Part 15

O Allah! Attune our hearts, bring us together, and unite our ranks. O You who are the most generous to those who show kindness.

Ramadan is a blessed month for the Islamic call

The propagation of Islam was the mission of all the prophets and messengers of Allah. There was never a prophet who was not a preacher and teacher. All of them preached the same message: ‘Worship Allah, you have no other god but Him.’ They all called to their people saying: ‘I do not seek any reward from you for this work.’

Allah Almighty says: ‘Call thou [all mankind] unto thy Sustainer’s path with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the most kindly manner’ (16:125).

Shai Hiss Ed she Eh Sys

He ordered His Messenger: ‘Say [O Prophet]: “This is my way: resting upon conscious insight accessible to reason, I am calling [you all] unto God - I and they who follow me.” And [say] “Limitless is God in His glory; and I am not one

of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him!

Having ordered bis servants to employ useful knowledge and good deeds, Allah confirms: ‘And who could be better of speech than he who calls [his fellow-men] unto God, and does what is just and right, and says, “Verily, I am of those who have surrendered themselves to God?’ (41:33).

7 coi ted 2) NW244 4 B44 ce Ala er teee Ay NIELS 1.55 NES oe olys There are five premises to the Islamic call, it has five

approaches, and its results are also five.

First: sincerity and truthfulness with Allah, and to seek His favour. Allah says: ‘And withal, they were not enjoined aught but that they should worship God, sincere in their faith to Him alone’ (98:5).

SONS BAN es et Se MI FIES,

The holy Prophet foretold that the first with whom the fire of hell will be lic are three; among them a scholar who acquired knowledge so that people would say he is learned. And it was indeed said of him.

Second: to practise what one preaches. Actually it is a scandal and disgrace that a person’s actions should contradict his

words. Allah derides such people in His Quran: ‘Do you bid other people to be pious, the while you forget your own selves — and yet you recite the divine writ? Will you not, then, use your reason?’ (2:44).

Third: gentleness in presenting the message. Allah advised Moses and Aaron to adopt this measure with Pharaoh, the greatest tyrant of his time: ‘But speak unto him in a mild manner, so that he might bethink himself or [at least] be filled with apprehension’ (20:44).

And to Muhammad, He also cautioned: ‘And it was by God’s grace that thou [O Prophet] didst deal gently with thy followers: for if thou hadst been harsh and hard of heart, they would indeed have broken away from thee’

eae 66 thee owe eM ke ce of PLOTS BET LAM MEK BEE ANG Bibs A AG Hence it was on this basis the Prophet # declared: ‘Make matters easy and do not make them difficult. Give glad tidings and do not drive people away.’

Fourth: adopt a gradual approach to propagation. Do as Prophet Muhammad # did in his mission by beginning with the most important matters; then follow them up in order of priority. This was clearly demonstrated in the advice he gave to Mu’adh before he sent him to Yemen. ‘You will come upon a People of the Book (Jews and Christians), the

first thing you should invite them to is to bear witness that there is no God save Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they respond positively to this, then inform them that Allah had ordained for them five prayers each day and night.’

Fifth: address every people with what is suited for them and their needs. There is a specia! approach to the people of the cities and another approach to villagers. Similarly, there is a special approach to the bedouin. The intellectual has his position and the ignorant also has his position. So tod, there is a style for the argumentative and an entirely different one for the submissive. ‘And whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant’ (2:269).

The five means of propagation:

First: the individual method; that is, to invite the person individually if the matter pertains to him specifically.

Second: public or mass propagation such as in lectures or exhortations that benefit the generality of people.

Third: private lessons to students each in his speciality. This is the task of the scholars who specialize in their disciplines.

Fourth: propagation through writing, correspondence and authorship with guidance and benefit for those who are called.

Fifth: propagation using modern means of communication to advance the cause of truth.

First: to attain the position of inheritors of the prophets, for they were the first callers and beacons of light in the field of propagation.

Second: to obtain prayers for your forgiveness from the creation for having taught the people goodness. Even the whale in the ocean will pray for the caller to truth.

Third: to gain great rewards equivalent to that of those who are invited. The Prophet & said: ‘Whoever calls to a good tradition will have the reward as the one who followed it without reducing from their reward.’

Fourth: the development of the caller from being one who is called to one who calls. He influences others and is not influenced by others who call to evil.

Fifth: the caller will become a leader among his people and they will follow him. Allah Almighty describes the righteous and notes that they call upon Him saying: ‘Cause us to be foremost among those who are conscious of Thee!’ (25:74).

Surely the sentiments of the caller to Islam are awakened in Ramadan. Their tongues are put to use and their pens become unstinting. The podiums welcome them to hear their call and addresses. Are there not any other scholars who will be similarly generous with their knowledge so that Allah will cause benefit from it?

O Allah! Increase us in useful Knowledge, righteous deeds and understanding of religion.

The prayer of the fasting person is never refused

Prophet Muhammad # conveyed this in a well-known saying: ‘To the fasting person there is a prayer that is never refused.’ That is because the heart of the fasting person is repentant. He has subdued his stubbornness and checked his wild ambitions. Indeed, he has drawn closer to his Lord and obeyed Him. He abandoned his food and drink, fearful of the King, the Bestower. The fasting person has restrained his desires in obedience to the Lord of the heavens and the earth. The Prophet # said: ‘Supplication is worship.’ Thus, if you see a servant begging a lot in prayer, know that he is close to Allah and confident in His Lord.

The companions once said to the Prophet: ‘O Messenger of Allah, is our Lord near so that we may confide with Him secretly or is He far that we must cry out to Him?’ Thereupon Allah Almighty revealed the following verse of the Quran: ‘And if My servants ask thee about Me — be-

hold, I am near; I respond to the call of him who calls, whenever he calls unto Me: let them, then, respond unto Me, and believe in Me, so that they might follow the right

DES typ 18565 Lal %

SoS gies al diene

In this same regard the Prophet & said to his companions: ‘You are not calling upon a deaf or absent God. Verily you are calling upon a hearer and seer who is closer to any of you than the neck of his camel.’ Supplication is an extended rope and solid divine bond. Hence the Prophet #&% declared: ‘No one will be destroyed with supplication.’ For this reason Allah Most Merciful exhorts us to call upon Him: ‘Call upon your Sustainer humbly, and in the secrecy of your hearts. Verily, He loves not those who transgress the bounds of what is right’ (7:55).

aoa Agra tera tee 2 ef aot

RaS tern) CF NASA 5 eps roi lea!

And: ‘Call unto Me, [and] I shall respond to you! Verily, they who are too proud to worship Me will enter hell,

Siet25 3 EBL <n coca bite 253163 Pe Ab nee

Still, the Prophet & said: ‘Our Lord descends to the heavens of the earth in the last third of the night and says: “Is there one who asks that I may grant him his request, is there one who would call that I may answer him, and is there one who seeks forgiveness that I may forgive him?’

Ramadan is the month of supplication, attainment, repentance and acceptance. O faster whose his Jips have dried from fasting, whose liver craved from thirst, and whose stomach hungered; call upon your Lord in earnest and be insistent in your request. Remember Allah’s description of His righteous servants: ‘They would vie with one another in doing good works, and would call unto Us in yearning and awe; and they were always humble before

There are certain ethics of supplication that the fasting person should know. They include: the resolve of the heart and full trust in the generosity and favour of Allah. The Prophet & said: ‘None of you should say, “O my Lord forgive me if You will.” He should instead be insistent in his asking because nothing forces Allah.’ Among these ethics also is that the servant should praise Allah and send greetings upon his noble Messenger at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of his supplication. The believer should be conscious of the times when prayers are answered such as the last third of the night, while prostrating, between the cal] ro prayer (Azaan) and its commencement (iqamabh), at the end of the compulsory prayers, the last hour of Friday (Yaum-ul-Jum’uah), after the Asr prayer, and on the day of Arafat. The believer must avoid rhymed prose in supplication, assigning someone to do it, or excesses in it. One should be careful not to invoke sin or the cutting of kindred ties.

O You who fast, know that the final hour before the setting of the sun is one of the greatest hours of the day.

Before the breaking of the fast when hunger has become acute and your thirst most intense, make much supplication, increase your yearning and continue to ask. Note that there is also an hour before daybreak for you who fast. Therefore, be good to yourself and ask from the Ever-Living the SelfSubsisting because you are poor and He is rich, you are weak and He is strong, you will pass away and He will remain,