IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICIENT THE MERCIFUL Dear brother and sister in Islam, we congratulate you for the completion of yet another month of Ramadan. May Allah reward you with that which is best, amin. During the month, you must have succeeded in guarding against all sorts of corruptions, sinfulness and evils, because Satan had been chained, as affirmed by Holy Prophet(SAW) , in which case Satan’s incitements and actions had been frozen in our daily activities throughout the month. This have resulted in wonderful changes in individuals lives, characterized by improved faith, perfect worship, good morals, abundance kindness, peaceful mind and high hope; all these because of sincere fasting and supplications to Allah. What an excellent way of life While looking forward to another Ramadan next year Insha Allah, let us ask ourselves, how best should we carry on, since we do not know when the stupor of death will arrest our souls? Shall we just sit idly and hang our good deeds just like that? Should all the steadfastness, flawless deeds, regular salats, assorted nawafil, and supplications to Allah, which we practiced during the month of Ramadan stop like that and wane down to nothing? The best answer will be found in Quran 51:56, where Allah says: “I have created the jinn and men for no other purpose but that they may worship Me”. This is an affirmation that as long as we continue to exist on earth, we must worship Allah devotedly, be it the month of Ramadan or other months. This is because worship is the peak of submission to Allah and the key to righteousness as well as demonstration of one’s true faith. Worship is made up of all pillars of Islam except iman. This include: observing salats, fasting in the month of Ramadan, Zakat- charity and Pilgrimage, as well as following all the commands of Allah, and observing the sunnah of the Prophet. We are commanded in Quran 15:99: “And continue worshipping your Lord, till death comes to you”. This means we should not withdraw from being pious, but should continue with piety as we did during the month of Ramadan. If we withdraw from piety and our duties to Allah, it means we are hypocrites and ungrateful creatures, and an ungrateful man is a brother of Satan (Q17: 26-27). We all know that Satan and all his people will be thrown into hell fire on the day of kiyamah, we are thus warned by Allah: “If anyone withdraws himself from the remembrance of Allah, (after Ramadan) We shall appoint for him a Satan, to be an intimate companion to him”.Q43:36 Because of many benefits and mercies, Allah prescribed fasting in the month of Ramadan for us like it was prescribed for those before us, namely the Prophets and those who joined them in faith (Quran 2:183). Such benefits include a route to success in this world and the next, deliverance of souls from hell-fire, forgiveness of sins, acceptance of prayers, adopting righteousness, among others. There are thus many lessons contained in the month of Ramadan, and if we want to be successful, we must not forget the lessons, but should let it be our watch-word, and should also reflect in our daily activities. Allah advises us in Quran 47:35: “Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when you are upper-most, for Allah is with you and He will never devoid you of the reward of your good deeds” Prophet Muhammed(SAW) said: “Every good deed of the son of Adam is multiplied in reward 10 to 700 times except for fasting, for it is for Me and I Allah will grant the reward for it, he leaves his passion and food for My sake…”(Bukhariy & Muslim). However, this will only materialize if we uphold the lessons of Ramadan and worship prescribed by Allah and His messenger and do not forfeit the fast by returning to sinful acts and negligence of ibadah in Islam and disobedience to Allah’s commands and prohibitions which we have guarded against during the month. Let us remove the curtain of confusion from our minds and ask ourselves, what have we gained or achieved if we return to those sinful acts? We have fasted for a whole month, we have submitted our bodies to the will and works of Allah both physically and spiritually, we had sleepless nights, listened to series of admonitions, spent our wealth for charity, and adopted a new and righteous way of living, and angels as well as people around us have recognized us as true believers? It is highest degree of hypocrisy and great loss if we do otherwise or stop being pious after the fast. Allah called our attention to what awaits individual soul against his deeds: “O you who believe, fear Allah and let every soul look to what he sends forward for the morrow…” Q59:19. If we fear Allah, we will never incline towards retrogression but progression of faith, trust and justice. This means we should all be apprehensive of the life after death with the consequential phenomenon. Enlightenment from Allah about the best of what to adopt after Ramadan fast is given in the Quran: “A warning to mankind to any of you that chooses to press forward or hang behind (in worship, good deeds and improved iman after Ramadan). Every soul will be held in pledge for its deeds, except those on the right hand, they will be in Garden of delight, asking one another about sinners, what have brought you into hell-fire? They will say, ‘we were not of those who observe salat, nor were we of those who fed the poor, and we used to talk vanities with vain talkers, and we used to deny the Day of Judgment until death came to us”.Q74:36-47.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 10:06:53 +0000
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