Brothers and sisters! Alhamdulillah, we are passing through the blessed month of Ramadan. My khutbah today is on the topic: “Ramadan: Month of mercy, forgiveness, and safety from hellfire.” There are numerous manifestations of Allah’s mercy in this blessed month. It was in Ramadan that the Qur’an was sent down. It was in Ramadan that obligatory fasting was prescribed.
The spiritual objective of the month of Ramadan is to attain taqwa or God-consciousness. Giving glad tidings about this month, the Prophet (SAW) said, “…The first third of the month of Ramadan is the time for mercy, the second third is for forgiveness, the third is for release from Hellfire…” We hope to make the most of each third portion so that we can receive the blessing related to each.
There are many ayat and ahadith that explain the magnitude of Allah’s mercy. Allah says in the Qur’an:
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
“My mercy encompasses everything.” (al-A’raf, 7:156)
According to a hadith, Allah’s Messenger (S) said, “When Allah decreed the creation He wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne:
إِنَّ رَحْمَتِي سَبَقَتْ غَضَبِي
“My mercy preceded my anger.” Or “My mercy prevails over my anger.”
We are constantly reminded that two of the oft-repeated attributes of Allah (SWT) are ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim, which appear before every surah of the Qur’an except Surat at-Taubah.
وَإِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيم
“Your God is only One God. There is no god worthy of worship except Him—the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.” (2:163)
A hadith tells us: “Allah has made mercy into one hundred parts. He kept with Himself ninety-nine parts and sent down one part to the earth. Because of that part the creation is merciful such that a horse raises a hoof over its child for fear of hurting it.” Allah’s mercy is shown in His sending the final Messenger (S) as a mercy to all the worlds.
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِين
“We have only sent you as a mercy to all the worlds.” (al-Anbiya’, 21:107). Allah’s mercy is also displayed in sending the final revelation – the Qur’an, the ultimate guidance, to mankind.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِين
“O mankind! There has certainly come to you an advice from your Lord, and a cure for what is in the breasts, and a guidance and mercy for the believers.” (Yunus. 10:57) This mercy is expressed in another ayah as follows:
وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِين
“We have sent down the Book to you making all things clear and as guidance and mercy and good news for the Muslims.” (al-Nahl, 16:89)
Firstly, one can attain the mercy of Allah by obeying Allah and His and the Messenger (S).
وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُون
“And obey Allah and this Messenger that you may be shown mercy” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:132),
Secondly, one can attain the mercy of Allah by abiding by the teachings of the Qur’an.
وَهَٰذَا كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ مُبَارَكٌ فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُون
“This is a blessed Book We have revealed. So follow it and be conscious of Allah, so you may be shown mercy.” (al-An’am, 6:155). Ramadan is the best time to instill the quality of God-consciousness or taqwa in us and to get blessed by Allah’s mercy. To do this, it is required that during the course of fasting, one not only gives up food, drink, and spousal relations, but also restrains from the misuse of the tongue, the eyes, the ears, and the limbs.
In following the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), who is the best model and the best teacher, we should try our best during Ramadan to increase our ‘ibadah by offering the tarawih prayers, in addition to other sunnah and nafil prayers, by reciting the Qur’an more, by being more charitable, by being more merciful to one another, and by doing as many good deeds as possible.
Spouses should be merciful to one another. The parents should be merciful to their children and children should be humble and obedient toward their parents.
Muslims have to be merciful to not only their brothers and sisters in faith but also to all their brothers and sisters in humanity. According to a hadith, “Those who are merciful will be given mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy on you.”
We should assist our brothers and sisters in Islam both materially and morally. We should sympathize and empathize with them. The least we can do for them is to remember them in our supplications. A hadith tells us, “The believers are like a single body; if a single limb feels pain, then the whole body along with it suffers with fever and sleeplessness.”
After bestowing His mercy on us, Allah (SWT) is eager to exercise His forgiveness on us as long as we do not associate partners with Him. Ramadan is the best time to repent for our sins and seek Allah’s forgiveness. A sincere repentance according to the scholars has certain conditions such as: to stop doing the sinful act, to regret for the sin done, to determine never to go back to that sin again and to give back the right to whom it is due if the sin involves a person. Allah (SWT) tells us not to lose hope in His mercy.
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيم
“Say, O My servants, who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of God’s mercy, for God surely forgives all sins. He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (al-Zumar, 39:53).
We should not only seek Allah’s forgiveness when we have sinned but should also seek it when we have not sinned. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) despite being sinless used to seek forgiveness from Allah every single day, and used to say, “O people seek forgiveness from Allah. Verily I seek forgiveness from Him one hundred times a day.” Seeking forgiveness or making istighfar is an act of worship done by all prophets, messengers and pious believers. Allah wants to forgive us and He wants us to feel His mercy in this life and in the hereafter.
We need to realize that there is great mercy and forgiveness from Allah and all that is required of us is to ask for it through our words and actions. How often do we sit in our prayers seeking forgiveness? May Allah give us the tawfiq to do so.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! We also need to be forgiving. It starts with our dealings with our own family members. Perfection belongs only to Allah (SWT). We are not perfect. There is no perfect family. We do not have perfect parents. We do not marry a perfect person. We do not have perfect children. Sometimes, we have complaints from each other. Sometimes, we disappoint each other. So there is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness.
Having a forgiving attitude is vital to our emotional health and spiritual survival. Without forgiveness the family becomes a ground of conflict. Without forgiveness, the family becomes ill. Whoever does not forgive does neither have peace in the heart nor close association with Allah (SWT). Those who do not forgive are physically, emotionally and spiritually ill.
Forgiveness is the remedy that heals. In order to achieve peace and harmony, we need to forgive one another and hold no feelings of grudge and resentment against one another because surely these ill feelings are but chains that tie us down. The power of forgiveness needs to be earned through the power of forgiving and by never losing hope in Allah’s mercy.
The third portion of Ramadan is considered to be a time for seeking release from the hellfire. Every Muslim must pray to be safe from Hellfire. We learn from a hadith that Allah frees some people from hellfire every day and night of Ramadan and every Muslim has an answered supplication every day and night of Ramadan. This is also the part of the month that Laylat-ul-Qadr falls in.
It is sunnah to spend some time in seclusion (‘itikaf) for a spiritual retreat in the mosque during the last third of Ramadan.
‘Aishah (RA) narrated that “The Prophet (PBUH) used to do a retreat in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan until he died…”
Indeed, the greatness and virtues of the month of Ramadan are beyond our imagination and estimation.
We pray to Allah to have mercy on us above the earth, below the earth, and on the Day when our deeds will be shown to us. We pray to Allah to make us merciful and forgiving to one another, and to lead us to ways that make us qualify for His mercy and forgiveness. May He save us from the hellfire. May He cure those that are ill from the disease of Covid and other diseases and protect those who are healthy and grant them and grant us guidance so that we may be among those who are patient and thankful. Allahumma Ameen.
