Part One
Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah Who created, gave rise to original existence,
designed everything to perfection, and multiplied creatures:
To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the
earth, and all that is between them, and all that is under the soil.
[Tāhā: 6]
I praise Him (Glory be to Him) and thank Him for His successive blessings and
unremitting favours. I bear witness that there is no deity worth worshipping except Allah,
alone with no associate, expressing hereby a testimony of truth and certitude untainted by
doubt or suspicion, and I bear witness that our Master and Prophet Muhammad is the Servant
and Messenger of Allah, sent as herald of guidance and genuine religion rather than
fabricated speech. May Allah send His profuse and incessant Salat (Graces, Honours, and
Mercy), Peace and Blessing upon him, his family, his Companions –the masters of mankind
and the bravest of all creatures− the tabi'īn (the contemporaries of the Companions of the
Prophet [May Allah’s Salāt and Peace be upon him] after his death), and all those who
virtuously follow in their footsteps.
Now then,
O people! I enjoin you, as well as myself, to observe taqwa (fear of disobeying
Allah). So, adhere to taqwa –may Allah have mercy on you! In fact, each servant of Allah is
accountable to his Lord for his deeds and all his actions are recorded (by Allah). The sun of
everyone’s lifetime is about to set. So, beware of committing sins and developing a hardhearted
character.
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You were certainly not created fortuitously, nor will you be left unaccountable for
your actions. This worldly life is created for you but you are created for the hereafter. Bear in
mind that in the hereafter there will be either Paradise or Hellfire. After death, none will be
allowed to make any excuses (for negligence).
On the Day when every person will be confronted with all the good
he has done, and all the evil he has done, he will wish that there
were a great distance between him and his evil. And Allâh warns
you against Himself (His Punishment) and Allâh is full of Kindness to
the (His) slaves. [Ᾱl Imrān: 30]
O Muslim people!
May Allah accept from you and us Ramadhan fasting, night prayer, all forms of pious
deeds, and all types of worship meant to bring us closer to Him through obedience!
Here is the blessed month of Ramadhan, with its bounties, specifics, opportunities,
and pious deeds. In fact, you are approaching now its last and most favourite days and nights.
We are living now its last ten days during which your Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace
be upon him) used to perform extra special forms of obedience and worship, showing
maximum serenity and enthusiasm. He would stay up late to worship Allah, awaken his
family, and show extreme readiness and assiduity.
So, try harder, work more, exert yourselves, wait for good tidings, hope for the best,
keep attuned to divine inspiration, beware of the satisfaction with your pious deeds and
beware of arrogance. Blessed be the one who thinks and takes warning, seeks to gain insights
and does so, and forbade the soul of passion1.
O brothers and sisters who are fasting and standing in night prayer!
In order to frequently call ourselves to account (for our actions), have a high-aiming
ambition, and be determined, let us ponder over a specific verse within the Book of Allah in
this month of yours, the month of Ramadan. It is a verse in the Book of Allah which softens
stone hearts and awakens negligent souls. It is a verse that calls for insightful meditation and
induces reflection. It is a verse in the Book of Allah which has caused pious people to
become grey-haired, the hearts of Allah’s devout servants to be filled with fear, fearful people
to shed tears, and apprehensive people (about divine chastisement) to have gooseflesh (with
fright). How capable they are! How great their pondering on the Qur’ān is! How much
influenced they are with its exhortations! How much disciplined they are with regard to
abiding by its proscriptions! This verse is Allah’s following statement (Glory and Power be to
Him):
1 This expression in bold is borrowed from the Holy Qur’ān, surat Al-Nāzi’āt, verse number 40.
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... and there will become apparent to them from Allâh, what they
had not been reckoning. [Al-Zumar: 47]
This verse caused the salaf (earlier generations of Muslim devotees and scholars
totally adhering to the Prophet’s conduct) to experience increased apprehension. For instance,
when Muhammad Ibn Al-Munkadir was in the deathbed, he panicked. So, Abu Hāzim was
invited to alleviate the former’s fright. Ibn Al-Munkadir said to him, “Allah does say: ...
and there will become apparent to them from Allâh, what they had not
been reckoning. Therefore, I fear that what I have not been reckoning so far might be
made apparent to me by Allah in the hereafter. Then, both of them started weeping. The
family of Ibn Al-Munkadir then commented, “We invited you to relieve his apprehension but
you aggravated it instead.”
Suleiman Al-Taimi was once told, “You are really unique! You are unrivalled!” So,
he said, “Wait! Do not say that! I never know what Allah might make apparent to me later
on. I heard Allah say, ...and there will become apparent to them from Allâh,
what they had not been reckoning.
When Sofiyan read the same verse, he was reported to have said, “Woe unto the
people of dissimulation! Woe unto the people of dissimulation! This verse is about them! It is
their parable!” Muqātil also said, “There appeared to them on Resurrection Day what they
had not anticipated, when still in the herein, that it would later afflict them.” Al-Suddi said,
“They thought that their deeds were good but their deeds turned to be evil.”
Religious scholars said, “Among those for whom Allah will make apparent in the
hereafter what they had not been reckoning in the herein, there are people who performed
good deeds but committed numerous injustices; thus, they thought that their good deeds
would salvage them, but when they were called to account for their deeds in the hereafter,
Allah made apparent to them what they had not been reckoning.”
Ibn Aṭiyyah said, “Their expectations in the herein were diverse and multiple in
harmony with their misguidance and fallacious beliefs. Once they witness torment on
Doomsday and their situation proves to be hopeless, every one of them will find out the
reality of what he/she used to believe in.” Just remember in this respect –may Allah have
mercy on you− the Prophet’s hadith about the bankrupt person who will come on Doomsday
with mountain-size heaps of good deeds, but he will prove to have beaten someone, insulted
another, and usurped somebody else’s property.
Some of the salaf said, “Many a condition of humiliation you are likely to face on
resurrection day which you had never anticipated”:
٤
(It will be said to the sinners): "Indeed you were heedless of this,
now We have removed your covering, and sharp is your sight this
Day!" [Qāf: 22]
O servant of Allah! What do you think of someone who performed deeds he took for
virtuous and forgot the evil deeds he committed? He underestimated the gravity of his acts;
therefore, Allah will make apparent for him in the hereafter what he had not been reckoning
in the herein.
O brothers and sisters! O fasting men and women!
Beware of sinning in private. In the Sunan Book of Ibn Mājah, Thawbān –may Allah
be pleased with him− narrated that the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him)
said, “I know perfectly well that some people among my ummah will come on Resurrection
Day with heaps of good deeds amounting to the size of the white Tihāma Mount, but then
Allah will transform them into scattered dust.” Then Thawbān said, ‘O Messenger of Allah!
Describe them for us and cite their traits lest we should be unknowingly amongst them.’ The
Prophet said, “They are certainly your brethren! They belong to your own race and
perform night prayers just like you, but when in private they violate Allah’s proscriptions.”
Ibn Habbān said in his Al-Zawa’id Book that this hadith had been reported via an authentic
and reliable chain of narration.
In his comment on this hadith, Salem −the Master of Abi Ḥuthaifah− said, “I was
anxious that I might be one of them.” Then he said, “Perhaps, they used to take hold of any
prohibited thing they would encounter; therefore, Allah dissipated and annulled their deeds.”
So, beware of delusion, wishful thinking, and anchorage in sins! Never underestimate
sins! Beware of having a low opinion about sins:
...you counted it a little thing, while with Allâh it was very great.
[Al-Noor: 15]
Anas –may Allah be pleased with him− said, “Nowadays, you perform acts which, in
your own eyes, look thinner than hair but which during the lifetime of the Prophet (May
Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) we used to consider as deadly sins. [Narrated by Imam
Bukhari]
O Beloved Ones!
Ponder ‒May Allah have mercy on you‒ ponder over what might thwart your actions
and annihilate your good deeds, such as envy, show-off, arrogance, backbiting, calumny,
complex of superiority, injustice, self-admiration, unlawful earning, severing kinship ties,
abuse in consuming food and drink, excess in luxurious banquets, addiction to night life
except for the performance of worship rituals, abusive and futile use of the media, of social
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media, and forcing oneself to categorise others. All such acts are likely to damage health,
blight hearts, spoil minds, cause dejection, distract worshippers, instigate deviation from
common good, cause going off the right path, and weaken accountability.
O fasting men and women!
Seriously contemplating what is going on in our contemporary era is a sign of
rationality, wisdom and common sense.
... and there will become apparent to them from Allâh, what they
had not been reckoning. [Al-Zumar: 47]
This is an era replete with distracters and characterised by the multiplicity of incidents
and the diversity of engrossing activities. Even more, certain categories of people, especially
in the intellectual and cultural spheres of life, have lost the capacity to distinguish right from
wrong. Yes, indeed! May Allah protect you all!
Our time is actually characterised by a plethora of violations, in addition to what is
broadcast by the media and the audiovisual materials posted online on social media including
an array of morally prohibited scenes (be they in script, audio, or video). Those violations
pertain to faith, behaviour, and various types of criminal offence. This is similar to the
parable of those whose deeds have been embellished in their own eyes and they therefore
perceive them as good2, or those whose efforts were lost in this worldly life while they
thought they were doing well3.
Among the aspects that distract and discourage the Muslim (from worshipping Allah):
fascination with materialistic artefacts and architectural designs, shying away from genuine
faith, and renouncing the scholarly study of the Holy Qur’ān and the Sunnah. In fact, excess
in embracing aspects of civilised life is the source of cultural and intellectual deviation. Thus,
whoever shuns divine revelation will eternally plunge into obscurity regardless of the extent
to which he is in control of science and civilisation:
Those who reject Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons,
signs, revelations, etc.) are deaf and dumb in darkness... [Al-An’ām:
39]
One of the facets of deviation and immoderation is the fact that when one of our
contemporaries fascinated with modern discoveries and up-to-date civilised infrastructure is
notified about the weaknesses and liabilities manifest in its diverse aspects of misguidance,
delinquency, laxity, debauchery, and moral degradation, he will soon grow upset, anxious,
and quite nervous. Of course, Allah rejects the idea that debasement could be a means to
2 The expression in bold is borrowed from the Holy Qur’ān, surat Fāṭir, verse number 8.
3 The expression in bold is borrowed from the Holy Qur’ān, surat Al-Kahf, verse number 104.
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attain virtue and that moral degradation and frivolity might be the key to chastity. How can
we believe otherwise, especially after reading the explicit Qur’ānic verse stating that material
empowerment will be of no avail to its advocates once it is associated with ingratitude and
rejection of Allah’s revelation?
And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith
We have not established you (O Quraish)! And We had assigned
them the (faculties of) hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and hearts,
but their hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and their hearts availed
them nothing since they used to deny the Ayât (Allâh's Prophets
and their Prophethood, proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations,
etc.) of Allâh, and they were completely encircled by that which
they used to mock at! [Al-Aḥqāf: 26]
Allah Almighty also says:
As for 'Ad, they were arrogant in the land without right, and they
said: "Who is mightier than us in strength?" See they not that Allah,
Who created them was mightier in strength than them. And they
used to deny Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons,
revelations, etc.)! [Fussilat: 15]
In essence, O servants of Allah, our souls and hearts must always be preoccupied with
Allah, His tawheed4, remembrance, praise and with His proper worship. As for true
empowerment, it is made all too evident through the following verse:
Those (Muslim rulers) who, if We give them power in the land,
(they) order for Iqamat-as-Salat. [i.e. to perform the five
compulsory congregational Salat(prayers) (the males in mosques)],
to pay the Zakat and they enjoin Al-Ma'ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism
and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid Al-Munkar (i.e.
disbelief, polytheism and all that Islam has forbidden) [i.e. they
make the Qur'an as the law of their country in all the spheres of
life]. And with Allah rests the end of (all) matters (of creatures).
[Al-Haj: 41]
Almighty Allah also says in this regard:
4 An Arabic word meaning attributing Oneness to Allah and describing Him as being One and Unique, with no
partner or peer in His Essence and Attributes
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Men whom neither trade nor sale diverts them from the
Remembrance of Allah (with heart and tongue), nor from
performing As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), nor from giving the Zakat.
They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will be overturned (from the
horror of the torment of the Day of Resurrection). [Al-Nur: 37]
Now then, may Allah protect you!
You are hereby reminded as you proceed through the holy month of fasting and latenight
praying that this worldly life with all its gaudy and material aspects will be futile if
believing souls don’t turn in humility and submissiveness to the Almighty, the Lord of
Power, and if they do not seek enhancement of their belief through closer insight as to His
knowledge, tawheed, dedication to Him, His love and trust in Him.
Nay, they have indeed failed to pay Allah due heed those who overlook His
commands and disobey Him, disregard His prohibitions and seek their own satisfaction rather
than His and make Him a residuary recipient of their love, knowledge, work and money.
We seek protection with Allah from the accursed Satan:
And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic
Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (in Islam), before the
torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped. (55) "And
follow the best of that which is sent down to you from your Lord
(i.e. this Qur'an, do what it orders you to do and keep away from
what it forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while
you perceive not! (56) Lest a person should say: "Alas, my grief
that I was undutiful to Allah (i.e. I have not done what Allah has
ordered me to do), and I was indeed among those who mocked [at
the truth! i.e. La ilaha ill-Allah (none has the right to be worshipped
but Allah), the Qur'an, and Muhammad and at the faithful
believers, etc.] (57) Or (lest) he should say: "If only Allah had
guided me, I should indeed have been among the Muttaqun (pious
and righteous persons).(58) Or (lest) he should say when he sees
the torment: "If only I had another chance (to return to the world)
then I should indeed be among the Muhsinun (good-doers). [Al-
Zumar: 54-58]
May Allah benefit me and you with the Great Qur'ān and the Guidance of Muhammad
(May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him). This is said, I ask Allah to forgive my sins,
yours, and those of all the Muslims, so ask Him for forgiveness, for He is Most Forgiving,
Most Merciful!
٨
Part Two
Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah Who runs the Universe and Who has set
mountains on earth and raised above it the Seven Heavens! I praise Him, the Almighty, and I
thank Him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah Who has no partner, Whose
Oneness has been evidenced by proofs and facts. I also bear witness that our Master and
Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) is Allah’s Servant and
Messenger, and that he is the honest and the truthful one. May Allah’s Salat, Peace and
Blessing be upon him, his family and his Companions, whose favours have been
unprecedented and unique, as well as on the tabi'în (the contemporaries of the Companion of
the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] after his death) and those who
righteously follow them with benevolence. O Allah! Send abundant Salat (Graces, Honours,
and Mercy) upon all of them for as long as the sun rises and sets.
Now then, O Muslims!
He who trusts Allah shall be guided to good deeds. Ibn Aoun, may Allah bless his
soul, once said: “Do not overly rely on the abundance of your (good) deeds, for you never
know whether or not they will be accepted! Never feel utterly relieved from your sins, for you
are never certain they are overlooked. You may not predict the lot of any of your deeds. You
never know what Allah has in store for you in this respect.”
However, they are powerless, indeed, those who give in to their whims and passion
and then keep on wishing for forgiveness from Allah, short of seeking repentance or the
means amenable to forgiveness.
Ma’arūf Al Karkhi says: “Hoping for the mercy of the One (Allah Almighty) whom
you do not obey is an instance of self-defeating. Moreover, sinning weakens one’s
resolve.”Also, in this respect, one of the Salaf says: “Many are those who are lured by
Allah’s favours without knowing it! Many are those who are deluded with Allah’s protection
without knowing it! Many are those who are infatuated with others’ praise without knowing
it. For Allah’s sake! What do those oppressors then expect upon meeting their Lord carrying
around their necks the grievances of the people they oppressed?!”
However, those who wish to be saved must beware of giving in to their passion and
pleasure, and pursuing delight in food and beverages without knowing anything about their
ins and outs, or whether they are good or bad.
Therefore, observe taqwa, O servants of Allah! Obey Allah and His Messenger and
remain vigilant! Make good use of the remaining days of this month, observe hard work and
earnestness in faith, and await the advent of Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Power) on which
Allah opens up the doors of goodness and draws closer to Him those whom He loves. The
٩
night of Al-Qadr is better than a thousand months5. It is a night on which true worshippers,
whether aware or unaware of it, are greatly rewarded. Thus, being aware of its advent is not a
condition for obtaining such reward.
May Allah bless you! You are called upon to observe hard work and perseverance in
this regard for this is the time to ask (Allah) for reward. Beware of negligence, for it is
amenable to corruption and wrongdoing.
Ask Allah to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace upon the Given
Mercy and the Offered Blessing, your Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, for Allah
commanded you to do so in His Book, and Allah has indeed spoken the truth:
Allâh sends His Salât (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy) on the
Prophet (Muhammad), and also His angels (ask Allâh to bless and
forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salât on (ask Allâh to
bless) him (Muhammad), and (you should) greet (salute) him with
the Islâmic way of greeting (salutation i.e. As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum).
[Al-Aḥzāb: 56]
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours, and Mercy) and Peace upon Your
Servant and Messenger, our beloved Al-Mustafā (the Chosen one) Prophet Muhammad (May
Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him), his kind and virtuous family and his wives: the
mothers of the believers! O Allah! Be pleased with the four Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar,
Othman and Ali, all the Companions, the tabi’in and those who righteously follow them till
the Day of Judgement. O Allah! Be also pleased with us all, along with them, by Your Pardon
and Generosity, O You, the Most Generous and Bounteous of all!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and
Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims, and fail polytheism and polytheists
(who associate partners with You)! And render unsuccessful the despots and atheists and all
the enemies of faith and religion!
O Allah! Grant us security in our homelands! O Allah! Grant us security in our
homelands! O Allah! Make good our leaders and those responsible for our affairs, and make
our leadership from among those who are fearful of Allah, who guard taqwa (fear of
disobeying Allah), and follow the path that leads to your acceptance, O You, Lord of al-
'ālamîn (the worlds)!
O Allah! Grant a success of Your own to our leader who is responsible for our affairs!
O Allah! Grant a success of Your own to our leader who is responsible for our affairs! Grant
glory to him by believing and obeying You! Raise Your word high through him! Make him a
5 This is to say that worshipping Allah on that night is beer than worshipping Him a thousand months (i.e. 83
years and 4 months)
١٠
support for Islam and Muslims, impart on him health and well-being and extend his life in
Your obedience! O Allah! Make through him unity among Muslims and on the grounds of
righteousness and guidance, O Lord of the Worlds! O Allah! Guide him, his two deputies, his
brothers and assistants to do what You Love and accept, and lead them to righteousness and
piety!
O Allah! Help Muslim leaders to abide by Your Book and to follow the Sunnah of
Your Prophet, Mohammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him)! Make them a
blessing on Your faithful, and unite them on the grounds of righteousness and truth, O Lord
of the Worlds!
O Allah! Make for this Ummah a matter (an affair) of rationality (guidance) whereby
the pious are honoured and the sinful are guided, and where virtue is promoted and vice is
prevented! Verily, You are the Omniscient!
O Allah! Save the weak among the believers. O Allah! Protect them and grant them
victory (over their enemies). O Allah! Protect them in Syria, Palestine, Gaza, Burma and
Central Africa. O Allah! Make unity among them, stop their bloodshed, bring relief to those
sick among them, and bless the souls of their dead! O Allah! Unite their word, and set right
their conditions, You, the Most Merciful of all!
O Allah! Set right the conditions of our fellow Muslims in Iraq, Yemen, and Libya
and stop their bloodshed! Entrust their affairs to the most righteous among them, and unite
their word on the Truth, the right guidance, and the Sunnah! O Allah! Spread security and
prosperity among them, and rid them of all misery and harm, O You, the Granter of Favours
and Charity!
O Allah! Make better our religion which is our bond, and make better our Dunya (life
in this world) which is the source of our living! O Allah! Make better our Hereafter to which
we are returning, and make life for us an increase of all that is good, and death a relief from
every evil! O Allah! Grant us a good ending in all of our affairs and save us from the
humiliation of the worldly life and the punishment of the Hereafter!
O Allah! Whoever intends to do any evil against us, our religion, our homeland, our
security, our leaders, our (religious) scholars, the good and the righteous among us, our
security forces our Ummah, or our unity, O Allah! Get him busy with himself, let his plotting
return against him, and make his destruction in his planning, O You, the Lord of the Worlds!
O Allah! Destroy the usurpers among the Jews! O Allah! Destroy the usurpers and
occupiers among the Jews! Destroy them, for You are certainly able to do so! O Allah! Inflict
Your wrath –which can never be turned back from the people who are Mujrimûn (criminals,
polytheists or sinners)– on them! O Allah! We leave them to You (to deal with them) and
seek refuge in You from their evils!
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O Allah! Grant victory to our fellow Muslims in Palestine! O Allah! Grant victory to
our fellow Muslims in Palestine! O Allah! Lift the siege around our brothers and sisters in
Gaza! O Allah! Make preoccupied with themselves those who are depriving them from their
livelihood and offending them in their dignity and avenge them, as You are the Almighty, the
Powerful!
O Allah! Protect our security forces! O Allah! Protect our security forces, those brave
men who are stationed in the Two Holy Mosques and who are protecting these sacred places!
O Allah! Protect them and their families, and make strong their resolve! May Allah reward
them for their efforts to protect the land of the Two Holy Mosques, including both the
citizens and the expatriates, those who come to visit, perform Hajj or Umrah! O Allah!
Reward them for all the services they offer for their religion, Ummah, sanctities, Islam and
Muslims! O Allah! Bless the souls of their martyrs, cure the sick among them, and set right
their children, O You, the Most Generous of all!
O Allah! We ask You to grant us the causes amenable to Your mercy, the
determination to seek Your forgiveness, safety from all sins, our share in all that is good, the
resolve to follow the path of guidance, access to Your paradise and safety from Hell fire!
… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the
Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the
Fire! [Al-Baqarah: 201]
Glorified be our Lord, the Lord of Honour and Power! He is free from what they
attribute unto Him! May peace be upon the Messengers! And all the praises and thanks be to
Allah, Lord of the ‘Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists)!
