Beyond Ramadan: 'Strive to Remain with Allah'

For this last Friday in the month of Ramadan (30^th day of Ramadan/ 15 June 2018), I would like to give some advices (for you all) to follow so that these Ramadan days are not wasted and that the good habit developed during this blessed month remains (strong as ever). First of all, after Jumu’ah prayer, read 2 cycles of additional prayer (A 2-Rakat Nawafil Salat). In the first cycle, after the Surah Al-Fatiha, read the Surah Al-Ikhlaas 10 times and in the second cycle after the Surah Al-Fatiha, read the Surah Al-Kafirun 3 times. And after the prayer, read the Darood Shariff 10 times.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said: “The supplications of a faster are never rejected.” This is because the heart of the faster is in a state of repentance. In fact, he has reached close to Allah and has obeyed Him. He has abandoned his food and drink for fear of Allah, his King, his Sustainer and Supreme Donator. The faster has restrained his desires in obedience to the Lord of the Heavens and Earth.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) has said: “Supplication is worship.” Thus, if you see a servant (of Allah) seeking charity (i.e., the charity/ mercy of Allah) by praying a lot, doing long prostrations with lots of duas, then know that he/ she is close to Allah and trust (and confiding) in Him.

The companions (Sahaba) asked: “O Messenger of Allah, is our Lord near to us, so we can secretly talk to Him, or is He far, so we should call upon Him (loudly)?” Thereupon Allah the Almighty revealed this verse: 

“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright.” (Al-Baqara 2: 187).

Moreover, the Messenger of Allah has said: “Truly, you do not call to one deaf or absent, but truly to One who hears and sees; and He is with you; and He to whom you pray is nearer to you than the neck of your camel (riding beast).”

Allah (swt) requires us to ask of Him, to call upon Him. Allah says in the Holy Quran: “Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors.” (Al-Arraf 7: 56).

In another verse of the Quran, Allah says: “Your Lord says: Call upon Me and I will respond to you. Verily, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell in humiliation.” (Ghafir 40: 61).

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.