The Larger Meaning of 'Eid-ul-Fitr'

For the Muslim believer, Allah (God Almighty) has given him two great celebrations, moments of joy (Eids) in his life: Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. Whereas the Eid-ul-Adha is the Eid of Sacrifice, commemorating the great sacrifice of Prophet Abraham (as), the Eid-ul-Fitr commemorates the intense sacrifices which the Muslim believer has done for His Lord (Rab) during the fasting month of Ramadan.

MUNIR A. AZIM

HAZRAT IMAM MUHYI-UD-DIN

JAMAAT UL SAHIH AL ISLAM

If fasting has been prescribed by the Lord of the World (Rab’ul Aalamin) as a way to draw His sincere believers to Himself, to enable them to get Himself as reward, Allah has also given them a day of rejoice for fasting a whole month for Him. This day is the Eid-ul-Fitr, and is filled with extraordinary blessings for the Muslim believers who truly and sincerely complied with all requirements of the fasting days of the holy month of Ramadan.

Fasting in Ramadan is not like fasting any other day. It has certain restrictions and limitations which if followed, opens the door of Divine Pleasure. If fact, God Almighty draws closer to such people and pours down His mercy and love upon them. That is why also, all true Ramadan fasters strive to acquire the intense blessings of this month because of the Most Cherished Treasure (i.e. Allah) they shall acquire at the end of their fasting.

If Ramadan is both a sweet and sour trial for the believer, Eid-ul-Fitr comes as a liberation from all limitations imposed by God Almighty during the blessed month and it also acts as a reminder and an encouragement for him to pursue the same good habits till the next Ramadan and this, till the end of his temporal life. Thus, Ramadan is a month of intense training for the physical, moral and spiritual growth of the believer. Every Ramadan is meant as a training for his body, mind and soul to rid themselves from all darkness and to greet light with open arms. All negativity, all stress, all evil-mindedness, and all intrinsic and extrinsic problems of the believer fade away to let in pure divine light which gives him a most needed boost for his very own well-being and that of his family, friends, neighbours, his environment and society as a whole. Everybody shall be at peace with him when he is himself at peace. And if evil try to get in the way, the peacefulness, serenity and the spirit of goodness he has developed and/ or acquired during that month makes him strive to combat it by peaceful means and with Divine Succour.

'Lailat-ul-Qadr': Times of a 'Khalifatullah'

In the evocative language of the Qur'an, the descent of Divine revelations take place on 'Laila-tul Qadr': the 'Night of Destiny'. When people grope in the darkness of spiritual despair, the Divine Mercy unfolds itself in the form of a Blessed Soul. Hence, the life and times of a Divinely-raised renewer of Faith among the Muslims can be described as a period of Divine Blessings.  As we have recently noted in another post, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) specifically linked the coming of a Khalifatullah in every century with the spiritual concept of Laila-tul Qadr. In his book “Victory of Islam”, the Promised Massih (as) clearly stated that the Khalifatullah appears to rouse people to spiritual consciousness and that angels descent with him- through revelations, they enable him to provide a living testimonial to the vitality of Islam in that age. 

As the Divinely-raised "Muhyi-ud-Din" and "Khalifatullah" of this era, Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius is the most qualified spiritual commentator on matters of Divine verities in our times. On the blessed occasion of the 27th of Ramadan (1439 AH) today, we are reproducing an important Friday Sermon of 03 June 2011, wherein Hadhrat Saheb (atba) profoundly explained the relevance of 'Laila-tul-Qadr' to the blessed advent of Divine Elects in every era, also keeping in view the blessed writings of the Promised Massih (as) on the theme.

Read the extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“By the grace of Allah, one of my sincere disciples called my attention on the fact that the Promised Messiah (as) draw the people’s attention to the coming of a Khalifatullah, especially when he speaks about the period of a Khalifatullah as a Laila-tul-Qadr (Night of Decree, of blessings) and that when the Caliph of Allah comes down to earth, he comes down accompanied with the light of Allah which thereafter the sincere people who surrounds the Khalifatullah receive. 

By the grace of Allah, the Promised Messiah (as) has in other others say he has come to earth in the mantle of a Khalifatullah, but that which is much more surprising is that he has already said that not only in his time there shall be one (a Khalifatullah), but this Khalifatullah shall come in confirmation of his (the Promised Messiah’s) truthfulness. It is this Khalifatullah who shall come in conformity with his words and he shall come in confirmation of his truth like the Promised Messiah (as) came in confirmation of the prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), where the Prophet of Allah (sa) said (while putting his hand on the shoulders of Salman Farsi) that when faith shall go to the Pleiades, then there shall come someone from Persian descent shall bring it back.

The Importance of 'Zakaat' in Islam

Zakaat in Islam

Zakaat is a pillar of Islam and an obligatory act of charity ordained to every eligible Muslim. It is an act of devotion and an effective form to achieve social justice. It is also one of the five pillars of Islam and prescribed in the Holy Quran and in the Hadiths. The root of the word Zakaat in Arabic means blessing, growth, purity or improvement. The word Zakaat refers to the part of the wealth prescribed by Allah to be distributed among the categories of people described by Allah in Surah At-Taubah (Chapter 9, verse 60) and the Hadiths. Zakaat is an act of worship that purifies the wealth and soul of Muslims.

The purification of wealth means the mobilization of goods for financial growth and justified distribution (equal repartition of wealth). Purification of the soul means liberation of the Muslim’s heart from hatred, jealousy, selfishness, and greed.

Technically speaking, Zakaat is a fixed proportion that is withdrawn on an annual basis from the wealth and distributable profits and given to beneficiaries of this fund (as indicated by the Quran and Sunnah) for the well-being of Muslim society. Zakaat is calculated on the net balance after the Muslim has deducted his expenses for personal, family and other purposes (necessities). At the end of the year if the Muslim is in possession of 35 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver or the cash equivalence or article of commerce he must pay Zakaat on it at 2.5% tax, also applicable to agricultural products and livestock.

Zakaat is mentioned about thirty times in the Holy Quran and it is mentioned most in association with Salat (prayer) as this verse indicates: “Those who establish Salah (prayer) and give Zakah (Obligatory Charity/ Tax).” (Al-Baqara 2: 278).

Narrated from Anas (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Whoever departs this world with sincerity towards Allah, worshipping Him alone with no partner, establishing regular prayer and paying Zakaat, he dies while Allah is pleased with him.” (Ibn Majah).

'Lailat-ul-Qadr': The Night of Destiny

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Indeed, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what the Night of Decree is? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn.” (Al-Qadr 97: 1-6).

When the month of Ramadan begins, Muslims perform Ibadat (acts of worship) with great enthusiasm to please Allah. The Ibadat made during this month include obligatory acts (Fardh) as well as many voluntary/ additional (Nafl) acts of worship, and the mosques are filled with worshipers, Alhamdulillah. But Insha-Allah, it is essential also that this state of things remain the same even after the month of Ramadan. In this blessed month, the tendency to help the poor and the needy is also great and very important.

The Laila-tul-Qadr

During this month, we get the night of Lailatul Qadr also called, Shabe Qadr (The Night of Power). According to the Hadiths of our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), the rewards for the Ibadat performed during this night are equal to the Ibadat performed for more than a thousand months and if we calculate all this well and do not make any mistake in our way of counting (our math), so it is equal to 83 years and 4 months. Taking into consideration the length of human life today, it would be impossible for a person to do this great amount of Ibadat during his whole life, even if he does it day and night.

There is a story behind that Night. A person named Samsun (ra) belonging to the Tribe of Israel was a person who made a lot of Ibadat. He used to fight against the infidels and the latter feared him a lot. Allah (swt) had given him such strength that even the army of the infidels had no hold over him to defeat him, or even to wound him. So, in the life of Samsun (ra) there is a very interesting story, concerning his faith (Imaan) in Allah, his courage and the strength he possessed. He was always ready to do Jihad for a thousand months. When the Messenger of Allah, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) heard the story about this extraordinary person who belonged to the Children of Israel from the Archangel Gabriel (as), his thought was for his Ummah (his community). He thought that life was short and that we would not have the opportunity to receive the same intensity of blessings bestowed upon Samsun (ra) for his devotions and loyalty for a thousand months.

Allah (swt) therefore accepted the desire of His Messenger and granted to Him and His Ummah (community) a great favour; such favour that the other Ummat (communities) did not receive; such a favour with an extraordinary prescription, that is, the Lailatul Qadr, the Night of Power. It was during this very night that the Holy Quran was revealed, that is to say, the pure revelations of Allah on His beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).