Signs of an Accepted Ramadan - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Signs of an Accepted Ramadan

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

Time passes by, and how much and how many times the cycle has repeated itself — each and every year Ramadan comes upon us and we think that it's going to be a big task to fast and pray and give sadaqa for 30 odd days, and then before we can even contemplate Ramadan, it is leaving us. 30 days nearly of fasting, 30 days of salah, 30 days of sadaqa, of making dua and of reciting the Quran. But what do we do now that we're coming towards the end of this blessed month — this being the last Friday of Ramadan, tomorrow perhaps being the last day of Ramadan, or maybe Sunday? What do we now do, and how do we take this forward into the weeks and months that come after Ramadan?

I want to dedicate this khutbah towards the topic of the signs of an accepted Ramadan — five signs that we should be applying now in these last days of Ramadan, and that they should continue with us after the month of Ramadan concludes and finishes.

Sign One: Seeking Acceptance from Allah

The companions of the Prophet ﷺ showed us in their practical lives and in the way that they would act that they would divide their actions into two parts — and that brings us to the first sign of an accepted Ramadan. The companions would fast and they would pray and they would do all of those acts of worship that we do in Ramadan, but then towards the end of Ramadan, their focus would also shift — and it would shift to the issue of acceptance: whether or not Allah has accepted those deeds.

Our actions are made up of those two parts. The first is the action itself that we perform, but the second — and what is more important — is whether or not it is accepted in the sight of Allah. So the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: for six months of the year they would make dua to Allah — "O Allah, allow us to see Ramadan, O Allah allow us to benefit from Ramadan, O Allah allow us to partake in Ramadan" — and then as soon as Ramadan began, from that first day, for the next six months of the year their focus would shift and they would make the dua: "O Allah, accept our deeds from Ramadan, accept our efforts from Ramadan." Because all of those deeds that we perform — not only in this month of Ramadan but outside of Ramadan and in all of the past Ramadans that Allah has blessed us with — if we come on the Day of Judgment and none of that counts for anything, not a single salah has been accepted, not a single fast has been accepted, not a single penny in charity has been accepted, not a single dua was accepted, not a single word that we uttered of the Quran was accepted, then none of this really matters — none of it really will help us in this life or the next.

So the companions of the Prophet ﷺ understood this concept and they would change their approach: "O Allah, accept our deeds in this month of Ramadan." Even on the day of Eid — a day of joy and celebration and happiness — when we greet one another and we meet one another, the greetings of the companions would be: "May Allah accept our deeds and your deeds." Because even on that day, the uppermost thought in their minds is not that it's a day of Eid where we can just do as we please, but it's all of those days of Ramadan that have passed — what will they actually account for? And these are people who spent their lives serving Islam, serving the Prophet ﷺ, sacrificing life and family and blood and money for the cause of Islam — but they too were afraid that perhaps their actions wouldn't be accepted.

Aisha — in the hadith that is collected in the Sunan of Imam At-Tirmidhi — she said: "O Messenger of Allah, Allah says in the Quran..."

"Those who give what they give, they spend what they spend, they do what they do, whilst their hearts tremble and they're in fear that they will be returning to their Lord." She asked: "O Messenger of Allah, these people who do good — are they afraid of returning to Allah because at the same time they also drank alcohol and at the same time they used to steal? Is it because of those evil deeds, those major sins, that they're afraid of returning to Allah?"

Our Prophet ﷺ replied: "No, O daughter of As-Siddiq. This verse doesn't apply to those people. It applies to those people who pray and they fast in Ramadan and they give sadaqa — all of the deeds that we did in Ramadan: prayer, fasting, sadaqa — there are those people who do all of these but they're afraid that Allah won't accept a single one of them. They are the people who hasten towards Allah in goodness, and they are the ones who compete with one another in goodness."

And that's why even those amazing, illustrious major companions of the Prophet ﷺ — like Umar رضي الله عنه, whose story is so closely entwined within our religion, the beginning of Islam and the spread of Islam and the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and then even after the death of the Prophet ﷺ — you can't really divorce any major incident from the life of Umar رضي الله عنه. Umar would say: "If from all of my life of jihad, of worship, of serving Islam, only one deed was to be accepted, I would place all of my hope in that single deed." And you have the same statement from Ali رضي الله عنه, and scholars like Ibn Dinar and Fadhalah ibn Ubayd and many of the scholars of Islam who said similar things — that if they had even a morsel's worth, even an atom's weight, of good deed that they thought would be accepted, they would place all of their hope onto that good deed.

And so we, towards the end of this month of Ramadan, we need to make that dua that our Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام used to make — that Allah mentions in the Quran. This great messenger of Allah, when he was raising the foundations of the Ka'bah — the same Ka'bah that today, 24 hours a day and night without stop, people are making tawaf around it, that same Ka'bah where millions of people year in and year out go and visit — when he was raising that foundation, he said:

"O Allah, accept this deed from me." Because the prophets of Allah عليهم السلام had that same mindset that we also need to adopt — especially towards this end of Ramadan — that Allah accepts our deeds, that Allah accepts all of the deeds that we've done. And inshallah we had enough ikhlas and enough taqwa of Allah in this month of Ramadan that Allah will accept those deeds.

Sign Two: Humility and Humbleness

Which brings me to the second sign of an accepted Ramadan — and that is that from the signs of an accepted Ramadan and an accepted good deed is humility and humbleness. Not to be arrogant. Not to be amazed by ourselves — that we fasted and prayed and that we gave so much sadaqa and we finished the whole Quran once or twice or three times and that we did A, B, C and D — that we're so arrogant that we feel that we don't have to worship Allah for the rest of the year, that now we hold some favor upon Allah, that Allah must reward us or that Allah should answer our duas. Because that isn't from the signs of an accepted Ramadan. Rather, humbleness, humility, belittling your good deeds — that is a sign of an accepted Ramadan.

And that doesn't mean that you're not proud of your achievements, it doesn't mean that you can't be happy with what you put forth. Because our Prophet told us ﷺ: if you're happy with the good deeds that you put forth — you're happy — and you're afraid and you become upset when you do evil deeds, then you are a believer. That is a sign of iman: to be happy with the good that you put forth. If you finished the whole Quran, that's something that you should be happy about. If you gave hundreds or thousands of pounds in sadaqa in this month of Ramadan, that's something that you should be happy about. If every single night you managed to make it to the masjid and you prayed every single taraweeh prayer from beginning to the end with the imam, that's something that you should be happy about.

Our Prophet ﷺ — in the hadith of Abu Hurayra رضي الله عنه — when he was asked: "O Messenger of Allah, do you see that people do good deeds and other people praise them for the good that they did?" Just a couple of nights ago on the 27th night of Ramadan, we as a community in this masjid raised over 400,000 pounds for our brothers and sisters in Syria — that's something that we should rightly be proud of, something we should praise Allah for, that we're part of such a community where we can give tens of thousands of pounds in sadaqa for the needy and for the poor. He said ﷺ: "That is the hastened glad tidings of the believer." That's a good sign.

That's not what this particular point means — that you belittle your good deeds, that you're humble. But what it means is that you don't think that now you have a favor upon Allah, that Allah owes you something because of what you did in this month of Ramadan. The Bedouin Arabs in the desert used to come into Medina and they used to have this kind of arrogance about them, that because they had accepted Islam and were Muslim, somehow the Prophet ﷺ owed them something, somehow they had done a favor to him and to the Muslims. So Allah says in the Quran:

"They come to you seeking favor from you because they accepted your religion Islam. Say to them: do not hold your favors upon me because of your Islam, but it is Allah who favored you when he guided you to Iman." As the Prophet ﷺ used to say in poetry:

"By Allah, were it not for Allah, we would never have been guided, nor would we ever give charity, nor would we ever pray." We wouldn't know the meaning of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ, we wouldn't know the essence of Ramadan, we wouldn't be able to perform all of those good deeds, were it not for the favor of Allah upon us in Iman.

So the believers are those who praise Allah — praise is due to Allah who guided us to this religion — and were it not for Allah's guidance, we would never have been guided. The believer is someone who understands that yes, they did all of those good deeds, but number one, Allah then needs to accept those good deeds, and number two, all of this was in itself a blessing from Allah. So it spurs us to do further good deeds, makes us better, makes us stronger. How many of our brothers and sisters participated in this month of Ramadan last year but no longer are they with us this Ramadan? How many of our relatives and our friends last Ramadan partook in Ramadan with all of its blessings — they fasted and they prayed and they gave sadaqa and they did everything that we're doing — but this Ramadan they're too weak, they're too ill, they're too frail to be able to do anything? They didn't pray a single taraweeh, they didn't fast a single day, they couldn't read any Quran because of the health situation that they're in. Allah has blessed us by allowing us to partake in all of those good deeds. Those people have a valid excuse and Allah will give them that reward. But for me and you — in good health, me and you with no excuse — Allah wants to see from us what we will do.

Sign Three: Good Deeds Lead On to Good Deeds

The third sign of an accepted Ramadan is that good deeds lead on to good deeds. Your Ramadan should inspire you and motivate you and encourage you to do more good deeds after the month of Ramadan finishes. The sign of an accepted Ramadan that you can judge yourself — each and every single one of us — is whether this Ramadan improved us in our relationship with Allah, whether it brought us closer to Allah. And that means in a practical way. The month of Ramadan doesn't mean that we're not doing any other good deeds, but rather what it means is that we've increased in goodness. We've done something outside of Ramadan that we weren't doing before Ramadan. Something has changed within us that brought us closer to Allah.

"Those who do good deeds — male and female — from the believers, We will give to them a good life." That tranquility that you felt in Ramadan, the peace that you felt in Ramadan, all of those emotions that you had in Ramadan — that is a sign of Iman. But for you to be able to continue it after Ramadan — that is a sign of an accepted Ramadan. "And We will reward such people with the reward of the best of their deeds." For the believers, Allah chooses the highest and the best of their deeds and that's what He gives to them in terms of reward.

Good deeds lead on to good deeds. So outside of the month of Ramadan, we fast those six days of Shawwal, because our Prophet told us ﷺ:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 204)

"Whosoever completes the month of Ramadan in fasting and then follows it up with six days of Shawwal, it is as if they fasted the whole of the year."

We used to give sadaqa in the month of Ramadan, so outside of Ramadan we may not spend the same amount and give the same quantities, but we will make it a habit — even if it is only once a month or once every two or three months — that we will continuously give sadaqa, even if it means that every Jumu'ah prayer we just put in our loose change into the masjid.

Our Prophet ﷺ said: "The most beloved of actions and deeds to Allah are those which are consistent and regular, even if they are small."

In this month of Ramadan you pray taraweeh, qiyamul layl — outside of Ramadan, even if it's only once a week, you pray two rak'ahs of qiyamul layl. You finish the Quran in the month of Ramadan — outside of Ramadan that means you still keep that connection with the Quran, you still recite from the Quran, you still study and analyze and understand the Quran. The Prophet ﷺ was described by our mother Aisha — our Prophet ﷺ, if he performed a good deed, if he performed an action, he would make it a regular thing, he would make it part of his habit, he would make it part of his daily routine.

And one of those actions that we should be making now — towards the end of this Ramadan, towards these last few days of this blessed month — is asking Allah for His forgiveness: istighfar. Our Prophet ﷺ, 70 times in a sitting he would make istighfar, or a hundred times a day he would say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ — "O Allah forgive me, O Allah forgive me." And the Prophet ﷺ was forgiven for all of his sins past and future — but to show us as an example the importance of istighfar. Every single major act of worship in Islam finishes with istighfar. You read the salah — after every single salah, the first thing that you say after the salams is أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ three times. You ask Allah for forgiveness. Because even though we perform these actions, we are still weak and we're still human — we still have those whisperings of Shaytan that come to us, we still make errors and mistakes, so we ask Allah for forgiveness.

When the people of Hajj make Hajj and they finish their Hajj and they leave from Muzdalifah, Allah says:

"When you leave from the place of Muzdalifah as the people depart with you, then ask Allah for forgiveness." So towards the end of this month of Ramadan we seek Allah's forgiveness — for our shortcomings, for our mistakes, for our errors, for the sins that we did commit even in this month of Ramadan — and we ask Allah that He accepts our good deeds.

From those actions that we should be performing outside of this month of Ramadan that shows that we continued in our way of Ramadan is the good character that we saw in this month of Ramadan. We as brothers and sisters came together in this masjid each and every single day, each and every single night, and there was brotherhood and there was sisterhood and there were those bonds of Islam that should continue after the month of Ramadan. Your character — the way that you treat people, the way that you deal with people, the way that you resolve your conflicts and your disputes — that is a part of what you take outside of this month of Ramadan.

Sign Four: Actions Are Judged by the Way in Which They End

The fourth sign of an accepted Ramadan: actions are judged by the way in which they end. Allah judges us not only by the way that we start and the way that we perform our deeds and actions, but He judges us in the way that we end our deeds as well. Ramadan isn't over — we still have a day or two or three left of this month of Ramadan. We still have a number of taraweeh prayers to pray. It is a sign of an accepted Ramadan that you don't just give up now that the end is in sight, that you think no, it's now Eid or nearly Eid and so we start to slack off.

On the 27th night of Ramadan for those of you that were here, there wasn't a single inch of space in this masjid — not in the carpark, not in the masjid, not in the halls. But last night, on the 28th night of Ramadan, for those of you that came you would have seen a big difference, a big drop in attendance. Because that is one of the ways that we don't have consistency in our acts of worship.

The Prophet ﷺ — concerning a companion who made jihad and fought and was killed on the battlefield, and the companions were amazed by the way that this man was courageous and brave and they said that this is a man of Jannah — the Prophet ﷺ said: "No, he is a man who goes into the Fire." And then he said, because Allah will judge a person by the way that they finish their deeds: someone followed that companion on the battlefield and they found that as he was struck and injured he committed suicide on the battlefield. The Prophet ﷺ is teaching us a lesson. This month of Ramadan is not over, and until it isn't over, we should continue in our good deeds.

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 12112; also reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6497)

In the hadith of Anas رضي الله عنه, the Prophet ﷺ said: "If Allah wants good for a person, Allah uses them before their death." They said: "O Messenger of Allah, how does Allah use someone?" He said: "Allah guides them to good deeds before they pass away." That is a sign of goodness — that you end everything in a good way. Your life, the month of Ramadan — every good deed is ended in a good way.

And so the Prophet ﷺ used to make that dua that he would repeat often in his life:

"O the One who makes the hearts firm, make my heart firm upon Your religion."

From amongst those actions that we can do which gives this month of Ramadan an ending that is good is by paying our Zakatul Fitr. That Zakatul Fitr is an obligation upon each and every single one of us — every single Muslim: old, young, male, female, healthy — every Muslim, whether they fasted or they didn't fast, Zakatul Fitr is an obligation upon them. Our Prophet ﷺ obligated Zakatul Fitr upon each and every single one of us as a means for the ones who fasted that they should purify themselves from their mistakes that they made in Ramadan, and as a means of giving food and support for the poor on the day of Eid before the Eid prayer.

It is your duty, your obligation, to make sure that the food reaches the poor and the needy. So if you're going to give it to the masjid or you're going to give it to a charity, you need to allow them enough time — which means more or less today that you're giving your Zakatul Fitr at the latest — so that they have the ability to make sure that by the day of Eid it reaches the poor before Salatul Eid.

These are actions that we should be performing to make sure that this month of Ramadan finishes on a high. We continue our Quran, we continue to pray taraweeh, we continue to make dua and give sadaqa — in the chance that perhaps Allah will accept these deeds, and these deeds in the dying days of Ramadan will be more precious to us than those that perhaps have preceded before us.

صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَإِخْوَانِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا أَمَّا بَعْدُ

Sign Five: Gratitude, Takbir, and Freeing from the Fire

Allah, when He described this month of Ramadan, one of the descriptions that He gave to it is أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ — it is a limited set number of days. Not a single one of us knows if we will see another Ramadan. We don't even know if we will be able to see out this month of Ramadan. One of the duas therefore that we should make is that we ask Allah that He gives us the opportunity to see many more months of Ramadan, that Allah allows us to take full benefit and opportunity from this month of Ramadan.

One of the greatest virtues of this month of Ramadan that our Prophet ﷺ told us — and it's one that we hear our imam making dua for in the qunoot of the witr prayer, and it's something that we should be focused on especially towards the end of this Ramadan — is that each and every single day and night, Allah emancipates and frees people from the Fire of Hell. In this month of Ramadan, Allah chooses people that He frees from the shackles of the Fire — meaning that the Fire of Hell will never touch their bodies, they will never come close to the Fire of Jahannam. And that is one of the greatest virtues and the greatest rewards of this month of Ramadan.

Every single night of this month, Allah has people that He frees from the Fire. That is the dua that we should be making, that is the dua that we should be focused upon — that Allah accept from us our deeds and free us from the shackles of the Fire. "O Allah, free us from the Fire" — and our parents, our wives and our husbands and our children and our loved ones. Allah frees people from the Fire, so make that a dua in this month of Ramadan.

Finally, my dear brothers and sisters, Allah says concerning this month in the Quran:

"That you may complete the days of Ramadan, and that you may glorify Allah — say the Takbir, say Allahu Akbar — for that which He guided you towards, and that you show gratitude to Allah."

This month of Ramadan is a month that should have brought us closer to Allah. It should remind us of the many blessings and favors that Allah has bestowed upon us — not least of which is the blessing of Iman and being able to worship Him alone. And that is why when the day of Eid is announced, it is the Sunnah that we make the Takbirat of Eid, that we glorify and praise Allah even more — in acknowledgement, in humbleness and humility, acknowledging the favors of Allah upon us and the favor of Iman.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah that He accepts our deeds from this month of Ramadan, that Allah accepts our fasting and our prayer and our sadaqa, that Allah frees us and our families from the Fire, that Allah allows us to witness many more months of Ramadan, and that Allah eases the suffering of our brothers and sisters, gives good health to those who are ill from amongst us, and forgives and has mercy upon those who have passed away. We ask Allah that He allows us to finish this month in a good way, and that Allah keeps us strong upon Iman, and that He gives us a good ending.