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• 29 Ramadhan 1436

The Representative of the leading Marja’iya in Europe congratulates the Muslim world on Eid al-Fitr beseeching the Almighty to make this an Eid of harmony, love and friendship between Muslims and emphasizing the following:
• Continue the acts of worship performed in the month of Ramadhan beyond the holy month.
• Check the state of the needy and the displaced and care for them; especially the families of the national mobilisation and security forces.
• Console the widows and orphans and their families to bring back a smile on their lips on Eid days.
• Pray for the victory of the Mujahideen and defenders of Islam and Muslims.
• Visit family, relatives and Muslim brothers, and honour parents and treat them kindly.

Sayyid Kashmiri began his talk about Eid with this verse: ((Say, "In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate.")) Holy Qur’an 10:58.

This year, by grace of Allah, we and Muslims fasted together in spite the hot weather and long hours in some countries. Fasting coincided with the rise of the spiritual barometer, i.e performing good deeds and acts of worship and reading the holy Qur’an, praying and giving iftar to the fasting, helping the poor and needy and being kind to orphans and regular exchanges of visits between Momineen and showing good morality and various other events referred to by the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) in his sermon on the first day of the month of Ramadan.

Truly it was a month of goodness, blessing and mercy for Muslims. It is the month when the gates of heaven opened for the beseechers. The month when Allah revealed the holy Qur’an and made Laylat al-Qadr (the night of power) which is better than a thousand months. A month that taught and accustomed us to good traits - to be our approach and guide us the rest of the year.

But this begs a question before Eid: Will we retain this spiritual and devout aura, which we have grown accustomed during the remaining months of the year or will we become apathetical as though it was not only yesterday that we were practicing these acts in earnest ?

Dearly beloved:

1- Faith for a Momin is not to triumph over the self in the month of Ramadan and then defeat in the remaining months of the year.

2. Faith is not turning our eyes from Haraam in the holy month of Ramadan and then going back to what we were afterwards, as in the following verse: ((And do not be like she who untwisted her spun thread after it was strong...)) Holy Qur’an 16:92 Faith is for our extremities to fast [abstain] from all disobedience to Allah in the month of Ramadan and beyond until we meet the One and Only Divine.

3. Faith is not piety and abstinence from Haraam in this month only to revert to Haraam afterwards. Rather, faith is a fixed principle of piety and continuous behaviour throughout the year.

4-Faith is not avoiding vanity gatherings that anger Allah, to honour the month of Ramadhan and then go back to them afterwards, as if the Almighty will not hold us accountable for the coming months and years.

5-Faith is not being aware of Allah when performing our duties & business only when fasting and, as soon as we bid farewell to the month of Ramadhan, go back to sinning and immoral behaviour.

6. Faith is not frequent exchanges of visits between Momineen in the month of Ramadan and then cut off; such that they hardly see each other during the year, whereas the Hadith states: “Momineen in their love and affection for one another are like a body if a part of that body complains then all the other parts will feel the pain.”

Dearly beloved:

He who does not understand the reality of fasting is like a camel that’s been tied by its owner and then unleashed. It doesn’t know why it was tied and why it has been unleashed. The same goes for some who fast. They don’t know why they are fasting and why they have iftar, thus in the following Hadith: “Many who fast know not of the fast except hunger and thirst and many others know not of their acts of worship except fatigue and drudgery.”

Dearly beloved, the month of Ramadan is the month of repentance and forgiveness. This does not mean that repentance is limited and confined this month only. On the contrary, the doors are wide open throughout year as though Allah calls us all the time: ((Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.")) Holy Qur’an 39:53

The Almighty, the Exalted invites the wrongdoers to repentance in the following verse: ((O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance....)) Holy Qur’an 66:8. Sincere repentance as explained by some scholars is; feeling remorse in the heart, seeking forgiveness with the tongue and quitting sin.

Therefore we should not miss the opportunity during this last night of the blessed month of Ramadhan in order to obtain Allah’s forgiveness and his pleasure and gain the reward on Eid day. We must not be as Allah says: ((Lest a soul should say, "Oh [how great is] my regret over what I neglected in regard to Allah and that I was among the mockers.")) Holy Qur’an 39:56
Everyone should therefore hold themselves accountable before the end of the month and remember the saying of the prophet (s.a.w.w.) “Wicked is he who has been denied Allah’s forgiveness in the great month.”

As we approach Eid we need to remember the sufferings of others and feel for their hopes and pains. We need to think about those relatives and neighbours around us, the poor and orphans who do not have anything to complete the image of Eid in their minds, especially the displaced people from their homes and their homelands. Each one of us must try to feel those who are nearest to his/her circles to live the a joyous Eid with them and bring a smile to their lips that may not have tasted joy at all. There are hundreds of souls who were martyred and killed during this month. Wives were widowed and children were orphaned. Many families were wiped out leaving only their elderly men and women and babies behind. Many bereaved are mourning their martyred brothers, husbands and fathers. Will a taste of Eid remain after such tragedies? Have any of us thought of visiting these widows and showing our affection to the orphans and sympathizing with them to alleviate their pain and anguish. Have any of us thought of visiting Muslim cemeteries full of weeping and wailing on Eid days. How beautiful it would be to see people going to cemeteries to read Fatiha for their deceased and other Muslims buried there? Visit old peoples’ homes and take them some flowers and gifts to inspire them with the hope of survival.

Also, Islam has stressed kinship ties on this day of Eid and visiting each other. The Hadith says: Keep in touch with your relatives even with a Salam [a greeting], keep in touch with your relatives even with date [to eat]. ((Would you then, if you were given the authority, do mischief in the land, and sever your ties of kinship?)) Holy Qur’an 47:22.

We have to be kind to our parents for they have rights upon us as evoked in the following Dua of Imam Zainul-Abideen (a.s.) for his parents: “O Allah, fill me with awe of my parents like the awe one has for a tyrannical sovereign, and let me be devoted to them with the devotion of a compassionate mother. Make my obedience and devotion to them more gladdening to my eyes than sleep to the drowsy and more refreshing to my chest than drink to the thirsty, so that I may prefer their inclination to my inclination. Set their satisfaction before my satisfaction, make much of their devotion to me, though it be little, and make little of my devotion to them though it be great...”

Finally, we supplicate the 30th day supplication of the month of Ramadhan: O Allah render my fasts observed in this month worthy of appreciation and acceptance, and a medium to obtain Thy pleasure and the pleasure of the Messenger, let the corollary (Furoo - a consequence or a supplement) acquire strength from the original cause (Usool), for the sake of our Leaders-in-chief, Muhammad and his pure children; (all) praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
And the Dua of Amirul-Momineen (a.s.):

O Allah, expand my chest with the Qur’an, use my body with the Qur’an, enlighten my vision with the Qur’an, and my tongue with the Qur’an and assign me on the Qur’an for the rest of my life for there is no might or power except in Allah We ask the Almighty to accept our fasting and worship this month to continue to do righteous deeds.

(("Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.")) Holy Qur’an 2: 201

(("Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.)) Holy Qur’an 3:8

Eid Mubarak to you all