Abdul Nasir Jangda – Jummah Khutbah 05-04-2024
AI: Summary ©
The concept of forgiveness is a constant theme throughout various narrations, based on actions and intentions. forgiveness is a beautiful quality that can be used to overcome past struggles and become a source of strength. forgiveness is a driver of behavior and is essential for achieving a second chance. forgiveness is a driver of behavior and is essential for achieving a reward from Allah. forgiveness is a driver of behavior and is essential for achieving a second chance.AI: Transcript ©
Hi.
As we embarked upon the month of Ramadan,
there were many different
goals that we had.
There were different aspirations that we had.
There were maybe a lot of things that
we had scheduled
that we hoped to get to or to
achieve or accomplish
during this blessed month of Ramadan.
And probably one of the top things on
our list, or at the very least, what
I can say is it should be the
top thing on our list,
and that is to achieve the forgiveness from
Allah.
One of the fascinating things when you look
at
all the narrations
that are particular to the month of Ramadan.
When someone does an analysis,
a survey
of all the
all the narrations of the prophet
that particularly
mentioned the virtues of the month of Ramadan,
the benefits of the month of Ramadan,
what one hopes to gain during the month
of Ramadan,
what is promised during the month of Ramadan,
the one very fascinating observation
is that they all center
around the idea,
they all deliver on the promise of
forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the constant
theme throughout all of those narrations.
For example,
in the hadith
quoted in al Bukhari and Muslim,
Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu narrates
that the prophet
said,
Somebody who fasted throughout the month of Ramadan.
While having faith and belief in Allah
and hoping for the ultimate reward from Allah,
they were not looking for any other kind
of,
appreciation.
They weren't looking they had no ulterior motive.
Their only
and sole objective
was to please Allah.
What is the promise?
All of their sins will be forgiven.
Then the prophet
mentions,
that someone who stood and prayed
every single night
throughout the month of Ramadan.
That someone who prayed, and this is from
the mercy of our deen and our religion.
The prophet did not specify
a certain amount.
There is some good news
for the 4 raka'at crew. Alright?
Some.
Okay.
But
the prophet
said somebody who prayed every single night throughout
the month of
Subhanallah, it makes me think there's an authentic
narration from the prophet
that says, somebody who prays their salatul alaihisha,
and then somebody who prays their salat al
fajr.
It will be written for him as if
he prayed the entire night.
Look how beautiful our deen is.
It asks us for a little bit of
effort.
Of course, do more.
But look how beautiful this deen is. Look
how all encompassing the mercy of Allah is.
So going back to the point, the prophet
said, whoever stood and prayed throughout the month
of Ramadan, what is their reward?
What we've been seeking
for the last
week,
the nights of power,
the nights of great reward.
What does it say? What is the promise?
What is the reward of that night?
Whoever stood and prayed
on the night and again, the prophet
did not specify how much.
But whoever stood and prayed on the night
of Laylatul Khadr, what is their reward? All
their sins are forgiven.
So when you look
at all of these different narrations
that talk about the virtues, the blessings of
the month of Ramadan,
it focuses on this central theme and idea
of forgiveness.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
in Sahih Bukari, as he says,
actions are based on their intentions.
And so we have to have good intentions
and the right intentions going into our actions.
But the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sama also
in Sahih Bukhari mentions
that
actions are ultimately
rewarded and judged by Allah
based on their conclusions,
and how we close and how we conclude.
And so the month of Ramadan is not
over.
Sometimes the last Friday of the month of
Ramadan
and or sometimes 27th night.
And sometimes those 2 coincide,
like tonight,
that's it signals to us this kind of
idea that Ramadan is over.
And we
mourn for a few moments
what we were not able to achieve or
accomplish,
and then we move right on to the
next thing.
But this is a reminder to me and
to everybody here that the month of Ramadan
is not over
and that we have
precious days, precious nights, precious moments remaining.
And we have to remind ourselves and remember
what the ultimate goal
was.
Whether may Allah forgive me.
I was fully
fixed on it.
I was fully focused or cons you know,
cognizant of it or not.
I still
I can I still have time to remind
myself?
And that goal was forgiveness.
The forgiveness of Allah
That's what I want.
That if I leave this month, achieve nothing
more than the forgiveness of Allah. I say
nothing more as if it's something
small. The forgiveness of Allah
completely
wiped away,
clean slate,
new beginning,
fresh start,
turning a new page. We have so many
expressions in our language
to capture the same idea
of what it's like to get another chance
because it's so powerful.
Because in the world that may be so
elusive,
people rarely ever
can completely turn the page on something.
This world
will never ever totally forgive us.
But with Allah
that's not only a possibility, that's a promise.
It's a promise from Allah
that I can get a total second chance,
that I can flip
the
page. I can turn a new leaf. I
can start over completely.
But I have to want it.
And I have to ask for it.
Allah is so kind, so merciful
that he'll give me that, that next chance.
But all I need to do is I
need to humble myself and I need to
ask for it.
I need to seek it.
And a lot of times when something is
so powerful,
so beautiful,
so remarkable,
It might seem like it's very difficult, like
maybe, you know, I have to scale a
mountain.
I have to fulfill some great
task.
But the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam, the
Quran and the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam
tell us
how simple, how
accessible, how practical it actually is.
In the hadith of the Prophet
sometimes it's a matter of effort and just
perspective and focus.
In the hadith of the Prophet
it mentions about him rather in Sahih Muslim,
He would put in more effort during the
last 10 nights of the month of Ramadan
than he did in normal days.
Everyone has a different level.
Somebody
somebody's level might be different than mine, but
that's okay. The point of the narration is
he would put in more work than he
normally did. That's all I have to do,
is put in more work than I normally
do.
In the hadith,
it mentions
says,
He would stay up and pray during the
night.
He would wake up his family to pray
with him.
He would tighten his belt
that
the Prophet
sometimes a deed can be so simple and
so easy.
The Prophet
or the Quran, the book of Allah
tells us,
Strive
for the forgiveness of your Lord.
In a paradise that is so vast
that it's bigger than this entire universe.
Now,
how do you achieve something so
amazing?
People who spend
and again,
I emphasize Allah does not mention quantity.
Allah emphasizes quality.
They spend whether times are good
or even times are tough.
They might be able to give a little
less, but that's okay. Allah does not hold
that against
them. As long as they spend, as long
as they give.
And maybe it's a deed as simple as
I
have a confrontation with my brother.
We have a dispute, a disagreement
about something.
And in that moment, maybe he crosses the
line.
And I'm angry,
I'm furious,
But instead of lashing out,
I'm able to control myself.
I'm able to hold myself,
control my anger.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, that deed itself
could get you the forgiveness from Allah and
that paradise that Allah is talking about.
Just controlling your anger in that one moment.
And then forgiving someone. Someone wronged you,
someone said something that they shouldn't have said
to you,
but just forgiving it,
letting it go.
We always get stuck on, but it's my
right. However, it's my right.
However, if I am willing to forgive in
that moment, just let it go.
That small simple deed
could earn me this forgiveness of Allah that
we're talking about
and the promise of that paradise.
Allah loves those people who strive
for excellence and doing good.
Someone might say, brother, you're talking about doing
these good deeds. I'm still trying to keep
myself out of trouble.
I find myself
constantly tempted and constantly
falling and failing. Well, Allah
says, there's hope for us as well.
That the people who might have committed the
most unspeakable things.
Allah calls it such a sin that you
can't even speak it.
Such a sin you can't even speak it.
Or
maybe some other sin.
But then they remember Allah
And they ask Allah for forgiveness.
But then Allah asks us
a rhetorical question. Who can forgive your sins
other than Allah? Which is Allah's very powerful,
beautiful, eloquent way of saying, of course, I'll
forgive you.
Why?
Why is this sinner?
Why is this criminal being forgiven?
What did he or she do to deserve
forgiveness?
Well, Allah says,
When they realized what they were doing was
wrong, when they realized what they were doing
and they realized that what they were doing
was wrong,
they didn't persist on it.
They didn't stay on it. They weren't stuck
on it.
And just
not even being
remarkable,
not even being exemplary,
extraordinary,
but being this faulty.
However, having that kind of relationship with Allah,
having that kind of awareness
and just the ability to seek forgiveness,
Allah says that those people,
their reward,
their ultimate reward
is the forgiveness
from their lord.
Gardens in paradise, rivers and streams flowing beneath
them.
And they'll be in those in that paradise
for all of eternity. And look how remarkable,
look how beautiful
the reward from Allah
is.
Forgiveness from Allah
is so accessible.
We have to
grasp it and understand it and comprehend it.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us
in a hadith of Sahih Bukhari,
this is something very
powerful.
It's a bit delicate.
But look how powerful this is.
Excuse
me. Which in the Arabic language means
there was a woman
who had committed
the most unspeakable sin.
And it talks about the fact that this
was
her occupation.
That unspeakable
sin was her occupation.
Sees a and
as she's walking by,
she passes by this dog,
this thirsty
dog
sitting at the edge of a well.
And he was panting.
And the way he was breathing,
you could sense
that he had just a few moments of
life left in him. His thirst was so
severe, it was going to kill this poor
creature.
And this woman, this extremely
sinful person
who lived the life of sin,
in that moment sees the desperation of the
dog,
thinks about her own soul,
repents to Allah and
an act of redemption
to qualify her repentance,
removes
her shoe,
her boot.
And she takes her scarf and she ties
the boot
to her scarf.
And there's no bucket, so she lowers her
boot using her own scarf into the well,
fills it up with water, pulls it out,
puts it in front of that dying thirsty
animal.
And Allah forgave her because of that deed.
That's how simple it is.
In another hadith,
in Bukhari and Muslim,
Abu Hurairah
narrates that the Prophet
said,
A man was walking down the street
minding his own business, just walking down the
street
like we do all the time.
He saw
that a branch of a tree had fallen
into the street
and had thorns and things like that on
it.
So he
stopped. He stopped,
inconvenienced himself for
60 seconds,
30 seconds.
And he took that branch and he picked
it up and he pulled it off the
road
So they wouldn't harm or hurt anybody.
Allah appreciated
his deeds so much.
That Allah forgave him.
A sin like that a deed like that.
That's how easy.
That's how accessible
the forgiveness of Allah is.
Allah says, tell my servants.
Why don't they listen?
Tell them.
And Allah is speaking in the first person
that that indeed I and only
I am so forgiving
and so merciful.
Why don't they seek it?
And I come back to the same point
of
sometimes
we
can doubt ourselves,
and sometimes
we become too
encumbered
by
the
the sins that we've committed,
and we don't have enough perspective
about how merciful Allah
is, the poet he writes,
My lord, when my sins become numerous,
I remember
that your forgiveness is greater.
That if
the only people that can have hope in
you
are pious people,
then who will criminals like me call out
to?
That I call out to you my Lord
as you have commanded
and I call out with humility.
But if you reject and turn my hands
back empty,
then who will have mercy on this soul?
That I have no
I have nothing left in this life except
my hope in you.
And the beauty of your forgiveness is what
made me a Muslim to begin with.
That, O Allah, when my heart becomes hardened,
I've sinned so much. I've hardened my heart
and it seems like all my pathways are
closed.
The hope I have in your forgiveness
is the rope that I hold on
That my sins weigh me down. But when
I compare them
to your forgiveness,
I am reminded again that your forgiveness is
greater.
And I'll end and conclude
here
with a remarkable story that Ibn Aasakir,
one of the great historians
of our tradition.
He's written this particular story.
The great companion of the Prophet
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
who spent the last part of his life
in Kufa,
in Iraq.
And he says that one time
he was walking on one of the streets
of Kufa,
and he saw that there was a group
of young men.
They were sitting around and they were drinking
wine.
They were engaging in intoxication.
And they got they were gathered around one
particular young man
who was singing
and entertaining the rest of them and he
had a beautiful voice.
His name was Zavan.
When the Ibn Mas'ud
who saw this entire scene,
he went to them.
He went and he picked up the jug,
the container of the wine,
what Allah has prohibited in the Quran,
and he smashed it and he broke it.
And then he turned to the young man
who was singing and entertaining everyone
and he said, How beautiful is your voice,
young man?
I just wish you would recite the Quran
with this beautiful voice.
And then he went on his way. By
this time, Abdullah bin Masood Alilano was a
very elderly man,
so he went on his way.
When Abdullah bin Masood had left,
Zadan, the young man who was singing and
entertaining everyone, he didn't really he didn't register
what Abdullah bin Masood had said.
So he said, manhadah, who is this man?
So they said, Abdullah ibn Masood,
Sahib
He's the great companion of the Prophet Abdullah
ibn Masood.
What was he saying?
He said that your voice is so beautiful
but he wished that you would read the
Quran with that beautiful voice.
So
zavan when he hears this,
he drops everything and he starts running.
He catches
the
catches up to
and he starts crying in front of him.
He grabs his hand. He starts crying,
weeping.
And he starts saying repeating,
O Allah forgive me. O Allah forgive me.
O Allah forgive me. He's crying and weeping
and holding the hand of
He said, I won't entertain people like that
anymore. I won't drink intoxicants
and drink wine anymore.
Hugged
him.
And he also started crying.
Abdullah ibn Masud al Anhu hugged him and
started crying with him.
He said, I love you young man. I
love you.
How can I not love the one whom
Allah loves? Because if Allah did not love
you, Allah would have not given you the
ability to raise your hands and ask Allah
for forgiveness. We say, may Allah forgive us
all.
And then Zazan became one of the most
devout students of the great companion Abdullah bin
Masood. He learned and memorized the entire Quran
from Abdullah bin Masood, who learned it from
the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And
then he became a scholar of this religion.
And if you look in the books of
Hadith today, you'll find Zadan
as one of the people who has narrated
the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
And he became one of the most greatest
one of the greatest scholars of his generation.
Forgiveness.
This is the opportunity we have in front
of us.
So we beg and we pray and we
ask
that may
Allah forgive us. May Allah
grant us his forgiveness in this month.
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