Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
I first and foremost advise you to fear Allah, to remain conscious of Him and to obey Him in every place and time. Ramaḍān – the month of fasting, tarāwīḥ, recitation of Qur’ān and extra worship – may have ended, but remember that the Lord of Ramaḍān is Ever-Living and His existence does not come to an end. He is the Lord of all 12 months of the year, so don't slack off in your worship now that Ramaḍān is over.
Dear Muslims! During Ramaḍān, we experienced the struggles of abstaining from food and drink for the entire day, of waking up early in the morning for suḥūr, of staying up further into the night for tarāwīḥ and tahajjud prayers. But that really isn't the difficult part about Ramaḍān. The more difficult part is keeping up after Ramaḍān the good habits and attitudes developed during Ramaḍān. Just like you fasted during Ramaḍān from eating, from speaking bad words, from looking at inappropriate things, from listening to forbidden matters, from going to ḥarām places, from doing ḥarām things – likewise, you ensure your body parts keep up this habit of fasting after Ramaḍān and throughout the entire year. You keep up the good habits and attitudes from Ramaḍān and carry them with you throughout the year. Failure to do so and you risk losing that which you gained of barakah and reformation of the heart via these struggles during Ramaḍān.
Dear brothers and sisters! As we celebrated Eid, greeting each other with warm smiles, words and hugs, visiting dear family and friends, receiving gifts and money, enjoying daytime meals after a month, and celebrating a wonderful and joyous occasion, we can't help but remember and contemplate the situation of our brothers and sisters suffering abroad who celebrated their Eid with no family to share smiles with, no houses to visit, no gifts to give, no new clothes to wear, no food to feed even themselves with, and no joy to celebrate. They had Eid whilst in constant fear of being the next target of some missile or armed attack. They had Eid watching their neighbourhoods and cities crumble to the ground. They had Eid with the prospect of returning home to find another loved one gone forever. They had Eid having to survive in disease-ridden camps with insufficient food, having been forced to flee their own homes. They had Eid enduring extreme hunger, thirst, disease and malnutrition, to the point where their bones would pop out from their bodies. This is how many of your brothers and sisters experienced Eid this year in places like Palestine, Syria, Burma, the Central African Republic and eastern Africa, amongst the many other places where the situation for Muslims is dire, tough and gloomy. So along with your Eid celebrations, always keep in mind the situation of your Muslim brothers and sisters suffering abroad who are not as fortunate as you are to celebrate how you celebrate: plenty smiles and laughs, lovely gifts, new clothes, nice food, a solid roof over the head, home heating, and family and friends to enjoy the occasion with.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
And he ﷺ also said:
"The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever" (Agreed upon)
So I remind myself and you once again: Ramaḍān – the month of extra worship – may have ended, but the Lord of Ramaḍān is to be worshipped on all 12 months of the year. And just as we have celebrated the joyous occasion of Eid, we must never forget the hardships our fellow Muslims overseas are suffering through. The bare minimum you can do for them is make du‘ā’. Never underestimate the power of du‘ā’.
I end by reminding you all to follow up your Ramaḍān fasts by fasting another six days during this month, the month of Shawwāl. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said in this regard:
To proceed:
I first and foremost advise you to fear Allah, to remain conscious of Him and to obey Him in every place and time. Ramaḍān – the month of fasting, tarāwīḥ, recitation of Qur’ān and extra worship – may have ended, but remember that the Lord of Ramaḍān is Ever-Living and His existence does not come to an end. He is the Lord of all 12 months of the year, so don't slack off in your worship now that Ramaḍān is over.
Dear Muslims! During Ramaḍān, we experienced the struggles of abstaining from food and drink for the entire day, of waking up early in the morning for suḥūr, of staying up further into the night for tarāwīḥ and tahajjud prayers. But that really isn't the difficult part about Ramaḍān. The more difficult part is keeping up after Ramaḍān the good habits and attitudes developed during Ramaḍān. Just like you fasted during Ramaḍān from eating, from speaking bad words, from looking at inappropriate things, from listening to forbidden matters, from going to ḥarām places, from doing ḥarām things – likewise, you ensure your body parts keep up this habit of fasting after Ramaḍān and throughout the entire year. You keep up the good habits and attitudes from Ramaḍān and carry them with you throughout the year. Failure to do so and you risk losing that which you gained of barakah and reformation of the heart via these struggles during Ramaḍān.
Dear brothers and sisters! As we celebrated Eid, greeting each other with warm smiles, words and hugs, visiting dear family and friends, receiving gifts and money, enjoying daytime meals after a month, and celebrating a wonderful and joyous occasion, we can't help but remember and contemplate the situation of our brothers and sisters suffering abroad who celebrated their Eid with no family to share smiles with, no houses to visit, no gifts to give, no new clothes to wear, no food to feed even themselves with, and no joy to celebrate. They had Eid whilst in constant fear of being the next target of some missile or armed attack. They had Eid watching their neighbourhoods and cities crumble to the ground. They had Eid with the prospect of returning home to find another loved one gone forever. They had Eid having to survive in disease-ridden camps with insufficient food, having been forced to flee their own homes. They had Eid enduring extreme hunger, thirst, disease and malnutrition, to the point where their bones would pop out from their bodies. This is how many of your brothers and sisters experienced Eid this year in places like Palestine, Syria, Burma, the Central African Republic and eastern Africa, amongst the many other places where the situation for Muslims is dire, tough and gloomy. So along with your Eid celebrations, always keep in mind the situation of your Muslim brothers and sisters suffering abroad who are not as fortunate as you are to celebrate how you celebrate: plenty smiles and laughs, lovely gifts, new clothes, nice food, a solid roof over the head, home heating, and family and friends to enjoy the occasion with.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
الْمُسْلِمُونَ كَرَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ إِنِ اشْتَكَى عَيْنُهُ اشْتَكَى كُلُّهُ وَإِنِ اشْتَكَى رَأْسُهُ اشْتَكَى كُلُّهُ
"The Muslims are like one body of a person; if the eye aches, the whole body aches, and if the head aches, the whole body aches." (Narrated by Muslim)
And he ﷺ also said:
مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ مَثَلُ الْجَسَدِ إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّى
"The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever" (Agreed upon)
So I remind myself and you once again: Ramaḍān – the month of extra worship – may have ended, but the Lord of Ramaḍān is to be worshipped on all 12 months of the year. And just as we have celebrated the joyous occasion of Eid, we must never forget the hardships our fellow Muslims overseas are suffering through. The bare minimum you can do for them is make du‘ā’. Never underestimate the power of du‘ā’.
I end by reminding you all to follow up your Ramaḍān fasts by fasting another six days during this month, the month of Shawwāl. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said in this regard:
مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَهُ سِتًّا مِنْ شَوَّالٍ كَانَ كَصِيَامِ الدَّهْرِ
"Whoever fasts during the month of Ramaḍān, then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is like continual fasting." (Narrated by Muslim)
Just a note regarding the hadith at the end: the word "dahr" may be interpreted in two ways: "year" and "lifetime". Both interpretations can be reconciled with each other: if one was to do this act of fasting six days of Shawwal every year, it would be as if one fasted his entire lifetime -- a continual fasting indeed.
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