Entering the Month of Ramadan - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Entering the Month of Ramadan

Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ، وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, the blessed month of Ramadan is about to start within the matter of a few hours, bi-idhnillah. As we prepare ourselves for the blessed month of Ramadan, many of us have made some kind of plans in terms of what to do in the month of Ramadan, and we have also gone through the rulings of fasting — what is permissible, what is not permissible, all the do's and don'ts within the month of Ramadan. Many of us have prepared. I would like to share some piece of advice in today's khutbah with regards to how to enter into the month of Ramadan — what is the best way to enter into the month of Ramadan.

The Opening of the Gates of Jannah

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, as we all know the famous hadith of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in which he said: on the first night of Ramadan, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of hell are closed. As soon as the month of Ramadan begins — meaning the very first night of the month of Ramadan — Allah wide opens all the gates of Jannah, and out of His mercy for His slaves He closes all the gates of the Hellfire. And a caller calls: O the seeker of good, move forward and increase your acts of worship! And O the seeker of evil and sins, stop! And Allah is going to free many of His slaves every single night within the month of Ramadan. May Allah make us amongst those who are freed from the fire of Hell with His mercy and His permission.

First Advice: Enter Ramadan with Sincere Repentance

The very first advice I would like to share with you is that each one of us must enter into the month of Ramadan with the intention of repenting from our sins — with sincere intention of repenting from our sins and seeking Allah's forgiveness within the month of Ramadan. The month of Ramadan is the month of forgiveness. That is why Allah welcomes His slaves and calls them so that they can turn to Him, and out of His mercy He closes all the gates of Jahannam for us so that we can save ourselves from the fire of Hell. So enter into the month of Ramadan with the intention of repenting from all the sins that you have been involved in.

Allah says in the Quran:

O you who believe, turn to Allah with sincere repentance. The scholars have said that for tawbat an-nasuha — sincere repentance — there are certain conditions.

The Conditions of Sincere Repentance

The first and most important condition is sincerity — that you turn to Allah and seek Allah's forgiveness with sincerity, with the ikhlas of your heart, meaning you turn to Allah and seek His forgiveness while you truly and really want to seek Allah's forgiveness.

The second condition is that you express your regret on the sins that you have been involved in. You say to Allah: O my Lord, O my Creator, You bestowed so many of Your favours and bounties upon me, You showered Your mercy upon me, You blessed me with so many favours — yet I am the one who has been disobeying You. O Allah, I disobeyed You day and night. I have wronged myself. O Allah, I have committed sins in public and in secrecy. O Allah, I have disobeyed You and I have disobeyed Your Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. But I repent to You now, O Allah. I regret all the sins that I have committed in the past. O Allah, forgive me and wipe out all of my previous sins.

The third condition is that you make a sincere promise to Allah that you will never go back to those sins. After seeking Allah's forgiveness, you say: O Allah, forgive me. I have been deceived, I have been tricked by Shaitan, my biggest enemy. I have disobeyed You, but now I promise that I give up those sins and I will never ever go back to them. Stop committing those sins and make a promise to Allah: O Allah, I will never ever go back to those sins — in the month of Ramadan and even after the month of Ramadan.

The scholars have also said that if it is something to do with the rights of people, then you have to pay them their rights before you ask Allah's forgiveness. It is not that you have wronged someone, you have hurt someone, you have consumed someone's wealth and taken their right, and then you say: O Allah, forgive me. No — you have to give them their right back first, and then ask Allah: O Allah, forgive me. O Allah, shower Your mercy upon me. I sincerely repent to You.

Clearing the Rights of Others Before Ramadan

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, it is very important — unfortunately many of us wrong others intentionally or unintentionally, and we find it very difficult to admit that we have wronged others. Naturally, each one of us tries to blame others: so-and-so has wronged me, but as for me, I have not done anything wrong, I did not hurt him, I did not mean it. Whether it was intentional or unintentional, seek Allah's forgiveness and approach the person you have wronged. Even if the other person thinks that you wronged them but you believe you did not — still approach them and ask them to forgive you for the sake of Allah.

You do not want to be making efforts in the month of Ramadan — staying hungry and thirsty for the entire day, spending hours in qiyam every single night, giving a lot of charity in the way of Allah, making a lot of du'a, reciting Quran, doing the dhikr of Allah — but all of your efforts go to waste, or all of your good deeds are taken by others.

The Hadith of the Bankrupt Person

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ once said to his companions:

"Do you know who is poor and bankrupt?"

They said:

"O Messenger of Allah, the bankrupt person amongst us is the one who has no dirham, no wealth, no dinar — someone who is poor in the literal sense."

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2581)

"Rather, the poor and bankrupt person from my ummah is the one who will come on the Day of Judgment having his salah, his fasting, his zakat, and his charity in his record — expecting Allah to allow him entry into Jannah. But he will have slandered this person, falsely accused that person, consumed the wealth of that person, struck this person, and shed the blood of that person. So this person takes from his good deeds, and that person takes from his good deeds. And if his good deeds run out before all the claims against him are settled, the sins of those claimants are added into his record and then he is thrown into the fire."

And Allah says:

Fear the day when no soul will bring any benefit to anyone. Nothing will be accepted, no recompense will be accepted, no money will be accepted on that day in order to free yourself from the punishment of Allah. No intercession will even benefit without the permission of Allah. You will be standing alone before Allah with all your good deeds — but when people come and claim their rights against you, Allah, the Most Just of all judges, will order the angels to give and distribute your deeds amongst those claimants. This person takes these many good deeds, the other person takes all of his prayers, another one takes all of his fasting, another one takes all of his charity — and now he is miskeen, he is poor, left with no good deeds in his record. And not only this: if his good deeds fall short and there are still people claiming against him, the sins of those people will be added into his record and then he will be thrown into the fire. He is the one who is truly poor.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, do not enter into the month of Ramadan in this condition — where other people have claims against you. If you continue making efforts in the month of Ramadan in that state, it is as if you are making all these efforts not for yourself but for others. You are praying for others, you are fasting for others, you are giving in charity for others, you are reciting Quran for others, you are making du'a for others. And on the Day of Judgment, others will take all of your good deeds and you will be left with nothing — in fact, you may receive their sins and be thrown into the fire. Do not become muflis in the month of Ramadan.

Forgive One Another for the Sake of Allah

Enter into the month of Ramadan clearing off the rights of others and forgiving one another for the sake of Allah. When you want others to forgive you for the sake of Allah, you should be the first one to forgive others for the sake of Allah — not necessarily because others deserve your forgiveness, but solely and purely for the sake of Allah. Because this is what Allah has promised in the Quran:

"Do you not love that Allah forgives you?" Each one of us is looking forward to the month of Ramadan — the month of forgiveness and mercy. Forgive one another for the sake of Allah. If you have fallen out with someone amongst your relatives or otherwise, make up with them for the sake of Allah.

And in reality, this is the true meaning of forgiveness. If someone has not wronged you, what would be the meaning of forgiving them? You forgive them when they have wronged you — when you know that they have hurt you, that they have taken your right — and you forgive them for the sake of Allah, in order to seek Allah's forgiveness. Because if you forgive one another, Allah will forgive you. This is the promise of Allah.

May Allah give us the ability to make the most of the blessed month of Ramadan, and may we enter into the month of Ramadan with the sincere intention of repenting to Allah for all the sins that we have committed. We ask Allah that He enables us to make the most of the month of Ramadan so that when we complete the blessed month, all of our sins are forgiven by the mercy of Allah.

Second Advice: Consistency Over Burnout

Allah never gets tired until you get tired. Many of us enter into the month of Ramadan with great passion and zeal — I'm going to do this much, or these many good deeds every single day — and within the first few days we are burnt out, and then we go back to our old habits.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 6767; also reported in similar wording in Sahih al-Bukhari)

"For every deed, for every action, you have a passion and zeal when you begin. And for every passion and zeal there is a break, there is an end. Whoever, when their passion and zeal ends, comes back to my Sunnah — they are successful. And whoever goes back to his old habits and ignores the Sunnah of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — he is destroyed."

The most beloved of deeds to Allah are the deeds that are performed on a regular basis with consistency, even if they are little. Do not overburden yourself, as unfortunately many of you do at the start of the month of Ramadan.

I am not discouraging you. I am not saying that you should not increase your acts of worship — we do need to. But take upon yourself whatever you can easily manage so that you are consistent throughout the month of Ramadan, and then to a certain extent you can continue with it after the month of Ramadan.

May Allah give us all the ability and tawfiq to make the most of the blessed month of Ramadan.