Our distinguished guest [Ramadan], granted to us by our Creator, has left us. In truth, the blessed month of Ramadan has ended and a new month has come to us: the month of Shawwal. Sad for some and a Joy for others - especially those who do not really have this spirit of sacrifice. They are relieved that this month [Ramadan] is gone and they can now return to their old ways.
For a true believer, it is true that he is sad to see this month [Ramadan] go but it is also an opportunity for him to continue in the accomplishment of his good habits that he started during this month blessed and continue in this good way throughout the year. And then, he makes sure that all his actions, and his thoughts are directed to Allah and to acquiring His pleasure.
For a true believer, it is true that he is sad to see this month [Ramadan] go but it is also an opportunity for him to continue in the accomplishment of his good habits that he started during this month blessed and continue in this good way throughout the year. And then, he makes sure that all his actions, and his thoughts are directed to Allah and to acquiring His pleasure.
In this present century, the century that we are living, these rewards
are doubled, even tripled, and so on, because the one who receives the
opportunity and the blessing to accept the Messenger, the Caliph of Allah – the
Caliph sent by Allah with the Ruh’il Quddus (the Holy Spirit) - then
this one is very lucky. It is because during his entire life, during the lifetime
of the Messenger of Allah, he receives this special Laila-tul-Qadr
[equivalent to the length of his life (a normal/ average human life) on earth].
He becomes a witness of miracles and signs of Allah. And he receives a nearness
with Allah that others have not received, and he receives this thanks to his
connection with the Messenger of Allah through the Ruh’il Quddus. His
entire life is not only like the month of Ramadan, but more precisely that holy
night of Laila-tul-Qadr. And the greatest Laila-tul-Qadr that the
Sahaba (companions) in the time of the noble prophet Hazrat Muhammad
(pbuh) received, is the chance they had to live in the time of the greatest
Messenger from Allah and they had the honour, the grace and the blessing to
remain sincere with him and to die in the way of Allah as true believers. Among
them were also many hypocrites, but their plots were in vain and it is Allah
and His Messenger and the sincere Muslim believers who have won the victory.
Now, like when the month of Ramadan comes, you ask yourselves, “Will
I see the next Ramadan? Will I be alive next year to receive such blessings?”,
likewise all people in this era and in all eras of God’s envoys in the final
religion of Islam, those who will come for the reform of Islam, of Muslims and
whole humanity, those who shall revive the faith after others after us (after
our epoch) would have trampled it, therefore those people who would have believed
in the Messengers of Allah, the Islamic prophets, they also should bear in mind
that Allah has granted them a great favour in their present/ lifetime, i.e.
Allah has enabled them to meet a Messenger of Allah, and to live in his
lifetime. But alas, what do these people do? They turn on their backs! And if
ever they die in the condition where Allah sends the Ruh’il Quddus to
bless the people but they are deprived of it because they have turned their
backs to Allah and His Messenger, imagine what will happen? What their
chastisement shall be! It is most unfortunate for such a person who moreover
mocks a Messenger, and harms him in many ways. But as Allah says in the Holy
Quran:
“Verily! It is I and My Messengers who shall be the victorious.” (Al-Mujadala 58 :
22).
And Allah reassures the believers also that despite all the plans of the
evildoers, but Allah’s plan is much better. Allah watches over His servants and
helps them in their misfortunes. But He tries them too. A believer must not be
discouraged whenever he goes through trials. Like during Ramadan we have to
make sacrifices of all kinds in order to win Allah, so think that during the
time of a Messenger, an Elect of Allah, Allah tests all believers with all
kinds of trials. He tries them with death, fear, loss and a decline in their
wealth, and He gives them all kinds of hardships. He gives them all these so as
to see if they are really sincere to Him and His Messenger or if this was a lip
statement only!
I need to say, Allah has given many trials to His servants, and
especially in this century, to His very Khalifatullah and the disciples of His
Khalifatullah. There are some who have come forward after they have witnessed
signs, and they have signed the Bai’at form, but what happens next? When
the enemy learns that these kinds of people are accepting the Divine
Manifestation of this century, they go ahead to deviate their heads and lure
them with great positions, and money to make them leave the Divine Manifestation
and return to their former position or give them a better post to blind them.
As if, Summum Bukmum ...
The people who are weak in their faith, who let go of the rope of Allah
easily as soon as a mundane gain comes their way, in their interest, therefore
the consequences of these kinds of people shall be grievous. Allah has tried
them, has given them signs but they have rejected faith and cut their
connection with His Khalifatullah. This is what is called a “spiritual death” for
Allah has removed all His blessings from such a person and his punishment on
earth shall come at an unexpected moment, and his plight in the hereafter shall
be all the more grievous.
So, each person, especially the believers must bear in mind that trials
shall [without doubt] come their way in their life throughout but if they
remain firm and like we say in Creole: ‘Si nous manz avec sa bane épreuves
là’ (If we/ they are steadfast and strong despite the difficulties involved
throughout the trials) , if they remain sincere, then it is Allah Himself Who
shall remove all obstacles which are on their path and He shall open the door
of His Mercy whereby you shall see your problems resolved quickly [in a miraculous
way], as if you were not affected by any trial before. These are the favours
which Allah bestows upon His sincere believing servants who work hard for His
cause.
In Ramadan you have observed the fast to seek Allah as your reward. Now
bear in mind that those who have accepted God’s Envoy and help him in his works
to advance the cause of Islam, the truth of Islam – the True Islam – in the
world, it is them who shall succeed, and in the hereafter, they shall be the
fortunate ones as they shall obtain Allah as their reward for all the excellent
sacrifices they did during their lifetime on earth. [Like in the month of
Ramadan] They have sacrificed a lot/ deprived themselves from a lot of things,
and in return they shall receive Allah
Himself [as their reward], Insha-Allah.
It is upon these kinds of people that Allah sends down His extraordinary
blessings for they have preferred to sacrifice everything so that they may get
Allah as their reward. For these types of people, their life and death are both
the same for during their lifetime they have received Allah [as their reward]
and in their death also they have received Allah [as their reward]. How did
they succeed in doing so? By obeying Allah and His Messenger! They followed the
one upon whom Allah has sent the Ruh’il Quddus (Holy Spirit) and whom He
has raised as His Messenger.
So, this is the value of Ramadan and Laila-tul-Qadr in the life
of a believer. In ordinary times, it holds all its importance, but during the
life of a Messenger of Allah, whereby Allah becomes his sight [eyes to see], his
hands, his ears etc., it is Allah who controls and guides him, therefore, these
blessings are multiplied thousands of times, and its value keeps on increasing
in all ways. And when this happens, the person who witnesses such an epoch and
who helps the cause of Allah by accepting and helping His Messenger, that one
is indeed very fortunate and blessed [happy].
So, like I was saying about Ramadan, a believer must continue with his
good habits [developed during Ramadan], even after Ramadan. It is post-Ramadan
that Allah shall watch for your sincerity, to see whether Ramadan was a jail
for you or a real treasure and an opportunity for you reform yourselves and tread
on the path of Allah.
And a believer must always think, “What if this is my last Ramadan?”
– for He should always bear in mind that death is inevitable and is present,
waiting for the decreed time of that person [to die and leave this world]. You
want it or not, but death has been prescribed all people. All of us shall have
to leave this world one day.
Allah (swt) has always recommended us to be optimistic in our life on
earth. Therefore, you should remain firm in your convictions to bring about a
radical change in your everyday lives. Each person needs to analyse himself. He
can ask thousand questions, but most of the time the answers to them all are
found in himself. He alone knows the deeds he did and with which intentions he
did them, and come what may, one day he shall have to account for all these
before Allah. And he shall be alone before Allah. There shall be no one else
[no other fellow human being]. He shall take care himself; he shall have to fend
for himself. There shall be no father, mother or any other people to come to
his help. All
shall come to pass between him and Allah.
If each Muslim in the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) manage to
make a positive assessment with sincere reflections on the spiritual value of
the month of Ramadan, like a school of faith, like a spiritual break where he
resources himself for the rest of his life, then this in itself is already a
victory… indeed a very beautiful victory which he gets by reforming his life,
by moulding it in a better way, as an excellent preparation for the afterlife. Insha-Allah.
Then everyone of the Ummah,
old generation, present generation, tomorrow’s generation, will absolutely have
to have a firm conviction and say to themselves: “From now on, my everyday
life shall be like the one I lived during the month of RAMADAN.” – With Prayer.
With good actions. With self-control. By staying away from evils of all
sorts, things which can drive us away from Allah. To remain in the obedience of
Allah, and to follow all His commandments, you all need to be ready to serve
the cause of Islam and to live an absolutely Islamic life. You should not
follow the trends and fashions/ behaviour of the non-believers who are
themselves far from Allah. On the contrary, it is your duty to help them find
the way to Allah and to change their bad ways/ deeds into good ones.
It is not only during the month of Ramadan that fasting is recommended.
Just like any good deed, any good work, fasting is part of the daily life of each
member of the Muhammadan Ummah. And we must be aware of it.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays each week.
He fasted on the 13th, 14th and 15th lunar
days of each month. He recommended the fast of Muharram [Ashura], the fast of
Arafat [during the Hajj], the six days of fasting of the month of Shawwal, etc.
Our life after RAMADAN must
not be amplified by the ambitions of Satan. Our life must be a continuation of
the good which we adopted from the moment we saw the moon of Ramadan. What did
we do? We devoted ourselves to the prayer (Salat/ Namaz) and all kinds
of acts of worship (Ibaadat). We made [tremendous] efforts to remain on
the right path, and we all have learnt to clothe ourselves correctly (in Pardah)
during that month, be it for gents and ladies.
The post-Ramadan is for each of us a question and a reflection. This temporal
life is only ephemeral, and whatever happens, we will all return without
exception to Allah. Then we have to accept that trials of all kinds will affect
us, but as long as we stay firm and take patience so that we do not lose our
trust in Allah, then Allah Himself will remove all difficulties and direct us to
the light. He will manifest Himself in our favour, showing that He is on our
side and He will guide us to what is good for us.
Therefore, we should learn to trust in Allah and we should continue to do
good and stay attached to Allah and today in the times of His Khalifatullah, I
would like to give you a small advice: Do not turn your back. Take advantage of
the unparalleled divine blessings, which you [personally] won’t be able to witness
again. Personally, you shall not witness this epoch again because your life on
earth is limited, but tomorrow your children shall witness it. Not only your
children but your grand-children also, as well as your great-grand-children. It
may be that today you are rejecting truth, but tomorrow your children shall not
become like you. They may receive the divine blessings of recognising and
accepting the truth. Verily, all is possible with Allah. He can change a heart
of stone [a hardened heart] and fill it with love for Allah and His Messenger
and the person who was beforehand a great enemy can become a great help for the
cause of Allah like Hazrat Umar (ra). Allah does what He wills without
accounting to anyone.
May Allah transform our lives and give us better and sustainable lives in
this temporal world and in the hereafter, and may we continue with the good
habits that we have acquired during Ramadan so that we can walk towards victory
with the blessings of Allah. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 07 June 2019 _03 Shawwal 1440 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.