One World, One Ummah by Abu Iman

2 days to Eid - subject to the sighting of the moon this Sunday.

If it isn't sighted, we continue an extra day of fasting and abstaining ourselves from our nafs. If sighted, we will celebrate Monday as the 1st day of Syawal, the month of Victory for Muslims all over the world.

Ramadhan will be over soon. I am sad to see it go for I know not if I will ever see it again. I pray Allah accepts my prayers and Duaas during this blessed month of Ramadhan.

We have struggled for a month against our nafs, our inner demons, abstaining ourselves from eating, drinking, se*ual relations, monitoring our actions to - prevent from bad actions and promoting good. We pray every night during Terawih prayers to Allah Azza Wa Jalla, seeking Lailatul Qadr, the night that is better than a thousand months, seeking for His forgiveness for our past sins. Only Allah knows whether our sins have been pardoned. We can only pray in hope and fear for His forgiveness.

Those who have filled Ramadhan with fasting, prayers, recitation of the Qur'an and remembrance to our Creator, Allah Azza Wa Jalla, than deserved is the victory. Those who have not, then Wallahu Waklam.....Allah knows best.

Syawal is just around the corner. And like everyone else, I too am excited. The day where we congregate in the morning for mass Eid prayers and celebrate our victory. Victory against our nafs. Reflect on what the muezzin calls when he lauds out, 'Haya Alal Fallah'..... Let us go towards victory.

In Brunei Darussalam, the custom is to visit our families, near and far, to improve on relations, old and new, to hold feasts for family, friends, neighbours and colleagues in our houses and the singing of songs, all this holds steady during Syawal. Our garments are usually new and colourful, the food laden in all its variety, such is the joy and happiness when Muslims celebrate Syawal. It is a joyous occasion lasting a whole month, the beauty that is Syawal. The month of victory.

But let us not get away from the fact that as Muslims, as one Ummah all over the world, we must not be selfish in thinking Eid-ul Fitr or Hari Raya as we call it here is limited to Brunei alone. Think of our brothers and sisters in the so-called liberated Iraq, the oppressed Palestinians, the starving and famine muslims in Sudan, the war torn people of Lebanon, those in Indonesia who have been struck by natural disasters, those in the US, the UK and Europe who are currently undergoing what some say as Islamophobia, Muslims everywhere who are poor and needy who don't enjoy the priviliges that we have here in the Abode of Peace, my home, my beloved Brunei. Beware of excesses in our consumption of food, electricity and time. Let us not follow the ways of the Shaytan. Instead think of our Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world. Think of them when when we eat our ketupats and kuih mur and when we visit our family and friends.

Perspective is everything.....

How do I help them you say? They are far and I do not have the money nor means to help them all. The answer lies in our prayers and Duaa. For have we not been taught that Duaa is the weapon of the believer. When we carry out our prayers, give Duaa to them and pray that Allah bless and protect them and guide them through their adversity. They are our brothers and sisters and we are like a wall. When one brick falls from one side, the repercussions are felt by the rest of the wall.

As Muslims, we transcend all borders. Beyond nationalities, cultures, tradition, heritage. Beyond creed, colour, gender and age. The Prophet Muhammad Alaihi Salam said, every muslim is a brother to every muslim.

That aside, I humbly and sincerely as I possibly can, ask and seek forgiveness to all of you, my readers, my family, my friends, my colleagues if I have caused hurt or ill-feeling towards you in any way. I wish you all a happy Eid with your family and loved ones.

May Allah guide and protect us in this world, May He bless us with knowledge that benefits us, May he bless us with the Taufik so as we can implement the knowledge and use it in our daily lives. Amin Ya Rabbal Alameen.

All that is good comes From Allah Azza Wa Jalla and all that is bad comes from my own self.
Today's entry is contributed by Abu Iman, a professional Brunei young family man. He speaks on behalf of all of us as we seek forgiveness from each other as we try to make the world a better place for all of us, not just for Muslims but for everyone.

PS. If you wish to prepare for the takbir Eid Fitr, you can download the takbir (both long and short versions) from the zikir library at www.bruneiresources.com.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well said Abu Iman. Your words spoke wisdom and remind us all the need to love and remember our unfortunate brothers and sisters where ever they may be. May Allah bless us all
Anonymous said…
aslmkm.....masha allah brother!!! what beautiful words!!!! may allah reward u in manifolds....i recommend more islamic related articles be added on this site and i know alot of good islamic links insyallah will post up a few later if the admin wishes to add these of course....insylah may it be a form of dakwah to teach bruneians more about islam.

also, i would like to add that alot of us have made our prayers like a ritual rather than a form of worship. what im saying is that we pray as if we have to instead of that we want to. most i reckon dont even know what we say in our prayers? am i right? we should all learn what we say in our daily prayers....

and on reading the quran...some more focused on making our voices sound beautiful reading it, not to say that it is wrong yes it is good but what is MOST IMPORTANT is the knowledge from the quran. i urge my fellow sisters and brothers to read the translation whether it be in malay or english, because it was sent down as a guide 4 d whole of humanity and to us muslims. understanding what you are reciting and implementing that wisdom in your daily lives is what a muslim should do. and that i think is what most of us forget. we think that being muslim is just about prayers, fasting....the 5 pillars....but islam also teaches us more!! how to live our lives, to respect one another, do good deeds, love your brother and neighbours....it is a guide to life!! and our beloved prophet(PBUH) was the most perfect of examples, can be said he was the living quran....u want a role model, FOLLOW HIM as he is the greatest to follow...not false idols that we the younger generation have been mislead with....astaghfirllh....

it is said that if you want to speak to allah, do prayers and if you want allah to speak to you, read the quran....

insyallah shall all our prayers be accepted and shall we all meet in the gradens of paradise where rivers flow beneath....amin!!!!

may allah forgive me on what i said wrong and may we all be blessed in this holy month and the months coming after and may we all benefit from what we have gone thru on this blessed month...
Anonymous said…
as promised here are some good links to visit....

hadith on bukhari and muslim:

http://islam.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=islam&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usc.edu%2Fdept%2FMSA%2Ffundamentals%2Fhadithsunnah%2Fbukhari%2F

http://islam.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=islam&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usc.edu%2Fdept%2FMSA%2Ffundamentals%2Fhadithsunnah%2Fmuslim%2F

islamic knowledge:

http://www.islamiclessons.com/articles.html

http://www.theprophetmuhammad.org/morality.html

http://www.khutbah.com/

http://darulislam.info/

http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml

http://www.harunyahya.com/

islamic youth website:

http://www.jannah.org/

you can ask and find whatever your questions are regarding to our beautiful religion:

http://www.sunnipath.com/

audio and video download for islamic lecures, my favourites so far is by ahmad deedat and khalid yasin. they are good, seriously.....especially khalid yasin, an african american muslim brother
who reverted from christianity, n u know african americans got soul...if you know what i mean...hehehe:

http://www.aswatalislam.net/

i would also like to add....why are our khutbahs in brunei monotonous?? here in australia it is more how to say spiritual, it hits our hearts like arrows...u can feel what they are talking about. younger people can relate....not to say that khutbahs are bad in brunei but i c alot of ppl falling asleep...and y is it nearly always political? well it is not my place to say about these things...but just wondering....
Anonymous said…
oops its khalid yaseen....and not yasin....sorry for that...
Anonymous said…
Congrats Abu Iman! Nice article and well said... Once and a while reading this kind of article makes one feels insaf. We just pray to Allah Almighty that the smallest kind deeds we did in this holy month of Ramadan will be accepted, insya'Allah, amin.
Anonymous said…
May Allah bless you Abu Iman. Thank you for the very insightful post, Alhamdulilah there are still insan(s) who remember the less fortunate all over the world. Insyaallah, your message will get through and Insyaallah all muslims will realize.
To all Muslims maaf zahir dan batin. May the day welcome into your lives a lot of joy and blessings from Allah s.w.t. amin!
Anonymous said…
Eid Mubarak everyone=)

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