O Ummatul Muslimeen! The celebration of Eid ul-Fitr culminates a month of fasting wherein the faithful have spent their time praying and beseeching Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala for forgiveness and mercy. For many, the most glorious month of Ramadan was not just an abstention from food and drink. Rather, it was an exercise in patience and discipline. Eid-ul-Fitr is the celebration for those who fasted and obeyed Almighty Allah’s rules and teachings. It is for those who spent the most wonderful and month of caring and sharing, the month of patience and the month of of constant Ibadah in complete devotion to Almighty Allah Rabbul Ala’meen. Eid is a time when the entire Muslim community comes together to share in each others joys and blessings and also to lessen the burden of those who are suffering.
It is preceded by people shopping and looking around for gifts for their near and dear ones. It is a time when the bright lights from homes and shops illuminates our life. We use this day and the following days to spread happiness and social harmony by visiting our friends and relatives and offering our Duahs to all those who have departed from the Doonya. Gifts are exchanged during Eid by young and old alike. We also visit the elderly and the sick. Eid is a time where all kinds or festivities prevail. Many of us gormandize to make up for “lost food” during the month of Ramadan.
However, with all the going around we some times forget our lesser privileged brethren. We forget that there are many out there who have nothing to celebrate. There are those among our brothers and sisters for whom Eid day is just another ordinary day. There are those who open their cupboards on Eid day and find them bare. There are those in hospitals who will go through a bleak and lonely day with no one visiting them. Friendless, deprived of company, they will have no one to offer solace or comfort. Let us therefore see to it that our deprived brethren welcome the day of Eid-ul-Fitr with warmth and hope. This, after all, is a day of caring and sharing and bringing joy and happiness to those who are less fortunate. This is the essence and message of this most wonderful day of reward.
O People of Imaan! As we buy gifts and clothes for our children, let us earmark a special sum for those who cannot afford to buy. We should also instill in our children a sense of compassion so that when they buy something they will also think of their unfortunate brethren. Let us teach them the art of giving, the art of caring and sharing. The desire of wishing for others what we would wish for ourselves. We should let them know that there are millions of children in war torn areas of Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Bosnia, Kosova, the Philippines and the Caucasus region, the poor and downtrodden areas of Africa, Asia and South America, and even in the forgotten ghettos of Europe and North America who do not have the basic necessities to make this day a different day – a day of joy and happiness, a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving.
Ayyuhal Muslimoon! This is a day for praying and remembering our unfortunate brothers and sisters who are victims of drought, famine and other natural disasters as well as those who had survived the devastating earthquake in Pakistan and Kashmir and the recent floods in parts of Africa and Bangladesh. They need our urgent help and as true Muslims we must do whatever is necessary to assist them in rebuilding their lives. We cannot divest ourselves from the misery of others. We cannot shrug it off saying that it does not concern us. To do this would be an injustice to humanity and to our Imaan. The Most Holy and Glorious Quran reminds us in verse 8 of Surah Al Ma’idah:
“Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah for
Allah is well acquainted with all that you do.”
Many of us donate money to charity and fulfill our religious duty. However, if we actually meet the recipients of our charity the perception of charity changes. There is a feeling of belonging when the recipients and givers meet. Islamic ideology teaches us to be kind and compassionate. Our Beloved Nabee Muhammad Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam said: “I and the provider of the orphan will be together.” And what greater prize is there for anyone of us than to be around our beloved Nabee – Rahmatul Liel Ala’meen Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam? All we need for that is Muhabbat, compassion, sincerity and a feeling of brotherhood and understanding. And that will decide the quality of our life on earth and the hereafter.
From the first moment that the light of Allah-wariness shines into the heart of a human being possessing faith, he or she becomes conscious of its worth and significance. Humility, modesty and kindness are proper only before Almighty Allah, Who created all the existents and the world of being with His Will, and human beings are His real servants. Basically, humility in front of the Most Exalted Creator of the heavens and the earth is itself the greatest source of human honour and dignity.
As Muslims we must remember that the vital force that lies within a pious person keeps him or her aware of the realities of life and he or she never gets swallowed up by the deep and shoreless sea of mundane things for the sake of enjoying life. That is because our intellect and souls are infused with the Truths of the Din of Haqq and we view everything in the perspective of an Islamic world view. Islam attaches so much value to the affairs of the faithful that their station of honour is mentioned along with the Majesty of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala and His Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam in [part of] verse 8 of Surah Al Munafiqun:
“But honour belongs to Allah and His
Messenger and to the Believers.”
O Ummatul Muslimeen! May Almighty Allah Most Merciful grant us all the good fortune to revive the Islamic values in our midst and to cherish them with all our heart: to bow and bend only before Him and to fear no one besides Him, and be loyal to His Din, and proud of His Message! We beseech Him from the depths of our hearts to confer this great wealth upon us for He is indeed, Able to do all things. This is the humble Message of Eid to you, the believers of the Din of Haqq. Cure the ills of the world with the panacea you possess. The world will then know that this radical cure is possible only with the elixir still preserved in its pristine purity by the Ummah of Almighty Allah’s Beloved – Nabee Muhammed al-Mustapha Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam. This is the essence and message of Eid-ul-Fitr – the day the Mala’eeka in heaven call it the Day of Youm-ul-Ja’iza – the day of Great Reward.
And Almighty Allah knows best.