BY: MISBAH MOMIN
Alhamdulillah, after reading the Prophet’s Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam (SAWs) profound sermon on Ramadan, it consistently serves as a reminder to me of the blessings this sacred month brings. I’m compelled to share this pre- cious khutbah, that unveils the secrets of success, both, in this world and the hereafter.
Hazrat Salman Farsi (RA) narrated, the sermon delivered by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) on the last day of Sha’ban, welcoming the arrival of the month of Ramadan, is an overwhelm- ingly life-changing and timeless message.
“O People! The month of Allah (Ramadan) has come 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 the hours during Ramadan are the best among the hours.
This is a month in which you have been invited by Him (to fast and pray). Allah has honoured 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 forgive- ness in this great month.
While fasting remember the hunger and thirst on the Day of Judgement. Give alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen. Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden) 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 entreat.
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 Honour and Majesty, that people who perform Salat and Sajda (prostration) will be guarded from hell-fire on the Day of Judgement.
O people! If anyone amongst you arranges for Iftar (meal at sunset) for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave, and Allah will forgive him his sins.”
A companion said: “but not all of us have the means to do so,” to which 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 Judgement. 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 away from His mercy.
Whomever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from hell, and whomever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other months. Whomever 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. Whomever recites during this month an Ayaat (verse) of the Qur’an, will get the reward of reciting the whole Qur’an in other months.
O people! The gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord that they may not be closed for you; while the gates of hell are closed, pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan has been chained, invoke your Lord not to let him dominate you.
O people, there comes over you now a great month, a blessed month, a month in which there is a night which is better than a thousand months [this night refers to Layla- tul-Qadr, the Night of Power]. Allah has made fasting in it compulsory, and standing (in prayer) at night voluntary (i.e. Salat-ul-Taraweeh is not compulsory, but it is Sunnah).
Whoever draws near to Allah by performing any virtuous deed (i.e. even a small good action) shall be like the one who had performed an obligatory act (fard) in any other time, and whoever performs an oblig- atory act (fard), shall be like the one who performed seventy obligatory acts in any other time.
It is the month of patience (sabr), and the reward for patience is Paradise. It is the month of sympathy with one’s fellow men. It is the month wherein a believer’s provision (rizq) is increased.
Whoever provides Iftar for a fasting person in it (i.e. in Ramadan), then that shall be a forgiveness for his (the feeder’s) (minor) sins and free- dom from the fire. And for such a feeder shall be the same reward as the one who fasted (whom he fed), without that person’s reward being decreased in the least.”
They [the Companions (RA)] said, “O Messenger of Allah, not all of us possess the means whereby we can provide Iftar to a fasting person”. He (SAW) said, “Allah grants this reward to the one who gives a fasting person, to break the fast, one date or a drink of water or a sip of milk.
“And it is a month, the first (part) of which is mercy, the middle (part) of which is forgiveness and the last (part) of which is freedom from the fire. Whoever lessens the burden of his servant (in this month) Allah will forgive him and free him from the fire. “So in it (this month), increase in four things: two of these things you will please your Lord by doing, and two of these things are indispensable to you. As for those two things which you will please your Lord by, they are testifying that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah (i.e. reciting the Kalimah) and seeking His for- giveness. As for those two things which are indispensable to you, you should ask Allah for paradise and seek refuge in Him from the fire.
And whoever gave (in Ramadan) to a fasting person water to drink, Allah shall grant that giver a drink from my fountain, such a drink where that person shall never again feel thirsty until he enters Paradise.”
May Allah, in His Infinite Mercy, guide us to embody the essence of this invaluable Ramadan khutbah. May He, in His magnanimity, forgive our sins and generously reward us with His limitless generosity.
Source of sermon: Mishkat al- Masabih
