Post Ramadan Recalibration - Sheikh Aqeel Mahmood

Post Ramadan Recalibration

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds.

Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whom He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it a wife, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah, about whom you ask, and the wombs. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive you your sins, and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

As for what follows, the most authentic hadith is the Book of Allah, and the best gift is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations, and every innovation is an invention, and every invention is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

Reflecting on Our State Before and During Ramadan

Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to cast your minds back to over a month ago, before the month of Ramadan started. And I want you to think about the things we were thinking, our thought processes, what was going through our mind before the month of Ramadan started. And for some of us, we may have been thinking about how quickly time has gone by, how quickly this month has come, and it was like as if we just experienced the previous Ramadan which took place. Some of us, prior to this Ramadan, we may have been thinking about ways to prepare for this month, what things we can do. And maybe others were thinking about Eid in and of itself, and they were thinking about what they were going to do, things they were going to buy, how they were going to celebrate, where they were going to go, and so on and so forth.

And then I want you to think about how we conducted ourselves in the month of Ramadan itself, and what we used to think and what we used to do, what we used to say. And maybe some of us in the month of Ramadan, we would talk to each other, and we would say, has a week gone by already? Has a third of the month gone by already? Half of Ramadan has already gone? We're almost towards the end of the month of Ramadan. And it was like as if we already started the month of Ramadan. And maybe there were others who were busy preoccupying themselves in worship, in ibadah, and doing as much good as they could do.

And it's only been five days since the month of Ramadan has finished, brothers and sisters, and it seems like it was a lot longer than this. It doesn't seem like it's just been five days. And sometimes, for those of us who've experienced and been through many Ramadans, sometimes it feels like it's run of the mill. The same experiences, the same things that we do, that we say, occur every single Ramadan, prior to Ramadan, during Ramadan, post Ramadan. Before Ramadan, we talk about what we're going to do. During the month of Ramadan, we discuss how quickly time is passing us by.

And I want us to all reflect and think about the actions that we're doing and the things that we are doing, the acts of worship that we're doing, the way we're behaving outside of the month of Ramadan, as opposed to how we were just six or seven days ago — how we were conducting ourselves, the things we were doing, the things we were saying, how we interacted with others, the way our routines were in the month of Ramadan. And then I want you to question yourselves and ask yourselves whether we are doing enough now that Ramadan has passed us by, whether we're doing enough to continue and to carry on doing those good deeds.

The Wisdom of the Scholars After Ramadan

One of the scholars of the past, once Ramadan finished and the day of Eid came, he saw groups of people, Muslims, rejoicing. And so he sighed. And he said to his students and his companions who were with him — he told them that these people have become like people who are sure that their sins have been forgiven and their deeds have been accepted. And if that's the case, then instead of rejoicing, they should be showing thanks to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Umar radiyAllahu 'anhu once had a man — when he was the leader of the Muslims — who was supplicating, making du'a. And he said, "O Allah, make me from the few." And so Umar radiyAllahu 'anhu asked him, "Why are you making this supplication? Who are the few? What do you mean make me from the few?" And so the man said, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran:

"And only a few of My slaves are thankful and grateful to Allah." And so Umar radiyAllahu 'anhu, when he heard this, he said to himself, "O Umar, the people know more about Islam than you do."

The way we behave, brothers and sisters, post Ramadan, sometimes it's as if our sins have already been forgiven. And if that is the case, then we should be showing thanks to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the way we show gratitude and thanks to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is by doing what we were created to do in the first place, which is to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Worshipping Allah azza wa jal doesn't stop when the month of Ramadan stops. There are 11 months after the month of Ramadan. Just because the month of Ramadan has finished, it doesn't mean our acts of worship now cease.

This scholar who said this about giving thanks if you think your sins have been forgiven — he said if that's not the case, then in fact we should be doing even more. We should be even more busy and preoccupying more of our time in worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And none of us are sure or certain, brothers and sisters, about whether or not our deeds in the month of Ramadan were accepted.

Sufyan al-Thawri and Lowering the Gaze

I was reading about the scholars of the past, the Muslims of the past, about how they would behave, the things they would do, the things they would say post Ramadan. One of the scholars of the past, Sufyan al-Thawri rahimahullah, when the month of Ramadan finished and the day of Eid came, he said — when his students were there — he told them: "The first thing we're going to start this day with is غَضُّ الْبَصَر, lowering our gaze." Because the actions of the Muslims after Ramadan are different to the actions in the month of Ramadan. And that's partly due to the blessings of Ramadan itself. But it's Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who gives the blessings of Ramadan in Ramadan, and it's Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who gives the blessings to the Muslims after Ramadan as well.

And when we ponder and we reflect about our actions in the month of Ramadan, maybe we spent lots of time worshipping Allah. And many of us did. We came to the masjid every single day for taraweeh prayer, without fail. And it wasn't something difficult for us. It wasn't something hard. It was something which was a routine. Every single day in the month of Ramadan, we fasted. Every single day in the month of Ramadan, many of us, we recited Quran. Maybe we finished the whole Quran in the month of Ramadan in 30 days. Maybe we finished 2 or 3 Qurans in the month of Ramadan. Many of us gave charity in the month of Ramadan, maybe every single day or every other day.

Now, when we ponder and reflect, and we look at the actions and the deeds that we did in the month of Ramadan, and then we look at post Ramadan — how much Quran have we recited in these four or five days now that Ramadan is over? How many of us have even opened the mushaf and recited the Quran now that Ramadan is over? How many of us have fasted or started to fast the six days of Shawwal? Even though there's lots of time for these fasts, how many of us have started fasting? How many of us have started to recite some Quran? How many of us have kept up some of those habits which we had in the month of Ramadan itself? How many of us are coming to the masjid regularly?

And these are things, brothers and sisters, we really need to reflect and ponder and think about. Because just because the month of Ramadan has now finished, it doesn't mean that a person now ceases to do good deeds and ceases to worship Allah like he used to in the month of Ramadan. Yes, it's easier in the month of Ramadan because of the blessings of Ramadan. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blesses whomsoever He wishes. And in fact, from the signs of an accepted Ramadan is that a person continues to do good deeds after the month of Ramadan has finished.

Two Types of People After Ramadan

When a person behaves a certain way before the month of Ramadan starts, when he acts a certain way, and then the month of Ramadan comes — he stays straight and narrow. He stays away from certain things. The month of Ramadan comes, some of us, we stay away from watching television. We stay away from Facebook, we stay away from YouTube, we stay away from hanging around or socializing with certain people. We refrain from doing certain things because of the month of Ramadan. And we continue like this for the whole of the month.

And then when the month of Ramadan finishes, brothers and sisters, there are two types of people. There are those who go back and revert to exactly what they were doing before Ramadan started. And their mentality is as if they're waiting for Ramadan to finish so they can go back to those things. They can't wait for Ramadan to end. They can't wait for Eid. And so when the month of Ramadan finishes, they go back like a comfortable pair of old shoes — straight back into their routines before Ramadan, how they were before Ramadan. And some of us may be experiencing this now, even though we're only a few days past Ramadan itself.

And then you have another category, brothers and sisters — and I ask Allah that this is the majority — where they finish the month of Ramadan and they feel a sense of remorse, a sense of regret. They question the actions that they did in the month of Ramadan, whether it was enough, whether it was actually good enough, whether it was better than the previous Ramadans that they had. Have they done more? Have they done less? And they question and they start to think about the time maybe they wasted in the month of Ramadan. The things that they used to do. The people they socialized with as a result of which they weren't able to do certain deeds. The things they watched, the things they said, how they behaved. The days of taraweeh that they missed due to laziness. The days where they neglected to read the Quran due to laziness, due to shaitan.

There are those people who ponder and reflect on these things towards the end of Ramadan, once Ramadan finishes. And those of us who work on those regrets — meaning they improve themselves after the month of Ramadan finishes — they look at their shortcomings, and they work on those shortcomings, and they continue to do some good deeds that they used to do and had a habit of doing in the month of Ramadan. They try to do them and they try to be consistent in them post Ramadan. These are the people who've learned the lessons of the month of Ramadan itself.

Umar ibn Abdulaziz: Eid Is Not About New Clothes

Umar ibn Abdulaziz, the famous leader of the Muslims — his daughters came prior to Eid and said, "We want some clothes, we want to wear some nice clothes for Eid. We want to look good for the day of Eid, we want to buy some clothes." And so Umar ibn Abdulaziz, recognizing the state of the Muslims and the mentality of the Muslims before Eid had even come, before Ramadan had even finished, he said to them:

"Eid isn't for the one who wears new clothes. Verily, Eid is for the one who fears the promised day — who fears the Day of Judgment."

Brothers and sisters, there's wisdom in the statements of Umar ibn Abdulaziz when he said this to his daughters. He wasn't saying don't wear nice clothes for the day of Eid. But he was talking about what's preoccupying our minds prior to the day of Eid, while we're still in the month of Ramadan. Because whatever's preoccupying us in Ramadan is going to preoccupy us after Ramadan as well. If a person in Ramadan was thinking about how he can't wait for Ramadan to finish, how he can't wait to go back to his routine, then this individual is going to suffer post-Ramadan, and he won't learn the lessons of the month of Ramadan itself.

One of the scholars, Qatada, he said: how can a person expect to be forgiven outside of Ramadan if he wasn't forgiven in Ramadan itself?

When a person finishes Ramadan and behaves and acts as if he's done lots of good deeds — he did so many good deeds, mashAllah, he was coming to the masjid, he was fasting, he was reading Quran, he was doing so much — "It must have been accepted. My sins must have been forgiven." This is one of the most dangerous mentalities to have post-Ramadan. Because once Ramadan finishes, the shaitan will tell you: you've done whatever you needed to do. You've done whatever you could do. You've made the effort. Just relax. Go back to how you were.

And the one who is exactly the way he was before Ramadan — this is a sign, maybe, that his deeds weren't accepted in Ramadan itself. Because he's exactly the same, he hasn't changed. The shayateen were locked up and chained up in Ramadan. Post-Ramadan, he behaves exactly how he used to behave before Ramadan started. This isn't a good sign, brothers and sisters.

What Are Our End Goals?

When Umar ibn Abdulaziz said this to his daughters, when he made that statement, he was talking about end goals. What was our goal when it came to Ramadan? Where were we going? What was our direction? What were we aiming for? Because if we were aiming for the last odd ten nights of the month of Ramadan, then we're not going to be successful. If we were aiming for the day of Eid and for the completion of the month of Ramadan, then even this isn't a definition of success that I would attribute to those who were witnessing the month of Ramadan.

But rather, as Umar ibn Abdulaziz said, Eid is for the one who is fearful of the promised day, the Day of Judgment — meaning our goal in Ramadan and post-Ramadan is for an individual to obtain the highest stations of paradise. And that's why we did the actions that we did in the month of Ramadan, brothers and sisters. That's why we did whatever it is that we were doing. We were aiming high. We were aiming for paradise.

And now that the month of Ramadan has finished, the goal is still the same. Even though the 27th night has gone. Even though the month of Ramadan has gone. The goal is still the same — to obtain Jannah, to obtain the highest stations of paradise. And so our actions, as I mentioned about the scholar who said, if a person doesn't know whether his sins have been forgiven, he should be even more busier with good deeds. We should be preoccupying ourselves even more so with good deeds than in the month of Ramadan itself. Because in the month of Ramadan, brothers and sisters, actions are easy. Allah blessed us to be able to do good deeds with ease. We could fast. We could recite Quran. We were coming to the masjid every single day. It wasn't hard.

But now that Ramadan is over, now is when the test begins. Ramadan wasn't the end. Ramadan was the beginning. Ramadan was the beginning for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to see how we're going to behave. How we're going to respond. How we're going to react.

And Ramadan should be one of those life-changing experiences. That's how this month should have been. When a person gets married, for example, it changes him. It matures him. He's a changed man. When a person becomes a father, the first job that a person has, the first house a man buys — all of these things are experiences which mature a person. They change a person. Long term. The month of Ramadan, brothers and sisters, these 30 days — every single year, this year and the previous years that we fasted and we've done acts of worship — they should be launch pads. They should be moments in time where we're actually using that time to prepare and to do even more good deeds after the month of Ramadan finishes.

Abandoning Bad Habits: The Lesson of Ramadan

Brothers and sisters, I want you all to reflect and to look at what things you left and what things you abandoned in the month of Ramadan and why you abandoned them. Maybe you stopped socializing with certain people. You stopped watching television. You stopped doing this and that. Because you wanted to focus on ibadah. You wanted to focus on worshipping Allah. But now I want to ask you, brothers and sisters — now that Ramadan has finished, why do we need to go back to those things we were doing before Ramadan when we could abandon them for 30 days?

And this shows us, brothers and sisters, first of all, that we're able to abstain from certain things by the permission of Allah if we want to. If our hearts are sincere, if we're focused, we can stay away from those things that maybe before Ramadan we thought we couldn't stay away from. Smoking, hanging around with women, doing other things that we shouldn't be doing — Ramadan comes, that's it. Straight away we stay away from those things. It's not difficult for us. And this shows, brothers and sisters, the resolve of a Muslim, and how when a person is focused, when a person has tawakkul in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah azza wa jal gives him the ability to be able to stay away from certain things he thought he could never stay away from.

And if that's the case, brothers and sisters, then after the month of Ramadan it could be the same thing. It can be the same way. You can stay away from those very same things. But it's a matter of resolve. It's a matter of wanting to change. Not just for Ramadan, but wanting to change for the betterment of your own life in the dunya and also in the akhira. It's about thinking long term. It's about Ramadan being the beginning and not being the end. It's about Ramadan being the beginning of the change in a person's life. A person becoming better as a result of the month of Ramadan. Not becoming worse. Not going back to how you were before the month of Ramadan started.

It's about a person doing even more good deeds now that Ramadan has finished. And the fact that it's harder to do good deeds post Ramadan isn't something which should put us down. It's something which should make us stronger. It's something which should make us try even harder. It's something which shouldn't make us give up and sit down and fall, but it's something which should make us rise to the challenge. Just like we rise to the challenge at work, at school, when it comes to other things and there's a challenge in front of us — we rise to those challenges. We face those challenges and we want to do well.

But when it comes to the deen, brothers and sisters, sometimes we fall short. We say it's too difficult. I can't do this. I can't do that. There's no element of a person rising to the challenge and making effort. And that's partly because of his priorities. He feels like work, study, family is more important than his deen. And so he's willing to make an effort for those things. He's willing to face those challenges. He's willing to try harder. But when it comes to his deen post Ramadan, it's too difficult. "I'll take a step back. I'm not going to entertain those acts of worship which I used to do in the month of Ramadan." We ask Allah that He gives us the ability to be able to continue those good deeds.

The Most Beloved Deeds to Allah: Consistency

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, talked about good deeds. And he talked about the most beloved deeds to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he said:

"The most beloved deeds to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are those which are consistent, even if they are small — even if they're small in number."

Nobody is asking or expecting a person to do exactly the same that he did in the month of Ramadan. And if a person is expecting this, he's going to fall short. He's going to be disappointed. Don't think that you're going to be able to read exactly the same amount of Quran. Don't think your fasts are going to be as easy as they were in Ramadan. Don't think you'll be able to give charity regularly just like you did in the month of Ramadan. Because if you expect this, then you're going to be disappointed. And it's going to affect your good deeds now that Ramadan is over.

But look at what's realistic for you. Look at what's practical. Look at what you can do on a consistent basis. Whatever you can do consistently, brothers and sisters — from fasting Mondays and Thursdays or other days of the week, from giving charity once a week or a number of days in the week, from reading Quran a page a day — whatever a person is able to do. What's more important isn't the quantity of what he's doing, but it's the quality. And it's about being consistent.

Breaking the Vicious Circle: Ramadan as a Launch Pad

We need to reflect and look at and ask ourselves: what deeds can I do that I know I'll still be doing in 11 months' time? When the next Ramadan comes, I won't be able to recite Quran every single week and complete the whole recitation of the Quran in a week — every single week. That's not practical. I know I'm able to do a page a day. I know I'm able to recite half a page a day. A person needs to look at what's realistic for him. What he can do long term.

Because then, brothers and sisters, when the next Ramadan comes — and we ask Allah to give us life to be able to witness the next Ramadan — we're not going to be talking about how quickly time has passed us by, because that's almost as if we're telling ourselves that we're not ready. But when the next Ramadan comes, we've already been fasting a few days a week, one day a week. We've already been reciting a page of Quran every single day. We've been giving some form of charity. We've been doing some salawat, extra salawat. And so when the next Ramadan comes, we're ready and we're prepared.

And that vicious circle of us doing exactly the same thing every single time the month of Ramadan comes and goes — we can destroy that vicious circle. We can break that circle. But it starts now that Ramadan is over. It starts today. We ask Allah that He makes each and every single day, as the next month of Ramadan is getting closer, to be better than the day before it.