Part 14

In the past the Islamic nation was accustomed to victories and conquests in Ramadan. But, after, it reneged on its mission and became engrossed in worldly delights. Ramadan became in recent years a time of anxiety, sadness, killing, dispersal and genocide. Of course if we return to Allah we shall be victorious. ‘O you who have attained to faith! If you help [the cause of ] God, He will help you, and will make firm your steps’ (47:7).

‘No succour can come from any save God, the Almighty, the Truly Wise’ (3:126).

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Allah! We implore of You the help that You have promised us. O Our Lord! Plant our feet firmly and grant us victory over the unbelieving people.

Ramadan calls for the preservation of time

Allah describes the discourse between Himself and the reckless and negligent on the Day of Judgement: ‘[And] He will ask [the doomed]: “What number of years have you spent on earth?” They will answer: “We have spent there a day, or part of a day; but ask those who [are able to] count time... .[Whereupon] He will say: “You have spent there but a short while: had you but known [how short it was to be]! Did you then think that We created you in mere idle play, and that you not have to return to Us? [Know,] then, [that] God is sublimely exalted, the Ultimate Sovereign, the Ultimate Truth: there is no deity save Him, the Sustainer, in bountiful almightiness enthroned!”’ (23:112-16).

One of the righteous predecessors noted: life is short, do not shorten it with negligence. This is, certainly, true. Negligence shortens the hours and consumes the night. Hence the Prophet # said: “Fwo favours that many people are deceived by: health and spare time.’ The lesson being that many people are healthy and have a lot of time on their hands yet their lives pass by quickly before them without their using them or benefiting anyone. He also warned: ‘The foot of a believer will not move on the Day of Judgement until he is asked about four things and mention his life span and how he utilized it.’ Life is, undoubtedly, a treasure, whomsoever spends it in obedience to Allah will find his treasure on the Day when wealth and sons will be of no avail but instead only those who returned to Allah with clean hearts. Thus, those who spent their lives in negligence, disobedience and play will on that Day regret in such a manner that will never be equalled thereafter. They will say: ‘Alas for us, that we disregarded our lives.’

In effect, both the night and day are like riding animals that transport man to either eternal happiness or loss. Our righteous forbears used to take every initiative to preserve their time. There are strange stories about them concerning this matter. There were among them those who used to read the Quran and they were on the threshold of death. Such an example was Junaid ibn Muhammad. His sons said to him, ‘You are exhausting yourself.’ He replied, ‘And should there be among the people one who exerts himself more than me?’

Al Aswad ibn Yazid used to stand in prayer for most of the night. Some of his friends advised him to relax at least for a small portion of the night. He told them it is this very relaxation he is in search of; meaning in the Hereafter.

Sufiyan al Thowri once sat in the Sacred Mosque speaking to some people. Then suddenly he arose terrified

and said; we are sitting here and the day is doing its work. There were among our forbears those who used to divide their days and nights into hours. Hence they allocated specific hours for prayers, recitation, remembrance, meditation, acquisition of knowledge, work and sleep. They ascribed no time for merriment.

As for their successors, they have been afflicted by the calamity of time-wasting. Except, of course, those to whom Allah has shown mercy. They indulge in excessive sleep, idleness, aimless wandering, spending on amusements and sittings in which there is no benefit; or in meetings which, if they do not involve disobedience, are definitely the cause of disobedience.

Among the greatest things that organize time and work are the five daily prayers. Allah the Sublime and Most Excellent Speaker affirms in the Quran: ‘Verily, for all believers prayer is indeed a sacred duty linked to particular times [of day]’ (4:104).

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The month of Ramadan is a school in which the Muslim’s time is organized and invested in matters that lead to closeness to Allah. Notwithstanding, some people do not know the meaning of fasting. They engage in ample negligence and deep slumber. They spend their days sleeping and their nights in wasted wakefulness.

O Allah! Preserve for us our lives. Plant our feet firmly

on Your path, and make us obey You always. O Lord of all the worlds.

Images of love and brotherhood are manifested in Ramadan

The Muslims constitute one hand, one heart and one unit. They are like the Prophet # described them, as a single body. Only Islam can gather their disparate elements. And, only Islam can create brotherhood between them. ‘If thou hadst expended all that is on earth, thou couldst not have brought their hearts together [by thyself]: but God did bring them together. Verily, He is Almighty, wise’ (8:63).

Significantly, the Muslims are not united in language, blood, colour, race or country; they possess, however, unity of religion. For they are all brought together under the umbrella of ‘There is no God save Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

Muslims distinguish themselves by their God-

consciousness and gain precedence because of their knowledge. ‘O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware’ (49:13).

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When the Prophet & called to Islam, the caller to prayer came from Ethiopia saying, ‘Here I am O Lord, I have answered your call.’ Likewise, the Prophet himself came forth and proclaimed concerning Salman the Persian: ‘Salman is from my household.’ And, there was Shuaib the Roman, calling, ‘God is the greatest, God is the greatest.’ Meanwhile, the people of segregation and racism, Al Walid ibn Mughira, Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab all regressed.

Thus it was reported that the Prophet & used to say: ‘O children of Hashim, a people would come on the Day of Judgement with their deeds and you would come with your family trees.’ In another hadith he warned: ‘Whoever was slowed down by his deeds would not be hastened by his lineage.’

In reality, the Muslims constitute a large brotherhood in which every righteous and guided believer gains membership. Islam does not belong to one particular people or race. It belongs to the Arabs, Indians, Turks, Pakistanis and Africans; indeed all mankind. Abu Bakr al Siddiq was a Qurayshi, Bilal an Ethiopian, Shuaib a Roman, Salman a Persian and Muhammad the Conqueror was a Turk. Iqbal the great poet was an Indian and Salah al Din al Ayubi was a Kurd. They were all bonded by the same doctrine;

that there is no God save Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

This great oneness manifests itself in Ramadan. The month is one and the same, the fasting is one, the direction of prayers is one, and the methodology is also one. We all pray behind one imam. Allah says: ‘And bow down in prayer with all who thus bow down’ (2:43).

And: ‘Stand before God in devout obedience’ (2:238).

Addressing those who fast, Allah Almighty says: ‘O you who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was or red for those before you, so that you might remain cons. .uus of God’ (2:183).

4 * peer beaters Sc die cEl bees oe In the same manner, our pilgrimage is one, its timing is one, and its venue is one. ‘And when you surge downward in multitudes from Arafat, remember God at the holy place, and remember Him as the One who guided you after you had indeed been lost on your way’ (2:198).

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Allah further calls upon the Muslims to maintain His bond

and not to be divided: ‘And hold fast, all together, unto the bond with God, and do not draw apart from one another. And remember the blessings which God has bestowed upon you: how, when you were enemies, He brought your hearts together, so that through His blessing you became brethren’

In forbidding divisions, Allah says: ‘And be not like those who have drawn apart from one another and have taken to conflicting views after all evidence of the truth has come unto them: for these it is for whom tremendous suffering is

Awe bie One practical measure that must be adopted as a means of preventing divisions is contained in the Prophet’s saying: ‘Allah has revealed to me that you should be humble so that no one will oppress another and no one will display arrogance toward another.’ In another hadith Allah’s Messenger said: ‘The believers are like bricks in a wall; they support each other.’ He also said: ‘A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim: he neither oppresses him nor does he fail him, he neither lies to him nor does he hold him in contempt. It is evil enough for a man to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. The whole of a Muslim for another is inviolable: his blood, his property, and his honour.’

Among the duties of this brotherhood is that one should

inquire about the well-being of his brother and visit him for the sake of Allah. He should, moreover, visit and console him if he is sick, greet him whenever he meets him with a bright smile on his face, pray for him when he sneezes, accept his invitation, help him if he is oppressed, and advise and direct him. There are, of course, other rights and duties. Every Muslim on the face of the earth is, therefore, your brother in faith and according to the Quranic law. Allah Almighty has originated this covenant which Prophet Muhammad 4 brought.