Ramadan and the Best Farewell – II

20/06/2011| IslamWeb

Be a torchbearer of goodness: Be concerned with the affairs of your religion, and endeavor to spread it among the people, and engage in the call to Allah The Almighty, with your manners, behavior, and deeds before being a caller with your words. You should bear in mind that Allah The Almighty sees you working for His sake, and spending time in His way, and He will set you firm on His religion, for He is an Appreciative and Forbearing Lord, Who multiplies the reward for such of His servants as He pleases.

Just as you received Ramadan with acts of worship, bidding farewell (to this world), bid farewell to it with the same acts of worship to receive the coming months: for all days are the days of Allah The Almighty, and the Lord of Ramadan is the Lord of the entire year.

You observed the fasts of the month out of faith and hope for the reward of Allah The Almighty, and spent its nights, including the Night of Al-Qadr out of faith and hope for the reward of Allah The Almighty. Faith and hope for the reward of Allah The Almighty are necessary conditions for the validity of religious service at any moment (as confirmed by Allah The Almighty, what means): {And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth.}[Quran 98:5] So, make your voluntary fasting after Ramadan out of faith and hope for the reward of Allah The Almighty, and the same is true of all your deeds and acts of worship: seeking knowledge, perseverance, spending (in the way of Allah The Almighty), and so on. Hope for the reward of Allah The Almighty is the core of sincerity, the essence of closeness to Allah The Almighty, and the obligatory duty which should be observed at all times and not only on the occasion of a certain month.

You took care to perform the prayers submissively, and perfected the related bowings and prostrations, given that prayer, in principle, was ordained to remember Allah The Almighty (as stated by Him what means): {and establish prayer for My remembrance.} [Quran 20:14] So, why would you not persist in your remembrance of Allah The Almighty at all times?

Your standing in prayer throughout the nights of the month, whether alone or with an Imaam, no matter for how long, is an argument against you that you have the capability of standing for a long time. So, do not neglect standing in the night prayer during the rest of the year after the month of Ramadan, for it is the honor of the faithful believer. So, do not neglect your honor during the rest of the year.

You finished the recitation of the Noble Quran in full once or more than once during Ramadan. If you were able to rid yourself of distractions in order to achieve that, why would you not be determined to do the same in order to recite the Noble Quran in full again and again on the other days?

You guarded, as much as is within your capacity, your heart, mind and body from anything that is unlawful throughout the month of fasting. However, the fasting of the body from what is unlawful is not limited by the setting of the sun or the emergence of the new moon of ‘Eed. That is the ordinance of Allah The Almighty to be observed continually throughout the year (as confirmed in His statement what means): {Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.}[Quran 17:36]

During Ramadan, you renewed your relations with your kin: sisters, brothers, neighbors and household, so do not sever relations with them after Ramadan. Fasting gives life to your heart during that virtuous month, so that you persist in maintaining good relations with them on all the other days.

During the month of your fasting, you were munificent and generous. But your Lord, the Ever-Living Who never dies is Free of want, the Most Generous, the Most Munificent. So, treat His servants in the same way as you like Him to treat you with generosity and munificence, perchance He would bestow upon you, out of His bounty, the bliss of Paradise.

Give a pledge to Allah The Almighty to persist in doing acts of worship while you are at the end of the season of worship. Your Prophet, , used to give a pledge to Allah The Almighty to persist in acts of worship, saying in his supplication called “Sayyid Al-Istighfaar” meaning the most superior way of asking for forgiveness: “O Allah! You are my Lord: there is none worthy of worship but You. You have created me and I am Your servant: I adhere to Your promise and pledge as much as is within my capacity...” [Al-Bukhari]

What an extensive favor and an all-embracing mercy it is to come out of Ramadan with your sins forgiven! So guard that favor, and do not exchange it for disfavor by returning to disobedience after bidding farewell to Ramadan.

Ramadan and the Best Farewell - I