep in the state of wudu, do some dhikr as you fall asleep, and then anytime you wake up — for suhoor or otherwise — sit in your bed and make dua. You go right back to sleep, but your dua will be accepted.

The Final Du'a

Oh Allah, all the evil of missing salah, looking at haram, listening to haram, wasting time on dramas and videos — Ya Allah, we ask You to allow the ummah to get out of this mess. Allow us to be saved from misusing our phones, from wasting our time online, on WhatsApp and on YouTube and all these random videos. Oh Allah, this is where the ummah's time is being wasted. On such blessed nights, time is being wasted on phones. Ya Allah, we ask You to grant us a life of freedom from this filth. Oh Allah, we are chained into this and we do not know how to get out. Please allow us to find a way out, and allow us to help our children to escape it. Oh Allah, please save our children and our young generation from being exposed to the filth out there. Oh Allah, protect them from falling into it, Ya Allah.

Oh Allah, put muhabba and love between husbands and wives, between parents and children. Oh Allah, all those infightings and continuous bickerings that Shaytan creates within our homes — Ya Allah, tonight please make a decision to end that from our marriages, from the marriages of our siblings, our children, our parents. Oh Allah, how many children have lost their minds to the continuous fighting of their parents for decades. Oh Allah, please end these bickerings. Oh Allah, so many couples — newly married couples — are falling into divorce every single day. Grant spouses the ability to be forbearing, forgiving, and understanding. Oh Allah, allow us to control our anger. Allow us at the moment of rage to turn to You — to recite أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ, to do wudu, to perform salah, to sit down, to use the prophetic methods to control our anger.

Oh Allah, allow us to control our lustful desires. At that time, none can be saved from falling into sin besides the one whom You save. Oh Allah, make us amongst those who remain firm and do not shake when we are tempted by sin. Grant us the willpower to say no to haram — no to haram investments, no to haram earnings, no to haram spending, no to extravagance and a lifestyle of show and fame. Oh Allah, grant all of us contentment. Grant us an ability to be content with rizq. Oh Allah, allow us to lead a life filled with barakah. Grant all of us halal rizq — but rizq that has barakah in it. Oh Allah, do not grant us such wealth that becomes a means of our punishment, makes us heedless of You, keeps us distant from the masjid. Oh Allah, grant us rizq with aafi and barakah that allows us ample time for the masjid, for dhikr and dua, for the community, and for our families.

Oh Allah, grant us sympathy and empathy for the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Make every one of us a da'i. Grant all of us the ability to work on at least ten individuals this year. Allow us to have love for them, make dua for them every day, message them regularly, shower them with muhabba. Allow every single person listening here to make effort on at least ten people — and allow those ten people to make effort on another ten people. Oh Allah, by next year, allow all of us to have brought ten new people back to the masjid.

Oh Allah, those who are looking to get married — make it easy for them to find a righteous, pious spouse. Oh Allah, so many boys and girls are looking to get married. You know exactly where their spouse is written for them. Make it easy for them to get married soon. And grant tawfiq to those parents who are not allowing their children to get married — allow them to understand the needs of today, and to become facilitators rather than obstacles of their children's marriages.

Oh Allah, those who are married and do not have children — grant them righteous, healthy, pious children. Oh Allah, those children of our ummah who are sick — from various sicknesses, small or major, critical illnesses — Ya Allah, Ya Allah, You are complete Qadir. You have complete power. Make a decision of shifa for such people tonight. Ya Allah, You are aware of each and every one of them. We ask You to grant shifa to such children, such adults, such parents diagnosed with diseases the world doesn't have a solution for. Oh Allah, and those who are looking after such children, such parents — grant them the highest levels of Jannah for the sabr that they have.

Oh Allah, all those elders who are suffering from Alzheimer's and other diseases — grant them shifa. And those sons and daughters, those spouses making khidmah — Oh Allah, grant them the highest levels of Jannah, and continue to grant them sabr and patience. Oh Allah, save all of us from having such an old age that we become a burden upon anyone. Grant us healthy old age, long lives, and allow us to remain healthy and able to do our ibadah fully, Ya Allah. Save us from any type of sudden calamity, any type of accident. Grant us lives of aafiyah.

Oh Allah, all those children who have run away from their homes, all those children who have left the deen, all those who are confused about their identity, all those who are professing some other faith — and the parents have been making dua for them, the community has been making dua for them. Oh Allah, bring these children back. Tonight make a decision, Ya Allah — please, Ya Allah. Every son and daughter of this ummah who has left the deen, who has left the home — bring them back to their parents, bring them back towards Islam. All those boys and girls who went to Islamic schools, who memorized the Quran, but now have drifted away — Oh Allah, bring them back on this blessed night.

Oh Allah, inspire all the parents to make the right decisions regarding the tarbiyah and education of their children. Ya Allah, we do not know how to raise our kids — especially in this age. Please inspire us. Hold our hand and inspire us at every step. Oh Allah, remove the misunderstandings of the deen from the minds and hearts of Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Allow them to fall in love with the deen.

Oh Allah, grant us peace in this country. Allow our leaders to make the best decisions. Create Your fear in their hearts. Allow them to realize they are accountable in front of You. Allow us as Muslims to continue to live in peace and comfort. Do not test us, Ya Allah, the way our brothers and sisters across the globe are being tested. Oh Allah, those brothers and sisters in every part of the world being tested through civil war, through oppression — grant them sabr, grant them patience, send Your angels to protect them, inspire them with ways to protect themselves. Oh Allah, please bring peace across the globe.

Oh Allah, allow us to be aware of the preparations for the coming of Dajjal, and allow us to prepare our children and ourselves to be protected from that. Allow us to hold on to Surah al-Kahf — to read it, understand it, practice on its teachings, and recite it every Friday. Oh Allah, allow us to use all the a'mal to protect us from the fitan of today. Grant all of us basira and farsightedness to distinguish right from wrong. Grant us the sohbah of the pious. Allow our children to find the best of friends.

Oh Allah, all those who have memorized the Quran — allow them to retain it. Allow them to lead taraweeh this year and every year. Allow them to become true representatives of the Quran — not just huffadh of the words, but representatives of its meanings and teachings. Oh Allah, allow all the children studying in madrasas and Islamic schools to become ambassadors of Rasulullah ﷺ. Grant protection to all our deeni institutions — all the masajid, the madrasas, the khanqahs, the Islamic schools, and all deeni efforts across the globe. Grant sincerity to the workers. Grant internal and external protection for all these institutions.

Oh Allah, we ask You on this special night to reward all those who gave, all those who sat here, all those who said ameen — more than they can expect. Fulfill all their permissible desires and needs. Have special mercy upon them. Grant protection from the evil eye, from hasad, from jealousy, from sihr, from any shaitanic efforts.

Oh Allah, tonight inspire all those suffering silently — with the proper answers and solutions. Allow them all to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh Allah, allow all of us to safely reach Ramadan. Allow this year's Ramadan to be the very best — fill up all of our masajid. Oh Allah, protect the Haramain Sharifain and Masjid al-Aqsa and all the masajid. Oh Allah, please do not test us again by closing the masajid.

Oh Allah, we ask You on this blessed night to grant us all the ability to individually repent from every major and minor sin. Grant us the ability to be remorseful. Inspire us with a game plan of how to get out of the lifestyles we are currently in. Teach us how to change our lives. Oh Allah, every year we make long duas and tawbah, then go back to our sins. Oh Allah, please — we do not want to go back. Teach us how we can change our lives for good.

Oh Allah, grant forgiveness to our parents, our children, our elders, all of us who have lost grandparents and parents. Ya Allah, grant them complete forgiveness. Fill their graves with nur. Grant them the full reward of these duas we are making. And those of us lucky to have parents and grandparents alive — allow us to serve them and earn Jannah through that service.

May Allah accept all those who are going for Umrah, and all those who are supporting those who are going, and all those who are intending to go. May Allah accept our ibadah for the rest of this blessed night. And may Allah take all of us again and again for accepted Hajj and Umrah, and grant us the ziyarah of Rasulullah ﷺ again and again. Ameen.