Brothers and sisters! Today is the last day of Sha’ban and tomorrow inshaAllah is the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan is the most precious month in many respects—in respect of the Qur’an sent down in this month, in respect of fasting ordained in it, in respect of multiplication of rewards for good deeds, in respect of duas accepted by Allah (SWT), in respect of forgiveness of sins, in respect of earning the pleasure of Allah (SWT), and in respect of getting closer to Allah (SWT).
In today’s khutbah, I want to share with you the khutbah, which our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) delivered on the last Friday of Sha’ban. The khutbah of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) is concise; informative and educational. It provides instructional models to Muslims to be followed and to be practiced in their daily lives; especially during the month of Ramadan. Hopefully, it will develop in us a greater understanding behind the true meaning of Ramadan.
Ibn Khuzaima, Ibn Hiban, and Imam al-Baihaqi reported on the authority of Salman al-Farsi (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) delivered a khutbah on the last day of the month of Sha’ban, in which he (SAW) said:
“O People! A great and blessed month has arrived for you with its mercies, blessings and forgiveness. Allah has decreed this month the best of all months. The days of this month are the best among the days and the nights are the best among the nights and its hours are the best among the hours. It is the month which invites you to be the guests of Allah and invites you to be one of those near to Him. Allah has honored you in it. In every breath you take is a reward of Allah. Your sleep is worship. Your good deeds are accepted and your invocations are answered.”
“Therefore, you must invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts free from sin and evil, and pray that Allah may help you to keep fast, and to recite the Holy Qur’an. Indeed! Miserable is the one who is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this great month. While fasting, remember the hunger and thirst on the Day of Judgment. Give alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives. Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing and your ears from sounds that should not be heard.”
“Be kind to orphans so that if your children may become orphans they will also be treated with kindness. Do repent to Allah for your sins and supplicate with raised hands at the times of prayer as these are the best times, during which Allah Almighty looks at His servants with mercy. Allah answers if they supplicate, responds if they call, grants if He is asked, and accepts if they plead.”
“O people! You have made your conscience the slave of your desires. Make it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break from the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah for long intervals, and make this load lighter. Understand fully that Allah has promised in His Honor and Majesty that, people who perform salat and sajda (prostration) will be guarded from Hell-fire on the Day of Judgment.”
“O people!, if anyone amongst you arranges for iftar meal for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave, and Allah will forgive him his sins.” A companion asked: “But not all of us have the means to do so.” The Prophet (SAW) replied: “Keep yourself away from Hell-fire though it may consist of half a date or even some water if you have nothing else.”
“O people! Anyone who during this month cultivates good manners will walk over the Sirat (bridge to Paradise) on the day when feet will tend to slip. For anyone who during this month eases the workload of his servants, Allah will make easy his accounting, and for anyone who doesn’t hurt others during this month, Allah will safeguard him from His wrath on the Day of Judgment. Anyone who respects and treats an orphan with kindness during this month, Allah shall look at him with kindness on that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsmen well during this month, Allah will bestow His Mercy on him on that Day, while anyone who mistreats his kinsmen during this month, Allah will keep him away from His Mercy.”
“Whoever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from Hell, and whoever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other months. Whoever repeatedly invokes Allah’s blessings on me, Allah will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while the scales of others will be tending to lightness. O people! The gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord that they may not be closed for you. The gates of Hell are closed, so pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan has been chained; so ask your Lord not to let him have power over you.”
Ali ibn Talib (RA) said: “I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what are the best deeds during this month’?” ‘He replied: ‘O Abu-Hassan, the best of deeds during this month is to be far from what Allah has forbidden’.”
Brothers and sisters, we should reflect upon this khutbah. With Ramadan offering such unique opportunity to earn Allah’s pleasure, what more can we ask for and what could be said about us if we didn’t make use of this opportunity?
May Allah (SWT) make us among those who take full opportunity of this blessed month.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَالْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
According to a hadith qudsi, Allah (SWT) says, “Every single action of the son of Adam is for himself except fasting. Indeed, it is for me, and I will give reward for it.
الصيام لي، وأنا أجزي به
The scholars of hadith say that there are two interpretations of this hadith: The first interpretation is that if we have wronged people and did not seek their forgiveness in this world, they can come on the Day of Judgment and take our rewards of good deeds—from our salah, from our zakah, from other good deeds, but they will not be able to take from our fasting. The second interpretation is that whenever we do a good deed, its reward is multiplied by ten times as Allah (SWT) says in the Qur’an,
مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا
Whoever comes to Allah with a good deed will have ten times as much (al-An’am, 6:160).
But there is no calculation or limit with respect to the rewards of fasting. So, after hearing this hadith, we should be motivated to do as many good deeds as possible during the month of Ramadan.
While fasting has numerous virtues and benefits, the primary motivation of fasting should be solely to seek Allah’s pleasure and to attain taqwa or God-consciousness so that we may be able to save ourselves from harm, and the greatest harm is to be unsuccessful in the hereafter.
In a well known hadith the prophet (SAW) had highlighted the conditions for fasting to be accepted by saying: “Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and in the hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” “Out of faith” in this context refers to ensuring that your worship is solely for Allah (SWT). The Prophet (SAW) said, “Allah does not accept any deed except that which is done only for Him and to seek His pleasure.”
Another condition for fasts to be accepted is the hope of reward. It is difficult to hope and wish for something without recognizing its value. So, if we recognize the value of fasting and the associated rewards, then we should feel the eagerness in our hearts for our fasts and worships to be accepted. If the month-long worship and Ibadah fail to overwhelm us spiritually, then it’s time to correct our intentions and recognize the value of fasting before we lose that opportunity.
Let’s therefore ensure that all our acts of worship during Ramadan are sincere, with our hearts engaged to the fullest. It would indeed be a big loss if we only earned hunger, thirst, and sleeplessness from our actions at the end of the month.
We should realize that good deeds(hasanat) and bad deeds (sayyiat) are the basic currencies that will decide our fate in this life and the hereafter. Let’s therefore direct all our efforts to earn as many rewards as possible and to stay away from sins.
Brothers and sisters! The virtues and greatness of Ramadan should never be underestimated.
We pray to Allah (SWT) to make us among those who are able to take advantage of the opportunities provided to us in the month of Ramadan; to make us among the people of taqwa, to accept our good deeds, to forgive us, to keep us safe and protected from the hell-fire and to make us all enter into jannah; ameen.
