Team Fajr with Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | The Barakah of Dua | 11/18/2023

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad and his family.

The Barakah of Du'a

Beloved brothers and sisters, beloved elders, one of the things that constantly is being reminded to all of us — and the more we remind, the better — is that the believer has been blessed with a very powerful tool to be able to assist himself and assist others. And that is du'a.

Through the barakah of du'a, Allah allows him to not only fulfill his or her needs of this world, but also of the grave, as well as the hereafter. And also, through du'a, a person is blessed to gain such proximity and closeness to Allah that he may probably never have gotten through any other ibadah. The du'a is the way a person not only fulfills his needs, but he strengthens his bond with Allah.

Hence we've been told by the Prophet ﷺ that the du'a is the essence of all ibadah. If a person is motivated to do du'a, and he's able to spend a lot of time asking, and he's able to do it with a passion and fervor, then he has been blessed with the essence of all the ibadah that he's done. A person is spending the entire week worshiping Allah — in terms of salah, in terms of sadaqah, in terms of seeking knowledge of deen, in terms of improving on his character — all those things he's done.

Now one day comes — say Thursday night, or Jumu'ah, or for that matter any other day of the week — where he says, "Now I'm going to pull out my hands and present them in front of Allah, extend my arms in front of Allah, and I'm going to ask." And now he asks for a long time. What has happened? We could say that he's able to achieve the essence of the worship of the entire week.

That he's able to take time out and present himself in the court of Allah and ask for his needs, because he believes Allah genuinely exists, and Allah genuinely hears everything he's asking for, and Allah is the only one capable of actually fulfilling his need. And the person who doesn't have that level of conviction will never be motivated to make that du'a. The person who does not have that conviction will never find time to ask Allah, will never take time out to find Allah.

And even if they make a du'a, it will be short, it will be quick, there won't be any energy in it, there won't be any passion in it, there won't be any conviction in it. Because deep down, there is this thought: "What's the benefit of this? I might as well spend time talking to someone to help me. I might as well spend time on the phone searching for some answers. I might as well do something else at this time. What is the point of me sitting and asking Allah?"

Du'a Is Ibadah Itself

That's why the Prophet ﷺ has mentioned the hadith:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1479; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2969 — graded Sahih)

"The du'a is ibadah itself." Someone may be thinking, "I want to sit in the masjid and do some ibadah." That's good, but what do you mean by ibadah? The du'a is, in that sense, ibadah.

Allah says in the 24th juz', Surah al-Mu'min:

"Your Lord has proclaimed: Supplicate to Me and I shall accept your prayer. Indeed, those people who arrogantly turn away from My worship shall enter the hellfire in disgrace."

The Quranic verse here is not using the word "supplication" in the second part — it uses the word "worship." ادْعُونِي comes from the word da'wah, du'a — "supplicate to Me, I shall accept your prayer and your supplication." But Allah does not say, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ دُعَاءِ — "Indeed, those who arrogantly turn away from supplicating to Me." Instead, Allah says, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي — "those who arrogantly turn away from My ibadah."

The verse started off asking us, making it necessary upon us to call out to Him through the usage of the word du'a. And then the very next part of this ayah doesn't speak about du'a anymore. All of a sudden Allah says, "Indeed, those who arrogantly turn away from My ibadah" — what shall happen to them? سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ — "They shall enter the hellfire, disgraced." Not only will they miss out on getting their affairs of this world corrected, but they will also suffer horribly in the hereafter, because they chose to arrogantly turn away from Allah's ibadah.

Why has the word ibadah been chosen in the second portion of this verse while du'a was mentioned in the first? The scholars of tafsir write that in reality Allah is informing us and sharing with us that ibadah — the best and most pure form of it, the very essence of ibadah — is du'a. So the one who turns away from du'a and doesn't have time for it, out of arrogance and out of feeling there is no need for it, in reality has not done any ibadah. He could have performed 'Umrah, he could have performed Hajj, he could have performed salah, he could have fasted, he could have given a huge sadaqah, he could have helped a lot of people — but after doing all of that, he doesn't feel the need, desire, or benefit of turning to Allah. That means it's as though all the ibadah that he had done was absolutely hollow and empty, void of any serious benefit.

Du'a After a Good Deed

If there was any ruhaniya, any spirituality and soul to that ibadah, then a person would most definitely spend time asking Allah right after a good deed — for multiple reasons. First of all, you have to ask Allah that He accepts that good deed. We don't just dump the ibadah and walk away.

Think about it — when you have very important paperwork, say your passport you're picking up or dropping off papers for a job interview, you don't make a paper airplane of the paper and throw it and walk away saying, "Hopefully it'll work." Instead, not only do you turn it in, you patiently, humbly stand there waiting for the clerk to say, "Okay, I've looked through your paperwork, it's fine." Then you go back and pray, "Alhamdulillah, I just hope everything goes well now." We don't just simply say, "I did the paperwork and I'm gonna dump it." Instead, there is this genuine fear — what if it's incomplete? And then you have to go redo stuff.

What is du'a after a good deed? Du'a after a good deed is: "Ya Allah, accept this. It's not worthy of acceptance, but we ask you to accept it." This is something we need to think about from the story of Ibrahim عليه السلام.

"And when Ibrahim was lifting up the foundations of the Ka'bah with his son Isma'il: 'Our Lord, accept this from us. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.'"

After completing the greatest task we can imagine — building a masjid is powerful, but what could be more special than building the Ka'bah? — father and son finished building the Ka'bah, and after that, they say, رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا — "Oh Allah, please accept this from us." It's not sufficient that we built the Ka'bah; rather, what we're looking for is qubuliyyah and acceptance from You.

تَقَبَّلْ is from the scale of تَفَعَّلَ, and one of the specialties of this scale is that it gives the meaning of takalluf — something done with much difficulty, even though it's not naturally coming. Apply it in this verse: قَبِلَ يَقْبَلُ is "to accept." تَقَبَّلَ يَتَقَبَّلُ also means "to accept." But because it's on the scale of تَفَعَّلَ, it means: "Ya Allah, don't just accept it. I'm asking You to accept it knowing that this is not worthy of acceptance. And I'm asking You to overlook its flaws, and accept it — مُسَامَحًا — while turning away from the flaws in this action." This is the meaning of takalluf — that it's not easy to accept it, because it's not worth it. It's flawed. But I'm asking You to just do it, please.

So father and son built the Ka'bah, and now they're asking Allah: "I'm not going to just build a Ka'bah and walk away thinking that everything is done. No, I'm gonna sit and I'm gonna ask and beg You till You accept this."

إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ — "You are All-Hearing, You are All-Aware." Allah is سَمِيعٌ لِأَقْوَالِنَا عَلِيمٌ بِالنِّيَّاتِنَا — Allah listens to what we're saying while we're doing the work, and He is well aware of the hidden intentions and motives in our heart when we do an action.

Muhasabah: Taking the Nafs to Account

So many times we do things and our nafs covers up the real reason why we're doing it, because we just move on. We don't notice that our intention is not pure, that we actually have an ulterior motive. The nafs and Shaytan work very hard.

Remember, the nafs is like a parasite. If it's not corrected, it lives off of whatever we do. The nafs wants a share of everything. The نَفْسٌ أَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ does not like the fact that you do everything for the sake of Allah. The nafs says, "Where is my share in this? I want to have a piece of the cake." So the nafs always wants some sort of benefit from every action — the enjoyment of the self. And you have to ask: did I do this for my nafs? Or did I do this for the sake of Allah? That's a very tough question, and only Allah knows the answer.

This is where the muhasabah comes in. A person needs to sit there and see:

(Attributed to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه — reported by al-Tirmidhi in his Jami')

"Take your nafs to task before you are taken to task." Put your nafs on the stand and start cross-questioning it: "Why did you do this? What was the purpose? Deep down, what intention did you have?" And I am sure, my beloved friends, if we actually start doing this properly, we will be startled at what we find our nafs has been doing — how it has hidden so many different things right under our nose, inside our body, inside our mind, but we haven't figured it out simply because we didn't ask. You have to ask.

So the qubuliyyah is not about the nafs. It's about Allah accepting our deed. Du'a after a deed is important because you're asking Allah to accept that deed. And number two, you're asking Allah: "I know if this deed is accepted in Your court, that means You are pleased with me now. And as You are pleased with me now, I'm going to ask You another ten things."

Do we not all look for a window of opportunity when we need to ask someone — say our parents, our spouse, our employer — when they are in a happy mood, and then we present our request? Allah loves a good, accepted deed — be it salah, zakat, sawm, Hajj, or any other good deed. And that is why, once a good deed is done and you've asked Allah to accept it, now is the perfect time to ask Allah to give you all your other needs — of dunya, qabr, and akhirah.

The Du'a of Tashahud

That is why when we perform salah, the final du'a that you and I read in tashahud is:

"Oh Allah, I have oppressed myself immensely. And none can forgive sins besides You. Oh Allah, forgive me a special forgiveness from Your end, and have mercy upon me. Indeed, You are the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 834; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2705)

If only we could concentrate when we recite this du'a in tashahud, life would be different. The level of humility that is manifested in this du'a is amazing. It's as though someone is making this du'a after they have committed a line of major sins, after they have turned their back to Allah for a year, or two, or three. But that's not the case — this is after performing a fard salah.

But every single salah we repeat the same thing: "Oh Allah, I've done such a huge sin. I've oppressed myself in the biggest manner. And if You don't forgive me, no one's going to forgive me." What is that supposed to mean? It's because we are saying that this ibadah is not worthy of Your court. And it isn't. The only one who thinks that it is, is someone who doesn't know Allah.

Think about a little child. The dad takes him around and says, "Let's go give gifts to all my teachers and elders." The little child doesn't know who he's dealing with — this might be his future father-in-law, or his grandparents — very important people in his life. The child doesn't know, so he just drops the gift carelessly. But a person who knows this is a great individual who has done much ihsan towards him — even while giving a gift, he will have this fear: "What if this gift doesn't get accepted? What if it's not appreciated?" This is why we recite this du'a.

And then the Prophet ﷺ said that du'a is most readily accepted after every fard salah, and in the early morning hours, the tahajjud time — this is when du'a is accepted.

Making Du'a at the End of a Gathering of Khair

Any good deed, many times people say, "We gave a talk — why should we do a du'a right now?" The reason we do du'a at the end of a good gathering is because something good is happening. Right now, at the end of this talk, so many of us are sitting here listening, making proper good intentions to change, saying, "Insha'Allah, I'm going to bring good things into my life." So all that khair and goodness is going up — as Allah says:

"To Him ascends the good word, and the righteous deed — He raises it up." This is going to bring Allah's rahmah. And that is why we make du'a at the end of any good deed.

Sitting After Fard Salah for Dhikr and Du'a

After fard salah, I want to mention, is not the time to immediately run. After salah, we have to train ourselves and train our children that we sit in the rows the way we prayed our salah for at least a couple more minutes, and engage in dhikr and du'a. Everything else can be done a little later on.

When it comes to those salahs in which there is sunnah, yes, you may recite your longer du'a and dhikr after the sunnah — the two sunnah after 'Isha, the two sunnah after Maghrib, or the nawafil as well, the two sunnah after Dhuhr at a minimum. But before you stand up for your sunnah, do a little bit. Just read Ayatul Kursi. Do your tasbih fatimi — SubhanAllah 33 times, Alhamdulillah 33 times, Allahu Akbar 34 times — raise your hand and make a few du'as.

We have unfortunately a lot to work on in this regard. We've created an environment where we stand up as soon as the salah finishes. This is not how it's supposed to be. Even if you have to go somewhere, add this into your mind: "My fard salah, if it's 8 minutes, not 6. If it's 6 minutes, not 4. If it's 12 minutes, not 10." Because I want to always add 2 minutes to sit after my fard salah to do my adhkar and du'a. This is extremely important.

Because now look — the Quran is saying that if you turn away from Allah's ibadah, from His du'a arrogantly, this is what's going to happen. This is the time to ask — why are we not asking? When the Prophet ﷺ has already said that du'a after fard salah gets accepted, why would we not? Who does that? The one who doesn't think it's worth his time. Whatever you've got going in the parking lot or somewhere else — if you have needs, what better place to fulfill this need than right now here?

And that's why it's mentioned regarding certain Sahabah رضي الله عنهم that when they would have a need, they would say, "I am going to wait till the next fard salah to make du'a." They would look for the best window of opportunity. I'm not saying you and I should wait till Dhuhr — because honestly, we're not even making du'a as it is, and our du'a is also very wishy-washy. So make du'a at Ishraq, whenever you wake up. But I just want to say that when a person has built this relationship with Allah through du'a, and this conviction that "my du'a will get accepted," then he will be waiting for that opportunity called the next fard salah, or tahajjud.

Nabi Yaqub and Delaying Du'a for the Best Moment

What does the Quran say about Ya'qub عليه السلام? When the brothers came crying to their father, "Please seek forgiveness for us — we got caught. There was Binyamin, there was Yusuf. We ended up really being caught red-handed over all the zulm we had done to our brothers." So Nabi Ya'qub doesn't say, "Okay, khalas — Allah, forgive them right now." He says:

"Soon I shall seek forgiveness from Allah for you lot. Indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful." The scholars of tafsir say Ya'qub عليه السلام was also delaying his du'a until tahajjud, or delaying his du'a until the night of Jumu'ah — waiting for that window of opportunity where insha'Allah he would have more conviction that Allah would accept his du'a.

Du'a Is the Weapon of the Believer

The Prophet ﷺ also mentioned in another hadith:

(Mustadrak al-Hakim, Vol. 1, Hadith 1812 — graded Hasan)

"The du'a is the weapon of the believer." When you pull out your weapon whenever you're in need to defend yourself, you pull it out. This is our lifeline. Similarly, a believer's attachment to Allah via du'a is: "Ya Allah, whenever I'm going to need, I'm going to pull it out. And I'm going to make sure all my needs of this world, the grave, and the hereafter are fulfilled."

But Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله mentioned that those who think that du'a is only to fulfill their needs are completely missing out on the crux of du'a. The du'a is not there just to fulfill your needs. One of the greatest gifts that you get through du'a is the proximity and the closeness to Allah. He said, "That's what du'a is about."

How many of us think of it like that? I get this question many times: "I've been praying for something for the past two years. Should I give up now? Should I stop? It doesn't seem like it's getting anywhere."

The Power of Du'a in Times of Crisis

One person, mashAllah, told me — after a month and a half of the oppression that is happening in Palestine — he said, "I get up before Fajr, I do my tahajjud and my adhkar, and I have never done this type of dhikr and ilhah fi du'a — so much concentration, devotion, and begging in du'a — the way I have now. I've never done it for anyone. Never done it for myself, my kids, or anyone else."

And I said, "MashAllah — mission accomplished." If that crisis can get any one of us out of bed and make us sit on the musallah and cry like we've never done before, this is a victory. Hundred percent.

He was reciting all the verses of the Quran where Allah speaks about His nusrah, His power:

"Soon the entire armies will become vanquished and they will turn their backs and run for their lives."

"Indeed, Our armies most definitely will be victorious."

And the du'a of the Prophet Nuh عليه السلام:

"Oh Allah, I have been overpowered — so come to my assistance."

And the du'a of Yunus عليه السلام:

"There is none worthy of worship besides You, O Allah. Glory be to You. Indeed, I am from amongst the oppressors." And Allah says He took him out of his difficulty.

He said, "I sit there making du'a in each raka'ah, in each sajdah of each raka'ah, reciting these verses again and again, making intention: 'Oh Allah, through the barakah of these du'as, may falsehood be vanquished and the people of truth be assisted.'"

My brothers, this is exactly what the ummah needs to wake up and do. Do not underestimate the power of spending an hour on the musallah. The victory, the nusrah, and the results were never in my hands — they are always in Allah's hands. But we have to beg Allah to bring that nusrah. And how do you beg Allah? Through du'a.

But then additionally, if victory doesn't happen the way we want it in one week or two weeks — we need to understand that this itself is victory: that we have been able to leave the comfort of our bed and stand alone in seclusion on our prayer mat and cry. And I'm not speaking about just this crisis. Any personal crisis that you may be going through — if it pushes you out of your bed and gets you onto the musallah, you have already become victorious. Because you are now getting the tawfiq and motivation to do one of the most powerful forms of ibadah — the crux of worship of Allah.

The Goal of the Effort of Da'wah

This is one of the things that Mawlana Ilyas رحمه الله — the reviver of the effort of da'wah and tabligh — when asked, "What is your goal through this movement of people from town to town, masjid to masjid, house to house?" He said the purpose is: "That every person who has iman should learn how to ask from Allah and directly benefit from His treasures. That's all I want. If you have five million people knowing how to make proper du'a, that's victory. If you have a hundred million people knowing how to ask from Allah, that's victory."

One of the major reasons why there is such a lack of motivation in me, the community, and generally in the Muslim world for du'a is because the belief in Allah is not where it needs to be. The yaqeen and conviction in the names and attributes of Allah is not where it needs to be. The belief in and conviction in the power and qudra of Allah is not where it needs to be.

So when you don't have that — and I ask forgiveness for saying this — we have given a "no confidence" vote to Allah. "I don't have trust in You. I don't think You can pull this off. That's why I'm not going to ask You." The fact that we don't ask Him means we don't trust that He can help us. And so now — you really think our Fajr is of any value? You think our Jumu'ah is of any value? You think our sadaqah is of any value? If this is the relationship we have with Allah — "I'm in and out, up and down, I kiss the ground and I'm out, but I don't think You can really help me" — if I thought You could, then I'd spend a few minutes asking You.

That's why people say, تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَيْكَ ثُمَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ — "I put my reliance upon you and then upon Allah." This is wrong. You cannot say that. You can say, تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ عَلَيْكَ — "I put my trust in Allah, and then I use you as a means of this world." That's fine. But you can never put a person and Allah together on the same level.

The Du'a of the People of Gaza

When I was making du'a last night, I said: through the barakah of the du'as of the people of Gaza, not only assist them — assist us. This is what I feel like we should make du'a for. Because their du'a is much more powerful than ours. And one reason is they literally know it — عَيْنَ الْيَقِين — right in front of their eyes, that no one is coming to help. There is no country that is going to suddenly mobilize. There is no country that is suddenly going to say, "You've crossed the red line." There doesn't seem to be a red line for any Muslim country or any other country either. It's just talk.

So now they know it very well — there literally are no asbab, no means of this dunya coming to their assistance. Everything, from beginning to end, is only Allah. When a person has that level of conviction on Allah, those du'as are accepted. And so the hard thing is, in the presence of means, to ask Allah as though you have no means. That's the reality of the game. That's why for us, we are in a more difficult situation. It's more difficult for us to have yaqeen in our du'a than those brothers and sisters of ours — because they have no means.

So for them, to say حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ and mean it 200% is very natural — because who else is there? And for us, first of all, we don't have the energy to say it. And if we say it, the tasbih is moving and our eyes are on our phone. We're reading this while checking our bank account — حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ — empty and void of any conviction.

So this is the tough thing we have: to do dhikr of Allah, to make du'a, but with such a level of conviction as though you don't have any means. These people — what are we saying? "Ya Allah, through the waseelah of their du'a, through the barakah of their shahada, through the sacrifice that they're doing for You, and the sabr that they have — fulfill our needs as well."

So what the ummah requires now — whether through left or through right, through this or through that — is we need to wake up and start making du'a. It's been now five weeks. And many of you are going through your own problems: sick family members, sick parents, sick children, someone who passed away recently, losses in business, things shutting down, contracts falling apart, the pink slip, falling behind on payments, marriages falling apart, divorce seeming imminent, children not able to get married. Whatever — everyone's got issues. But the question is, what are we doing with these issues?

That's why for a believer, there's no depression — we know we have something called du'a. We use this time, an hour or two, we spend. Even if you're going to the doctor, use that journey to the doctor's office, and while waiting in the waiting room, use it for du'a. That is how a believer thinks: "Allah placed me in this difficulty because I wasn't making good enough du'a."

A youngster told me recently — a hafidh of the Quran — he said, "I got very busy in business. I found myself missing prayers. Then I got very ill and they found out he had some major heart problem — a youngster. And they said, 'If you don't stop vaping, you can really harm your heart.'" He said, "SubhanAllah, I had not read my morning du'as for years. I hadn't read my Fajr salah on time for Allah knows how long. But I'm actually happy that I went through this painful wake-up call, because I have really gotten scared that I'm going to die or get very sick. And this has pushed me to the masjid more than anything else has in the past many years." Alhamdulillah — mission accomplished.

But why wait for Allah to put that upon you? Why don't we start right now? If you're not in that difficult situation, why wait for it? And number two — if you are going through a difficult situation, stop thinking that the world has solutions to your problems. No one cares, except Allah. We have no one besides Allah. That's the lesson we should learn.

When we stand up and make du'a for an hour, I want you to walk away not thinking, "Alhamdulillah, I've helped my brothers and sisters overseas." I want you to walk away thinking, "I've helped myself, number one. There is no one who benefited from this du'a more than I did."

Advice for Those Going for 'Umrah

Someone was just leaving for 'Umrah — many brothers are going. Someone met me yesterday after Fajr: "Sheikh, I'm going — any advice?" I said, "You're going with your family. The key thing, the number one thing you want to focus on in your 'Umrah journey, is learn how to ask from Allah. That should be your focal point."

Write down a huge list — because we usually go blank. We have so many issues, but then we go in front of Allah and we're like, "I don't know what else to ask." Three minutes already. So let's write a list — notebook, phone, whatever — a list of at least 50 things that you would like to ask Allah. 50 things. On the journey in your plane, you can write it. While you're waiting for boarding, you can write it.

And for those who are not going to 'Umrah immediately — may Allah take you there as well soon — this is also for here. Write a list of things. After every salah, you have a huge chunk of time between Fajr and Dhuhr. Make a point that every day one hour is dedicated for du'a. Just sit down, look at the time, and say, "Alright, I'm going to make du'a for one hour." You have the list of 50 things in front of you. Spend one to one and a half minutes on each item. Or dedicate: "This one hour today is going to cover 25 items — two minutes on each. And the next day, the remaining 25 items, two minutes on each."

Teaching Our Children to Make Du'a

Recently I saw a young father here, mashAllah — it made me so happy — sitting with his son after 'Asr salah. After he finished, he said, "Okay, let's make du'a." And the young four or five year old raised his hand and started making du'a, and the father was saying "Ameen." It was the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time — a father teaching his son how to ask Allah.

Every father who has taught his son how to take from Allah's treasures, and every mother who has taught her son or daughter — alhamdulillah, is a successful parent. You can't give them the asbab of the dunya forever. Even if you leave them money, you don't know if it gets invested properly. I'm not saying don't leave it — leave them money, sure, leave them a degree. But teach them how to take from Allah's treasures.

A Commitment: 15 Minutes of Du'a Daily

Let's go home and work on this. Every one of us should spend time asking Allah ourselves, and teach our children how to ask from Allah — and dedicate a time for it.

This is my request from all of you here now. After everything that we're seeing, let's make niyyah — every single day at least 15 minutes of continuously making du'a. If you say, "I can't do 15 minutes all at once," then divide it up: 5 minutes in 3 slots — 5 minutes after each salah, across three salahs of the day. Or if not after salah, then in your car while driving. You don't have to raise your hands if you're driving — du'a comes from the heart.

So we all say insha'Allah — 15 minutes. And in that process, you make du'a for me, and I make du'a for you, that Allah gives us istiqamah and steadfastness on this 15 minutes, and allows us to continue to increase until a day comes, insha'Allah, when we will have a daily one-hour du'a. Is it possible? Of course it's possible. You just get up an hour before Fajr, pray a little tahajjud, and then spend it in du'a.

Honestly — all of us who are 40, 50, 60 — our time is coming up. We're about to leave. We don't even know — there are so many youth passing away. What are we going to show to Allah? What are you proud of? What are we going to present to Allah? At least present Him humility. To say, "Ya Allah, I never thought I did anything. Instead, I just sat and begged You for forgiveness every day for an hour." I think that's a powerful action to present to Allah. You may not have changed the world. You may not have a huge legacy or some massive sadaqah jariyah. But if you spend an hour begging Allah, I am pretty sure Allah is going to love that humility and humbleness — because this is the essence of ibadah.

How lucky are those people who spend decades in tahajjud every single day, making an hour of du'a — our elders, our seniors. We're not going to become like that by just talking about them. We're going to become like that by starting in their footsteps — with 15 minutes a day. And a day will come, insha'Allah, when we'll have a group of people here who will be the people of du'a.

One of the 'ulema visited here some years ago. He said, "MashAllah, the masjid is built, everything seems perfect and beautiful. Now we just need a group of people who will cry for the ummah — for the protection of this place. That is your endowment fund right there. The longevity of what is happening at Darussalam will continue as long as you raise a group of people who will make du'a for this institution of deen and the rest of the institutions of deen. They will take care of it not only through their checks, but through their du'a. And that will bring the mercy of Allah."

So may Allah make us from amongst that group of people who cry for the ummah. Because the ummah is definitely in huge need.

'Umar ibn al-Khattab and the Year of Drought

Let me just read one hadith, and insha'Allah we will end with that. It is mentioned that Sa'id ibn Yazid said:

(Reported in various narrations regarding the year of drought — 'Aam al-Ramadah — in the caliphate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه; see al-Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwah)

"I saw 'Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه one day in the year of extreme drought — called al-Ramadah, meaning 'sandy color,' because the beautiful complexion of the Sahabah had become sandy colored due to not eating and drinking. He went out in the morning in an extremely humble state, begging, with extreme humility. He had a shawl over him that did not even reach his knees. He was loudly doing istighfar, seeking forgiveness from Allah. And his eyes were shedding tears on his cheeks profusely. On his right was Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib. On that day he made du'a while facing the qibla, extending his hands towards the heavens, and he cried out loud to his Lord. He supplicated, and the people supplicated with him. Then he held the hand of Abbas and said: 'Oh Allah, I present to You the uncle of Your prophet.' And for a long time, Abbas رضي الله عنه stood next to 'Umar رضي الله عنه, supplicating, and his eyes were swelled up with tears."

Allahu Akbar. And 'Umar رضي الله عنه was saying: "Oh Allah, I'm not worthy enough to ask on my own. I have next to me the uncle of the Prophet. If I don't attract Your mercy, then at least through the barakah of Abbas next to me, bring the rain." This is the Ameer ul-Mu'mineen. That's the type of du'a that ran the world. That's the type of du'a that brought strength and power to the Muslims — when every single person of the community makes that level of du'a, knowing we need the help of Allah like the rain right now.

And so we also make du'a — through the barakah of the oppressed ones across the globe — "Oh Allah, through their du'a, fulfill our needs as well."

Closing Du'a

Oh Allah, we ask You to accept this gathering. Oh Allah, we ask You to accept our good deeds. Oh Allah, we ask You to overlook our sins. Oh Allah, we ask You to forgive our major and minor sins. Oh Allah, we ask You to forgive the sins of the ummah — collectively done and individually done.

Oh Allah, all the aggression and oppression that we have done against Your deen — we ask You to please forgive us for that. Oh Allah, all the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ that we have neglected — we ask You to forgive us for that. Oh Allah, create within my heart and all of our hearts remorse for our life of sin. Oh Allah, allow us to be extremely remorseful for our mistakes, and allow us through Your grace to start a new chapter of our life.

Oh Allah, allow us to be motivated and inspired, ya Allah, through everything that is taking place across the globe and the oppression that our brothers and sisters are going through — allow that to become a motivation for all of us to start a new chapter in our life.

Oh Allah, make us amongst those who call out to You by morning and by night, throughout the day after salah, and in the early hours of the morning. Oh Allah, make us amongst those whose tongues are moist in remembrance, whose hearts are beating with Your love, who are trembling in front of You in du'a, who raise their hands with conviction that You are listening to us and that You are the only one capable of fulfilling our needs — and the needs of the ummah.

Oh Allah, we ask You — in the name of Your love for the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ, and in the name of the love Rasulullah ﷺ had for this ummah, and in the name of our love for Rasulullah ﷺ, and in the name of our love for You, ya Allah — and in the name of any good deed that any one of us have done — that You send Your special mercy upon the people of Palestine, ya Allah.

Oh Allah, allow Your nusrah and mercy to come in a manner that will baffle the people — in a manner that is unthinkable. Oh Allah, allow Your hidden armies — the forces of nature — to come to the assistance of these innocent people. Oh Allah, the forces of nature are begging You as well to be given permission to come to the assistance of the mazlumin. Oh Allah, we ask You to give them the green signal. Oh Allah, bring Your assistance in forms that we cannot even imagine — such that the aggressors themselves, as You have done in the past, accept Islam. Oh Allah, this is not ba'eed and difficult for You — to spread hidayah.

Oh Allah, allow those who are on the front lines — allow their hearts to soften. Allow them to see the reality and the truth. Oh Allah, allow them to gain hidayah and guidance. Oh Allah, allow them to see what is the haq and what is the falsehood. And Oh Allah, if hidayah is not meant for them, then remove them.

Oh Allah, we ask You to grant protection to the oppressed ones across the globe, in every single area of conflict. Oh Allah, bring Your assistance upon them. Oh Allah, Your Prophet ﷺ said the du'a of the oppressed reaches the heavens — these are oppressed, not just disbelievers, but oppressed children, Muslim innocent children, Muslim innocent women, and men. Oh Allah, we ask You to accept their du'as and their pleas.

Oh Allah, through their sacrifice, through the sacrifice of the shuhada, through the sacrifice of the wounded ones and the crippled ones — Oh Allah, through their crying, grant myself and all of us hidayah as well. Oh Allah, they are definitely making du'a for the ummah — accept their du'as on behalf of us as well. Oh Allah, through their barakah and their du'as, make every one of us from amongst those who makes beautiful, powerful, long du'as every day.

Oh Allah, bring yaqeen in our du'a, bring conviction in our du'a, bring power in our du'a. Oh Allah, allow us to use du'a to fulfill the needs of this world and the hereafter. Oh Allah, whenever we do use the means of this world — which we should and need to — allow us to not have trust in those means, and have only trust upon You. Oh Allah, give us plenty of means, but give us yaqeen and conviction only upon You.

Oh Allah, we ask You to grant shifa to all those who are sick, forgiveness to those who have passed away, Jannatul Firdaws to those who have passed away. Oh Allah, fulfill whatever permissible desires and needs any one of us have. Oh Allah, put muhabba and love between husbands and wives, between parents and children. Ya Allah, save our homes. Bring deen and sunnah into our homes. Make every one of us and our children attached to the masjid.

Oh Allah, whatever sin we are involved in right now — make it easy for us to recognize what those sins are, and then make sincere tawbah from them, ya Allah.

Announcements

Insha'Allah, since we do not have much time before the hafiz class starts, I request the brothers to not neglect their Ishraq salah — but perform it downstairs after you eat, or come back upstairs to perform it. Please do not forget Ishraq salah. Through Ishraq salah, Allah will fulfill your needs of the day, and Allah will give you the reward of an accepted Hajj and 'Umrah.

We thank our hosts, alhamdulillah, who have brought the food today. I see a lot of new people here today mashAllah. Every week we see different people, and I request you insha'Allah as future hosts: the purpose is not just to bring the food or pay for the food — the purpose is to invite your family and friends to the masjid, both men and women. January onwards is open — anyone who would like to host a breakfast, please do so, but along with bringing the food, the main thing is to invite people towards it.

I ask Allah to put today's breakfast as a means of great acceptance for our beloved brothers who are the hosts today. May Allah put barakah in their health, their wealth, and their children. May Allah fulfill their needs of dunya, qabr, and akhirah. And may Allah give the hosts, the volunteers, and the students who are serving, the full ajar for all of that. Ameen Rabbil 'Alameen.

Upcoming Programs

December 1st (Friday): We will have a very unique program — first time in our masjid. A lawyer from Arizona will be flying in, insha'Allah — an expert in Islamic estate law and Islamic estate planning. He has written a book that even non-Muslim lawyers use for their Muslim clients. Hafiz Yasser Ali is a wealth planning attorney based in Arizona, and he will insha'Allah be speaking about protecting your family, leaving a legacy, and fulfilling your religious obligations — after Salatul 'Isha on December 1st.

Everyone is talking about wanting to boycott certain companies because a portion of their profits goes towards aggression. But nothing is fueling the aggression more than our tax dollars. So while you're alive, at least learn how not to leave your entire wealth — or a big chunk of it — to taxes. Learn how to have such a plan that, after you pass away, as little as possible goes to taxes and the majority goes to your own family and to causes that you support. This seminar will insha'Allah be about: How can we ensure our money does more for us? How can we leave it for our children, use it for good, and protect it from being used for harm? I encourage all of you to spread the word for December 1st. We will possibly have a follow-up session on Saturday as well — Smart Sadaqah — how to ensure that when you're giving, it's more impactful.

December 9th: We have our annual fundraiser and banquet — Journey of Faith — alhamdulillah celebrating and thanking Allah for 10 years of this masjid being open, and reflecting on the accomplishments of the community, the students, and the different programs. Please purchase your family tickets today before you leave — only two and a half weeks from now. Tables are also available for sale.

December 23rd–25th: Our winter intensive, for the entire family. This year's topic will be the fiqh topics that everyone is confused about — from halal to hilal, to zabiha, to Islamic banking, to riba, to who is a Muslim and who is not, to how to bring Islam into the workplace — lots of contemporary fiqh topics. That's what will be discussed insha'Allah. For the children, we will have a parallel youth program and babysitting as well. Please mark your calendars and pick up a flyer on the way out.

May Allah make all these programs accepted in His court. May Allah grant ikhlas to all those who are part of it. And may Allah allow the noor of these programs to spread across the globe. Ameen.