Jumu'ah Khutbah | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 3/22
By Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 2026-06-04T11:38:55.62818+00:00 | Topic: Khutbah
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته، بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، اللهم صل وسلم على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد وبارك وسلم، رب اشرح لي صدري ويسر لي أمري، واحلل عقدة من لساني، يفقهوا قولي، سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا، سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا، سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا، اللهم علمنا ما ينفعنا وانفعنا بما علمتنا وزدنا علماً، اللهم نور قلوبنا بعلمك، واستعمل أبداننا لطاعتك، ووفقنا لما تحب وترضى من قول وعمل ونية وهدى، إنك على كل شيء قدير، يا وهاب يا وهاب يا وهاب، يا فتاح يا فتاح يا فتاح، يا جبار يا جبار يا جبار، أما بعد
And the Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith where Sufyan ibn Abdillah ath-Thaqafi asked: قلت يا رسول الله، قل لي في الإسلام قولاً لا أسأل عنه أحداً بعدك، قال: قل آمنت بالله فاستقم - "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam that I will not need to ask anyone else about after you.' He said: 'Say: I believe in Allah, then be upright.'"
Respected elders and brothers, dear mothers and sisters and dear students, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he allow us on this beginning of the tenth, the middle tenth of Ramadan allow us to fully leave the first ten in a state that we have become worthy of Allah's mercy, and we are preparing ourselves to earn Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's forgiveness in this ten days, ameen ya rabb al-alameen.
Earning Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness
My beloved brothers and sisters, for a person to become worthy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's rahma, and for a person to gain his forgiveness, and the last ten, for a person to become worthy of being emancipated from the fire of hell, all of these huge blessings require a person to ensure that he is not at war with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
For a person who is at war, we cannot expect any type of mercy from the one who we have made into our enemy, who is far, far, far, far more superior, far more powerful than we can ever imagine. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being at war with him means, when a person is committing, with absolute insolence and no care, major sins.
When a person decides to break the orders of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and commit sins in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, like for example, that Allah azza wa jal mentions regarding riba in the Quran, where he says:
Then listen to the open declaration of war against you, if you choose to continue to indulge in usury and interest. This is one of many examples. When a person decides to sin, then he is becoming a thorn in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, or acting as though he is a, you know, a capable, audhubillah, adversary to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which we obviously are not. We are a simple teeny tiny creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But we end up making mistakes.
The Importance of Repentance
So a person may say, well I have made many sins, we all are sinners, we all have made mistakes, and my intention may not have been ever that I am standing up in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as a enemy of his. Well then we have to hear something about it. A person must then, at least when mistakes happen, a person must at least repent. A person must at least say, I'm sorry.
How else we're gonna, in the normal interactions we have with one another, when someone may push us over, or when someone may hit our car, immediately what happens? I'm so sorry, that was unintentional, I'm very sorry, we apologized ten times. And then we don't just apologize and walk away after causing two thousand dollars of damage, right? We exchange insurance, we figure out how we can pay for the damage that was done to the other person's car. Seeking forgiveness does not mean that now you don't have to pay. Two separate things. One is you seek forgiveness. Number two, then you make amends, and you figure out how you're gonna pay for the damage.
When a person turns to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in repentance, a person is number one asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for, that he's apologizing, he's got remorse. He has to say that I am, yeah, Allah is very sorry for what has happened. And then the second thing after that is, how do I make amends? What do I do to make up for what I have done?
The Three Stages of Ramadan
Since this is, already the first ten days is complete, ulama have said, why is it that first comes ten days of rahmah, then ten days of forgiveness, then last ten days of itqa min an-nar, it's because it takes, for many people, they are forgiven from the very first night of Ramadan. They've already prepared themselves so well, that as soon as the ten days of mercy comes, they are ready. And that first night of Ramadan, it brings in a huge change, and they have already earned their emancipation from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, from Jahannam.
But there are many others who takes time, because of how many sins they have accumulated for the whole year, because of the rust that has accumulated on their hearts, and on their souls, it takes a full ten days of fasting, for them to maybe become worthy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy. And there are others that that ten days is not sufficient, they need to go keep going on for another twenty. And in that twenty days, then they are, subhanAllah, somehow worthy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's forgiveness.
When Ramadan Isn't Enough
Some twenty days finishes, and yet habits, old habits die hard. Things haven't changed much. Things haven't changed much besides the time that we eat, and we break our fast. Instead of having an 8 a.m. breakfast, now we have a 5 a.m. breakfast. Maybe instead of having, or dinner time really much hasn't much changed. Right? So that's there as well. So a small change, and besides that, the lifestyle, may Allah forgive me and forgive you, the lifestyle is the same. Lifestyle is the same.
A lot of the things that we would do maybe during the day, we shift it to throughout, to the night. The mistakes that were committed by the tongue, the mistakes that were committed by the eyes, it's still there. Because there's no on-off switch. Ramadan is here, so all of a sudden my tongue is no longer gonna backbite. Ramadan is here, so my tongue is no longer gonna lie. Ramadan is here, so I'm no longer gonna cheat and deceive people in business. Ramadan is here, so I'm no longer going to speak ill to my parents, and disrespectful, and raise, not raise my voice in front of my parents. Ramadan is here, so I'm gonna have a kinder approach to my spouse, and to my children. Ramadan is here, so I'm gonna ensure that I am much more scrupulous in my business dealings. Ramadan is here, so I'm gonna be very careful how, what I look at, and with what intention I look at. Ramadan is here, so I'm gonna be extremely careful of how I miss, I use my phone, and I will ensure that my phone is not misused even for a moment, that I will not look which I'm not supposed to look at, not listen to what I'm not supposed to listen.
Real Change Requires Real Effort
These are things, there is no on-off switch, that as soon as Ramadan happens, all of a sudden you become a changed person. You and I know that, that's a reality. We, there is no on-off switch, that automatically makes our morals and ethics of a higher status, our tongue pure, our eyes pure, our cleans pure, our ears pure. This requires a lot of effort, a lot of effort, and many of us have been struggling for the past, not 11 months, for the past 11 years and more, to get rid of these bad habits. What makes you think as soon as Ramadan comes, we can go into autopilot mode, and all of these things will immediately just leave our body, leave our system, leave our soul. Of course not.
Until a person does not make that a focal point of his development, of his spiritual development, these things will still obviously haunt that person, remain with that person, and unfortunately will become a huge barrier from them benefiting from the blessed nights and days of Ramadan. It is those mistakes, those major and minor sins, that a person may have been involved in for many years, that until a person doesn't recognize that this is my major enemy, this is my major obstacle in my life, in my progress towards Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, those things will not just simply walk away. They need to be worked upon.
So my brothers and sisters, this is why the more a person works on it, some people work on it right before Ramadan even begins, alhamdulillah they're good to go. Some people work on it within the first 10 days. Some people work on it for the second 10 days. Some people work on it in the last 10 days, and then the Laylatul Qadr comes and gives them the final push.
The Warning of the Prophet ﷺ
And unfortunately, then there are some, Allahu Akbar, who unfortunately they never decide to really make that a priority of life. And that's why Rasulullah ﷺ said:
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
Woe to that person. May he be cursed. Woe to him. بُعْدٌ عَن رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ He may be far away from them. May he be far away from the mercy of Allah. The one who found, who was alive and welcomed Ramadan, فَلَمْ يُغْفَرْ لَهُ But yet he couldn't do what it takes to be forgiven. He couldn't do what it takes to be forgiven.
It's not a lot. What is it required? It's not about doing things, it's about not doing things. It's about not doing things. It's about giving up bad habits. That's what's required to gain forgiveness. Ramadan is about making that change. Ramadan is about saying, Ya Allah, I'm gonna cut this out and cut this out and cut this out. If a person does that, الحمد لله, هنيئا له. Well, you know, glad tidings to him.
But if a person doesn't, then the Prophet ﷺ, as you have heard in the famous hadith, he ascended the first step of the minbar and he said ameen. Then he ascended the second step of the minbar and he said ameen. Then he ascended the third step of the pulpit and he said ameen. They said, We have seen you doing something that you usually have never done before. What was happening? And he said the leader of the angels, Jibreel Ameen, was here and he was making dua and I was saying ameen. What dua was Jibreel Ameen making? Well, he said, May he be cursed, the one who finds Ramadan yet doesn't get forgiven. Because it's so simple to get forgiven in this month. But if you don't get forgiven, that means you really don't care. It's about having I don't care attitude in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And why should Allah forgive someone who has this type of arrogant attitude in front of him?
The Need for Humility
If there is no humility, no humbleness, no remorse in front of Allah, what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala need to do with us? Allah says, Allah azza wa jal says in the end of Surah Taha, or Surah Maryam, and he says, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could care less. Allah could care less about you. If it wasn't for your serious repenting, your serious dua, your serious ibadah. Otherwise, there's no reason Allah needs us. He has no reason for us.
If you want to become worthy of Allah's attention, if I want to become worthy of Allah's attention, show it. The proof is in the pudding. What is that? That is genuine humility and humbleness and seeking forgiveness in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Saying, اللهم أنا مقصر، أنا تائب - Allah ana muqassir, ana ta'ib.
The Example of the Prophet ﷺ
Look at Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's dua when he is entering Makkah al-Mukarramah. And when he's entering Makkah al-Mukarramah as a conqueror, this is not a scholar, this is not an imam, this is not some tabi'i, this is not a sahabi, this is the Prophet himself sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And what are his words?
O Allah, indeed you know my private life and my public life. لا يخفى عليك شيء من أمري - Nothing is hidden from you. And who am I? أنا البائس، الفقير، المستغفر، المستجير، الوجل، المشفق، المقترف، المعترف، بذنبي - O Allah, I am that absolutely beggar at your door. I am a sinner who is repenting. I am a sinner who is acknowledging his sin. And I beg you, I'm now at your door begging you, أسألك مسألة المسكين - I am begging you the way a beggar begs you. وأدعوك دعاء الخائف الضرير - And I call upon you with the supplication of one who is fearful and in need.
The Humility of the Prophet in Victory
I am calling out to you the way a scared blind man is asking for help.
And I am beseeching you the way a disgraced sinner beseeches the king.
The beseeching of someone whose neck is lowered in front of you.
Whose body is humbled in front of you.
Whose nose is on the ground in the soil in front of you.
Ya Allah please do not make me deprived. And do not make me wretched in this prayer.
Oh the best of those who has ever been asked. And oh the best of those who ever gives.
Look at the humility that is dripping, that is overflowing from this du'aa. And you wonder what is it? This is the Prophet saying this as he's entering Makkah as a conqueror. That is the highlight of his life. But look at the level of humility. Look at the idea of just saying I'm a sinner. The Prophet. Because in front of Allah we're nothing.
The Nur of Allah and True Humility
What is he looking at? He's not looking at his good deeds. He's looking at the grandeur and the greatness of Allah. And that light is so powerful. Imagine you look at the lights of a very big car or of a jet that's right in front of you. What happens? You get blinded. The nur of Allah is such that it blinds you from seeing anything besides Him. The nur of Allah is so powerful when you look at it properly you forget that you even exist. Of course you cannot think of your own good deeds. When you look at that nur, you are nobody.
So someone who focuses on Allah and Allah removes the veils between him and Allah more and more, he starts realizing that he is nothing. That is why Rasulullah is speaking in this manner. Since we don't have that understanding of who Allah is the way the Prophet did, that is why we do not have even a thousandth of that humility and humbleness in our prayers. Or in our heart, in our soul.
The Importance of Repentance in Ramadan
But if we want to make the most use of this blessed month of Ramadan, or I should say any use of it, it cannot happen if we are continuously involved in misusing of our tongue, misusing of our eyes, misusing of our ears, misusing of our hands and feet, misusing of our thoughts, and having horrible character flaws. Until we do not repent from each and every one of those, we will not get the blessings of this month.
That is why Rasulullah said:
There are many who get from standing nothing but staying awake at night. And there are رُبَّ صَائِمٍ There are many who fast. They get nothing out of their fast except for weakness. إِلَّا الْجُوعَ Except for hunger.
What does that mean? That means exact same thing. That there are people who are fasting and praying but they are not repenting. And so at the end of the 30 days, they're exactly where they started at the beginning. But on top of that, it's not just that we're the same. No. They actually have a lot of proof of Allah against them. That Allah will say, well, you had the entire Ramadan and you still couldn't get forgiven? Like this is real wretchedness.
A Call for Self-Reflection
So if we want to ensure that we do not become from the wretched ones, if we want to ensure that as we enter the second Asharah, that we gain the rahmah of the last Asharah and the forgiveness of this Asharah, I invite myself and all of us to truly spend every single day reflecting on our major and minor flaws and sins.
It's a very painful moment for us because we usually don't do this. And you have to kind of come to terms with who you are. But it's better that we come to terms with ourselves now than having to deal with it on the Day of Judgment when it would truly be no use. Instead of standing in front of Allah as a judge, we would rather be the judge of ourselves first and sort these things out before our soul leaves us and we've got nothing but standing in front of Allah tomorrow.
Du'a for Self-Awareness and Forgiveness
I ask Almighty Allah that He allows all of us to become aware of our mistakes and flaws. May Allah create self-awareness within all of us. May Allah allow ourselves to see our flaws and mistakes the way we see the bright sun. And may Allah then allow us to feel remorse, genuine remorse and sadness over what we have done in the past decades of our life. And then may He then allow us to have the resolve to not go back to those sins and come up with a strategy where we can lead a life free of major sins.
I ask Allah that He forgive not only us in these blessed nights and days, but He forgives the entire ummah and inspires the entire ummah to do a u-turn and repent back towards Allah.
Important Announcements and Community Updates
Let us come forward and fill up the rows before we perform our sunnah. Can we all stand up and fill up all the rows here. Before you begin your sunnah, make sure the person from behind has taken up the space next to you. Please do not begin the sunnah until your row is completely filled. Please move forward brothers. Do not begin the sunnah until you see it. Call the person behind you. Say, hey brother fill up the row. Fill up the row behind you. Fill up the rows. Fill up the rows brothers. All the space. Come keep on going. Don't start your sunnah until we fill up the rows.
Tonight's Programs
Some important announcements for those of you who are not here for taraweeh praying somewhere else. These are new announcements. Tonight will be our mother and daughter evening 5 p.m to 8 p.m. The halaqa, questions answer, dhikr, du'a, dessert and dinner for mothers and daughters from ages 7 to 25. There is different programs 25 plus. 5 p.m to 8 p.m please visit masjiddiyas.org/mother-daughter to register. Registration is necessary. Again this is from kids 7 to 11, 12 to 15 and 25 plus tonight.
Number two we will be having our brothers second and final brothers youth halaqa tonight after taraweeh from 11:30 to 1:30 a.m and it will be called passion to action you're influenced on tomorrow's world with myself and Mufti Nabil Khan. There's going to be mentorship, Q&A sessions, refreshments from Student Burger etc. masjiddiyas.org/action for RSVP for that. All fathers I encourage you to please send your sons for tonight 18 plus from masjiddiyas.org/action 11 p.m tonight.
Upcoming Events
And then tomorrow evening we'll have our second and final father and son program. All brothers 25 and plus are welcome. The topic for tomorrow night will be dreams to reality building a bright future and we'll have collective sessions as well as individual sessions with mentors. That's going to be between myself and Dr. Human the founder and director of Khalil Center tomorrow night after taraweeh til suhoor. Please benefit from these programs.
This Sunday at Asr Salah we'll be having a convert Muslim iftar and dinner. For converts Muslim iftar and dinner all convert brothers and sisters are encouraged to attend. Please pass the word. It's again Asr Salah on Sunday.
Prayer Schedule and Encouragement
The Fajr time will be changing from tomorrow to 5:25 a.m. Fajr Iqama will be at 5:25 and an encouragement for all of us to attend Salatul Fajr. The Prophet said whoever performs Salatul Fajr in jama'a on any night he will get the reward of standing up the entire night in ibadah. So if we can just make it up for Fajr every night in Ramadan we'll have the reward of standing up every single night in front of Allah. Let's all make niyyah for that.
Community Support and Monthly Donor Program
Brothers please pass the donation boxes from the left to the right. Brothers and sisters wherever you may be please pass the donation boxes from the left to right and encourage you to donate generously on this blessed day of Ramadan. Blessed day of Jumu'ah in the month of Ramadan.
Additionally my dear friends, alhamdulillah with the masjid and madrasa where it stands today thousands alhamdulillah have attended. You may have heard we had last weekend a community dinner and we had a huge attendance. Similarly for taraweeh we are getting about 800 cars every single day and about over a thousand people performing salah. We had a khatmul quran of the seven-day khatmul quran mashallah that brought in 500 people just for the khatmul quran. For all seven days people came from far and wide for that.
With all these services of course this is for the masjid. Then we have the seminary programs are taking place here which are serving the needs of people from across the country. We encourage all of us to be a part of it and one way you can be a part of it by is by being a perpetual monthly donor. We started a campaign when the seminary got built about three years ago. It was called the fortunate 1400 program to have people sign up at any level on a monthly basis perpetually to become supporters of the work that Darussalam Seminary and Masjid Darussalam are doing.
For the past couple years we haven't gotten a chance to focus on that and this Ramadan we are trying to ensure that we put our focus on that try our best to get that completed. We encourage all of you who are listening to me whether you're hearing about this first time or you've heard about it many times to please look at what Allah has given you and try to sign up to a level that you're comfortable with on behalf of yourself, your wife, your kids, your parents at any amount. If we can do $25 a week every single week $25 and this would be $100 a month, you see that $25 may not seem a lot to you but once it goes into the seminary it will be used in so many different ways that will be beneficial.
So we want to have a few minutes of you all إن شاء الله raising your hand having these brothers come and give you their pledge cards or swipe your card إن شاء الله. Can I have إن شاء الله a number of brothers raise your hand إن شاء الله for $25 a month? Who would raise your hand إن شاء الله $25 a week, $100 a month to become a perpetual donor towards the masjid and the madrasa over here? We are trying our best إن شاء الله to have a large group of brothers. ما شاء الله here's one, الحمد لله, keep our hands raised quickly إن شاء الله. Who else brothers? Who else إن شاء الله? If you want to do something less than that, no problem. If you want $25 a month also, any amount that you're comfortable with. ما شاء الله there's here, okay, there's a brother over here. Just keep your hands raised إن شاء الله. There's الحمد لله three, ما شاء الله four. Who else إن شاء الله? Any amount, any amount. If you want $25 a month or $25 a week, that's four brothers. Who else إن شاء الله would like to become - ما شاء الله Allah reward you - ما شاء الله number five, number six, الحمد لله. Who else ما شاء الله? Who else ما شاء الله? Seven here brother, just pass the pledge cards up and just keep your hands raised so the brother can give you the card. الحمد لله you have the angels watching naturally, but this will make it easy if you have the card with you. Seven brothers, who else إن شاء الله? Any other brother or sister, keep your hand raised, keep your hand raised. Someone will come to you and give you a card إن شاء الله. Anyone else إن شاء الله for any amount on a monthly basis? Any amount on a monthly basis? I know many of you are regular donors or Ramadan donors. We encourage you to sign up specifically on this category of Fortune 1400.
The Inspiration Behind Fortune 1400
This is named after the 1400 Sahaba that took a pledge of allegiance on the بيعة الرضوان with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Allah عز وجل speaks about them in the Quran: Allah is pleased with those people, with those believers who took a pledge of allegiance under the tree. This is our goal that by being a long-term supporter of the deen, Allah سبحانه وتعالى will raise us with the Sahaba إن شاء الله.
Who else here إن شاء الله raise your hand إن شاء الله would like to be part of that? ما شاء الله may Allah be pleased with you. Look at the young brothers إن شاء الله. Keep your hands raised. Who else my friends? I said any amount, so if you want to do $10 a month, you want to do $5 a month, you want to do $100 a month, you want to do $200 a month, any amount. I'm sure الحمد لله this is not gonna break the bank if we give $10 a month or $5 a month. Raise your hand إن شاء الله, you will be a part of this beautiful category of brothers and sisters who are supporters, silent partners ما شاء الله in the institution. ما شاء الله may Allah reward you. Who else إن شاء الله? Who else الحمد لله? الحمد لله right behind you, الحمد لله.
There are thousands who are benefiting from our virtual programs, even in Ramadan, thousands benefiting daily. Here you might not be a regular in the masjid, you're just here for Jumu'ah. Just give your $10 a month, your $20 a month and إن شاء الله you will have a share of everything great that is happening here.
Sadaqah as Protection and Repentance
Who else would like to إن شاء الله on this blessed day of Jumu'ah give this as a sadaqah, give this as insurance on behalf of yourself and your family that "Ya Allah, protect me and my family from emotional issues, from financial issues"? الحمد لله we know sadaqah is something that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said musiba cannot overtake. This is one of the best ways we make a deal with Allah.
Number two, we talked about forgiveness right now, we talked about tawbah. ما شاء الله keep your hands raised brother here. If a person wants to show Allah he is sincere in his repentance and he is remorseful, one of the best ways to do that is give sadaqah, because sadaqah extinguishes the anger of Allah. So if we are feeling that we want to really show Allah عز وجل our true repentance, keep our hands raised and say "Ya Allah, every single day I am sinning, I know I am, but by me dedicating something on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, I am letting you know Ya Allah I am not sinning because I am arrogant. I am not sinning because I think I can take you on. I am simply falling to my nafs and Shaytan. I need your help." This is a sadaqah that will إن شاء الله purify your sins and will solidify your relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
Who else إن شاء الله brothers? Last call, just raise your hand at any amount. We are hoping to complete as much as we can at the Fortune 1400 in this month of Ramadan. We need everyone's help. We need more than 10 people to really honor this responsibility. ما شاء الله the brother here took responsibility as well.
Spreading the Message
I would encourage you on the way out, please grab some cards, sisters and brothers, grab 5, 10, 15 cards, as many as you want. Tonight or anywhere else that you're going for iftar this weekend, or meeting people, give them a card and say "الحمد لله I myself have committed, I would like you to join at any level - $10 a month, $20 a month, $100 a month."
My dear friends, every one of us, if we work as a united front and we bring in a few pennies together, a few dollars together, إن شاء الله there will be barakah in it and whatever is happening here will continuously increase.
Du'a for the Supporters
For your dedication, for your patience, for your sincerity, may Allah allow all those who made niyyah to give, may Allah allow them to see barakah in their health - say Ameen! Barakah in their wealth - say Ameen! May Allah give them unbelievable levels of tawfiq of making the most use of this Ramadan. All those brothers who made niyyah and sisters made niyyah, may Allah make it easy for all of them to shun sin. May Allah make it easy for all of them to leave major sins and minor sins. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى get them out of any difficulty that they may find themselves in, be it spiritual, emotional, financial. May Allah make them a sadaqah jariyah for their parents. May Allah make it easy for them to raise their children properly. If they're not married, may Allah allow them to find the very best of spouses who will bring a glimpse of paradise in this world. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى remove any and all concerns and worries from them and from all of us and the ummah across, especially our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Ameen.
Allahu Akbar
Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Allahu Akbar