Transcription
My brothers and sisters, as you know, we have less than two months until the month of Ramadan. That itself is a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because He has brought us so close to something so important. It's sad that I'm going to give you the following example, but I think it will help you understand.
Those of us who benefited from the November Black Friday sales—many times, prior to the sale, you want to buy something; your eyes are on something, and you tell yourself, "It's a bit expensive. Let me wait for the sale." Be it the end-of-season sales—I've just given you the November sales because we've just come out of it not too long ago—but at the same time, what you need to know is that preparation to get a bargain happens in your mind. You know you want something; you know you've moved into a new home, or you need appliances or electronic gadgets, or whatever else it may be. You prepare in advance and save up, and then you wait. You wait for the day. I know in some countries, and even here, when there's going to be a sale at a certain store where you want certain things, you make sure you're there early to get the bargains. This includes air fares and air tickets. If someone were to tell you there is a blitz sale, or that the airline you fly with is going to have a sale, even if you're not planning to travel, you start scratching your head; you start telling yourself, "Maybe... it's quite a cheap ticket. Let's plan; maybe we might go here, go there." But it wasn't even in your mind had it not been for that sale.
My brothers, my sisters, don't you think the month of Ramadan, in which the Forgiveness of Allah is literally on sale, should be given more importance? Subhan Allah, it should be given more importance! I should be excited about the fact that, Subhan Allah, we're in the month of Rajab. Have you noticed one thing? In my few decades on Earth, I've realized that every year that passes is actually faster than the previous one; that is the prophecy of… I can't believe we're already at the doorstep of the month of Ramadan. And where am I? Have I really improved from the previous Ramadan? Have I improved myself over the years? The answer should be yes, even if it is an inch at a time. An inch is not good enough, but it's okay; at least it's forward movement.
If I were to tell you, my brother, "You want an increment at your job," you would say yes. If I were to say, "What are you getting now?" If you, for example, were to say, "I'm getting, hmm, 50,000 Rand a month," what would you like to get? What are you going to say? Many people are so embarrassed to say the true figure in their hearts that they will say, "What is it that you're offering me?" Subhan Allah! Just say, "I want 500,000!" And then they're going to say, "You're crazy!" You might just get someone who is so good, and they say, "You have it." That's fine. Can it happen? I think on Earth it's rare. In the case of Allah Almighty, you ask Him what you want. [Applause] Verses that are mentioned immediately after the fasting of Ramadan are mentioned in… where Allah says, "When My worshipper asks Me… when My worshipper asks you about Me, tell him, 'I am very close. I respond to everyone who calls out to Me; every single one who calls out to Me, I respond to him or her.' So believe in Me and continue seeking from Me." Subhan Allah! They should continue seeking from Allah, meaning the Believers, if they would like to be rightly guided.
My brothers, my sisters, Allah places difficulties in your life out of His love for you. If it is drawing you closer to Allah, it is a gift of Allah. If it is drifting you away from Allah, Shaitan is getting hold of you. So don't lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Allah gives you the month of Ramadan, the month of tears, the month of crying, the month of softening of the heart. When I say tears and crying, I mean in regret that we wasted our lives. How many times have we, especially in the recent past, heard of so many people dying of sudden heart attacks? How old were they? Younger than you and I. What makes you think that it's not you next? Are you ready to go? Many of us will say, "Well, no," rightfully so; we may not be ready to go right now. But I want to tell you, my beloved brothers, my sisters, if you are trying, it will bring a smile to your face knowing that Allah loves those who try. When Adam made a mistake, he sought the Forgiveness of Allah, hoping in the mercy of Allah. Allah forgave him. When those who did wrong in the past did wrong, they sought the Forgiveness of Allah, having hope in the mercy of Allah. Allah forgave them, and Allah will forgive you, and He will forgive me, and He will forgive all of us. We have nothing besides hope in the mercy of Allah that's going to carry us forward. All of us are guilty of crimes. When I say crimes, I don't mean major issues against one another, like murder, etc., but I do mean sins we've committed that we are embarrassed about—myself included. There is no one on Earth who is so saintly that they've never sinned; no way! All the children of Adam, all humankind, make mistakes. They… are protected by Allah; that's another level altogether. He is the Highest. I'm talking about you and I, and those who exist on Earth today. If anyone speaks to you and makes it seem like they don't sin, and you're the only ones who sin, they are wrong; they need help, perhaps on a different level. Yes, some are worse than others, but that's between them and Allah, because there are people who committed bigger sins in their past who have become closer to Allah than those who have committed smaller sins and drifted away from Allah.
So Allah gives you a blessed month, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala helps you to ponder over how quickly time is moving. Before you know it, it will be the first of this month—with you or without you. You know what that means? You might be a person whom, when people say their name in Ramadan, they will say, "May Allah's mercy be on that man; he was a good man." You might not see the month of Ramadan. Do you realize that? Oh Allah, grant us the opportunity to witness Ramadan. What was the big deal? The big deal was we want to witness the sale. But I want to tell you something very interesting: If, from now, you intend something, even if you don't end up fulfilling it—for as long as that intention was solid and firm—if you were to die between now and the time that you fulfilled what you had planned and intended, Allah will reward you fully for that. I plan, in Ramadan, I'm going to read so much Quran, and I am serious about it. I plan that in the month of Ramadan I'm going to do this and do that. I'll start right now, a little bit like the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam; he started fasting earlier—Mondays and Thursdays. Let's make it a habit. It's the month of Rajab, and Sha'ban; the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam fasted a lot in the month of Sha'ban to ease himself into the month of Ramadan, and even after Ramadan, in sha Allah, he fasted in order to ease out of that month of Ramadan. Subhan Allah! Start now. When you do your Salah, take your time. When you have fulfilled your fard, your obligation, go into your Sunnah and your nafil, a little bit from now, and see what will happen. You will enjoy your ibadah. But if you are planning from now, my brothers, let's go to the hu… and tell them, "You better make it sharp, shoot, because we would like a quick exit!" Allah Akbar! If that's your intention, you might not even see Ramadan, and then what's going to happen? Are you ready to face Allah, to say, "Oh Allah, I was busy preparing for Ramadan by trying to look for the fastest and the quickest and the sharpest of the shooters"? Allah, we don't want that to happen. We are above that, in sha Allah. We are better people than that; we are more closer to Allah and more appreciative of the favors of Allah upon us than a person who just wants to rush through the acts of worship that Allah has ordained.
My brothers, my sisters, isn't it a blessing of Allah? You seek forgiveness today, with the idea of improving your life today, with the idea of changing your life today. You see whether you witness the month of Ramadan or not, by the will of Allah, that mercy of Allah will engulf you and envelop you to the degree that you have nothing to fear about once you enter the Hereafter. If you have these two qualities, trust me, you want to hear the gift Allah is going to bless you with. What are the two qualities? Allah says, "Those who say, 'We believe in Allah'; those who say, 'My Lord is Allah,'" which means you worship Him alone; you engage in acts of worship; you love Him—not just lip service; you love Him to the degree that you work towards achieving His pleasure. And then those who say, "My Lord or our Lord is Allah," and then they are steadfast, to the best of their abilities. Steadfastness includes seeking the Forgiveness of Allah on a daily basis, because the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was the most steadfast, and he sought forgiveness on a daily basis. So if you are steadfast, and you say, "I believe in Allah," Allah says, "The angels descend to them." Angels come down to them. You know, at the point of death, you either have angels that you will be so scared of, based on your deeds, or you either have angels whom you will be smiling at, based on your deeds, coupled with the mercy of Allah. What are my deeds? My deeds are things I have done, but I know that they are not 100%. When I fulfill my prayer, is our concentration ever 100%? The answer is no. So what happens to that shortfall? Allah says, "We fill it with Our Mercy. We know what you did. You're a human; you did your best." You have a worry, you have a concern; something big just happened early morning, for example; you know your mind is preoccupied with something, but at the same time you are trying to concentrate. Allah says, "We know you are ours; We know you have worried Us; you have worried Me alone." Allah says, "I will forgo that shortfall; I will fill it with the mercy of Allah." And another big blessing is: Do you know primarily your record is taken for the fard? Primarily your record is taken for that which is obligatory unto Allah. He says, "There is no deed you could ever do more loved by Me than that which I made compulsory upon you." Those are the most loved deeds. Allah would never make deeds compulsory if He didn't love those deeds. When Allah says "fard," He loves those fard more than anything else; that's why He made it compulsory. Allah doesn't need this. When He loves something and you want to prove your love for Him, He says, "Okay, you want to prove your love for Me? I tell you, this is the thing I love the most: It's a…" where Allah Almighty says, "There is nothing more loved to Me than that which I made compulsory upon you." So what are the compulsory things? You and I know which Salah is compulsory; what from each Salah is compulsory. You also know the charitable deeds; what is compulsory and what is over and above that. You also know the Hajj, for example; you know the fasting, for example, and other things Allah has kept compulsory because He loves them. Now there will be a shortfall in that which is compulsory because of concentration, because maybe here or there I may have slipped up. Do you know what the mercy of Allah dictates? He says, "Go ahead and prove your love to Me, going beyond that which is compulsory. Go into that which is voluntary, in terms of Sunnah or nafil; go into it, dive into it, and continue." Because on the Day of Judgment, when there is a shortfall in that which is compulsory, I will compensate it by looking at that which was voluntary, which you did. For example, five daily prayers; there was a little bit of a shortfall in a little bit of some of what you did, for example. Allah says, "Does he have any Sunnah deeds? Does he have any nafil deeds?" If the answer is yes, well, compensate for the fard, and then you find a complete fard. But for you, you knew it was not that complete, but Allah says, "No, we looked at the extra you did, and we filled it for you." Subhan Allah! In your terms and mine, you know you owe me $10 here, and I owe you $10 there, for example; that's my example and yours. But in the case of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you have a little bit of that which is compulsory outstanding, but you have a lot of voluntary which is there, which was yours. That's why they say you get closer and closer and closer to Allah, the more voluntary deeds you do. When you make your five daily prayers a day, meaning every day you fulfill the five fard, many people are doing that. What makes you different? What makes you different is the quality—number one, number two—over and above the fard; that's from you. You know zakat is charity; you're supposed to give, in most cases, 2.5% of your savings, in most cases. Okay, I'm sure you know how to work it out. But the real test is how much are you going to give more than that? The 2.5% was always Allah's; whatever you gave more than that, that's you; that is now you. Are you going to prove to Allah, "Oh Allah, I'm going to give, for example, 5%, 10%," or I'm just going to give here and there without even looking? Wherever there's a need, I'm going to try; wherever there is a need, I'm going to try. There are people like that; a lot of us, I'd like to think, wherever there is a need, if you can help—zakat or no zakat—you are going to give because you know Allah actually watches what you do. Are you only going to give from what is His, or are you going to give now, over and above that, bonus—what is yours?
So going back to this month of Ramadan, Allah blesses you with it. The verse I read, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us the angels will come down, and I was explaining to you the two types of angels. Some would make you happy… May Allah grant us goodness. So when you read Quran every day, from the beginning to the end, you will be reading verses in which there is a cure for a disease you have that you don't know you have, and perhaps, by the blessing of that, you would be cured of a disease that you didn't ever know you had. And one day, on the Day of Judgment, Allah will tell you, "Do you know you had this disease? What? Do you know you had that disease?" But we cured you by the barakah of Our word. You read the Quran often, and you were cured before you were diagnosed. Did you know this? A person could be having cancer—may Allah grant cure to all those who are struggling with any disease—amen. You could be having cancer and you don't know, and because every day you read a verse or two of the Quran, you—you came across, by the mercy of Allah, these verses that are so powerful, they eradicated your disease. You didn't know; the doctor didn't know; no one diagnosed; no one picked it up. One day, only, you're going to find out. Do you know what happened? Let's show you… Allah Akbar! There is nothing more powerful than this. Please read the Quran. You don't understand—and don't just read a portion every day; that would exclude the rest of the Quran. Give a time to cover it, cover to cover; give a time, a portion; set a marker. I start from the beginning today, and trust me, I'm going to read a verse, two verses, a page, depending on how fluent you are. I put a marker, continue tomorrow; put a marker, continue the next day. A day will come when your level will have gotten such that you would look back and say, "Had it not been for the mercy of Allah, I wouldn't have been rightly guided." Alhamdulillah! You know what that means? All praise is due to Allah, Who has guided us to this beautiful guidance, and had it not been for the guidance of Allah, we would never ever have been rightly guided.
So my brothers and sisters, make the most of this run-up to the month of Ramadan. Start fasting a few fasts that are Sunnah—the 13th, 14th, 15th of the month; the Monday and the Thursday. You will get an amazing reward, and the run-up to Ramadan will be beautiful. Start making intentions and plans. Where are you going to be? What are you going to do? What effort are you going to make? Start becoming charitable—a little bit; give; spend. Oh son of Adam, and Allah will spend on you. You want Allah to give you something? Give someone something. You gave someone; they want… Allah says, "We're going to give you what you want." Subhan Allah! And Allah is so merciful; He gives us things without us deserving them; He gives us things without us deserving them at times. May Allah Almighty have mercy on all of us. I think I may have overshot a little bit, but in sha Allah we'll compensate with the time. May Allah Almighty really bless every one of us, my brothers, my sisters. It's about time we cleansed our hearts and we felt the love for one another. If you disagree with someone, my brothers and sisters, the teaching of sallallahu alaihi wasallam is to deal with it respectfully; do not be hurtful, abusive, and harmful. The true teaching of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam—he disagreed with the people of Quraysh; not once did he disrespect them; not once did he call them names; not once did he insult them. He was always hopeful that they would come, and guess what? Most of them came. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala help us. We are the lovers of sallallahu alaihi wasallam; let's prove that love; let's increase our salutations upon sallallahu alaihi wasallam, for indeed, every Friday there is a competition; who wins? The one who has sent the most blessings and salutations upon the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.