We begin by praising Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, by bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is his final messenger.
We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the Day of Judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen.
Dear brothers and sisters, Al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab, rahimahu Allah ta'ala, he says about this month of Ramadan: قَالَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانِ فِي الشُّهُورِ كَيُوسُفَ فِي إِخْوَتِهِ
That the month of Ramadan amongst all of the months of the year is like Yusuf (alayhis salam) with all of his brothers. Just like you had one that saved twelve,
you have one month by which a person can be saved for the entire year. And this khutbah is actually not about that statement. I want you to pay attention to something that is consistent not just in Ramadan, but outside of Ramadan as well,
but especially in Ramadan, and that is the idea of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala's, merciful math. The way that things are multiplied—not just in a way where your good deeds are multiplied with Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
but in a way that Allah, 'azza wa jall, will redeem you for other parts of your life where you are insufficient and deficient out of His mercy—the math of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, in regards to His mercy.
And so the idea that one Ramadan covers the entire year, all of the other months are forgiven because of that one month, just like Yusuf (alayhis salam)
amongst his brothers. The idea that one Laylatul Qadr, one night, covers an entire lifetime. Laylatul Qadr khayrun min alfi shahr.
Laylatul Qadr is better than a thousand months. You stand for one night and Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, writes down a thousand months for you out of His mercy, subhanahu wa ta'ala. And you could go on and on and on about how this math
works with Allah. But if outside of Ramadan the minimum that a good deed is multiplied is by ten up to seven hundred,
then inside of Ramadan you can only imagine how much in this month of mercy Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, writes down for us. That is actually one of the things that the ulama mentioned in regards to the explanation of
the hadith that all of the actions of the child of Adam are for him except for fasting. As-sawm li wa ana ajzi bihi. Fasting is for me and I reward accordingly. That it's not just the reward of fasting itself,
it's the fact that within this entire month of Ramadan the portfolio of good deeds that you put forth that are already multiplied outside of Ramadan are multiplied in a way that the imagination cannot appreciate
no matter what. Now here's the thing: you start to map this to every other element of our lives. You give one dollar to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and He multiplies it to seven hundred, turns it into a mountain on the Day of Judgment.
You pray five times a day outside of Ramadan. Allah, 'azza wa jall, could have kept it fifty prayers a day. He could have kept it fifty prayers a day and He would have been justified and it still would have been mercy to us.
But He let it be five times a day and those five prayers cover the entire day. But I want you to pay attention to two particular
hadith, bi'idhn Allah ta'ala, for the purpose of this khutbah so that you can remember them, insha'a Allah ta'ala, not just in Ramadan but outside of Ramadan. And I'll preface it with the following:
when you pay zakah on something or when you show gratitude for something that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, gives to you, you're thinking about a blessing that you didn't wake up with and it came to you.
So whether it's the blessing of some wealth that came to you, therefore there is zakah that's due on that wealth, there's sadaqah that's due on that wealth. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, gave you food. You thank Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, for the food that came to you.
Alhamdulillah for the food that just came to you, right? So you're constantly thinking about an intake process and then how you respond to that intake of some sort of blessing from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But what about the blessing of your body itself? I want you to think of it this way: if your soul is your existence, every single one of us is riding in a rented car right now. This is a leased vehicle.
Your body is a leased vehicle that you're sitting in right now. Your soul given to you by Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, your body is a leased vehicle, and there are a few ahadith that speak to this. And
subhanAllah, they're so deeply profound because the Prophet (ﷺ) gave them a practical manifestation. He didn't leave it ambiguous and say, "Alhamdulillah, you have a body. Alhamdulillah,
you have health, therefore you should be happy and you should say alhamdulillah and thank Allah for it." He was very precise as to what the requirements of that blessing actually are. And so you have the first hadith from Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه).
That is authentic. He said, "Rasulullah (ﷺ) said: كل سلام من الناس عليه صدقة Every joint of the child of Adam
has a sadaqah, has a charity that is due on it." And I'll say from now: I'm not fundraising in this khutbah. There's no fundraising in this khutbah. I know the word sadaqah makes you think in a very specific way. Please delete fundraising from your mind right now. There's no fundraising here.
Every joint of the child of Adam has a sadaqah upon it. Several narrations: the Prophet (ﷺ) said three hundred sixty joints. You can look into the science of that yourself,
right, and the miracle of that itself. But what the Prophet (ﷺ) meant with the connecting joints were the three hundred sixty joints, and the ulama mention the fawa'id, the blessings, of that word sulama. That the Prophet (ﷺ) did not mention the bones
but the joints, because every joint makes two things dependent upon the other, and it is the majestic way that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, put us all together that we don't pay attention to. That's the external structure.
That's the internal communication between the brain and the rest of the body, how every cell communicates, how every nerve is connected to the other. That is from the mercy of Allah, 'azza wa jall, in and of itself. So he said (ﷺ):
"Every single joint has a sadaqah that is due upon it." Now in this narration, he said (ﷺ): كل يوم تطلع فيه الشمس تعدل بين اثنين صدقة
"That every single day when the sun rises, if you judge justly between two people, that is a sadaqah." The service of judging justly between two people,
reconciling between two people, setting things straight between two people—that is a sadaqah. He said, "Wa tu'inu rajulan fi dhabbihi aw tahmilu alayhi wataa'ahu sadaqah."
"And you help someone get on to their ride, their mount. You help someone get on to their ride or you give them their goods. You either help them get on or you give them their goods,
load their groceries, right, give them what is needed—that in and of itself is a sadaqah." And he went on. He said:
"So a good word that you speak is a sadaqah. Wa bi kulli khutwa tamsheena ila as-salah sadaqah. And every step that you take to the masjid is
a charity, is a sadaqah." And he said (ﷺ): "Wa tumiitu ad-dara 'an at-tariq sadaqah. And for you to remove something harmful from the road is sadaqah." Now if you pay attention to this hadith,
all of it more or less surrounds the idea of service. It's a very interesting genre of hadith because there are no less than ten to fifteen narrations that surround this notion from the Prophet (ﷺ).
I'm not talking about the repeated chains. I'm talking about unique narrations from the Prophet (ﷺ) when he's speaking about this—the sadaqah that's due on the joints in this narration. It's all acts of charity. And subhanAllah,
there is something very beautiful that the late Muhammad Ali, rahimahu Allah ta'ala, said: "Service is the rent that you pay for your room here on earth." This idea of when I wake up during the day, I have a body, I have health. What am I doing here?
What am I doing here from the moment that I walk out to the moment that I return? How many people did I help along the way? How many pieces of garbage or something harmful from the road did I remove?
How many things did I do throughout the day that made it easy for someone? How many times did I hold the door for someone? How many times did I help someone put something into their car, help someone do this or whatever it may be? You look throughout the day, and the irony, by the way—
I say this because it's very important—a lot of times you read these hadith, you know who you don't think about? You don't think about your family. Even though your family would be the first recipients of these things. Right? So judge between your kids as they're fighting—insha'a Allah, it's a sadaqah.
Right? Helping your spouse—sadaqah. All of these things are also included because those that are closest to you— al-aqrabun awla bi al-ma'ruf—they're most deserving of the good actions.
And so you're not thinking to yourself, "Man, I need to go drive to some part of town and find people." These are things that can be manifested in your inner circle as well as forms of sadaqah, and they can be just as rewarding, if not more rewarding.
But this hadith, this idea of sadaqah, the gratitude that you pay on your bones, on your joints, this one revolves around the service element. In other narrations,
such as this one from Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه), and this narration is also authentic—it is Sahih Muslim— he said (ﷺ): "Yusbihu 'ala kulli sulama min ahadikum sadaqah.
Fa kullu tasbihatin sadaqah wa kullu tahmidatin sadaqah wa kullu tahlilatin sadaqah wa kullu takbirin sadaqah." He said (ﷺ) that every day you wake up,
you have a charity that's due on the joints of your body. Every subhanAllah is a sadaqah. Every alhamdulillah is a sadaqah. Every la ilaha illallah is a sadaqah. Every Allahu akbar is a sadaqah.
Qala (ﷺ): "Wa amrul bi al-ma'ruf sadaqah wa nahyun 'an al-munkar sadaqah." He said, "And to enjoin any good is a form of charity, and to forbid an evil is a form of charity." And he said (ﷺ):
"Wa yujzi'u min dhalika rak'atani yarka'uhumaa min ad-duha." "And all of that can be achieved with two rak'ahs that you pray of Salat ad-Duha." The math of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Just two rak'ahs that you would pray. This is not a Ramadan hadith. This is outside of Ramadan. This isn't, "Oh, well, I have to stay after Salat al-Fajr until the sunrise." No, Salat ad-Duha can be prayed at home as well.
Anytime that you can find some time between sunrise and dhuhr, pray two rak'ahs of duha. The Prophet (ﷺ) is saying those two rak'ahs will cover all of the above. And the hadith largely surrounds
personal ibadah. Personal ibadah. Now, it's important because I thought it was beautiful—Imam Muslim, rahimahu Allah ta'ala, he had such tawfiq, such greatness, in how he chaptered
the chapters of a hadith. So look at the name of the chapter: "Bab istihbab Salat ad-Duha wa anna aqallaha rak'atani wa akmalaha thamaniya rak'at wa awsataha arba'u rak'at
aw situn wa al-hath 'ala al-muhafazah 'alayha." He said, titling this chapter: "The chapter of Salat ad-Duha, the two rak'ahs that you pray, and that the least of them is two rak'ahs, and the best of them are eight rak'ahs, and the middle of them are four rak'ahs,
and the middle of them are six rak'ahs, and the encouragement to preserve it." But the point is to be consistent. By the way, in Arabic, this is a masterful sentence. He put it all in one sentence, and then he put the hadith to show you that even when you think
Salat ad-Duha—how many of us have been programmed to think two rak'ahs only? Right? Because we always take the minimum. We always take the minimum in our nature as human beings, as Muslims. We go to the minimum right away.
But he's saying, by the way, just a reminder: if you read a hadith like this, you could actually do more. So two is the least, eight is the best, and in between, if you can do six or four, alhamdulillah, but be consistent.
Be consistent. Now here's what I want you to think about in this regard: two rak'ahs covers three hundred sixty joints. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, did not say, for example, "Say subhanAllah three hundred sixty times so that it could be a cover
for the three hundred sixty joints." And if He legislated that, it would have been justified and it still would have been merciful. Just to say thank you three hundred sixty thank-yous a day for what you have of your rented vehicle, of your body—
isn't that worth it? Isn't that mercy from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala? Of course it is. But Allah, 'azza wa jall, didn't do that. Two rak'ahs of Salat ad-Duha— you cover all of that. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
gave us also with these tasbeehs and these tahmeehs trees to be planted in Jannah, palaces that are built, and a tasbeeh, as Imam Az-Zuhri, rahimahu Allah, says, in the authentic narration from Bukhari,
One tasbih in Ramadan is like a thousand of it outside of Ramadan Your brain can't start to comprehend the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala and I was having subhanallah a discussion in a debate recently about where Islam
falls in the works versus mercy debate right? Is it a works-based religion or is it a mercy-based religion? How do you reconcile the ahadith of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
where he mentions that everyone will enter paradise only by the mercy of Allah but also all of the ayat and ahadith you have to do, you have to do, you have to do? And the answer and Allah knows best is that Islam is a religion of structured mercy
It's mercy with structure because mercy without structure is absolute delusion absolute imagination You render Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala you try to render your notion of God as a tool of everything that you want to do
for yourself and so there is no requirement that's on you because human beings naturally will always sink to the minimum Very few people will actually without incentive go higher and so if the same mercy
is accessible with this and this why even try? And so Islam is about positioning yourself for the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala knowing that you cannot get in except by the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, but it
still requires you to take your steps forward. And Allah, 'azza wa jall, is not exhausting you but He's attaching you to Him. So that you can continue to grow and to grow and to grow and to grow.
Now this khutbah is going to take another turn here. Because this is where it stops being the feel-good khutbah. This is where it stops being the feel-good khutbah about the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and how many tasbihs you do and don't worry, just give this much charity and
so much will happen and do this and all of this will happen. I want you to think now as well about a blessing that we rarely, rarely thank Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, for.
Which isn't just the 360 joints but the freedom of that body. The freedom of that body. Your freedom to speak. Your freedom to walk. Your freedom to come to the masjid.
Your freedom to stand up. Your freedom to move. Because I want you to think about how someone would read this hadith in prison right now.
My 360 joints are confined to a cell. Did you ever thank Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, for your freedom enough?
Have you reached the point where you said to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, alhamdulillah not only do I have all this but I can use all of this? Because that's also important.
Think about a person whose joints are confined or who can't take more than three steps around the cell. Think about a person who does their sujud behind bars and doesn't know the nature of
the ground that they're making sujud on or what's going to come on them as they are making sujud. Here's what I want you to think about yesterday. I visited our sister Liqaa Kurdia. I want you to remember her.
Sister Liqaa spending her second Ramadan in Prairieland Detention Center. And subhanallah, before I got there the head chaplain of the prison was talking about how
they don't know how to—sometimes they don't get Salat al-Jumu'ah right. Sister Liqaa, sometimes they don't get their suhur on time. The prisoners—it's up to the guards. The guards are very cruel. Sometimes they'll come a minute before with their food.
Not enough time to be able to drink water or to get any type of suhur, and iftar is whenever it is. Then you know what really subhanallah got to me? As I was about to leave I had to pray Salat al-Dhuhr.
And I just asked the prison—I said, hey, can I pray Dhuhr? He said, okay. And I was about to leave the room and anyone that will ever visit a prisoner, if you want
to know how dehumanizing it is, because a prisoner can't take two steps without a guard staring them down like this. And so even when you go, if you're an attorney or you're clergy, you go and you leave and
a guard will stand—a male guard will stand and look at your sister like this until another guard comes and removes her, puts her in another cell. I said, hey, is it okay if she joins me for prayer?
Can she just pray behind me, Dhuhr? And off the cuff she said yeah, and she knew that she did something wrong. But it happened, alhamdulillah. And subhanallah, I was thinking about this.
She was telling me earlier how Salat al-Jumu'ah has become difficult, they're trying to get Jumu'ah organized, can we get people to come out and pray Jumu'ah, and how the prisoners don't often get to pray Jumu'ah or they don't get the right type of Jumu'ah, they don't
know who's the khatib that's going to be amongst them. And that Salat al-Dhuhr in Jumu'ah was more precious to her than an entire year of her prayers alone, by her words.
Salat al-Jumu'ah, when they get to pray, you know one of the prisoners said, I mean I get to—it's the one time that I can close my eyes and feel like I'm in a masjid, is Salat al-Jumu'ah. The one time of the week where I can close my eyes and just feel like I'm in a masjid
and I'm no longer in a prison. Alright, brother Ya'qub Aira, who would carry around his camera, be around here all the time, what's his tasbih? You know what his tasbih is?
It's the dried pieces of bread that he strung together, those rough pieces of bread and he turned it into a tasbih in prison for himself. Your sister Aafia Siddiqui, you look around and you find a 20-year-old in this masjid,
that woman has spent more time in that cell than the full age of that child going to 20, 21, 22 years old. What's the price of your freedom? What's the price of your freedom?
And so, go back to that first hadith that I mentioned. To remove a stone from the road, what about removing chains from someone's body?
To take a step towards the prayer, what about helping someone to be able to pray? Because they're no longer being able to give that freedom.
To help someone get onto a mount or get onto a ride as a sadaqah, as a form of charity. What about helping someone to regain their freedom of transportation in the first place?
And so I come to that, dear brothers and sisters, and if you're sick of me talking about it, then you should wonder if I'm sick if I stop talking about it. Your sister Aafia, tomorrow, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, please join us to that protest at 2pm, insha'Allah ta'ala.
Don't forget your sister Liqaa, who's an hour away from here. Don't forget all of the prisoners who are unjustly incarcerated. There's a whole system of mass incarceration in this country. It predates the last few years. Muslims are stuck in prison.
Don't forget your brothers and sisters. Don't forget all of those people that are being picked up by ICE. Don't forget them. And ask yourself, what are you doing? What's the price of that ni'mah, of the freedom of your body that you have?
May Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, allow us to properly thank Him for the blessings that He's given to us. May Allah have mercy on us despite our deficiencies. May Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, have mercy on our brothers and sisters all over the world
and those that are around the corner that are not having the same freedom that we have this Ramadan. May Allah, 'azza wa jall, free them and may Allah free us all from an-Nar. Allahumma ameen. Fatihah. May Allah bless you. May Allah bless you. May Allah bless you. May Allah bless you.
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