Steps to a Successful Ramadan - Shaykh Yousaf Jahangir

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

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

Amma ba'd — Indeed the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, and the worst of matters are those newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

Allah is Close — The Central Verse of Ramadan

Allah tells us in the Quran: When my servants ask you about me, O Muhammad, then surely I am close to every single one of them. I promise to respond to the one that calls upon me. SubhanAllah, a very important, powerful verse. This verse is important to us throughout the day, throughout the night, throughout the year — however in the month of Ramadan it has a heightened importance and value to us for a number of reasons.

The first reason being because this ayah is part of the passage in Surah al-Baqarah which Allah dedicates to the month of Ramadan. And Allah is telling us that making du'a to Him and increasing in our du'a to Him in this month is one of those special acts of worship that helps us cleanse our souls and rectify the state of our souls by increasing in these ibadat.

At the same time there is a very important underlying message in this ayah. Allah tells us He is close to us and He promises to respond to our calls when we call upon Him. In this ayah there is an underlying message — and that is, SubhanAllah, think about the last 11 months of sins and transgressions that we have committed against our own souls. The last 11 months of mistakes and misdeeds and bad actions that we have done, that we have wronged ourselves and those around us. From Allah's mercy is that when we call upon Him and we seek His forgiveness and we turn to Him in repentance, He accepts us. SubhanAllah, He accepts us.

The Hadith Qudsi — Earth Full of Sins, Earth Full of Forgiveness

In the Hadith al-Qudsi, the Prophet ﷺ tells us that Allah has promised us:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3540)

"O son of Adam, if you come to me with this earth full of sins, and you meet me without associating any partners to me, I will come to you with the earth full of forgiveness." Showing us the immense mercy and forgiveness that Allah has for us, especially in this blessed month of Ramadan.

The Example of Ibn al-Jawzi — Ramadan and Yusuf

Speaking about the virtues and the importance of the month of Ramadan, Ibn al-Jawzi says: the example of the month of Ramadan compared to the rest of the 11 months of the year is like the example of Yaqub's (peace be upon him) 12 sons. Just the way he had one son, Yusuf (peace be upon him), that was more beloved to him and had more virtue and more importance — like this, the month of Ramadan stands out in Allah's sight. And just the way the sins and the transgressions of the 11 sons were forgiven because of the du'a of that one son, then like this, the sins and transgressions that we commit in the 11 months of the year, they are forgiven in the month of Ramadan — showing us that this time is not like any other time of the year.

A Gift Not to Be Wasted — Witnessing Ramadan

My brothers and sisters, just the fact that we have witnessed another month of Ramadan — this is a sign that Allah loves you. Just the fact that we have been able to witness another month of Ramadan, an opportunity to draw closer to Allah, an opportunity to have our sins forgiven, to attain happiness, to start fresh — another chance Allah has given us.

We do not know who is promised to witness another month of Ramadan. Just after this Salah we are going to be praying over one of our sisters that has passed away recently. The Prophet ﷺ would say:

(Shu'ab al-Iman of al-Bayhaqi; also reported in similar wording in various collections)

"Death is sufficient as a reminder for you." None of us are promised another month of Ramadan. We look back to the devastating earthquakes that took place in Syria and in Turkey just a few months ago — 30,000, 40,000 people passed away in a number of moments. Their lives are changed forever. May Allah have mercy upon them all, ease their suffering, and make their affairs easy.

The point here is Allah has blessed us with an opportunity of another Ramadan and we have to make the most of this opportunity. The Prophet ﷺ would say to his companions: When Allah sends His cool breeze to you, and when He sends to you His gusts of mercy — referring to the virtuous times of the year — then make the most of these opportunities, because it may be you do a good deed and you attain Allah's mercy, and you will never be sad ever again. SubhanAllah.

Ibn al-Jawzi, when speaking about the month of Ramadan, said: if you were to go to the people of the graves after the dust has settled and everything has been made apparent — the importance of good deeds and the harms of our sins — once this has been made apparent, and if you were to ask the people, "You have one du'a, one wish that's going to come true — what's that going to be?" They would ask to come and have one more day of Ramadan. One more day. Because they know how merciful and kind Allah is, especially in these blessed days of Ramadan. If Allah has blessed us with this opportunity, we have to make the most of it.

The Du'a of Jibreel and the Warning of the Prophet ﷺ

We have to remember — the Sahaba tell us — when the angel Jibreel came to the Prophet ﷺ and he made a du'a, the best of angels is making du'a and the best of mankind, the Prophet ﷺ, is affirming that du'a and asking Allah to accept it. What was that du'a? The one that sees the month of Ramadan and he does not have his sins forgiven — then truly this person is distant from Allah's mercy.

Because it is so easy to attain Allah's mercy in this month. It is not the time to be heedless and to be busy with anything other than Allah's worship.

The Blessings of Ramadan — Gates, Shayateen, and Freedom from the Fire

This is why the Prophet ﷺ would tell the Sahaba at the beginning of Ramadan, when Ramadan would come, he said: "A blessed month has come to you." A short number of days — SubhanAllah, we are already one third through this blessed month. It's like yesterday we were preparing, and then tomorrow it's going to be as if we are preparing for the last ten nights and it's Eid after that. A few small number of days.

The Prophet ﷺ would say to his companions: from Allah's mercy and His compassion to His slaves — that He makes this month full of blessings and ease — when the first night of Ramadan enters, Allah enables a number of things to happen to make it easy for us.

The first thing that happens is that the most evil shayateen and the most evil from the jinn, they are locked up in the fire of hell. Allah reduces the number of shayateen that are about, especially the ones with the worst influence. Why doesn't He lock up every single one of them? Because Allah wants us to know that there is always going to be this eternal struggle against the shaytan. You could be praying Salah — the closest you're going to be to Allah — the shaytan will come and make you think about everything else other than Allah's remembrance. You could be fasting in a state that is beloved to Allah, so close and so beloved to Allah at that time — even the odor that leaves our mouth is like rihul misk to Allah on the Day of Judgement — but the shaytan will come and trick and deceive us out of that reward by having bad manners and bad etiquette and being rude and being ignorant.

So in this hadith we learn: yes, the influence of the shaytan is minimized, however the small minor shayateen are still about — as we see in this month. Then a question arises: what is the state of my soul? If I am being cheated by the small shayateen out of the greatest reward of the entire year — if I can be deceived so easily by something so weak, from something so great — what is the state of my soul?

The Prophet ﷺ continues in this hadith and he says:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 682; also reported in Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1642)

Every single door to Jahannam, to the fire of hell, Allah locks closed in this month. He locks them closed — not a single one of them is open. But SubhanAllah, you find some of us are heedless to the blessings of this month, and it's as if we are trying to climb over those gates and find a way in, even though Allah is calling us and preventing us from that.

And the doors of Jannah are wide open — every single door to paradise is wide open, and not a single one of them is locked closed. The scholars, when they heard this hadith, were amazed by this. They asked: why is it that the doors of paradise are open for 29 and 30 days — not even for one moment are the doors shut closed? And the answer they gave is because throughout the day, throughout the night, there isn't a single moment except Allah is sending His peace, His mercy, His blessings, His forgiveness to every single one of us. Ponder over that — 29–30 days the doors of Jannah do not close, because the blessings and forgiveness and mercy come throughout the day, throughout the night, 24/7.

About this hadith — these sentences — the scholars say: this is the secret to having a successful Ramadan. By staying away from Jahannam and all the things that lead you to that. By stopping your sins. And by hastening and running towards Jannah and the actions and deeds that take us there.

Freedom from the Fire — Every Single Night

SubhanAllah, the Prophet ﷺ ends this hadith with a very powerful statement. He says: Every single night in this month there are servants that are heading towards the fire of hell, and from Allah's immense mercy is that He sets them free from the fire of hell. He forgives them. They do something — they make a du'a from the bottom of their hearts, they say something, they do a deed, a good action with Allah — and that action is so beloved to Allah that He sets them free from the fire of hell.

The question here, my brothers and sisters, is: what deed have we done? What action have we done in this month — throughout the day, throughout the night — that nobody knows about except for Allah? What change have we made? What have we done to show Him — from the bottom of our hearts and the bottom of our souls — O Allah, I want Your mercy? Not just empty statements. Sincerely, from the bottom of our hearts — what is that deed that you have done that's going to set you free from the fire of hell?

I say this and ask forgiveness for me and for you and for the Muslims — so ask forgiveness. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Second Part — The True Meaning of Fasting

The vast majority of us in this room are fasting. And fasting — literally in Arabic, the word siyam — what does this mean? It means al-imsak — to refrain from something, to stop yourself from doing something, to break the cycle. And when we are fasting, the fiqh meaning is that we give up anything that breaks the fast, from food and drink and other than that, from the time of Fajr to the time of Maghrib.

When we go back to the linguistic meaning of refraining from something and staying away from something and breaking the habit and breaking the cycle, then we understand fasting is not just about staying away from food and drink. We stay away from anything that's going to jeopardize our reward and our position and status with Allah. Because when we give up something, we know that Allah loves us — it's a means of attaining Allah's love.

This is why fasting itself — the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ tells us — there is no deed that has the same reward. Allah has left the reward unrestricted for fasting. He has left it open to Himself, meaning there are no barriers to it, there are no restrictions to it.

When we are fasting, we give up not just food and drink — we have to have that true fast. The fast of our emotions. The fast that the prophets and messengers taught us. The fasting of the sight — that which we are looking at, is that halal or is that haram? Is that taking me to the gates of paradise or to the gates of hell? That which I see, that which I hear, that which I say — what is the state of my fast? And what are we really making al-imsak of? What are we really preventing ourselves from? Because fasting is not just about giving up food and drink — it's about giving up and sacrificing our whims and our desires.

The Advice of Jabir ibn Abdillah

Jabir ibn Abdillah, the companion of the Prophet ﷺ, advises us all about the nature of the true fast and he says: When you are fasting, then let your sight fast. Let your speech fast. That which you hear — let that fast from all types of sins and wrongdoing. And let those people around you feel and know that you are fasting, because you are in this special, beloved state of obedience to Allah.

The day that you are fasting, let there be this peace and tranquility upon your soul and upon your actions and in your dealings. So when you speak to one another, have this tranquility and this peace with one another. When you are driving — it's not the time to have road rage. At home — it's not the time to scare the children with shouting.

Our Responsibility to Our Children

We are now entering the Easter holidays — today more schools break up. Allah has blessed these children with the opportunity of having two weeks off in the month of Ramadan. We have a responsibility to facilitate the true teachings of this blessed month to our children and instill true Iman within them — not by just showing them videos and taking them to different masajid — by you living Islam yourself, because the greatest teacher will always be the parents, and then everything else falls in place alongside that. We have a responsibility to let the children feel the true spirit of Islam.

And you young brothers and you young sisters — whilst you are fasting in this month, let this be a detox from the bad habits you may have picked up from scrolling on TikTok and different forms of social media, when you are watching and seeing and listening to many different forms of haram and destroying your soul — and you're not even aware of the harms that you are causing to your own nafs. Let this month be a month of detox and breaking the cycle from all of our sins and all of our bad habits. Let us turn back to Allah in obedience.

Closing Du'a

In ending, I ask Allah to forgive our sins and our shortcomings, that He makes this Ramadan a life-changing one for us all. O Allah, make this a successful Ramadan for us all. O Allah, accept our good deeds and forgive our shortcomings. O Allah, give us success to worship You with true, meaningful worship. Those that see Laylat al-Qadr — and You are pleased with them — in righteousness and obedience. O Allah, establish our hearts firm upon Your religion and let us turn back to You and repent and seek Your forgiveness. O Allah, ease the suffering of the entire Ummah. O Allah, cure our sick and have mercy upon our deceased. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family as You have blessed Ibrahim and his family — You are Praiseworthy and Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family as You have blessed Ibrahim and his family — You are Praiseworthy and Glorious.