Abdessalam Yassine
August 2, 2013
The following article is the English translation of this video
The entire video with the English subtitles will be available soon in sha’a Allah
Ramadan and Being Present with God
I seek refuge with God from the accursed Satan. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. May God’s blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, his family and companions.
Today is Sunday the 27th of the month of Sha’ban 1426 AH. [September 28, 2005], Sala, Morocco.
Let’s now ponder and deliberate over the Qur’an
This is the month of the Qur’an, and I’d like some of the present brothers and sisters to tell me some hadiths about fasting and the virtues and merits of Ramadan. So, Bismillah.
The Messenger of God, God bless him and grant him peace, said, “On the first night of the month of Ramadan, God bestows mercy upon His creation, and when He shows mercy to one of His servants, He will not punish him.” He also said, “The fasting person enjoys a double happiness- at the time of fast-breaking and in the presence of God when he is rewarded.” He also said, “A fasting person’s praying will surely be granted.”
God reward you handsomely. Indeed there are plenty of hadiths
The Messenger of God, God bless him and grant him peace, said about the reward of the fasting person, “Whoever observes fasting during the month of Ramadan, with faith and in the hope of receiving God’s reward, all his past sins will be forgiven.”
God bless you my daughter.
The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’ān was revealed as guidance for mankind, and as clear signs that show the right way and distinguish between right and wrong. So let those of you, who are present at the month, fast it. But the one who is sick, or is on a journey should fast as much from other days as he missed. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship for you. All of this so that you may complete the prescribed number of fasts and magnify Him for having guided you, and so that you might be thankful. (1)
This verse mentions fasting in Ramadan, yet God the Almighty said other things which may seem irrelevant for the one who does not ponder over the Qur’an; And When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near. (2)
The Exalted God enjoins us to observe the fasting of Ramadan for its blessings and good, but He also mentions another topic, And When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near. So let’s all ponder and mediate upon what this has to do with that.
Grammarians say that it is a parenthetical sentence or verse. However, is there a relationship between the proximity [qurb] of the Almighty God and Ramadan?
Our noble sister told us a hadith concerning the bestowal of God’s mercy on His servants on the first night of Ramadan, and that when He shows mercy to them, He does not punish them.
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
And worship in Ramadan is rewarded twice
That is in terms of the abundant reward and the blessings of Paradise, but we have to seek a lofty request for which our aspiration should as well be very high.
We call ourselves ‘Justice and Ihsan Movement’ and not ‘Justice and Islam Movement’ nor ‘Justice and Iman Movement’;
God ordains justice and Ihsan, what is Ihsan?
It is to worship God as if you see Him, to draw near to God, to seek to stand in close proximity to Him, and to seek the station of Ihsan. All Muslims –and we are Muslims thankfully- have to seek the reward from God, to spend the Night of Power [Laylatul Qadr] in prayer, to recite the Qur’an. We want all of this and something else.
Man’s destiny depends on his willpower; what do you love?
I swear by those steeds that run snorting, then those that create sparks by striking their hoofs on the stones, then those that invade at morning, then raise, at the same time, a trail of dust, then enter, at the same time, into the center of the opposing host, verily man is ungrateful to his Lord, and verily to that he is a witness. And verily in the love of wealth he is intense. (3) Man instinctively loves the cherishing of good, but which good does he love? The worldly good.
Non-believers love the wealth of life; they love only to amass money and build a house.
Arabs say Ardun kanud )[ungrateful land] which means a barren land
Consequently, the person who loves the wealth of life is barren and ungrateful like the land that bears no good,
Whereas we say that we should plant a blessed seed every day so as not to be barren and ungrateful.
Man therefore loves life; loves to be a president, a minister, to be a member of a strong movement, a political party, and the parliament, to become a VIP, or get a job to be able to buy a car.
All of this belongs to worldly life. The Exalted God says, Some of you desire this world; and some of you desire the Hereafter. (4) What is the Hereafter? What’s in it? Why does the one who longs for it seeks it? Does he want the serpents of the hell-fire or perhaps something else?
He wants to get into Paradise; so what should one do to get into it? To worship the Almighty God and obey Him perseveringly.
But there are some who desire more than that, they seek God’s Countenance. What does God the Almighty advise His Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace? The great testament that we should follow:
Stay tenaciously in the companionship of those who call their Lord morning and evening, seeking His countenance; and let not your eyes overlook them, seeking the splendor of the worldly life. And do not obey the one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance, and who has followed his desire and whose behavior has exceeded the limits.. (5) We have to obey the Almighty God and follow the Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace. And this begins with what?
The first branch of the first virtue of faith is the love of God and His Messenger, so what is the second?
The love of men and women for God’s sake.
We call the first virtue: Spiritual Companionship and Community; loving for the God’s sake is a Spiritual Companionship.
Let’s hark back to deliberation, When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near. This is the unquestionable speech of God the Exalted. When I pray I may not observe God, though He says: And He is with you wherever you may be. And He is close: We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.
But I don’t observe humility nor be present with God –Glorious and Exalted—in prayer, in remembrance, in fasting and in other acts of worship. Certainly there is a problem with me. Is it God the Exalted who is absent? God forbid! He is always present and near and answers the prayer of the suppliant.
I only take heed of my boss, my house affairs, my family, and my studies if I still go to school, and question my chances of success.
All of this preoccupies my mind, my heart, my thoughts and my dreams -day and night.
But I don’t..
Yes, I mention God saying “ laa ilaaha illallah”, “laa ilaaha illallah”, “laa ilaaha illallah” [none is worthy of worship except God] but it turns to be a word devoid of spirit.
Simply because I’m not present with God; He is with me but I’m not.
That’s why God –Glorious and Exalted- says, When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near.
Many a servants don’t ask about God completely.
This is the material culture—the raging and ablaze western culture.
At present and always they say there is no God at all; they say There is nothing except our life on this earth, and never shall we be raised up again.
And they say, And nothing but time can destroy us. They say that there is no God, while God the Almighty says, When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near: I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me. Da‘āh means he calls on Him.
We should therefore appeal to God; O my Lord! I’m calling You!
I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me. Who can tell me the hadith concerning the excellent time of every night in which the Lord is closer besides Ramadan and the Night of Power.
Who descends? Our Lord. There is a difference between ‘God’ [Allah] and ‘Lord’ [Rabb], the latter is an attribute of God the Almighty; meaning He raises us, shows us mercy and takes care of us.
Some of His attributes are: the All-Mighty, the One Who is severe in punishment, the Avenger, the Provider.
There are 99 Names of God, among which is ar-Rabb/the Sustainer who raises you, takes care of you, and grants you your requests. Accordingly, Our Lord –Our Sustainer descends.
Many people say “God descends”, which is not correct; we have to stick to the words of the hadith.
The Messenger of God, God bless him and grant him peace, said, “Our Lord (blessed and exalted) descends to the lowest heaven every night when the last third of the night remains and says, ‘Who will call upon Me so that I may answer him? Who will request of Me so that I may grant him? Who will seek My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?’”
God –Glorious and Exalted- asks us in the last third of the night ‘who wants to repent’?
But I’m asleep.
Our Lord descends every night –as befits His Majesty- to the lowest heaven. Of course not the sky above us.
We should never say that Our Lord is a body that has a space in time and place.
It is He who created time and place.
As befits His Majesty—Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven and asks ‘who wants to repent’ while I’m asleep.
The Almighty God offers us repentance, forgiveness, sustenance and grant but instead we turn aside of all that. Is there a greater misfortune or deprivation than that? Absolutely not.
