Part 16

The Prophet Abraham prayed: ‘O my Sustainer, cause me and [some] of my offspring to remain constant in prayer! And, O our Sustainer, accept this my prayer: grant Thy forgiveness unto me, and my parents, and all the believers, on the Day on which the [last] reckoning will come to pass!”

Prophet Moses prayed: ‘O my Sustainer! Open up my heart [to Thy light], and make my task easy for me’ (20:25).

Prophet Solomon called upon his Lord and asked: ‘O my Sustainer! Forgive my sins, and bestow upon me the gift of a kingdom which may not suit anyone after me: verily, Thou alone art a giver of gifts!’ (38:35).

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In an authentic hadith the Prophet Muhammad prayed: ‘O my Sustainer! You are the Lord of Gabriel, Mika’il, and Israfil. You are the maker of the heavens and the earth. You judge between Your servants in what they differ. Guide

me to the truth by Your permission. For You guide whomsoever You will to the straight path.’

There are four advantages of supplication:

First: the realization of worship of Allah Almighty, humbleness towards Him and trust in Him. This is the purpose and fruit of worship.

Second: the answering of one’s request either through the granting of good or by the prevention of harm. None other than Allah possesses this power and ability.

Third: to save the reward with. Allah if the request is not granted in this world. This is actually better and more beneficial.

Fourth: supplication expresses sincere monotheism through the crushing of dependency on people and yearning for their favour.

O our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter and save us from the punishment of the fire. O our Lord! Do not cause our hearts to go astray after You have guided us and grant us mercy from Yourself. Verily You are the Donor of all Good.

Gifts to those who fast

At this stage I can not find a better gift or greater masterpiece than to present to those who fast gifts from the Prophet of guidance #. They are those practical hadiths that have been mentioned in connection with rewards and blessings. Behold! They are the hadiths that lead to the doors of happiness and the paths of goodness in this world and the Hereafter.

O you who fast! Record these hadiths and implement them: The Prophet && said: ‘Whoever says at daybreak: “There is no God save Allah alone, He has no partner, to Him belongs the dominion and the praise and He has power over all things”; such a person will have the equivalent of a slave from the son of Ismail; ten good deeds wili be written for him, ten misdeeds will be erased, and he will be elevated ten levels. He will be protected from Satan until evening, and if he says it in the evening, he would have the same rewards until morning’ (Ahmad, Abu Daud, Ibn Majah — sahih).

The Prophet # also said: ‘Whoever says in the morning

or in the evening: “O Allah! You are my Lord. There is no God beside You. You created me and I am Your slave and I have taken a covenant to You and promised You what I am able to do. I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I have done, I acknowledge Your favour upon me and I acknowledge my sin. Forgive me because none forgives sins except You.” Ifa servant died during the day or night after having said this prayer, he will enter Paradise’ (Ahmad, Abu Daud, Al Nisa’e, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, Al Hakim — sahib; Al Bukhari transmits another version of this hadith).

Again the Prophet # said: ‘Whoever says at morning or evening: “Glory and praise be Allah the Great” one hundred times, no one will come forward on the Day of Judgement with better than he; except if someone said the same as him and added to it’ (Muslim, Ahmad, Abu Daud, Al Tirmidhi).

‘Whoever said: “Glory and praise be to Allah the Great”, a date tree will be planted for him in the Paradise’ (Al Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban, Al Hakim — sabih).

‘Whoever says: “Glory and praise be to Allah” one hundred times in a single day his sins would be erased even if they were like the waves of the sea’ (Bukhari and Muslim).

“Whoever implements ten verses of the Quran will not be included among the negligent. Whoever implements one hundred verses will be considered among the obedient. And, whoever implements one thousand verses will be among he extremely rich’ (Abu Daud, Ibn Hibban — sahih).

“Whoever says in the evening: “In the name of Allah with whose name there can be no harm in the earth or in the heavens and He is the Hearer the Knower” three times, he will not be afflicted with a sudden calamity before morning. And whoever says it in the morning three times will not be afflicted with a sudden calamity before evening’ (Abu Daud, Tbn Hibban, Al Hakim — sabih).

‘Whoever says: “I seek refuge with the perfect words of Allah from the evil that He created” three times in the evening will not be harmed by the bite of a serpent during that night’ (Al Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban, Al Hakim - sabih).

‘Whoever says upon leaving his house: “In the name of Allah, I trust in Allah, there is no movement and no power except with Allah”, it would be said to him: “You have been contented and you took precaution”, Satan will turn away from him’ (A] Tirmidhi, Abu Daud, Ibn Hibban, Ibn al Sunni - sabib),

“Whoever says when he hears the caller to prayer: “And I bear witness that there is no God save Allah, He is alone and has no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. I am pleased with Allah as Lord, Muhammad as Prophet and Islam as religion” all his sins will be forgiven’ (Muslim and the other five).

“Whoever recites the Surah al Ikhlas ten times, Allah will build for him a house in the Paradise’ (Ahmad — sahih).

‘Whoever recites the Surah al Khaf on a Friday, a light will be created for him until the next Friday’ (Al Hakim and Al Bayhaqi - sahih).

‘Whoever recites the verse of the throne after every compulsory prayer will not be forbidden entrance to Paradise’ (Ibn Hibban and Al Nisa’e - sahih).

‘Whoever recites Surah al Ikhlas it is as if he read one-third of the Quran’ (Ahmad, Al Nisa’e, Al Tirmidhi— sahib).

This bouquet from Muhammad # we grant to aff those who fast.

O Allah! Help us to remember You, thank You and worship You in the best way. Amen.

Tomorrow is Eid — the festival of the breaking of the fast

Tomorrow is Eid and Eid is tomorrow. What is the meaning of Eid and how will it be? Eid is not for him who wears new clothes. Or who takes pride in his affluence. Surely Eid is for those who feared the Promised Day of Reckoning and the owner of the Majestic Throne.

Eid is not rhythms and strings. It is not arbitrary amusement and wildness. Eid is rather an occasion of gratitude to the Beneficent and acknowledgement of His favour. It is a time to display His grace and advance in the convoy of believers, strengthening the religion and overcoming the enemies of Islam.

The affairs of Eid include:

One should eat something before the Eid prayer. This may take the form of dates in accord with the command of Allah as was demonstrated while fasting. Likewise, the alms for the breaking of the fast (Zakaat al Fitr) acquits the fasting

person from mistakes and obscenities committed during Ramadan. It brings happiness co the poor, revives the spirit of cooperation and kindness among Muslims, purifies their souls and suppresses their tendencies toward stinginess. Wearing new clothes and perfumes is one of the practices of Eid. It is a means of recognizing the kindness of Allah Almighty. It involves beautification because Allah is beautiful and he loves that which is beautiful. Eid is a time to display the favour of Allah as there is a hadith that says: ‘Verily Allah loves to see the effect of His favour upon His servant if He blesses him.’ It is an occasion to exchange visits, greetings, love and good wishes. It demands contact with relatives, kindness to parents, empathy for the poor and compassion for neighbours.

The Muslim Eid reflects happiness that is governed by the Islamic rules and mores. It enjoins dignified fun, courteous and innocent games, caring smiles, legitimate picnics and creative stories. This is an occasion that evokes images of the Day of the Great Exhibition. Eid gathers thousands upon thousands of rich, poor, big, small, ruler, ruled, happy and sad.

Eid is a day of rewards. Whoever fasted with faith and consciousness grant him glad tidings of a great prize, a major success and a huge reward. Whosoever sinned while fasting, was careless with the command of Allah and transgressed His boundaries, he will regret it and feel deeply sorry. And what a great loss that would be.

On the day of Eid there will be two groups of people returning from the prayer. One group has been rewarded and is grateful. Allah will say to them: ‘Go you have been forgiven. You pleased Me and | have been pleased with you.’

The other group is that of the losers and despondent. They will be returning with disappointment, loss, regret,

One righteous man passed by a group of people engaged in vain conversation and having fun on Eid day. He said to them: ‘If you did well in Ramadan, this is not gratitude for goodness. And, if you wronged, this is not the way of one who has erred with the most Merciful.’

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz saw some people hastening away from Arafat on their horses and camels at sunset. He said to them, ‘The one who wins not he who goes fastest on his horse or camel; but the winner is he whose sins, are forgiven.’ O Muslim! Think about those with whom you prayed last Eid. They included your fathers, grandfathers, beloved ones and friends. Where are they? Where have they gone? Tomorrow you will receive the prize. Tomorrow you will be given your full recompense in a record of your deeds. Make sure that only good is written init. And, await your greatest Eid. The day when you would win the pleasure and forgiveness of Allah by His permission. ‘He that shall be drawn away from the fire and brought into Paradise will indeed have gained a triumph: for the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of self-delusion’ (3:185).

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O you who fast! May the peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you. I entrust you in God’s care, the One who does not cause to lose anything in His trust. May your fasting and standing in prayer at nights be good. Enjoy what you have striven for.

Allah Almighty says: ‘[But,] behold, as for those for whom [the decree of] ultimate good has already gone forth from Us - these will be kept far away from that [hell]: no sound thereof will they hear; and they will abide in all that their souls have ever desired’ (21:101-2).

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May Allah make you and I among them, and accept from us all our deeds. Surely Allah knows best. And may His peace and blessings be upon Muhammad, his relatives and companions.