All praise belongs to Allah Almighty Who has blessed us with the Holy Month of Ramadan and has enabled us to come to the end of this year’s Ramadan. He has prescribed the fasting that we may attain Taqwa (protection from sin), extol Him for guiding us and that we may also be grateful to Him. We also invoke His boundless blessings upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustafa(saw) the best exemplar and mercy for the whole humanity.
The Holy month Ramadan as we are all aware, is a month full of blessings, a month of training, a month of prayers, a month of reflection, a month full with the mercy of Allah Almighty, a month of forgiveness, a month of prayers and a month of seeking Allah’s mercy, nearness, bounties, blessings and His forgiveness. We enter this blessed month, excited that we will gain and attain the nearness of Allah Almighty, we will get our sins, shortcomings and excesses forgiven by Allah Almighty, that we will repent and improve on our faith. All these require sincere prayers and reflection which serves as a training for us all.
Indeed, part of the many blessings of the Holy Month of Ramadan is that it helps us become righteous and that it is in this month that Allah Almighty revealed the Holy Quran as Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran:
“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.” (Chap 2:184)
And also in another verse of the Holy Quran He says:
The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was sent down as a guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance and discrimination…(Chap 2:186)
Regarding these verses, the Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad Khalifatul Masih V(May Allah be his Helper) in his Friday Sermon of 10th May 2019 said:
Thus, the Holy Quran and the month of Ramadan have a special connection. Therefore, alongside fasting one ought to ponder over the Quran and strive to act according to its teachings, so that one can derive true blessings from the fasts during Ramadan. Not everyone can understand the deep intricacies of the Holy Quran, hence, along with the recitation of the Quran and reading its translations, which everyone is able to do on their own… The Promised Messiah (as) further says: “When reciting the Holy Quran, when someone comes across a portion in which there is mention of the Mercy of God Almighty, then at that moment one ought to seek mercy from God Almighty. And when one recites a portion in which the Quran refers to punishment of a particular people, at that point one ought to seek protection from God Almighty through repentance and seeking His forgiveness. One should ponder and reflect over the Holy Quran and act according to its teachings.” Thus, this is the manner in which the Holy Quran ought to be read.
This shows that the Holy month of Ramadan is full of blessings and that if we strive with all our strength in the cause of Allah Almighty, wishing to win His pleasure and nearness, He will surely guide us bless us and to become righteous.
Regarding the Holy month of Ramadan, The Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw) has stated that the first ten days of this month are to attain God Almighty’s mercy, the middle ten days are to seek His forgiveness and the last ten days one seeks to be saved from the hellfire.
The proof of the abundance of Allah Almighty’s mercy, forgiveness and protection for His true servants during the Holy month of Ramadan can be found in the Holy Quran where after the verses dealing with Ramadan, Allah Almighty 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. (Chap 2:187).
So this is the month where we increase our worships, where we abstain from not only food and water, but indeed from every other thing that will harm our faith and thus we strive to do only righteous deeds. We spend hours in the mosque reciting the Holy Quran and praying, we give out charity to the poor and needy, we avoid violence and troubles and we exhibit the best possible manners, all with the hope of gaining the best out of this Holy month and winning Allah Almighty’s pleasure, nearness and love.
Since Ramadan is that month of Prayers, reflection and training, we should remember that whatever we learned during this blessed month, that should become part of our daily lives, when Ramadan ends, we should not throw away the garments of righteousness which we wear during this blessed and Holy month, but instead we should even strive more and try to maintain that standard which we attained during Ramadan. We should continue being regular in offering our five daily prayers, continue reciting the Holy Quran daily, continue being charitable by helping the poor and needy in our communities and societies and continue being peaceful and helpful to others.
If we maintain the level and standard we try to attain during the Holy month of Ramadan, it is only then we can say that we have attained the blessings of the Holy Month of Ramadan in its true sense. Ramadan is like a school where we learn how to find our Creator Allah the Almighty and build a true relationship with Him, for that reason, whatever we learned, we should bring it to practice and instill it in our daily lives.
The Holy Quran was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustapha(saw), as a guidance for mankind and the righteous, so after Ramadan, we should not discard this Holy Book and leave it covered in dust like something useless until the following year, but instead as Muslims, we should make it a habit to recite the Holy Quran on a daily basis and always ponder and reflect over its verse and teachings.
Our beloved Master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw), increased his worships and charity during this Holy month of Ramadan but indeed he continued worshiping Allah Almighty and continued helping the poor and needy even after the Holy month of Ramadan and he never stopped seeking Allah Almighty until the time of his demise. So as Muslims, that is the example we should follow as the Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustapha (saw) is our model as Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran:
Verily you have in the Prophet of Allah an excellent model, for him who fears Allah and the Last Day and who remembers Allah much. (Chap 33:22)
May Allah Almighty bless us to always follow the examples of the Holy Prophet Muhammad Mustapha (saw). May He make this easy upon us. Ameen.
I am hereby extending to you the warmest salaam, love, prayers and EID MUBARAK of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V(May Allah be his Helper), the Spiritual and Supreme Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. On behalf of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at the Gambia, I humbly wish you all EID MUBARAK.
May Allah Almighty accept all the humble devotions and sacrifices that we have made during the Holy Month of Ramadan. May He continue protecting and blessing our beloved and dear motherland, the Gambia and her people and shower peace, security, prosperity and stability on us all. Ameen.
Please do continue to follow all the precautionary measures put in place by the Government and health experts pertaining to Covid–19. Thank you all STAY SAFE.
Wassalam
Yours Sincerely,
…………………………….
Baba F Trawally
Amir