American Christians Keeping the Fast of Ramadan
We wish every brother and sister currently fasting for the sake of our Creator and Sustainer, الرحمان الرحيم Allah, the bounties and countless benefits and rewards during this blessed month of Ramadan.
This wonderful month is full of blessings of all sorts, one of which is that "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained".[Reported by Bukhari Volume 3, Book 31, Number 123 from the divine, sayings and revelations sent to Prophet Muhammad peace& blessings be upon him]. This is a clear indication that it is the best time of year to cleanse ourselves spiritually from al the negative elements in our souls without the interference of any external negative influence. Consequently, there has never been a better time to initiate a positive change and become a better person in manners and deeds for both ourselves and the world around us as our prophet Muhammad peace & blessings be upon him said “Allah will bestow this reward on one who gives food to a fasting man even if it is a sip of milk or a date or a sip of water. And whosoever gives satisfaction to a man, Allah will give him a drink from my fountain that will not make him thirsty till he will enter Paradise. And it is a month of which the beginning is mercy, the middle is forgiveness and the end is freedom from the fire. And whosoever makes light the (burden of) his servants therein, Allah will forgive him, and He will make him free from the fire.” [Mishkat ul Masabih].
The rewards for acts of worship, humanity and brotherhood are especially important during Ramadan. This is because Allah in his infinite mercy wants to both encourage us and reward us greatly for even the smallest good action. Allah in his infinite wisdom is teaching us in this month for the rest of the year the way to be to succeed in this life and the hereafter. We musn't underestimate the goodness he has placed in our hearts, however small we may think it is, to Allah the Oft Thankful it is worth a mighty reward in this world and the next.
“All the good deeds of the son of Adam multiply his reward from ten to seven hundred times. Allah said: ‘Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I reward for it.’”
Finally we would like to thank our Christian brothers and sisters who wrote to us to let us know they too have decided to keep fast this month. Here is an extract of what they wrote.
Ramadan 1427 / 2006
To our Muslim brothers and sisters everywhere:
All praise and thanks be to the one God whom we all worship, who has called you to worship Him after the manner of al-Islam, and us to worship Him according to the gospel of Jesus, whom both faith traditions hail as the Messiah: it is our deep wish that God strengthen you in your devotion to Him, your love of Him, and your trust in Him during this month of Ramadan, and that everything that you do for His sake may be pleasing to Him.
We have joined you in keeping the fast of Ramadan this year, as a freewill offering to God accompanying our prayer for peace, justice, and a spirit of love to grow among the peoples of the Abrahamic religions. It is our desire that all over the world, if God so wills, Muslim, Jew and Christian can learn to stand together in brotherhood in the sight of their Creator. But we are mourning many of the deeds of our government and our people, as they continue to involve themselves in the affairs of Islamic peoples, and the lives of Muslim detainees held at United States facilities, without sufficiently caring or understanding what they are doing to the people whose lives they affect. To our sorrow, we see many American Christians trusting, supporting, and following policy-makers whose guiding principle seems to be “let us do evil, that good may come of it, as if they did not know that our own scripture explicitly condemns it (Romans 3:8).
"Our power to make the world's leaders humble themselves, question their own behavior, and repent, seems very small. And yet we draw hope from our certainty that we are listened to by the true Ruler of this world, who sees everything and holds all power. This month we curb our natural appetites during daylight hours to be more mindful of the One to whom we must return, the Highest, our Helper. We perceive, sadly, that many American Christians lack understanding of what it means to be a Muslim. How better to change that than for some of us to join the Muslim world in its Ramadan fast? We also hope that such self-restraint as we gain from the fast might help restore a spirit of self-restraint to American culture, in however small a way, for on our learning self-restraint now seems to depend the saving of the world from ruin."
We wish every brother and sister currently fasting for the sake of our Creator and Sustainer, الرحمان الرحيم Allah, the bounties and countless benefits and rewards during this blessed month of Ramadan.
This wonderful month is full of blessings of all sorts, one of which is that "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained".[Reported by Bukhari Volume 3, Book 31, Number 123 from the divine, sayings and revelations sent to Prophet Muhammad peace& blessings be upon him]. This is a clear indication that it is the best time of year to cleanse ourselves spiritually from al the negative elements in our souls without the interference of any external negative influence. Consequently, there has never been a better time to initiate a positive change and become a better person in manners and deeds for both ourselves and the world around us as our prophet Muhammad peace & blessings be upon him said “Allah will bestow this reward on one who gives food to a fasting man even if it is a sip of milk or a date or a sip of water. And whosoever gives satisfaction to a man, Allah will give him a drink from my fountain that will not make him thirsty till he will enter Paradise. And it is a month of which the beginning is mercy, the middle is forgiveness and the end is freedom from the fire. And whosoever makes light the (burden of) his servants therein, Allah will forgive him, and He will make him free from the fire.” [Mishkat ul Masabih].
The rewards for acts of worship, humanity and brotherhood are especially important during Ramadan. This is because Allah in his infinite mercy wants to both encourage us and reward us greatly for even the smallest good action. Allah in his infinite wisdom is teaching us in this month for the rest of the year the way to be to succeed in this life and the hereafter. We musn't underestimate the goodness he has placed in our hearts, however small we may think it is, to Allah the Oft Thankful it is worth a mighty reward in this world and the next.
“All the good deeds of the son of Adam multiply his reward from ten to seven hundred times. Allah said: ‘Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I reward for it.’”
Finally we would like to thank our Christian brothers and sisters who wrote to us to let us know they too have decided to keep fast this month. Here is an extract of what they wrote.
Ramadan 1427 / 2006
To our Muslim brothers and sisters everywhere:
All praise and thanks be to the one God whom we all worship, who has called you to worship Him after the manner of al-Islam, and us to worship Him according to the gospel of Jesus, whom both faith traditions hail as the Messiah: it is our deep wish that God strengthen you in your devotion to Him, your love of Him, and your trust in Him during this month of Ramadan, and that everything that you do for His sake may be pleasing to Him.
We have joined you in keeping the fast of Ramadan this year, as a freewill offering to God accompanying our prayer for peace, justice, and a spirit of love to grow among the peoples of the Abrahamic religions. It is our desire that all over the world, if God so wills, Muslim, Jew and Christian can learn to stand together in brotherhood in the sight of their Creator. But we are mourning many of the deeds of our government and our people, as they continue to involve themselves in the affairs of Islamic peoples, and the lives of Muslim detainees held at United States facilities, without sufficiently caring or understanding what they are doing to the people whose lives they affect. To our sorrow, we see many American Christians trusting, supporting, and following policy-makers whose guiding principle seems to be “let us do evil, that good may come of it, as if they did not know that our own scripture explicitly condemns it (Romans 3:8).
"Our power to make the world's leaders humble themselves, question their own behavior, and repent, seems very small. And yet we draw hope from our certainty that we are listened to by the true Ruler of this world, who sees everything and holds all power. This month we curb our natural appetites during daylight hours to be more mindful of the One to whom we must return, the Highest, our Helper. We perceive, sadly, that many American Christians lack understanding of what it means to be a Muslim. How better to change that than for some of us to join the Muslim world in its Ramadan fast? We also hope that such self-restraint as we gain from the fast might help restore a spirit of self-restraint to American culture, in however small a way, for on our learning self-restraint now seems to depend the saving of the world from ruin."
Comments