Repentance & taqwaFrom the masjid's own video, Sep 3, 2025.
Use Ramadan to cleanse the heart
“We are so focused on fatwa and what we really need is taqwa.”
In one sentence
Ramadan should be used as a deliberate return to Allah by cleansing the heart, replacing heedlessness and ego with sincere worship, dhikr, repentance, and taqwa.
The khutbah in 7 steps
- The dunya cannot satisfy the deepest human longing, which points toward the Hereafter.
- Ramadan offers a timely opportunity to renew intentions, repent, and cleanse the heart.
- A living heart responds with regret, while solitude and morning dhikr help restore spiritual awareness.
- Believers must remove self-created barriers, worldly attachment, arrogance, and harmful company to deepen iman.
- Guarding the tongue, practicing dhikr, and teaching children sincere worship are essential family responsibilities.
- Taqwa matters more than merely collecting halal-and-haram rulings, and hardship can soften the heart.
- The khutbah closes with prayer, personal testimony about illness and prayer, communal supplication, and Ramadan announcements.
Try this week
Enter Ramadan with renewed intentions, repentance, and a serious examination of the past year.
After Fajr, spend five minutes alone in morning adhkar and remembrance.
Remove arrogance, excessive attachment to the dunya, rancor, harmful company, and other heart-baggage.
Guard the tongue and use speech as a means of earning Allah's pleasure.
Teach children to worship sincerely for Allah, rather than merely monitoring their outward actions.
Use daily choices, including commuting and media, to increase remembrance and exposure to Allah's word.
Attend the announced Ask the Imam session, Taraweeh, and Ramadan programs.
Sources the khateeb cited
Quran 3:102Opened with the command to fear Allah and remain Muslim.
Quran 8:24Used the call to what gives life to frame Ramadan as spiritual awakening.
Quran 50:16Emphasized Allah's nearness and explained that believers create their own distance from Him.
Quran 57:4Emphasized Allah's nearness and explained that believers create their own distance from Him.
Quran 18:28Distinguished sincere iman from merely outward submission and encouraged righteous companionship.
Quran 49:14Distinguished sincere iman from merely outward submission and encouraged righteous companionship.
Quran 51:50Closed with the call to flee to Allah through prayer, repentance, and turning to Him.
Quotes
In the khateeb's words
“Allah did not put that hijab there Allah did not create that distance there we did that”
“we are so focused on fatwa and what we really need is taqwa that's the issue”
“More important than what you're asking is the fact that you are asking Allah.”
Talk about it at home
For the dinner table
The khutbah invites us to welcome Ramadan as a chance to return sincerely to Allah. Just as we clean our homes for an important guest, we should clean our hearts from resentment, arrogance, heedlessness, and harmful habits. Regret can be a sign that the heart is alive and can lead us toward change. Small practices such as five quiet minutes after Fajr, guarding our speech, and remembering Allah can reshape our days. We should also help our children worship with sincerity, remembering that Allah's mercy is always open to those who turn back to Him.
- What is one heart-habit you would like Ramadan to help you change?
- When during the day could we make time to remember Allah quietly?
- How can we tell whether we are doing a good deed sincerely?
Keep listening
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