Countdown to Ramadan - Shaykh Yousaf Jahangir

Opening — The Khutbah of Need

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، 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.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ. ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

The Blessed Month is Upon Us

We are now fast approaching one of the most important seasons of the entire Muslim calendar, walhamdulillah, and after the year that we've had, we are more in need of the blessed month of Ramadan now more than ever before. May Allah bless us with the opportunity to witness another Ramadan, and may He favour us and honour us to be from those that truly benefit from this month, and those that maximise the rewards and the blessings and the benefits that are to be attained.

My brothers and sisters, when the blessed month of Ramadan was on the doorsteps of the Sahaba — just the way it is for us right now, a few days away — the Prophet ﷺ he would say a hadith to the companions and to us. And before we even get into this hadith, it's important that we understand the purpose behind it. The reason why he ﷺ would say this hadith to the companions was so that they could understand the great opportunity that Allah was about to favour them with, so that they could appreciate this opportunity, so they could be focused and truly maximise the benefits that they were about to see in the blessed month of Ramadan.

So pay attention to this hadith.

The Hadith of the First Night of Ramadan

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 682; also recorded in Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 1642)

"When the first night of Ramadan enters, the shayateen — the most evil from the devils — and the worst from the jinn, they are locked up in the fire of Jahannam. And every single door to the fire of hell, every gate to Jahannam and every path that leads to it, is locked closed and not a single one of them is open. And every single gate to paradise is wide open and not a single one of them is locked closed. And an angel makes an announcement: O doer of good, now is the time for you to come forward, now is the time for you to do your good, now is the opportunity for you to do good and gain immense rewards and immense blessings. And O doer of evil, have mercy upon yourself — now is the time to cut off those sins which are causing you misery in this life before the next, now is the time to stop transgressing against our souls and to turn back to Allah and seek His guidance."

The Prophet ﷺ ends this hadith with a very important sentence where he says: there are a portion of slaves that are destined for the fire of hell, and every single night, from Allah's immense mercy, He sets them free — He emancipates them. May Allah protect us all.

Lessons from This Hadith

This hadith, my brothers and sisters, is a glad tiding for us all — a piece of good news for every single one of us. The most important piece of information and news that we are going to hear possibly today. And it's not one of those sayings that just comes into one ear and goes out the other. No. But this hadith we need to keep at the back of our minds throughout the entire month of Ramadan, so that we are not deceived by the shaytan and going astray in this blessed month.

We learn many things from this hadith. From them is that evil is minimized. Evil is minimized from the first night that Ramadan enters. Allah locks away the most evil from the shayateen. Sin becomes minimized.

From that which we learn from this hadith is that every single gate to paradise is open and goodness is widespread. It's easy for you to be righteous and to do good deeds in this time. It's easy for you to turn away from those bad habits and sins that we all fall victim to.

We learn from this hadith that the worst of the shayateen they are locked up in the fire of hell. In this hadith the Prophet did not say every single devil, but he said the most evil from them. And one of the reasons why this is, is because we need to understand there is always going to be that eternal struggle against the shaytan. Paradise is surrounded by sacrifice, determination, being focused, worshipping Allah in times of ease and in times of difficulty. And the fire of hell is surrounded by sins and desires and following our whims and doing that which is not pleasing to Allah. May Allah protect us all.

From this hadith we learn that this is an amazing opportunity for us to change our lives for the better, to draw closer to Allah — a time to cleanse our souls, to refine our character, a time to draw closer to Allah by doing as much good deeds as we possibly can and by staying away from these sins.

From the lessons that we learn from this hadith is that Allah's mercy overtakes everything — that there are slaves of Allah that are destined for the fire of hell, and from His mercy is that He sets them free. But we have to show Allah that we are deserving of His mercy. As we know, none of us enters paradise through our own actions, but rather through Allah's mercy. But we have to show Allah that we are worthy to be favoured and honoured with that mercy and that forgiveness. We have to make an active effort.

The Virtues of Ramadan

And of course there are many other countless virtues and benefits to the blessed month of Ramadan — the month of the Quran. The Prophet ﷺ promises us:

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

Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan — and in another hadith, whoever prays the month of Ramadan — whilst hoping and anticipating for Allah's reward, then he will have his sins forgiven. May Allah make us from them.

In this month that is coming there is a single night which is better than a thousand years of worship — meaning if we worship Allah in this one night, the reward and the blessings that are to be attained are greater than worshipping Allah for a thousand months. May Allah bless us to truly benefit from this month, may He forgive our sins and bestow upon us goodness in this life and the next.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.

Second Part of the Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ عَلَيْهِ أَفْضَلُ الصَّلَاةِ وَأَتَمُّ التَّسْلِيمِ.

My brothers and sisters, like I mentioned, we have a great opportunity coming very quickly. Within days it will be here, and then it will pass by very quickly. So now is the time for us to gain these rewards and blessings. Now is the time to sow the seeds of taqwa deep within our hearts and deep within our souls. The time for us to turn back to Allah and have our sins forgiven, to be cleansed from our mistakes and our many shortcomings. An opportunity to strengthen, build and revive the most important relationship in our lives — our relationship with Allah.

My brothers and sisters, we are about to enter the month of forgiveness, the month of blessings and the month of compassion. We are about to enter the month of the Quran, fasting and taqwa. So we have to make the most of this opportunity.

The Du'a of Jibreel and the Three Ameen

Especially when we learn another amazing hadith pertaining to Ramadan. The Prophet ﷺ came out to his masjid one day and he climbed the mimbar in front of the Sahaba and he said ameen three times. Abu Huraira and the other companions asked: what was the du'a that you said ameen to?

The Prophet ﷺ told us that the angel Jibreel — the best from the angels — came and made three different du'as and he told the Prophet ﷺ — the best of mankind — to say ameen. So the best angel and the best of mankind are making du'a. Of course Allah is going to accept that.

What were those three things? The first: the one who witnesses Ramadan enter and does not have his sins forgiven — meaning he makes no true effort, he pays no attention to Ramadan — this person will be distant from Allah's mercy. Because he had the golden opportunity in front of him and he paid no attention to it. He was busy with that which does not benefit him in this life nor the next. Say ameen, O Muhammad. And the Prophet ﷺ said ameen.

The second type of person is the one who witnesses one of his parents reach old age — or both of them. And as we know, serving our parents is one of the quickest and easiest ways to enter into paradise. Angel Jibreel said: the one who witnesses his parents grow old — both of them or one of them — and does not have his sins forgiven, then this person too will be distant from Allah's mercy.

And that last person is the one before whom the Prophet ﷺ is mentioned and he does not send peace and blessings upon him. This person too will be distant from Allah's mercy.

Preparing for Ramadan

In ending, it's important that we now start preparing — spiritually and mentally and physically — for the month of Ramadan. Yes, there's no fasting from now until Ramadan starts because half of Sha'ban has now passed. But preparing ourselves: having a schedule — a realistic one that suits you — that's going to benefit you, something that you can stick to, you, your family, your loved ones. Taking it back to the basics and the foundations. Cutting down all the noise, all the background noise that brings you no benefit. Asking yourself: how can I truly benefit from this month? How can I draw closer to Allah in this month? How can I have a Ramadan which is going to be life-changing for me in my relationship with Allah?

Du'a — Closing Supplication

In ending we turn to Allah and we ask Him: O Allah, bless us with the opportunity to witness another Ramadan and enable us to truly maximise the rewards, the blessings and the benefits that are to be attained. O Allah, honour us and favour us to be from those that have their sins forgiven and allow us to taste the sweetness of Iman — where You and Your Messenger and Your Deen are more beloved to us than anything else. O Allah, make easy the affairs of those that have been affected by the pandemic. O Allah, give us good in this life and the next and protect us from the fire of hell. O Allah, cure our sick, have mercy upon our deceased and help our oppressed. O Allah, bless us with the opportunity to witness another Ramadan and enable us to truly maximise the rewards, the blessings and the benefits that are to be attained. O Allah, cure our sick, have mercy upon our deceased.

Al-Fatiha.