Ramadan 2025 | The Power of Prophetic Prayers | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 03/29

The Company We Keep

تَزِيدُ فِي حِرْصِكَ وَمُجَالَسَةُ الزَّاهِدِ فِي الدُّنْيَا تَزِيدُ فِي زُهْدِكَ — Do not befriend a person who is greedy for this world. Friendship with someone who is greedy for this world is a lethal poison for human nature, which is designed to imitate and follow by example.

Indeed, one person's nature may take from another without even realizing it. So keeping company with one who is fervently attached to this world increases your own greed for it, while being with someone who has renounced this world will encourage your own renunciation of it.

This one line here — I usually, when I'm teaching the students, I say take a highlighter and highlight this line:

سَرَقَ يَسْرِقُ means to steal. And in a literal translation: nature steals from nature. Human nature steals from human nature. مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَدْرِي — in a manner that the human doesn't even understand or realize what's going on.

The more refined translation is: one person's nature may take from another without even realizing it. Why has the word "stealing" been mentioned? Because when you steal something, you do it quietly, stealthily, covertly. So similarly, the way we pick up habits is in a really quiet fashion, without us even recognizing or realizing what just happened.

SubhanAllah, it's so true, right? You're sitting next to someone every single day in I'tikaf, and his habits start coming to you. You're not going to know what happened to you until you go home, and someone says, "Hey, you changed. How come you do this now? How come you don't do this now?" And then you say, "Oh SubhanAllah, what happened to me?" That's because you picked up some good habit, insha'Allah, from the person next to you. And similarly, bad habits we also pick up from someone — like making fun of someone, ridiculing someone, talking down to someone, always criticizing, objecting, having bad thoughts, negativity. These things you may not have had. But if you stick around with someone who is like that, you will become like that.

So this is the general rule: ensure that the people we're staying with are people who we want to become in the future. Do not stick around with people who represent who you were before, when now you are changing. Because if you stick around with those people, you will just go right back. You will just go right back to it.

Planning and Productivity

It's so important to put ourselves in the company of people who are, alhamdulillah, where we want to be in the next year or two. You know some people, if you ask them what they want to do, they have no idea. What are you doing right now? "I don't know." What are you going to do tomorrow? What's your five-year plan, two-year plan? Nothing. But there are others, masha'Allah, who have it all planned out — this is what I accomplished last year and the year before; this was my game plan; this is what I'm going to do for the next year. Five-year goals — deen in there, dunya in there, everything. But it's a very organized day.

You call someone, "What are you doing?" "Nothing." That is a very wrong answer. There should never be a moment when a person says, "I'm doing nothing." That means we have not planned it out. I've heard from my teachers that if we always have time available for friends and family at any given moment, that's not a good sign. You could say, "Yes, I had something, I'll cancel it for you." But they say, "No, I'm available, I don't have anything planned." And if this is our daily schedule, that's not good. One of our elders always says: make a schedule. Make a schedule for what you want to achieve. May Allah give us all tawfiq to that. It's something simple, yet something so hard.

We have all the gadgets today and all the apps for time management. But unfortunately, the previous ulama did not have phones or time management apps. But they had nizam in their lives — set times. And of course, I'm going to quote Mawlana Thanwi, rahimahullah, again. He was a master of time management. I mean, you have to be a master of time management if, within the age of 60 or 65 — not more than that — he passes away, not at a very old age, and he authored one thousand books. A thousand books. We haven't read a hundred books, and he authored a thousand.

And any student here who has read Mawlana Thanwi knows that you can't sit back with your head on your pillow, eating potato chips and read his books. You have to concentrate. If you're looking at your phone, you won't have any idea — I'm telling you. Even if it's in Urdu and you're a native Urdu speaker, you won't understand what's going on, because it's so deep. And I'm repeating what I said earlier: Hazrat Mufti Taqi Uthmani Sahib said, if you want to truly create a good temperament, a good dini mizaj that is filled with sunnah, moderation, and being pragmatic and real — read Mawlana Thanwi. And his books are now beginning to be translated into English. Once you start reading them, you'll realize: wow, I have not read this anywhere. Because it is honestly the nichore, it is a khulasa of thousands of books, and then inspiration from Allah. The man was muwaffaq — he was given tawfiq from Allah. That's why he had such a productive life. May Allah grant us that. Ameen ya Rabbul Alameen.

The Importance of Consistency

He mentions one of the ulama whose ustad came to meet him — I believe one of the students of Shaykh Ulaim came to meet him at his masjid. And the teacher is like a parent — what would a person not do to greet and spend time with his ustad? So he was with his ustad, and then he took permission and said, "I need a few minutes, I'll come back." He said, "Go." After some minutes, he came back and sat down again. "Everything okay?" "Yes, alhamdulillah, everything is sorted." So the ustad wondered: where did you go so quickly? He said, "I went to my room. The time between Asr and Maghrib is dedicated to writing my tafsir. But you are here — I cannot be writing tafsir while my ustad is present. But at the same time, I did not want to lose the consistency. So I went, sat down, wrote one line, and then came back to spend time with you. Because as soon as we break that consistency, it's really hard to get back in the rhythm."

And this is such an important thing for us as we bid farewell — teary-eyed — to Ramadan. We have to remember: why did Fajr become so easy for us? Why did Isha become so easy for us? Why did every salah become so easy, alhamdulillah? Because there was consistency. And after Ramadan, that's the real test — who can hang on the longest? May Allah make us people of istiqamah. Say Ameen.

May Allah make us people who are absolutely steadfast — in Ramadan, outside Ramadan, till our last breath. الِاسْتِقَامَةُ فَوْقَ أَلْفِ كَرَامَةٍ — Steadfastness is more than a thousand miracles.

And one of the easiest and most powerful ways to have istiqamah is to ensure you have a spiritual buddy. Have one or two individuals that you will look after and they will look after you — messaging each other every single day. If you have one person, his battery might die out, he might get tired, he might be traveling overseas, and then khalas, you've lost your spiritual buddy. Make sure there's a good group of three or four brothers and sisters amongst yourselves who will message each other, call each other, push each other every single day. Group text — every single day: what's going on, how was your day? And it needs to be consistent. And you have to replace people if someone says "I'm out" or simply stops responding.

Brother, you have to love yourself more than you love anyone else. You have to love yourself more than your wife, more than your husband, more than your kids, more than your parents. What I mean by that: you cannot do something which is harmful for you. Right now I got a question from a brother who says he's in a haram relationship and wants to give it up — a haram relationship with a non-Muslim. But now she comes back saying she's thinking about accepting Islam. That's not your job — connect her with amazing dawah centers and revert gathering groups and masajid that do that. But you have to worry about yourself, lest in the process of making an effort on her Islam, you end up losing your own deen.

Building Your Network

As we leave the month of Ramadan soon, we need all of us to create a network of people who will call us. SubhanAllah, there are people whose messages and reminders I am blessed to receive. And there are people I remember too. But there are just too many people out there. And I feel that on these nights and days, if I spend time calling this one, they'll come. But we have only a limited number of days and hours per month that we can give. We don't have endless time. So we all have to have our own fikr — our own concern.

No one is going to go out of his way to remember me. If someone — and Allah allows him to remember me — mashaAllah tabarak wa ta'ala, that's amazing. We get those messages: "I'm remembering you in front of the rawdah, I'm remembering you from Riyadhul Jannah, I'm looking at the Ka'bah and I'm remembering you on this night." What an honor. But I cannot expect people to remember me. I have to remember people, and I have to connect myself with people.

When our elders — our mashayikh and teachers — alhamdulillah, we call them on these big nights. We ask, "Hazrat, please make du'a for me. This is a big night." He may remember me, he may not. But it's my duty to call my teachers and ask them for du'a. So this is what I'm asking all of you as well — make sure we build strong relationships before the month ends. Because we will pick up good habits from one another, and bad habits also from one another.

The Disease of Greed

If you spend time with someone who is greedy for money, greedy for a bigger home, greedy for a fancier car, greedy for expensive shoes or jewelry and dress — then that is what will happen to you. The $5,000 purse culture, the $10,000 mink coat culture — that is the amount of money being spent on clothing. Brothers who sell clothing for Eid tell me: "Mawlana Sahib, you should come and just see the Eid bazaar." They're wearing more expensive clothing when they walk into the store, but they end up buying eight pairs. And the last weekend they're buying another eight pairs, and the previous weekend they bought eight or seven pairs. And what is happening to the previous twenty or thirty pairs you bought last year? Allah knows best.

If you're giving your old clothing away to those who would appreciate it, masha'Allah. But give it. Buy new clothes — I'm not saying don't for Eid. But please give away your old clothes. People do not have clothing. When I was in Africa, people didn't have shirts. People are walking around — not because they're hot, they simply do not own a shirt. One of our best friends there, a Mawlana, said that throughout his childhood he used to wear his dad's shirt. He was five or six years old, wearing his forty-five-year-old dad's t-shirt — because he didn't own one. He'd wear his dad's loose, massive t-shirt to school every single day, and then come home and take it off to give back to his dad. That's how my friend lived his life.

When we went to Jordan, I saw kids who don't have anything to eat or drink, wearing American brand-name shirts. It was all that stuff you and I had put in a box and donated. I actually saw it in action. This was bought from Carson Pirie Scott, from Macy's — and here it is on some kid in a refugee camp. So don't think your donations are not beneficial. Give. Give all your old clothes. Men also. You want to buy a new thobe? MashaAllah, buy thobes, buy shirts, buy suits. But give away your old clothing.

But this greed — hirs — can come to anyone. You spend time with someone who likes shoes, and after five minutes you're going to say, "Man, I need to also buy a new pair." But you have ten. Why don't you get rid of those ten before you buy another one?

He says: سُمٌّ قَاتِلٌ — this is a poison that will kill a person. The name of the game is greed.

I know people don't like to hear this addressed. I don't like to mention it in a fundraiser because people think I'm only saying it so that you'll donate to the masjid. But I mean it. This is a very big disease. And I hope I can address this in the coming months when there is no fundraiser anywhere, to speak on this. Because I see the future of the community as extremely bleak if we do not get rid of this disease.

And the Prophet ﷺ, when he speaks about the signs of the Hour, you have to understand that the signs of the Hour are all connected — one leads to the other. None of these things are happening in a vacuum. And from amongst those signs, the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6435; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 157)

Stinginess will become common. Dear brothers and sisters, we understand that zina is a problem, maybe. We understand that loss of modesty is a problem, maybe. We understand that not eating halal rizq is a problem, maybe. We understand that interest is a problem, maybe. But how many people think stinginess is an actual problem? How many people say, "Ya Allah, I'm making tawbah from stinginess"? We don't even regard this as a sin. We don't regard this as a problem. And the Prophet ﷺ is saying that this is one of the signs of the Hour.

The needs of the ummah are increasing — not only for food and drink, but for housing, for bathrooms, for clothing, for hospital bills. And there is the need to continue taking care of the masajid. If you ever travel within the Muslim world, besides the main city masajid, if you ever stop on the road and pray in smaller masajid — you're like: "What? I cannot believe the condition of these masajid." Absolutely dilapidated. No one is taking care of them. That is the house of Allah. We're not building masajid as a showpiece or a museum — we have to take care of them because they are the house of Allah.

Whatever you feel passion about — whether it's cataract surgeries in East Africa, or helping children with autism, or disabled kids in Palestine, or food in refugee camps, or renovating old dilapidated masajid in India, or teaching blind children Quran, or helping widows earn and stand on their own feet — there are so many ways we can earn our akhirah through the money Allah has given us. But we all have to be passionate about something. This is what we need to make tawbah from: Ya Allah, You're not giving me this money to simply spend on myself. I am here to spend this money on people so that I can have a beautiful akhirah.

The Prophetic Du'a Against Stinginess

I ask Allah, and I hope I can inspire all of you and myself, to make sincere tawbah from stinginess. Make this part of your du'a. And whose du'a is this? This is the Prophet's ﷺ du'a — twice a day, every morning and evening:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6367; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2706)

O Allah, I seek refuge in You from being unable and from laziness, and I seek refuge in You from cowardice and from stinginess. Now is the time to make this du'a. Ya Allah, I seek refuge in You from cowardice, and I seek refuge in You from stinginess.

The Prophet ﷺ said: you do not have to have a lot of money to be generous. Remember that. You can have very little and be more generous than one who has much. My experience in fundraising for many years is that sometimes, SubhanAllah, the less a person has, the more generous he is. And the more a person has, the more stingy he is. That has been my experience.

The Story of Hatim al-Ta'i

The example is given of Hatim al-Ta'i, rahimahullah — the most generous of the Arabs, known for his sakha and jood. It is mentioned that he said something which angered the king, who put a bounty on his head — a hundred camels, like a million-dollar bounty in today's terms.

So he veiled his face and fled on horseback through the desert. All of a sudden, behind him he sees dust being stirred up — someone is chasing him, coming closer and closer. It's a terrifying feeling: running through the desert and hearing the sounds and seeing the dust, and slowly someone is drawing nearer. Eventually the person catches up to him, yanks him, and stops him.

Hatim pleads: "Please, let me go, I didn't do anything wrong. I own such-and-such stables here, I own this property over there — go take what I own. Just let me go." That man — masked — brought him to the ground and said: "No thank you. I don't want your stuff. I don't need to know the location. I'm not going to take it." Hatim said, "What do you want? I'll give you whatever you want."

The masked man said: "Hatim, I'm a Bedouin. I have nothing. What the king would give me is a hundred camels — a lot of money. What you're offering is also a lot of money. But I don't want any of it. I ran all this way to tell you: I'm going to let you go. But you should not think you're the most generous person. I am more generous than you." And he left.

SubhanAllah. Amazing, right? You're generous with the money you have. I'm more generous because I have nothing, and I'm saying no to this money. Who is truly generous? Allah knows best. But this is the beautiful quality we should teach our sons and daughters — and ourselves. And they're not going to get it if we don't have it.

Generosity in the Lives of the Sahaba

Dear brothers, you know what they say — when the Prophet ﷺ passed away, his shield was held as collateral in the hands of a Jewish person. Subhanallah, his own shield. And Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiallahu anhu, who dies as a shaheed, dies with massive debts. When are we going to become in debt for the deen? All of us are in debt for the dunya. When are we going to become in debt for the deen?

I know such people. I go visit their community. I say, "Where is so-and-so?" "Sheikh, it's Sunday, but he's working." He said, "Yes, because I made a commitment to such-and-such institution. I work on Sundays to pay it off." MashaAllah. Mubarak to such people — working extra shifts, extra days, because they feel the burden of a debt for the akhirah. There are too many people working extra shifts to add another bedroom, build a porch, purchase the latest car, falling behind on exotic car payments. But SubhanAllah — how many people say, "I made a commitment of what I don't have, and I'm going to work to fulfill that commitment"? Those are the people who are an inspiration. And those are the people whose children are very lucky to have such moms and dads.

Make tawbah from bukhul. And Allah speaks about greed in the Quran:

The one who is saved from the greed of himself — indeed, they are the ones who are successful. And then Allah says:

If you give a good loan to Allah, Allah will increase it for you, and will forgive you. Not only will Allah increase it — يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ — He will forgive you as well. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Yesterday I was very inspired in our fundraiser — a brother pledged an amount on a group text, saying: "I'm going to make this huge pledge, only if those on this group will match me." He put the pressure. And SubhanAllah, he became an inspiration for the other brothers to match it. Maybe they didn't have it — but that's the point. Who said you have to pledge something you already own? How many people are buying things on credit card? Majority of people. How many people are buying homes with cash? Very few. Everyone is buying a home on credit. Everyone is buying a car on credit. You don't need to go into debt for extravagant weddings. You can have a nikah in the basement. One of my friends — a very prominent businessman of our city — when his kids got married, that's exactly what he did. Nikah done. He could have easily thrown a $150,000 wedding.

I always hear about walimas at certain venues. I know the prices — $120 per chair, $110 per chair, plus flowers, plus food, plus buffet, plus gratuity, plus dessert table, this and that. You're walking out spending $250 per head for the night. And that's one of six events. What did you get? Does your wife love you more? I don't think so. The Prophet ﷺ said that the more money spent on a marriage, the less barakah. He was a prominent businessman. He literally went to the masjid, had five people over, had lunch at the house. That was his walima. Did that decrease his greatness?

You want to be big in the eyes of Allah? Write a $100,000 check. Write a $250,000 check. Save that money from the wedding. That is how you get the angels to take notice. But giving it to Marriott and to Hyatt and Hilton — they are laughing at you. What a fool. That is israf — useless expense. That same money could be given as a condo to your son or daughter. It could be a college fund. Money does not always come with intelligence. The intelligence Allah is speaking about is using it for what is going to be beneficial in the long run. What does a one-night party do for you, ya ikhwan? Your daughter will not love you for the rest of her life because of it. The simplicity and sunnah in the nikah brings such a level of loyalty from your kids that you cannot imagine. Who does not want children who listen to them? It will not happen if we leave the sunnah. Bring back the sunnah of simplicity in our gatherings, and insha'Allah, Allah will give you the tawfiq to give in the right places.

So dear youth sitting here, masha'Allah, for these ten nights and ten days — do not make niyyah, do not make plans, do not make du'a to become rich. Wealth will not do you any good. Instead, ask Allah to make you extremely generous with whatever He gives you. Ask Allah to protect you from materialism. Ask Allah that whatever wealth you do earn, it is always in the pocket — not in the heart. And the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ — make us among those who give with our right hand such that our left hand does not even know.

It's an addiction. My father, hafizahullah, always says: writing a check is a muscle. If you don't use it, you lose it. And just like when you go weight lifting you start off with a five-pound dumbbell and go all the way to fifty and a hundred — similarly, you have to train yourself. There are times after I finish a fundraiser when he says, "I need you to give." And he gives me, masha'Allah, a solid amount, and says, "You have to give." May Allah reward my parents for always putting that pressure on me — "You can't just ask, you have to give yourself." That's the training we received. How many dads are here putting pressure on their sons? "You gotta give. Don't expect me to give for you. Yes, I know how much you earn. But from what you earn, you'd better give. From your savings, you gotta give. From your Eidi, you gotta give." We have to create an environment of generosity within our homes.

And they need to know: this money Allah did not give us to simply spend on our material things in this world. It has to be spent for the akhirah. And every year we have to increase it. Just like working out — if you're picking up a five-pound dumbbell for the past fifteen years, it's pretty sad. Similarly, if you're writing a $500 check for the past fifteen years, what's going on? Whatever level you're at, push yourself.

My beloved brothers — you'll remember these words, insha'Allah. Generosity will get us where no other good deed will get us. And stinginess will take us where nothing else will take us — and it is destructive. Including spending on your own family, your own sibling, your own brother or sister going through financial difficulty. That is the best place to spend it. And you may say, "But this is my hard-earned money and he got D's while I had A's." No. You're giving for the sake of Allah. Your brother may not have been the smartest. But let us spend on our families.

Wallah, I cannot imagine the reward you'll get when you take care of a sibling going through financial hardship. And you do it quietly — without rubbing it in. Allah says:

Do not nullify your charity by boasting about it or with harsh words that break hearts. "Man, I bailed you out — you're expecting money again this year?" Then guess what — you gave a donation, but all your reward is down the drain. Because you reminded someone of what you gave them. We cannot remind anyone that we gave them money. We cannot remind any place that we donated. Quietly give without them even realizing it.

May Allah make us people like this — who quietly pay a bill for someone they know is going through a hard time: the car payment, the mortgage, whatever it is, and say khalas. One brother told me yesterday — Allahu Akbar. He said he was sitting with his accountant, and his accountant told him: "You have given more than you have made this year." And when he looked at his biggest investment, it was that he had bought a condo for a brother who couldn't afford it and didn't want to go into riba. "Can you buy the condo and I'll give you monthly payments?" Imagine — you're saving a person from riba. I envy such a person. May Allah give me tawfiq to do things like this, and may Allah give tawfiq to all of us.

And that same brother, SubhanAllah, made the largest contract we have ever seen. May Allah allow him to fulfill it and give him ten times that. Why? Because you do these good deeds that no one besides Allah knows about. And you know what this reminds me of? The hadith which says: if you do a good deed with sincerity — even if you do it on a dark night, in a dark room, hiding it from everyone — what will happen? Allah will let the world know about it. Allahu Akbar. Allah will let the world know when you do something out of extreme sincerity. The more you hide it, Allah will ensure the world comes to know, because you were sincere about it. So why should we do anything for show? If you do it with ikhlas, a day will come when the world will know what you did.

The Story of Abu Bakr and Umar

This reminds me of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Umar, radiallahu anhuma. Dear friends — do not look only at the good that you and I did this Ramadan. Look at who did more than me. Be inspired by that. Don't be content — don't just say "alhamdulillah, look at what I did."

I encourage people in Ramadan and Jumu'ah to carpool — bring people to the masjid, senior citizens who don't have their kids with them, colleagues from work. A brother from this community told me this story: he was leaving his neighborhood to come to Darussalam for Jumu'ah, walking on a nice beautiful day. Someone saw him and said, "Yaar, I'm going to Jumu'ah, you wanna jump in?" And that brother looked at him and said, "You're walking? How are you going to walk two or three miles to the masjid?" "No, no, I'm taking a day off." "What do you mean?" "I made too much ibadah in Ramadan, I'm actually not going to come for Jumu'ah." This is from our neighborhood. SubhanAllah — this is why it's so important to sit in the classes of any imam and learn the deen, not just perform acts of ibadah. What's the point of twenty-nine days of tarawih if one Jumu'ah equals so much more? Someone is obviously misguided and doesn't understand the role of Jumu'ah.

The idea is — do not be content with the good that you have done. Thank Allah for it, but be inspired by the person next to you who did more. I don't know about you, but I am mesmerized by a brother who messaged me last night — I announced it and I'm announcing it again — that we have people in our community who are completing today their twentieth Khatm al-Qur'an, while working fifty hours a week as a professional. Wow! What an honor to be in the company of such people. May Allah put barakah in their time. May Allah increase our output. May Allah increase our efficiency. And may Allah accept every single du'a that brother made in every single Khatm al-Qur'an, and raise him amongst the highest of the people on the Day of Judgment.

May Allah grant complete, complete, complete shifa to his son who is going through a very serious situation. Please join me in du'a:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5743; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2191)

Ameen, Ameen, Ameen.

Umar, radiallahu anhu, says: "I want to match Abu Bakr — let me try, but it's looking very hard." Of course he realized, in the expedition of Tabuk, that he can't. The Prophet ﷺ asked: "Umar, what did you bring?" He said, "Ya Rasulullah, I brought fifty percent of my wealth." Fifty percent. And then he looked at Abu Bakr, radiallahu anhu, and said, "What is it that you brought?" Abu Bakr said: "Ask me what I left. I left Allah and His Rasul." That's it.

That night, Umar realized — there is no competition with Abu Bakr. There is no competition for the resting spot next to the Prophet ﷺ. May Allah honor Abu Bakr beyond our expectations. May Allah grant reward on behalf of the entire ummah to the Prophet ﷺ, to Abu Bakr and Umar, radiallahu anhuma, and the rest of the Sahaba. جَزَى اللَّهُ عَنَّا مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَصَحَابَتَهُ خَيْرَ الْجَزَاءِ

Following the Footsteps of the Righteous

Umar, radiallahu anhu, said: "Let me try to follow the footsteps of Abu Bakr." He heard that Abu Bakr used to go to a certain place and do some good deed there. Far away from the town in Madinah, there was a small hut. He followed the footsteps and went there. He knocked, opened the door — and inside was an old lady, blind and afflicted with multiple types of diseases, who had separated herself from society. She had absolutely no one, was completely blind, and had no one to feed her.

Umar, radiallahu anhu, said: "SubhanAllah — this is what Abu Bakr was doing here. With everything else he was doing, he was coming to this house every single day to feed this lady." So Umar took the food, put it in a spoon, and gave it to her to feed her. Immediately she screamed — "Who is this? Who is here?" She became upset and scared. "Who is this imposter?" Umar did not want to reveal himself. How did this blind lady find out?

She said: "This is not the same person who has been coming to me for years. Who are you?" He said, "I am your servant, Umar. The other person has passed away." Her first question: you're an old blind lady — how do you know it's not the same person? She responded: "He knew how to feed me. My tongue has all sorts of blisters on it, and he knew that a spoon would cause me pain. So he would feed me with his fingers." Who knew that? The whole world didn't know that. But look at how Allah, SubhanAllah, is allowing us to speak about this over fourteen centuries later.

This is how you become Abu Bakr and Umar — by doing amazing actions quietly, such that you yourself don't even think about them afterwards. You just act. As the ulama say: karo aur pheink do — do it and throw it away. Done. I'm not going to think about it. I'm not going to let myself get excited — "Oh, that was amazing how I pulled that off." Of course the natural happiness is there. But the fear is: I don't want to get trigger-happy, and in that happiness end up slipping and missing the next opportunity for good deeds.

So all of us should have something that we do quietly — between us and Allah. This is the quality of paying for someone's expenses, going above and beyond in the khidmah of your own relatives, your own moms and dads, your siblings. Beloved friends, we're missing out on this. Blood relations are taking a hit. May Allah make every one of us amongst those who take care of our families, who spend generously on their families' needs — not their desires. Not on people's desires. Spend on people's needs. May your constant du'a be: Ya Allah, allow me to get my brother out of interest, my sister out of interest, my kids out of interest. Ya Allah, allow us to become riba-free. Allow our whole families to become riba-free.

The Company of the Humble

So SubhanAllah, this is where we started. He says:

To spend time in the company of a greedy person will only increase your own greed. And if you spend time in the company of someone who doesn't want anything, who doesn't need anything from this dunya, who is renouncing the world — it will increase your own renunciation.

So let us go find people who are not part of our socio-economic status. People who live more humbly. Maybe forget about income — just find someone who lives a more humble life. You live in a four-bedroom home, visit someone who lives in a two-bedroom home. You live in a single-family home, visit someone who lives in a two-bedroom apartment. Spend time with people who have less.

And masha'Allah, it's nice to see some physicians and businesspeople who are making very good money but who explicitly tell me: "We've chosen to stay in a neighborhood where the median income is moderate. We could go and live in a gated community, but we choose not to. Because we just don't want to surround ourselves with that group of people." Simple as that. Because if every single neighbor has a $90,000 SUV, eventually — you don't have to be a man or a woman — you're going to feel it. "Why am I the different one?" And people tell me that. "I need to fit in." But kudos to those brothers whom Allah has blessed with a lot of wealth, who have intentionally chosen to live in a more humble neighborhood so that the pressure is not on their kids.

Growing up, my father would say — jazakAllah khayran — "Son, trust me, I can drive any car your classmate's father may have, and buy a better one. But that's not what we're about. I don't want you to ever think that if we live a simple life, your dad can't afford it. He can — and insha'Allah better than anyone else. But he intentionally chooses not to live that lifestyle. And that is something you need to appreciate." This is something I learned from my father. And SubhanAllah, when a person does that, Allah opens up doors to make proper investments in places that are actually beneficial.

My father would go in jawla to many professionals' homes, and I remember a story from when I was about six or seven years old. We went into someone's house, and that person was acting extremely arrogant. My father started speaking about the greatness of Allah: "Allah created this, Allah created that. We are so indebted to Allah. Our careers are from Allah. The money we're making is from Allah. And we have to thank Allah for it." And the man said, "Okay doctor, stop. Can I ask you something?" And he said: "If God created all of this — then who created God? Who created Allah?"

I was a kid — I was like, "Oh my God. How blasphemous." I didn't even know the word blasphemous. And then my dad simply shook hands and said, "Brother, may Allah make it easy for me and for you, and grant hidayah to all of us. Insha'Allah, we'll meet again." And he walked out. Because the idea I learned from that is: if someone is saying statements of kufr, unless you know how to engage that person at that time to bring them out of that mess, you shouldn't. Because one statement of kufr is bad enough — it may lead to five or ten more. And people who say such things don't need philosophy at that time. They need spirituality, they need ruhaniyya. Especially those who are born Muslims and say this type of thing.

Then in 1992, my father bought an LS400 — at the time it was $45,000, a beautiful car. And he told me: "The only reason I'm buying this is that when I roll into the driveways of these doctors who will refuse to open the door for any brother who comes on Jawla — who speak to you from behind the storm door without even opening it — at least when they open the curtain and see which car has rolled up, they may open the door." SubhanAllah. And after many years, that car was destroyed in an accident. Alhamdulillah, they never got another. But the point is: you're allowed to have things, but the intention must be there.

I ask Allah to keep myself and my parents and all of us sincere. SubhanAllah — sincerity is not something you can claim by writing "I am your sincere servant." I got corrected by a friend. I said, "Brother, I'm doing this sincerely." And he said, "How do you know you're sincere?" And I'm like — you've got a point. I don't know that. Because I honestly thought I had no ulterior motive. He said, "You can't say that." And I said, "Yeah, you're right." Sincerity will only be judged by Allah. But the idea is — stick around with sincere people, those you believe to be sincere, and insha'Allah their sincerity will hopefully rub off on to us. Ameen ya Rabbil Alameen.

The Fifth Quality: Truthfulness

اَلْخَامِسَةُ: اَلصِّدْقُ — And this is the last trait that you need to look for in a friend. The last trait. He says honestly: do not befriend a liar. فَلَا تُصَاحِبْ كَاذِبًا — Do not befriend a liar. فَإِنَّكَ مِنْهُ عَلَى غُرُورٍ — For you will always face deception from him.

Yes — today he's deceiving someone else. He says, "Look how much money I made off this guy. What a fool. I told him I bought it for twenty thousand and sold it for fifty. We actually bought it for ten." Do you think the man who lied to a customer won't eventually lie to you? So do not stay in the company of people who lie.

وَهُوَ مِثْلُ السَّرَابِ يُقَرِّبُ مِنْكَ الْبَعِيدَ وَيُبَعِّدُ مِنْكَ الْقَرِيبَ — He makes what is far seem near to you, and what is near seem far from you. "Come, let's grab this investment. I promise you."

Ponzi schemes — you all know what a Ponzi scheme is, right? They are happening in our community in the midst of the masjid, by people who come to the masjid and wear the most amazing religious garb. It didn't happen twenty years ago. It's happening as we speak. And I know friends who have unfortunately lost millions, and hundreds of thousands, simply because they looked at the person's Islamic attire and built a trust. And they do it slowly. And they even use my name: "Oh, he knows me." Brother, please never listen to that. So many people say, "We're trying to get married to someone, and he says he knows you." I said, "Who?" A name I don't even recognize. "He knows you." How does that make a difference? There are thousands of people who know me.

When I was once stopped by Homeland Security, after all the questioning they gave back my phone and said: "Your number was in the phone of someone on our watch list." I said, "You can google my number — you'll find it there. Who doesn't have my number? What does that even mean?" So if you're trying to marry your son or daughter to someone and they say "Oh, we know Mufti Azeem" — that doesn't make anything a difference. Don't fall for that. Go and find credibility beyond that. I've seen divorces happen because of this. "What happened?" "We got married to so-and-so and he said he knows you." But did you come and ask me? Did you bring a picture? Afterwards: "He was not what we thought." Astaghfirullah. Do not be foolish in getting married. Do your due diligence.

And by the way — they say you don't even know your own son and daughter. How are you supposed to know someone who just sits in these gatherings? I don't know who's sitting here right now unless you come and make salaam, introduce yourself, ask me questions. So this doesn't mean anything. Do not marry your daughter off — or your son off — to someone without due diligence.

Ponzi schemes are happening where people are watching who donates at the masjid in Ramadan. "Brother, you donated $10,000 — don't you want to give $20,000 next year? I've got a plan for you. Give me $10,000, I'll turn it into so much that you can give $20,000 to the masjid next year." And people are falling for it. So don't do that. Don't be foolish.

"Brother, did you write any documentation?" "Astaghfirullah, look at me — what documentation do you need, brother? You have me. I show up for Eid." So they didn't write documentation, no lawyers involved. And even if lawyers are involved, you know how hard it is to get your money out. Think a hundred times before you commit.

And the other extreme — "Oh, Muslims are the only ones who cheat, so I'll only do business with non-Muslims." I'll tell you something: anyone who's done business with people of certain communities will tell you — one of their strongest traits is that they only do business with each other. And that's how they build their wealth. If there's a large chain store nearby and a small kosher store in their neighborhood, no one from their community will go to the chain. They will make sure they support their local business. That's their commitment.

And us — if there's fifty cents cheaper flour at another store, everyone runs there. Do you know what's going on? Why are we buying from people who use that money against Muslims? Just because they have an Eid sale? We don't need their Eid sale. We have to support our Muslim businesses. Even if it means a dollar more. If a Muslim business owner doesn't come to the masjid, say: "Brother, I'm buying from you — but I want to see you for Isha." Give your dawah. We want to see you once a day in the masjid as well. We need to create this ecosystem: the masjid supports the businesses, and the businesses support the masjid. That's not just how we survive — that's how we thrive.

Choosing Your Company Wisely

So that was number five — truthfulness. Have someone who has truthfulness. And then Imam al-Ghazali, who wrote this book a thousand years ago, says: you may not find all of these five qualities existing together, even in those who are resident in the religious colleges — in the madrasas. He says these five qualities you might not even find in those boarding in a boarding school, or those present in spiritual gatherings — khanqahs, zawiyahs, or those who attend the masjid.

So you have one of two choices: either opt for isolation completely — solitude — in which you will find peace and safety. Or keep your interaction with friends proportionate to the level of these qualities within them. The more they have these five qualities, spend thirty minutes with them. The less they have, spend three minutes — the parking lot salaam: "Yusuf bhai, Khalid bhai, how's everything? How are the kids? How's the wife? Can I be of any assistance? MashaAllah. Chalo, gari mein jao." Go in your car. Two minutes. Hi, hello. Because when you speak beyond that, other things start happening.

And there are others, masha'Allah, with whom you can go out for breakfast or lunch, because alhamdulillah, you're learning from them. It depends on how much of these five qualities they have.

And when it comes to solitude — there is no such thing as solitude if you're a phone addict. You're not in solitude. Some say: "I don't want to go to the masjid anymore because the people gossip. The imam is like this. The board members are like that." So what do you do? "I pray at home, and then I turn on my phone." That's foolishness. We need to come to the masjid no matter what the environment, no matter the politics. Don't get involved in the politics. The board is like this — don't worry about that. Come, perform salah. Every masjid has got amazing, beautiful people, whichever city you're from. Connect yourself with some good people in the house of Allah.

Du'a of Istighfar — Du'a No. 13

May Allah grant tawfiq to all of us to practice whatever good was shared in today's gathering and in any of the previous gatherings. If any mistakes were made or anything inappropriate was said, may Allah protect us from the evil of that and not hold us accountable, insha'Allah. Let us proceed. Du'a number thirteen:

O Allah, I seek forgiveness for every sin for which, even before its completion, I anticipated Your swift punishment — but You granted me respite, and draped over me a covering, yet I spared no effort in trying to tear it away from myself.

Meaning: why is it that a person, while committing a sin, senses that Allah is watching and is going to get him — but his nafs is too strong, and he says, "I'm sorry, I have to do this sin, but I'm probably going to suffer major consequences for it." And then Allah chooses not to immediately punish him. Not only does He not punish him — He drapes a covering over him and does not let others know about his sin. The person should have stopped. But he didn't. He not only completed the sin, but he spared no effort in tearing away that drape — and told people about his sin. O Allah, I seek forgiveness for that. Say Ameen.

Closing Du'a

O Allah, much has been spoken about, much has been said, much has been heard in this month of Ramadan. O Allah, please do not allow our words to go in one ear and out the other. O Allah, do not allow whatever speeches and talks we attended — online or in person — to become a proof against us. Ya Allah, do not allow the knowledge we have gained to become a proof against us. O Allah, we all know what we're supposed to do. Ya Allah, make us amongst Your chosen servants who are able to practice on whatever khair and good they have learned.

Ya Allah, do not make us amongst those who are lazy in our ibadah. Do not make us amongst those who follow their nafs, who worship their base desires. O Allah, save us from any and all forms of materialism. O Allah, protect us all from atheism, agnosticism, postmodernism and its different forms. O Allah, we ask You to protect us and our children from having doubts in our deen — from having any form of doubt, even for a second, about the deen. Ya Allah, allow the children's deen to become strong. Allow our progeny's deen to become strong.

O Allah, we have entered an era of fitna — where, as the Prophet ﷺ prophesized:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 118)

A person will sell his deen for some little things of this world. He will wake up as a believer, and something will happen during the day — some fitna — and by nighttime he will go to bed as a disbeliever. He will go to bed as a believer, something will happen in the night — he'll watch something on his phone, he'll read something — and by morning he'll have abandoned his deen. And your Prophet ﷺ said the reason is that he'll sell his deen for some material thing.

O Allah, this time has now arrived — or has already arrived — where a person has to choose between material things and his deen. O Allah, at this very difficult juncture, grant us and our progeny absolute strength in their iman. O Allah, never allow anyone of us, or in our future generations, to ever give up their deen because of some material gain. Ya Allah, do not allow us to ever fear the creation. Allow Your fear to dominate in our hearts. Allow Your fear, Ya Allah, to extinguish the fear of any creation of Yours. O Allah, allow the desire to keep You happy to extinguish the desire to keep anyone else happy from Your creation.

O Allah, we ask You to grant us genuine love of Rasulullah ﷺ. Allow us all to become ushshaq of Rasulullah ﷺ. O Allah, allow us to truly love his sunnah. Allow us to follow his sunnah. Allow us to be inspired to revive his sunnah. Ya Allah, allow us to learn the sunnah with regards to every single small and large action, and allow us to implement it.

O Allah, we ask You to allow us to become the coolness of the eyes of our parents. O Allah, allow the parents to love us. Allow us to love our parents. Allow muhabba and love to be within husbands and wives, between parents and children, between siblings. Ya Allah, make us amongst those who take care of our relatives, who support them, who spend their money upon them. O Allah, make us amongst the most generous of people. Make us amongst the most generous of people. Make us amongst the most generous of people.

O Allah, make us generous not only with our wealth — make us generous with our time, make us generous with our tongues. O Allah, we ask You to put barakah in our time. O Allah, save every one of us from wasting our time on weeknights and weekends, on weekday mornings and all other mornings, in Ramadan and outside Ramadan. Save us from wasting our time. O Allah, allow us to have great time management skills, and allow us to use that, Ya Allah, to better our chances of gaining Your pleasure.

O Allah, we ask You for all the khair and good that the Prophet ﷺ asked You of. We seek refuge in You from all that the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge in You from. O Allah, have mercy on the Muslims in Myanmar. O Allah, the huge masajid have been demolished because of the earthquake, and thousands have been trapped, and thousands have become shaheed in these final nights of Ramadan. O Allah, have mercy on the people of Gaza. O Allah, have mercy on the people of Palestine, and the people of Syria, and the people of Yemen, and the people of Sudan, and all over the world, Ya Allah, in these final moments of Ramadan. Ya Allah, the people are suffering with so much difficulty. O Allah, we ask You to accept that suffering as a means of their guaranteed and amazing spot in Jannah. And O Allah, grant all of us hidayah because of their suffering.

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ، وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ