20160603- First Khutba - Essence of Fasting

Opening — Testimony of Faith and Taqwa

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and there is no partner for Him. I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. I bear witness that the most truthful speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of our Master Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions.

And the worst of things are their innovations, and every innovation is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the fire.

As Allah says to us, what means: O you who have attained faith, be Allah-conscious. Have reverence and awe in your hearts for Allah in a way that is worthy of Allah, worthy of who He is, worthy of His attributes and names, worthy of His beauty and majesty, worthy of His infinite perfection in His beauty and in His majesty, worthy also of what He gives, of favours and bounties, internal and external.

May we be of those who show that due reverence to Him, and make sure we do not die except in a state of Islam — in a state of loving, loving surrender of our souls and spirits, of our hearts and minds, of our words and deeds and conduct, all in loving, loving surrender to Allah. Ameen.

The Month of Sha'ban — Preparation for Ramadan

This is still the month of Sha'ban, a few more days left. I pray and I hope that those of us who have fumbled during this month and forgot that this month is a special month in preparation for Ramadan, as Rasulullah ﷺ indicated to us — and that one of those nights in the month of Sha'ban, the middle of it, is a night in which Allah, by His munificence, benevolence, magnanimity, and loving mercy, forgives all His creation except a mushrik, for example, and a mushahin.

Except a mushrik — one who associates partners with Allah in worship and in lordship. Or one who is mushahin — who is spiteful, full of grudges, and who argues confrontationally, and who challenges confrontationally, and who is not easy and peaceful, and does not let things go. Those who want to stay in a state of animosity — initiated or reciprocated — simply with a desire to inflict pain and harsh feelings on others, or for the sake of selfish aims and objectives.

If one is like that, one would not expect that special gift during this month of Sha'ban on that night from Allah to all His creation. May Allah guard our hearts.

Ramadan Approaches — The Sighting of the Crescent

And in continuation of this spirit of Sha'ban, as it's going to end, Ramadan is on the verge of entering. We can see Ramadan already — no, not in the horizon, even closer. Approaching — that beautiful personality that we left last year. Or rather, he left us last year. As he was leaving and looking backwards and waving, As-salamu alaykum, I will see you insha'Allah next year. In the spirit I left you with — now he's going to come back with that same spirit of benevolence and magnanimity and expectation from us. That we have been living the spirit with which he left us.

The month of Ramadan, as it is going to begin insha'Allah, for those of us who are keen in strictly abiding by the letter of the law and observing the spirit of the law, we will not begin to fast until we have confirmation of the sighting of the crescent. As Rasulullah, Sayyiduna wa Mawlana, ordered us, صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم.

On Sunday evening, in accordance with the exact signs of the sunan of Allah in His creation, it is impossible for the crescent to be sighted anywhere in Africa, Asia, or Europe. But the chances are very serious for it to be sighted in the Americas — North America mostly, and partly Central America and South America. Most likely, we will be expecting, insha'Allah, to begin the fast on the basis of sighting in North America. Perhaps — I say perhaps — but we have to watch on Monday, insha'Allah.

Those east of the Americas, if they base themselves on the sighting of the crescent, there is nothing to be sighted on Sunday evening. And therefore, if they rely on global sighting, they should rely on the west — not the west rely on the east. That is part of the laws of Allah in nature. A crescent cannot be sighted in the east and not sighted in the west. And if it is sighted in the west, it doesn't have to be sighted in the east.

Having said that — and this is not the spirit of fasting, this is not the spirit of Ramadan, but this is required by the law — that we begin our fasting on the basis of the sighting of the crescent. As Rasulullah, Sayyiduna Mawlana, said:

A statement unequivocal, explicit, that does not allow for extra interpretation. He said: you do not start to fast — he didn't say only start to fast when you sight it, he said also — you do not start to fast until you sight the crescent. And you do not finish the fast until you sight the crescent, or you complete 30 days of fasting.

The Essence of Ramadan — The Angel's Daily Call

But the spirit — some of us get hung up with this and other things that are important but not as important as the following. And we lose the essence and the reality and the haqiqa and the spirit of Ramadan and the fasting of Ramadan.

When, for example, Sayyiduna Mawlana Rasulullah ﷺ informs us that during this month, every day, day and night, an angel is summoned and specially assigned by Allah to declare in the angelic dimension — that the physical ears do not detect and the physical eyes do not detect, but some hearts and the ears of some hearts and the eyes of some hearts do perceive — the angel declaring:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 682; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1642)

That angel, every day, summons our hearts and minds and declares to us every day until the end of Ramadan: O seeker of virtue and goodness, أَبْشِرْ — here's your chance. Here's your chance. Good news for you. And O seeker of evil, أَقْصِرْ — withhold. This is not the time for it, especially.

Note here that the call is for virtue and goodness, and a call against evil. Virtue and goodness are of three kinds: emotional and intellectual and internal; second, through our limbs and senses; and third, through our words.

Khayr can be through what we feel — what we allow ourselves to feel, the moods inside of us — what we allow ourselves in the way we behave and conduct ourselves, في تصرفاتنا الظاهرة. And thirdly, في أقوالنا الظاهرة — the way we speak. Or evil in those three — in the way we feel and what we harbor inside and what we allow inside; in the way we behave and conduct ourselves; and in the words we utter. During Ramadan, the emphasis is about this.

May we be of those who listen to this call — this divine, through-the-angel call to every one of us who is interested in connecting with Allah and in truly fasting. Not just fasting. Truly fasting. Really fasting.

The Gates of Paradise Open, the Gates of Hell Shut

So why is the angel saying يَا بَاغِيَ الْخَيْرِ أَبْشِرْ وَيَا بَاغِيَ الشَّرِّ أَقْصِرْ? He is saying to you and to me: look what's happening, look what Allah is doing for you this month.

And listen to this. I remind you only —

Reminders are useful to those who have faith. What is happening? Listen to this. Rasulullah, Mawlana, صلى الله عليه وسلم, says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1899; Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 4)

When the month of Ramadan comes and arrives — and it is coming soon — by an act of divine merciful love and loving mercy and kindness and compassion and benevolence and magnanimity, the gates of Jannah, of paradise, are wide open in a very special way during this month. And the gates of hell during this month are shut. And the devils are locked and chained.

That's why the angel is calling: look what happened, look what Allah is doing — for you, for all human beings, all creatures during this month. يَا بَاغِيَ الْخَيْرِ أَقْبِلْ — do you understand? Therefore, all seekers of goodness, hurry up, أَقْبِلْ. What an excellent opportunity — the gates of Jannah are open. Goodness and virtue will be made easy for you to do if you want to enter Jannah. The gates are open. Hurry up.

Repent to Allah. Ask for forgiveness. Rectify your relationships with one another — with your parents, with your teachers, with your students, with your family, with your neighbours, with everybody. Rectify your relationships. Don't be a fool. Only if you don't want to be good and you are really bad will you not take this opportunity.

O seeker of evil, stop with it all. The gates of hell are shut. It's going to be even difficult to want to do evil. And if you still do evil, then you've got to be really evil. Because even the devils are chained. Shaytan is chained.

Ramadan — Discovering Your Nafs

You know, in our lives, that which incites us to do evil comes from two basically — two reasons, two sources: Shaytan and my nafs. My own nafs. So if, by the grace of Allah, Allah says that Shaytan during this month is chained — here the opportunity is the opportunity for you to discover your nafs.

You know, when in laboratory experiments we have three or four variables that affect an outcome and we want to know what's the exact effect of each variable, what do we do? We stop the effect of three — we make them inoperative — and then we watch one of them and see what happens. And then we know that the result is due to this specific variable, not to the others. And then we take the next one and stop the others, and so on.

This we cannot do. We cannot control Shaytan. But Allah says: during this month, I do that for you as a gift. This variable — you have two: Shaytan and the self. The Shaytan variable, I chain. I make inoperative. You're left with your nafs. During this month, you and I learn about my nafs.

If I still continue to do evil — to be the same character I was in Sha'ban and Rajab and before that and before that — the same character, the same faults, the same mistakes, the same feelings, the same comportments, the same behavior, the same incapacity and inability to be good — then I should not blame Shaytan. I learned during this month that all of that, Shaytan had nothing to do with it. This is all me.

Then I discover what I am. And then, if I am still sincere: Ya Allah, during this month, please help me. This is not Shaytan — this is me. Please help me change. And therefore be good. Only a person whose nafs is evil, or mostly evil, will continue to be evil in Ramadan — will continue to be the same person in his or her relationship with Allah, vertically speaking, and horizontally speaking in his or her relationship with the creatures of Allah. That same wrongful, improper relationship continues during this Ramadan — only if I am evil, or a person who doesn't care, truly and essentially, about his or her relationship with Allah.

And Ramadan helps me discover that level of sincerity inside of me. If, when I discover — by this very simple way of Shaytan being inoperative — I observe my nafs, and I discover my nafs, and I still justify what I have been doing by my nafs and not because of Shaytan — then may Allah really help me.

Ramadan — Cultivating Compassion for the Suffering

Ramadan, in essence also, helps me be compassionate, and gentle, and caring for the plight of those who are suffering, and in pain, and hungry and homeless. Because during this month, Allah, by His wisdom, makes it obligatory on me not to eat, and not to drink, and not to indulge in halal — haram is always haram — sexual activity. The essence during this month is beyond that. To teach me that the purpose of my life is beyond that.

When I do that — when I voluntarily stop doing those things, eating and drinking and this and that — then I am obliged to feel hunger, and to feel some pain, that the homeless and the hungry and the needy and the poor and the orphan who don't have, feel all the time. La ilaha illallah.

Mind you, there are those of us and around us who are hungry every day, who hurt every day, who are not clothed every day — and more than that, it is despite them, not voluntarily. And not only that, they don't have a home to go to, to end that feeling of hunger at the end of the day.

Billahi alaykum — I ask you by Allah: if during Ramadan I don't get to this point of feeling that, then what type of fasting is it? If my heart continues to be selfish and self-centered — only my interests, in all fields of life — Ramadan teaches us a lot. If in this way I am only self-centered, this means I am a person also self-centered in the other affairs of my life and other projects of my life and other interests of my life.

Aqoolu qawli hadha, wa astaghfirullah al-'azeem li wa lakum fastaghfiruhu — tawba lil mustaghfirin. Please seek the forgiveness of Allah — what an excellent abode awaits those who sincerely seek forgiveness from Allah. Astaghfirullah al-'azeem.

Second Khutbah — The Reality of True Fasting

Alhamdulillahi wa kafa, wa sallallahu 'ala 'ibadihi alladhina astafa. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammad, al-Fatihi lima ughliq, al-Khatimi lima sadaq, mu'allimi al-haqqi bil-haqq, wa nasiri al-haqqi bil-haqq, wa al-hadi ila sirat Allah al-mustaqeem, wa 'ala alihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdarihi al-'azeem. Ameen.

That's why, my dear brothers and sisters — emphasizing the spirit of Ramadan, emphasizing this spirit as the angels declare every day, emphasizing the teachings of Allah through His Rasul, صلى الله عليه وسلم, as we pointed out, about the essential reality of fasting — that's why he also tells us:

Emphasizing the haqiqa, the reality, the essence of fasting. When he also says, صلى الله عليه وسلم: whosoever — which means whosoever — when we fast, does not withhold and does not stop, for example, from being one who lies and therefore testifies falsely, and does not stop from acting upon such things — qawl al-zoor: to speak incorrect things, improper things, and to even testify falsely and witness falsely. And oftentimes we do that when we have interests at stake and we are so clouded and darkened that we don't see except what we want. And then our words and our comportment is one that is not consistent with truthfulness. Then we lie — even when we are fasting, even in Ramadan.

And Rasulullah, Mawlana, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said — and therefore you would agree — emphasizing the haqiqah of fasting, the essential reality of fasting — that if a person does that while fasting, Allah is in no need that that person refrain from eating and drinking.

Isn't this telling you and me that the essence of fasting — and you must, and we must, stop from eating and drinking; if you don't, that's a double jeopardy —

That's darkness upon darkness. But he is indicating to us that if we fast and our hearts and our senses and our limbs and our words are not in resonance, in harmony, consistent with what Allah loves — as His names are all beautiful — if it is not consistent with the beauty of His names, then that is no fasting.

The Fast of Every Limb and Faculty

And therefore, I and you must watch our hearts. Must watch our eyes, our ears, our tongues, our hands, our legs, our sexual drives, our skins, our touch, our smell. We must — and most importantly — our قُلُوب, our hearts — we must always be watchful of that. They must fast.

My eyes must fast. My ears must fast. My tongue must fast. My hands, my resources, my power, my ability, my intelligence must fast. My legs must fast. My sexual drives must fast. My skin, my touch must fast. My moods, my emotions, my drives must fast.

الإمساك — fasting is about withholding, restraining. And if those are not restrained, and I stop from eating and drinking, I am very immature. So may Allah help me.

Du'a — Closing Supplication

Ya Allah, help us be of those who support every good thing, every beautiful thing You love — and stop us from supporting, even when we do that and we want to do that, if we know or we don't know. Please stop us — inside of us first, and then externally outside of us — from indulging in that which You do not love. Ya Rabb al-'Alameen.

Indeed, Allah commands justice and excellence and giving to those of kin, and He forbids immorality and wrongdoing and transgression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed.

Qumu ila salatikum, yarhamkumullah. Rise to your prayer, may Allah have mercy on you.

Please guard your hearts. Make sure our brothers in the last rows make sure that you connect the lines.