Salamun alaykum,
Respond to the Divine Invitation:
“…It is the month in which Allah invites you as His guests and has appointed you the beneficiaries of His generosity….( Holy Prophet )
The ninth month of Hijri Calendar : Holy Ramadhan has commenced. This month is the month of Allah SWT. It is the most honorable of the months, the month in which the gates of Mercy are open. In it is a night which is superior than a thousand months.
Respect for the name of this month :
Such is the honour for this month that it not called by its name only.
“Do not say: Ramadhan. For it is one of the names of Allah most Exalted. Say Shahru Ramadhan ( month of Ramadhan )” Holy Prophet Muhammad.
Bihamdillah today we are abundantly blessed with life and good health to once again enter the holy month of Ramadhan and respond to the Divine invitation to be guests to the Divine banquet.
Intense heat:
How wretched is he who is denied Divine forgiveness (of his sins) in this month. ( Holy Prophet )
The Arabic word Ramadhan is derived from the word ‘ramada’, which means causing to be burnt by intense heat. The sins are scorched in this month.
Not only avoiding food and water:
Fasting is not just about avoiding food and water, rather more importantly it is an opportunity for us to focus on our spirituality, thoughts and actions.
The holy Prophet heard a lady who was fasting abusing her slave. He requested for some food and asked the lady to eat.
She said that she was fasting.
The holy Prophet said,” What sort of a fast is that you abuse your slave? Fasting is not merely abstaining from food and drink. Allah has surely made the fast a cover over all evil deeds and words. Those who truly fast are very few and those who remain hungry are so many..”
By undertaking SAWM ( arabic word meaning restraint) during this month we get a wonderful opportunity to keep a leash on our tongues from uttering what should not be spoken, guard our gaze from what is not permissible to be seen, refrain from hearing the forbidden, protect our limbs from carrying out evil and above all to train ourselves in improving our nature.
Let us reflect on the true meaning of sawm.
Extract from Sahifatus Sajjadiyya Dua No:44 Welcoming the month of Ramadhan by Imam Ali Zaynul Abidin.
“ ……….O Allah! Fill this month with our worship of You, Adorn its times with our obedience towards You, Help us during its daytime with its fast, and in its night with prayer and pleading towards You, humility towards You and lowliness before You, So that its daytime may not bear witness against our heedlessness, Nor its night against our neglect..."
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
With salaams and duas
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat
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Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat. Al Mahdi, Wickham Road, Fareham, Hampshire . PO17 5BU. Reg. Charity Number: 1010076. Tel: 01329 832537. Fax: 02392-529766
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.: Jamaat Web Site: www.almahdi.org.uk:
Project Web Site: www.almahdi.org.uk/almahdiproject
Member of the Council of European Jamaats
Member of Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat. Al Mahdi, Wickham Road, Fareham, Hampshire . PO17 5BU. Reg. Charity Number: 1010076. Tel: 01329 832537. Fax: 02392-529766
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.: Jamaat Web Site: www.almahdi.org.uk: Project Web Site: www.almahdi.org.uk/almahdiproject
Member of the Council of European Jamaats
Member of Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board
