Lessons of Ramadan - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

Today is the third day of Shawwal. Three days since the passing of the month of Ramadan. On this blessed day of Friday, we ask Allah that He accepts from us that which we did and that which we put forth in the month of Ramadan — that Allah accepts from us our salah and our fasting and our sadaqa and our dua and our recitation of the Quran — that Allah makes us better now in these days after the month of Ramadan than we were during the month of Ramadan and before the month of Ramadan.

The Objective of Ramadan: Taqwa

I want to reflect in today's short khutbah on one of the major objectives of the month of Ramadan and how not only did we, by Allah's permission, achieve that objective, but that it is something therefore that shows it is something which is doable, possible, something which is actionable throughout the rest of the year. Allah says in the Quran:

O you who believe, O people of Iman, fasting was legislated upon you as it was legislated upon those who came before you, that you may attain taqwa — attain piety and God-consciousness of Allah. Taqwa is that term that speaks about constantly being mindful of your Lord and Creator, that He is ever-watching, all-hearing, all-knowing, all-observant of you — that Allah, by knowing Allah, by knowing His commands, by knowing His halal and His haram, you prepare yourself for that day that you will stand before Him.

What is Taqwa? — The Wisdom of the Companions

The companion Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the other illustrious companion Ubayy ibn Ka'b and he said to him, "O Ubayy, what is taqwa?" He said, "O Amir al-Mu'mineen, O leader of the Muslims, have you ever come across a road that is full of thorns, full of things that will harm you and prick you?" He said, "Yes." Ubayy asked him, "O Amir al-Mu'mineen, what did you do on that road?" He said, "I lifted up my garments and I was careful where I placed my foot and I was diligent in the way that I made my way across that road." He said, "O Amir al-Mu'mineen, that is taqwa."

Taqwa is to know that the path of the dunya is full of that which Allah has made haram, full of temptations and desires and sin. So therefore to lift up your garment, to be careful where you place your foot as you tread, and to be diligent in the way that you make your way across — that is taqwa.

Talq ibn Habib, the famous scholar of the Tabi'een, said in his definition of taqwa: it is to act in obedience to Allah, upon a light from Allah, hoping for Allah's reward. And to be aware of that which Allah has made haram — that which is disobedience to Him — upon knowledge from Allah, fearing Allah's punishment. That is taqwa.

And if one of the things that these 29 or 30 days of Ramadan that have just passed have shown to us, it is that it's something which is possible. How many times during the month of Ramadan — especially at the beginning of Ramadan — were you tempted to eat? Were you tempted to drink? Were you tempted to sin and disobey Allah? And for every single time, there was that voice that came into your head. There was that warner that was in your heart that said, "It's Ramadan. It's Ramadan, you're fasting. Be careful. Don't do anything that will diminish your reward." So you stopped. You didn't eat. You didn't drink.

Even though eating and drinking are from those things that Allah has made halal normally, outside of the month of Ramadan. But you stayed away from that which is usually halal because Allah, for that month of Ramadan, made it haram for you. So then what about the rest of that which is always haram — in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan? That reminder that comes to you, that you pay heed to, that you listen to, that you take heed of its warning — that is taqwa. That is what Allah gives in the hearts of all of the believers. That warning that comes and tells you: stay away from that which is displeasing to your Lord and to your Creator.

The month of Ramadan shows that it's something which you can do. Yes, it may be at a lower level. It may not be the greatest form of taqwa or the highest level of iman, but it shows that it's possible. And just as everything in this religion, it takes practice.

Knowledge comes from studying, and patience comes from striving to be patient.
(Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, reported with various chains; also attributed in meaning to numerous scholarly narrations.)

So likewise, taqwa comes from practicing taqwa and that which leads to taqwa. The month of Ramadan shows that it is possible. However, the month of Ramadan is also a set of ideal conditions — they make it easy, or easier, for us to practice that which gives us taqwa. And that is from the blessings and the virtues of the month of Ramadan.

Maintaining the Lessons of Ramadan

So one of the challenges after Ramadan ends is to recreate and to maintain as many of those conditions as is possible — so that after the month of Ramadan, you can continue to know and benefit from those conditions that Allah gave to you in the month of Ramadan. So that after Ramadan, you continue upon that path that you began in the month of Ramadan. So that after Ramadan, you are from those people who are not negligent of Allah and heedless of Him for the remaining eleven months. But you continue upon that path and those good practices, those good habits that you instilled within yourself and your family in the blessed month of Ramadan.

Lesson One: Minimising the Impact of Shaytan

From that which Allah made from the virtues and the blessings of Ramadan — which helps you to attain and maintain taqwa — is what the Prophet told us about the virtues of that month: that the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of the Fire are locked, and Allah commands that the devils are chained. The devils are chained, meaning that there are fewer temptations and fewer desires in the month of Ramadan. You are less inclined towards haram and to doing haram because those shayateen are locked up.

Now after the month of Ramadan, those shayateen are no longer locked up. But Allah taught me and you a vital lesson in the month of Ramadan: if you minimise the impact of shaytan upon you — if you lessen the door, you close the door, or you lessen that gap that leads you to temptation and desire — it is from one of the greatest ways of attaining and maintaining the taqwa of Allah.

Shaytan, he is as the Prophet described him:

"He runs through the son of Adam like blood flows."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2038; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2175)

So he knows our weaknesses. He knows which temptations and desires will lead us to sin. He knows which keys to turn and which buttons to press in order to make us disobey Allah. But in Ramadan, he was weakened. In Ramadan, we were too strong and powerful for him for the most part, by Allah's permission.

So after the month of Ramadan, you also have to keep maintaining that lesson of Ramadan. Lessen the temptations from shaytan. You know that weakness that you have — that particular sin, that particular issue. Don't go near it. Don't approach it. Stay away from it. Because you know that the closer that you get to it, the more likely that shaytan will overpower you. Ramadan teaches us that.

The Prophet said: when someone comes to you and he swears, he curses, he does something to provoke you — what do you say?

"I am fasting, I am fasting."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1904; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1151)

Stay away from that temptation. So you're not fasting perhaps each and every single day anymore. But it's the same principle, the same concept. Stay away from the doorways of shaytan. The paths of shaytan open up for you — you know what they are. You know them better than anyone else. Every single one of us is different.

Every person knows themselves best, even if they make excuses. You know what is going to lead you to temptation. So stay away from it.

Lesson Two: Multiplying Good Deeds

And from that which will help you with this is something else that we learned from the major lessons of Ramadan — something which Ramadan does to a maximum scale. And that is that it encourages us to do as many good deeds as possible. Within that limited period of a month, you are told: pray as much as you can pray, give as much sadaqa as you can give, make as much dua as you can make, read as much Quran as you can. All of this is something which helps you overcome shaytan — because kathrat al-'ibadat, great and many acts of worship, especially the nawafil, strengthen you.

Because the Shari'ah assumes that me and you will do the obligations. The obligations are not something which should be a question mark — or "perhaps," "maybe," "if possible," "if I have time" — it should be a given. So what does Ramadan say to you? Do that which is optional, and do as many as you can. Read Quran, pray Qiyam al-Layl, give more sadaqa, make more dua, make dhikr of Allah, feed the poor, give iftar to people. These are the actions that Allah loves. The wajibat are something you should be doing anyway. And if that's something which you're struggling with, then no doubt after the month of Ramadan, that should be your priority. But then to do more and more, as much as you can — even though we will not be at the level or the scale of that which you achieved in the month of Ramadan — it is still something which will bring the help of Allah.

Allah describes Iblis in the Quran and He says:

The retreating whisperer. What does that mean? It means that shaytan attacks and shaytan retreats. Shaytan attacks when you are negligent of Allah, when you are heedless of Allah, when you are too busy with everything else except Allah. But when you remember Allah and you worship Allah and you are thinking of Allah, then shaytan retreats. That is the nature of shaytan.

Lesson Three: Revolving Your Day Around the Worship of Allah

In Ramadan, most of our days and nights revolved around the worship of Allah. And that is one of the major lessons of Ramadan. When your day and your night revolves around the worship of Allah, the remembrance of Allah, it gives you a great deal of strength. And that was the practice of the Salaf. The way of the companions and the early Muslims is that their day and their night was revolving around the acts of worship.

But the problem that we have today is that our days and nights revolve around everything else, and the acts of worship are that which we fit in as and when we can. Ramadan taught us: you woke up in the morning before Fajr. Most of us struggle to wake up for Fajr for the rest of the year. But in Ramadan, you wake up 20 to 30 minutes early. You wake up and you have that suhoor meal — and it is a sunnah meal. You wake up early because you know that your Ramadan day begins with that Fajr salah and it ends with the Maghrib salah and the iftar. And then you have in your mind that you have to get to the masjid for Isha and Taraweeh. So your day and your night were revolving around the worship of Allah.

And that is how the Muslim should be throughout the year, because it gives you a great deal of strength — because you are constantly remembering Allah. You may not be physically remembering Allah, but in your mind the next major thing that you have to do is: when is the next salah? When is the next time of prayer? And if that is your mindset, then you are going to be thinking of wudu. You are going to be thinking of reading some Quran. You are going to be thinking of getting to the masjid. You are going to be thinking of all of those other things that surround those obligations of Islam. That is something which Allah loves. It is something which is beloved to Him.

So Ramadan created for us many of those ideal conditions. If you, to some extent, can maintain those conditions outside of the month of Ramadan — where you are thinking of Allah and remembering Him, where your day revolves around the worship of Allah, when you do as many good deeds as you can pack in to the best of your ability — read a bit of Quran every day, give some sadaqa every so often, remember Allah, make dua, use those other times and seasons of worship throughout the year to come closer to Allah and resist temptation. Know the traps of shaytan, beware of them and stay away from them to the best of your ability.

And when you do fall down, and you do sin, and you do turn away from Allah, then know that the path and the door of tawbah is always open. Just as it was in Ramadan when you made tawbah and made istighfar, Allah keeps that door open for the rest of the year. Turn to Allah and show shaytan that he hasn't overpowered you. But every time you turn back to Allah, you, by Allah's permission, are given strength and power over shaytan.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Lesson Four: Delayed Gratification and the Two Moments of Joy

One of the greatest lessons of Ramadan that we also have to keep in mind is what the Prophet told us in the hadith:

"There are two moments of joy for the fasting person: joy when he breaks his fast, and joy when he meets his Lord."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1904; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1151)

The first of those two moments of joy and happiness is when that person breaks their fast. And some of the scholars of hadith said that the meaning is every single day at the time of Maghrib — when you broke that fast, the joy that you felt as you tasted food, as you tasted water. That sense of accomplishment is a happiness that comes from Allah. And another meaning is when the month of Ramadan is complete — the day of Eid al-Fitr — that is also the day of breaking the fast. You look back over those 30 days of fasting and, by Allah's permission, you completed a major act of worship, a major pillar of Islam, fulfilled by Allah's mercy. So you have a sense of accomplishment, a pride that you feel in the worship of Allah.

One of the greatest lessons of Ramadan is that it teaches us the sense of delayed gratification — to continue to work and to worship Allah day in and day out. And Allah knows — just as we know — that Ramadan sometimes can be difficult upon a person. The first few days may be difficult for some. For some people, it is the middle days — after a week or two, ten days, two weeks of fasting, your energy levels lessen. Some people find that difficulty. Other people towards the end of Ramadan, as they are exerting more and more, pushing themselves more and more, staying awake the nights and worshiping during the day — Ramadan takes its toll. But you continue. You strive. You keep patient. You are steadfast. You show discipline as you continue to worship Allah, because you know that Allah has prepared a great reward. You know that the day of Eid is coming.

That is from the lessons of Ramadan. Ramadan is like a microcosm of the person's life. Allah tells you to keep on worshiping, to continue to be diligent and steadfast, to maintain the path that you are upon for the rest of your life — so that Allah maintains upon us these acts of worship because of their importance. These seasons of worship may finish, but the lessons that we learn and what we benefit from, they continue.

Practical Steps After Ramadan

The six fasts of Shawwal are a very good example of that — to continue upon what you started. To continue to read Quran. To wake up even if it is 15 to 20 minutes before Fajr and pray some Qiyam al-Layl. Or if that is too difficult, then to pray before you go to sleep — just as you did with the Taraweeh — pray some nafl, some Qiyam before you go to bed after Salat al-Isha. All of these are things that people can do. But it just requires from us to continue to maintain some of those conditions that we had in the month of Ramadan.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah by His most beautiful names and lofty attributes that Allah allows us to continue to worship Him for the rest of the year. That Allah accepts from us our deeds. That Allah blesses them with His acceptance. That Allah grants us taqwa and makes us from its people. That Allah makes us better after the month of Ramadan than we were before the month of Ramadan — for that is from the signs of an accepted deed and action, that you continue to go from strength to strength. May Allah shower His mercy and blessings upon us and upon the Muslims across the world. May Allah relieve from them their hardship and their distress and their difficulty. May Allah protect us and them, and may Allah keep us all steadfast upon His religion.