Jumu'ah Khutbah | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 4/5

Gratitude and Tawfeeq

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Amma ba'ad.

Sadaqallahul Azeem. Beloved elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, dear listeners. We thank Allah for all that we have been incapable of doing in this past month. And we thank Him for the tawfeeq Allah has granted us. For the ability to be in His house. The ability to come regularly to the masjid in this past month. And as we now conclude with the last Friday of this month, we are reminded of the countless blessings of Allah, that we are always enjoying, yet seem to fall short from being grateful and thankful to Him for all that He is doing for us.

It is mentioned by Allah Himself, where He says, لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ - If you are grateful, Allah says, Indeed, I will increase you in your blessings. However, if you choose to be ungrateful, then indeed, my punishment is very severe.

The Du'a for Tawfeeq

Part of the tawfeeq that we are asking Allah for, is the tawfeeq and the ability to thank Him for whatever we have been able to achieve. A du'a that we are taught to say after every single salah:

O Allah, assist me to remember You. Assist me to be grateful to You. And assist me to worship You beautifully.

So not only are we asking Allah for the tawfeeq, to worship Him, but also the ability to thank Him for that tawfeeq. When we ask Allah for tawfeeq, we are asking Allah not to give us the tawfeeq of people who do a lot but who are not guided. But rather the tawfeeq of the people who do a lot but who are guided:

O Allah, I ask You for the tawfeeq of those who are guided.

Understanding Tawfeeq

Tawfeeq is when Allah places all the means in such a manner, all the dots are lined up, that it becomes easy and it's facilitated for an individual to do what Allah wants him to do. Everything just falls into place. That's tawfeeq. And the opposite of that sometimes happens. When tawfeeq is taken away, then a person wants to move forward, but he simply finds closed doors everywhere. The person doesn't feel the desire to worship Him, or worships Him but unfortunately not in the proper manner, does it in an innovative manner, includes bid'ah in it, or does a good deed but right after that follows that up with a sin. These are various ways where a person ends up then losing the tawfeeq from Allah.

Showing Gratitude Through Actions

Part of the shukr that we show Allah, and gratitude that a person shows Allah, is through continuing to do good deeds after a person completes one good deed. That is not only the sign of a human being wanting to be appreciated towards Allah, but also it's a sign of Allah accepting the past good deeds.

It's mentioned that:

شُكْرُ النِّعْمَةِ اجْتِنَابُ الْمَحَارِمِ

The way to show thankfulness and gratitude towards a blessing, for a blessing is اجْتِنَابُ الْمَحَارِمِ by staying away from those things which Allah has prohibited.

وَتَمَامُ الشُّكْرِ قَوْلُ الرَّجُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

And to complete the shukr is to say, all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

So this is not possible that a person feels grateful to Allah for the blessing He has given him of tawfeeq, of spending the entire Ramadan in the most amazing manner. It's not possible that a person can show that tawfeeq, can show that appreciation by committing haram. A servant of Allah would rather show it by continuing to remain on the path of taqwa, remaining on the path of ittiba' al-sunnah.

The Story of Abu al-Mughaira

Abu al-Mughaira radiallahu anhu, would be asked when people would come visit him, they would ask him, how are you doing? They would say, كَيْفَ أَصْبَحْتَ يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ? How are you doing, O Abu Muhammad? He would say:

أَصْبَحْنَا مُغْرَقِينَ فِي النِّعَمِ - We have began this morning immersed in a state of generosity from Allah.

مُوقَرِينَ مِنَ الشُّكْرِ - We are absolutely overwhelmed by Allah's blessing. However, we are unable to be grateful.

يَتَحَبَّبُ إِلَيْنَا رَبُّنَا وَهُوَ غَنِيٌّ عَنَّا - Our Lord is so loving and kind towards us even though He does not need us.

وَنَحْنُ نُمَقِّتُ إِلَيْهِ وَنَحْنُ إِلَيْهِ مُحْتَاجُونَ - And we on the other hand are so dependent upon Him yet we are disrespectful towards Him.

You are all in need of Allah. And Allah is free of all want, worthy of all praise.

Our Condition and Responsibility

The condition should have been that we are constantly begging Him at every moment for goodness and at the same time as He continues to give us that goodness that we are constantly feeling overwhelmed by gratitude for that. But a human being instead enjoys the blessings of Allah and doesn't even for a moment turn around and think, where did I get this from? Every single thing from this fact that you and I are sitting here listening and talking to each other and we are physically in a state healthy enough to be here to everything else we can imagine. It is all something that we owe Allah shukr for.

As we come to conclude this month in the next few days, a person must ensure that he feels grateful for every rakah that he has performed in this month. For every dollar that they have given in charity. For every date that he has fed someone. Every iftar that he has given to someone. To every kind word he has said. Every verse of the Qur'an that he has recited. We have to use these remaining days and nights to show extreme gratitude to Allah for what we have been able to achieve. At the same time, also seeking forgiveness from Allah for not fulfilling the rights of this ibadah.

The Prophet's Humility

If the Prophet ﷺ after doing ibadah his whole life, after doing ibadah the entire night, would end it by saying:

مَا عَبَدْنَاكَ حَقَّ عِبَادَتِكَ - O Allah, we have not worshipped you the way you ought to be worshipped.

If Allah Himself says that they have not appreciated Allah the way He ought to be appreciated. Then how can one think that we have done enough ibadah? This is absolute foolishness that a person in the month of Ramadan exerts himself thinking he has done a favor to Allah. Only to see that after Ramadan he says, I have done enough worship in Ramadan, I have given enough time to Allah, now I need to give time elsewhere.

Post-Ramadan: A Test of True Change

Beloved brothers and sisters, our post Ramadan is a glimpse into what happened in Ramadan. If after Ramadan our heart seems to have changed, and our connection with our masjid has changed, and our connection with the book of Allah has changed, then we can see definitely that this Ramadan was not merely of staying away from food and drink for some hours or tying ourselves up in the night with qiyam, but it had a long lasting effect on our soul.

But if after Ramadan I am one of those who turns his or her back to the Qur'an, to the house of Allah, then I'll have to say that whatever I did in Ramadan, although it was great, but was simply a reflection of the environment that I had. That I was a product of the environment and had not become a person who had changed himself or herself. And that is something that we'll see very soon, by next week.

Learning to Walk Without Crutches

If a person is simply a product of the environment, well then my dear friends, Ramadan is not gonna be with us all life. Ramadan will not be here all the time. A person needs to realize that after this, we'll have another eleven months, and hopefully many many more Ramadans in the future inshallah. But we must learn how to walk without crutches. We must learn how to stand up on our own feet and thank Allah and do shukr and do ibadah without having the support of Ramadan. That is what you call a healthy person. No matter where you throw him into, whether it is Ramadan, outside Ramadan, in a masjid filled with people or a masjid that's empty, he does what he needs to do, she does what she needs to do.

This is what we need to be begging Allah in these last few nights and days. That ya Allah give within me a spiritual strength. Such strength that will allow me to continue to do what I need to do regardless of where I find myself. This is the change you and I need to be asking Allah for.

The Importance of Character and Relationships

And my dear friends, along with the ibadah that we have done, understand a big portion of our ibadah is our character. A big portion of our ibadah is ensuring that our relationships with those especially who are close to us is in a good state. Our spouses, our parents, our siblings, our children. A person needs to ensure in these final days and nights of Ramadan that antagonizing relationships need to be addressed. Character needs to be improved. People need to be forgiven. And if we need to ask forgiveness from someone, this is the time to do that. Because it is our akhlaq or the lack of which will hold back a person on the Day of Judgment.

The Power of Good Character

The Prophet ﷺ said that a man through his good character may reach the level of a person who stands up regularly at night and fast regularly throughout the day. Someone who does something very tough, very high end. Fasting even outside Ramadan. Qiyam al-layl even outside Ramadan. Throughout the night, throughout the day. And another person, he does the basics, but he has good character.

إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَا يُدْرِكُ دَرَجَةَ الْقَائِمِ الصَّائِمِ - He will reach that level بِحُسْنِ خُلُقِهِ through his good character.

The most weighty thing in our scales on the Day of Judgment will be good character.

The Bankrupt Person

And at the same time, the Prophet ﷺ warned us of people who are gonna be the muflis, the biggest bankrupt people. Those who came with mountains of fasting, sadaqah, sawm, and salah, and so forth. But because شَتَمَ هَذَا، ضَرَبَ هَذَا، لَعَنَ هَذَا - Because they didn't use their tongue properly, they cursed people, they spoke ill about people, they backbited people. Due to all of that, they will end up losing all of these rewards, and they will be given to someone else.

But because their tongue was so out of line, and their character was so out of line, that even after giving away all their good deeds, the number of people waiting to receive payment on the Day of Judgment, that line won't end. And since Allah لا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا will not oppress anyone, never does and never will, a person will be forced to then start taking the sins of others, sins that he never committed in his life, sins he never thought he would have committed, and never did.

But what he did do is he backbited, what he did do is he cursed, what he did do is break someone's heart, what he did do is he was talked down to someone, what he did do is he lied to someone, what he did do is he didn't fulfill his end of the deal. And so now all of their sins will be thrown onto this person's scale, sins that he never thought of doing. And now instead of having a mountain worth of good deeds, he is looking at a mountain, mountains of different various sins. And that person instead of going and enjoying the highest levels of Jannah will be thrown into Hellfire. That the Prophet ﷺ mentioned was the greatest bankrupt person.

Conclusion: Preserving Our Gains

Today as we reflect and are grateful for the blessings we have been able to achieve in this month of Ibadah, let us ensure that we are not going to lose all of this because of our bad character. And because of our relationships with others going sour. These nights and days where we can pick up the phone or text message someone, and try to apologize to them. Make it up somehow.

Settling Our Debts with Creation

If we owe something to someone, if we owe some money to someone, we cannot say, I sat here and asked forgiveness from Allah. If our inheritance has not been distributed properly, we have usurped someone's land, someone's wealth, if we have not dissolved the business in the best manner, in an appropriate, fair manner, those are things that staying in the masjid, coming early for Jumu'ah, coming early for Taraweeh, will not help. A person must make it up to that person who he has usurped.

Looking in the Mirror

We need to understand my beloved brothers and sisters, that character development has to happen starting within our own selves. A man and every woman needs to look into the mirror themselves and say, what type of person am I? We have to ask our closest people to us, our spouse, our children, our parents, to see how am I doing? What are the things I need to improve on? Because there are so many who are living in this la la land, have absolutely no idea how horrible their character is. But they're blinded by the so called good deeds that they do. Not realizing that they have major character flaws. And it is these character flaws that will definitely catch up to them.

Because this Allah hands it over to the creation. That you need to sort it out with the creation before you come to me. If these are not sorted out with the creation, Allah is not gonna forgive that person. Allah is gonna keep people at the mercy of others to forgive them for what they have done.

The Time to Forgive and Be Forgiven

So we have to ensure if it comes to someone's honor we have taken, someone's wealth we have usurped. My dear brothers and sisters, this is the time to ask for forgiveness. And it's also a time to give it up. Don't hold grudges. Forgive people. And attribute whatever things have happened in the past towards shaytan.

As Yusuf (peace be upon him) said about his brothers, مِن بَعْدِ أَن نَزَغَ الشَّيْطَانُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنِ إِخْوَتِي - Allah has been so kind to me and kind to you. He says, after all that shaytan has instigated between you and I, everything of decades worth of oppression, he attributed it to shaytan.

This is a beautiful way of coping. This is a beautiful way of moving forward. If things have gone bad in your relationships, in your businesses, and now you've been on the receiving end, the way to cope up with it is to say that whatever this person has done, it's because shaytan has instigated him to do that. I forgive them for the sake of Allah. And I ask Allah that just like I have forgiven him, you are much, much, much, much more merciful. And I have done much more oppression towards you and your deen more than this man or woman has done towards me. I forgive them. O Allah, you please forgive me.

Allah Himself says, Do not love that Allah should forgive you. And the answer is of course. Then Allah says, فَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا - Then overlook and forgive.

So these moments and days are of letting that go from our hearts for the sake of Allah, cleansing it, detoxing our heart from ill feelings, and asking Allah to forgive us.

Making the Most of These Final Nights

And most definitely, my beloved friends, these last days and nights, we have 27th night tomorrow here, other masajid may have it on 27th tonight, whatever the case may be, subhanAllah, you have these final nights, 29th night coming, 27th night coming. Make sure whatever we've been able to achieve, alhamdulillah, but this is a weekend here. Let's try our best to spend as much time as possible in ibadah.

If you feel like you can do better at home, pray your isha, salah, and taraweeh, and then go home. If you feel like you need some people around you, then go to your masjid and make ibadah wherever you are. But ensure that we make the best use of the following days and nights.

The Power of Du'a

And spend lots of time as much as possible in du'a. Take out time for an hour, an hour, an hour, half hour by day, half hour by night. However you want. But just like how we sit there on our phones for so long, endlessly. Imagine that we are now speaking, texting Allah. We're communicating with Allah. And Allah is definitely available, willing to, wanting to listen to us. And He's the only one capable of giving us what we're asking for.

The ummah is in need of du'a. I need your du'a. The ummah needs your du'a. Our parents need our du'a. Deceased parents need our du'a. Young little innocent children need our du'a. The ones in the hospitals and nursing homes need your du'a. Everyone is looking to each other towards du'a. We need to stand up and do what the ummah needs.

Our brothers and sisters in Palestine need our du'a. All across the globe, people are hoping that these final days and nights will bring a change. And you and I can be part of that change. You and I can be part of that change by taking time out to pray for the deceased ones, for the sick ones, for those who are in debt, for those who are suffering emotional, mental, physical illnesses, spiritual illnesses, for all those who are involved in various addictions, who are trying to change their life but can't seem to, for all those suffering divorces, for all those who can't seem to get married, for all those whose children have become extremely disobedient, who've run away from home, who've left the deen. All of those people are waiting for du'a.

They're probably doing it of course themselves, but they're looking forward to your du'a and my du'a. My beloved friends, I'm asking all of you to commit time, these next three to four nights and days. Commit time to make du'a for the ummah. Commit time to make du'a for all those who are in need. And you'll have an angel who will be at your side saying, Ameen wa laka mithlak. Ameen to your du'a and may Allah give you the same. Ameen to your du'a and may Allah give you the same. There'll be angels surrounding us making du'a for us. What better way to end this blessed nights and days of Ramadan than having an angel next to us, praying for us.

May Allah grant all of us tawfiq. SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, subhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, inshaAllah. La ilaha illa Allah, astaghfirullah wa atubu ilayk.

Announcements

Let us inshaAllah stand up and perform our sunnah. If there's any spots in front of you, ensure please you take that spot inshaAllah. Please stand up and let's fill up the rows. Walk forward. Ensure that every single spot is taken before you begin the sunnah. Please walk forward. Make sure every single spot is taken before you begin the sunnah. JazakAllah khairan.

Please pass the donation boxes from the left to the right. And please donate generously on this blessed day of Jum'ah, the last Friday of the blessed month of Ramadan. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has said in a hadith related by Musannif Abdul Razzaq, that charity given on the day of Jum'ah is greater in reward than any other day. So inshaAllah let us maximize this final Jum'ah that we have today and giving generously.

Khatm al-Qur'an Program

Announcements inshaAllah. Khatm al-Qur'an will happen of taraweeh on Ramadan the 29th on Monday night. Monday night inshaAllah 9 o'clock isha will have our Khatm al-Qur'an. Please be cognizant and aware of the fact that we are expecting a large crowd because this is the last Khatm al-Qur'an of the entire area. And all the other Masajid Khatm al-Qur'an is taking place before that. So this is the last program. I expect it to be inshaAllah unprecedented crowds bi-idhnillahi ta'ala.

So the way we are going to deal with this is we are going to try our best to carpool. I encourage everyone to please please carpool. Number two, if you are a local Musalli and you are here all the time alhamdulillah, I encourage you to please take benefit from the parking across the street at the warehouse that we have. The warehouse across the street of North Avenue. Alhamdulillah we have taken permission to park there as well. So if you can do that on Monday night, this would be an opportunity for people who are driving from far and wide places to come to Darul Islam's Khatm al-Qur'an. It will make it easy for them to park here. So if you can park across the street next to the warehouse, in the warehouse parking lot, please do so.

Additionally, since the program begins at 9 isha, we want to make sure that inshaAllah we try our best to be here by 8:30. Try to be here at 8:30, please do not come afterwards, as it will become very congested inshaAllah. Try to come earlier.

Other Programs

We will have our 27th night program on Saturday. So inshaAllah there will be dhikr, du'a, and different programs taking place this Saturday. Additionally, every single night, alhamdulillah, there is a program taking place here from 1 am onwards. We have a candlelight conversation on various topics. So please join that online anytime. You can listen to it afterwards, you do not need to listen to it in the night itself. Of course they are all recorded and live streamed. We have a post fajr rise and reflect session as well that can be heard afterwards. So these are various sessions that Darul Islam is hosting. And we know people from different parts of the country are benefiting. We would love our locals to also tune in or listen in afterwards inshaAllah to these programs.

We have our mothers and daughters event taking place tonight at 5 pm. And inshaAllah this is our final mothers and daughters event at 5 pm, with talk and dinner and dessert and things of that sort. I encourage all of the sisters in the community, please try your best to come in great numbers, and spend the final hours of this blessed day of Jumu'ah, with your children or with yourselves here in the house of Allah. And inshaAllah end it on a very strong note.

Expansion Project

Dear brothers and sisters, alhamdulillah, as you have come here today, and you have seen obviously the masjid is packed. Every masjid mashaAllah tabarak wa ta'ala, alhamdulillah, is packed to brim today, I am sure all over. We definitely have seen in the past 2-3 years that the number of people mashaAllah that are coming here has increased for programs and for the salah and so forth. Alhamdulillah thumma alhamdulillah, even last night too we have hundreds of people, hundreds at 1 am over here.

So we have been embarking on a project to be able to expand our ability and capacity to accommodate all those who are coming. At the moment officially we have about 420 cars or so, can be safely accommodated without double parking. After having purchased this nearby lands and the nearby property last year, alhamdulillah we have been working on getting the permits for demolition of all of that, and having a brand new Darussalam campus, with a brand new parking lot with different entrances and so forth.

That will inshaAllah tabarak wa ta'ala triple our capacity to hold cars, to accommodate people. We have capacity to hold thousands in the masjid, in the gym, in the seminary. Issue always becomes cars. So inshaAllah with the new parking lot that we are hoping to inshaAllah get started with soon, with everyone's participation, we will be able to accommodate inshaAllah officially 1,250 cars approximately. And inshaAllah with extra double parking and so forth, of course that number will increase quite a bit. So we are tripling our ability to park cars, tripling the number of people we can accommodate over here.

We are asking you on this last day of Jumu'ah, inshaAllah, that you look at what the new project will look like, you can see the video right behind me over here, and see inshaAllah what the Darussalam project, what we are trying to embark on and what we are trying to inshaAllah deliver by the end of this year. Wherever you are, there should be the TV screens there. You can take a look at it inshaAllah.

Here, takbeer, takbeer, takbeer. You can see a much more beautiful, cleaner place. Alhamdulillah, this is the North Avenue and Swift Road intersection. And you can see this is where the sign is. And the entire masjid parking lot you will see is much more flat, clean, completely redone entrances and exits. Pathways have been created, sidewalks have been created, of course. Trees have been added, landscaping has been added to make the place also beautiful, and not an eyesore or just, you know, pavement.

Masjid Development Project Update

And الحمد لله, there is enough space all the way till the end. This is all the newly purchased land that we have. That's what we call the phase three. That's being not all of it converted to the parking, but rather there is still a big chunk left there for إن شاء الله, development of a student housing and development of a future school.

So I wanted to share that. People may be thinking the entire region is being converted into a parking lot. No, it's not. الحمد لله, there is space there for an expansion of an Islamic school or whatever the future may hold, whatever is the needs of the community. And additionally, الحمد لله, a dormitory for 250 students in the future.

So these things along with being able to accommodate officially 1,250 cars. We want to make the Jumu'ah and Salah for you and our programs and retreats easily accessible when you leave, when you come in and out. الحمد لله, we're expecting a massive crowd this Monday night. But again, the issue always becomes a parking. So we want إن شاء الله by next year for us to be able to easily accommodate 5,000, 6,000 people for the ختم القرآن and for our major events.

Call for Donations

That can happen إن شاء الله if we all pitch in and help get this project done. إن شاء الله, the goal is to get it done by this year with everyone's participation. If you have already given, إن شاء الله on this blessed day of Jumu'ah, think of giving us a little bit more. If we have never gotten a chance to be an investor in this, we're not going to be doing a fundraiser outside Ramadan in Jumu'ah for this. This is the only time, this is the first time rather, the first time we're showing this project here in Jumu'ah, and probably hopefully the last time as well.

I'm encouraging you in the next couple minutes إن شاء الله, if everyone can contribute something or the other, and let us raise our hands, we have brothers volunteers here who are waiting to take your pledge card, who are waiting to take your credit card, who are waiting to take your check. You can donate through online quick pay as well. Donate at masjiddeas.org, sadaqa at masjiddeas.org, zakat at masjiddeas.org.

If you would like to fulfill your zakat, your zakat will go towards the student body. Those students who are in need of tuition assistance, food assistance, your zakat money can be used over there. That's where your money will be spent. So if you are wanting to give your zakat today, you have not calculated it yet, my dear friends, that's where you could give. If you want to give your sadaqah, this is the place where we're going to be able to accommodate إن شاء الله for generations. People will be able to continue to come here peacefully إن شاء الله.

Live Donation Drive

So we're not going to do different amounts. We have a small short period of time. I just want everyone's إن شاء الله تبارك وتعالى participation at any level. So if you would like to give any amount إن شاء الله تبارك وتعالى, please raise your hand. Be the first person to say إن شاء الله I would like to give some amount. Whatever amount, we're keeping it open-ended. Just give, raise your hand إن شاء الله, and say I would like to give ما شاء الله.

Takbeer. Allah reward you. Keep your hand. Let me just count. One, ما شاء الله. Two, ما شاء الله. Three, الحمد لله. Any amount brothers. Four, behind you brother. Four. Five, الحمد لله. Yes, who else? Remember that's five. Who else? Six, ما شاء الله. Any amount, ما شاء الله. Seven, eight, nine. Right, الحمد لله. Keep your hands up, keep your hands up إن شاء الله. Keep your hands up إن شاء الله. That's nine. Who else إن شاء الله? Nine after that. Who else wants to give any amount? Ten, الحمد لله. Eleven. بارك الله فيكم. Yes, eleven. Twelve, ما شاء الله. Thirteen. Yes brothers.

This is zakat. This is sadaqah. This is thousands a month. This is hundreds a month. This is fifty a month. This is a one time. Whatever you want. Today is the doors of rahmah are closing. The doors of Friday are closing. We want to make sure we can get as many people in the door. Yes, إن شاء الله. After thirteen, who else? Raise your hand إن شاء الله. At any amount, any amount إن شاء الله brothers. Sadaqah, zakat, or one time or multiple times. إن شاء الله. Who else? Keep your hands raised. We have thirteen people. Who would like to إن شاء الله give today any... ما شاء الله. Fourteen. ما شاء الله. Fifteen. Yes, who else إن شاء الله? Who else إن شاء الله? Adults, students, ما شاء الله. Sixteen. الحمد لله. Students, elders, women, children, youth. Whoever you are إن شاء الله. Be a part of this project إن شاء الله. Be a part of this project at any level.

Reflection on Charity and Death

جزاكم الله خيراً. Allah عز وجل says that one of the things, one of the only thing that Allah speaks about when person passes away or is passing away, that the remorse that a dying man will have, the only thing mentioned in Surah Al-Munafiqoon is, Ya Allah, give me time, so that I could have become, I could have given charity and become pious. That is the remorse a man will have at the dying moments, that why did I not give charity before?

My brothers, let's not make that ayah a manifestation of ourselves. Let us إن شاء الله تعالى ourselves, إن شاء الله, become from among those who give so much that الحمد لله we are enjoying the fruits of it إن شاء الله at the end of our lives.

Continued Appeal and Practical Advice

Do we have a number eighteen إن شاء الله? A number eighteen, ما شاء الله. جزاكم الله خيراً. Brother, raise your hand, he'll swipe your card one time or monthly إن شاء الله. That's eighteen. Come on brothers, we can get إن شاء الله a lot more. Any amount, it's any amount that's between you and Allah, between you and Allah, any amount إن شاء الله. Do we not wanna have an opportunity for sadaqah on this blessed day, سبحان الله. This is your masjid, this is your parking lot, this is your madrasa. Whether it's your zakat, whether it's your sadaqah إن شاء الله.

Yes, ما شاء الله. You are the first person, الحمد لله. Who else إن شاء الله? Nineteen إن شاء الله, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one. This is for the parking lot, this is for the parking lot. Remember, this is for the parking lot. Why do we have to make sure we end in time? Because we have to make sure you all leave and the next crowd comes in. We don't wanna cause a big traffic jam outside. We wanna be able to address this issue by having a much more spacious parking.

Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one إن شاء الله, brothers. We're not asking for hundreds or thousands, whatever you have. If you have the capacity to give ten thousand today, give. If you have the capacity to give more, give. If you have the capacity, you just simply don't have, you're struggling. Give any amount إن شاء الله and make that dua as you give the sadaqah. That ya Allah, ما شاء الله, nineteen people, ما شاء الله, that ya Allah through the sadaqah remove the obstacles that I'm going through in my life. Remove, grant shifa to those who are sick in my family. Ya Allah, remove my debt from me.

You're in debt, give sadaqah. Fine, it might be a smaller amount, but make that niyyah. That I'm giving the sadaqah to remove my debt. I don't have a job, give sadaqah. Ya Allah, give me that job. I'm trying to get married, give sadaqah. Ya Allah, make it easy for me. I'm having a problem at home, ya Allah, give the sadaqah and improve the relationship at home. Dear brothers, إن شاء الله.

Final Appeal and Donation Instructions

Who else? Raise your hand إن شاء الله. Final moments إن شاء الله. Anyone else? One more minute. One more minute إن شاء الله, ما شاء الله. Who else? Who else would like to raise their hand? الحمد لله, بارك الله فيكم. ما شاء الله. Swipe your card brother, one time or repeated. You can fill out the pledge card as well. Who else إن شاء الله? Keep your hands raised إن شاء الله. One last 30 seconds.

30 seconds, any brother here, any sister here in the side halls, masjid basement, in the gym, the women in the main prayer hall, the women in the mother's room. I encourage you إن شاء الله to please raise your hand, keep your hands raised. And if you want to pull out your phone right now and use your Zelle or quick pay, it's the address is donate, D-O-N-A-T-E, at masjidds.org. Write your email address in there in order for you to get a receipt. If you want to give your zakat towards the students, put zakat at masjidds.org. If you want to give sadaqah al-fitr, it's sadaqah al-fitr at masjidds.org. Make sure you give your sadaqah al-fitr, zakat al-fitr before you leave today, so that إن شاء الله this can be distributed before Salatul Eid.

I ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى that He accept all those brothers and sisters who gave today. إن شاء الله we'll be given an opportunity in Taraweeh. You can go online and donate as well. There's kiosks out there إن شاء الله. There will be brothers handing out pledge cards on the way out. If you weren't able to give now, please feel free on the way out, إن شاء الله تبارك وتعالى to do so.

Closing Du'a and Dhikr

Adhan and Khutbah Opening

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 270)

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَٰذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن كُلِّ ذَنبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَكَفَىٰ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Book 46, Hadith 3790)

وَعَنْ جَمِيعِ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالصَّحَابِيَّاتِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Closing Du'a

Final Reminder and Call to Prayer

عِبَادَ اللَّهِ، رَحِمَكُمُ اللَّهُ

وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَلِيَّ الْعَظِيمَ وَيَذْكُرْكُمْ وَادْعُوهُ يَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَر وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar