The Trial of Restriction: Turning Your Ramadan Into a Victory
[Arabic,إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.]
Indeed, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil within ourselves and from the consequences of our wrong actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide; whomsoever He leaves astray, none can guide. I bear witness there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah alone without partner, and Muhammad ﷺ is His servant and Messenger.
Part One: Two Tests, One Month
Brothers,
Ramadan is here. Al-hamdu lillah, the month has arrived — the month when the gates of Jannah are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the Shayateen are chained. The question that matters right now is not whether it arrived. It is what you will do with it.
Allah gave us Ramadan for one reason above all others:
[Quran,2:183,"O believers! Fasting is prescribed for you—as it was for those before you—so perhaps you will become mindful of Allah."]
Taqwa. That is the goal. Not the performance of going without food and water. Not a tradition we observe because we always have. The goal is a heart that is conscious of Allah — that fears Him in private, in the dark, in the difficult moments when no one is watching. A heart that chooses obedience even when disobedience is easy.
Last week I gave khutbah at the Erie Masjid, and my message was a warning about the trial of ease — the danger of having every blessing available and yet sleeping right through it. Your test is different. And I am here to tell you something that may surprise you: your test has an advantage theirs does not.
The Two Faces of the Test
Allah made it clear that testing comes in multiple forms:
[Quran,21:35,"Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as a trial. And to Us you will be returned."]
Evil and good. Hardship and ease. Both are tests. The man with nothing is tested with patience and perseverance. The man with everything is tested with gratitude and restraint. The man who wakes up with full freedom is tested by the ten thousand distractions that freedom brings. The man in this room is tested with restriction, with limited choices, with the daily frustrations of a system that does not care about his worship.
And here is what the scholars understood: hardship tends to wake the heart up. Ease tends to put it to sleep.
The Prophet ﷺ did not fear poverty for his ummah above all else. He feared something more subtle:
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"By Allah, it is not poverty that I fear for you. Rather, I fear that the world will be spread out before you as it was spread out for those before you, and you will compete for it as they competed for it, and it will destroy you as it destroyed them."]
The dunya spread wide before a man — comfort, abundance, entertainment, the endless invitation to chase this world until the akhirah is forgotten. In 2026, a man with full freedom has more of that spread before him than any generation in history. A phone in his pocket. A streaming service on every screen. The dunya has never been more relentless in pulling men away from their Lord.
The table that is spread before you here is a different one. And that matters this Ramadan.
The Hidden Gift in Restriction
Let me be honest before I go further. I am not standing here romanticizing difficulty. The separation from family, the loss of movement, the weight of this situation — that is real and I acknowledge it.
But the believer's job is not to pretend the trial doesn't exist. The believer's job is to find what Allah can do with it.
[Hadith,Muslim,"How wonderful is the affair of the believer! Everything is good for him — and that is for no one except the believer. If good happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him. If hardship happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him."]
Gratitude or patience. Both paths lead somewhere good for the believer. You cannot lose unless you choose to lose.
The Prophet ﷺ told us something that lands differently in a room like this one:
[Hadith,Muslim,"The world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever."]
He is not talking about a jail cell. He is talking about the deen itself — the halal and haram are a fence, the commands of Allah are a structure, and the believer has always lived within limits that the disbeliever ignores. Every man who submits to that structure — who chooses worship over comfort, restraint over ease — builds something inside himself that the dunya, for all its spread, cannot reach.
What is true for all believers in general is more specifically true for you right now. Many of the forces that pull men away from Ramadan have been removed from your daily life. The brothers outside will go home tonight and the television will call them. Social media will call them. Friends who have nothing to do with the deen will call them. Every one of those is an enemy of Ramadan, and they have to fight each one personally.
Many of those battles, you simply do not have to fight right now. That is not a small thing.
[Quran,94:5-6,"So, surely with hardship comes ease. Surely with that hardship comes more ease."]
Not after hardship. With it. Alongside it. In the middle of it. A promise from the One who does not break promises.
The Question Allah Is Asking Every Heart
There is an ayah that should stop every one of us:
[Quran,57:16,"Has the time not come for the hearts of believers to be humbled at the remembrance of Allah and what has been revealed of the truth, and not be like those given the Scripture before—who were spoiled for so long that their hearts became hardened? And many of them are rebellious."]
Has the time not come? Allah is asking every heart in this room — every heart that has hardened, whether from comfort or from bitterness, whether from ease or from years of anger at what life has done to it.
I want to say something personal here. I have been coming to rooms like this one for years. And I have witnessed something that many Muslims on the outside never see: a man's worship at its most sincere. No audience. No performance. No showing off for anyone. Just a man and his Lord. Some of the most genuine moments of worship I have ever seen have come from men whose circumstances stripped away every reason to worship except the one that actually matters.
Ramadan is the month that softens the hardened heart. This is when tears come back. When du'a starts to feel real again. When a man lying on his bunk in the quiet after Fajr looks up and calls out to his Lord — and means it.
Brothers, you are positioned for that. This month, if you choose it.
The Shield — And What Makes It Work
The Prophet ﷺ described fasting with one word:
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"Fasting is a shield."]
A shield from desire, from sin, from punishment. But a shield only works if you use it.
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"If one of you is fasting, let him not use foul language or raise his voice in arguing. And if someone insults him or tries to fight him, let him say: I am fasting."]
Someone says something wrong about you. Someone comes at you sideways. The situation pulls toward escalation. Ramadan gives you the response before the question is even asked: I am fasting. Not as words you recite — as a state you inhabit. The fasting man does not need to win arguments to maintain his dignity. The fasting man is in a state of worship.
But the Prophet ﷺ also drew a hard line:
[Hadith,Bukhari,"Whoever does not leave false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need that he leaves his food and drink."]
The man who fasts from food and water but keeps every sin on his tongue — the gossip, the backbiting, the lies, the humiliation of others — according to the Prophet ﷺ himself, Allah has no need of his hunger. He gets thirst, he gets hunger, and he gets nothing else.
Allah gave us an image for backbiting that should end the habit permanently:
[Quran,49:12,"O believers! Avoid many suspicions, for indeed some suspicions are sinful. And do not spy on one another, and do not backbite. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of their dead brother? You would hate that! And fear Allah. Surely Allah is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful."]
Would you eat your dead brother's flesh? That is the image Allah chose. That is how seriously He takes it. Ramadan is the month to end it — not moderate it, not reduce it. End it. The fast has to be real. And it starts with the tongue.
Part Two: No Excuses — Your Ramadan Can Be Greater Than Theirs
Brothers, now I want to speak plainly.
I told the brothers at Erie they have no excuse for a wasted Ramadan — masajid within driving distance, tarawih every night, access to Islamic knowledge at every level. I challenged them hard.
You have even less excuse than they do.
Right now, across this country, Muslims in full freedom will waste this Ramadan. They will miss Fajr because they stayed up watching something with no benefit. They will scroll through their phones during Ramadan nights when they could be standing in prayer. They will open the Quran twice the whole month and call it a good Ramadan. They will come to iftar, eat well, pray Maghrib, and disappear back into the dunya while Isha slips away.
This is the reality of what the trial of ease does to people. The dunya is relentless and it does not take Ramadan off.
But you?
You wake up in the morning and there is no Netflix calling you back to sleep. There is no restaurant making it easy to delay your fast. There is no social media eating your nights hour by hour. The specific distractions that destroy Ramadan for free men are simply not available to you in the same way. The playing field, in this regard, is cleaner.
The Prophet ﷺ identified exactly what gets wasted when people have time and health and do not use them:
[Hadith,Bukhari,"Two blessings which many people waste: health and free time."]
Many of you have time. Real, unscheduled time. The question is not whether you have it. The question is what you will do with it.
And the stakes are enormous. The Prophet ﷺ told us what this month represents:
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"When Ramadan comes, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained."]
Every door is open. And Allah has reserved something specific for the people of fasting:
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"There is a gate in Paradise called Ar-Rayyan. Only those who fast will enter through it on the Day of Resurrection. No one else will enter through it. When the last of them has entered, it will be closed."]
A gate reserved. Only for the people of fasting. When the last fasting believer walks through, it closes. You do not want to miss that gate.
Allah says:
[Quran,57:21,"Race to the forgiveness of your Lord and a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers. That is the favour of Allah. He grants it to whoever He wills. And Allah is the Lord of infinite bounty."]
Not walk. Not crawl. Race.
And He reminds us of what actually matters at the end of everything:
[Quran,26:88-89,"The Day when neither wealth nor children will be of any benefit — only those who come before Allah with a pure heart."]
Your pure heart is built now. Not after things change. Not when circumstances improve. Now. In the quiet after Fajr. In the du'a that no one else hears. In the Quran you open when no one would know if you didn't. This is where Ramadan is won or lost.
Your Ramadan Plan: Six Commitments, No Excuses
Six things. Not sixty. These six, done consistently for the rest of this month, are enough. Every man in this room can commit to all six.
1. The Five Prayers Are Non-Negotiable
Everything else rests on this.
[Quran,4:103,"Indeed, performing prayers is a duty on the believers at the appointed times."]
[Quran,2:238,"Observe the prayers — especially the middle prayer — and stand before Allah in devotion."]
And Allah tells us what consistent prayer does to the man who maintains it:
[Quran,29:45,"Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, genuine prayer should deter one from indecency and wickedness."]
Prayer restrains. It is not just a ritual of standing and bowing — it is a force that actively reshapes the man who maintains it. In close quarters where friction is constant, where the ego gets tested daily, where the argument is always available around the corner — the man who prays his five on time is fighting a real battle and winning something real.
When the prayer time comes — stand up. Whatever is happening. Stand up. This is non-negotiable.
2. A Quran Commitment You Will Actually Keep
[Quran,2:185,"Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the standard to distinguish between right and wrong."]
This is Quran month. The Quran was sent down in this month. It would be a strange thing to let it pass while the Quran stays closed. But the commitment has to be real — not a fantasy that collapses on day three.
Choose one track today, right now, before this Jumu'ah ends:
- Track A — High: One juz' per day. Twenty pages. You complete the Quran before Eid.
- Track B — Realistic: Ten pages per day. Half the Quran by the end.
- Track C — Minimum: Two pages every single day, no exceptions.
Two pages takes ten minutes. There is no man in this room without ten minutes. Do not tell Allah you could not find ten minutes. Pick a track and hold it.
[Hadith,Bukhari,"The best among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it."]
[Hadith,Muslim,"Recite the Quran, for on the Day of Resurrection it will come as an intercessor for those who used to recite it."]
It will intercede for you on that Day. Let it.
3. The Tongue Fast — Where Most Men Actually Fail
The Prophet ﷺ already gave us the response for the moment someone tests us: I am fasting. Now take that further. Every morning when you make your niyyah — add this intention alongside it: Today I also fast from backbiting. From cursing. From humiliating anyone. From spreading rumors. From arguments with no benefit.
Rumors and fitnah spread fast in close quarters. Small disagreements turn into divisions. Ramadan is the time to model what this deen actually demands — not in the easy moments, but in the hard ones.
Remember what Allah said about speaking against your brother behind his back: would you eat his flesh? That is the gravity of it. The tongue fast is not optional. It is part of what fasting means. Some men will leave food today and keep every sin on their tongue. They get hunger. They get thirst. They get no reward. Do not let that be you.
4. Night Prayer — Start Small, Stay Consistent
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan with faith and seeking Allah's reward — all his previous sins will be forgiven."]
All of them. Not some. All previous sins, forgiven, for the man who stands with sincere faith.
You may not have a congregation leading tarawih. But you have your feet and your mat and your Lord. Two rak'at, every single night, consistent. Not a fantasy that lasts three nights and stops. Two rak'at. Consistent beats ambitious every time. The Prophet ﷺ loved the consistent deed more than the large one that does not last. Give Allah two rak'at every night of this Ramadan.
Start tonight.
5. Dhikr — The One Thing Nothing Can Take From You
[Quran,2:152,"So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me, never ungrateful."]
Allah remembers the man who remembers Him. Not a metaphor — a direct exchange. When you say SubhanAllah, Allah responds. When you make istighfar, Allah responds. This is the exchange that Ramadan was built to facilitate.
[Quran,13:28,"Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort."]
The chest that is tight. The mind that will not settle. The heart carrying weight it cannot put down. The actual remembrance of Allah is the medicine — not the idea of it, the practice of it.
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"Two phrases are light on the tongue but heavy on the scale and beloved to the Most Merciful: SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi. SubhanAllahil 'Azim."]
Light on the tongue. Heavy on the scale. Beloved to Allah. You can do this walking the yard. Waiting in line. Lying on your bunk at night. No circumstance prevents it. No one can take it. It costs nothing and it earns everything.
Set a target: one hundred istighfar each day. One hundred salawat on the Prophet ﷺ. Make du'a like a man with nothing to hide and nothing left to lose — because that is exactly the du'a that gets answered.
6. Charity Beyond Money
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"A good word is charity."]
Islam never limited charity to wealth. Dhikr is charity. Removing harm from someone's path is charity. Helping a brother carry something is charity. Your smile toward your brother — the Prophet ﷺ counted that too.
One act of help per day. One good word to a brother who needs to hear it. One private du'a for someone who does not know you made it for them. This is Ramadan charity and it multiplies.
And if you have even a small amount of food to share at iftar — share it:
[Hadith,Bukhari & Muslim,"Whoever provides iftar for a fasting person will receive the same reward as him, without any decrease in the reward of the fasting person."]
Every time you share what you have, you earn the full reward of your brother's fast on top of your own. Men who eat together, fast together, and break fast together — this reward is available every single day. Use it.
Conclusion
Brothers — the dunya has taken many things. It cannot take your Ramadan.
Remember the hadith from earlier:
[Hadith,Muslim,"The world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever."]
Most Muslims hear that and think of limits. You hear it and feel the weight of it differently. But here is what I want you to take from it: the restriction you carry is not a barrier between you and Allah. It can be the very thing that drives you toward Him. The man outside, swimming in the comfort and ease of this dunya, has to fight his way through his paradise to find his Lord. You do not have that problem right now.
The man who takes what he has — however limited — and gives it to Allah this Ramadan, he wins. Not despite the restriction. Because of what he chose to do with it.
Allah says:
[Quran,13:11,"Indeed, Allah would never change a people's state of favour until they change their own state of faith."]
Change what is inside you this Ramadan. Your heart. Your prayers. Your tongue. Your relationship with the Quran. Your relationship with your Lord.
Then watch what Allah changes outside of you.
We end by asking Allah...
O Allah, accept our fasting, our prayers, and our standing in the night.
O Allah, open for us the gate of Ar-Rayyan and make us among those who enter through it.
O Allah, seal our tongues from every word that would erase our reward.
O Allah, soften our hearts this Ramadan and restore our sincerity.
O Allah, make this Ramadan the month You wipe our record clean and raise our rank.
O Allah, free us from the Fire this Ramadan and write our names among the freed.
O Allah — do not let a single man leave this month the same way he entered it.
We ask Allah to make us firm upon His straight path, to guide us and not let us go astray, to have mercy on us and forgive us.
Whatever good was said in this khutbah is from Allah alone, and whatever mistakes or errors are from myself and from Shaytan. I ask Allah to forgive me and you for any shortcomings.
I say these words of mine, and I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and you all. Seek His forgiveness — indeed, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[Arabic,أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا، وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.]