RAMADAAN IS THE MONTH OF RETURNING TO THE QURAN

Jumuah khutbah of 3 July 2015 delivered by Mowlana Syed Aftab Haider at Ahlul Bait (a.s) Islamic Centre, Ottery, Cape Town

The last two weeks of Ramadaan are even more important than the first two weeks. In the last ten nights we are asked to seek for the night of Qadr whose worship is equivalent in value to a lifetime of worship.

It's a night to seriously review our personal spiritual lives and to repent and to ask for forgiveness. Prophet Muhammad (sawa) and Ahlul Bait (a.s) taught us that if someone was not able to achieve being granted forgiveness in the night of Qadr, then his chances of achieving forgiveness during other times are slim. This is because the night of Qadr is one's best opportunity to achieve it.

Among the duas we read on the nights of Qadr is to ask Allah for protection from the fire of Hell.

During these nights of Qadr on the 19^th and 21^st night we also remember the martyrdom of the Imam of the God Conscious, Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s).

The heart of the night of Qadr is the revelation of the Quran. The point of reference and introduction of the night of Qadr is the Quran, as is the month of Ramadaan itself.

There is thus so much emphasis during this month to return to the Quran which we have otherwise abandoned during other times of the year.

Thus if we return to Quran in this month, then we would have achieved everything.

ROOT CAUSE OF UMMAH'S PROBLEMS

A scholar who spent much time in prison and used this time to ponder over the root cause of the problems of the Muslim ummah concluded that it's due to 2 reasons:

1. This ummah has abandoned the Quran; and

2. This ummah is divided instead of being united

Another scholar who commented on this analysis says that of the two reasons mentioned above, the real reason is the first one mentioned as those who are attached to the Quran will never be disunited! Thus we only have one problem and that is having abandoned the Quran. If we solve this problem, then we will not have sectarianism, wars, infighting, etc.

In Surah Hashr Verse 21 it says: “If We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.”

Hard rock and mountain crumble in humility before the Quran from fear of Allah. The example of mountain crumbling in humility is presented for people who are willing to think. How is it that the mountain crumbles, but our hearts remains hard when reading Quran?!

In our own humble way we try to bring the message of Quran to people during these nights but find that our attendance is weak. Returning to the Quran does not come without a price. We can have many excuses for not attending these noble Quranic gatherings, but we are the losers as we don't know if we will see another Ramadaan.

This is due to the environment of spirituality being unique during this month that is not there during other months. The doors of Mercy are wide open yet we do not respond to Allah's invitation. In Dua Iftitah we read that we are so arrogant and disrespectful to Allah's call to achieve His Love and Mercy such that it looks as if we are in control and doing Allah a favour! And still with all our bad attitude we only see Goodness and Mercy emanating from Allah to us.

Compare this approach to Imam Ali (a.s) who says from the time of the revelation of the Quran, he never left the Quran even for a moment.

The Battle of Badr which occurred on 17 Ramadaan also teaches us that numbers are not important but Trust in Allah and being attached to Quran is the source of one's success. In the Battle of Uhud, when people left the Quran for a short while, their power also left them for a short while.

MUSLIM JUDICIAL COUNCIL STATEMENT ON KUWAIT MOSQUE BOMBING

Last week we mentioned the sad incident in the Imam Ja'far Saadiq (a.s) mosque in Kuwait which was attacked by a suicide bomber during jumuah in which 27 people were martyred and over 200 people were injured. This occurred while they were in the state of sajdah! They were thus martyred in the best month, in the best time of jumuah, in the best place being the house of Allah and in the best position being the state of sajdah. How fortunate they were to meet their Lord in this position.

Indeed it was a great tragedy at the same time and we pray for the well being of the survivors and their families.

It should also be noted that Kuwait is one of the main sources of funding for the terrorists.

The murderers thought that by doing this dastardly act that they would defeat the people of Kuwait. But the opposite occurred.

After this tragedy, Sunni and Shia came to pray together in a strong show of unity against these terrorists. This is contrary to the same incidents which occurred in Saudi Arabia which left the locals rather indifferent to what had occurred.

And the strong show of Unity and solidarity even reached the remote parts of the world including Cape Town. We praise Allah over and over for this as our local Muslim Leadership also joined them and we thus saw the statement issued by the Muslim Judicial Council this week condemning this act. And their statement went beyond mere condemnation but also reminds us of our responsibility towards each other as Sunni and Shia communities.

We acknowledge and appreciate this sober approach to this issue and pray that it will reflect in our joint actions towards each other Inshallah in this beloved country of ours.