Friday sermon on what comes after the month of Ramadan.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own souls and from the bad deeds we commit. Whom Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whom He leaves to stray, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His chosen one, and His trusted one regarding His revelation. Allah the Exalted sent him before the Hour as a bringer of good news and a warner, and as a caller to Allah by His permission and a luminous lamp. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, advised the nation, and struggled in the cause of Allah with true struggle. May the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: O servants of Allah! We congratulate ourselves and you on the completion of the month of fasting. We ask Allah the Exalted to accept from us and from you the deeds that bring us closer to Him. We ask Him to overlook our shortcomings in this blessed month and in other months. We used to anticipate, we used to anticipate the arrival of this blessed month, the month of Ramadan. Then Ramadan came, and we left it behind us. And so it is, O people; so it is with every future event that a person anticipates, thinking it is far away, only for it to pass quickly and soon. Then he leaves it behind his back until death comes to him. O brothers, the month of Ramadan has come to us as a noble guest, and we deposited in it whatever Allah willed of deeds. Then it left us, a witness for us or against us regarding what we deposited in it. Some people rejoiced at its departure because they were relieved of it, relieved of the fasting and acts of worship that were heavy for them. Others rejoiced at its completion because they were relieved of sins and transgressions through the righteous deeds they performed, for which they deserved Allah's promise of forgiveness. So . The difference between the joy of some who rejoiced, and the difference between the joy of some who rejoiced at its departure because they were relieved of it, and the joy of some who rejoiced at its departure because they were relieved of sins through it. And the sign of those who rejoice at its departure, the sign of those who rejoice at its departure, is that a person returns to sins after it. He becomes negligent of obligations, bold in committing prohibitions, and the effects of this appear in society: the number of worshippers in the mosques decreases, and they decrease noticeably. And whoever neglects his prayer is more neglectful of what is other than it, for prayer forbids immorality and wrongdoing. Sins after acts of obedience may encompass them, so that the worker has nothing but fatigue. O brothers, as for the one who rejoiced at its completion because he was relieved of sins through it, he does not increase after Ramadan except in energy for good and love for it. For among the signs of the acceptance of a good deed, for among the signs of the acceptance of a good deed, is that a person follows it with another good deed. And among the signs of its rejection is that he follows it with bad deeds. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: .
O believing brothers: Even though the month of Ramadan has passed, and it is a season for righteous deeds, the work of the believer does not end with the passing of the seasons of work. The work of the believer is continuous work that does not end except with death. Allah the Exalted said: . And He the Exalted said: . So the month of fasting has passed, and it was a season of work. But has the season of fasting passed? Has the prescription of fasting been cut off? Fasting, praise be to Allah, is still prescribed. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that . And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) recommended fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. And he said: . And he advised three of his Companions to fast three days of every month. He advised Abu Hurayrah, Abu Dharr, and Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with them) and said: . And he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) encouraged righteous work in the ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah, including fasting. It was narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he did not leave fasting them. And he said regarding the fast of the Day of 'Arafah: meaning for the non-pilgrim. As for the pilgrim, he does not fast on 'Arafah. And he said: (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . And he said regarding the fast of the tenth day of it: . And 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: . So fasting, praise be to Allah, is still prescribed. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . And the standing in prayer in Ramadan has passed. But has it, has the standing in prayer passed? Standing in prayer is still prescribed every night of the nights of the year. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) encouraged standing in night prayer and made it desirable, and said: . And it is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . And even if Ramadan has passed, and it is the month of generosity and charity, charity is still prescribed at all times, and every person will be in the shade of his charity on the Day of Resurrection. And whoever gives charity, and whoever gives charity with the equivalent of a date from what is good, and Allah does not accept except what is good, then Allah the Exalted takes it with His right hand. Then Allah the Exalted takes it with His right hand and grows it for him as one of you grows his foal, until it becomes like a mountain.
O Muslims: Fear Allah the Exalted. O Muslims: Fear Allah the Exalted, and hasten your lifetimes with your deeds. How swift the Hereafter is compared to this world. Indeed, a lifetime does not end with years and months, nor with days, but it ends with moments. So every moment that passes you moves you further from this world and closer to the Hereafter. And the reality of a person's lifetime is what he spent in obedience to Allah. And the wise one is the one who disciplines himself, meaning he accounts for himself, meaning he accounts for himself, and works for what is after death. And the incapable one is the one who follows the desires of his soul and hopes for Allah's unattainable wishes.
O Muslims: Allah has made the paths to goodness easy for you, opened their doors to you, called you to enter them, and explained their reward to you. These five daily prayers that you perform every day and night are the most emphatic pillars of Islam after the two testimonies. They are five in action, but they are fifty on the scale. Whoever establishes them, they will be an expiation for him and a salvation on the Day of Resurrection. Allah the Exalted legislated them for you as an obligatory, binding duty, and He perfected them with the regular voluntary prayers attached to them. These are twelve rak'ahs: four before the midday prayer with two taslims, two after it, two after the sunset prayer, two after the night prayer, and two before the dawn prayer. Whoever prays them, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said regarding the sunnah of the dawn prayer: . The world referred to here is not the one you are currently living in, but the entire world, from its beginning to its end. So the sunnah of the dawn prayer is better than the world and what is in it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was consistent in performing it, whether resident or traveling. This witr is a confirmed sunnah, established by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) through his words and his actions. He said: . And that is better. So witr is a confirmed sunnah. A person should not leave it, to the extent that some scholars said: Witr is obligatory, and a person sins by leaving it. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Whoever leaves witr is a bad man, and his testimony should not be accepted". So Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) described the one who leaves witr as a bad man. And he ruled that his testimony should not be accepted. Witr is not a large number; its minimum is one rak'ah, and its maximum is eleven rak'ahs. Its time is from the night prayer until the appearance of the dawn, so even if you combine the night prayer with the sunset prayer by advancing it, the time for witr still applies. And whoever misses it at night makes it up during the day. But he makes it up as an even number, not an odd one. So if his habit is to pray witr with three rak'ahs, and he forgets it at night or sleeps through it, he prays four rak'ahs during the day. And whoever's habit is to pray witr with one rak'ah prays two rak'ahs. And whoever's habit is to pray witr with five rak'ahs prays six. And so on. In Sahih Muslim, it is narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . These prescribed dhikrs after the obligatory prayers: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), when he would say the taslim, would seek forgiveness three times. He would say: "I seek forgiveness of Allah, I seek forgiveness of Allah, I seek forgiveness of Allah." And he said: . And whoever glorifies Allah thirty-three times after every prayer, praises Allah thirty-three times, and magnifies Allah thirty-three times, that makes ninety-nine. Then if he says: "There is no god but Allah alone, having no partner, to Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs the praise, and He is able to do all things," he completes the hundred. And his sins will be forgiven, even if they are like the foam of the sea. Wudu is among the matters that Allah made obligatory for whoever wants to pray. So whoever performs wudu and completes it, then says: . As for expenses, as for financial expenses from zakah, voluntary charity, and spending on family and children, even on the person himself, there is no believer who spends an expense seeking the Face of Allah but that he will be rewarded for it, even what he puts in his wife's mouth, although it is an obligatory matter for him. But if he seeks the Face of Allah with it, Allah will reward him for it. And Allah Mighty and Majestic said: . . The one who strives for the widow and the poor is the one who strives to seek their provision and attends to their needs. The family, and the family of the young and the weak who are unable to manage themselves, are among the poor. So if you strive for your children and seek their provision and spend on them, you are in reality striving for widows and the poor.