Short Advice on Ramadaan by Allama Ihsaan Elahi Zaheer
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All praise is for Allâh, the Lord of the Heavens and the Earths and peace and blessings be on His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, whom Allâh sent as a Mercy to the world and made him the guide for His creatures.
The Messenger of Allâh sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam was sent as a guide and as a leader to humanity. He guided us to believe in the Oneness of Allâh and ordered us to obey the Commands of Allâh and accept him as the last and final Messenger sent to mankind. Eeman and Islâm represent these two Beliefs.
We Muslims are approaching the blessed days of Ramadhan; we must work hard to please Allâh in these virtuous days of Ramadhan, whilst following the Commands of Allâh and obeying His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
We should also keep in mind that the worship we undertake in this month is not an easy task to accomplish. In the hot and long days of Ramadhan, we keep ourselves hungry and thirsty from dawn to dusk, hold back our desires and avoid even those matters, which Allâh has made Halaal in the common days. Then in this situation, we accomplish our daily works and spend the day according to the Commands of Allâh. In the evening, after the Suhoor, we await the night not to slip into the bed and rest, but to make the Qiyaam and listen to the Book of Allâh; we thank Allâh and make sujoods unto Him. Then we await the call of adhaan to initiate the great act of worship once again.
All this hard work is done only to please Allâh and with the hope that this act would become a means to our salvation. Indeed, many people put together hard efforts in the month of Ramadhan, BUT who is the one, whose worship will truly benefit him on the Day of Resurrection and protect him from the severe punishments and trials of that Day?
He is the one, who believes in the Oneness of Allâh and does not associate partners with Him, and performs all his worships according to the guidance of Allâh's Messenger, because Allâh says:
<BLOCKQUOTE>"Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allâh, then Allâh has forbidden Paradise for him, and Fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimun (polytheist and wrong-doers) there are no helpers." [(5): 72]</BLOCKQUOTE>
This was also what Allâh warned his Messengers with, He said:
<BLOCKQUOTE>"But if they had joined in worship others with Allâh, all that they used to do would have been of no benefit to them." [(6): 88]</BLOCKQUOTE>
Similarly, if one performs all his worship with full sincerity but does not abide by the guidance with which the Messenger of Allâh came, then all his worship will become invalid and be of no benefit on the Day of Judgement. Allâh says:
<BLOCKQUOTE>"O you who believe! Obey Allâh and Obey the Messenger and make not vain your deeds." [Soorah Muhammad (47): 33]</BLOCKQUOTE>
We ask Allâh to make all our worships sincerely for His Face and make us strong adherents to the guidance of Allâh's Messenger.</BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
http://abdurrahman.org/ramadhan/shortadvice.html