“From that which there is no doubt about it is that the people are divided into three categories at the ending of Ramadan. 1: From them are those who are well aware of the virtues of these last ten nights of Ramadan and are diligent concerning them and this is the one who you see upholding the rights of Allaah that have been placed upon him in these last ten and you see him eager upon the hours and minutes of these last ten and thus he doesn’t spend them except in that which draws him nearer to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic. So this person and his likes strive and compete in good in these last ten with numerous actions of obedience and you will find every time that when one of these individuals’ soul try to incite him towards comfort and remissiveness, he encourages it upon increasing in virtue and incites it by remembering the text and the stories of those diligent people who have passed away from the first three noble generations, the Companions of the Messenger, may Allaah exalt his rank and grant him peace, and those who followed them in goodness. Every time his soul remembers them and reads about their news and biographies, he is rejuvenated and refreshed. 2: The second group is the one who knows the excellence of these ten and their excellency is not hidden from him, however he has within him laziness and lethargy that overpowers him. This individual is in need of someone to help him after Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, from his brothers, relatives and friends by taking hold of his hand and leading him towards the obedience of Allaah. Thus, they remind him of that because the angel has an inkling over his heart and likewise the devil has a inkling over his heart just as the Prophet, may Allaah exalt his rank and grant him peace, has mentioned. Allaah says: Therefore it is befitting for the Muslim to assist his brother who is in this type of situation by encouraging and inciting him upon the good, making it easy for him and frightening him about the passing of virtuous times (without benefit), that life is very short and he is not guaranteed to reach these last ten again in the future. 3: The third group; this is the one who doesn’t care if the last ten come or go, this is the one who, by Allaah, is truly deprived and depleted and the one who the Prophet, may Allaah exalt his rank and grant him peace, said about when he mentioned this month, the last ten in it and he mentioned the Night of Decree he said: “Whoever is prevented from its good then he has indeed been prevented.” He is the true deprived one! This is the true deprived person! That is because the oppurtunity has come to him and presented itself, health is with him, he is still alive, he isn’t busied by other matters and with all that he misses out on the good. An example of this individual -and for Allaah is the highest example- is a person seeking a job and so he gets the job and everything and there’s nothing else except for one to say to him, “walk!”, “proceed!”, “Race with those who are racing to this job,” and all of the conditions have been met but he says, “I will go tommorrow” and sleeps. And so the people recieve the virtue and the job while he’s sleeping. This is his example, the one who is granted the bounty of reaching these ten and misses out on the good and is prevented from standing the Night of Decree then he is the true deprived one. Not the one who misses this package or that one that can be reattained however if the Night of Decree is missed it cannot be reattianed. This person has been defeated by his devil and desires.” Translated by Abu Fouzaan Qaasim Footnote: (1) The Sheikh, may Allaah preserve him, is from the Scholars of al-Madeenah an-Nabawiyyah and teachers at the Islaamic Univeristy of Madeenah, KSA in the faculty of Hadeeth
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 11:08:36 +0000