Kamal El-Mekki – Jummah Khutbah 12-04-2024
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The Quran is a slow and deliberate process that takes 20 years to complete. It is important to not rush and not feel the need to recite it. The advice given before is to be mindful of words and values of the Quran. Fasting and not abandoning the Quran is also crucial. The speaker emphasizes the importance of reciting the Quran and not letting fasting become a habit. There are updates on Muslim programs and events, including the upcoming WhatsApp WhatsApp camp and a new Muslim class.
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Brothers and sisters in Islam,
today our Khutba is titled What We Learned
in Ramadan.
And as we all know, the purpose of
Ramadan is
so that we may change during Ramadan and
continue with that change,
act of worship or good habit that we
acquired
for the rest of the year.
We spent Ramadan
close to the Quran,
regularly
reciting it, regularly
learning,
memorizing,
and contemplating its meetings.
So
the question is did we continue
that relationship with the Quran
after Ramadan?
A few Ramadans ago,
I received a text on the 3rd day
of Eid, and the text message said,
today is the 3rd day after Eid. Are
you on your 3rd Juzm?
And it's an amazing reminder
because for many people,
the Quran just went back up on the
shelves.
The scholars said,
when you love someone,
you love their speech.
You love their your children,
you love what they say to you. It
doesn't make any sense.
Or if it makes sense, it is not
beneficial.
But you love what they say.
People love to talk to their fiances,
their loved ones.
So how much do we love the speech
of Allah
Meaning, how quickly do we get tired of
reciting the Quran or bored of reciting the
Quran
in comparison to other topics we love. Those
who love to talk about investing,
and houses,
and
cars,
music.
How soon do they get tired of that
in comparison to how quickly they get tired
of the Quran.
The companion of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud,
and he's the one who says that there
is not a verse in the Quran except
I can tell you if it was revealed
by night
or by day
or on a flat land or on a
high
like a mountain top.
So
they said that whenever you gave him a
copy of the Quran
and remember they didn't have printing presses back
then, so you would have to write out
the entire Quran.
So it was not a rare thing to
get a mushaf.
So they said whenever you gave him a
mushaf as a gift, he would take it
and he would put it to his chest
and he
would
say,
My Lord's book, my Lord's book. Just from
the words you can feel his love for
the Quran and of Allah azza wa jal.
One of the important things
is what Allah azza wa jal mentioned in
Surat Saad. Allah Azawgun says
This is a blessed book that we sent
down to you so they may contemplate its
verses.
So first and foremost, it is a book
of guidance, therefore it is a book to
be contemplated.
One of the early Muslims, he had a
walima,
a gathering, a feast
at his home. When they asked him the
occasion,
he said after 20 years that he finally
completed the Quran.
He said, khatam tul Quran.
So they told him 20 years, it took
you 20 years to complete the Quran,
and he said Wallahi,
I never passed by a verse, except that
I first asked myself what does Allah Azzawajal
want from me from this verse? Yani, what
is required of me from this verse? So
So what he means is that he's going
through the Quran,
a slow contemplation of the Quran and therefore
it took him 20 years. Not about singing
through it or reciting it quickly, but what
is the lesson? What is required of me
when it comes to this verse?
And do I act upon this verse or
do I ignore the message of this verse?
And this is the kind of completion of
the Quran
and that's why it took him 20 years
to do so.
The companion,
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, again,
his advice.
He says when you're reading the Quran,
do not sing it along like poetry
and do not rush through it,
but pause
and contemplate its meanings.
And let not the concern of one of
you be the end of the Surah. What
does that mean? And if someone says I'm
going to sit down and recite Al Baqarah,
so they take a bookmark and put it
at the end of Al Baqarah,
then they start reciting. Then every little bit
they stop and they check the thickness. They
stop and they count the pages. Don't let
your concern be the end of the surah.
And this advice was given by Ibn Masood
radiAllahu anhu.
Allah says
So Allah aaswajal first said fear Allah,
be mindful of Allah and then Allah ajdull
will teach you and that's why the scholars
said taqwa comes first and if you're not
able to learn there must be something fit.
Work on your taqwa and you'll be able
to learn and knowledge will come easier.
So the scholars said based on this
idea here
that so many people
they come expecting to be moved by the
Quran, but then nothing happens.
And they argue, how can you be moved
by the words of the Quran
if you have thrown the values of the
Quran behind your back.
Many times a person will come and say,
I didn't feel the salah or this imam
didn't do it for me or this masjid
didn't do it for me. But it's really
not about the masjid nor the imam but
it's about the individual.
If you turn your back on the values
and meanings and lessons of the Quran,
then what are the chances that just the
words of the Quran are going to move
you?
Brothers and sisters in Islam,
we are composed of a body and a
spirit and so the scholar said the body
was created from Earth.
So therefore, everything that will take care of
and bring peace to the body will also
be from earth.
Food, drink,
sleeping, resting that's all from earth. But they
said the spirit came from the heavens,
so everything that will take care of and
nurture the spirit
must also be something from the heavens. By
that they mean the Quran,
they mean the revelation.
But the shaitan, his job is to distract
you from the Quran, and that's why Allah
Azzawiyah tells us even when before we start
reciting,
When you're about to recite the Quran,
seek the refuge and protection of Allah from
a shaytan,
the outcast.
So
so this,
basically,
is
the the job of the shaytaan.
That he's going to come and try to
get us to
stop reciting the Quran, to look away from
it, to put us to sleep. The minute
you start to recite, he tries to put
you to sleep or reminds you of something
that you need to do or someone that
you need to call because that's his job.
The point of that is to say
that if we have abandoned the Quran
after Ramadan, that means the Shaytan has become
successful.
Ramadan made us better people,
better worshipers of Allah azza wa Jal. And
it makes us it made us better believers
and abandoning the Quran is just an indication
that we didn't learn the lesson from the
month of Ramadan.
With that
ask Allah for his forgiveness. Indeed, those who
ask for his forgiveness shall prosper.
So the first
reminder
was a reminder to myself and to you
to let that we do not abandon
the Quran
for the rest of the year. And we
perhaps won't be able to keep up what
we did in Ramadan but at least we
don't put it back on the shelf until
next Ramadan.
The second thing is to not abandon fasting
itself.
And for many people
fasting is just in the month of Ramadan
and the reminder for us is to keep
fasting every now and then it does not
have to be a packed schedule busy with
full days of fasting but it could be
just be every now and then so that
we don't forget it. One of the benefits
of fasting and one of the religious benefits
of fasting. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said that the fasting person when they break
their fast they have a dawah
that is
not rejected at all. That was not refused
or rejected
and that in itself is just
an incentive
to fast, voluntary fast throughout the year. Abdullah
ibn Umar, they narrate
that when he used because he knew this,
that he has
a a dua that will never be rejected,
he used to say
and
he take advantage of that dawah
and he would ask for Magfirah. He would
say, oh Allah, I ask you by your
mercy that has encompassed everything
that you forgive me. So that's just one
of the incentives
that you have a dua that is answered.
In the other hadith, Nabi salallahu alayhi wasallam
said, whoever fasts a voluntary day,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
will
push the hellfire away from him or he'll
keep him away from the hellfire
a distance of
70
70 years, basically.
Just from fasting one day, 70 years.
So the reminder
was that we don't abandon the Quran
and that we don't abandon fasting,
that we continue whatever good habits we acquire
during the month of Ramadan, and that was
the whole point. The whole point of the
month is that we don't have lifestyle a,
this is how I live outside of Ramadan,
and then lifestyle b, that's how I live
in Ramadan. And then when Ramadan's over, I
just go back to lifestyle
a.
With that, we ask Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
to assist
us in his and give us aid to
worship him better and to continue in worshiping
him,
and to make us of those who recognize
the truth as clear truth and follow the
best of it, and recognize falsehood as clear
falsehood and abstain from it.
We ask Allah
to bring ease and victory to Islam and
to the Muslims.
Assalamu
alaikum. Just a few announcements, so let me
do them right now.
First one is just, yeah, you're wishing praying
that everyone had a good aid, and,
all the programs in the Masjid will resume
next week, meaning there's no Friday night lights
today. All programs start resuming next week.
The new Muslim class, which Sheikh Abraham, resumes
Sunday, April 14th at 4 PM. The boys,
spring camp registration closes this Sunday, April 14th.
Do not miss out on this actual opportunity
for young men ages 13
to 21. Please check out our website and
social media pages for the registration.
This is the the annual masjid camp. This
is the 21st year, I believe. It's been
going on for a while, and it's
always last minute people trying to enter. So
if you have a child, 13 to 21,
register them quickly, please. Starting tomorrow, Fajr will
be held at 6:15
AM.
And we'd like to thank everyone for their
generous donations during the month of Ramadan. Allah
accept from all of
you.