The Concept of Commitment in Ramadan| Jumu'ah Khutbah |Sh Yaser Birjas

The Concept of Commitment in Ramadan

Ramadan comes to us in a time that we need the most, as we see the world unfolding around us with all these problems and all these ethical issues and moralities and immoralities, subhanAllah. Ramadan comes right in time to give us that lesson, give us that safety that we're looking for in a world that is sinking into so much vice and corruption.

What lesson would Ramadan give us, my dear brothers and sisters? You see, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned the purpose of Ramadan clear at the very beginning of the instruction for fast in the month of Ramadan. He said, subhanahu wa ta'ala:

He said, all you who believe, fasting was prescribed for those who were before you. So it's nothing new. You're not the first nation, the first ummah, the first people to fast. We're not. But he gave it, subhanahu wa ta'ala, a purpose for this fasting, for all these nations who received the obligation of fasting. What was the purpose? So that you might become mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you become righteous, you become pious.

Many, many people, they thought that the purpose of Ramadan is to become pious. Actually, that's the outcome. The outcome, it gives you piety, it gives you righteousness. But the purpose of this, to be mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which means what? Which means commitment.

The World Without Commitment

Brothers and sisters, we've seen elites, we've seen politicians, celebrities, people they worship, Allah al-musta'an. And we've seen these people worshiping the devil. We've seen them doing things you couldn't even imagine any decent human being, let alone someone of their position, to do these things. Why is that? Because they have no commitment to anything, except for their own desires. Their commitment to whatever they have, of their own way of living. And that obviously has no limitation. They keep sinking and sinking into the abyss of vice and corruption all the way down there.

Ramadan is a lesson to all of us. When we remember Ramadan, we say, Alhamdulillah, I am Muslim. Wallahi, that's the first that comes to your mind. Alhamdulillah, that I have a month, that I have an ibadah, an act of worship, I have a lord, a commandment from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to keep me well grounded and steadfast.

Brothers and sisters, Ramadan is all about commitment. It's all about commitment, it's all about being steadfast in the face of all these temptations, and anything can lead you astray. And once you're astray, there is no limit, there is no end to where you could go. And we've seen with our own eyes, we hear it every now and then. And Ramadan, Alhamdulillah, brings us back again to where we belong. To the fitrah, to the natural way Allah created us to be. So that we have that upright character, living a decent life, and helping one another to make it happen, insha Allah wa tabaraka wa ta'ala.

Fasting as Protection

You see, Rasulallah gave us that commitment as well too. In the hadith, in Sahih Muslim, and Mu'ta Imam Malik, from Abu Hurayrah radiallahu ta'ala anhu, that the Prophet Rasulallah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1151)

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, fasting is protection. It's like a shield, what he says. Fasting is like a shield, he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Shield from what? From everything. From anything. Whatever that tempts you, whatever that distracts you, whatever that distorts your fitrah, fasting comes to protect you from that. It's a shield.

So when you fast, you're carrying an armor. It's a constant reminder to be mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that I need to commit to this obligation. I need to commit to fast. I need to commit to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by being mindful of Him at all times. Especially, fasting is my reminder for this. It's a shield.

He says, الصوم جنة. It's a shield. If someone is fasting on that day:

Don't speak bad. Don't be vulgar in your language. That kind of language of the streets, it's not yours. Now you're observing a connection, a special connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Don't be fool, don't act foolish. Which means what? Raise up. Have a standard for yourself. A standard befitting of being a servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Commit to that standard. Even though I can do worse than this. But you know what? No. Ramadan teaches me a lesson. I can be better than that. I can elevate myself to a level that is way better than who I am today. And that's the whole purpose of it. To commit to the better version of yourself. That's all.

So he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, if someone insists to fight you or start cursing at you or insulting you:

Don't fight back. Although you can. And even you have the option to retaliate as well too. For the sake of fairness and justice. But instead the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, elevate yourself above that. Remind yourself by saying, I am fasting. I am fasting. Twice. What does that mean? Reminding yourself. Insisting that, yes, I can retaliate. But I choose not to. Why is that? That's commitment. It's commitment to the principle of fasting. Because I need to get to that outcome which is righteousness and piety. And to get that, I have to commit to being mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Ramadan, my dear brothers and sisters, is what brings me there.

Examining Your Intention

So now, before we leave from this khutbah, I want you to go back to your intention. Think about what you're fasting for. Is it just to abstain from eating and drinking? Is that it? Is it because it's a collective thing? Or just to enjoy the iftars and the suhoor? What is it exactly we're fasting for? Fast as a commitment. As a commitment to be mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala day and night. Privately and secretly. Not like these people when they come out of masjid, they speak about all these beautiful human values. Of justice and fairness and human rights and children protection and all this stuff and so on. But behind closed doors, in their own islands, what do they do? All these horrible things. Because they have no consciousness of that. They don't have that commitment to the awareness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and being mindful of Allah azza wa jal. And that's not the believer.

So brothers and sisters, Ramadan is not just a season of ibadah. Please, don't think of it as just one thing that happens every year. I have to go through it, get over with it, and bismillah we go back again to where we were before that. No, don't do this to yourself. That's not what Ramadan is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a stepping stone to the next level of yourself. That's basically an improvement from last year. Every single year. You have to understand, it's a school. Ramadan is a school that teaches that principle. It really is like a boot camp. For 30 consecutive days, you're going to be fasting, you're going to be abstaining from things that you enjoy, and you will teach yourself that, you know what, I can live without it. Because before Ramadan, you never even thought that you can abstain from these things or stop these things. But now, suddenly you have a different personality, different way of dealing with things. I can do it. And that's what Ramadan is going to teach us. To be committed and to be steadfast.

Five Points for Commitment

How do we do this? My dear brothers and sisters, I want to show you five points insha Allah ta'ala here.

Number One: Commitment Begins with Consciousness

To understand that commitment begins with consciousness. In order for you to start committing to that, you have to have that consciousness. That I need to believe. I need to truly and genuinely believe that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is watching over me. And Ramadan teaches all of this. Simply, remind yourself, you know, the other day when you were eating, when you were eating and drinking at night, and suddenly the adhan, fajr came, and that's it. Even though you desire this bottle of water, but you're unable to touch it right now. No one is watching. Why did you stop? No one is watching you.

Remember that day when you were making wudu, and a drop of water just went down your throat, and you start choking yourself to get it out? And no one is watching you. But why is that? Because you're conscious of this. You know that will break your fast. You know that you're not going to be sincere. You know that is not how it works. Can you imagine if that level of consciousness is always in our heart, in our mind, at all aspects of our lives? Whether we're dealing at work, to be conscious of doing it with ihsan, with perfection, with your family, with your children, with your enemies even, subhanAllah. At all aspects, you still keep that conscious in your mind because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is watching over you. And that surveillance should be enough for you to behave better.

SubhanAllah, when Allah azza wa jal narrated the story of Luqman al-Hakim, the wise man, when he was teaching, speaking to his child, of the first thing that this man was educating his son about, what did he say? He said:

My dear son, listen to me. It doesn't matter how big or small it is. Even if it was the size and the weight of a mustard seed, which means nothing, a speck of dust. Whether it's under a rock, in the heavens, down on the earth, whatever that is, Allah will bring it forth. Allah knows about it, He sees it, and He will bring it forth. Why? Because he's al-latif al-khabir. He's the most subtle, subhanahu wa ta'ala, all-knowing, all-knowledgeable.

He's teaching his son, it's not about me. You're not responsible, your accountability is not to me. Your accountability is the one who created you. The one in front of whom you're going to be standing alone. And you are going to be answering for everything. So therefore, make sure that your record is clean. And you can't do this unless you have it in your mind all the time. Brothers and sisters, that's a lesson we learn from Ramadan. From fasting.

That reminds me of the story of Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiallahu anhu, when he was scouting at night, basically looking around and patrolling the city of Medina, radiallahu anhu, and he was a great leader. He couldn't sleep if he knew that somebody is in need. So he would be at night patrolling and going through the streets of Medina, and one night he was resting against a wall. And then he hears a conversation before fajr between a mother and her younger daughter.

So the mother and the girl, they sell milk in the marketplace. So the mom is telling that young daughter, she goes, why don't you add extra water to the milk so we can increase the volume and we can sell more, get more money. And the girl innocently, she told his mom, didn't you know that Amir al-Mumineen, Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was listening, he banned this, he said that's not allowed, you can't do this. So the mom is telling her daughter, how would he know anyway? Like he's not here with us, how would he know that?

So the girl is telling her mom, if Amir al-Mumineen, the leader of the believer, doesn't know, the lord of that leader knows. And Umar was so impressed with that conversation. He goes, he marks the door. The next day he proposed to this daughter for his son. They get married. She has a daughter. That daughter later on became the mother of Umar ibn Abdulaziz, the very famous Khalifa bin Umayyah. Subhanallah. The goodness, I would say, is that this girl didn't even know. And she had an authority over her mom. But she knew the authority of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is bigger and higher and more important to listen to. So my dear brothers and sisters, that's how we teach our children. That's how we teach ourselves as well.

Number Two: Steadfastness Despite Hardship

We have to keep in mind, my dear brothers and sisters, when it comes to commitment in Ramadan, that steadfastness means remaining firm despite hardship. What does that mean? I get hungry. I get thirsty. I get fatigued and tired and sleepless nights and so on. Still with all of that, I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying it. And I'm not going to break my fast for this. Why? Because that's a sweet pain. Sweet. It comes with it. That's part of exercising. That's part of really becoming steadfast and strong and strengthen your power as well too.

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and he asked him:

Tell me something about Islam.

The Concept of Commitment in Ramadan

I don't have to ask anyone about it after you. I mean you expect the Prophet ﷺ is going to give him a whole monologue. An entire statement. He gave him a few words.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 38)

He said, say I believe and then remain steadfast. What does that mean? He said, say I believe and then prove it. Prove it. Don't just fake it. Don't just make it a lip service. You want to fast Ramadan? It's not about abstaining from food and drinks. No. It's about commitment to the principle that Ramadan brings with it. The commitment to virtue. Commitment to elevating yourself and your soul. Above all these worldly needs and so on. That is the meaning of it. So when you say, I want to fast, then fast. And then prove it. Prove that you're fasting with that higher purpose that comes with it. Not just abstaining from eating and drinking.

Holistic Commitment

Number three, my dear brothers and sisters. To understand that when it comes to fasting, commitment to fasting. It's holistic. What does that mean? It's not selective. You don't fast from eating and drinking and then you curse and cuss and backbite and do all these horrible things with it. What's the point of that? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1903)

If someone is not going to stop speaking bad and vain talks in the month of Ramadan, there's no need for them to abstain from eating and drinking. And the Prophet ﷺ said that:

(Ibn Majah, Hadith 1690)

Some people, they get nothing out of fasting except being hungry and thirsty. And he says:

And some people stand up at night for tahajjud. And they get nothing out of it except fatigue. And sleepless night. What does that mean? Their heart is not there. The commitment is not there to it. It's partial right now. Brothers and sisters, Allah says:

O you who believe, enter into Islam wholeheartedly. So when you fast, you come with the entire concept of fasting. It's a commitment to virtue. To being conscious of Allah. Be mindful of Allah. That is the essence of fasting. It's not just about food and drink.

Building Willpower and Resistance

Number four, my dear brothers and sisters, when it comes to fasting, it's a steadfastness in resisting all these desires. Look, 11 months passed. We know. We're all human beings. And even the Prophet ﷺ made it very clear to us, we're all gonna make mistakes. It's not like, if you make a mistake. No. When you make a mistake, just fix it. We're all gonna make these mistakes. It's not a condition of righteousness to be flawless. Otherwise no one will ever be righteous. But the righteous ones are those, when they make mistakes, they come back to Allah. As Allah mentioned in the Qur'an:

He speak about the righteous ones. He goes, when they make mistakes, they seek forgiveness from Allah. They repent to Allah. Knowing that Allah is the one who forgave their sins. And He called them righteous people. So brothers and sisters, we need to learn to resist. Build that willpower. That willpower in Ramadan, that will inshallah keep that energy with us after the month of Ramadan. So once again, we have that self-control over what's right and what's wrong and what we can do inshallah.

A Lifestyle, Not Seasonal

And finally my dear brothers and sisters, when it comes to the fasting of the month of Ramadan, like I said earlier, it's not a seasonal ibadah. What does that mean? It's not just you can hold all your virtues, mashallah, in this month of Ramadan and once Ramadan is over, it's khalas, it's gone. No, it's a way of life. Ramadan is a way of life. Some of the sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them, after Ramadan is done, they don't stop fasting.

One of them was Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As, may Allah be pleased with him. A young man, a very young man. The Prophet ﷺ heard that he used to fast so much, so he was worried about him. So he came to him. He says, قال, I heard that you fast almost every day. He goes, Yes Rasul, I do that. He was excited to tell the Prophet ﷺ about his achievement. And the Prophet ﷺ said, No, don't do this, don't do this. One is enough. One day every month is enough. قال, O Rasulullah, إني أطيق أكثر من ذلك. He said, Okay, fine, two days. Two days a week. He goes, إني أطيق أكثر من ذلك. I can do better than this. He goes, Fine, three days a week. He goes, O Rasulullah, I can do better than this. Okay, four days. He goes, O Rasulullah, I can do better than this. He goes, Look, if you're going to have to do something, then at least do the صيام داود. The fasting of Dawood is the best form of fasting. And the fasting of Dawood, Prophet David ﷺ, he says that he fasts every other day.

And he used to do that a lot. Although the Prophet ﷺ doesn't do this very frequently, but he insisted, may Allah be pleased with him, in his old age, he said, I wish I listened to the Prophet ﷺ. He goes, الصيام هدم مني الصيام. Like, fasting so much, it kind of destroyed my body. So at an old age, he was unable to perform ibadah which he used to enjoy when he was younger. But that's a man, he committed this for his entire lifetime. I'm asking you to do this, you know, every now and then after Ramadan.

Brothers and sisters, that commitment is not seasonal. That commitment is a lifestyle. It's for your entire life. And I ask each and every one of you, before you leave this masjid, to remember this. That when it comes to this month of Ramadan, I want to make it very special. And I genuinely want to make it very special. So this year, inshallah, it's not just about observing food or otherwise, it's really about commitment. Because we live in a world that lost that. And we are the last people on that frontier of virtue. We need to be strong. I say this, and I ask Allah's forgiveness for this. And to all Muslims, ask His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and companions. And peace and blessings be upon many others.

Making Commitment Come From the Heart

My dear brothers and sisters, a last reminder, inshallah, to make that commitment easy on us. I don't want you to make that commitment only because there's this pressure on you. Like, I have to commit it. No, no, I want this to come from within, from the inside. I want this to come because you love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that you want to respect and give the respect that is due to Allah azza wa jal in your heart. If you have it in your heart, the action becomes easy. Don't focus too much on the action itself. Focus on the heart. If you can bring your heart to that place, inshallah, we do it out of love for His sake subhanahu wa ta'ala. To seek His pleasure subhanahu wa ta'ala. Wallahi, nothing will be difficult on you. So remember, that commitment can be easy if you have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your heart. Make sure to do this before you leave this. Al-Fatiha. Al-Fatiha.