| MONTH OF FORGIVENESS Prof. Dr. Mahmud Es'ad
COSAN Aůzu billâhi
minesh-shaytŕnir rajîm. Bismillâhir rahmânir
rahîm. Elhamdu lillâhi rabbil
ŕlemîn... Was-salâtu was-salâmu alâ seyyidil
awwalîne wal âkhîrin, muhammedin wa âlihî wa sahbihî ejma'în. Wa men
tebiahű
bi-ihsânin ilâ yewmid dîn. Emmâ ba'd. Praise is due to Allah, The
Lord of the Universe. The Prayers and peace be on the master of
all, our
beloved Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions and all of his
sincere
followers till the Day of Resurrection. Dear Brothers and
Sisters! Respected Congregation of Muslims! May Almighty
Allah be
pleased with you all. May He accept your prayers, fasts,
supplications,
and servitude. May He grant you your hearts' desire. You have
fasted and
offered your Tarawih prayers. I am sure you are physically tired.
I would
like to read some ahadith from our beloved Prophet SAS and explain them
for
you. Almighty Allah said in a
Hadith Qudsi: يقول الله
تعالى: يا ابن اۤدم! اكــثـروا بالـزاد فان الطريق
بعيدٌ (Yebni âdem) "O
son of Adam!" We all are children of
Hadrat Adam AS. We all are brothers and sisters. The
Prophet said
"Adam is from the clay." Our essence is the soil; so we should
humble ourselves. (Ekthirű biz zâd,
feinnet tariqa ba'îd) Zâd is the food and
water prepared for the road and paced in the
traveler's bag. Travelers in the past had to take their food with
them
because there were no stores or restaurants along the road. The
roads
were not as good as today, nor was traveling comfortable. Alhamdu lillah, today we left Marash,
passed many places and mountains, and reached Aksaray with the grace of
Allah. It would have taken weeks in the past. In our time, there are many
facilities along the roads including the gas stations, restrooms, and
masjids. There is no problem with food. One does not need
to
prepare a bag of food for the road. But it was not like that at
all in
the past. Imagine a person getting ready to travel in the
desert.
What will he eat? What will he drink? Both would pose
serious
problems. The water was carried in a bag of animal skin, and the
bag was
carried on the side of the camel or horse. For food, they would
take
something that would not be spoiled –some bread or roasted flour--
during the
travel but nutritious at the same time --like wheat and dates. They
would put
them in their bags and start the journey. They would have a hard time
on the road. In addition to the tiredness and the hardship of crossing
long
distances, they would have a shortage of food and water. Because
of such
difficulties, the Prophet said: "As you travel in the desert, if you
stop
somewhere and the host does not provide you with what is the right of
the
traveler, you may take it." Why is it so? The
host must provide the traveler with food and water because it is a
matter of
life and death. When the traveler stops at a tent or a camp site,
the
host must provide some water and food. "If the host does not
provide, you may take what is the right of the traveler. You are
not
going to choose death," said the Prophet SAS. This indicates the
seriousness of the matter. I remembered a journey of
the companions of the Prophet SAS. A group of companions was sent
for an
expedition by the Prophet SAS. As they traveled in the desert
with many
difficulties, they arrived in an oasis. There were few tents,
palm trees
and sign of water. They were happy to reach there. The
companions
told the residents that they were traveling. People of the oasis did not
recognize the companions; nor did they offer them food or water. The
companions
were the helpers of the Prophet SAS; they lived by the
Prophet. Each
one was a great wali. Nevertheless, the people of the oasis did
not show
any hospitality towards the companions. The companions decided to
get some rest by the oasis despite their thirst and hunger. They
lied
down on the sand to sleep. Soon they heard a
scream. People in the oasis were running and screaming. A
woman
came to the companions and asked: "A venomous snake bit
the chief of the tribe. Is there anybody among you who knows how
to cure
the snake bite?" If you do not treat the
companions of the Prophet nicely, that is what could happen. The snake knows whom to bite. The chief
was bitten by a snake. His body was swollen. He was going to
die.
They know the kind of snake; it is a venomous one. Death is
inevitable
once that kind of a snake bites a person. The chief was in deep
trouble--he was going to die of the venom. "Is there anybody who
knows how to cure the snake bite?" One of the companions said:
"I know some." "Come to the chief at
once!" Then the companions were
welcomed. They went to the chief. Did they give anything to
the
chief like a potion? Not at all. They only recited Qur'an.
The
swelling subsided, and the body started to recover. Every body in
the
tribe was happy. They offered food and water to the
companions.
They had a nice treatment for them. As the companions left the
next day,
they were given gifts including sheep and lambs. As they approached Madinah
al Munawwarah, the companion who recited the Qur'an was sad. He
said,
"I am not sure if I did a good thing." "Why do you say
so?" They asked. "I recited the Qur'an,
and then they gave me these gifts. Did I use the Qur'an to obtain
worldly
benefits? I am going to ask the Prophet about it. Do not
touch the
gifts before I talk to the Prophet." They arrived in Madinah al
Munawwarah. They went to the Prophet SAS and explained what
happened. The Prophet said: "There is no
problem. Your intentions were pure. The way events unfolded
was
fine. You may use the gifts. If you give me some, I will
benefit
from them, too." The Prophet said this to
clarify any doubts that the person might have had. Then he asked:
"what did you do to the person? What did you read?" What is
the lesson to be learned
from this hadith? In fact, there was a physical/biological
problem with
the chief of the tribe. The body was swollen. The companion
only
recited the Qur'an--no other medicine is used. However, it is
Allah Who
sends the cure; He is able to do all things. Allah has the
power to
save the person from death. He has the power to order the person
not to
die yet get cured. He has the power to make things live. Amennâ wa saddaqnâ -- we believe in it
without a tinge of doubt that he is All Powerful. The sick person
gets
cured by reading Surah Fâtiha. In this month, Allah answers the prayers. The Prophet SAS said: (Duâuhű mustejâbun) "The prayer of the fasting person is answered." The Prophet also advised that when the sunset time is near, before we break our fast, we should pray: "My Lord! Forgive me, my mother, my father, and all believers!" Ramadhan is a month in which many servants of Allah are forgiven and many who deserved the hellfire are freed from the hellfire. It is Mâh-i Ghufrân, Shahr-i Ghufrân, the month of forgiveness. It is the month in which Almighty Allah forgives His servants. About the month of Ramadhan, the Prophet SAS also said: اوله رحمةٌ،
واوسطه مغفرةٌ، واۤخره عطقٌ من النار. (الترغيب والترهيب ٩٤/٢) (Ewweluhű rahmetun) "Its beginning is the Mercy of Allah, (wa awsatuhű maghfiratun) its middle is the forgiveness time, (wa âkhiruhű itkun minen nâr) its latter part is the time servants of Allah are freed from the hellfire." It is the month of forgiveness. What else? Ramadhan is also
the Mâh-i Qur'an--the month of Qur'an because the Prophet used
to recite
the entire Qur'an to The servants of Allah have shortcomings and sins. Drinking wine, telling lies, false accusation, and backbiting are all sins. Looking at haram and eating haram are sins, too. If a person forgets what he knew from the Qur'an is also one of the major sins. That is why all day each of us should hold onto the Qur'an and refresh our memory. In Ramadhan we should try this. "I used to know Surah Rahman by heart." "Recite it now." "I cannot do it." "I used to know Surah Yasin by heart." "Can you recite it now?" "I cannot do it." "When my parents were alive, they sent me to the Qur'an course. I had finished the Amma juz--the last thirtieth part of the Qur'an." "Can you read it now?" "I cannot." That is a major offense. That is why we need to repeat the Qur'an. In the anecdote I told you about, we saw that the Qur'an has a cure for a physical/biological problem. It is a physical cure in the life of the companions of the Prophet SAS. Just like the person took some antidote against the venom of the snake. The companion recited Surah Fatiha and the venom was eliminated. The person returned to life. That means the Qur'an has special powers. Reading the Qur'an has spiritual rewards and physical curing effects. It is a cure at our time, too. Since it answers the questions from the unbelievers, it is a cure for the weakness of the belief and a cure for the physical problems of man. I told you about this incident to point out the difficulties and hardship one faces while traveling in the desert. There will be hunger and thirst, some one has to be prepared before starting the journey. One has to take food and water. For all possibilities, one has to be prepared. Almighty Allah says in the Hadith Qudsî: "Prepare for the journey, take plenty of supplies with you because the destination is very far." The life of the person in
this world looks like a journey. Man comes to this world, and the
life
flows from childhood to middle age and then to the elderly. Then
comes
the death, and the person departs from this life to the
hereafter. He
waits in the realm of spirits (alem-i barzakh). Then the
Day of
Resurrection will come and people will gather for the Judgment.
Those who
pass the That means the journey of
the man starts in the realm of sprits and continues with the birth.
With death,
the person goes to the hereafter. After the Judgment and
accounting, one
enters the final stage of the journey, the permanent station:
Hell for
the disbelievers and Yet there are believers who
had offences and committed sins, the rebellious ones, will enter the
hellfire
get punished for sometime and then they will go to من قال
لااله الا الله دخل الجنة (Men qŕle lâ ilâha
illallah, dakhalel jenneh) "Whoever says 'Lâ ilâha illallah'
will enter In a hadith the Prophet SAS said: "Seventy thousand
among my Ummah will enter Ukkasha ibn-i Mihsân as-Saqafî RA, a person that the Prophet appointed him as the commander of the army, a beloved and blessed companion of the Prophet, got up and asked the Prophet: "O Prophet of
Allah!. Please pray that I am one of the fortunate ones to enter The Prophet SAS smiled and said: "You are one of them!." Then the Prophet SAS added:
"When Almighty Allah stated that seventy thousand believers will
enter That would make 70,000 x
70,000 = 4,900,000,000; four billion nine hundred million people will
enter Upon the request of the
Prophet, Almighty Allah granted seventy thousand more for each person
of the
seventy thousand: it makes four billion nine hundred million people.
Additionally, several handfuls of people by the hands of Almighty Allah
are
added to that number. We would not know how much there is in one
handful of
Allah. These are the ones to enter Who will enter اۤتى باب
الجـنـة يوم القيامـة فاسـتفـتح فيقول الخازن من انت
فاقول محمد فيقـول بك امرت ان لا افـتح لاحدٍ قبلك
(راموز الاحاديث:١/٣) (Âtî bâbel jenneh)
"I will reach the gate of (Men ente?) "Who are you?" The Prophet will say: (Ene muhammedin) "I am Muhammed the chosen, the beloved servant of Allah, His messenger." The gatekeeper Ridwan will say: (Bike umirtu en lâ efteha li-ehadin qableke) "Come in O Prophet of Allah! I was ordered not to open this gate for anybody before you. That is why I am questioning you. Welcome O Prophet of Allah!" Our beloved Prophet SAS
will enter the That is why we ask Almighty Allah: "Our Lord! Gather us under the Liwâul Hamd banner of the Prophet SAS, among the prophets, true and loyal believers, the martyrs, and the righteous servants. Treat us as you treat them." All prophets will gather
under the banner of Liwâul Hamd and enter Those who will enter والسابقون
السابقون. اولئك المقربون. فى جنات
الـنـعـيم.
ثـلــةٌ من الاولــيـن. وقـلـيـلٌ من الآخـرين.
(الواقعة:١٠-١٤) (Was sâbiqůnas sâbiqůn. Ulâikal muqarrabűn. Fî jennâtin naîm. Sulletun minel awwalîn. Wa qalîlun minel âkharîn.) These are the selected, elite believers of the highest level, pure servants.
Hadrat Omar RA made a deal with one of his friends in this life. They loved one another for Allah. His friend told Hadrat Omar RA: "O Omar! If you depart from this world before I do, appear in my dream and tell me what you have seen in the hereafter. If I die before you do, I shall tray to appear in your dream and tell you what I see there." Hadrat Omar RA passed away before his friend whom he had the agreement. As you know, Hadrat Omar was stubbed on the back, and left this life as a martyr. He was buried. That night, his Friend waited anxiously toe Hadrat Omar RA in his dream. The next day, too , he waited, yet he saw nothing. There was no dream for two weeks. He was hoping to get some information. On the fifteenth day, the friend dreamed about Hadrat Omar RA. Hadrat Omar appeared as though he just got out of a steam bath; he was sweaty. His cheeks were red; he had beads of sweat on his face. "O Omar! Didn't we make a deal? You were supposed to appear in my dream!" Hadrat Omar responded in the dream: "Hush! I just got out of the interrogation." I tend to believe these stories. I do not think somebody would make it up. I myself believe that it happened. Dear Brothers and Sister! I derive the followýng lesson from this story: Hadrat Omar RA was the second Caliph after our beloved Prophet SAS. The first one was Hadrat Abubakr; the second one was Hadrat Omar RA. Both were the father-in-law of the Prophet SAS. Hadrat Omar al-Farűq RA was the father of our mother Hafsâ RA. He was a close friend to the Prophet SAS. Hadrat Omar was also among
the Ashara-i Mubash-sharah--the ten people about whom the
Prohet said
they will enter We know how high the spiritual degree of the companions of the Prophet was. None of the awliyaullah could reach their level. According to the Ahl-i Sunnah creed, the highest level of the awliyaullah is below the level of the companions because the Prophet SAS sated: خير القرون
قرنى ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهم (Khayrul qurűni qarnî) "The best of the times, the eras, is my era. People living during my time are the best. (Thummelledhîne yelűnehum, thummelledhîne yelűnehum) then the following generation, and then the following generation." In other words, the best ones are the companions of the Prophet--people who saw the Prophet. The second best ones are the tâbi'în: people who saw the companions of the Prophet. The third best people are the te-be-i tâbi'în: people who saw the tâbi'în. These three generations of the early Muslims have the highest spiritual levels. Seeing the Prophet and attending his discourses are great honors. Hadrat Omar was among the Ashara-i Mubash-sharah; he was one of the companions, he was also a father-in-law to the Prophet. Another point is that there are only two companions who were buried next to the Prophet SAS: Had rat Abubakr and Hadrat Omar. Their graves are behind the grave of the Prophet SAS. They are under the green dome (Qubba-i Hadrâ) in Madinah Al-Munawwarah. Once our Mother Aisha RA had a dream which is described in the Dalâilul Khayrat book. In the dream, three full moons descended from the sky to the chamber of our Mother Aisha RA. They disappeared on the ground of the chamber. She told about that dream to her father Hadrat Abubakr RA ask him to interpret. Hadrat Abubakr said: "O my Daughter! Three important personages will be buried in your chamber. They are the best three persons on the face of earth." Years later, when the Prophet SAS passed away, Hadrat Abűbakr told his daughter, our Mother Aisha RA: "O my Daughter Asiha! Do you remember your dream that you had told me about? This is one of the full moons." He said that because the Prophet SAS passed away in the chamber of Hadrat Aisha RA, and he was buried in that room. The Prophets would be buried where they passed away. After the Prophet SAS, Hadrat Abubakr was buried in that room. The third person buried in that room was Hadrat Omar RA. The dream had been actualized. The best three people on the face of the earth were buried in the chamber of Hadrat Aisha. Imagine that a person who was among the Ashara-i Mubash-sharah, one of the best people on the face of the earth, and a father-in-law to the Prophet, appeared in the dream fifteen days after he passed away and said that he had just came out of the interrogation. Now imagine what is going to happen to us when we are interrogated as sinners, rebels and guilty servants. May Allah help us! May He forgive us. May He have maghfirah on us Maghfirah means erasing and covering the sins. Keeping that in mind in this Ramadhan, Dear Brothers and Sisters, we should try with all our might to be among the servants whom Allah has forgiven. If Allah interrogates us, we will be in deep trouble. If He forgives us, we will be happy. If He asks for an account of our deeds, we would be in a terrible state. Let us ask forgiveness from Allah for us the sinners. Let us seek forgiveness and mercy from Allah subhanahu wa ta'alâ. Let us try to earn that forgiveness and mercy. Before
starting his salat, our master Hâtem-i
May Allah give all of us long lives. May He give us health and happiness to live many Ramadhans. We should think that this is our last Ramadhan and appreciate it as such. Let us assume that we will not reach the next Ramadhan. Let us do this seriously because it can be true.
Rabia-i Adewiyye would say to herself in the mornings: "This is your last day. Appreciate it and spend it in prayers." At every night, she would say: "This is your last night. Spend your night as a person spending his or her last night in prayers."
Those blessed people tried with all their might for Allah, spent their day and night in prayers and in tears turning to Almighty Allah and asking forgiveness and mercy from Him. They reached high spiritual stages. We must learn a lesson from them. We could not reach their spiritual levels; we cannot be a speck of dust on their feet. Yet we have to try hard to be righteous servants of Allah.
Almighty
Allah asked us to take plenty of supplies for the journey which is very
long. This journey is nothing but our lives. Then it is the
hereafter, the
We were
talking about the degrees of people who will enter paradise.
Those who
have more good deeds than bad deeds will enter
فمن زحزح عن
النار وادخل الجنة فقد فاز (اۤل عمران:١٨٥) (Femen zuhziha anin nâri wa udkhilel
jennete feqad fâz)
"... So he who is drawn
away from the Fire and admitted to
There will be people who will suffer despite their belief. Some will suffer in the grave, and some will suffer in Hell. In a hadith an example of the suffering in the grave is stated: A believer was placed in the grave. The angels who were in charge of the torments in the grave slammed him with a hammer on his head that his head splashed all over. He asked: "Why do you torture me? I am a believer." The angels responded: "Yes you were a Muslim, but once some oppressors were doing injustice to a person, and you did not help the oppressed person. You walked away. This is for that."
It is clear
that if one does not help the oppressed, he will suffer in the grave
even if he
is a believer. Knowing this, we must try to help the oppressed in
Once, the Prophet SAS was passing by two graves of Muslims. He said, "These persons are suffering in their graves." The prophet would see what is inside the graves, too. Some awliyaullah, too, are given the abilities of kashf-ul qulűb and kashf-ul qubűr at an early stage in their spiritual progress. That means, they could know what is in the hearts and what is in the graves. The Prophet SAS said that people in their graves were tortured. The companions asked:
"Why are they tortured?"
"One used to backbite and carry words among people which would instill hatred and enmity towards one another. The second person did not pay attention when he urinated. [He would splash it on his clothes.]" The prophet asked the companions to bring a fresh branch of a tree. He broke the branch into to and erected the pieces on the graves. He added: "They will not have any torment until these fresh branches get dehydrated."
We understand that even the believers could be tormented in the grave if they have ill characters and deeds.
Some people
will fall into the fire for committing various sins. Some will
enter Hell
because they will have more bad deeds than the good deeds. That
will be
apparent in after the judgment in the
Once, the Prophet SAS asked: "Who is called bankrupt?"
The companions responded: "A person who lost all of his goods and business is called bankrupt." Hearing this, the Prophet SAS said:
"The
bankrupt is a person who comes to the
The lesson we learn from this hadith is that we have to pay attention to other people's rights. We should not leave any due rights to the hereafter. To keep our rewards in the hereafter, we should pay the due rights to people in this life. We should not do any wrong to anybody. If a believer is admitted to Hell for the offences he had in this life, he has to suffer the torments there. Pagans will mock at them: "Look, your belief did not help you. You declared that there was no deity but Allah, yet you are in Hell." We may wonder how long a believer will stay in Hell. There is a hadith: "O believers!! O Muslims! Protect yourselves from Hell. Try not to fall into the hellfire. Pay attention to your deeds. If you are admitted to Hell, you will stay there ahqŕben. Ahqŕben is the word in Surah Amma (Naba'): لابثين فيها
احقابًا (النبأ:٢٣) (Lâbisîne fîhâ ahqŕbâ) They will not find anything to drink. They will be burnt in fire. They will be tormented by fire. "They will stay there ahqŕben." Here ahqŕben is the plural of huqub which means eighty some years such as 83 years. Arabs call 83 years as one huqub. Since it is in the form that is three or more, ahqŕben means at least three huqubs which make approximately 250 years. If a believer falls in Hell, he will stay there for 250 years. Yet, there is a verse:
وان يومًا
عند ربك كالــف سنــةٍ مما تعدُّون (الحج:٤٧) (Wa inne yewmen inde rabbike ke-elfi senetin mimmâ teuddűn) "In the sight of Allah, one day is as long as one-thousand years in your time." A day in the hereafter will be like one-thousand years of this life. Then a year in the hereafter will be equal to our 365 thousand years. Two hundred fifty years adds up to ninety-one billion two hundred fifty million years of this life. That would be the minimum time to be spent in Hell. The minimum time in Hell will be billions of years. For this reason, Dear Brothers and Sisters, we must try not to fall into the hellfire. That is the lesson we derive from the hadith. In many verses of the Qur'an Allah subhanahu wa ta'alâ instructs us: يا ايها
الذين اۤمنوا اتقوا الله (البقرة:٢٧٨) (Yâ eyyuhelledhîne âmenuttequllah) "O you who have believed, fear Allah!" فاتقوا
النار التى وقدها الناس والحجارة (البقرة:٢٤) (Wettequn nârelletî wa qůduhen nâsu wal hijârah) "Avoid Hell whose fuel is made of people and stones." In many verses we are instructed to be aware of Allah and to avoid the hellfire. Also, the verse that indicates that fasting in Ramadhan is an obligation states: Bismillâhir rahmânir rahîm: يا ايها
الذين اۤمنوا كتب عليكم الصيام كما كتب على الذين
من قبلكم لعلكم تتقون (البقرة:١٨٣) (Yâ eyyuhelledhîne âmenű kutibe aleykumus siyâmu kemâ kutibe alelledhîne min qablikum le'allekum tetteqůn) "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may learn taqwa" (Qur'an 2:183). In many verses of the Qur'an Almighty Allah recommends taqwa and orders: "Fear Allah! Be aware of Allah! The fasting in Ramadan is decreed on us so we may learn taqwa. Allah has granted us the month of Ramadhan. He orders everything with His wisdom. He provides means for us to carry out His orders. I had read many years ago I
read about a Canadian Diplomat, a scholar in Thomas Irving says:
"I was born in a Christian country, and I am familiar with
Christianity.
When I was a diplomat in What are the rituals and worships in Islam? Praying five times a day, fasting in Ramadhan, paying zakah, going for the Pilgrimage, doing dhikr (remembering Allah), spending for the charitable causes, and others. "To me, all of the orders of Islam are excellent, logical, beneficial, and full of wisdom. I realized that the worship of the other religions were baseless and useless. That is why I accepted Islam." Dear Brothers and Sisters! Think about Ramadhan--the month of training. As we do the worship of fasting, we strengthen our will power. The water is pure, but we do not drink it when we fast. Food is pure, but we avoid it while we fast. Imagine how many cups of water or tea we would drink every day if we were not fasting. The cakes, fruits, and other enjoyable food and beverages are avoided because fasting is an order from Allah. We learn how to control ourselves, how to be patient, and how to have taqwa. What does this mean? "O My servants! Look! Water and food are the major needs of your body. You succeed staying away from water and food while fasting. You do not need the sinful deeds, so stay away from them at all times." Why does a person need the sinful deeds? There are so many halal things. While there are plenty of halal things, why would we indulge in haram? In our college, there was
Professor Abdulkhaliq Bey. He had served as a minister of
Education in
the cabinet. While he was in a diplomatic mission in "Why Sir?" He was a philosopher. He told us that he replied: "Almighty Allah has so many halal and pure things to drink. There is no need to put the pure and halal things a side and reach for the haram things." Do people drink wine because of necessity?" Of course not! I will tell you a joke. In the old times, alcoholic beverages were banned in the cities. A group of people decides to drink liqueur and set up a table at the outskirts of a town. A caravan was passing. The person in charge of the camels saw the table. He thought that the rich had a table with delicious food of all kinds. He was hungry and wanted to eat with them. The group invited the camel driver. The driver sat with them and started eating the food. Then somebody offered him a glass of hard liqueur. He had no idea what it was, and he had a big sip. Oh no! From his mouth to his stomach, his inside was on fire! He had flames coming out of his eyes. He coughed and sneezed. He had tears in his eyes. Then he turned to people, felt sorry for them and asked: "Does the government make you drink this?" Why do they have to drink it? Does the government force it on them? Why do they drink this harmful substance that destroys the stomach and the liver? Is it the law? Do they keep soldiers with you to make sure that you drink it? It has no useful things, and so much harm. It is not even pleasant! Cigarette smoking is the same. There must be some among you who smoke. The cigarette has no useful effect. The wind takes the smoke; the strangers take the money, and the harmful effects stay with you. It causes cancer and other illnesses. While there are so many pure and halal things, one should enjoy the halal and stay away from the haram. While we fast in Ramadhan, we do not eat the food that Almighty Allah had made it halal and that it is needed. We need water and food to survive; we do not eat or drink anything while we fast. As we avoid the lawful things, we should not even think of the unlawful things at all. We should learn how to control ourselves. We practice that over a month. it is a training of taqwa. One of the wisdoms of fasting is the control of the will power. Almighty Allah has ordered believers to avoid Hell; t o avoid Hell, one has to control his desires. To control the desires, one has to have the training of the will power. What lacks in our educational system is that it teaches the knowledge, the information, but it fails to teach the manners and code of conduct. In fact the training of the manners is more important than the training for information. A person may lack the information, but if he has good manners, he could be more beneficial to the society. In the early Islamic history, when Hadrat Omar ibn-i Khattab was the caliph, he was on a journey to Makkah al Mukarramah. He had a friend accompanying him--not an army of soldiers. He was like an ordinary passenger. They got tired and found a shade to get some rest. They met a shepherd there. Hadrat Omar RA called the shepherd: "Sell one of the lambs to us!" They were going to slaughter, cook and eat it. They were gong to pay for it. THe Shepherd did not know who the passengers were. He said: "The flock is not mine. I am only a shepherd, not the owner. I cannot sell any." "You sell it and tell
the owner that a wolf ate the lamb." What does it indicate? During the time of Hadrat Omar, Islam was still new. Yet even the shepherd on the mountain had excellent code of conduct and manners. The good believer would not resort to cheating or misleading. Once, Hadrat Omar RA was patrolling the streets of Madina at night, he overheard the voice of a woman who was talking to her daughter: "O my Daughter. Add some water to the milk." Hadrat Omar was on the street, but he could hear the voice. The buildings at that time were not very strong. Some bushes were weaved and mud is plastered on them. The walls were made like that, so they were not soundproof. The daughter of the woman rejected: "Didn't you hear the announcer that instructed us not to add water in the milk? We were supposed to sell the milk as it was milked." The women said, "Get real, o my daughter. How would Hadrat Omar know about it? You do as I say." The girl persists: "Hadrat Omar would not know it, but Almighty Allah would know it Mom." Did you see what this little girl and the shepherd in the wilderness said? This is the result of the training of the manners and characters. Islam is instilled in the hearts; people became Muslims. They had acquired the fear of Allah, taqwa. You force them to commit the offences, yet they refuse to do it. They do not add water to the milk, nor do they sell the lamb. How is it now? There is so much information; people are very knowledgeable, yet there are no manners. The President complains that the government cannot stop bribery. Both the giver and the taker are happy with it. This reveals an important shortcoming on our part, on the part of the national education system: We train students to be good engineers, doctors, other professionals by teaching them the knowledge, yet we fail to teach them the manners and the code of conduct. That is why the bribery could not be prevented. That is the origin of the domination of the mafia and the abuse of the system. We read many disgraceful incidents on the newspapers every day. Dear Brothers and Sisters! We must pay attention to the training of the manners, training of the taqwa and spiritual training. They are must. As you know that each human
being has a body. There is nafs in each body. In essence,
the nafs
produces some feelings and desires. The desires of the nafs are
called hawâ-i nafs or shahawât-i
nafsâniyya, Shahawât
is the plural of shahwah that means
appetite, strong desire. When a person follows the desires of his nafs,
he gets
indulged in haram. Almighty Allah says in the Qur'an: ان الفس
لامَّارةٌ بالسؤ الا ما رحم ربىِّ (يوسف:٥٣) (Innennafsa
le-emmâratun bissű-i illâ mâ rahime rabbî) "Indeed,
the nafs is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except those upon which my
Lord has
mercy..." (Qur'an 12:53). The nafs orders the evil, the lust, and
illicit desires. Many people follow the orders of their nufus and
commit
offences. When a person is indulged
in sins, he can found himself in Hell to be tormented for millions of
years
even if he is a believer. Then what shall we
do? We should not follow the shahawât-i
nafsaniyya. We should oppose to the desires of nafs and
resist
them. We must appoint our intelligence as a director within
ourselves, which has the training of the Qur'an and Islam. If the
human
body is a country, the intelligence should be in charge of the
government. This intelligence must be based on logic, Qur'an and
Islam. If the nafs al-ammarah
(the evil nafs) overpowers the intelligence and
takes control, قد افلح من
زكيها. وقد خاب من دسيها (الشمس:٩-١٠) (Qad aflehâ men zekkâhâ. Wa qad khŕba men dessâhâ) "One purifies his nafs will attain salvation, and one
who fails
to train his nafs will be a loser" (Qur'an 91:9-10) The nafs must
be
trained. The training of the nafs and teaching it about taqwa
take place
in Ramadhan. Three of the five major
obligations of Islam are carried out in this month. The first one is
declaring
the kalima--there is no deity but
Allah. The Prophet SAS stated: "Do four things in
Ramadhan in plenty: 1. Say the kalima-i
shahâdah: 'Ashadu en lâ ilâha
illâllah -- I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah.' 2. Say 'Astaghfirullah
-- My Lord! Forgive me my sins.' 3. Ask 4. Seek refuge with Allah
against Hell." The Prophet SAS recommends
us in Ramadhan the dhikr "ashadu en
lâ ilâha illâllah" and "astaghfirullah."
We should do this dhikr in plenty knowing its meaning. The first dhikr
means:
"My Lord! You exist. You are One and Only. You have
no
partners or equals. I worship You alone. I know that there
is no
deity other than You." The second dhikr means: "My Lord! I have
sinned. I seek your forgiveness. Forgive me my sins." Then we need to ask for All of this is possible by
giving the nafs taqwa and staying away from the offenses and sins. There is kalima-i
shahâdah in Ramadhan; that is
one of the five pillars of Islam. Then there is salat
(prayer) in Ramadhan. We do offer many more units of
prayer in Ramadhan--alhamdu lillah!
There is the Tarawih prayer in the mosques. We attend the mosques
for
that. There is also fasting in Ramadhan. There is also another
saying of the Prophet SAS: "The good deeds carried out in Ramadhan have
70
times more rewards then when they are done other times. That is
why the
knowledgeable Muslims pay their zakah in Ramadhan. Ramadhan is such a month
that there is kalima-i shahâdah,
prayers, fasting, and zakah. It is a blessed season
of
training that has all kinds of worship. We strengthen our will
power in
this month; we appoint our intelligence as the ruler of our body
country. We
appoint the intelligence that has belief in Allah and upholds the
Qur'an.
That leads us to salvation. قد افلح من
زكيها (الشمس:٩) (Qad aflaha men zekkâhâ)
Then man finds the salvation.
However, if we make the nafs as the ruler and dominant, if we follow
the
desires of the evil nafs, then we will be lost. Then a person
will
neglect the prayers, smokes and eats in public in Ramadhan, and do
other evil
deeds. You see that a grown up person, son of a good Muslim, do
bad
things. If his parents saw him smoking, neglecting the prayers,
displaying no shame, then they will feel extremely sad. In the past, no-Muslims
would tell their children: "This is the month of fasting for
Muslims. Do not eat anything outside. Respect them and do
not eat
anything when they are present." When the nafs
al-ammarah rules, the person does
not fast, go to mosque, pay zakah, or distinguish between halal and
haram. He wastes the precious month of Ramadhan. He does
not
benefit from it at all. In a hadith the Prohet
said: "The true shaqî (rebel,
disobedient, unfortunate person deserving hellfire) is the person who
does not
benefit from the blessings of Ramadhan." Shaqî is the
person who deserves the hellfire. It is the opposite of saîd (fortunate, happy, righteous
person). The shaqî is deprived
of the blessings of Ramadhan. As you know, there is a dua
for the night of Bara'ah. Almighty Allah decides what will happen
in
future at that night. That is why we make the dua: "O
Allah!
My Lord! At this special blessed Night of Bara'ah, if You have
written my
name to the list of the shaqîs, please erase my name from that
list and
write it to the list of saîds. If you have written my
name to the
list of saîds, please keep my name on that list and help me
live like
one of them." We want to be fortunate servants, happy
servants. We want to enter Yet the Prophet SAS calls
the person who did not benefit from the blessings of Ramadhan a shaqî.
Alhamdulillah, Almighty Allah granted you the
opportunity to come to the mosque and accepted you to His House.
The
mosques are the houses of Allah, and you are His guests. This is
a great
happiness that not everybody gets. Appreciate this
blessing. Talk
to your neighbors, friends, and acquaintances--be it from the military
service,
from the street, from the childhood, from the school, from the shopping
center-- tell them about the blessings of Ramadhan and help them
benefit from
it. Help them not to be deprived of this great blessing. I would like to conclude
with a hadith. The Prophet SAS was stepping up the pulpit to
deliver his
sermon. After the first step he said "Amen!" He took his second
step, paused and said "Amen!" He took his third step and
repeated: "Amen!" After the sermon the companions asked: The Prophet SAS said:
" One of these rebukes was
related to Ramadhan: "Woe to the person who
fails to attain the mercy of Allah in the Ramadhan as the month comes
and
goes. May his nose be rubbed to the ground (may he be
humiliated)."
The archangel Gabriel AS said, "Raghima enfuhű--may his nose be
rubbed to the ground." The Prophet said "Amen!" to that. The second rebuke was the
following: "Woe to the person who
fails to earn The Prophet SAS said
"Amen!" to that, too. What we understand from
this is that if a person treats his parents well, attend their needs
and get
their prayers and blessings; he will enter For the third rebuke of
Gabriel AS was the following: "Woe to the person who
fails to say salawat for me after hearing my name at a
gathering.
May his nose be rubbed tot he ground." The Prophet SAS said
"Amen!" to this one, too. This hadith points three important
duties: 1. When we hear the name of
our beloved Prophet SAS, when we hear the name Muhammed, we will say "Alayhis-salâm
(AS)--peace be on him" or "Sallallŕhu alayhi wa sallam
(SAS)--may peace and blessing be on him." Our forefathers made us
used to saying this. May Allah bless them. Now when we hear the
name
Muhammed, we say it right away. We also add 'alayhis-salâm'
to the
manes of the Prophets: Jesus AS, Moses AS, Muhammed Mustafâ AS.
We use it
as if it is a part of the mane. That is a good training that we
received
from our elderly. What happens when we do not
say these words? When I was a college student, there were
professors who
would refuse to say "alayhis-salâm" or "sallallŕhu
alayhi wa sallam." There were also professors in the Could you call the president
of a country with his first name? Could you say "Suleyman did
this;
Suleyman did that ..." for the President Suleyman Demirel [of Suppose your father's given
name is Ahmed. Could you call him "Ahmed, come here?" He
will slap you on the face, and people will denounce your
arrogance. One
would call his father, "My beloved Father" "My Dear
Father" or "Dad." When the name of the Prophet
SAS is mentioned, we say salat and salâm with love and
zeal as
Suleyman Chelebi said in his Mawlid: "Ashk ile shevk ile eytun
essalât--You
all say as-salât with love and zeal." We must do it
because one of the essentials of our belief is loving the Prophet
SAS. The
Prophet SAS said: والذى نفسى
بيده لايؤ من احدكم حتى اكون احــب
الــيــه من والده و ولده والــنــاس اجمــعــين (راموز الاحاديث:٩/٤٥٧) (Welldhî nafsî biyedihî)
"By Allah whom my life depends on, (lâ yu'minu ahadikum) any of
you
will not be a true believer (hattâ ekűne ahabbe ileyhi min wâlidihî
wa
waladihî wan-nâsi ajma'iyn) unless I am dearer to him than his
father, his
children, and everybody else." That is if we do not love the
Prophet
more than anybody else, we will not be a true believer. The requirement to be a
true believer is to love the Prophet SAS. The companions used to
say,
"Let my parents and my soul be sacrificed for you O Prophet of
Allah!" That is why when we hear the name "Muhammed," we
must get excited and show our respect and love to the beloved Prophet,
the
crown of our heads and the light of our eyes by saying Muhammed-i
Mustafâ sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam. I went to What are we to do?
When we hear the name of the Prophet SAS, we would say salat
and salâm
with love and zeal. 2. We shall be good
children for our parents and get their prayers and blessings. We
shall
kiss their hands, give them gifts, and take them where they want to be
taken. We shall ask them if they want or need anything. We
should
visit them in the morning and in the evening. My mother used to tell me--may Allah bless her soul-- "Son, when you get married, you ask us how we are doing--do not leave it to your wife." She used to tell me a joke: A man was leaving the village for the bazaar in the next town. He requested his wife: "Go ask my mother if she wants anything from the town." The wife went to her mother-in-law and asked: "Mom, your son will go to the bazaar in town. Do you need any beads and bangles?" The mother-in-law got angry. She shouted: "I do not want it!" What would an elderly person do with beads and bangles? The wife came back saying, "You heard her. She said she did not want anything. She got angry at you and screamed." The wife created mischief. We should not be like that. Our blessed mother used to teach us: "You come to us and ask us how we are doing." May Allah bless her soul with light and bless all those who passed away. You shall not ask other people to go take care of your parents. You should visit them in the morning, call him "Dearest Dad!" and kiss his hand. You visit him in the evening and kiss his hand. You should not send the doorman to attend your father’s needs. You should get what your parents need yourself. They will say: "May Allah be pleased with my son or daughter. 'May what he grabs be gold.' May he be respected in this life and in the hereafter. May Allah honor him with His Beauty in His Paradise." That is good. If your parents are alive,
respect them and earn 3. The third duty is related to the month of Ramadhan. We shall pay attention to not to be a person who misses the benefits of Ramadhan. Take the month of Ramadhan very seriously. Work hard, and beg Allah! Offer prayers in plenty, make dua, read Qur'an, and give for charity in plenty. Do whatever needs to be done in order to be among the servants who receive the mercy and forgiveness of Allah and are freed from the hellfire in Ramadhan. Dear Brothers and Sisters! One of my students went for the pilgrimage as a group leader. He visited me after the journey and said: "My Dear Khawaja! I was appointed as a group leader for the pilgrims of seven busses. We traveled on the land." I asked how the journey was. He said: "Unfortunately, our people are ignorant. They go there, yet they do not appreciate the place. They waste their time in the shopping malls and stores. In the evening, they show one another what they bought. They discuss the prices and stores. They ask how many minarets and gates the Masjid al Haram has. They spend their precious time with such matters." One goes to the Pilgrimage once in lifetime. How could he waste his time in shopping malls? For every step he takes towards the Masjid al Haram, he receives seven hundred Makkan rewards. His worship is rewarded one-hundred thousand times more! Despite this fact, how could a person waste his time in shopping malls? One should try to spend as much time as possible in the Masjid Al HAram and read Qur'an, offer prayers, and do other good deeds. "They often spend their time in unawareness. Yet there was one pilgrim who was truly in love with the Prophet SAS." I was moved very much by him. "When we arrived in Madina, he got off the bus and kissed the ground in tears. He rubbed his face to the ground saying that the prophet walked on these grounds. "He performed his Hajj well. He paid attention to his worship. He hurt nobody. He spent on charity. Then we returned to Madinah al Munawwarah." Dear Brothers and Sisters! This person had a dream in Madinah. In his dream, the Prophet SAS said: "Son, your Hajj has been accepted. Got get a piece of paper and pen, so I will write it down for you and sign it." In the dream he went to the next room and searched for paper and pen. He got them and returned to the room to see that his shaikh was sitting where the Prophet SAS sat before. That means his shaikh was a true successor of the Prophet. Isn't it great to receive such treatments and confirmations after performing the Pilgrimage? We should pray in this blessed month of Ramadhan that Allah Almighty shows us the Prophet SAS in our dreams. May Allah grant us such treatment of the Prophet SAS. Subhâneke lâ ilmelenâ illâ mâ allemtenâ inneke entel alîmul
hakîm... Subhâne rabbike rabbil
izzeti ammâ
yesifűn... Wa selâmun alel murselîn... Wal hamdu lillâhi rabbil
âlemîn...
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