The Blessings of Ramadan - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ، 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. أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُنِيرًا.

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ وَمَنْ سَارَ عَلَى نَهْجِهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

The Greatest Season at Our Doorstep

We remember and remind ourselves about the closeness of one of the greatest — or the greatest — seasons that is at our doorstep, and that is the month of Ramadan. It is something no doubt you have been reminded about time after time in the past weeks, I am sure. You only have to go to the shops and you can see what is being sold — from dates and clothing and food — reminding you about this month.

Of course we all know it is not a month of that type of preparation. It is a time for us to prepare as believers, as Muslims, servants of Allah to prepare ourselves in the very best way so that if Allah blesses us that we meet this blessed month.

Moreover, if we are to meet the month and we are in that month for one day, we are the most grateful servants of Allah — because we remember that the Prophet ﷺ said with regards to this blessed month of Ramadan:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 682)

That Allah has freed servants — freed slaves — from what? From the hellfire. And that is every night and every day, from the first day of Ramadan, people are freed from the hellfire.

But what are their attributes? What are their characteristics? Who are these people that on day one of Ramadan they were freed from the hellfire? Not talking about those people, as we should be of course, preparing ourselves for the last ten nights of Ramadan, seeking لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ — a night which is better than a thousand months, خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ. But prior to that, and that servant unbeknown to themselves, Allah freed them from the hellfire.

Who Are the Freed Ones? The Importance of Preparation

But what were their characteristics? Who were these individuals who attained this lofty and noble status on the very first day of Ramadan? They are the ones — and Allah knows best — who prepared for Ramadan and they prepared correctly, following the way of Rasulullah ﷺ, from the time in Sha'ban.

Aisha رضي الله تعالى عنها said: I never saw the Prophet ﷺ complete a month of fasting except Ramadan. But the month he ﷺ would fast the most would be the month of Sha'ban.

So when the first day of Ramadan appears, there is no complaining of hunger, there is no complaining of headaches, there is no complaining "I need my coffee" — none of that. All these worldly ailments that the person sees are all removed and are insignificant, as they should be. But the person prepared — the person prepared by fasting in this month of Sha'ban.

So when Ramadan appears upon them, they are fully ready. That first night of Taraweeh they are there in the masjid waiting to hear الم — the first verse in Surah Al-Baqarah — eagerly awaiting all the way until the end of Ramadan, مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ, from Surah Al-Baqarah all the way to Surah An-Nas.

They have this excitement, they have this eagerness and desire to hear all the words of Allah recited to them in salah. And they are there, ready for that.

The Khatmah of the Salaf

No doubt we will all differ. We all differ in our iman and levels of what we are able to achieve. There will be those who are able to achieve a khatmah in the month of Ramadan — one completion of the Book of Allah. There will be those who do it every three days. We remember the salaf رحمة الله عليهم ورضي الله عنهم — some of them would have 60 khatmah. What do you mean? 60 times completing the Quran in this month? Is that even possible? To finish the Quran 60 times? Or even 30 times?

The person's only answer really is to say that they were just engaging in qira'ah like 24/7. And maybe that's what they were doing. That's what they were able to achieve. This is what Allah facilitated and allowed for them because of the level of sincerity and love and desire to seek good in this blessed month.

Allah Wants Ease For You

If we look carefully at the verses in Surah Al-Baqarah about siyam, we find that Allah mentions siyam only really in one place in the entire Quran. That is the month in which the Quran was revealed. Some rulings pertaining to those who are sick, or travelling, or old. And at the end — towards the end of these verses — Allah tells us:

That Allah wants ease for you and does not want difficulty for you. And we must ask the question: what is the ease? And what difficulty has been taken away from us?

Well, we know that the Prophet ﷺ told us that from the first night of Ramadan:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1899; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1079)

That the shaytan is locked up. The gates of paradise are opened. And the gates of hellfire are closed.

Things are made easy for us. As you are fasting, your desires become less. And you become more inclined to ibadah, to worship. If you were not obligated to do that, maybe the vast majority of the ummah wouldn't do it. We are not obligated to fast any other time during the year, and maybe the vast majority of the ummah is not fasting. But in Ramadan we are.

And when you see what you can achieve in this month, you will see what you are actually capable of. And الثَّمَرَة — the benefit and the fruits of ibadah, the fruits of worship — is what? That if you engage in it, it becomes easy for you. Allah will make things easy for you if you engage in ibadah. It no longer becomes a burden to pray salawat on time. If you do things early, on time, Allah will make it easy for you.

These are important things for us to remember during this blessed and merciful month of Ramadan. We ask Allah to allow us to reach this blessed month. And we ask Allah to allow us to prepare ourselves in the best way — to reach this month — that we can be those who are freed from the hellfire. Insha'Allah, Allahumma ameen.

I say this and ask Allah to forgive me and you from every sin. So forgive me — indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Second Khutbah: Ramadan, Tawbah, and the Closeness of Allah

In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon his family and all his companions.

Ramadan is a blessed time. There are those who fasted with us last year and now, from them, there are those who are no longer with us. We ask Allah to have mercy upon all those who have passed away.

Allah mentions a very beautiful verse also amongst these verses of fasting. And this is from the beautiful things about pondering over the meanings of the Quran — that Allah tells us what has been obligated upon you, the blessings of the month, some ahkam, some rulings concerning those who may not fast. Then Allah tells us He wants to make things easy for us.

And then, of course, there is the reminder. The reminder of our attachment and our connection to our Lord. The one whom maybe we have forgotten for too long. Our connection with our Lord has become weak. Our connection with the one who provides for us, who helps us, who aids us — when you are sleeping and don't realize it, He allows you to breathe, to have another day. Maybe that connection became weak.

Allah Is Near — He Answers Every Call

And when My servants ask Me — or they ask you, O Muhammad ﷺ, concerning Me — answer them. Tell them: فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ — that Allah is qareeb. He is close. That Allah was always there for you. No matter how much مَعَاصٍ — sins — you were involved in, whatever you were involved in, the door of tawbah was just a few moments away. But you distanced yourself. You allowed the shaytan to convince you that you are not a befitting servant — that you have done so much evil, so much wrong, so how is there any way back?

Allah reminds us — and we remind ourselves — Ramadan comes once a year, and at this time we become more aware. And this qurb, this closeness of Allah, is not specific and only to Ramadan. But Allah is there to answer your supplications, your tawbah, your repentance, at all times. So all that you have gathered in terms of مَعَاصٍ and sin — it is a time for you to reflect in the blessed month of Ramadan if you reach it.

Forgiveness for the Fasting Believer

Remembering that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

Whoever fasts Ramadan with iman, seeking Allah's reward, all of their sins are forgiven.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 37; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 759)

Whoever stands in prayer in the month of Ramadan with iman, seeking His reward, all your previous sins are forgiven.

One night — whoever stands in prayer on لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ with iman, certainty in Allah, seeking His reward, understanding what the reward is — all your previous sins are forgiven in a moment.

Maybe that time when you come to the masjid for Taraweeh — you've been away from the masjid for a long time — that person, they come to pray. And while in Taraweeh, they hear the verses of Allah. And while in sujood, the amount of ذُنُوب and مَعَاصٍ — Allah alone knows — only Allah knows how much that person has been involved in sin, in disobedience. In that moment in sujood:

O Allah, forgive me. I return to You. Like that, they are forgiven. As the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4250)

The repentant one is like the one who has no sin.

So it is a time for tawbah. It is a time for repentance. It is a time for istighfar — to seek Allah's forgiveness. It is a time for du'a — to supplicate. Because no doubt, and that is of course the goal:

That you are able to gain in taqwa, you gain in consciousness and awareness of Allah. Your du'a means so much more to you now. Maybe the likelihood of you fasting and engaging in ibadah — insha'Allah — means your du'as will be answered.

The Power of Du'a in Ramadan

So your needs — you ask Allah for your needs. You ask Allah to help Muslims around the world and the difficulties that they are going through. Before it might have been: "O Allah, help them, O Allah, help them" — while sitting in a nice environment, Alhamdulillah. But now when you say it — "O Allah, help those people" — your du'a is that much more sincere. It means much more. And when it means much more, there is more sincerity, there is more feeling. بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى — the likelihood it will be answered, insha'Allah ta'ala, by Allah.

Imagine now a masjid — 3,000 people — all supplicating to Allah, behind the imam, asking for blessings and mercy, asking for paradise, asking for guidance. And you are there raising your hands, saying ameen, ameen. 3,000 people in one place. Imagine 300 masajid, thousands of Muslims. Imagine the billions of Muslims around the world. But imagine the du'a of one person.

Because Allah does not need 3 billion people to make du'a to have a solution. The du'a of one abd — one servant, male or female — who reaches a level of sincerity and ikhlas and makes du'a for the ummah. And that is change. This is the power of Allah:

Be, and it is. And it is at these moments and these times during the month of Ramadan for us to reflect and realize who we are worshipping. We are worshipping Rabbul-'Alamin, Rabbul-'Izzah — the Lord of the worlds. The one who is in charge of everything. Nothing happens except by His permission. And His support will always be with the believers. And the enemies will always be defeated.

So the Muslim is making sure he is on the right side, and she is on the right side. We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path. We ask Allah to give victory to the Muslims around the world.

Closing Du'a

وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ