RAMADAN 1417 AH

My beloved companion on the path to truth.

May all praise and thanks be upon Allah who has brought us once again in good health to realize the blessed month of Ramadan.  We know that all acts of worship in our religion are filled with infinite wisdom and rewards.  They are also medicines for the sick at heart from the pharmacy of the Holy Quran.

For instance, Salat five times a day is a protection from that which Allah has forbade us.  At the same time it controls our daily lives and prevents us from falling under the tyranny of our egos.

Zekat is a cure for that terrible sickness, miserliness, which is nothing less than an expression of our faithlessness and hopelessness in Allah’s generosity.  It shows us to whom truly belongs what we think we possess.

Fasting is the light of the heart.  It is what wipes off the dust and dirt of egotism from the mirror of sacred secrets; it cures the heart from the love and ambition of this world.  Allah, most high, says in the Holy Quran:

                        “Ya ayyuhalladhina amanu kutiba alaykumu siyamu kama

                        kutiba ‘alalladhiyna min qablikum la’allakum tattaqun.”

“On that known month I have made an obligation for you to fast from before the time of Fajr until after sunset, with an intention of doing it for Allah’s sake as a sign of your faith in Him, and for no other purpose you are to abstain from eating drinking and sexual acts.  This was ordained to the followers of all the other prophets whom I have sent before you, as it is ordained for you.  Now with what you will receive in return for your efforts, you will be protected from what Allah forbade you and be a true servant close to him.”

Everything which Allah most high orders us to do has an outer and an inner meaning.  The outer meaning of fasting during Ramadan is not eating drinking or having sex from the before the sunrise until after the sunset.  But our being is not only our stomach and sexual organs, while fasting is ordained to all our physical being.  Therefore,  as we abstain from taking nourishment and making love, we should also abstain by keeping our tongue from lying, gossiping or pronouncing any words which may hurt the feelings of any human being.  Our eyes must be prevented from watching anything around us heedlessly.  Our ears must be prevented from listening to anything which is forbidden by Allah. Our egos must be prevented from its ambition of this world and lust for its pleasure and from selfishness and arrogance. 

The meaning of fasting interiorly is that it is done by the heart and the soul.  The fast of the heart, which is Allah’s house, is to empty it of worldly concerns, thus lightening it, lifting it from the attraction of material things, thus protecting it from the invasion of the desires of our flesh.

The fasting of the soul is to keep it from wanting even the beauties of paradise and an eternal life of bliss. It should be blind to anything but truth.

If one could fast like this and taste what it brings, only then one may receive what the Prophet promises, “During the fast break what peace and joy the faithful receive . . . “

If we fast without knowing what we are doing and spend no more effort than just not eating, we certainly will not obtain what Allah promises nor be protected from what He forbids nor come closer to Him.

Fasting and praying may cause only hunger and fatigue and nothing else if one does not realize its true meaning and try to act accordingly. The hunger which one may feel is not sufficient effort to fulfill this obligation. At least, one also should seek those who are not only hungry while fasting in Ramadan, but always, and one should help them as my dear companions did when this Ramadan our Zekats reached Bosnia to make the Ramadan of at least 200 families in need a bit happier.

To fast is a proof that all your physical body and spiritual being believes in Allah most high, but it is also a way of unification of all human beings by caring for each other.  The one who fasts but thinks only of himself, and breaks the hearts of others is just torturing himself with hunger and for nothing else.

Our beloved Prophet says:  “The one who fasts becomes beautified by the attributes of Allah most high.”  A human being contains the divine attributes, for our father Adam, a.s., was given all the beautiful names.  Fasting is an obligation for human beings, not for animals.  For, someone who does not care for others and who is able to hurt and break the heart of others is not a human being.  A human being does not destroy, he constructs and a human being who fasts transforms even his material being of course matter into the fine matter of his spirit, and when he does that he becomes pure compassion, the manifestation of his Creator’s “Rahmah”, the Divine Beneficience and Compassion.  That is what Allah, most high, means when he declares in a Hadith Kudsi:  “I love the smell of the breath of the one who fasts for my sake.”  It is not the bad odor from the mouth of someone who is hungry. What He means is “He who truly fasts, who truly transforms himself into My divine attributes, shows towards My creation similar love and compassion as I do and each of his breaths contains the perfume of compassion.”

Allah, most high, also says:  “Fasting is only for Me, and only I will give its reward.”  But all rewards for our worship and good deeds are given by Allah, most high.  What does this mean?  The ones who know say that on the Day of Last Judgement all our sins will be deducted from our good deeds, but when it comes to our efforts for Allah’s sake, no sin would be permitted for the elimination of this good deed and Allah, most high will say that He will pay what is owed for our sins and His rewards for our fasting will not be touched.

May Allah, the All Forgiving, forgive the sins of my children.  May Allah the All Generous, praise and reward the deeds of the faithful and may Allah, the Protector, protect the sincere Muslims from the punishment of Hell-fire.