05: Eid al-Fitr 2024 | Prayer & Khutbah - Shaykh Hafeezullah Khan

Eid al-Fitr Khutbah 2024

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi'l hamd.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wassalatu wassalamu ala nabiyyina Muhammad, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the blessed month of Ramadan has come and passed, and today we are here to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr — a day of joy and happiness, and more than that, a day of offering thanks to Allah that He blessed us with the month of Ramadan and enabled us to do righteous deeds. So we need to start our Eid day by thanking Allah, as Allah says:

Allah wants that you must complete the number of the days of Ramadan and must magnify Allah by saying the takbirat — Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi'l hamd — so that you may be grateful to Him.

Ramadan Has Passed — But Our Obligations Have Not

Dear brothers and sisters, we have bid farewell to the month of Ramadan, but we haven't bid farewell to our prayers, to our fastings, and to our good deeds. They are still obligatory, just as they were in Ramadan. The Lord who was our Rabb in the month of Ramadan — He still is our Rabb. Just as we were Muslims in the month of Ramadan, we are Muslims out of Ramadan as well. So we don't have to limit being Muslim just for Ramadan, because Allah says:

And worship Allah until your death — worship Allah until your last moment. And no one knows when the last moment will come.

The True Meaning of a Good Ending

If we want to change our last moment into a good ending, then always remember there is excellent advice from Shaykh Salih al-'Uthaymeen rahimahullah. He says that a good ending does not mean that you die in the masjid, or on your prayer mat, or with the Quran in your hand — because the most pious of all, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, passed away on his bed. The real meaning of a good ending is that you die in a state where you are free from all kinds of shirk, free from all kinds of hypocrisy, and free from every kind of bid'ah. You die while you are following the Quran and Sunnah, while you did not take anything unjustly from others, nor did you humiliate anyone, and you die in a state where your heart is free from all jealousy, from all enmity, and from all hatred.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi'l hamd.

Fulfilling the Rights of Others

Brothers and sisters, the fasting was made obligatory upon us in Ramadan so that we can change ourselves. And changing ourselves does not mean that we have to fulfill only the rights of Allah — like praying and fasting — but it also means that we have to fulfill the rights of the servants of Allah. Otherwise, we can see how many people are not only bound to fast or to pray five times daily, and also they perform tahajjud, also they perform i'tikaf, also they perform umrahs — but at the same time they are oppressing their own family members, their wife and their children. How many people you can see in the first row in the masjid, but they have taken the inheritance rights of their sisters, they have deprived their daughters from their inheritance, they have deprived their wives of their own rights.

Such people have to remember — they have to be ready to give all their prayers, all their worships, all their umrahs to those whom they were oppressing in this world, whether it is your wife, your sister, or your brother. They will not forgive you on the Day of Judgment. They will take every good deed of you and make you muflis — make you bankrupt.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi'l hamd.

The Rights of Parents

Dear brothers and sisters, similarly when we talk about the rights of the servants of Allah, the worst among violations are those of children who do not fulfill the rights of their parents. They are actually depriving themselves from the heaven, depriving themselves from the mercy of Allah. So if your parents are alive — if your parents or one of them are alive — then even after Ramadan, the gates of heaven are still open for you. So don't try to close the gates of heaven upon yourself by mistreating them, by misbehaving with them.

Also remember that if you keep them happy in this world, Allah will be happy with you. As in a hadith from Tirmidhi, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1899)

The pleasure of Allah is in the pleasure of your parents; the displeasure of Allah is in the displeasure of your parents. So behave nicely — and especially when they reach old age, do not say to them a word of disrespect. Address them in terms of honor, try to spend more time with them, and let them feel that you still need them.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi'l hamd.

Protecting Our Children from Fitnah

Dear brothers and sisters, as a Muslim Ummah we have been constantly facing new fitnahs — new temptations — in our aqeedah, in our deen. And now we are not only the victims of these temptations, but our new generation, our children, they have been victimized by it. The temptation of this era is not merely that our children fall victim to bad habits — no. Because of these new temptations, our children start having doubts about Allah, about the Quran, about our deen, about our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They are going to lose their deen completely.

So in this situation, we must keep our children connected with the deen from their childhood — connected with the masajid, connected with the scholars from their childhood. And you have to teach them what is the deen, you have to teach them the real meaning of Islam, you have to teach them the pillars of Islam, the pillars of iman, what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad.

And if you want to save your children from these fitnahs, firstly you need to bring changes in yourself. You have to bring changes in your house, in your home's atmosphere — making your home a Muslim home, an Islamic home — and you have to make yourself a role model for them.

And remember, it is not an optional matter — that if you do it, good; otherwise it doesn't matter. No, brothers. It is an obligation of each and every parent, and you will be questioned on the Day of Judgment about your children, as Allah says:

O you who believe, save yourselves — and not only save yourselves, save your children as well, save your family from the hellfire. So it is our responsibility to save our children from the hellfire.

Guarding Our Good Deeds After Ramadan

Alhamdulillah, in Ramadan we all did try our best to do good deeds — through our siyam, through our qiyam, through our spending in the way of Allah. We did all this because it was easy for us, as the shaitan was chained and the doors of Hell were closed. But now shaitan is free and the doors of Hell are opened. So now it is the turn of the shaitan to attack you with full force, to waste all your good deeds.

And one point, brothers — remember: the main target of the shaitan are the pious people, the righteous people. He always attacks the righteous people. He doesn't target the bad people because they are already following him. So he doesn't attack them — he attacks the pious people. As one Jew said to a companion of the Prophet: "We don't experience any whispering, any waswas in our worship from shaitan, while you Muslims experience waswas in your prayers." So the companion said: "What will the shaitan do with a ruined heart?" Shaitan does not come to a ruined heart because it is already ruined — but rather he seeks to ruin the righteous and healthy heart until it is destroyed.

So brothers and sisters, in this situation, if we want to save our good deeds, if we want to save ourselves from the shaitan, then:

First — try our best to stay firm upon the deen as we were in Ramadan.

Second — try to be grateful to Allah. Always thank Allah, because whatever we did in Ramadan was because of the blessing of Allah.

Third — do not proudly mention the good deeds that you did in Ramadan in front of others, lest it becomes riya' — it becomes show-off.

And by this, insha'Allah, we can save ourselves from the shaitan.

May Allah accept our fasting. May Allah accept our qiyam. May Allah accept all our good deeds and may Allah keep us firm upon them. May Allah keep us steadfast upon His deen.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi'l hamd.