Imam Salah mahmoud | Jumuah Khutbah | EPIC Masjid

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Just three requests for du'as. Number one is Brother Muhammad Al-Razeev Hassan is requesting du'a for his mother, Firoza Begum. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant her shifa. Number two is Sister Noorun, requesting du'a for her sister Aisha Haq, who is sick overseas. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant her shifa. And Brother Qazi, he is the owner of a restaurant here. A long time ago, when Epic was much smaller, he used to sponsor many iftars in Ramadan. Brother Qazi has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. So we ask Allah Azza wa Jal that all those who are sick, may He give them all of them shifa. And Brother Mazhar Hussain, alhamdulillah, he had a very successful spinal surgery. He's going through recovery at this point. We ask Allah to grant him a full and smooth recovery. Ameen Rabbil Alameen.

Ameen Rabbil Alameen.

Call for Support

Brothers and sisters, I don't like standing here in front of you doing this over and over again, but wallahi, we don't have a choice. As you all know that when it comes to Epic Masjid, all the services that we provide, it comes as a result of your donations. Your generosity keeps the lights on. Your generosity keeps the services going. And the services that we provide are not catered to only one segment of the community. We are catering to all these segments of the community. The seniors, the parents, the adults, the children, the youth. We're trying to cater to every single person. But at the same time, all the services that we provide, it comes as a result of your donations and your generosity.

And as we have learned from the Prophet ﷺ, if there was one time of the year where he was the most generous, it was the month of Ramadan. Now the fact that we have the last ten nights just around the corner, so that is why inshallah, I'm standing over here pleading in front of you that inshallah, I'm going to ask you and whoever can give inshallah, we're going to start off with who can give, any Kareem or Kareemah here who can give $250 on a monthly basis for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, for the house of Allah azza wa jal.

Brothers and sisters, at the end of the day, you know, there's two things here I want you all to remember. Number one is that everyone thinks that, oh, mashallah, Epic, we have this cash flow coming from somewhere where I do not even know where it's coming from. That's not necessarily true. We always have been dependent on people's generosity. But number two is that we have this mindset that I don't give, someone else will give. If I don't give, someone else will give. But if every single person is thinking that same way, then the donations will not come in and no one will give because we have this kind of a mindset.

As Hasan al-Basri says that when you give sadaqah, don't believe that you're benefiting someone else. You are actually benefiting yourself more than anyone else because you will benefit from this sadaqah on the Day of Judgment. Today you give, money comes, money goes. But if this money is given for the sake of Allah, it goes into the bank of Allah, it goes into Allah's account. And that, in the akhirah, is where you will reap the benefits, inshallah.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when it comes to money, Allah functions differently in the sense that when we give for the sake of Allah, Allah will never ever allow our finances to deplete. So that is why we always are told to give because anyone who gives, Allah will multiply in many folds.

Submission to Allah in Ramadan

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. And we will leave this dunya with, after you have the last sip of water, the last breath, the last word, you will have the last thing. If you tour the whole entire world to find a sip of water for you, they will not find a sip of water for you. You consumed all of it. So in the month of Ramadan, brothers and sisters, we learn to submit to Allah Azza wa Jal.

Nowadays, we submit to Allah Azza wa Jal only when we're convinced. You know, Shaykh, I'm not convinced. It doesn't make sense to me. And you doubt your deen, you doubt your faith, when something doesn't add up to you. No, I don't think that's the case. So many years, we thought that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is torturing us by asking us to dry fasting. By the way, dry fasting is not easy. And we did not believe that this is the best for us until finally people started talking, medicine and doctors and research, they came out saying that intermittent fasting is very good. Every now and then is bragging about it. Alhamdulillah, in our faith, we fast and we get reward from Allah Azza wa Jal.

We waited for the medical research to come out first in order for us to be more convinced about Allah Azza wa Jal. Whereas the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ did not have any medical research, but they believed in Allah Azza wa Jal.

When Hafiz Sahib started his first night of Ramadan, Surah Al-Baqarah, he said, there is no doubt about that book for the righteous ones, those who believe in the unseen. There will be a lot of things happening in your life that you cannot make sense of. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, believe this is the best for you. You may dislike something while it's good for you. You may like something while it's bad for you. Allah knows and you know not. Believe. You don't have to fully understand in everything.

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the month of Ramadan, Ikhwan, He teach us this. Allahu Akbar, stop. Allahu Akbar, start. This is what we learn in school of Ramadan brothers and sisters. We don't wait until we get like a fact. Alhamdulillah if you get a proof, Alhamdulillah, even better. But it doesn't mean that we wait for that. We believe that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala hopes us. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us to submit.

Belief Through Faith, Not Just Feeling

Nowadays, subhanahu wa ta'ala, we only believe when we feel. I feel good about something, then I believe in it. But it doesn't work like this in the religion brothers and sisters. You believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in every aspect of your life. When things are good, when things are bad, when you're going through lows and highs and ups and downs, we believe in Allah Azza wa Jal. We do not distinguish, right? وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا. So this is the first class.

Now, we are in the middle of the month of Ramadan. In terms of your deen and your relationship with Allah Azza wa Jal and سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا, how far are you? I mean, how close are you from this time to reassess and re-evaluate before the final is coming? The final is coming the last ten nights and then the month of Ramadan will be over. How is your relationship with Allah Azza wa Jal?

When you scroll on Instagram and you see something about Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, when you hear something, hadith from Rasulullah ﷺ, that you cannot make sense of, how do you feel about it? Do you reject the deen altogether because there is one aspect of the deen that you didn't fully understand? And guess what? Even if you don't understand it now, definitely, tomorrow, you will understand it.

The School of Ramadan

If you don't understand it tomorrow, some people will come, the future generation, would understand why, what is the hikmah, what is the wisdom? Just like you and I now know the wisdom of fasting, after so many years.

First Class: Submission to Allah

So the first class in the school of Ramadan, brothers and sisters, is the class of submission to Allah.

If Allah tells you to do something, you do not have the right to say, why? Why do I have to do that? I'm not convinced. When Allah tests you something, you do not have the right to raise your hand and say, why are you doing this to me? You are unfair to me. Why I'm the only one who is being tested? Why you took my father, my mother, my son, my wife, my husband, why are you treating me like this? People get angry at Allah and get frustrated.

The month of Ramadan teaches you to submit to Allah, accept everything that Allah gives you.

Second Class: Taqwa

The second class, for the sake of time, brothers and sisters, is the class of taqwa. The taqwa of Allah.

If I ask you this question, if you go outside right now in your car and go somewhere far and start eating, anyone would care? Absolutely not. Right? Nobody can see you. Nobody cares. You can go and eat. But what stops you from doing that? Why don't you go and actually break your fast somewhere? You're hungry, right? You're starving. You're thirsty. You just want a sip of water. But you do not want to do that. You do not want to break your fast. You know why? Because you know for a fact that Allah can see you.

If the whole entire world were not able to see you, Allah can see you, brothers and sisters. If you are in your school and everyone else is eating around you, and you feel like it's harder for you. Everyone is enjoying the lunch but I'm the only one who's not able to eat. What stops you from eating? It's you. Although you're a young man mashallah, you have taqwa of Allah, mindfulness of Allah.

Brothers and sisters, can we carry this mindfulness throughout our whole life? Can we do that? Even after Ramadan, mindfulness of Allah is there. اتَّقِ اللَّهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنتَ Know that Allah is watching.

Allah is watching you in Dallas. Allah watches you when you go to Chicago. Allah watches you when you go to California. Allah watches you when you go to New York. Allah watches you when you go overseas. Allah is always with you. Have this taqwa of Allah because you learn in the school of Ramadan.

It doesn't make sense that you take the class and whatever you learn after that, you know, who cares? On the day of Eid, dear Muslims, on the day of Eid, on the night of Eid, you know what happens? You know what happens? We make shaitan, we confuse shaitan sometimes. Literally, we confuse shaitan. Like, for the whole entire month, you've been doing this and on the night of Eid, you're doing some stuff that even shaitan, subhanallah, may not even, like, will be surprised that you're doing this? What is the point? What did you learn in the class of taqwa?

Allah is not there. Like, on the day of Eid, Allah has not stopped watching you. He's still there. He's still there. By the way, shaitan focus on us so much right after Eid. Most of the, you know, sins that the very, very bad sins people do after Ramadan. You know why? Because shaitan wants to prove something to you. Shaitan wants to prove you that there is no hope. That you had the month of Ramadan, the school of Ramadan for 30 days and you've worked so much and you've worked so hard yet you have not changed. There is no hope in you. Just give up. There is no doubt we have the six days of Shawwal to maintain this.

So brothers and sisters, do not waste everything that you've done in the month of Ramadan on the night of Eid. Allah will not be happy with that. Allah will not be pleased with that. التقوى We learn it. Be mindful of Allah in everything that you do.

Third Class: Determination

The third class, brothers and sisters, is the class of determination. The class of determination. العزيمة والهمة

Ramadan, before Ramadan you thought you were not able to stand for two raka'ah. Now you stand for eight raka'ah and some people stand for 20 raka'ah. Before Ramadan you thought that fasting even for a few hours was impossible. Ramadan came to teach you that, well, you can actually do it. Right? Before Ramadan you thought you cannot even read one page of the Qur'an, but look at you, masha'Allah. Some people are already in the second and the third khatmah.

Before Ramadan you thought you could not do a lot of things, but the month of Ramadan came to you, to tell you and to prove to you that you are capable of doing a lot of things. That you are strong. That you're not weak. Shaykh, I am weak. I feel like shaytan is controlling me. No, shaytan has no control on you. Shaytan knows your trigger and you just follow the path of shaytan. Shaytan knows your triggers. He knows my triggers. Shaytan knows exactly when you're about to sin.

The Psychology of Sin

There's something called the psychology of sin. I believe I spoke about before. What's the psychology of sin? Sin doesn't happen just like that. Right? It, you know, certain things come before sin. Before sinning. Number one, khatira. Imam al-Qayyim al-Jawziya says, al-khatira. It's just a thought that comes to your mind. He says, if you do not stop the sin, what happens? It will turn into an idea. If you do not stop the idea, what's going to happen after that? It will turn into a niyyah. An azeema. I'm intending to do it. Okay? I have the niyyah now. If you don't stop the intention, it will turn into an action. If you do not stop the action, it will turn into a habit. And it will be very difficult to break this habit.

So in Ramadan, brothers and sisters, we learn that we can rise above our desires. Do you know that Allah created angels without desires? That Allah, may Allah honor you, created animals with desires but no brains. But He created us human beings with desires and brains. If we control our desires, we rise above angels. If we do not control our desires using our brains, we go to a lower status. May Allah honor all of us, Ya Rabb al-alameen.

You can actually be better than an angel because you have the challenges. You have the challenges ahead of you. So dear brothers and sisters, the first class is the class of submission. Do we submit to Allah? Are we convinced that Allah knows what's best for us? The second class is the class of taqwa. Are we convinced that Allah is watching over us and He knows what we think before even acting on it? And the third class, the class of determination.

Dear brothers and sisters, how many times you said to yourself, I cannot quit smoking for even one hour, for two hours. I cannot let my day go by without, go by without you know, smoking. But Ramadan comes and you're proving yourself you're capable of doing that. Take care of your health. Take care of your health and your families and your children. That's a month of Ramadan. In the school of Ramadan we learn this, brothers and sisters. Without realizing. May Allah make it easy, Ya Rabb al-alameen for all of us.

That's the school of the class of determination in the school of Ramadan. You can do it. You can do a lot of things inshallah. Allah created you with unlimited capabilities inshallah. With a lot of capabilities. So many things you can do and Ramadan is just the start. We learn in the school of Ramadan so after Ramadan when you go outside you know, in the battle against shaitan we win the battle. Not let shaitan win the battle every time. May Allah accept our deeds, Ya Rabb al-alameen. Allahumma ameen.

Second Khutbah

Say this and Allah will forgive me and you.

Class of submission وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا the class of taqwa لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ the class of determination وَلِتُكْمِلُوا الْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ

Fourth Class: Sabr (Patience)

And finally brothers and sisters the class of sabr. Ramadan and the school of Ramadan we learn sabr. Well think about it now it's three so we are about three or four hours away from iftar. May Allah bless your iftar, Ya Rabb al-alameen. Ameen.

Now if you're starving, you're thirsty but you look at your phone, you look at the time it's like oh we're almost there, four hours to go. Four hours. Four hours. Right? You ask someone how much more? Four hours. If you say that to someone before Ramadan someone tells you four hours, he's gonna be shaheed inshallah. Someone tells you oh you cannot eat until four or five hours from now. Allahu akbar. He's gonna be shaheed brother, he's not gonna make it. Right? But Ramadan is very normal. Four or five hours, what happened? What changed? It's the school of Ramadan.

There are three types of sabr we learn in the school of Ramadan and in general. Focus on this and we'll end the khutbah inshallah, I promise. There is sabr ala ta'a. You know coming to the masjid right now? Coming to the masjid is not easy. Waking up for fajr is not easy. Fasting is not easy. Right? Standing in taraweeh, wallahi it's not easy. Allah knows that. And Allah will reward you for your amal and your niyyah.

Being consistent in the deen is not easy. There are a lot of fitan out there. But coming to the masjid and being part of the community and doing all of this is not easy. You need a lot of sabr and persistence and consistency brothers and sisters. We learn this in the month of Ramadan.

Beyond Feelings

Nowadays, when people say shaykh, you know praying is very difficult. I don't have khushu' well still pray. Don't quit because you don't feel it. I don't feel the month of Ramadan like before. It's not about the feelings brothers and sisters. We got fooled by this subhanallah. Everything is about the feeling. I have to feel good about something in order for me to do it. I have to follow my passion. If I'm not passionate about something, I am not going to do anything. And this is the biggest lie that you will have in your life.

That you have to do something just because you feel good about it. That you have to do something because you're passionate about it. How many of you are actually passionate about their job? You don't have to show me your hands. How many of you wake up in the morning, every single morning, you know, they go to their job because they're passionate about it? I guarantee. I guarantee majority they will say we're working because we have to. Absolutely. And that's exactly the point.

If you work hard because you like what you do, alright, what if you don't like what you do? Who's gonna bring food to your family? But you force yourself every single morning to wake up and you keep going and you show up. Why? Because I have responsibility. They say love what you do so you do what you love or whatever, you know, the statement is, right? I say love what you do because people are getting laid off from their job. Nobody can find jobs. It's difficult. So love what you do. Don't wait until you feel good about it. Or you're passionate about it. It's good to have passion. Alhamdulillah. Don't get me wrong. But we have to be practical. We have to be realistic.