Sustaining Ramadan's Blessings: Continuing Our Spiritual Journey

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Maintaining Good Deeds After Ramadan

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. First and foremost, you must thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 204)

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

Reflecting on the Weeks After Ramadan

First and foremost, you must thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for giving us the blessing of Islam, the blessing of Iman, and the blessing of being here on this blessed day of Jumu'ah in the Masjid. This is not some blessing that every single person gets. This is not a blessing that we should take for granted from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There were many people who were here last week for Jumu'ah, and today they are not here. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to keep us in the state of Iman, and to allow us to die in the state of Iman. Ameen.

It seems just a few days ago, Ramadan had finished, Ramadan has passed. But now it has almost been two weeks — one and a half weeks, two weeks — since Ramadan has passed. And it was a beautiful month in Ramadan. The Masjids were full. People were coming for Salah every single day, for the five daily Salah. Quran was being read all over. People were spending time in the Masjid, three, four, five hours, praying Taraweeh Salah, praying Qiyamul Layl. It was a very spiritual and beautiful month.

But now that Ramadan has passed, we must look within ourselves and see that two weeks has passed now. Am I still doing those same actions as I did in Ramadan? Have I opened the Quran since Ramadan has finished? Or has it been sitting in the depths of the bookshelf, only to be taken out next Ramadan, dusted off and read? Have I prayed Tahajjud Salah as I used to do in Ramadan? Or has that gone as well? Am I still praying my Salah in the Masjid? Or am I only praying it at home now, or at work? These are things that we should all ask ourselves — that it's been two weeks, that the effect of Ramadan has passed. What am I still doing now?

Allah Knows Our Weakness — Consistency at a Smaller Scale

Now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows that we are weak. He is Al-Aleem, He is Al-Raheem. He is the most knowledgeable and the most merciful. So He knows that we are weak. He knows that we cannot do those same actions that we did inside of Ramadan, outside of Ramadan. He knows that it's unfeasible for us because of our weak nature. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not expect us to do those same actions at the highest level as we did in Ramadan. But what Allah does expect from us is to do those same actions, but perhaps at a lower degree.

For example, look at the month of Shawwal. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not tell us to fast the entire month of Shawwal just as He tells us to fast the entire month of Ramadan. But what Allah does say — when Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 204)

That the person who fasts Ramadan — the entire 30 days — and then follows it up with 6 days of Shawwal, he fasts for just 6 days of Shawwal, then just for those 6 days Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give him the reward of fasting the entire year. Just for 6 days, 6 extra days of fasting, we get the reward of fasting the entire year. So it's not that we fast the entire month of Ramadan and then that's it, only to be fasting the next Ramadan. But also it's not that Allah is telling us to fast the entire Shawwal either. Allah is telling us that you will get this unimaginable reward of fasting the entire year, just for fasting 6 days.

So we see the amount of encouragement Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is giving us to not leave those actions we did in Ramadan, but to keep doing them even at a smaller scale — not 30 days, but 6 days. And we can apply this to all the other actions. For Quran, it should not be such that one day passes that we don't hold the Quran in our hands and read at least a few pages. If we are praying Tahajjud in Ramadan, at least pray for 5 minutes. We should come to the masjid every day for at least Fajr and Isha, or at least some Salah that's easy for us. This is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants from us — to keep doing actions even at a smaller scale.

The Reward of Istiqamah — The Angels at the Time of Death

But yes, this is still an extremely hard task. It's still extremely hard to do these actions even at the smaller scale, because the environment of Ramadan is not here. In Ramadan, everyone was doing it — everyone was fasting, everyone was praying, everyone was reading Quran. Shaytan was locked up, so we didn't have that barrier. The gates and doors of Jannah were open, so the rahmah and nur of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was descending upon us, which made it much easier for us to do the amount of actions we did. But to compensate for that, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the ayah:

Allah says that indeed those who say "Our Lord is Allah," and they are steadfast in those actions they do, the reward they will get is that at the time of their death, when they are passing away, angels will descend upon them — تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ — angels will descend upon them from the skies, telling them: do not fear over where you are going, do not grieve over those people you are leaving behind.

When someone is going somewhere new, when someone is passing away, especially the two things they are scared of are: what's going to come now, where am I going — and my family, my business, everything I'm leaving behind. So these angels will tell this person: do not fear over the akhira which you are going towards, and do not grieve over your family members and everything else you are leaving behind — we will take care of that. But for you, you should rejoice — أَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ — rejoice in Jannah, that which you've been promised from Allah.

That we angels — we were your friends in this dunya, and we will also be your friends in the akhira. How are the angels our friends in the dunya? Allah says:

That every single one of us, we have angels surrounding us — from the left, right, up, down. They are everywhere surrounding us. يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ — they are protecting us under the commandment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. For every single one of us, there are different calamities that we cannot see. There are different difficulties and trials that come our way, but we do not see them — because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has deputed these angels to protect us from them. But when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us to face a calamity, whether it's sickness or death or any kind of difficulty, He orders these angels to move aside, and then this calamity afflicts us.

So these angels are telling us that we were your friends in this dunya, and now we will be your friends in the akhira as well. Normally when someone is going somewhere new — even in this dunya, if we're going somewhere where we haven't been before — we're a bit anxious because we don't know how the situation will be. But in that same scenario, if we have a friend with us, then automatically we're comforted because we have someone with us that we know, that it's not a completely unknown scenario to us. So similarly these angels are telling us that in this dunya we're with you, and in the akhira as well, we will be with you. So do not fear — rather you should enjoy, and whatever desire you have, you will be given.

And all of this is نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِيمٍ — it's a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for this istiqamah that we had. So this is that great blessing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He has given us for the task of being consistent in our actions.

So to reiterate: Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not expect us to do those same actions we did in Ramadan. But what He does want from us is to be consistent on those actions even at a smaller scale. And the reward for that consistency is none other than Jannah.

The Other Side of the Coin — Fasting from Sin

So this is one side of the coin. The a'mal — the actions, the ibadah we do — is one side of the coin. The other side is staying away from sin. In the other months besides Ramadan, yes, we cannot fast every single day from food and drink. But what we can fast from is our sins. There is one poem that says:

That it says: surely I have fasted from my pleasures and from my desires — every single day I fasted from these pleasures and desires. And the day that I meet You, O Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that is the day where I'll break this fast — because now I'll be able to experience Jannah, and whatever desires I have, I'll be given. But in this world, we cannot fulfill those desires. In this world, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us certain prohibitions that we have to abide by.

First Approach: The Direct Approach — Looking Within

So how do we make sure that we abide by these prohibitions and we stay away from sins and bad habits? There are two approaches to this. Number one is a direct approach, which is that we internalize and we look within ourselves and we see: which sins am I committing, which bad habits do I have? And this is something every single one of us must do. It's not an easy thing to look within ourselves and acknowledge our own sins. But it's one of the only ways that we can actually move forward.

For example, one sin — one bad habit that many of us have — is lowering our gaze, something very hard to do. But one of our teachers mentioned a beautiful thing that makes it easier for us to do this. He said: imagine that a father sees someone looking at his daughter in an inappropriate manner. Now imagine how angry this father will be — that he will want to hurt this person, he might even want to kill this person because of the way that he looked at his daughter. Now even more angry is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when we look at His creation whom He has prohibited us from looking at. It doesn't matter how they present themselves, it doesn't matter where they go. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has forbidden it from us, so we are not supposed to look at them. So if you look at it in this perspective — the amount of anger that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has when we disobey Him in this manner — inshallah this will help us stay away from this sin.

Another sin is staying away from listening to haram, or going towards haram. All these sins are things that we can directly try to stay away from. So this is the first approach: looking within ourselves and trying to find those sins that we have, those bad habits that we have, and putting the appropriate barriers to stay away from such sins.

Second Approach: The Indirect Approach — Improving Our Salah

But the second approach is a more indirect approach. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an:

That indeed Salah prevents a person from committing fahsha — committing obscene actions — and committing sins. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us that if we improve, if we make Salah something that is on the top of our mind — that we are focusing on our Salah, we are increasing in our Salah, we are improving in our khushu in our Salah — this will help us stay away from sins. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make it a barrier to committing sins.

The reason for this is: if we pray all our five daily Salah, and if we add in our nafl Salah, our sunnah Salah, Awwabeen, Tahajjud, and we are focused in our Salah, then our life outside of Salah will become like our life inside of Salah. If we are always having these different times that we are praying Salah and refocusing our mindset towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then our mindset outside of Salah will also be focused on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if we are always thinking about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, how is it that we commit sins while thinking of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Normally we commit sins because we are ghafil of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — because we are not conscious and aware of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But if we are always in a mindset of Salah, that will help us stay away from sins.

And Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam also says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Book 37, Hadith 2305)

Stay away from those things that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has prohibited us from doing, and then you will become from amongst the people who worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the best.

Now one profound point that we can derive from this is: on one hand the Qur'anic ayah إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ says that if we increase in our Salah, then that will help us stay away from sins. And the hadith says that if we stay away from sins, that will make our ibadah — and an extension of ibadah is Salah — so it will make our Salah better. We will become better in our Salah. So the more and more we increase in our Salah, the more and more we will stay away from sin, and the more and more we stay away from sin, the more and more our Salah will get better. So if we do both these actions — we improve our Salah, and we stay away from sin — then inshallah this will help us get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and stay away from those things Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has prohibited us from.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us tawfiq to do this. Ameen.

A Closing Reflection — The Dunya as a Month of Fasting

I'll end with one quote by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali rahimahullah, who says:

He says that the entire dunya — the entirety of the dunya — for the muttaqi, for the person that is God-conscious, who is fearing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this dunya is like the month of Ramadan for him. It is a time of fasting. But instead of fasting from food and drink, it's fasting from our worldly pleasures and desires. So this entire dunya for the muttaqi is fasting — fasting from that which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has prohibited us from.

وَعِيدُ فِطْرِهِمْ يَوْمُ لِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ — and for this muttaqi, his Eid al-Fitr, the time when he breaks his fast, is the day he meets his Lord. وَمُعْظَمُ نَهَارِ الصِّيَامِ قَدْ ذَهَبَ — and this fasting period, it's almost done. There's only a few days left. It's as if Asr time has come in and we're only waiting until Maghrib — these last few hours are there. So we just have to hold on just a few more years — in the scale of this dunya, a few more days — where we have to stay away from sins.

وَعِيدُ اللِّقَاءِ قَدِ اقْتَرَبَ — and the day we meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is getting closer and closer. It's as if it's right there. We just have to push along just a few more days. And inshallah, we will get that reward of meeting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give us the tawfiq to increase in our ibadah, to stay away from sin. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala unite us all in Jannah. Ameen.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ