Preparing For Ramadan - Sheikh Abdul-Hadi

Khutbah: Preparing for Ramadan

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, ask for His help, and ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He sends astray, none can guide him.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He has sent him with the truth as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.

As for the rest, the best hadith is the Book of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. And the worst of things are their innovations. And every innovation is an invention. And every invention is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Importance of Sha'ban as a Preparation for Ramadan

Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, Alhamdulillah, we are now in the month of Sha'ban. And we have spent almost two-thirds of this month. This month is very close to the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is like a season for a Muslim in many ways — a season for getting extra reward, for tawbah, and for getting the pleasure of Allah. And this is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed — as a book of guidance for all mankind.

According to the Sunnah, we have to start from now our preparation for Ramadan. If we give something extra priority, then we need to prepare. Like a student before an examination, or a businessman before trade, or a farmer before harvest season — we as true believers have to give our priority to Ramadan in order to please Allah, in order to get extra reward, or to do tawbah.

We have to try to make ourselves prepared from now on, as Rasulullah ﷺ used to do. And he said about this month: many people in this month are careless, despite this being the month in which their deeds will be presented to Allah. And he used to fast in this month — the month of Sha'ban — and he said that he likes to present his deeds while he is fasting.

So this is also the Sunnah of Nabi al-Karim ﷺ. And Umm al-Mu'minin, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I never saw the Prophet ﷺ fasting after the month of Ramadan more than in this month — the month of Sha'ban.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 179 — narrated by 'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her)

And to differentiate between the end of Sha'ban and the beginning of Ramadan, he would prefer to leave a gap of two or three days before the ending of this month. And the famous companion Usama, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I asked the Prophet ﷺ the reason for this — why are you fasting so much in the month of Sha'ban? And Rasulullah ﷺ explained that this is the month when deeds are presented before Allah, and that fasting in it is also a preparation for Ramadan.

But we should not fast in Sha'ban in a certain innovated way — for example, only one specific day — as some people are doing nowadays. And also many have innovated things in this month for a specific night, such as buying extra candles, lights, and fireworks. Is this according to the teaching of Rasulullah ﷺ? No, not like that. He used to prepare by fasting. And we should make our preparation also according to the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Two Types of People in Ramadan: 'Adah vs. 'Ibadah

Why do we need preparation? We can look at people — those who start Ramadan — and for easy understanding we can divide them into two categories.

The first category of people is those who spend this month as a routine. They don't bother about the rules, conditions, or requirements for fasting. The second group of people are those who treat the month of Ramadan as an act of Ibadah.

There is a big difference between 'Adah — a routine, cultural thing — and 'Ibadah — an act of worship of Allah. Those who treat this month as a routine will be fasting, but they may not observe the necessary requirements for fasting. They are lying, they are cheating, and they are earning haram. And they may come to pray Salat al-Tarawih, but they don't bother about the obligatory prayers. Although Salat al-Tarawih is great and you will get reward — but what about Salat al-Zuhr, Salat al-'Asr, Salat al-Maghrib?

And the Prophet ﷺ said about this type of people:

"Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need of him giving up his food and drink." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1903)

In other words, such a person is merely starving. Like hundreds of people throughout the world who don't have anything to eat or drink — they are starving. Can we say that they are fasting? No, because fasting is an act of 'Ibadah, and 'Ibadah is based on our intention, our niyyah.

The Reward for Those Who Fast as 'Ibadah

Those who fast as 'Ibadah — those who clean their hearts and minds and follow the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ — have a great reward. As the Prophet ﷺ says: the person who believes firmly in Allah and is trying to get His pleasure, Allah will forgive all his sins.

"Whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 204)

And also in a Hadith Qudsi, Allah says: whatever we are doing, we will get reward with a certain quota — a fixed amount of reward — except sawm, except fasting:

"Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting — it is for Me, and I will reward it." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1904; Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 163)

In other words, there is unlimited reward — because he fasted as an act of 'Ibadah, not as a 'Adah. And also on the Day of Judgment, such a person will enter Jannah with special protocol — through a special gate called Ar-Rayyan.

"Indeed, in Paradise there is a gate called Ar-Rayyan, through which those who fast will enter on the Day of Resurrection. No one other than them will enter through it." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1896; Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 166)

Ramadan: The Month of the Qur'an

This is also the month of the Qur'an. The Qur'an is the book of guidance for all mankind — a book of instruction to navigate the way to Jannah.

If we want to understand the straight path — Sirat al-Mustaqim — how are we going to do this? By Qur'an al-Majid. The Qur'an is the book of criteria — Al-Furqan. If we want to understand what is right and what is wrong, who is the criterion? Me? You? Pir Sahib? Sheikh Sahib? Scholar Sahib? No. The criterion is Qur'an al-Majid and the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Therefore, we need to read the Qur'an al-Karim. The recitation of Qur'an al-Majid is the first responsibility towards the Qur'an. Whatever we read of the Qur'an, for each and every letter — not a sentence or a word — according to the hadith of Nabi ﷺ, for each letter we will get at least ten times the reward.

"Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah will have a reward, and that reward will be multiplied by ten. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter, and Mim is a letter." (Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2910)

So you can imagine, for a person who is reading the whole Qur'an al-Majid, how much reward he will be entitled for. But this is the first step towards the Qur'an. The second step is understanding the teaching of Qur'an al-Majid, because this is a book of guidance. And Alhamdulillah, we have many ways for understanding the teaching of Qur'an al-Majid. If we don't understand the Arabic language, still there is no excuse — there are many sources by which we can understand its teaching.

Practical Steps to Prepare for Ramadan

We need to start reading at least from now and change our routine in a practical way. Because maybe some brothers and sisters, after Eid of last year, have not fasted a single day. So if they want to change their routine, they should fast according to the Sunnah in this month to readjust themselves. And likewise, many brothers may not have touched the Qur'an al-Majid after the Eid of the previous Ramadan. So they need to start reading at least a portion of Qur'an al-Majid every day.

And start doing dhikr — to engage ourselves in dhikr in the month of Ramadan. So from now we need to change our routine. We need to make adjustment for work, because many brothers who are working have the excuse that they don't get time to do 'ibadah. Therefore they try to do a minimum amount of 'ibadah in this important month. We need to readjust our timetable, our routine, and our social and family activities — from now — to get maximum, not minimum benefit from the month of Ramadan.

And also we need to change the atmosphere at home as well — involve family members to join us in extra 'ibadah. Because Ramadan is not only for us as individuals; it is for our children as well, for our family members as well. So let them join in 'ibadah.

Let us change ourselves from now. Let us make this month better than previous years. Let us read and understand the Qur'an more than what we did last year. Let us spend this month as recommended.

According to the Salaf, they used to make du'a before Ramadan, saying: "O Allah, take us to this month in good health and iman." And in the month of Ramadan, they used to do 'ibadah. And after Eid, they used to make du'a again for the acceptance of whatever they did during the month of Ramadan.

Ensure Your Income is Halal

My brothers, from now we need to change in order to get maximum benefit from the month of Ramadan — from reading Qur'an al-Majid, doing dhikr. And also, my request is to our respected brothers: make sure of our sources of income. Because our du'a and our 'ibadah are based on our sources of income. If we are earning haram, our du'a will be rejected — regardless of the month of Ramadan. We are asking and doing du'a, but it will be rejected.

The Prophet ﷺ mentioned a man who travels long, is dishevelled and dusty, raising his hands to the sky saying "O Lord! O Lord!" — but his supplication is rejected. Why?

"His food is forbidden, his drink is forbidden, his clothing is forbidden, and he has been nourished with what is forbidden — how then can his supplication be answered?" (Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 65)

So we have to make sure from now that our sources of income are according to Islamic Shari'ah — whether they are halal or haram, permissible or impermissible according to Islamic Shari'ah.

Du'a and Closing

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability for understanding the teaching of Qur'an and Sunnah, and following the best. May Allah grant us a blessed month with health and safety. And may Allah enable us to do the same work that the Messenger of Allah has instructed. May Allah protect us from everything that is going to cause His displeasure.

Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Glory, above what they describe. And peace be upon the Messengers. And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Al-Fatihah.

Announcements

Task Force GLM has partnered with various bread factories in Idlib, Syria, with the aim to bake enough bread to provide up to 12 million Syrian refugees with bread free of charge, inshallah. We ask all our brothers and sisters to donate generously towards this noble project. Please remember, for every person that receives bread from the factory, you will inshallah be rewarded immensely.

As announced in previous weeks, every Friday after Jumu'ah, we will be holding a snack stall outside both brothers' and sisters' entrances. All proceeds will go towards the bread project. Please visit the stalls on your way out and make a purchase.

Sisters at GLM-CC, in association with TFGLM and Human Appeal, are holding a Sisters' Charity Dinner, raising money to feed the Syrian people on Saturday 6th June from 4pm till 8pm. There will be performances, stalls, auctions, a three-course meal and much more. Tickets are £15 and can be purchased from the stall outside, or alternatively from the reception during office hours. Sisters are also taking donations of brand new or once-worn wedding clothes for the event.

GLM-CC presents: Getting the Most of Ramadan — the biggest event of the year so far. Join us for a unique weekend with one of the senior students of Ibn Baz, rahimahullah. We are honoured to announce that Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sadhan will be with us delivering lectures on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th of June. All lectures will be from 8pm to 11pm inshallah. It is a free event and overnight stays are available. For registration, please visit our website.

Tonight's Urdu lecture will take place after Salat al-Maghrib. Saturday's lecture after Maghrib is entitled The Best Ramadan Ever and will be delivered by Ustad Aqeel Mahmood.

Islamwise will be delivering a 5-week course on the 5 Pillars of Islam for New Muslim Brothers starting on Wednesday 10th of June at 6pm. Please contact Islamwise for registration.

Our food bank service urgently requires food donations. We are currently running low on cooking oil, milk, rice, and drinks. Please leave your donations during office hours at the Masjid's reception, Door C.

If you are struggling to find work, need help completing your CV, or need interview skills, we are now offering a service for you. GLMCC Job Club is running every Monday, with morning sessions for sisters and afternoon sessions for the brothers. For more information, please come to reception through Door C.

Lastly, we apologise for the inconvenience caused by the building work in the Masjid. We are trying our best to improve the site for your comfort, access, and your worship. Please have patience with us. Once again, please donate generously on your way out.