Sealing Ramadan with Ihsan

Sealing Ramadan with Ihsan

My dear brothers and sisters, this is the last Friday we have in this month of Ramadan. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make this month of Ramadan a blessed one, ya rabbal alameen. We ask Allah azza wa jal to accept our ibadah and our ta'ah.

We ask Allah to accept our worship, our fasting, our qiyam at night. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept our charities and our du'a, ya rabbal alameen.

Three Categories of Worshippers

My dear brothers and sisters, as we come closer to the end of the month of Ramadan, that's when people separate. People separate and they divide into three categories. How are we going to approach the end of the month of Ramadan? Are we going to approach it with ihsan, with excellence, with perfection? Or, once you get closer to the finish line, you relax and you start slacking and wasting some time.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned the three categories when it comes to the acts of ibadah — how people get divided into three categories — in the Quran, in which He says subhanahu wa ta'ala:

He said: "And then We granted the Book to those We have chosen from Our servants." Like We have given it to people — the instructions, the commandments. We've given it to the people We have chosen from amongst all the servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. How do people receive this instruction right now? How do we receive the commandments?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about these people:

• فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ — Some wrong themselves.
• وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ — Some have reached the middle course, sometimes in the middle.
• وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ — And some are the foremost, which means they always compete for the best of good deeds.

That last category, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about them — بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ — to do that by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ — This is a great blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The great blessing is to be among those who will be guided to be among the foremost. May Allah make us among them, ya Rabbil Alameen.

The First Category: Those Who Wrong Themselves

My dear brothers and sisters, when it comes to Ramadan, some of us have wronged against our own selves. How? Ramadan started three weeks ago. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam told us — and we made this reminder at the very beginning of the month of Ramadan — when Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6954; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2551)

"May his nose be rubbed in the dust" — may this person be humiliated, he said salallahu alayhi wa sallam — one who witnesses Ramadan, lives to witness the month of Ramadan and goes through it, but never grows through it. They just go through Ramadan, and Ramadan is over, and they don't get their sins forgiven. What does that mean? They haven't done good enough. They haven't done enough to get their sins forgiven. And there is so much you could have done in Ramadan to make sure that your sins are forgiven by repenting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

These are the people the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said about them — Abu Hurayrah radiyallahu ta'ala anhu narrates:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1690; authenticated by al-Albani)

"Some people fast and they get absolutely nothing but thirst and hunger." They are not growing through fasting. They're not really getting anything. But does that take them out of the fold of Islam? Absolutely not. But unfortunately, they missed a lot of opportunities to have their sins forgiven, to become among the muqtasid or even the foremost.

Some of us, unfortunately, still insist — they're waiting for Ramadan to end. Why? Because "I want to go back to my old ways. I want to go back to my old routine." As if Ramadan was an interruption only in their lives. Ramadan was just an interruption. It wasn't a new norm. It wasn't a new lifestyle. It wasn't a new version of yourself. So they don't grow in the month of Ramadan. May Allah protect us from being among them, ya Rabbal Alameen.

The Second Category: Those of the Middle Course

The second category Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned — وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ — some have reached the middle course. They're not up there, but alhamdulillah they're not way down there either. They're somewhere in the middle.

Those are the people that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed to observe Ramadan properly. Which means they stayed away from the haram. They cut out on their bad habits and bad deeds. They focused on observing the fast. They come to the masjid, alhamdulillah Rabbal Alameen. But to what level, though? Many of us, we just do it only to get the obligation done. "I'm doing it because I need to fulfill the obligation." So check — I fast, alhamdulillah Rabbal Alameen. But was I trying in Ramadan to go beyond just fasting? That is the question that you and I need to ask ourselves. Am I just going over the technicalities of fasting — the abstaining from eating and drinking — that's it? I did that, but I'm not doing beyond that.

So the muqtasid — they are rewarded, no doubt about it. They're doing great, alhamdulillah Rabbal Alameen. But not as great as they should be. Yes, we sometimes — خَلَطُوا عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَآخَرَ سَيِّئًا — we sometimes mix between good and bad in our fast. There are days in Ramadan where I've seen myself ascending way up there in spirituality, doing a great job. But then some other days, or maybe nights, I felt so exhausted and tired, started relaxing and dropping some of the new good habits I had established in the month of Ramadan.

Those are the people of the middle — the muqtasid. They're trying their best but they keep falling behind. Trying their best, they keep falling behind, and they keep trying and trying and trying. Never stop trying, my dear brothers and sisters. Never stop trying. Because inshallah ta'ala, whatever you do, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reward you for it. As a matter of fact, that's the nature of mankind. We just keep trying our best until we reach, inshallah ta'ala, the level of excellence.

The Third Category: The Foremost in Good Deeds

The third category are those whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala called Sabiqun bil Khayrat — the foremost when it comes to doing good deeds. The word sabiq comes from the word sibaq or sabaq, which means to race, to vie, to compete. This is the competition right now.

You know, when you go into a race — it doesn't matter what happens in between, in the middle. What happens usually at the beginning and at the end, right? How you sprint first, where you go ahead at the beginning of the race, and how you finish at the end. Right now we are coming closer to the finish line. What are you going to do? How much momentum did you build? How much energy did you conserve going through the month of Ramadan, so you can dedicate more time, inshallah ta'ala, for the last five nights and five days of the month of Ramadan?

Those are the Muhsineen. Those who, when they do ibadah, they don't go just with fasting. They're looking for opportunities for khayr. "What else can I do?" — that's what they ask. This Ramadan, this Laylat al-Qadr probably — "I want to know what else I can do in order for me to benefit from my fast, to benefit from my day and from my night." Those are the Sabiqoon bil Khayrat. May Allah make us among them, ya Rabbil Alameen.

Sealing Ramadan — Don't Unravel What You've Built

My dear brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter where we are today. What's going to matter is after we're done with the month of Ramadan. How much of it are we going to retain with us? How much of it are we going to be taking with us throughout the year — throughout our lifetime even?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is warning us against a phenomenon that happens a lot after Ramadan — the Ramadan fatigue moment — when people, after they're done, just take a break for Eid, and unfortunately have a hard time recovering from that break after Ramadan and a hard time coming back again to the beautiful established routine of Ramadan. Allah azza wa jal says:

"And do not be like the woman who foolishly unravels her yarn after it was firmly spun." What does that mean? She was spinning her yarn and making it so beautiful and firm. But then when she was done, she was like "whatever," and she started unraveling it and untying it again. So what did you do that for? Why? Why was all the effort, all the energy you put into putting it together? What was that for then?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is warning us — some people, that's what they do to themselves. They do excellently in Ramadan. They might be of the Sabiqoon bil Khayrat — their ibadah reaches so far, alhamdulillah. But once Ramadan is over, they unravel everything. They remove everything. Whatever good was established, they start taking it out, unfortunately, one by one. Maybe not intentionally, but simply because they were not paying attention. Slowly and gradually, they start eroding their ibadah and their ta'ah and their energy, and unfortunately we sometimes go back to the level that we were before Ramadan.

My dear brothers and sisters, when it comes to the end of the month of Ramadan, make sure that you seal your month of Ramadan with excellence. Seal your month of Ramadan with ihsan. Because at the end of the day, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6607)

"The deeds are measured by their end." Which means how you end it — that's what is going to measure the most for you. How are you going to finish this month of Ramadan? Make sure to put that in mind, inshallah ta'ala.

Ten Points to Seal Ramadan with Ihsan

I'm going to share with you ten points quickly, inshallah. Hopefully you start focusing on these in the last five days, bi'idhnillahi ta'ala.

1. Your Salah

Make sure to continue with your ibadah, your salah. If you have always maintained the five daily prayers and you have started coming to the masjid — bismillah. If you've done your five daily prayers, add the sunnah and the nafl. Make sure to maintain your five daily prayers.

2. Zakah

Be conscious of the need of the poor. Make sure that you prepare your zakah before the end of the month of Ramadan.

3. Continue to Fast

Even after Ramadan is over, continue to fast. At least begin with the six days of Shawwal, right after the month of Ramadan.

4. Ties of Kinship

Make sure that you maintain the tie of kinship and your loved ones. In Ramadan, we visited, we contacted each other, we helped each other. Make sure to continue with that after Ramadan.

5. Night Prayer

Wake up at night when everybody else is sleeping and do some salah and prayers. SubhanAllah, last night when I was leaving after tahajjud, around four o'clock in the morning, looking out — it felt so surreal. Four a.m., three a.m., and the parking lot is full. The community is so active. But no one is paying attention that one day after Ramadan, it is going to go all to silence again — instantly. Make sure that you wake up when everybody else is sleeping and you pray at home.

6. Feed the Poor

Give food to the poor, to the needy, to friends and neighbors as well. You've done that a lot in Ramadan. Don't stop doing this, inshallah ta'ala.

7. Increase Your Du'a

Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You made a lot of du'a in Ramadan. Never stop making that du'a, because that's the essence of being faithful — the essence of worship.

8. Your Heart

The throne of Allah's love, the full awareness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the pursuit of Allah azza wa jal — take care of your heart. Don't let it get too distracted. Don't let it die. Keep it alive. Keep it always fresh with the ibadah and the ta'ah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

9. The Book of Allah

You had, alhamdulillah, good time with the Qur'an. I've seen people here, right before the khutbah while the adhan is being called, holding their phones and studying the Qur'an because they want to finish their portion and their juz'. Don't stop doing that — even after Ramadan is over.

10. The Masjid

This place — the masjid — your other home, the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Never stop coming back to it. Never stop visiting the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Most Important Addition: Al-Istighfar

My dear brothers and sisters, there is one more thing we need to add to this list — which is perhaps the most important thing after finishing a good deed — and that is al-istighfar, seeking forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Seeking forgiveness from Allah azza wa jal is the tradition of the righteous ones — the prophets, the anbiya — even after doing a good deed. We think that we seek forgiveness only if we do something wrong. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing us that seeking forgiveness actually happens even more often after you finish a good deed. Allah azza wa jal speaks about the righteous — the most righteous — and says:

"And in the hours before dawn, they would seek forgiveness."

When the Prophet ﷺ used to finish his fard salah — the obligatory prayers — what did he say?

Three times, after finishing his salah.

Hajj — the same thing. When we finish our hajj, when we finish the long day of Arafah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"Then discharge from where the people discharge, and seek forgiveness from Allah." You need to proceed from the station of Arafah all the way to Mina and Muzdalifah — the stations of the hajj. But He says: وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا اللَّهَ — seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

My dear brothers and sisters, this is now the finish line. Make sure you engage in a lot of istighfar. Remind yourself day and night — every time you come to a moment of awareness, just say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ. Count hundreds of times, thousands of times. Because we are coming to the end of the month of Ramadan. Make sure to seal it with ihsan.

Du'a

Closing — Salah upon the Prophet