Ramadan and its relation to forgiveness
Todays reminder is about the month of Ramadan and its relation to forgiveness.
We are almost at the half way point in this blessed month and there is still plenty of opportunity to make the most of this blessed month.
One of the blessings of this month is that it has the potential to rid us from our sins and to save us from the Hellfire.
The imam reminded us of a number of hadith that highlight this point. The first of these are translated as the messenger of Allah SAWS saying:
“At every breaking of the fast Allah has people whom He frees (from the Fire), and that happens every night.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we can see from this that the month of Ramadan holds potential even for those who are thinking that they are beyond Allah SWTs mercy. Allah SWT instead teaches us through his messenger SAWS that in fact, even those who are destined to reside in the Hellfire are saved from doing so in this blessed month.
Alongside this, the imam also mentioned the following hadith in which the Prophet SAWS is reported to have said:
“He who fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from God will have his past sins forgiven; he who prays during the night in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from God will have his past sins forgiven; and he who passes Lailat al-qadr [Night of Decree] in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from God will have his past sins forgiven.”
Dear brothers and sisters, the hadith reminds us that we shouldn’t feel despair at transgressing the commands of Allah SWT. Nobody is without sin as this is human nature and Allah SWT designed us this way and He knows us better than we know ourselves. However, our purpose in life is not to avoid sinning but in fact, its to avoid forgetting Allah and it’s to remember to turn back to Him in humility and to ask for forgiveness often.
And often in this blessed month we overlook those who cannot fast in this blessed month. It may be that through illness, travel, pregnancy or other permissible reason someone may not be able to fast. However, this doesn’t mean that the blessings of this month are excluded for them.
The imam confirmed this point through the following hadith of the Prophet SAWS which is translated to say:
“He who provides a fasting person something with which to break his fast, will earn the same reward as the one who was observing the fast, without diminishing in any way the reward of the latter.”
And for those of us who are fortunate enough to be given the invitation from Allah SWT to perform Umrah in this blessed month, the hadith in relation to this is translated to say:
“(The performance of) ‘Umrah during Ramadan is equal to Hajj (pilgrimage).” Or said, “Equal to the performance of Hajj with me.”
Dear brothers and sisters, the month of Ramadan is clearly full of breakfast and mercy. Let us make the most of this blessed month and reap the reward that Allah SWT has set aside for us in this month.
