Reconnecting with Allah in Ramadan | Shaykh Navaid Aziz | Miftaah Circle

Reconnecting with Allah in Ramadan

The verse in Surah Al-Baqarah, in the middle of the verses of Ramadan, in the middle of the verses of fasting. And I want to set up the lay of the land for this verse, where some of the companions came to the Prophet ﷺ and they said:

"O Messenger of Allah, is our Lord close, so that we can have a private, intimate conversation with Him, or is our Lord far away, that we need to call out upon Him?" And then Allah revealed this verse.

The Verse of Du'a in the Heart of Ramadan

Now what we want to look at, my dear brothers and sisters, is how did this verse get into the middle of the verses of Ramadan and the verses of fasting. As we all know, my dear brothers and sisters, the month of Ramadan is transformational. People that did not pray are now praying, people that did not fast are now fasting, people that were distant from the deen are now coming back.

And that is the month when people re-evaluate their relationship with Allah, and that is how this verse actually fits in. So each and every one of us is required in this month of Ramadan to re-evaluate their relationship with Allah. They need to ask themselves, where do I stand with Allah?

It's phenomenal if you look at the analysis of our predecessors. They said that if you want to look at your relationship with Allah, look at where you stand with His speech, with His book, with making du'a to Him. How big of a priority is it for you to pray on time? All of those things are indicative of our relationship with Allah.

So in this month of Ramadan, when we are re-assessing our relationship with Allah, it's not about the way that we feel. Feelings will always change. Sometimes you will eat or drink something, it will make you feel good. Sometimes you'll eat or drink something, it will make you feel bad. That doesn't change your iman whatsoever. Your iman is based upon the deeds that you do — the deeds that Allah grants tawfiq for only to those whom He loves.

If you were to leave with nothing from this conference, my dear brothers and sisters, except for this one statement: Allah gives the dunya to everyone — Muslim and non-Muslim. But He only gives the deen, He only gives ibadah, to those whom He loves. And if Allah has guided you to that, this is indicative of Allah's love for you.

And this is why it is so important to be grateful to Allah, when Allah gives us the blessing of worshipping Him, particularly in this month of Ramadan. This is why Imam Ash-Shafi'i says that if Allah has guided you to gratitude, this is a blessing within itself that deserves further gratitude to Allah. And that is what we need to focus on.

The Three Ways Allah Answers Du'a

Now what I wanted to share with you, my dear brothers and sisters, building on this topic of du'a, when Allah says, "Call upon Me and I will answer you":

"Your Lord has proclaimed: Call upon Me and I will answer you." The Prophet ﷺ was once with his companions, encouraging them: "Increase in your du'a, frequently make du'a. For surely Allah will answer your du'a in one of three ways."

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 11133; also reported in Sahih al-Bukhari's Al-Adab Al-Mufrad)

Either He gives you what you want, when you want it. Or He delays it till a time that it is better for you. Or in fact what you're asking for is not good for you at all — so Allah withholds from you what you're asking for, but He averts from your life an equal amount of evil, and magnifies your reward.

Response One: You Get What You Want, When You Want It

Isn't that the ideal situation? Isn't that what we all want? But let us focus on some of the words of our predecessors who said: if Allah gave you everything that you wanted, when you wanted it, who would be the master and who would be the slave? At the end of the day, we are the slaves of Allah. If Allah answers our du'a, this is a benevolence and kindness from our master upon us. And we should not develop the mindset that every time I call upon Allah, I need to be answered in the fashion that I want, at the time that I want. Allah is in control.

Response Two: Allah Delays It to a Better Time

Umar used to say, "O Allah, I do not know what is good for me — You only know what is good for me." And this is why sometimes when we're making du'a for something, we may want it so badly, but now is not the time to get it. You want to get a particular job, you want to get into a particular program, you want to get married to a particular person — Allah knows that if those things were to happen, perhaps it would take you away from Allah, it would take you away from the deen. You're not strong enough to handle the tests and trials that come with that gift. So Allah delays it till a time that it is better for you.

Response Three: What You Ask For Is Not Good for You

And this is why it is so important to have a deep-rooted iman in the qadr of Allah. Because when that test comes and you keep making du'a, and your du'a isn't being answered, and you start wondering, "What am I doing wrong?" — but we forget to think that perhaps there is no good in what I'm asking for, and thus I have not been granted it.

Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah shares something very profound. He says: people will show up on the Day of Judgment with mountains of reward, and they will be perplexed. They will ask, "O Allah, where did this reward come from? We do not remember any grandiose deed that we did that we would deserve such a reward." And Allah reminds them that this is the reward of your patience when you made du'a and it was not answered.

Now what will the people respond at that time? Will they be like, "Shucks, we wish our du'as were answered?" Not at all. They respond, "O Allah, we wish none of our du'as were answered." That will be the response. Because that is the beauty of the qadr of Allah. That is the beauty of Allah's generosity — He always gives us better than we ask for and more than we ask for. And when He doesn't give us, He replaces it with something much, much better than we can even possibly imagine.

And he concludes, rahimahullah, with this beautiful statement: that if you lived your whole entire life making du'a to Allah, and not a single du'a was answered, you're still in a privileged position. What is that? That you can live your life saying that you're living a life of purpose. You have fulfilled your purpose of creation and worshipping Allah through making du'a to Him, even if He didn't answer your du'as. And this is something that the vast majority of mankind cannot say in truth — that they're living their lives filled with purpose.

The Story of Adam and Iblis: Four Lessons in Du'a

Now what I want to conclude my lecture with, my dear brothers and sisters, before we break for Salatul Maghrib, is this simple story of Adam and Iblis. We're all familiar with it. Both Adam and Iblis made du'a to Allah.

Adam, he made a mistake, he didn't know how to repent, he asked Allah to guide him how to repent. And Allah taught him the du'a:

Iblis made a mistake and he doubled down. He too made du'a and he said:

"My Lord, give me respite till the Day of Judgment." Both of them make du'a. Let's analyze these du'as.

Lesson One: The Prophetic Model vs. the Satanic Model

Adam, when he makes du'a to Allah, it is focused on spirituality, it is focused on his akhira, it's focused on forgiveness. Iblis, when he makes du'a, it's purely based upon the life of this world. And this teaches us that the prophetic model of making du'a is focusing on your akhira. And the balance in making du'a is how Allah teaches us to make du'a:

"O our Lord, grant us the best of this life, the best of the next, and save us from the punishment of the Hellfire." Two-thirds of your du'a is for your akhira, one-third of it is for the dunya — and that is the guideline that we should follow in all of our du'as.

Then the satanic model is to only make du'a for your dunya. And this is something important to look at, because du'a is such a noble act, but there's still a satanic model affiliated with it. That you only ask Allah for a better job, for a better house, for a better car, for a better spouse, and everything related to this dunya — but you do not ask Allah for jannah, or protection from jahannam, or for forgiveness. All of that is neglected. And what a shame that is when you ask from a generous Lord that is willing to give you whatever you ask for. So never be like the followers of Shaitan who will only make du'a for their dunya and will not care about their akhira.

Lesson Two: Attitude After Du'a Is Answered

Adam, he repented and he focused on his improvement, wanting to be the best slave of Allah possible. Iblis has his du'a answered, and yet he neglects and forgets about Allah. And I want us to be genuine and authentic with ourselves right now, and focus on ourselves for just a moment. When Allah answers our du'as, does this increase us in our worship, and we follow the footsteps of our father Adam? Or when Allah answers our du'a, we become heedless and neglectful till the next time we need Allah? This is something to focus on.

The true slave of Allah will constantly call upon Allah in prosperity and in adversity. The individual that follows the footsteps of Shaitan will only call upon Him in moments of adversity.

Lesson Three: The Direct Connection with Allah

Both Adam and Iblis recognized their direct connection with Allah. Adam, when he wants his du'a answered, he doesn't go to the angels and say, "O angels, intercede for me. O angels, make du'a for me that Allah forgives me." He approached Allah directly. Iblis, likewise, with his knowledge of Allah, he didn't go to Adam and say, "You're the first of Allah's creation, Allah has forgiven you, you're a pious man, make du'a for me, intercede for me." He too approached Allah directly.

And that is what knowledge does. The beauty of our faith is our direct connection with Allah — that when we ask of Allah, Allah is always near. We just need to call out. The Prophet of Allah understood this, and the worst of Allah's creation understood this. And we need to understand this as well.

Lesson Four: Du'a Is About Allah's Generosity, Not Our Righteousness

And the last point I want to share with you — and this is perhaps the most important point of these four — is that we can understand why Allah answered the du'a of Adam. A Nabi of Allah, a Prophet of Allah, a righteous man who repented and is fixing his ways. But why does Allah answer the du'a of Iblis? There is no righteousness in him left — why does He answer it?

And this is the mistake that we make when we make du'a. It becomes so transactional — "O Allah, I've been righteous, I've been good, answer my du'a please" — forgetting that the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1488; Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3556)

Allah is shy — Allah is shy to turn away the hands of His slave empty-handed. That is not about us; it is about the generosity and kindness of Allah. So in our moments of despair, in our moments of sin, in our moments of feeling distant — if Iblis understood that he could turn to Allah and have his du'a answered, there is not a single person in this room, in this city, in this country, in this continent, on this planet, that has committed more sins than Iblis. And that is something to be grateful to Allah for — that Allah does not look at our sins, for surely none of us would be worthy of having our du'as answered at that time. And du'a is always about Allah — about Him loving this act, and Him being generous and kind.

Those Who Turn Away from Worship

Now let's focus on that last part of the ayah where Allah says:

"Those individuals that turn away from My worship shall enter the Hellfire in a state of humiliation." Why is humiliation specified here? May Allah protect us from being humiliated in this life and the next. Allahumma ameen.

It is because it is truly the arrogant, truly the deluded, truly the vain and the proud that will think that they are self-sufficient and independent of Allah. The slave of Allah will always recognize his and her dependency upon Allah — that they are in constant and dire need of Allah. And if you forget this, it is an indication of pride. It is an indication of a lack of humility. It is an indication of a lack of understanding of the relationship of the master and the slave.

Every Night Is an Opportunity

My dear brothers and sisters, up until this time we may have fallen short in making du'a to Allah. Up until this time, we may not be of those that make du'a to Allah in times of prosperity like they do in adversity. But this is the beauty of Allah's mercy and His forgiveness and His kindness to us — that He gives us more time to change.

You don't have to wait till the 27th night of Ramadan. You don't have to wait till the beginning of Ramadan. Every single night Allah descends to the lowest heavens in a fashion that is befitting His Majesty. And He asks:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1145; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 758)

"Is there anyone seeking forgiveness that I can forgive them? Is there anyone asking of anything that I can grant it to them?" We're looking for opportunities for our du'as to be answered — it is there each and every single night for the taking.

Closing Du'a

So I ask you, my dear brothers and sisters — tonight, who is going to avail that opportunity? Today, as we pray Salatul Maghrib and we're in sajdah, who is going to avail that opportunity to call upon their Lord in the closest possible position to Allah?

I pray that Allah grants you and I that tawfiq, and makes us of those that make du'a to Him in times of prosperity just like we do in times of adversity. And makes us of those that are forgiven. And makes us of those whose du'as are answered, and who have an exponentially increased reward due to their patience when their du'a is not answered. And that Allah makes us of His close slaves and grants us tawfiq to experience and live Ramadan. And makes us of those who are forgiven in the month of Ramadan and freed from the Hellfire and written as the inhabitants of Jannah.

Jazakumullahu khayran. Wassalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.