Eid and Beyond

My beloved brothers and sisters,

every time we achieve something,

we love to celebrate that achievement in one

way or another.

Every time we achieve something,

we become happy.

This time we have achieved

the entire month of Ramadan in obedience of

Allah,

fasting, standing in prayer, recitation of Quran, giving

charities,

remembrance of Allah, and so many more acts

of worship.

May Allah accept them from us.

As a result of these acts of worship,

Allah has given us a day to rejoice.

Allah has given us a day to celebrate

this huge achievement.

And on this day,

it is indeed a day that has been

given to rejoice

to us by Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So

declare the greatness of Allah by saying,

Allahu

Akbaru Allahu Akbar

On this day, one of the most important

things is for us to dress

with the best of our clothing

on condition that that clothing is well within

what Allah has ordained

and not that which Allah would be displeased

with. May Allah make that easy for us

and may we be strengthened

to realize that what is beautiful

is what Allah has ordained.

What is beautiful can never be that which

Allah Almighty would be displeased with. Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar.

This is a day in which fasting is

prohibited because

Allah Almighty wants us to eat and to

thank him.

The discipline that we achieved during the month

of Ramadan is to be extended by way

of us

abstaining from that which displeases Allah and engaging

in whatever pleases Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So

today he told us you're not allowed to

fast. Hence,

it is prohibited to fast on this day.

Allah almighty wants us to eat and drink

and thank Allah,

and to eat and drink and show appreciation

without being wasteful

and reaching out to those who do not

have the food and the drink. Hence, we

have something known as zakatul fitr or sadaqahul

fitr,

which we should have already given

to the poor in order for them to

have something to eat on a day like

this, and to enjoy and to thank Allah

to be part of the beautiful ummah of

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar

Allahu

Akbar

My brothers and sisters, if you notice, the

takbir is the declaration of the greatness of

Allah

He wants us to worship him alone

and he wants us to abstain from rendering

any act of worship

to anyone or anything besides him because the

most important pillar of Islam

is the declaration

of faith.

I bear witness that there is none worthy

of worship

besides Allah.

Hence, we will not render a single act

of worship to anyone besides Allah because they

are not worthy

of worship.

Besides Allah,

none is worthy of worship. That is the

primary declaration of faith in Islam.

And I bear witness that Muhammad sallallahu

alaihi wasallam

is his messenger and his prophet. So whatever

he brought, whatever he did, whatever he said,

I will take it very seriously.

Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar.

On a day of Eid, Allah Almighty wants

you to gather together and to do Eid

in a large group known as the Ummah

because we need to support one another. We

need to greet one another with assalamu alaykum.

Peace be upon you, to begin with before

we give them the congratulatory

pleasantries

regarding Eid. So before you say Eid Mubarak

and takabbalallahu

minawamin

kum, you start off by saying assalamu alaikum

because that is the greeting

the greeting that we are taught as Muslim

The greeting that will happen when we meet

with Allah

in this verse. When they

meet with Allah, the greeting that will happen

is salaam which means peace.

The idea is on this day, you shall

be in peace.

No one will harm you. No one will

bother you. So when I greet you in

this world with assalamu alaykum, I am telling

you peace be upon you. May no harm

come to you neither from me nor from

anyone else. What a beautiful ummah. Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar.

La ilaha illallah

wallahu Akbar Allahu Akbar wallillahi al hamd. My

brothers and sisters,

the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says

the ummah is like one body.

If any part of it is in pain,

the entire body is in pain,

suffers with insomnia and so on. Our brothers

and sisters in Gaza are struggling.

Our brothers and sisters in Palestine need our

dua and our help, our support in whatever

way we can. It would be wrong for

us

to have a day of Eid without remembering

them. Oh Allah, grant them goodness. Oh Allah,

protect them. Oh Allah, grant them victory.

Oh Allah, help them. Oh Allah, you know

that we are bleeding within. Oh Allah, help

them and grant them the best of this

world and the next. Oh Allah, forgive our

shortcomings as an ummah for indeed we have

failed them. We know your strength, you Allah.

You have allowed this to happen, oh Allah,

for reasons you know best. You expect us

to help them too you Allah.

But illahaalalameen,

we have failed them. Forgive our shortcomings.

My brothers and sisters, as you continue through

this day, don't forget your brothers and sisters

in Palestine.

And beyond Palestine, wherever they are suffering and

struggling,

be it in Sudan or Somalia or Afghanistan

or wherever else it may be, there are

brothers and sisters of ours who are struggling

and at times people are struggling in our

own midst without us knowing, oh Allah, alleviate

their struggles. Whoever is going through difficulty, illahaalalameen,

make it easy for them. Allahu Akbar Allahu

Akbar.

La ilaha illallah

and many people are entering the fold of

Islam.

Go easy on them as you are teaching

them, as you are encouraging them.

Go easy on them and realize and understand

that Allah always brings his worshipers and his

slaves who are sincere and who continuously

ask him to guide them. He brings them

towards the guidance at times with baby steps,

one at a time. But trust me, as

an ummah, we care for everyone, the weak

and the strong. And we pray for them,

and we will not harm them. So be

conscious of the fact that many who may

not be practicing

as well as they should

need a nudge, and they need to be

helped and supported. A word of encouragement

needs to be said to them rather than

a word that will chase them away from

the deen of Allah.

So congratulations

to every one of you for fasting during

the month of Ramadan.

If because of sickness or travel you were

unable to fast, there is no sin upon

you. You make it up after today, any

of the days, Insha'Allah.

And you will be rewarded in a similar

fashion because that is the mercy of Allah.

Allah Almighty tells us whoever has not fasted

because of travel and because of being unwell

and so on,

they will fast and make it up later.

Similarly, a woman who was unable to fast

due to her cycle,

Allah Almighty asks

her to make up the fasts later and

she will achieve

a greater reward

because not only did she observe the Ramadan

in the obedience of Allah, when Allah said

eat, she ate. When Allah said do not

eat, she did not eat. When Allah said

fast, she fasted. When Allah said do not

fast, she did not fast. So not only

did she achieve the reward of Ramadan,

but even out of Ramadan when she makes

up the fast, they will be equivalent to

the fast of Ramadan. May Allah Almighty bless

all of us. May Allah Almighty grant us

from His virtue, Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar.

La ilaha illallahu Allahu Akbar

My brothers and sisters, as in ummah, we

are one body.

There may be differences among us, but remember,

never disrespect a person who utters the shahada.

In fact, we are taught not to disrespect

another human because everyone is a potential Muslim.

May Allah Almighty grant us goodness and guide

us and guide everyone else to the straight

path. Amen.

My brothers and sisters in your families,

solve your matters and your problems. You have

differences with your parents, with your brothers and

sisters, uncles and aunts, with your husbands or

your wives.

Make sure that you resolve the matters. This

is a day to solve matters. It's not

a competition as to who was right and

who was wrong. When you say, I am

sorry, let's turn a new leaf. Let's start

afresh. Let's forgive one another. Have a big

heart. If someone has come to you with

that statement,

take it seriously and make an effort.

Make an effort insha Allah to open your

heart and to to forgive one another. This

life is very short. We live for a

few years. We return to Allah subhanahu wa

ta'ala. There is no point in holding grudges

for so long with your own kith and

kin. Allah says in the Quran that goodness

is achieved by those who try to resolve

matters and to solve problems, especially with those

whom you are related to. May Allah Almighty

help us. On this day we remember the

deceased, the martyrs of Gaza and Palestine. May

Allah grant them the highest strengths of Jannah.

And the martyrs and those who passed away

from any other place in the world, the

entire ummah. We ask Allah to forgive them

too. Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar.

La ilaha illallahu Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Walillahi

Alhamd. My brothers and sisters, what a beautiful

day. We're all smelling quite good. We're looking

quite good. All this in the pleasure of

Allah. When Allah asked us,

we went ahead and we did it. Try

to make it a point

to fulfill your 5 daily prayers. In Ramadan,

we engaged in extra voluntary prayer at night.

What about the normal compulsory prayers out of

and our duty unto the rest of the

creation of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar

La ilaha illallahu

Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar