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Khutba: Shaban 15th Tawba Preparing to receive the Treasures of Ramadan Dear Brothers, today is the 15th day of Sha'baan, and in just two weeks we will welcome the Holy Month of Ramadan in shaa Allah. Ramadan is the month that is loved the most by Allah ta’ala, by His Messengerملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and all the saliheen and mumineen, because Allah has put more blessings in it than in any other month. If we really want to get the full spiritual benefit of Ramadan we have to understand that trying to get Allah's forgiveness by doing a lot of prayers and a lot of good deeds in just one month of the year, Ramadaan, is not enough. The Believer does his best to worship Allah everyday and every month of the year, and Ramadan is the high point of a whole year of worship. A believer is trying to become a better person every day, and he knows that his good deeds for the year are presented to Allah in Shabaan, and if they are accepted, then Ramadan is full of blessings, and if Allah accepts our Ramadaan, then we start our next year of ibaada in a better condition, and so on every year. By this time of the year, we may have stopped most of the good habits that we started last Ramadan. and this is like starting again from zero. Are we ready for Ramadan? Do we need to improve our Islam? The truth is that we can always be better, and there is no limit to how much we can improve. The desire of a true believer is to be closer to Allah in our qiyaam a layl, and to know peace and contentment in our daily life as Muslims. Qaala Rasoolullaahi ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص , "Man Hurima khayraha faqad Hurima." He who is misses out on its good has indeed suffered a great loss." It would be a big mistake to not take this advice very seriously. Ramadan is a test, and if we pass this test, there is a great reward. But to pass this test, our fasting and all our ibadah during Ramadan must be acceptable to Rabbil alameen. This is not going to be easy unless we have already established the habit of worshipping Allah ta 'ala sincerely with Taqwa; unless we have a regular daily habit of dhikr and salaat; unless our nafs are under the control of our will; unless we can recognize and defend ourselves against the attacks of Shaytan.

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In this blessed month of Sha'baan, we have been learning that we need to check our Islam carefully, so that we know what we must do to be in the best condition for Ramadan. There are four important steps we should take before Ramadan comes. The First Step we learned is to Practice fasting Rasoolullah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, would begin to prepare himself in Shaban. Usaamah ibn Zayd (radiallahu anhu) said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, I do not see you fasting more in any other month than in Sha’baan.’ Qalaat ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص: "Dhalika shahrun yaghqulu an-naasu anhu bayna rajaban wa ramadhaaan. Wa huwa shahrun tufi'u feehi al 'ammaalu ilaa Rabbi al-'alameena. fauHibu an yurfa'a 'amallee wa anaa Saaim." ‘This month between Rajab and Ramadan is a time which many people neglect. Actually It is the month in which people’s deeds are taken up to the Lord of the worlds, Rabil alameen, and I would like my deeds to be presented to Allah ta 'ala while I am fasting.’” [Sunan an-Nasai]. The Second Step we learned last week is Muhasibat an-Nafs. Making an Account of our actions: Hasibu anfusakum qabla an tuhasibu means to make a careful list of all your deeds, good things you did and the bad things that you stopped doing, and the bad things you did and the good things that you didn't do. Wa zinu amalakum qabla an tuzana alaykum means to put the good things on one side, and the bad things on the other, and find out what the difference is, so that we can make our the balance of our actions positive before they are put on the scales on Yomul Hisab, the Day of Judgment.” When we think about our negative balance, we remember bad things that we have done, but we forget that one of our biggest sins is not giving thanks to Allah for all His blessings. last week we mentioned that Allah ta 'ala promised Rasoolullah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص that all his sins were forgiven, but he still prayed qiyam al-layl until his feet were swollen, and when Aisha, radiallahu anha, asked him why he did that, Faqaala: 'afalaa akoonu 'abdaan shakooraa? “Am I not a grateful servant?” The Holy Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص knew that his praise and his thanks to Allah could never be enough to repay Allah for the blessings he was receiving at every moment.

Being aware of our disobedience and lack of gratitude to Allah will lead us to: The Third Step. Tawba and Istigfar. Repentance and Asking for Forgiveness

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When realize all our faults and weaknesses we will want to remove them. Then we must purify ourselves by making Tawba, by feeling truly sorry and asking for Allah’s forgiveness, and purify our hearts by al-azima, by feeling sorrow and regret for our mistakes. audhoobillahi mina shaytanirajeem: Yaa ayyuhaa allatheena aamanoo tooboo ilaa Allaahi tawbatan naSooHan, ‘asaa rabbukum an yukaffira ‘ankum sayyiaatikum wa yudkhilakum jannaatin tajree min taHtihaa al-anhaar. O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance. It may be that your Lord will forgive you and admit you to gardens under which rivers flow. (Paradise). May Allah help us to reach Ramadan in the best condition. Ameen A kulli qawloo hadhaa, wastaghfirullah, ladhee wa lakum

Second Khutbah

Sub’ hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wa la hawla wala quwwata illah billahi althi yual theem. Bismillahi Rahmaani Raheem. Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil ‘alameen, was-salatu was-salamu 'ala Muhammadin wa ‘ala alihi, wa asaHabihi, wal tabeena lahum illa yomi-ddeen. Ammaba'd

Dear Brothers, the Holy month of Ramadaan is approaching very fast. Qaala Rasoolullaahi ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, Man Hurima khayraha faqad Hurima." He who is misses out on its good has indeed suffered a great loss." It would be a big mistake to not take this advice very seriously. We have been speaking about steps that we can take to avoid being among the losers of Ramadaan. We have already mentioned step 1, voluntary fasting and step 2, muhasibatul nafs. This week we will look at Step 3 Tawba. Dear Brothers, it is never too late to make tawba, to repent for our sins, and we should never imagine that our sins are too great for Allah to forgive us. 66:8. And Allah says: Qul ya ‘ibaadiya allatheena asrafoo ‘alaa anfusihim, laa taqnaToo min raHmati Allaah. O my slaves who have transgressed against themselves. Do not despair of the Mercy of Allah. 39:53. The mercy of Allah is unlimited! We should always have hope in Allah, because if our repentance is sincere, Allah will forgive even our greatest sins. The Holy Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, taught us a great lesson about how to receive Allah’s Mercy. You all know this famous story, “Once upon a time there was a

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murderer who had killed ninety-nine souls. One day he was reminded of the Day of Reckoning. He became afraid and wanted to repent, so he went to a priest and said; “I have killed ninety-nine men. Do you think Allah will forgive me?” The priest said, “No, I’m sorry, I don’t think so,” So the man killed the priest and went to look for someone who could help him. After a while, he found a wise scholar and asked him the same question. The scholar said: (and this is very important) “You will be forgiven as long as you truly repent. But I advise you to leave this town and the bad company you keep, and go and live in a town where the people are honest and good. Full of hope, the murderer left his town and set out for the town where the people were good. On the way he met with an accident and died. The angels of Paradise and the angels of Hell both came to collect his soul. Each group wanted to take him, so Allah sent a special angel who appeared like a human being to judge between them. This angel said: “Measure the distance between his body and the two towns. If he is nearer to the bad town that he left, take him to Hell, and if he is nearer to the good town which he is going to, take him to Paradise.” They measured the distances and found that he was nearer to the bad town that he had left by a hand's width. The angels were just going to take his soul to Hell when Allah ta'ala shook the ground and the man’s body moved. So they had to measure the distances again. This time he was nearer to the good town by just a hand’s width. So the angels took him to Paradise." Why could a man who murdered a hundred men be forgiven by Allah? Because his Tawba was sincere. He did his best to be far away from the bad habits and sins of his past. But still in the end it was only Allah's great mercy that saved him from the Hell Fire. The important lesson here is that we have to prove to Allah that we are really sorry for our sins.

Tawba and Istigfar, Sincere repentance and asking for forgiveness leads to the Fourth Step. Al-Azima. Having a strong intention to change our character. If we study the case of the murderer in Rasoolullah's story, not only did he feel truly sorry, but he also was trying to become a better man by leaving the bad town and travelling to the good one. It was because of his strong intention to change that Allah ta'ala accepted his Tawba. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, advised one of the Companions saying: “Always remember your sins and cry about them.” It is clear that there is no point in crying about our sins and asking Allah to forgive us if we don’t stop doing them. We must change ourselves!

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Dear Brothers, at this time we should always remember that Rasoolullah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصsaid about Ramadan. "man Hurima khayra ha faqad Hurima." He who is misses out on its good has indeed suffered a great loss." None of us want to miss the rewards of Ramadan, so we must follow the advice of the Ulama and make a habit of muhasibat an-nafs, at-tawba and al-azima. May Allah ta 'ala help us to be ready to receive all the blessing of Ramadaan. Ameen.