We Need Ramadhan
~*~ Notes on Welcoming Ramadhan ~*~
BismilLAH, alhamdulilLAH, wassolatu wassalamu
‘ala RasulilLAH Sholla ALLAHU ‘alaihi wassalam,
Assalamu’alaykum warahmatulLAHI Ta’ala
wabarokaatuh,
Especially for my dear Brothers and Sisters of ISLAM,
Ramadaan is an expansive and wide avenue for developing
one’s strength in all aspects;
*~ abstention from food... drink and passion during the day,
being patience on that, waking up in the night for prayers
and persevering over that throughout the month are some of
apparent means of strengthening one’s will.
*~ This is in fact a turning point which is an object of craving
for the people who have vision; those who humble themselves
for their Lord and seek the way of approach to Him.
*~It is a change towards a better way of life; a change
from the ignominy of sins to the glory of obedience;
from weakness and laziness to seriousness and
resoluteness; from bad customs and detestable
habits to pure and upright conducts.
*~ Fasting contains elements of strength, resoluteness
and strong will that are indispensable tools for one who wants
to attain high degrees and prosperity in this world and
the Hereafter.
ALLAH Subahanahu wa Ta’ala says,
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you
as it was prescribed for those before you, that you
may become pious.”
(Al-Baqarah 2:183).
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dear Brethren,
InsyaALLAH, the following will be an excerpt that I have
taken from a beautiful khutbah delivered by Abu
Uwais Abdullaah Ali and transcribed by: Umm Hasna
Firdous Bint Jabir, and insyaALLAH, it would be
a great pleasure for me to share it with all of you, my beloved
Muslims Brothers and Sisters.
~* Title: Benefits of Ramadhaan (We need Ramadhaan)
~* Lectured by :Abu Uwais Abdullaah Ali (Rahimahullaah)
TRANSCRIPTION:
Ramadhaan is a month of Forgiveness.
Ramadhaan is a month of Rahmah.
Ramadhaan is the month of generosity.
Ramadhaan, the month that Allaah subhaanahu wa
ta'ala accepts the Tawbah of the servants, and the month
that Allaah blesses His servants.
We are in need of Ramadhaan to correct ourselves,
for we have forgotten Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala for the
majority of the year.
To correct ourselves for we have been neglectful.
To correct ourselves for we are not upon the remembrance
of Allaah.
To correct ourselves because our hearts have gotten
hard, some hearts are dead, some hearts are sick, some hearts
are stone-cold, some hearts are black, getting no benefit
whatsoever. Some hearts are so bad, and so ill that they see
a good as a Munkar, (as an evil), and they see an evil as
a good. These are not as they should be.
We need a Ramadhaan.
We need a Ramadhaan because our connection with
Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala is not correct.
We need a Ramadhaan because we do not have any
Khushoo or devotion in our Salaah.
We need a Ramadhaan because our Quran has dust
and is sitting on a shelf.
We need a Ramadhaan because we never read the books
of Sunnah.
We need a Ramadhaan because we don't fast, and if we fast
physically without food or drink, we don't fast with our
eyes by lowering them and our tongue by not slandering
and our tongue by not lying and back-biting.
We need a Ramadhaan to get ourselves back in order, to work
for the Hereafter, to connect ourselves to Allaah tabarak
wa ta'ala.
We need a Ramadhaan because relationships brother
to brother and sister to sister is in a miserable condition.
We need a Ramadhaan because we have bad thoughts
about one another.
We need a Ramadhaan because of dhulm, injustice to
one another.
We need a Ramadhaan because there is backbiting,
there is envy, there is jealousy, and there is slander.
We need a Ramadhaan because we are despicable,
because we are sick, because we are ill. (All these are
diseases of the heart)
We need a Ramadhaan because we don't believe in
the promise of Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala, or if we do, we
do not implement it.
We need a Ramadhaan because it is time for us to
change and become something better then we are now.
We need a Ramadhaan because that is the only
thing that is going to get us together…
We need a Ramadhaan because we don't have unity,
there's no brotherhood
We need a Ramadhaan because there's no respect
for elders
We need a Ramadhaan because there's no real love
between us
We need a Ramadhaan, full of love and the Mercy
of Allaah
tabarak wa ta'ala.
A Ramadhaan like we come in, like in a clinic or
a hospital, trying to solve our illnesses, trying to
come out of there without the disease we came
with, trying to be better than we went in with.
We need a Ramadhaan. Look around you, look to
your right, look to your left, look in front of you and look
behind you and you'll say, "We need a Ramadhaan".
The sisters aren't covering properly, we need a Ramadhaan.
Brothers and sisters are mixing. We need a Ramadhaan.
Talking on phones and on the internet, we need a Ramadhaan.
This is a mess, we are in a fix, we are in a bind, and this is a problem…
We need a Ramadhaan. We need a Ramadhaan to get
ourselves together.
We need a Ramadhaan, that we come in the Masjid and we
face the Qiblah and we say "Allaahu Akbar" and we stand
in qiyaamah a long time until those diseases, that filth,
that sickness, that hardness the heart goes away.
We need a Ramadhaan that reminds us of the Hell-fire.
We need a Ramadhaan that tells us that we haven't been
given a certificate that we are people of Jannah.
We need a Ramadhaan that lets us known that we are
servants of Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala.
And if we were to spend our whole life, from the time we were
born until Yawm al Qiyaamah in Sajdaah, it would not
be enough to thank Allaah for His Mercy, His Grace
and His Blessings.
We need a Ramadhaan and it is clear. If there is any
fear of Allaah left in the hearts of ours and if there is any
hope of Jannaah left in us, and if there is any desire to
change and to be better and to be righteous and to
come to the level of Ihsaan, to come to the level of
a Mu'min, to have taqwa, to fear Allaah … We need
a Ramadhaan.
We need a Ramadhaan, a month of Tawbaah.
We need a Ramadhaan, a month of Maghfira.
We need a Ramadhaan to correct our behaviour,
to correct the differences & the difficulties and the envy
/ jealousies in our relationship between one another.
We need a Ramadhaan to understand that we have been
committing injustice to one another. And as the Prophet
(sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said : 'Az-Zulm (injustice)
– "Zulumaat yawmal Qiyaamah" –we'll be changed
physically into darkness on the Day of Judgement.'
We need a Ramadhaan to understand the Hadith :
to fear the duaa of the one to whom we have done
injustice. For there is not between Allaah and the person
making the invocation, the person making that supplication
of the person to whom injustice has been done, there is no
veil between that person and Allaah. That duaa is
immediately accepted.
The oppressor is the one for whom things are not going right;
He is tripping into this and falling into that; He is Slipping
there and sliding here. Why I can't get ahead? Why I can't
progress in my Deen? Why I can't memorize this ayah?
Why I can't understand this hadeeth? We may be living
under the invocation, the answer for invocation for someone
whom we abused or stepped over. You know you need
a Ramadhaan. I know I need a Ramadhaan. We know
we need a Ramadhaan. We need to get ourselves together.
We've been running around in filth, we have been having our hearts
around the low matters; We need our hearts to be around
the thrones of Allaah; We need to think about the high
matters, high goals; We need to think about Jannah;
We need a hope for al-Jannah.
You're planning for marriage, you're planning for
education, you're planning for a job, but we need to
plan for the Jannah. We need to prepare for the Jannah
during the month of Ramadhaan.
"'Nahnu be haajathin Ma'aasa fir Ramadhaan."
We are in severe need for Ramadhaan, so that we come
into Ramadhaan with repentance, we come into it with
regret, we come into it realizing that we are weak, that we
need Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala to correct us, realizing
that we are wrong and that we need Allaah tabarak wa
ta'ala to place upon us that which is right, realizing that
we are weak and that we need Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala
to grant us strength. We need a Ramadhaan.
Oh Yes !! We need a Ramadhaan.
We needs nights of Qiyaam, we need dua and sujood,
we need nights of Ramadhaan to do thilawaah of Quran.
We need to listen to Husri, or Sudays or Shurain, or Hudhaifi.
We need a Ramadhaan to listen to the Quran. When
was the last time that we listened to the Quran?? When
was the last time we recited Quran? We need a Ramadhaan
to study Quran, to implement the Quran, and this
Ramadhaan may be our final Ramadhaan. As one brother
spoke, I believe it is Abu Thasleem Hafidahullaah, where is
the guarantee that this is not our final Ramadhaan?
What is the guarantee that it is not our final Ramadhaan?
We have to come into it seriously. And we want to come
out of it much better than we came into it. We want to come out
of Ramadhaan with Taqwa, because that was the
main reason that it was legislated.
"O you who believe fasting has been written upon you
as it was written for those before you, so that you may
gain Taqwa."
Taqwa is fear of Allaah. If we had taqwa, our condition
will be better than it is now. If we had taqwa our
relationships would be smoother, if we had taqwa …father
to son who is a Muslim, sister to brother who is Muslim, uncle,
aunt, niece and nephew who is Muslim, husband and wife who
are Muslims.. the relationships would be better if they
are based upon Taqwa. And we can achieve Taqwa during
the month of Ramadhaan. I don't believe that our hearts are
that hard, I don't believe that we can't change, I don't believe that
some of us who hold hatred for the last 10 years cannot learn to
love, and because we have been taught deceit and deception now
we can't learn to trust.
I don't believe that those brothers who have left circumstances
physically but have the teachings and the behaviours that they
had while they were up there, that they can't change. The sisters
who remove their bodies from the fitnah and physically remove
their bodies from a mistake, physically remove their bodies from
foolishness but their hearts have to follow. Be iznillaahi
tha'aalah ! Their hearts have to follow.
We need a Ramadhaan to inculcate these qualities. We
need to control our desires. We need to control our
tongue. We need to control our limbs. We need to
learn self-discipline. We need to control our anger.
We must do things in Ramadhaan not out of habit, something
that is just tradition., that we are more despicable when we
went in. We have to change our condition. We have to
change our connection with Allaah tabarak wa ta'ala.
For how light is the view of Allaah when they disobey
Him. This is what was said by one of the sahabas when he had
the crown of the Persian King in his hand.
We need a Ramadhaan so that we can focus on the
Aakhirah -- Hereafter and we give Naseehah and
advice to one another that is of benefit and that our
talking and our mixing is just not about the Dunya, and what
you want to do in the Dunya and how you are gonna be in this
Dunya.
We need a Ramadhaan so that people learn to
inculcate in their children to be like Abu Bakr
As-Siddeeq, Umar al-Khattab, Sa'ad abi Ibn
Waqqas and like this. We need a Ramadhaan so
that they can study knowledge. This Ummah needs
another Bin Baaz, this Ummah needs another
Al-Albani, this Ummah needs another Muqbil,
this Ummah needs another Ibn Taimiyyah, this
Ummah needs all of these and more.
You are gonna tell me that none of them can come
or no one like them can from our families? None
of them can come from us? Not everyone who comes
from us have to be Goofi. Can't our children speak
the Arabic language at a young age? Can't we put
in the hands of our children books that will benefit
the Ummah.. the same love the Kaafir have for Harry
Potter and their imaginary books? Our hope is low. Our
desire is low.
We are supposed to be having high goals.
We should be looking at our kids Abdullaah and Abdurrahman
and saying : You might be Sheikh Naasir for this Ummah. We
should be saying when listening to Sudaisi and Shuraim that
it could be you leading the salaah in haram. We are supposed
to be having high goals. But until we brush off the dust, the
foolishness of the jaahiliyyah , the hastiness of the youth, the
bad characteristics that we have, we have to get rid of them ,
we have to change our condition, we need aRamadhaan.
We need our Qiyaam at night, we need recitation
of Quran, we need to sit together and talk together
only about the deen, not about the Dunya, we need
to worry about our status in the Aakhirah, in
the Hereafter. We need to wake up from our sleep.
Wake up Oh Sleepy one. !!
Our slumber has been too long. You got to wake up, take
wudoo, get within the caravan of Mohamed Ibn
Abdullah, Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, Umar al-Khattab,
Ibn Taimiyyah – you have to get with it. How long
are we going to stay sick? How long are we going to
be unsettled? How long are we going to have our
problems?
We need a Ramadhaan.
And let this Ramadhaan be the one where you come
out of it better, come out of it committed, come out of it
devoted, you come out of it with your head held high.
You are from the Ummah of the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam) and don't you forget it!!
Walhamdulillaahi rabbil aalameen.
• Full text of the khutbah can be read at:
To listen to the audio at Masjid Tawheed Chicago, click on one of the audio icons below.
Benefits of Ramadhaan (we need Ramadhaan) Abu Uwais Abdullaah Ali [English] | |||
[00:36:16] |
AlhamdulilLAH, insyaALLAH may this piece of writing
benefit all of us, Muslims. Saamihni 'ala kulli hal.
InsyaALLAH together let us all Muslims hands in hands
pray to ALLAH Ta'ala so that HE save the UMMAH
and grant glorious victory to ISLAM! Ameen.
BarakalLAHUlakunna!
Salam Ramadhan al Maghfirah 1427H
Saamihni 'ala kulli hal,
Wassalamu bilkhair ajma'in.
al faqiirah ila ROBBIha,
Bintu Yusof,
26 Sya'aban 1427H,
Auckland, Nueva Zelanda.