Principles for a Successful Ramadan - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Principles for a Successful Ramadan

Amma ba'd: Verily, the most truthful of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. The worst of affairs are newly invented matters, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Believer's Anticipation of the Seasons of Worship

It is from the attributes of the believer that they look forward to and they anticipate the seasons of worship. It is a sign of iman that you look forward to, that you hope for the mercy and the grace of Allah that is available in the times and seasons of worship — the month of Ramadan, the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, the last third of every single night in which Allah descends to the lowest heaven in a manner which befits His Majesty, Jalla fi 'Ulah. That is from the signs of the believer.

Because it is not from the signs of the believer that those times and those seasons of worship come upon us and we treat them like every other time of the year. Unfortunately, it is too often the case from too many of our brothers and sisters that they treat Ramadan as they treat every other month of the year — that they behave inside of the month of Ramadan in the same way that they would behave outside of the month of Ramadan. You don't see any extra effort for worship, you don't see any extra time that is dedicated towards achieving or attaining good deeds — not because they don't have the time, because everyone has time that they can spare, especially in the month of Ramadan — but it's because they don't understand the importance and the virtues and the rewards that Allah has placed on offer during that month.

And perhaps, and Allah knows best, as a counteraction or a counter-reaction to that, we have another trend — and that is a trend in which we are all pressurized to do a lot in the month of Ramadan. It is a pressure that we are bombarded with, especially in the time that we live in, through our phones and through Facebook and social media and through what we hear from other people. And so there is always a planner for Ramadan and a timetable for Ramadan, and every single masjid and institute and charity is pumping out so much material that we feel a pressure that we need to up our game.

And so that's two trends that we have to deal with. And so in this short space of time that I have before me today, I want to speak about three principles that we have in our religion that will, insha'Allah, help you to, number one, manage your month of Ramadan, and number two, insha'Allah, have a successful month of Ramadan.

Because both of those, in my humble view, are problematic. Those people who don't use the month of Ramadan — they let it idly go by, the first 20 days, the last 10 nights doesn't make a difference to them. Maybe, perhaps, on the odd occasion for some of them, the 27th night of Ramadan may just motivate them to do something extra, but Ramadan for them isn't really a big deal. They don't really understand the big deal behind the month of Ramadan.

And then we have other people who feel a great deal of pressure — for themselves, for their families, for their children — that they need to go not only an extra mile but many extra miles. That they need to be well ahead of the crowd. That if someone is reading one juz a day, I need to be reading two, or if I did one juz a day last year then I should be doing more. And those two, I think, both of them are incorrect ways of dealing with the month of Ramadan.

Principle One: Take on What You Can Manage

The first principle that I want to bring to your attention is the principle that you find in a number of ahadith in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — in the way that he would manage his own self ﷺ. Because we're not speaking now about the wajibat — the wajibat are known. The month of Ramadan comes, you must fast — there's no difference in terms of this opinion or that opinion. The five Salahs every day — the wajib Salahs of Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha — something you have to do every day. The pressure that's put on us is the extra that we should be doing.

And there is no doubt that there is a place in our religion for having that ambition, for having that sense of competitiveness with the believers in terms of wanting to attain good. But at the same time, that shouldn't lead to Shaytan being able to come to us from a different angle. Whereas if you miss one day of Ramadan — maybe perhaps you couldn't come for Taraweeh for a valid reason or not a valid reason, maybe one day you read less Quran than you were planning to do, that you had laid out in your planner for the month of Ramadan — Shaytan now makes us feel that we've lost the whole month, the whole month was a waste, we didn't achieve anything.

"I made an intention to come to Taraweeh every single night in the month of Ramadan, but I missed one night, and then I missed the second night, and now Shaytan's like — well, no different to last year and the year before." And so that is also an unfair pressure that we place upon ourselves.

So the first of those principles that I want to bring to your attention is what the Prophet ﷺ told us in a number of hadith, reported from him in a number of contexts, that he said to a number of companions with different words but they all essentially boil down to the same principle, and that is:

Take on what you can manage. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

That is a principle in our sharia. Every person should aspire to do good, but it doesn't mean that each and every single one of us has to be a clone — a carbon copy of the person next to us. Every one of us is different in terms of our responsibilities, in terms of the chores and the jobs and the duties that we have to discharge inside the month of Ramadan. Every person is different, and so your path to doing good, and what it is that insha'Allah you're able to achieve in a good way, may be different from the person sitting to your left and your right — may be different from the very people living in your house under your roof, from your family.

The Prophet ﷺ said this to Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As رضي الله عنهما in Sahih al-Bukhari when he wanted to fast every day because he could do so physically, and he wanted to pray every night because he could do so physically — but the Prophet ﷺ knew that it's not something which is sustainable and manageable. And Abdullah ibn Amr himself would later regret not taking the advice of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ once entered upon his wife Aisha رضي الله عنها and there was a woman with her who was telling her about how much salah she offered. So the Prophet ﷺ heard from Aisha the story of this woman sitting there. But the Prophet ﷺ wasn't as impressed as perhaps you would think. He said to her:

"Do not do so; do what you can manage." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1151; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 215)

And that is part of our religion — to take on what you can manage. It is something which you should do. You know your situation best. Yes, do more than you would do outside of Ramadan. Don't let Ramadan come and pass you by and you haven't done extra salah, or extra Quran, or given extra sadaqah, or tried to do as many good deeds as you can. But also, at the same time, don't put on that pressure upon yourself where you think that you need to finish the Quran five times if it's not something which is manageable for you.

And so when you look at the stories of the Salaf — عليهم رحمة الله — Uthman رضي الله عنه finishing the Quran once a day, Imam al-Shafi'i رحمه الله — it is said on some occasions twice a day he would finish the Quran — but that's them and their manageable situation. They know what they can do. That's not Imam al-Shafi'i telling people to do that — that's between him and Allah; that others have related to us from his ways. And there is a difference between what the Prophet ﷺ instructs his ummah to do as a principle and what you can do over and above that, because your situation is different from the person next to you.

But if it's not something manageable, if you think that it's going to put a pressure upon you, if you think it's a path for Shaytan to come on you in this Ramadan in a different way, then make that issue manageable for yourselves.

Principle Two: Consistency

The second principle — which is an extension and an explanation of the first — is also what the Prophet ﷺ exemplified. The companions and the tabi'een, especially the scholars of the tabi'een, would often come to Aisha رضي الله عنها, our mother, and they would often seek from her an explanation of how the Prophet ﷺ would worship at home. They wanted to know: how much salah did he offer? What did he do? Give us the details of his personal worship at home, when the people that would normally be with him in the masjid or outside wouldn't be able to see him.

And there is a consistency in her fiqh, her understanding, her knowledge, in the way that she explains the Prophet ﷺ's worship. Because she would tell them — but then she would say:

"His worship — whatever it may be, in whichever capacity — was always consistent." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1987; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 215)

And that is principle number two — consistency. Because it is better for a person to be consistent each and every single day, even if that amount is small and little, than for a person to be overly energetic in the beginning of Ramadan and by day 4, 5, 10, 15 they don't have that energy left anymore.

And each and every single one of us sees this in the month of Ramadan. You come to the first night of the masjid for Taraweeh in Ramadan — the masjid is full, no space — but by night 7, 8, 10, 15, 20, there is all the space in the masjid, in every masjid — because people don't have a sense of consistency. And that is an important principle in our religion.

So when Aisha رضي الله عنها is asked, she wants those people from the tabi'een to understand the principle of worship from the Prophet ﷺ — and that is that he was consistent. So they say that the Prophet ﷺ — if you wanted to see him praying at the beginning of the night, you would find times when he was doing so, and if you wanted to find him praying in the middle of the night, you would find him doing so. Not that he was praying throughout the night — no. That one night he would choose the beginning, and one night, or some nights, he would choose the middle of the night, and some nights he would choose the end of the night. But he would be consistent because he was praying every single night.

And that is what you have to attain in terms of your worship. So if you finished the Quran once last year — to do the same again this year is consistency. That is consistent. Nothing to feel down about, nothing to feel bad about. And in fact, consistency even means that you have the ability to go better in the quality of the worship rather than the quantity — as was the position of a number of the companions and the Salaf, that they would prefer that you read the Quran maybe once but with understanding, or with some level of understanding, than that you finish it 3, 4, 5 times but you didn't really understand anything that you read.

Consistency is about doing something regularly, but consistency is also in terms of the quality of that worship that you have in front of Allah. And so the Prophet ﷺ — كَانَ عَمَلُهُ دِيمَةً — his actions were consistent: in his charity, in his salah, in his recitation of the Quran, in everything that he did ﷺ.

And that consistency is what you take outside of Ramadan. That consistency is when you manage your situation to such an extent that you're better outside of Ramadan than you are during Ramadan — or at least you're the same as you were in Ramadan — because you have consistency. But when you put yourself under so much expectation, the first thing that happens as soon as Eid comes is that we all fall off. Every single one of us — none of us are like that outside of the month of Ramadan — because we didn't have the principle of consistency.

So yes, do more in the month of Ramadan. But what should underlie that, what should be the foundation, is a level of consistency. So if you're praying every single night during the month of Ramadan, after the month of Ramadan you should be praying to some extent — even if not every day, but some days of the week. There should be a level of consistency that you then take outside of the month of Ramadan.

Principle Three: Prioritization

The third and final principle that I want to mention to you is the principle of prioritization — to prioritize what is wajib over what is recommended, what is an obligation over what is a recommendation.

And from what Allah has obligated upon each and every single one of us is fasting — but fasting in a certain way. If a person is fasting but at the same time they're still lying, they're still cheating, they're still backbiting, they're still buying and selling haram — there's an issue with the way that we prioritize our wajib, even if that person is doing extra nawafil.

If a person is standing in the night to pray, or they're offering some of the night in prayer, but then they go to sleep and they can't wake up for Salatul Fajr — that's a problem in terms of prioritization.

If a person is finishing the Quran two, three, four times in the month of Ramadan, but they haven't given zakah for who knows how long, for how many years that have passed — that's an issue of prioritization.

And so we should understand that. And part of that also is to understand that from the prioritization of those things which aren't strictly worship — as a father, as a mother, as a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, an employee, whatever your position is — there are obligations that Allah has placed upon you. They aren't necessarily acts of worship, but they can be. They are part of your religion. And so to fulfill those acts that are an obligation also takes priority.

And so the Prophet ﷺ taught us this, and he taught us all of these principles so that you have a way of managing your situation in the month of Ramadan. We don't come from a tradition of people who go into a monastic state in the month of Ramadan — we don't become monks. We don't shed off the rest of life because we go into just worship and nothing else. Learning how to manage your situation, being consistent, and knowing the importance of prioritization — may Allah grant us all success.

Second Khutbah

In the name of Allah, and praise be to Allah. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon his family and companions, all of them.

From the greatest of acts of worship that you can do in the month of Ramadan, as we said, is to look at your wajibat — that which Allah has obligated upon you. And it is an amazing opportunity to work upon those things that you have to do each and every single day, that perhaps you struggle with throughout the year — your prayer, for example; your zakah, for example. Those are things that you should look at, and all of us should look at seriously, in the month of Ramadan. And each and every single one of us has a way in which we can improve those wajibat.

Because once you have fulfilled what Allah has obligated upon you, it is an easy and sure path to being able to do the extra — as the Prophet ﷺ told us that Allah said in the hadith qudsi: that Allah did not obligate upon us anything that is more beloved to Him than that which He has made obligatory upon us.

"My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory upon him." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

This month of Ramadan is a month of opportunity, and its rewards and virtues are many and great — and all of us are familiar with them. But to approach this month insha'Allah with the right mindset, with the right plan, will insha'Allah enable us to take from it many of those benefits and those virtues.

We ask Allah by His most beautiful names and lofty attributes to grant us success in the month of Ramadan — that Allah makes us from amongst those who multiply in our good deeds, who have their sins forgiven, and who gain emancipation from the Fire of Hell. We ask Allah to make the month of Ramadan a month of blessing and mercy upon us and our families, our communities, and our Ummah.