'Eid-ul-Fitr' Sermon 2019

WHAT IS EID-UL-FITR ?

Here we are gathered again by the grace of Allah for a new Eid-ul-Fitr celebration.

The word ‘Fitr’ means breaking the fast. It is from the same source that the term ‘iftar’ is also derived. Eid-ul-Fitr means the festival celebrated at the end of the fast of Ramadan. After a month of fasting, Shariah calls for a day of joy. A day when it is imperative to eat and be joyous. Fasting on this day is forbidden. (Bukhari).

It’s a moment to share love in serenity with family and friends. This is the moment when the family gathers around a table to share the symbolic breakfast that distinguishes the day of Eid from the usual days. It is reported that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) ate some dates of an odd number before going out to offer the Eid Salat.

At the time of the Prophet (pbuh), Eid was synonymous with unparalleled enthusiasm and gaiety. In fact, Eid’s days are the only festivals that Muslims can celebrate. Note that Eid is celebrated with an extra Salat. So a Muslim celebrates with more prayer thanking his Lord for all the favours He has poured upon him. It’s time to fraternize, to show generosity and to forgive. With a pure heart [upon returning from Eid prayer], we come home to spend the rest of the day with our family.

The Future of Chagos and Agalega

The sovereignty of, and territorial rights over, the Chagos Archipelago is a matter of contention between Mauritius and the United Kingdom for more than half a century now. Before granting national independence to Mauritius in 1968, the retreating colonial power played shady games to retain its strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region. As it happened, two years before the granting of Independence, the colonial power decided to retain a land foothold in the region for the longer term and hence excised the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius. During the pre-independence political negotiations between Mauritius national leaders and the British government, the continued British-control over the Islands was legitimated through questionable deals- thanks to the obvious unequal bargaining power between the parties- the Conquerors leveraging their heft of power and their political subjects on the negotiating table desperately seeking freedom from colonial yoke. Through offering best relations beyond independence, paying 'peanuts' as immediate compensation and a vague promise of returning the Islands to Mauritius at an unspecified future date when the facility at the Islands would no longer be needed for 'defence purposes', Britain sought to retain its control over the Chagos Archipelago for the indefinite future. 

Responding to global shifts in power and the emerging equation with the US in the post-second World War/ Cold War  scenario, the UK later through a bilateral agreement, leased the strategic Islands to the United States for establishing its grand military base in the heart of the Indian Ocean- the Diego Garcia Naval Base. Almost in parallel, within a decade (1967-1973), Britain ensured that Chagossian villagers were systematically and stealthily ousted from their homes and lands permanently, without any opportunity of returning to their homeland forever! British national security and strategic interests trumped over the rights of poor and vulnerable islanders. Even as the Big Powers- the United States and the United Kingdom- consolidated their strategic interests and military control of the region, the hapless Chagossian people were left to languish in the wilderness of their own catastrophe- in mainland Mauritius, Seychelles,  the UK and elsewhere. No wonder, the British colonial excesses in the region continue to scar the national spirit of the formerly subjugated people, the Chagossians in particular.

'Laylatul Qadr': Unveiling Holy Mysteries

“In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Surely We revealed it on the Night of Majesty; And what will make you understand what the Night of Majesty is? The Night of Majesty is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by the permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn.” (Al-Qadr 97: 1-6).

One day the Holy Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) related the life of a saintly person who was called Shamsoon (ra) who lived among the Bani Israel. He had done acts of worship of all kinds and holy war for a period of a 1000 months. Listening to this story, a Sahabi (companion) pointed out to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) that the longevity of his Ummah (community) is shorter than that of Hadhrat Shamsoon (ra). The Sahabi also pointed out that one cannot do the same amount of Ibadat (acts of worship) as Hadhrat Shamsoon (ra). It was at this time that Hadhrat Jibra’il (as) appeared and recited the Surah Al-Qadr (Decree).

The Benefits of the Night of  Decree

According to Hadhrat Abu Huraira (ra) and other Hadith narrators, during the night of Qadr (Laylatul Qadr), innumerable angels descend on earth and because of this, the gates of heaven are opened. At that moment, the lights shine, the special manifestations occur, the celestial world is unveiled. People can then contemplate it in varying degrees (depending on their ability / the spiritual level which they reached and the degree of their faith - Iman).

Teachings for A Blissful Life

The Book of God, the Holy Qur’an, contains enduring teachings, useful for our every day life. The wisdom underlying those ethical principles are so profound and so true that it is by following those teachings that humans can hope for remaining on the correct and straight path of spiritual quest- the Way of seeking God. In his writings, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian used to provide fascinating interpretative expositions on Qur’anic verses in order to substantiate and illuminate his spiritual themes. While not a literal translation of Qur’anic verses, these explanations of the Promised Messiah (as) often tease out the subtle points of wisdom contained within those verses in a succinct and accessible language for everyone. 

Reproduced below is a collection of Qur’anic verses, as explained by the Promised Messiah (as), revealing the ethical and moral universe in which God expects and invites man to abide by, so as to enable him to attain a blissful and heavenly life in this very world.

1. ‘God commands you to abide by justice and fairness. But if you wish to attain greater perfection, then treat people with compassion and do good even to those who have done you no good. And if you aspire to even higher perfection, then be of service to others out of personal sympathy and natural impulse, without any desire to win gratitude or to put anyone under obligation, and be kind to them just as a mother is kind to her children out of a natural urge. God also forbids you to commit excesses, to remind people of the good you have done them, or to be ungrateful to those who have been kind to you’. (Al-Nahl, 16:91).

2. This theme is further elaborated in the following verse: ‘when the truly righteous feed the poor, the orphan and the captive, they do so selflessly, only out of love for God, and say to them: ‘We only serve you for the sake of God, from you we require neither gratitude nor reward.’’ (Al-Dahr, 76:9-10)

3. With regard to retribution or forgiveness, the Holy Quran teaches us: 

The retribution for an injury is an injury to the same extent. Tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye, and abuse for an abuse, but whosoever forgives — and the forgiveness results in reformation rather than mischief, and he who has been forgiven rectifies his behaviour and desists from evil — his forgiveness is better than retribution, and the forgiver shall have his reward [with God]. It does not teach us that, having been struck on one cheek, we should in all circumstances turn the other cheek also, for this goes against true wisdom. Doing good to an evil-doer can be as unjust as doing evil to a good man. (Al-Shura, 42:41)

4. The Holy Quran further says:  

i.e., if someone is kind to you, show him even greater kindness. All rancour between you will thus turn into a friendship so close that it borders upon kinship. (Ha-Mim al-Sajdah, 41:35)