Blessings
of Ramadan
All praise is to Allah,
Whom we thank and seek
for His help and forgiveness.
We seek refuge in Allah
from the evils of ourselves
and the burden of our
evil deeds. Whomsoever
He guides, will never
be misled, and whomsoever
He misguides, will never
find enlightenment. I
testify that there is
none worthy of worship
except Allah, and that
Mohammad is His slave
and Messenger.
Allah said, what translated
means, "O you who believe!
Fear Allah as He should
be feared, and die not
except in a state of Islam"
[3:102], also, "Mankind!
Be dutiful to your Lord,
Who created you from a
single person (Adam),
and from him (Adam) He
created his wife (Eve),
and from them both He
created many men and women
and fear Allah through
whom you demand your mutual
(rights), and (do not
cut the relations) of
the wombs (kinship)! Surely,
Allah is Ever an All-
Watcher over you." [4:1]
and, "O you who believe!
Keep your duty to Allah
and fear Him, and speak
(always) the Truth." [33:70].
The best of speech is
the Book of Allah, and
the best of guidance is
the guidance sent with
Mohammad - peace be upon
him. The worst of matters
are Bid'ahs (innovations
in the religion), every
Bid'ah is a Dhalalah [misguidance],
and every Dhalalah is
in the Hellfire.
We are hosting soon inshaa'a
Allah a unique, a generous
and a honorable guest.
A guest that visits us
once a year and brings
with it all sorts of goodness
and happiness. A guest
that brings with it the
wide Mercy and Forgiveness
of Allah. A guest that
brings with it a smell
of Paradise. A guest that
makes the believer closer
to Allah and His Paradise
and away from Shaytan
and Hell Fire. It is Ramadhan,
the month of the Qur'an,
the month of Mercy, the
month of Forgiveness,
the month of prayer at
night and Suhoor, the
month of solidarity and
mutual help, the month
of all blessings. We are
advised in our merciful
religion of Islam to be
kind and generous towards
the guest, so what if
the guest is the best
of guests over the year?
we should exert ourselves
in generosity which is
in this case good behavior
and intense worship.
It is from the immense
mercy of Allah upon us
that He made us Muslims
and believers and that
He extended our lives
till we reached this Ramadan.
It is reported from some
of the Salaf (Muslims
of the first three centuries
of Islam that the Messenger
of Allah, salla Allahu
alaihi wa sallam, praised
in the well known famous
hadith) that they used
to pray to Allah during
the six months before
Ramadan to extend their
lives so that they can
fast Ramadan, and in the
6 months after Ramadan
they would ask Allah to
accept their fasting of
Ramadan. Therefore, we
have to be thankful to
Allah that He allowed
us to witness this Ramadan,
so let us please Him during
this month.
Why
do we fast?
It
is from the nature of
humans to ask and to wonder
why they do things. Muslims
do things to please Allah,
and they can please Allah
only by obeying Him and
practicing His religion.
Thus, in answer to the
question some ignorants
may ask "Why do we fast
?" we respond that it
is a commandment and a
clear order from Allah
upon us and we have no
other choice by to obey
Allah and Please Him out
of Love and Fear at the
same time.
Allah says in the meaning
of : "O you who believe,
fasting has been prescribed
for you as it has been
prescribed for people
before you so that you
will (learn how to) attain
Taqwa" (Qur'an, al-Baqarah,
2:183)
Ibn 'Umar reports that
Allah's Messenger said:
Islam is based on (the
following) five (principles):
- To
testify that none has
the right to be worshiped
but Allah and Muhammad
is Allah's Messenger.
- To
offer the (compulsory
congregational) prayers
dutifully and perfectly.
- To
pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory
charity) .
- To
perform Hajj. (i.e.
Pilgrimage to Mecca)
- To
observe fast during
the month of Ramadan.
[Bukhari]
Abu Huraira narrates that
one day while Allah's
Messenger was sitting
with the people, a man
came to him walking and
said, "O Allah's Messenger.
What is Belief?" The Prophet
said, "Belief is to believe
in Allah, His Angels,
His Books, His Apostles,
and the meeting with Him,
and to believe in the
Resurrection." The man
asked, "O Allah's Apostle
What is Islam?" The Prophet
replied, "Islam is to
worship Allah and not
worship anything besides
Him, to offer prayers
perfectly, to pay the
(compulsory) charity i.e.
Zakat and to fast the
month of Ramadan." [The
narration of Muslim has
Hajj as well]. The man
again asked, "O Allah's
Apostle What is Ihsan
(i.e.. perfection or Benevolence)?
The Prophet said, "Ihsan
is to worship Allah as
if you see Him, and if
you do not achieve this
state of devotion, then
(take it for granted that)
Allah sees you." ....
Then the man left. The
Prophet said, "Call him
back to me." They went
to call him back but could
not see him. The Prophet
said, "That was Jibreel
(Gabriel) who came to
teach the people their
religion." [Bukhari].
(Note that there are other
narrations of this hadith,
I took here one from Bukhari)
Since Islam means submission
to Allah, we have no other
choice but to submit ourselves
to Allah and obey His
commandments. It is from
the mercy of Allah towards
us that while He prescribed
on us fasting He also
showed us the greatness
of fasting in this world
and in the hereafter to
make it beloved to us.
