{"id":88867,"date":"2019-05-15T16:03:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T23:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88867"},"modified":"2019-05-15T16:03:29","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T23:03:29","slug":"ramazan-and-our-responsibilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/15\/ramazan-and-our-responsibilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramazan and our Responsibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

By A. Abdul Aziz.<\/i><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

(Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermon delivered by Hazrat\nMirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community\nin Islam, on 10th<\/sup> May, 2019, at \u2018BaithulFuthuh\u2019, London, U.K. gave a\ndiscourse on Ramazan and our Responsibilities.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmadiyya\nSupreme Head recited Holy Qur\u2019an – verses 184-187 of Surah al-Baqarah and then\nstated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The translation of these verses is as\nfollows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O ye\nwho believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those\nbefore you, so that you may become righteous i.e. to abstain from sin and\nincrease in spirituality. The prescribed fasting is for a fixed number of days,\nbut whoso among you is sick or is on a journey shall fast the same number of\nother days; and for those who are able to fast only with great difficulty is an\nexpiation \u2014 the feeding of a poor man, providing they have the capacity to do\nso. And whoso performs a good work with willing obedience, it is better for\nhim. And fasting is good for you, if you only knew. The month of Ramadan is\nthat in which the Qur\u2019an was sent down as a guidance for mankind with clear\nproofs of guidance and discrimination. Therefore, whosoever of you is present\nat home in this month, let him fast therein. But whoso is sick or is on a\njourney, shall fast the same number of other days. Allah desires to give you\nfacility and He desires not hardship for you, and that you may complete the\nnumber, and that you may exalt Allah for His having guided you and that you may\nbe grateful. And when My servants ask thee about Me, say: \u2018I am near. I answer\nthe prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should hearken to Me\nand believe in Me, that they may follow the right way.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these\nverses, God Almighty has described the obligation of fasting, its importance,\nthe duties of the believers with regards to this month and the ways in which\none\u2019s prayers can be accepted. On one occasion, the Holy Prophet (peace and\nblessings of Allah be upon him) said, If you knew the excellences of Ramadan\nand in which ways and how much God Almighty manifests His mercy, you would have\nwished that Ramadan were extended to the entire year so that you can gather the\nblessings of Allah the Exalted all year long.\u201d Thus, God Almighty has\nprescribed fasting for our own benefit. We can derive spiritual as well as\nphysical benefits from fasting. Now, even the non-Muslim doctors are of the\nopinion that fasting has a positive effect of one\u2019s health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God Almighty\nhas said in these [aforementioned] verses, that fasting has been prescribed for\nevery believer and every Muslim who is a true Muslim. To remain hungry from\nmorning until evening is not considered a fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmadiyya\nMuslim Community (Jama\u2019at) Founder – The Promised Messiah \u2013 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam\nAhmad, peace be on him,  has stated that through the practice of fasting,\nGod Almighty desires for a person to decrease one form of nourishment and\nincrease in another form of sustenance. A person observing the fast remains\noccupied in the remembrance of God Almighty in order to develop a state of\ninclination towards God and detachment from the world. Fasting has been\nprescribed so that one may become righteous. However, what is righteousness? It\nis to abstain from spiritual and moral weaknesses. The observing of the fast\nshould develop a standard of righteousness within a person, through the means\nof which one is then able to protect themselves from all forms of spiritual and\nmoral weaknesses, otherwise it is meaningless to fast. Thus, by truly\nfulfilling the due rights of fasting and by attaining high standards of\nrighteousness that the observing of fasts will bring a person, a believer and a\nMuslim become under the protection of God Almighty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmadiyya\nKhalifa continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hazrat Abu\nHuraira narrates that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) stated that God Almighty says\nthat every deed of a person is for his own sake, except for observing fasts.\nIn fact, the fast is observed for My sake.\u201d Similarly, the Holy Prophet (PBUH)\nalso stated that fasts are a shield and if anyone of you is observing a fast,\nhe should not utter anything which is indecent and foul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy\nProphet (PBUH) also said, by God, in Whose hand lies Muhammad\u2019s (PBUH) life,\nthe smell of the mouth of an individual observing the fast is more pleasant to\nAllah the Exalted than musk.\u201d That is, it is more pleasant than the fragrance\nof musk. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) then stated, there are two joys for an\nindividual who observes fasts and that bring him happiness. Firstly, he\nrejoices when he breaks the fast in that Allah the Exalted made provisions for\nhim to break the fast. Secondly, when he will meet his Lord, he will rejoice\ndue to the fasts as Allah the Exalted states that I Personally become the\nreward for one who fasts.\u201d Furthermore, the state of the joy of an individual,\nwho observes the fast for the sake of Allah and receives the uncountable\nrewards of Allah the Exalted, will be of a completely different nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nHoliness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad went on to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy\nProphet (PBUH) has also warned us and drawn our attention to the fact that if\nduring the month of Ramadan, wherein the doors to heaven are opened; the doors\nto hell are closed and Satan is shackled, but yet if one were to witness the\nmonth of Ramadhan and not have their sins forgiven then when will he be\nforgiven? The Holy Prophet (PBUH) also warned that if despite the extremely\ncomprehensive mercy of God Almighty, the means to secure one\u2019s forgiveness are\nnot attained (even in Ramadan), then when will they be attained? Hence, we\nshould not simply become happy on account of Ramadan\u2019s arrival and become\nsatisfied in merely congratulating each other for Ramadan and the act of\nfasting. Rather, we should seriously evaluate ourselves about whether we are\nstriving to attain the true purpose of fasting as laid out by God Almighty. May\nAllah Almighty enable all of us to achieve this purpose and grant us His\nforgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in\nthe next verse, God Almighty also describes those conditions in which one may\nbe excused from fasting. However, before elaborating upon this, God Almighty\nexplains, saying that since I Myself am the reward for the one who fasts, and I\npersonally provide believers the means to secure their forgiveness, therefore\nthe thought should not arise in anyone\u2019s mind that we are making a great\nsacrifice by fasting, as a result of which Almighty Allah has granted us His\nfavours, forbearance and forgivingness. No doubt, the mercy and forgiveness of\nGod has been made extremely vast, but this (fasting) is still not an\nextraordinary sacrifice. At the time of Sehr, we eat our stomach\u2019s fill, and at\nthe time of breaking the fast, everyone eats whatever they desire; and then,\nthis is hardly an ongoing sacrifice \u2013 it is only a matter of a small number of\ndays in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence,\nthose afflicted with temporary illnesses can also give the Fidya, so that they\nget well and can fast. And then, at the end of one\u2019s journey and upon\nrecovering from sickness, it is also compulsory to fast. The need to observe\nboth \u2013 observing missed fasts and giving the fidya \u2013 is proven by the\nfollowing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmadiyya Founder\n– The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, explains that those who end up\nrecovering and are able to make up their fasts, for them to think that they\nonly need to pay the Fidya [and not keep the missed fasts] opens a dangerous\ndoor to legitimising that which is forbidden. If one\u2019s condition is such that\nhe recovered after Ramadan, or he became ill in Ramadan but later recovered, if\nsuch people simply say that we did not fast in Ramadan but paid the Fidya, then\nthis is also opening the door to legitimising something wrong. It would be\ncondoning false exceptions, opening forbidden ways and forging false\ninnovations. Even if one has paid the Fidya, he still needs to make up the\nmissed fasts after Ramadan. These missed fasts can be kept at any time in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, God\nAlmighty states in this verse that whichever good work you carry out with the\nutmost obedience, even if you don\u2019t want to do it, you still do it because it\nis a command of God, and subsequently God Almighty shall reward you with even\nmore. At the end of this verse, God Almighty has once again emphasized that\nyour observing fasts is better for you in every respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in\nthe following verse, God Almighty states, We caused the Qur\u2019an to descend in\nthis month, which is a means of guidance for you, and contains within itself\nclear and illuminating signs. Thus, the Holy Quran and the month of Ramadan\nhave a special connection. Therefore, alongside fasting one ought to ponder\nover the Quran and strive to act according to its teachings, so that one can\nderive true blessings from the fasts during Ramadan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hazrat\nMirza Ghulam Ahmad – The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, further says: When\nreciting the Holy Quran, when someone comes across a portion in which there is\nmention of the Mercy of God Almighty, then at that moment one ought to seek\nmercy from God Almighty. And when one recites a portion in which the Quran\nrefers to punishment of a particular people, at that point one ought to seek\nprotection from God Almighty through repentance and seeking His forgiveness.\nOne should ponder and reflect over the Holy Quran and act according to its\nteachings.\u201d Thus, this is the manner in which the Holy Quran ought to be read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in the\nfollowing verse [of the Quran], God Almighty states: In the month of Ramadan,\nMy servants increase their endeavour and search for Me. Thus, I am near, and\nthat I listen to their supplications. If they seek from Me with sincerity, I\naccept their prayers. However, in order for you to have your prayers accepted,\nyou must first act on My commands.\u201d God Almighty states that one ought to act\non His commands and for one to increase in their belief in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holy\nProphet (PBUH) has stated that the first ten days of this month are to attain\nGod Almighty\u2019s mercy, the middle ten days are to seek His forgiveness and the\nlast ten days one seeks to be saved from the hellfire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concluding\nhis Sermon, Ahmadiyya Khalifa prayed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May God\nAlmighty enable us to become His true servants and cover us with His mercy and\nforgiveness and we may become the recipients of the blessings of this month.\nDuring these days particularly pray for the Jama\u2019at\u2026\u2026.. Pray for the Muslim\nCommunity (Ummah) that may God Almighty stop them from carrying out cruelties\nand from taking the lives of one another. May they become truly sincere Muslims\nand recognise the Imam of the Age. Pray for the world in general because they\nare heading towards destruction at an alarming pace. May God Almighty grant\nmankind wisdom so that they may recognise God Almighty and be saved from this\ndestruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By A. Abdul Aziz. (Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermon delivered by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, on 10th May, 2019, at \u2018BaithulFuthuh\u2019, London, U.K. gave a discourse on Ramazan and our Responsibilities. Ahmadiyya Supreme Head recited Holy Qur\u2019an – verses 184-187 of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}