Sheikh Uthman Hadi - Ramadan Prep 2026: Welcome Ramadan the Right Way

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Dear brothers and sisters, we gather here today to prepare ourselves for the blessed month of Ramadan, which is just around the corner. Ramadan is not merely a month of fasting; it is a divine opportunity for spiritual renewal, self-improvement, and a chance to draw closer to Allah (SWT). This year, let us commit to welcoming Ramadan in a way that transforms us into the best versions of ourselves.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sheikh-uthman-hadi--6689369/support.https://sheikhuthmanhadi.beam.lyhttps://open.spotify.com/user/315hadqmwxllibu6ubi5us2cbn2y?si=572b4d8898284e9ehttps://open.spotify.com/show/3MQHfrpjj3XXcqoPbN5Dl8?si=v6YQ42kpSx-VONBFhT3CzA

Bismillah, Rahman and Rahim, al-Hawah, Allaheim, and Salathe, and al-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aul-a-a-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I ask Allah, supranah to forgive as far as sins of our shortcomings and greatest of special mercy, not only in this life, but mainly in the next. But, brothers and sisters, after a weekend of a fully event, re-invent yourself this Ramadan, I believe most of you guys didn't have an expectation I was going to come out with a talk today. to start off the week, but, ahabuh, Allah. It's all up to Allah, to Allah, I was writing the talk today, and I was, I was thinking to myself,

man, I'm not, I've done with the exception of, you know, or if you take the talks I did for reinvent yourself this Ramadan out, I think I believe I've done three talks about the Ramadan, maybe four. I'm not mistaken. Well, I think it was three. So, you know, Ziphanal, to be able to do another talk is awesome. And, you know, for me and my dear brothers and sisters, it's the fact that every single year, when it comes to the month of Ramadan, we watch many lectures

and sometimes we all find ourselves doing this where we watch many lectures and then when the month of Ramadan comes around we are ready for it and we leave and then we waste so much time doing things that are neglectful to the month of Ramadan and then after that period of time

we look back up and then it's the day of Eve and we're happy and everything and then the Shetan comes back and he penetrates again and specifically I believe it was on Saturday I spoke about turning back to Allah supanahua-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a and among one of the things I said was when it comes to turning back to Allah supana-a-a-a-a-a-a-a because you know in in total both day one and

day two I'll say had the same topics technically which was quitting the bad habits and turning back to a law on day one I spoke about quitting the bad habits stopping the things that are bringing you away from Allah because the best way to utilize the best Ramadan is actually to quit the things that are bringing you away from Allah. And then on day two, I talked about turning back to Allah, which is specifically not just always about repentance. It's not just always about seeking its forgiveness and reading the Quran and doing things of that sort. But sometimes it might actually just be, you know, quitting the things that are taking you away from Allah, the things that are time consuming, or things that are, you know,

building a habit of something that's not pleasing to Allah, suhanna, hua da'al, or they're taking you out of the remembrance of Allah. And I gave the example of watching shows or playing video games. Sometimes, like I said, it's fine to do these things. There's no problem in them. But the only thing is when it becomes,

it comes to the point where it starts to take us away from our Ibadah, starts to take us away from our closeness to Allah, safan and how ita'u. This is when we have to start to eliminate these things for the sake of Allah and turn back to Allah, try to regain our connection with Allah. So my dear brothers and sisters,

first and foremost, my dear brothers and sisters, I would like to take a moment, inshallah ta a for the sake of Allah to express our gratitude for the month of Ramadan. We ask Allah, supanahua-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a to grant us the ability to see them at the Ramadan to change throughout the month of Ramadan. And we ask Allah, Sufana-hu-ta-a-a-a to accept our Ramadan from us all. I mean, my dear brothers and sisters, the fact that Allah suh-saphanahu-a-a-a-a-ha has chosen us to witness this Ramadan, we should be grateful enough as well.

Because every year we always say, inshallah, I didn't do what I wanted to do this Ramadan. I'll do it next Ramadan. I'll do it next Ramadan. And then, you know, you've passed four Ramadan now and you keep saying you'll do it next Ramadan. And it seems as though every time the month of Ramadan comes in, it slipped right through your fingers. And then you keep saying, I'm going to do it next year. And then you don't know if the next year is going to come. We, my dear brothers and sisters, inshallah, because we still have inside of the moon, are, I don't like to use the word lucky, so I'm not going to use that.

We should be grateful enough to the fact that we are blessed enough to have seen the beautiful and blessed Ramadan, inshallah. because how many of us among the Ummah have not gotten a chance to see even just Rajab or even just Sha'ban or even just the month that came before that how many of us did not even get a chance to see the day of Aide amongst our families amongst the Ummma we ask Allah supranahua to grant them all ease not only you know in this life but mainly in the next since they will be in the next life and their brothers and sisters we ask Allah to grant them forgiveness as well but the brothers and sisters the thing is throughout this time period, if you want to open the beautiful month of Ramadan the right way, it's not just about eating because that's what we make this, the month of Ramadan about. We make it about a festival where we have big festivals every single morning and every single night in order to eat and to have more food.

My brothers and sisters, the biggest thing when it comes to the month of Ramadan is not about eating a whole bunch so that you can be fulfilled. It's about filling those pains, not only. It's about ensuring that we are gaining taqua to Allah, which is why Allah, Sufanao Tala says in the Quran, Yeah, a y'allelah al-Qaeda, kutiba al-lakeum, kutiba al-lal-lidhine men, cuddlikum, he says, Fas, oh, you who have believed fasting has been prescribed upon you

as it was prescribed upon those who came before you, so that you may attain takwa. You may attain taqua. And among one of the other things, when it comes to taqua, my dear brothers and sisters, is taqwa, it helps you better your relationship with Allah Sufana hua Tala because God consciousness is not just fearing

Allah Sufanahuata when you're in the act of disobedience to him or when you feel as though you're going to be in an act of obedience but it actually keeps you completely away from that why? Because when you're in a state of takua it keeps you in the remembrance of Allah not the disobedience of Allah which is why we have been taught to

strive to better our taqua to better our nefts to ensure that we are restraints to ensure that we are restraining our nefts throughout this month. Among one of the other things that happens is when it comes to the month of Ramadan, we always get so caught up on the big things and not the little things. What do I mean by the big things? I mean the big things like, oh, you know, I have, maybe I have, you know, to worry about work or maybe I have to worry about, you know, these different things that I'm doing right now, rather than worrying about the little things, worrying about the fact that, oh, I still need to get my time in for studying, worry about, about,

the time that, you know, the Prophet of Allah a Allah al-a-u-Salam said an authentic hadith that seeking ill is an obligation upon every Muslim. So what he's pretty much so saying here is that for us to seek ilm is very important. We cannot just learn from scholars. We're not just going to

listen to someone and say, all right, I've learned my knowledge, that's good. No, go seek knowledge, right? Go to schools, go try to learn knowledge for yourself. Research, understand, do those things within a permissible manner. And ensure that no matter what happens my brothers and sisters, you are trying to gain

closest to Allah throughout this month. Not just through the Quran, not just through your Dikr, but also through studying Allah, subhannahu, and His-Ala, learning more about Allah, ensuring that you are trying to learn more about Allah so that you can better your relationship with Allah. My dear brothers and sisters,

among one of the other things that happens throughout the month of Ramadan that we have to control is our nefs when it comes to anger. It's controlling the nefs and the anger. Because a lot of us, which, you know, have anger because that is a natural part of our human existence, sometimes throughout the month of Ramadan, if you have kids, or maybe you just sometimes

are just, you know, in a state of when you are trying to quit things, sometimes it becomes hard. For example, I give you an example. Someone who says, throughout the month of Ramadan, I'm going to completely quit social media. I'm never going back to social media. I'm never doing it again, you know, for these 30 days maybe or maybe even longer. The day you decide we've sighted the moon. All right, I'm done. Now your body goes on to what's going on. Your nefts is like what's going on, right? And they continue pushing you to this point. And what happens sometimes is you get upset and you get angry and you might take it out on others, which is why among one of the things we are supposed to do, my dear brothers and sisters,

when we feel angry, and only are we supposed to say, Iwulubilah, Himal and Satan and Rajin, but we are also supposed to, if we are feeling angry and we cannot control it, we are supposed to make wudu, We are supposed to try and pray. We were supposed to try and read the Quran. There are certain things that we follow when we feel angry. My brothers and sisters, when it comes to our fasting, the fasting teaches us discipline and self-restraint.

As we abstain from food and drink, we also learn to control our desires and our emotions. During the month of Ramadan, anger can sometimes lead us to act in ways that destroys or takes out the benefit in the goodness of our fast. Sometimes it is a fast, it invalidates our fasting if you get angry, right? Which is why the Prophet of Allah al-a-u-Sallam advised us in an authentic hadith. If someone insults you or argues with you, which in the first case you should not be arguing with them,

because like we've been taught as well in the sunnah of the Prophet of Allah-A-u-Slam, even if you are right. Just let the other person happen. Just let them have it. Because sometimes you don't always have to be right. You know you're right internally. You know that. You know if you had, oh, this argument and such and such thing, you know I am completely right on this 100%. But instead of trying to further the situation, you say, for the sake of Allah, I'm going to just restrain from that.

And I'm going to let you have it. You're right. All right. Kind of thing, right? And this is exactly why the Prophet of Allah al-a-u-Salam has told us that when it comes to fasting, If someone assaults you or argues with you while you're a fasting, you are supposed to say what? Anna sa'em, for if it's a man and anna sa'amin, right, if it is a woman or sa'amah, if it is a woman.

The reasoning behind this, and what it actually means is I am fasting. You are fasting, right? You're supposed to say, I'm fasting, I'm fasting. Why? It gets you in a state of I am in the state of remembrance of Allah. Do not argue with me. Do not get upset with me. Throughout the month of Ramadan, we were supposed to try and clear our hearts of grudges. We were supposed to try and forgive people.

This is a reminder, my dear brothers and sisters, to myself and to everyone else, to maintain our composure and to respond with kindness. Whether that be to adults, whether that be to children, whether that be to elderly, especially, whether that be to any person. We are supposed to treat them with kindness, especially throughout the Mat of Ramadan, even in the most challenging of situations. To control our nefs, we should engage in acts of iBada that strengthen our connection with Allah, Sufanahu, Tala, reading the Quran, engaging in our five daily prayers, trying to perform vikr, making sound and sincere dua, as when it comes to the month of Ramadan, among one of the most important things is our intention, right? What do we talk about in the event as well I spoke about? I spoke about, al-a-i-l-nia. I spoke about your sincerity and intention. in the month of Ramadan, it is very important. My your brothers and sisters, when you focus on spiritual growth, you learn how to manage your desires,

your nefs, yourself, and your emotions that you have. Because sometimes it is very difficult to handle that, right? Especially for some people who get so addicted to things. It is so difficult to step away from that. And among one of the things in which we've been taught by the Prophet of Allah Allah, Allah, He was Salam, like I said before, is to seek refuge in Salah.

To seek refuge in sala and make you wudu, in acts of iBada, an acts that bring us closer to Allah, Sufanao-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-dha-a. Madurbal as we enter into the month of Ramadan, inshallah, is also essential for us to avoid falling into the trap of repeating the all same habits, right? Many of us find ourselves caught in the cycle of empty rituals. We just continuously do it.

Whether that be through our salaa, whether that be through our dua, whether that be through our Dhikr, whether I be through anything that we do, our Quran recitation, anything. We continuously get caught in the repetition in the cycle that I'm doing this and there's nothing to it. It's just empty. It's just a ritual now. Every single Ramadan that comes around that you're allowed to see, you read the whole Quran. What did you learn from it? You pray all your prayers.

What did you learn from it? What did you gain from that? How have you closed the gap between you and Allah, Sufana-ho, Tala, that you built throughout the year? This is exactly why my divine. mothers and sisters, it is important for us to, you know, reflect on past Ramadan's and consider the habits that you want to change. And I'm saying habits you want to change because like I spoke about before, especially in the event, you're not supposed to just build new habits and let those old habits be on pause for 30 days. You're supposed to quit the bad habits. And after

you have quit those bad habits, it becomes easier for you to build new habits and replace those bad habits. It can be anything, honestly. It can be absolutely anything, whether that be scrolling, whether that be smoking, whether that be doing things that are haram. When you quit it for 30 days, you have to establish a sincere relationship with Allah, supranahua-ta-a-a-la, and you have to set a sincere intention not to ever go back to that thing again. Because when you end up falling back into it, you're done. This is exactly why we find that on the night of Eid, because it's never on the day. It's always on the night. You end up coming back to the same thing again. On the night of Eid, and sometimes, you know, it's an exception. Sometimes it's long.

for people sometimes maybe a month away after that you know but nonetheless you know you hit do look but nonetheless when you have it the night of eat turns it back into why am I doing the same things like literally an hour ago I was just worshipping I was reciting Quran and then when we started the moon it turned back to the same thing why because the shaitan knows where to penetrate now he knows that you have let these bad deeds just or your bad habits just sit there and pause he's like okay you didn't do anything with them. You didn't try to better yourself. You didn't try to control them. You didn't try to to restrain them. You didn't try to completely, you know, destroy them. You just say, you know,

it's okay. I'll just pause it for these 30 days. And inshallah, after these 30 days, I'll come back. I'll come back better. I've built new habits. I started praying, you know, to Hajjah throughout the month of Ramadan. And then afterwards, the Shetan comes back again with the same old things. My dear brothers and sisters, I'm giving this reminder to me, myself, and secondly to you. My dear brothers and sisters, as we prepare to welcome the beautiful and blessed month of Ramadan of 26, like we did for 2025, this time be different. This time, my dear brothers and sisters, we have to approach this month with gratitude, with intention, and commitment to transformation with Iglaas, well, near, with sincerity and intention, like I just said, and also trying to control our nefts and our anger and strive to become better versions of ourselves, my dear brothers and sisters. and trying to avoid the pitfalls and quit those bad habits that the shetan can seriously jump back to and just say, oh, that's the part.

That's the part. It's like a flip of a switch. You know how to do it, right? If you don't get rid of that thing, then the shetan just come back again and it's back on again. And we're doing the same things again, that month of Ramadan did nothing for them. But your brothers and sisters, this Ramadan, as we welcome the month of Ramadan, try to focus on meaningful worship and self-improvement throughout the mother Ramadan. We ask Allah, Sufana, what?

to grant us the strength to make the most of this blessing of Ramadan, forgive us for our sins or our shortcomings and grant us the acceptance of our efforts and our deeds and grant us the most acceptance of our mat of Ramadan. My dear brothers and sisters, may this Ramadan, inshallah

for us all be a source of Allah, Suhphanahu, Tala's mercy of forgiveness and positive change in our lives and allow for this Ramadan to be the Ramadan that changes you, inshallah, ta'all for the rest of your life. We're achro, d'atwan, al-houndulililah, rule by thealan curriculum and

ala-a-a-uraquematea and al-rahmmatsah and barakato