Making a Lasting Change in Ramadan - Repentance | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed Jummah Khutbah

The Importance of Stopping Sin

And this is obviously the more important part. Because haram is something which angers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is what brings upon the wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. No matter how many good deeds a person does, if he ends up slipping and falling again and again, intentionally, not slipping and falling, but wishing to go in a certain direction himself, then the benefit of those good deeds unfortunately will not be long lasting.

It's like a person that's got the heat running. It's 75 degrees. But you're wondering, why is it still so cold? Well, because the massive doors are open. Well, obviously, what's gonna happen? You can run the heat the entire night. If you have the window cracked open, it's not gonna get warm. Our a'mal of Ramadan will not bring the warmth of iman that will last us the rest of the year, unless we close the door. That we stop committing sins.

And this is what Ali radiallahu anhu has mentioned. He said, we have nothing to worry more than our sin. No one should be worried about anything as much as he should be worried about his sins. And no one should have their hopes banked upon anyone except on his Lord.

The Effects of Sin on the Heart

This is the key thing. Is that we are all being chased by the skeletons in the closet. That's one day gonna catch up to us if it already has not. It's the actions that we have done in the darkness of the night. Actions that we have done knowingly, unknowingly, publicly, privately. The effects of that are too many. One major problem that results from sin is that a person becomes desensitized to it. And a person no longer hates the sin. This is very dangerous.

When a person has got a clean heart, what happens? He becomes very sensitive. Any type of disobedience to Allah that he sees, of course, if he gets involved in it, most definitely. But even if he sees it, it starts giving him a headache. He starts feeling uncomfortable.

Remember the last time you came back from Hajj or Umrah, and after an extended period of time, and you boarded your flight via Middle East, some other country, coming here. What happened when you arrived at the airport? It was so different. For 2-3 weeks, for example, in Hajj, your eyes were protected from so much sin. And as soon as a person arrives at the airport, all of a sudden, you start seeing people holding alcohol. You start seeing people dressed inappropriately. You start seeing people, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, doing other haram. And it has an effect, huge effect on the heart.

On the way back, a person might even be doing tawbah and istighfar on the flight. But when he gets home, it's just a matter of maybe 24 hours or so, then you get used to the normal rhythm of life. And that's the scary part. When a person gets used to and accustomed to sin, watching it, listening to it, hearing it, interacting with it, consuming it, buying and selling in it, then when is he going to ever repent? Because he has now accepted this part of his normal life.

This is the part of life in the US in 2024, is that I'm a major sinner and tough luck. This is what it is. Then how is this person ever going to get the tawfiq and the ability to repent? When are they ever going to get teary-eyed?

Allah's Knowledge of Our Innermost Secrets

My beloved brothers and sisters, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, we have to honestly, I have to, and all of us here, we have to reflect on our own selves. There's no one who knows us better than our Lord and ourselves. Our mom and dad don't know us that well. Our parents don't know us that well. Our children don't know us that well. Our spouses don't know us that well. We all have the ability to mask our sins and cover it up. But the only one who truly knows us is Allah and ourselves.

And that is why Allah Azza wa Jal clearly multiple places in the Qur'an, He says:

Allah Azza wa Jal constantly reminds us that I know every single movement of the world that happens, and most definitely, I know every single action of every single limb of yours by day and by night. I know your secrets and I know what is more hidden than the secret. I know what your bosom hides. I know the treachery and the misuse of your eye. Allah lays it all out.

Does He not know? Doesn't Allah know the one who He created? Why are you surprised that Allah knows this? Allah is saying, أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ Will Allah not know the being who He created? It's His own creation. He knows His creation in and out.

The Need for Honest Self-Reflection

But this requires us to have a very honest reflection, not on the community, and not on world affairs, not on our wife, or our husband, or our children, or our parents, or our siblings, and the state of the affairs of the ummah, but rather a reflection of who am I. This is a very uncomfortable conversation. But those are blessed souls who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala inspires them to have this conversation with themselves, not once in a lifetime, but every day, every night. مَنْ أَنَا Who am I?

I'm not what I am in front of you, standing in front of this crowd. This is what you see. I have to tell myself, مَنْ أَنَا when I'm in seclusion. I know my past. I know my present. I know what meets the eye, what doesn't meet the eye. My interactions with my spouse, with my parents, with my children, with my siblings, my connection with the Qur'an. All my fulfillment of the rights or not fulfillment of the rights, those are in front of my Lord and myself.

And if I do not sit there, and concentrate, and reflect on that, Ramadans will come and go. Nice speeches will be given. Iftars will be served. It will be a nice community feel. We can give a slap on each other's back and say, we're doing great. Wallahi, but we're not changing. We're not changing.

Change doesn't come with a bunch of activities. Change doesn't come with a bunch of programs. Change doesn't come through lectures. Change doesn't even come through qiyam. It has to start from the heart. A person has to realize, who am I? How messed up am I?

Taking Personal Responsibility

How many of you seriously, honestly, including myself, say, you know what? I'm the problem in this room. I am the reason the community is messed up. Which father here says, you know why my children are going off track? Myself. Lucky you as a father if you can think like that. How many kids are saying this, you know the reason why there's so much infighting between my siblings and I? You know why there's so much corruption in my home? It's because of myself. All the sins I have done in the past, they are coming to haunt my home. That's why there's no peace at home. That's why we're always arguing and issues are happening.

The reason why we're suffering financial loss? Myself. The reason why we're having physical problems, people getting sick in my home? Myself. How many of us actually are willing to take the blame for what happens in our own life and at least in our home?

The next level, it's mentioned in some of the books that سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, the mashayikh of the past, in the meydan of hajj, in the meydan of Arafah, they would be asking Allah, Ya Allah, this sea of people here in meydan of Arafah, this is a time when shaitan is seen disgraced like no other day. This is the time when Allah is more happy than ever because people are being forgiven. Ya Allah, please I beg you, do not deprive this entire meydan of Arafah because of my sins. I know I am sinful. I know I'm horrible. But Ya Allah, I beg you that do not deprive these millions of people because of me.

That is the act. That's not fake humility. That's the reality of such people that they genuinely say, you don't know me, I know myself. When we should be saying, wait, wait, wait, if you think of yourself like that, what am I? What am I? Who has done so many major sins and minor sins and neglected so many rights of people and so many rights of Allah and so many rights of the Prophet ﷺ.

This is the quality of a friend of Allah that he's always afraid that he has upset Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even when he hasn't done any major sin. And that's why the Qur'an says:

Allah doesn't say, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't say, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا. Allah says, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا O people of full faith and iman, collectively all of you repent to Allah a sincere repentance.

That is what we're being asked by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Meaning, a person of faith and iman is also supposed to be. Who has not neglected a single fard, knowingly, he needs to be begging Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in tawbah. So people like myself and others who have committed sins, imagine to what degree should our tawbah be.

Ramadan: The Month of Tawbah

My beloved brothers and sisters, the month of Ramadan, is the month in which we utilize the environment that is created for us, for one, number one most important thing, is tawbah. Tawbah. We have to write down our mistakes. We have to make a note of it. We said, these are my major sins I'm involved in. When it comes to buying and selling, when it comes to misuse of my eyes, misuse of my ears.

The Reality of Our Sins - The Phone Example

One sheikh told me something very powerful. He said, students come to me and say, sheikh, you know what, I slipped. Please forgive me. I mean, I'm sorry. Please make dua for me. Please make dua for me. I don't know what to do. I misused my phone. I watched something which I shouldn't. I communicated with someone I shouldn't. I'm in a big mess. My nafs pulled me. I slipped accidentally.

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, what an answer he told me. He said, I tell the student, I said, did you take your phone with you in your room? Did you take your phone with you in your seclusion? Did you take your phone with you under your bedding? Under your blanket? And if he says yes, he says, stop trying to make yourself feel like you're a victim. You yourself intentionally took that phone. And now you say, oh, I committed a sin. Well, of course.

When you are young, and you've got your hormones running up out there, and you are sitting there alone with the phone, this is like someone who takes a non-mahram, and grabs them, takes them into a room, and then comes out next day and says, Oh, Allah Akbar. I can't imagine. Something happened. I made a mistake. What do you mean? You yourself made those steps. You took that non-mahram with you in a place of seclusion.

And so he said, the phone honestly has to be treated like a non-mahram. Just like a person is supposed to have his guard up and never to be in seclusion with a non-mahram. Similarly our phone, which has become the biggest burden on the society, which has brought open the floodgates of sin on men, women, and children. Youth, young adults, everywhere. Ramadan, outside of Ramadan, Middle East, here, Asia, you name it.

A person needs to realize that this is for the most vast majority, whether it's gambling, whether it's drinking, whether Allah forbid it's escorts, whether it's clubbing, whether it's drugs, whether it's pornography. All of that links up to over here. This is where it's happening. And whether it's backbiting, texting people about others, gossiping, lying. All of those other things. Namima, carrying tales about other community members and family members. It's all on the phone.

This is our tongue. This is our eyes. This is our ears. This is our mind. This is our heart. It's all here. So unless a person does not recognize his or her failings in the misuse of the phone, and like that other actions, we're not gonna have a change. We're not gonna have a change. Ramadan will come and go.

I'll give you an example. A brother, after Ramadan ended, about a month later or so, I found out سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ he needs some help. What happened? He got into drinking.

The Reality of Ramadan's Temporary Change

I had no idea he had this habit, this problem. I said, I can't believe it. What's going on with you? Were you not there in Ramadan in your local masjid? Yes. Did you come for i'tikaf for a couple days? Yes. Wow! Did you were there for the khatm-ul-Quran night and you cried? Oh yeah! Bawled, cried, all out. How do you get back into drinking a month later?

Then I asked him the million dollar question. On those blessed nights and days of Ramadan, did you ever, ever ask Allah, Ya Allah, I have this horrible habit that no one knows that I am a social drinker. And I drink at office parties, and I drink sometimes with friends. No one knows this besides you. I know I'm in Ramadan. I'm in the front row, mashaAllah, reading tarawih and doing all the dhikr. But I got this evil thing in me. Ya Allah, I beg you, get rid of this sin from me. Did you do that?

What was the answer? Of course not. No, we're just making dhikr. Ya Allah, give me this, give me this, give me that, give me that. We say, ameen, ameen. But until we do not repent from our major sins, change will not come.

The Key to Lasting Change: True Repentance

If you're enjoying this beautiful feeling of this week, and you want it to last the rest of the year, I implore myself and all of us here to utilize the remaining hours of this blessed day of Jumu'ah. To ask Allah to get rid of our major sins from us.

My beloved friends, and don't do it just on Friday. After every single salah, suhoor and iftar time, I ask you to make dua for myself, and I'll make dua for you, and we'll make dua for each other, that Ya Allah, allow the ummah muslimah to turn its back on major sins. Allow us to stop misuse of the eyes, misuse of the ears, misuse of the hands, misuse of the feet, misuse of our tongue, misuse of our wealth, misuse of our connections, and our power. Those are the things that we have to be really asking and begging Allah forgiveness for.

This is the best month. Allah is waiting for us. You just have to raise your hand and say, اللهم استغفرك واتوب اليك - Allahumma astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk. Ya Allah, I seek forgiveness from you for this, this, this.

A Powerful Dua for Forgiveness

And I want you, we're finishing up here, I want you to all recite with me this dua. The Prophet ﷺ was approached by a man who said, and Rasulullah ﷺ said, what's wrong with you? He said, my sins are too many. My sins are too many. My sins are too many. Old man. The Prophet ﷺ told him to recite the following dua three times. And when he did it, obviously with firm intention and sincerity, the Prophet ﷺ said, stand up, all your sins have been forgiven.

And the dua which means, O Allah, your forgiveness is much more vast than my sins. And Ya Allah, I have much more hope in your mercy than I have hope on my good deeds. Let's read it together:

Allahumma maghfiratuka awsa'u min dhunubi warahmatuka arja'u indi min amali

Allahumma maghfiratuka awsa'u min dhunubi warahmatuka arja'u indi min amali

Allahumma maghfiratuka awsa'u min dhunubi warahmatuka arja'u indi min amali

Verses of Hope and Repentance

O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance.

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 Forgiving, the Merciful."

And turn to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.

Closing Prayer and Remembrance

I say this and ask Allah to forgive me and you and the rest of the Muslims from every sin. So ask His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, send blessings upon him and greet him with peace.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar

Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, la ilaha illa Allah

And peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.