Sunday 31 July 2011

The month of Ramadhan


بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Allah has been kind and merciful to us in that He has allowed us to have the weekly Zikir sessions continuously thus far; and now we will give way to the blessed month of Ramadhan and resume thereafter, insha Allah.

Keep in mind that the hall mark of Ramadhan is restraint. We restrain ourselves from food, drink, martial relations etc. Why? Because Allah says that there are two paths;

‘and shown him the two highways?’

One is full of ease and comfort but it leads to your inevitable destruction; the other is a bit steeper and difficult to journey on, but this one will lead to your Lord. Therefore to make sacrifices such as in Ramadhan will insha Allah take us closer to Allah .

He has made this month truly blessed for us in that He has given us a special night where there would be special visitors who bring with them great blessings from their Lord. This month is a gift and not a burden. And even thought there will be trails and tests try your best to do as much good deeds as possible because the blessings are truly immense; as reported in a Hadith Qudsi:

“Allah said - ‘All the deeds of Adam’s sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.’

Fasting also necessitates patience and Allah has given great comfort to those who exercise patience;

“Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!’ (39:10)

Let us insha Allah restrain from indulging in evil and use Ramadhan as that milestone where we will strengthen our relationship with our Lord because we are doing it all for His sake. And when Eid-ul-Fitr will come around we will be happy not because Ramadhan has ended but because of the achievement you would have attained, insha Allah.

One of the gems of Ramadhan is to read the Holy Qur’an. Yes we have to work and go about our daily activities but we have to sacrifice a little in order to utilize this great gift.

and it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew. (2:184)

The previous Messengers use to fast but what are their followers doing today? We are truly blessed by Allah. None of us are aware of whether we will ever see another Ramadhan so let us utilize whatever Allah has allowed for us.

We beg Him to bless us and to make this Ramadhan a monumental success and may He allow us to benefit from it in this world and use it to send a huge balance in the next. May Allah allow us to rise with the righteous where we will be please and anxious to meet Him and He will be pleasing to meet us, Ameen.

Ramadhan Mubarak!!!