DawudTalut
Peace be upon you.
Peace be on you….Each ten days of Ramadhan in succession [called Ashra] are linked with:
a) Allah’s mercy and
b) forgiveness, and
c) salvation from fire of Hell – as informed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)…
By the Grace of Allah, the last ten days are passing. A true believer with firm faith in Allah, makes righteous efforts to seek pleasure and grace of Allah and to avail benefits of Ramadhan by abiding commandments of Allah and Holy Prophet (s.a.w.).
Mercy of Allah is of two kinds.
1) One which is due to Allah’s favour and is independent of human’s effort. As said in Holy Quran: [7:157] '…My mercy encompasses all things…'
Hazrat Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) explained: 'This verse indicates that God's mercy is general and extensive whereas chastisement owing to Divine attribute of justice comes into operation after specific action is taken by man. That is, this attribute comes into play once Divine law is violated. This necessitates that there is Divine law and sin is committed by contravening it. It is then that this attribute comes into play and fulfils its requisite.' (Tafseer Hazrat Masih e Maud, Vol. II, p. 566)
Breaking divine law brings punishment yet Allah can have mercy and forgiveness. A true believer keeps check on himself and abide by divine law to his best and does not violate divine laws to begin with…..If one is bold in committing sin then it is like calling wrath of Allah.
Hazrat Promised Messiah (a.s.) said: ‘…….when the guilty person pays his dues by repenting and seeking God's forgiveness through humble and meek entreaties, Divine mercy supersedes the requisite for chastisement and hides and conceals chastisement within itself. This is what is meant by the verse: '…I will inflict My punishment on whom I will; but my mercy encompasses all things…'. That is, mercy surpasses chastisement. If this principle is not accepted, all religious laws are negated.' (Tafseer Hazrat Masih e Maud, Vol. II, p. 566)
2) The second kind of mercy is conditional and related to true believers who do good deeds: [7:57] '…Surely, the mercy of Allah is nigh unto those who do good.'……The word used here is ‘mohsin’ i.e. the one who is good to others, who abides by righteousness, has knowledge and fulfils God's work with all its requisites. If they commit sin unknowingly, they call Allah in hearts, Allah’s mercy cover them, they are listened.
To be mohsin, very high standard of practice is needed….. Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that a mohsin is a person who when doing anything good is conscious that he is watching God or at least that God is watching him…..Thus such a person will not harm anyone. Practicing Islamic commandments ensure payment of rights of Allah and rights of people…..We have to be like a ‘mohsin’ and make lasting changes in us in Ramadhan.
====
As mentioned in the start, Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) asked us
a) to seek mercy of Allah in first ten days of Ramadhan and
b) say Istighfar in next ten days, and
c) he (s.a.w.) said that the last ten days of Ramadan are salvation from the fire of Hell.
How these three stages are related?
Mercy of Allah has been mentioned above. A true believer seeks mercy of Allah in Ramadhan. To have safety against Satanic attempts, he want to have divine mercy firmly. For this he need help which he gets by saying Istighfar:
Hazrat Promised Messiah (a.s.) said: 'The true meaning of Istighfar is to supplicate God that no human weakness should be manifested and that God might support nature with His strength and might enclose it in the circle of His help and protection. The root of Istighfar is ghafara, which means to cover up. Thus, the meaning of Istighfar is that God should cover up the natural weakness of the supplicant with His power. This meaning is then enlarged to include the covering up of a sin that has been committed, but the true meaning is that God should safeguard the supplicant against his natural weakness and should bestow upon him power from His power, and knowledge from His knowledge, and light from His light. Having created man, God has not become separated from him, but as He is man's Creator and the Creator of all his external and internal faculties, He is also All-Sustaining, that is to say, He safeguards with His support everything that He has created. It is, therefore, necessary for man that as he has been created by God, he should seek to safeguard the features of his creation through the All-Sustaining attribute of the Divine....Thus this is a natural need of man for which he has been directed to carry out Istighfar.' (Review of Religions—Urdu, vol. I, pp. 187 – Essence of Islam, Vol. II, pp. 241-242)
Once a true believer gets divine forgiveness, cover and help, he will be closer to Allah and will be saved from hell. Allah gives reward to those who strive for Him. Thus it is not only safety from Hell but it is grant of Paradise too.
Thus if we repent sincerely and seek Divine forgiveness and try and stay firm on virtues, the worship of the thirty days of Ramadan, fulfilment of rights and constant practice of repenting and Istighfar will permanently close the doors to Hell on us and bring grant of Paradise.
Hazrat Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: 'The objective of religion is this alone that man has firm faith in the existence and perfect attributes of God Almighty and is delivered from selfish desires and instils personal love of God. In fact this is the paradise which will manifest itself in various guises in the Hereafter. Likewise, to be unaware and distant from the true God and have no love for Him is in fact the state of hell which will appear in various forms in the Hereafter.' (Chashma e Masih, Ruhani Khaza'in, Vol. 20, p. 352)
Paradise and Hell begins from this world. According to Hazrat Promised Messiah (a.s.), no other Book has explained Paradise and Hell as Holy Quran did. He said: 'But for him who is awed by the lofty station of his Lord, there are two gardens.' [55:47]. He said: 'That is, one paradise is attained in this world alone because fear of God stops him from evil. Pursuing wickedness fills him with anxiety and unease which is a dangerous hell in itself. A person who fears God avoids evil and is promptly saved from the torment and pain that is created by pandering to carnal and selfish desires. He develops in faithfulness and turns to God which grants him delight and rapture and thus paradisiacal life starts for him in this world. Likewise, by going contrary to this, hellish life starts.' (Tafseer Hazrat Masih e Maud, Vol. IV, p. 300)
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To attain Allah’s pleasure and to secure one's faith, there is another aspect to the last ten days of Ramadan. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) gave us glad-tiding about it. It is Lailatul Qadr (The Night of Decree).
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that the past sins of a person who fasts during Ramadan in a state of belief and while holding himself to account are forgiven. And the past sins of a person who experiences Lailatul Qadr in a state of belief and while holding himself to account are also forgiven………Thus what is important is ‘the state of belief and holding oneself to account’. Belief has been linked with good deeds.
Holy Qur'an says:'True believers are only those whose hearts tremble whenthe name ofAllah is mentioned, and when His Signs are recited to them they increase their faith, and who put their trust in their Lord,' [8:3].
Thus in order to get full benefits of Ramadhan and Lailatul Qadr, it should be kept in view to do good deeds and to pay rights with reference of Allah……..If a person has weak faith and usurps others but says he experienced Lailatul Qadr then either Allah granted him exceptional grace which demands that he should now stays firm on what is right and abides by His commandments, if not then what he thought was Lailatul Qadr may be a deception of his self…… Faith should be perfect and self accountability should be there.
The extended meanings of Lailatul Qadr:
Hazrat Khalifatul Messiah V (may Allah be his helper) said that Hazrat Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) mentioned that Lailatul Qadr is not only a specific night that falls during Ramadan.
It has three forms:
a) A night during Ramadan,
b) Era of a Prophet and,
c) Lailatul Qadr of an individual is the one when he is purified from earthly impurities and has firm faith and rids himself of all evil while holding himself accountable. If this Lailatul Qadr is experienced and we become sincerely God's, abide by His commandments and elevate our standards of worship we have found the objective which is commanded by Allah the Exalted. If we obtained this station, each day and each night becomes an hour of acceptance of prayer for us.
We, the followers of the true and ardent devotee of the Holy Prophet [Hazrat Promised Messiah a.s.] need to bring about a revolutionary change in ourselves and elevate our faith to the level where our each word and deed is to attain pleasure of God the Exalted and we spend our lives holding ourselves accountable. And may the blessings of Ramadan always remain with us! May Allah make many of us experience the Lailatul Qadr which is a special instance of acceptance of prayer and about which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) told us that it befalls one night during last days of Ramadan. May experiencing it keep us on piety and righteousness and enhance these. May all our past sins be forgiven and may with His special grace, God the Exalted grant us power to avoid sin in future!
Reference and details in Friday Sermon: Allah's Mercy, Forgiveness and Rewarding
wwwDOTalislamDOTorg/friday-sermon/2015-07-10.html
a) Allah’s mercy and
b) forgiveness, and
c) salvation from fire of Hell – as informed by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)…
By the Grace of Allah, the last ten days are passing. A true believer with firm faith in Allah, makes righteous efforts to seek pleasure and grace of Allah and to avail benefits of Ramadhan by abiding commandments of Allah and Holy Prophet (s.a.w.).
Mercy of Allah is of two kinds.
1) One which is due to Allah’s favour and is independent of human’s effort. As said in Holy Quran: [7:157] '…My mercy encompasses all things…'
Hazrat Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) explained: 'This verse indicates that God's mercy is general and extensive whereas chastisement owing to Divine attribute of justice comes into operation after specific action is taken by man. That is, this attribute comes into play once Divine law is violated. This necessitates that there is Divine law and sin is committed by contravening it. It is then that this attribute comes into play and fulfils its requisite.' (Tafseer Hazrat Masih e Maud, Vol. II, p. 566)
Breaking divine law brings punishment yet Allah can have mercy and forgiveness. A true believer keeps check on himself and abide by divine law to his best and does not violate divine laws to begin with…..If one is bold in committing sin then it is like calling wrath of Allah.
Hazrat Promised Messiah (a.s.) said: ‘…….when the guilty person pays his dues by repenting and seeking God's forgiveness through humble and meek entreaties, Divine mercy supersedes the requisite for chastisement and hides and conceals chastisement within itself. This is what is meant by the verse: '…I will inflict My punishment on whom I will; but my mercy encompasses all things…'. That is, mercy surpasses chastisement. If this principle is not accepted, all religious laws are negated.' (Tafseer Hazrat Masih e Maud, Vol. II, p. 566)
2) The second kind of mercy is conditional and related to true believers who do good deeds: [7:57] '…Surely, the mercy of Allah is nigh unto those who do good.'……The word used here is ‘mohsin’ i.e. the one who is good to others, who abides by righteousness, has knowledge and fulfils God's work with all its requisites. If they commit sin unknowingly, they call Allah in hearts, Allah’s mercy cover them, they are listened.
To be mohsin, very high standard of practice is needed….. Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that a mohsin is a person who when doing anything good is conscious that he is watching God or at least that God is watching him…..Thus such a person will not harm anyone. Practicing Islamic commandments ensure payment of rights of Allah and rights of people…..We have to be like a ‘mohsin’ and make lasting changes in us in Ramadhan.
====
As mentioned in the start, Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) asked us
a) to seek mercy of Allah in first ten days of Ramadhan and
b) say Istighfar in next ten days, and
c) he (s.a.w.) said that the last ten days of Ramadan are salvation from the fire of Hell.
How these three stages are related?
Mercy of Allah has been mentioned above. A true believer seeks mercy of Allah in Ramadhan. To have safety against Satanic attempts, he want to have divine mercy firmly. For this he need help which he gets by saying Istighfar:
Hazrat Promised Messiah (a.s.) said: 'The true meaning of Istighfar is to supplicate God that no human weakness should be manifested and that God might support nature with His strength and might enclose it in the circle of His help and protection. The root of Istighfar is ghafara, which means to cover up. Thus, the meaning of Istighfar is that God should cover up the natural weakness of the supplicant with His power. This meaning is then enlarged to include the covering up of a sin that has been committed, but the true meaning is that God should safeguard the supplicant against his natural weakness and should bestow upon him power from His power, and knowledge from His knowledge, and light from His light. Having created man, God has not become separated from him, but as He is man's Creator and the Creator of all his external and internal faculties, He is also All-Sustaining, that is to say, He safeguards with His support everything that He has created. It is, therefore, necessary for man that as he has been created by God, he should seek to safeguard the features of his creation through the All-Sustaining attribute of the Divine....Thus this is a natural need of man for which he has been directed to carry out Istighfar.' (Review of Religions—Urdu, vol. I, pp. 187 – Essence of Islam, Vol. II, pp. 241-242)
Once a true believer gets divine forgiveness, cover and help, he will be closer to Allah and will be saved from hell. Allah gives reward to those who strive for Him. Thus it is not only safety from Hell but it is grant of Paradise too.
Thus if we repent sincerely and seek Divine forgiveness and try and stay firm on virtues, the worship of the thirty days of Ramadan, fulfilment of rights and constant practice of repenting and Istighfar will permanently close the doors to Hell on us and bring grant of Paradise.
Hazrat Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: 'The objective of religion is this alone that man has firm faith in the existence and perfect attributes of God Almighty and is delivered from selfish desires and instils personal love of God. In fact this is the paradise which will manifest itself in various guises in the Hereafter. Likewise, to be unaware and distant from the true God and have no love for Him is in fact the state of hell which will appear in various forms in the Hereafter.' (Chashma e Masih, Ruhani Khaza'in, Vol. 20, p. 352)
Paradise and Hell begins from this world. According to Hazrat Promised Messiah (a.s.), no other Book has explained Paradise and Hell as Holy Quran did. He said: 'But for him who is awed by the lofty station of his Lord, there are two gardens.' [55:47]. He said: 'That is, one paradise is attained in this world alone because fear of God stops him from evil. Pursuing wickedness fills him with anxiety and unease which is a dangerous hell in itself. A person who fears God avoids evil and is promptly saved from the torment and pain that is created by pandering to carnal and selfish desires. He develops in faithfulness and turns to God which grants him delight and rapture and thus paradisiacal life starts for him in this world. Likewise, by going contrary to this, hellish life starts.' (Tafseer Hazrat Masih e Maud, Vol. IV, p. 300)
=====
To attain Allah’s pleasure and to secure one's faith, there is another aspect to the last ten days of Ramadan. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) gave us glad-tiding about it. It is Lailatul Qadr (The Night of Decree).
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that the past sins of a person who fasts during Ramadan in a state of belief and while holding himself to account are forgiven. And the past sins of a person who experiences Lailatul Qadr in a state of belief and while holding himself to account are also forgiven………Thus what is important is ‘the state of belief and holding oneself to account’. Belief has been linked with good deeds.
Holy Qur'an says:'True believers are only those whose hearts tremble whenthe name ofAllah is mentioned, and when His Signs are recited to them they increase their faith, and who put their trust in their Lord,' [8:3].
Thus in order to get full benefits of Ramadhan and Lailatul Qadr, it should be kept in view to do good deeds and to pay rights with reference of Allah……..If a person has weak faith and usurps others but says he experienced Lailatul Qadr then either Allah granted him exceptional grace which demands that he should now stays firm on what is right and abides by His commandments, if not then what he thought was Lailatul Qadr may be a deception of his self…… Faith should be perfect and self accountability should be there.
The extended meanings of Lailatul Qadr:
Hazrat Khalifatul Messiah V (may Allah be his helper) said that Hazrat Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) mentioned that Lailatul Qadr is not only a specific night that falls during Ramadan.
It has three forms:
a) A night during Ramadan,
b) Era of a Prophet and,
c) Lailatul Qadr of an individual is the one when he is purified from earthly impurities and has firm faith and rids himself of all evil while holding himself accountable. If this Lailatul Qadr is experienced and we become sincerely God's, abide by His commandments and elevate our standards of worship we have found the objective which is commanded by Allah the Exalted. If we obtained this station, each day and each night becomes an hour of acceptance of prayer for us.
We, the followers of the true and ardent devotee of the Holy Prophet [Hazrat Promised Messiah a.s.] need to bring about a revolutionary change in ourselves and elevate our faith to the level where our each word and deed is to attain pleasure of God the Exalted and we spend our lives holding ourselves accountable. And may the blessings of Ramadan always remain with us! May Allah make many of us experience the Lailatul Qadr which is a special instance of acceptance of prayer and about which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) told us that it befalls one night during last days of Ramadan. May experiencing it keep us on piety and righteousness and enhance these. May all our past sins be forgiven and may with His special grace, God the Exalted grant us power to avoid sin in future!
Reference and details in Friday Sermon: Allah's Mercy, Forgiveness and Rewarding
wwwDOTalislamDOTorg/friday-sermon/2015-07-10.html
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