Jamaat Ahmadiyya al Mouslemeen
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| Friday Sermon of
12 SEPTEMBER 2008 |
› The benefits of fasting (cont.) |
After reading the Tashahhud , the Ta'uz and the first chapter of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo'menine, Zafrullah Domun recited verses 186 and 187 of chapter AlBaqara (Chapter2) of the Holy Quran and then he said: Time is moving very swiftly. We had just begun fasting and today we are already on the 11 th day. According to a saying of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) we are now entering the ten days of divine forgiveness. As you may remember he said that the month of Ramadan is divided in three distinct periods of ten days. The first of these ten days is the period for the manifestation of Allah's Mercy. The second period of ten days is the period for the manifestation of Allah's Forgiveness and the third period, that of protection from the fire of hell. Therefore all of us should do our best to use these days to our utmost benefit by being continuously engaged, day and night in asking forgiveness for our sins. May Allah enable us to do so because if He does not help we cannot do anything at all. Please do not forget that the Holy Prophet has recommended to us that during the month of Ramadan we should recite tahlil that is Laa ilaha illallaho profusely. Similarly we should recite “Astaghfiroullah” (I ask forgiveness from Allah) as much as we can. In addition we should pray to Allah that He may grant us Paradise and protection from Hell. I hope that all members of our Jamaat are engaged in these practices every day. I will now read to you the translation of the verses that I have just read to you. They are as follows:
From this verse we understand that when the Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) received his first revelation in 610 A.D, it was in the month of Ramadan. It is on record that it was on the 24 th of Ramadan according to Ahmad and Jarir. Moreover we learn from the Hadith that during the twenty three years of apostleship each year Hazrat Gabriel visited the Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) and helped him to recite the portion of the Holy Quran that had been revealed. Therefore we see that there is a close relationship between Ramadan and the Holy Quran. That is why it is a very good practice that each one amongst us should try to read the whole of the Holy Quran during this month. Those who are unable to read the entire book should at least read a certain portion every day. It is also a good practice to join in the Tarawi prayer where the imam reads portions of the Holy Quran every day. But I should say that our members should not only read in Arabic. They should try to understand the meaning of what they read. If you do not understand the message of the Holy Quran you are missing out on a very important duty. Daily reading and understanding will help you to become a better person. You will know what Allah demands from you and you will strive to live a lifein conformity to His Will. Once Allah has spoken about the Grandeur of the month by saying that He has revealed the Holy Quran in it, Allah tells us about the grandeur of the Holy Quran. He qualifies it thus: hodal linnaas, wa bayyenaatim minal hoda wal furqaan which we usually translate as “a guidance for mankind, with clear proofs of guidance and a discrimination”. It means that this book contains all that is necessary for mankind to be properly guided until the end of the world because it guides to the right path. In addition it offers proofs of proper guidance because it does not content itself in giving commandments but it also explains the wisdom underlying those commandments. Thirdly it is the “ furqaan ” which means that it helps to make the distinction between what is true and what is false. According to Lane the word “ furqaan ” has the following meanings: argument, proof, evidence because an argument serves to prove between what is right and what is wrong. The word also signifies morning or dawn. Thus it would mean that after the night of darkness that had enveloped the world here is the book that will usher in the dawn. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) has spoken lengthily about the Holy Quran and he has challenged others to come forward to refute the arguments that he has advanced in its favour. But no one has been able to take up this challenge. Today Ahmadis around the world should be very careful lest they abandon the clear proofs of guidance that the Holy Quran contains in favour of the “opinions” of their leaders. The Holy Quran is our guide, we should do our best to understand it especially during this month of Ramadan and we should seek guidance only from Allah in all matters, especially in matters of faith. May Allah guide all to the right path. As I have said before the concept of khilafat that is being propagated in the Jamaat is contrary to what Hazrat Masih Maood (as) has taught us. Ahmadis should take heed lest they change the proper guidance that they received and which Allah wants to give them anew by ignoring the clear proofs from the Holy Quran. Then in this verse the instruction for fasting is repeated. Allah says “Therefore, whosoever of you is present at home in this month let him fast therein. But whoso is temporarily sick or on a journey, shall fast the same number of other days,” The other day I read a hadith where the Holy Prophet said:" Whoever eats on a day of Ramadan without a valid reason or excuse or illness shall never be able to compensate for it even by fasting for the rest of his life"(Tirmizhi, AbuDawood , Ibn Majah). Now you may appreciate how important it is for a person who has no valid reason not to fast. It is incumbent upon any Muslim, man or woman who do not fall under the category of those who are exempted to fast during the month of Ramadan. The hadith I have quoted shows how a little negligence can cost us a lot. May Allah have mercy upon those who are neglectful of their fasting during the month of Ramadan. At several places in the Holy Quran we read about the compassion of Allah for His creatures and for man in particular. Very often we meet verses like “Allah is very compassionate towards His Servants”, “Allah is Most Merciful” "Tell my servants that I am Most Forgiving and Merciful” "My Mercy encompasses everything”. With the exemptions that Allah has given concerning fasting we see how this all embracing compassion manifests itself. In His all encompassing knowledge He knows that fasting is good for man but only for those who are able to bear it. Those who are sick or are on journey or for whom it is very difficult may fast on other days or may compensate by feeding a poor person. This is why in the verse He says “and He desires not hardship for you”. The next portion of the verse says “and He desires that you may complete the number, and that you may exalt Allah for His having guided you and that you may be grateful.” This means that we should all be well determined to complete the whole number of days of fast that is the full month. In addition we should extol His Greatness during these days and we should show that we are grateful to Him because He has given us the opportunity to fast, the opportunity to wash ourselves of all our sins, the opportunity to feel and relieve the pain of those who are poor, the opportunity to practice virtue. Because of all this He wants us to show our gratefulness to Him. Therefore mind you well, by helping us to witness another month of Ramadan in our life Allah is being very kind to us. He wants us to be purified of all our sins because the Holy Prophet Mohammad said in a hadith “Woe to him who found the blessed month of Ramadan and let it pass without gaining forgiveness”. May Allah open our hearts to all these verities and may we be able to derive the maximum benefits from this Blessed month. In the next verse Allah says: “ And when My servants ask thee about Me, say 'I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way .” This is a very short verse but quite long commentaries have been made on it. Allah wants us to know that He is very close to us and He answers prayers that are addressed exclusively to Him. Hence during this month we should do our best to address as many prayers as we can to Allah with the hope that He will answer them. There are many persons living in the world today who do not believe in the acceptance of prayers. But a Muslim should pray to Allah constantly and steadfastly until his prayers are answered. During Ramadan we have many opportunities to pray either during the night or the day. So we should use all the opportunities available to be engaged in prayer. For the prayers to be accepted Allah has put two conditions. What are they? Muslims should listen to Allah and believe in Him. Now how can we listen to Allah? We may listen to Allah by reading His words, namely the Holy Book that He has revealed to his noble prophet Mohammad (saw). By reading the book we will come to know what Allah wants from us, what we should do and what we should not do. We will come to know how we should behave; we will come to know what we should do to get His Paradise and to avoid Hell. We will come to know how we should live in peace and harmony with our fellow human beings. Once we understand Allah's teachings and we start practicing them, we will place more faith in Allah and this will gradually perfect our faith and we will be amongst those who are properly guided incha Allah. Incha Allah next week I will give you some quotations from the writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) about the subject of supplications. For now I will remind you of some hadith about the subject of Ramadan. Each year it is good that we are reminded of the words of wisdom that our beloved prophet Mohammad (saw) said. Here are some of them: • “Ramadan , the month of blessings has come to you wherein Allah turns towards you and sends down to you His special Mercy , forgives faults ,accept prayers , looks at your competitions for the greatest good and boasts to His angels about you. So show to Allah your righteousness from yourselves. For verily the most pitiable and unfortunate is the one who is deprived of Allah's Mercy in this month.”(Tabrani) • Hazrat Abu Hurairah reports that the Holy Prophet (saw) said:"There are three persons whose supplications are not rejected: that of the fasting person until he breaks his fast, that of the just ruler and that of the oppressed whose supplications Allah lifts above the clouds and opens unto it the doors of the heavens. And Allah says “I swear by My Honour I shall assist you even if it be after some time.” • “ Many are the ones who fast , attaining nothing by such fasts except hunger and many are the ones performing prayers by night attaining nothing by it except lack of sleep” (Ibn Majah and Nisai). This is an important hadith. We should take great care that neither our days nor our nights should be like that. • “Fasting is a shield as long as it is not torn.” This hadith reminds us that we should be very careful when we are fasting. We should not do anything forbidden that may break our fast. • There is a hadith about how the Holy Prophet used to pray at night. It says someone asked 'Aisha "How was the prayer of Allah's Apostle in the month of Ramadan?" She replied, "He used not to pray more than eleven Rakat whether in Ramadan or in any other month. He used to offer four Rakat, let alone their beauty and length, and then four Rakat, let alone their beauty and length. Afterwards he would offer three Rakat. I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Do you go to bed before offering the Witr prayer?' He said, 'My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.(Bokhari) • Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one qari (reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night."(Bokhari Vol 3 Hadith 227) More next week incha Allah. |