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Khutbahs
You Need to Love Allah More | Ramadan Prep Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
Ramadan is around the corner. By removing distractions and focusing on loving Allah above all else, you can enter Ramadan with a clear heart and mind, ready to reap the immense blessings of this sacred month. In this khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman reminds us to reflect, repent, and renew our intentions. Let us take these final days to purify our hearts, remove distractions, and draw closer to Allah. May He grant us the strength and sincerity to make this Ramadan our best yet. Ameen.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and 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, we begin by asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, Allahumma Ballighna Ramadan,
O Allah, allow us to live to see Ramadan and let this month of Ramadan come upon us as a season of forgiveness and mercy and remove from us all of our sins
and remove from this ummah its trials and tribulations and remove from us individually and collectively that which distracts us from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
I want to begin this khutbah with a very basic premise. You need to love Allah more. You need to love Allah more.
And I want us to actually start with a practical example of when you're sitting with someone and they're distracted from you.
There are different levels of distraction, different ways of expressing that distraction, and different things that you are distracted by. And so I want to give you an example.
You're sitting with someone, and I'm sure that we encounter this on a daily basis, and sometimes we are the guilty party.
You're sitting with someone and you have that person holding their phone and checking their social media the entire time. It's not that they have an important phone call. It's not that there is a family emergency.
It's not that there is something that is of great importance that is distracting them. It's just they're going through their social media and they're not paying attention to you, and you know they're not paying attention to you. And that, of course, is extremely offensive.
And then you have another level where someone might be hearing you, somewhat engaging you in conversation. But at the same time, they're still scrolling, they're still answering messages, and they're not giving you their full focus.
I start with this example because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is giving us a month in which we are to clear the distractions that are in our lives,
even if those distractions are necessary to an extent in our lives. And what do I mean by that? There are those that are distracted from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala by their disobedience to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
They are focused on pursuing their sins, and in the process of pursuing their sins,
they are creating a barrier between them and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that does not allow them to enjoy a meaningful relationship with Allah.
And as we come into this month of Sha'ban, and we remove from our hearts, hopefully, al-shiqt, wa-sh-shahnaa, grudges, and spite, and hatred.
One of the reasons why we do that is because a heart that is full of the hatred of someone else does not have the capacity to truly love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And so you have to come to a decision that I love Allah more than I hate that person. That I want Allah's forgiveness more than I hate to forgive that person. I will remove it.
When it comes to the sins and the disobediences, you don't wait for the month of Ramadan to give up a sin between you and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And I say this as a warning to our brothers and sisters.
How many people set the first day of Ramadan as a day in which they will give up an act of disobedience, but they don't live to see that first day of Ramadan.
And do not be fooled into thinking that on the day of judgement, if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala were to ask you, why didn't you quit that sin, you could say, oh Allah, I was waiting for the first day of Ramadan.
Good luck with that excuse on the day of judgement. It's not a very good one. You have to quit your disobedience with a sense of urgency. The sins that are a distraction between you and Allah, you were to quit them yesterday, not tomorrow.
And so those are the first distractions that you remove between you and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And then there are distractions that are completely unnecessary in our lives. So Allah Azza wa Jal says in the Quran,
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ Those who turn away from idle speech. And one of the ways that a laghw, عَنِ اللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ
One of the ways that that is defined, is a distraction that carries no beneficial component to it whatsoever.
And so you indulge in idle speech, you indulge in distractions that have no benefit whatsoever. There is no need to have those distractions in your life in the first place. It's a worthless distraction.
And if you indulge in that distraction for too long, you are inevitably going to fall into ma'siyah. You're going to fall into the disobedience of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. But then there is a third level of distraction.
And these are distractions that emanate from necessary components of our lives. What am I talking about? Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
O you who believe, do not be diverted by your wealth and your children from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Now, seeking wealth is part of our existence. It's a necessary component of who we are.
Having families, having children, these are all part of the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ). Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is certainly not condemning the presence of those things in our lives.
They're necessary parts of our lives. This is not an ummah of monks. We believe in getting married, we believe in having children,
we believe in pursuing this dunya to an extent that it doesn't distract us from the akhira. These are parts of our religion. And we believe that these things can actually become rewardable components of our lives.
But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is teaching us, do not let the distracting component of these things in your life take you away from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And so when you think about Ramadan, and you think about what fasting calls us to do,
as the ulama mention, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala removes us from this category of distractions. Because food and drink, and intimacy,
At-ta'am, ash-sharaab, these are part of our lives. They're necessary part of our lives. But at the same time, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is teaching you to remove the distracting component of these things
and connect yourself to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala instead. And it's important to mention that Allah Azza wa Jal puts this verse in Surat Al-Munafiqoon.
Because the hypocrites are not merely distracted by their wealth and the accumulation of wealth and children. They use religion as a tool to pursue wealth and children,
and they have no interest whatsoever in actually connecting to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And in Surat At-Tawbah, which is the most obvious and explicit surah condemning the munafiqeen, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
Ar-razeetum bil hayati ad-dunya min al-akhira? Are you pleased with the life of this world over the hereafter? And so they don't just become distracted by those things in their lives,
the money and the children and these things that are a part of who we are. They become intoxicated by them. They worship them.
They follow them and they follow them to an extent that they have no interest in connecting to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala who put them here in the first place. And so why Ramadan?
Why fast from food and drink and from intimacy? Why fast from these distractions that are otherwise a necessary component of our lives?
And go back to that initial example. Even if someone has something important to do, if they're not paying attention to you entirely,
they're not fully grasping what it is that you are imparting in that conversation. And SubhanAllah, you find that in Ramadan,
it's not just that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala puts these distractions in perspective. By removing them from us temporarily.
But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala teaches us to fill ourselves instead with the recitation of the Quran. And if you treat the recitation of the Quran merely as a pursuit,
in place of those pursuits, as something that you use your time with, as opposed to using your time with these things, then perhaps you'll have the reward of reciting the Quran.
But there is something greater that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is seeking to unlock in you. And that is a connection with the divine author of the Quran. A connection with Allah Himself.
A connection with His words. So that you actually get to know the one who is talking to you. Without those distractions. So that when the distractions come back in your life,
the connection you would have established with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will still keep those distractions in perspective. They won't be enough to distract you from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And if you think about the test of having, not the test of not having, the test of having too much of these distractions, who would be more distracted than Dawud (عليه السلام)?
A prophet who was a king, who had much wealth to his name. Much to distract him in this world. And the Prophet (ﷺ) says
that of the du'as of Dawud (عليه السلام) was Allahumma inni as'aluka hubbak O Allah, I ask you for your love. Wa hubba man yuhibbuk
And the love of those that love you. Wal'amala allathee yuballighuni hubbak And the love of the deeds that would bring me closer to your love.
And then he said Allahumma ja'al hubbak, ahabba ilayya min nafsi wa ahli wa min al-maa al-barid
O Allah, make your love more beloved to me than myself, than my family, than a sip of cold water. And especially when do you love a sip of cold water most? On a hot day when you're fasting.
Make your love more beloved to me than all of those things. Because it's only with the love of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that those things will not diminish my eagerness for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and the hereafter, before Ramadan, during Ramadan, after Ramadan. Because you taste something else. You're not tasting the halawa, the sweetness of your food and your drink.
You're tasting halawatul iman, the sweetness of faith. And the Prophet (ﷺ) mentions the first sign of someone who tasted halawatul iman, the sweetness of faith
is that Allah wa Rasuluhu ahabba ilayhi min maa siwahuma That Allah and His Messenger become more beloved to him than anything else. How do you do that?
The reason why I put this forward, dear brothers and sisters, is that as you approach Ramadan, don't approach Ramadan like a scorecard. Okay, I'm going to not do this and I'm going to do this. I'll read this much Quran. I need to finish this much khatms.
I need to pray this much taraweeh. I need to pray this much sunnahs. I need to do this. I need to do that. Don't approach this like a scorecard. Approach this like an opportunity to renew a relationship.
Approach this like an opportunity to actually read the Quran with love and devotion so that the devotion overtakes the distractions when they come back in your life.
Approach this as an opportunity to show Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that I want you more than I want anything this world has to offer. And you look at all of the hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ)
where he mentions Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala laughing in a way that befits him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala at a person who wakes up from what? From a comfortable bed, from a beautiful spouse, on a cold day.
And he fights all of those elements. تتجافى جنوبهم عن المضاجع يدعون ربهم خوفاً وطمعاً
Fights all of those elements to call upon Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala with love and devotion. Why? Why are you giving all of that up? Because you love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And so يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِلَّهِ
And those who believe love Allah more than anyone else loves anything else. Take Ramadan as an opportunity to use the time away from those distractions
and to ask yourselves whether the distractions in your life are actually necessary distractions in the first place. Categorize your distractions. Now when someone says I'm going to delete this app for a month of Ramadan.
What are you telling Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? I'm going to delete this playlist. I'm going to stop listening to this in the month of Ramadan. I'm going to stop talking to this person in the month of Ramadan. MashaAllah. What are you saying to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? That you only want forgiveness in Ramadan?
That the price of Ramadan is too high? Whereas the price of Allah's love and mercy and forgiveness outside of Ramadan is not worth it? What is it that you're actually expressing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? Dear brothers and sisters.
If you were to take the time on that first night of Ramadan and on that first day of Ramadan to sit with yourself and to make du'a and to read the Quran with devotion
and to think about what you're reading and to say to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Ya Allah I want to love you more than these things. And I end with this for a reason. Someone says I don't know how to love Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
I don't know how, you know, you're telling me I need to love Allah more than all of these things. But what do I need to do? You need to change your lifestyle.
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ Follow the way of the Prophet (ﷺ) and Allah will love you back.
You have to actually change your lifestyle. In order to have that love of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And with a lifestyle change and an already expressed change of priority by saying that I'm pursuing you Ya Allah.
The last thing is that supplication. Ask Allah to love him. Ask Allah to be loved by him.
Allahumma inni as'aluka hubbak wa hubba man yuhibbuk wal'amala ladhi yuballighuni hubbak
Allahumma ja'al hubbaka ahabba ilayya min nafsi wa ahli wa minal maa al-barid Ask Allah, O Allah I want to love you more than anything else and I want to be loved by you more than anything else.
And when I say I want the love of those who love you that naturally means I want righteous people around me. That are not going to distract me from you. Because you know what? Your friends are not like your family.
Awladukum wa amwalikum or amwalikum wa awladukum They're a necessary component of your life. And Allah Azza wa Jal tells you just keep them in perspective and don't let the distracting element mess you up.
Your friends are not in that category. Some friends need to be removed altogether. Some company needs to be removed altogether. In order for you to have that meaningful relationship with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
And ask Allah that you love him more than all of your distractions. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us like an Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim Rahimahullah said la ureedu illa an ureeda ma yureedu
I only want to want what he wants. I only want to want what he wants. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala erase from us all of the distractions that take us away from him.
And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless the things in our lives that are necessary components so that they actually become a means of bringing us closer to him. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow our wealth to be blessed
so that it's a means of gaining his love and coming closer to him. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless our families so that they are our qurratu 'ayn. They are the coolness of our eyes so that we are blessed through that family
to come closer to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and to gain his love even further. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala descend his love upon this Ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ) and may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant victory to our brothers and sisters
in Gaza and beyond who are facing a cruel enemy. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala descend his blessings upon us in Ramadan, before Ramadan, beyond Ramadan. Allahumma Ameen. I say this and ask Allah to grant you the women of Islam.
Ask for forgiveness. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. Alhamdulillah, wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala.
Allahumma ghfir lil mu'minina wa l-mu'minat wa l-muslimin wa l-muslimat al-ahya'i minhum wa l-amwat. Innaka sami'un qareebun mujeebu da'wat. Allahumma ghfir lana wa rhamna wa 'fu anna wa la tu'adhibna.
Rabbana dhalamna anfusana wa in lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lanakunanna minal khasireen. Allahumma innaka 'afuwun kareemun tuhibbu al-'afwa fa'fu 'anna. Allahumma ghfir lil walidayna. Rabbi rhamhuma kama rabbayana sighara. Rabbana hab lana min azwajina wa dhurriyyatina qurrata a'yun.
Waj'alna lil muttaqina imama. Allahumma aslih ahwala ikhwanina mankubina fi kulli makan. Allahumma aslih ikhwanana al-mustad'afina wa al-mujahidina fi mashariq al-ardi wa magharibina. Allahumma 'alayka bi-dhalimeen.
Allahumma ahlika al-dhalimeen wa bi-dhalimeen wa akhrijna wa ikhwanana min baytina wa musalimeen. Ibadullah inna Allaha ya'muru bil 'adli wal'ihsani wa ita'i dhil qurba. Wa yanha 'anil fahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghi. Ya'idhukum la'allakum tadhakkaroon. Fadhkurullaha yadhkurkum washkuruhu 'ala ni'ma'ihi yazidkum.
Waladhikrullahi akbar. Wallahu ya'lamu ma tasna'oon.
Al-Fatiha.

































































































































































































































































































