GratitudeFrom the masjid's own video, Feb 21, 2026.
Ramadan should awaken gratitude
“The only difference is an awakened heart.”
In one sentence
Ramadan should awaken gratitude and detach believers from taking Allah’s blessings and opportunities for worship for granted.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- The story of Dhumada al-Uzdi shows how an open heart responded to familiar words.
- Familiar blessings and repeated khutbah words become transformative when received with awareness.
- Qur'anic examples illustrate how wealth, safety, and provision can produce ingratitude.
- Ramadan trains believers to detach from even permissible desires and purify the heart.
- Worship priorities should place obligatory prayers, especially Fajr, before optional acts.
- Listeners are urged to seize Ramadan’s multiplied opportunities instead of assuming they will return.
Try this week
Enter Ramadan with explicit gratitude for being alive and able to worship.
Reflect on familiar khutbah words and Qur'anic recitations instead of treating them as routine.
Compare your worldly circumstances with those of people who have less.
Detach from worldly attachments and permissible desires during Ramadan.
Prioritize obligatory prayers, especially Fajr in congregation, over optional Taraweeh.
Remain with the imam through the completion of the night prayer when possible.
Increase remembrance and other Ramadan worship while the multiplied opportunity remains.
Quotes
In the khateeb's words
“What was meaningless to you was the most meaningful to him. And the only difference is an awakened heart.”
“You see your children, you open the fridge and you get the piece of bread and you think you deserve it. But you don't.”
“The more, the better. Why not? This is what kills the feeling of gratitude in the heart.”
“When you come and pray 20 raka'as and miss Salat al-Fajr. Not knowing that one sajda in Salat al-Fajr in jama'a is better in the eyes of Allah than the 20 raka'as of taraweeh.”
Talk about it at home
For the dinner table
The khutbah reminds us that familiar words can still change us when our hearts are awake. We should notice everyday blessings, food, family, transportation, health, and another Ramadan, as gifts from Allah rather than things we automatically deserve. Ramadan helps us loosen our attachment to worldly comforts and focus on what Allah loves most. That means protecting obligatory prayers, especially Fajr, before adding optional worship. We should use Ramadan’s special opportunities with gratitude instead of assuming we will reach another one.
- What is one blessing in our home that we often overlook?
- Which prayer or Ramadan habit should we protect more carefully this week?
- What is one permissible comfort you could give up temporarily to strengthen gratitude?
Keep listening
More on Gratitude
ICI · Irving, TX · Oct 24, 2026Thank Allah in ease and hardship“Even in moments of difficulty, when it feels like there's nothing going your way, there is always something to be grateful for.”
Either we're receiving a blessing, which calls for shukr, or we're going through a hardship, which calls for sabr.13:29Al-Ittehad · Vista, CA · Sep 19, 2026Gratitude and patience carry believers through life
Real gratitude is not a feeling.16:14London Muslim Mosque · London, ON · Sep 11, 2026Gratitude means using blessings well