Continue Performing Good Deeds after Ramadan - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem
By Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem | 2026-07-06T18:53:19.597279+00:00 | Topic: Ramadan
Khutbah Opening
Amma ba'd.
The Verse of Ramadan — A Complete Plan for the Year
In Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 185, Allah makes mention of the month of Ramadan. This is the only verse where Allah named the month of Ramadan:
If you were to look at the translation and the meaning of this verse, you will come to know that in this one particular verse, Allah has given us the complete plan — not only for the month of Ramadan, rather for the whole year.
Allah begins the verse with the word شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ — the month of Ramadan — الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ — is the month in which the Quran was revealed — which is the indication that our relationship with the Book of Allah must increase within the month of Ramadan. And we have tried, alhamdulillah, to read the Quran, to recite the Quran throughout the day, and also to attend the night prayer to listen to the Quran during the month of Ramadan.
And then within the same verse, Allah makes mention of the obligation of fasting as well — whoever amongst you witnesses this month, he must fast. And then Allah completes and ends the ayah with saying: so that you can complete the number of the fasting — the number of the fasting of the month of Ramadan, which is 29 or 30 days — and then once you have completed that number, you should say Allahu Akbar because of what Allah has guided you.
And this is what we did yesterday — you magnify Allah, you glorify Allah for His guidance. If you are guided towards the religion of Islam, if Allah enabled you and allowed you to fast during the month of Ramadan, to read the Quran, to make du'a, to give in charity, and to do other good deeds, then this is solely from Allah. Because لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ — no one has any ability or capability to do any good deed or to refrain and abstain from committing sins until Allah helps them.
So this is the word with which Allah concludes the ayah: so that you continue thanking Allah. And thankfulness to Allah requires and necessitates that we continue with all those good deeds that we have done during the month of Ramadan. For the next 11 months we need to focus on this — so that you can thank Allah.
The Sunnah of Continuing Good Deeds
If we were to look at the seerah of our Nabi Muhammad, peace be upon him, and we reflect on the sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, we come to know that the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not do any good deed in the month of Ramadan that he would have stopped by the end of the month — or once the month of Ramadan was over, discontinued.
Continuing the Fast
When it comes to fasting, we know that the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not fast only in the month of Ramadan. Although the fasting of the month of Ramadan is an obligation, other than the month of Ramadan — once Ramadan was over — the Prophet, peace be upon him, would continue fasting every Monday and Thursday, and for the three white days of every lunar month — the 13th, 14th, and 15th of every month.
Also, the Prophet, peace be upon him, recommended us to fast for six days within this month — the month of Shawwal. He, peace be upon him, said: whoever fasts for six days in this month, it is as if the person has fasted for the whole year. Why? Because we have fasted for 30 days within the month of Ramadan, and as Allah, out of His mercy, has promised us — particularly this Ummah — that He rewards us 10 times for every single deed. So when we fasted for one day, Allah rewarded us a minimum of 10 days; for 30 days it is as if we have been rewarded for 300 days. And now 60 days are remaining — so if we were to fast for another 6 days, it will be as if we have fasted for the whole year.
Continuing the Night Prayer
When it comes to the night prayer, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, would continue with his night prayer beyond the month of Ramadan. And particularly, in order to thank Allah — as it has been reported by our mother Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, in a hadith reported by Imam Al-Bukhari:
Our mother Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, asked the Prophet, peace be upon him, and she said: "O Messenger of Allah, I see you spending the whole night in worshipping Allah, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram, and having long qiyam and standing before Allah to the extent that I could see the swelling on your feet. Why is this? Has Allah not forgiven all of your sins?"
What was the answer of the Prophet, peace be upon him? The answer was what Allah recommended us in this ayah — so that you are thankful to Allah. He, peace be upon him, said: "If Allah has forgiven me my sins, if Allah has blessed me, then should I not be a thankful servant to Allah, Dhul Jalali wal Ikram?"
So if you feel that you have done your best during the month of Ramadan to perform all those good deeds, then part of thankfulness to Allah is that you must continue — and you thank Allah by continuing all those good deeds that you have done during the month of Ramadan.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, also said to Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him — a young companion who used to live in the masjid. He once saw a dream and mentioned it to his sister Hafsa, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Hafsa told that dream to the Prophet, peace be upon him, who interpreted it and then made some comments about Abdullah. Hafsa informed Abdullah about the comments of the Prophet, peace be upon him — and what were those comments? He said: "Abdullah is a very good individual, a very good man — if only he starts praying at night."
And when Abdullah started praying at night, every single night, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, once advised him and said: "O Abdullah, now that you have started the night prayer, make sure you continue — and do not be like so and so, who started the night prayer and then stopped it."
And because of this advice of the Prophet, peace be upon him, Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, continued performing his night prayer throughout his life, every single night.
When it comes to the night prayer, we all pray our Salatul Witr after Salatul Isha. And it is permissible to pray Witr straight after Salatul Isha — but we should know and understand that Witr is not part of the Isha prayer. As many of us misunderstand — Witr is not part of the Isha prayer; rather, Witr is part of the night prayer. And the best time to perform Salatul Witr is by the end of the night, after you have performed some nawafil.
So if you cannot pray all eight raka'at and three Witr, then at least have the habit of praying at least two raka'at every single night — رَكْعَتَانِ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ — two raka'at, only two nawafil, every single night. And if you can, wake up in the latter part of the night, in which Allah descends to the lowest heaven and accepts the du'a of the believer.
Continuing Charity and Sadaqah
When it comes to charity and sadaqah, again the Prophet, peace be upon him, would continue spending in the way of Allah beyond the month of Ramadan.
Continuing the Recitation of the Quran
When it comes to the recitation of the Quran — alhamdulillah, we tried our best to recite the Quran during the month of Ramadan, and many of us tried to even complete at least once the whole Quran from cover to cover. And this should not be the end — rather we need to continue. If your focus in the month of Ramadan was to simply read the Quran, now you have the next 11 months to go through the translation and the meaning of the Quran. Attend some classes to learn more about the Quran, to know the message of the Quran.
If you were not able to read the Quran during the month of Ramadan because you never learned, then now you have 11 months — and you should not wait until next Ramadan comes and then start regretting again, saying: "What can I do? I never learned how to read the Quran." Now you have 11 months. Start learning. Alhamdulillah, this masjid provides facilities for Tajweed classes and Tafseer classes and many other educational activities — so you can enroll in any of those classes and benefit.
The Value of Sincerity in Good Deeds
The point is that we must continue with all those good deeds, and we must ask Allah to give us tawfiq and ability to continue with all those good deeds, and that Allah accepts our good deeds. It is true that during the month of Ramadan, Allah increases the reward of good deeds — but it does not mean that we stop performing those good deeds after the month of Ramadan. We can still continue performing good deeds, and we should continue, and we can also get extra reward by having sincere intention — with ikhlas.
As the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: the reward of good deeds is multiplied by up to 700 times. So it all depends on the sincerity and the ikhlas of your intention — when it comes to reading the Quran, when it comes to fasting, when it comes to giving in charity.
To the extent that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2527; also reported in Mustadrak al-Hakim)
"Sometimes, in the sight of Allah, one single dirham — or you can say one pound — has more value than 100,000 dirhams." The companion asked the Prophet, peace be upon him: "How does this work, O Messenger of Allah?" He, peace be upon him, explained: "There is a person who has only two dirhams — he possesses only two dirhams and has nothing more than these two. And he decides to give one of them in the way of Allah — to give half of his wealth in the way of Allah — which, although it is only one dirham, for him it is half of his wealth. Whereas another person possesses hundreds of thousands of dirhams and decides to give 100,000 in the way of Allah. So that one dirham in the sight of Allah has more value."
It does not mean that those who donate and give in the way of Allah hundreds of thousands are not rewarded — but the point here is that Allah looks at the sincerity of your intention. So you can continue increasing your reward by having sincere intention, and by continuing all those good deeds.
The Importance of Du'a — for Ourselves and the Ummah
Finally — when Allah made mention of the month of Ramadan and all those good deeds that Muslims should do in the month of Ramadan and after it, in the next ayah, Allah focuses on one particular matter: the matter of du'a. The du'a is something that we must continue.
When we make du'a for ourselves, we must make du'a for our children, for our parents, for our relatives, for our friends, for the people around us — and more importantly, for the whole Ummah. We must make du'a for those oppressed Muslims around the globe who are being oppressed — in Palestine, in Burma, in Kashmir, in Syria, in Yemen, in Iraq, in Eritrea, in Sudan, in Bangladesh, in India — wherever they are, those who are being oppressed, we must remember them in our du'as.
We ask Allah that He removes the hardships and the difficulties of all the Muslims around the globe, and may Allah help the oppressed ones in every way.