Bismillah...



Assalamualaikum,





All praises to Allah, Lord of the worlds. He who revealed in His 
Glorious Qur'an, "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it 
was prescribed for those who came before you that you may keep your duty 
to your Lord (having taqwa)," (2:185). And may blessings and peace of 
Allah be upon His last Messenger Muhammad ibn Abdillah, forever.

O you who believe, Ramadan is a sacred month wherein Almighty Allah is 
constantly testing His creation and giving humanity the opportunity to 
achieve infinite, endless Bliss. Fasting is a complete purification and 
a means to developing the consciousness of Allah's presence. The 
consciousness of Allah (Taqwa) is a protection against the schemes of 
Shaitan, and the suffering of this world. Allah has informed us that, 

"Whoever keeps his duty to Allah (has taqwa),
He ordains a way out for him and gives him sustenance from where he 
imagines not. And whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him. 
Surely Allah attains His purpose. Allah has appointed a measure for 
everything." (65:2)

Many Muslims today have a misconception about fasting and the 
activities of a fasting person. They go into a state of semi-hibernation, 
spending most of their daylight hours in bad. If they fear Allah, they wake 
up for prayer, but then return to sleep immediately. This unnatural 
sleep makes them become lazy, dull-witted and often cranky.

Ramadan is actually a time of increased activity wherein the believer, 
now lightened of the burdens of constant eating and drinking, should be 
more willing to strive and struggle for Allah. The Prophet (saw), 
passed through approximately nine Ramadans after the Hijrah. They were 
filled with decisive events and left us a shining example of sacrifice and 
submission to Allah.

In the first year after the Hijrah, the Prophet (saw) sent Hamza ibn 
Abdul Muttalib with thirty Muslim riders to investigate three hundred 
riders from Quraish who had camped suspiciously in that area. The Muslims 
were about to engage the disbelievers, but they were separated by Majdy 
ibn Umar al-Juhany. The Hypocrites of Madinah, hoping to oppose the 
unity of the Muslims, built their own masjid (called Masjid ad-Dirar). The 
Prophet (saw) ordered this masjid to be destroyed in Ramadan.

On the seventeenth of Ramadan, 3 A.H., Almighty Allah separated truth 
from falsehood at the Great Battle of Badr. The Prophet (saw) and 313 of 
his companions set out to intercept a caravan of their own goods that 
had been left in Makkah. It was led by Abu Sufyan himself, and estimated 
at 50,000 dinars. They were met, instead, by a well-equipped army of 
the nobility of Quraish, intend on putting out the light of Islam. 
Despite being outnumbered three to one and appearing weak and unseasoned, the 
Muslims defended their faith with a burning desire to protect the 
Prophet and meet their Lord through martyrdom. Allah gave them a decisive 
victory on this day of Ramadan, that would never be forgotten.

In 6 A.H., Zaid ibn Haritha was sent to Wadi al-Qura at the head of a 
detachment to confront Fatimah bint Rabiah, the queen of that area. 
Fatimah had previously attacked a caravan led by Zaid and had succeeded in 
plundering its wealth. She was known to be the most protected woman in 
Arabia, as she hung fifty swords of her close relatives in her home. 
Fatimah was equally renowned for showing open hostility to Islam. She was 
killed in a battle against these Muslims in the month of Ramadan.

By Ramadan of 8 A.H., the treaty of Hudaibiyya had been broken and the 
Muslim armies had engaged the Byzantines in the North. Muhammad (saw), 
felt the need to strike a fatal blow to disbelief in the Arabian 
Peninsula and conquer the city of Mecca. Allah has declared His Sanctuary a 
place of peace, security and religious sanctity. Now the time had come 
to purify the Ka`bah of nakedness and abomination. The Prophet set out 
with an army having more armed men than al-Madinah had ever seen before. 
People were swelling the army's ranks as it moved toward Makkah. The 
determination of the believers, guided by the Will of Allah, became so 
awesome that the city of Makkah was conquered without a battle, on 20 
Ramadan. This was one of the most important dates in Islamic history for 
after it, Islam was firmly entrenched in the Arabian Peninsula. During 
the same month and year, after smashing the idols of Makkah, 
detachments were sent to the other major centers of polytheism and al-Lat, Manat 
and Suwa, some of the greatest idols of Arabia, were destroyed.

Such was the month of Ramadan in the time of the Prophet. It was a time 
of purification, enjoining the good, forbidding the evil, and striving 
hard with one's life and wealth. After the death of the Prophet (saw), 
Muslims carried on this tradition and Allah used the true believers to 
affect the course of history. Ramadan continued to be a time of great 
trials and crucial events.

Ninety-two years after the Hijrah, Islam had spread across North 
Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. Spain was under the tyrannical 
rule of King Roderic of the Visigoths. Roderic had forced his six 
millions serfs and persecuted Jews to seek the aid of the Muslims of North 
Africa in order to be delivered. Musa ibn Husair, the Umayyad governor of 
North Africa, responded by sending his courageous general Tariq ibn 
Ziyad at the head of 12,000 Berber and Arab troops. In Ramadan of that 
year, they were confronted with a combined Visigoth army of 90,000 
Christians led by Roderic himself, who was seated on a throne of ivory, 
silver, and precious gems and drawn by white mules. After burning his boats, 
Tariq preached to the Muslims warning them that victory and Paradise 
lay ahead of them and defeat and the sea lay to the rear. They burst 
forth with great enthusiasm and Allah manifested a clear victory over the 
forces of disbelief. Not only was Roderic killed and his forces 
completely annihilated, but also Tariq and Musa succeeded in liberating the 
whole of Spain, Sicily and parts of France. This was the beginning of the 
Golden Age of Al-Andalus where Muslims ruled for over 700 years.

In the year 582 A.H., Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, after battling with the 
Crusaders for years, finally drove them out of Syria and the whole of 
their occupied lands in the month of Ramadan. The Muslim world was then 
destined to meet one of its most frightening challenges.

In the seventh century A.H. the Mongols were sweeping across Asia 
destroying everything that lay in their path. Genghis Khan called himself 
"the scourge of God sent to punish humanity for their sins". In 617 
A.H., Samarkand, Ray and Hamdan were put to the sword causing more than 
700,000 people to be killed or made captive. In 656 A.H., Hulagu, the 
grandson of Genghis Khan, continued this destruction. Even Baghdad, the 
leading city of the Muslim world, was sacked. Some estimates say that as 
many as 1,800,000 Muslims were killed in this awesome carnage. The 
Christians were asked to eat pork and drink wine openly while the surviving 
Muslims were forced to participate in drinking bouts. Wine was 
sprinkled in the masjids and no Azan (call to prayer) was allowed. In the wake 
of such a horrible disaster and with the threat of the whole Muslim 
world and then Europe being subjected to the same fate, Allah raised up 
from the Mamluks of Egypt, Saifuddin Qutz, who united the Muslim army and 
met the Mongols at Ain Jalut on 25th of Ramadan, 458 A.H. Although they 
were under great pressure, the Muslims with the help of Allah, cunning 
strategy and unflinching bravery crushed the Mongol army and reversed 
this tidal wave of horror. The whole of the civilized world sighed in 
relief and stood in awe at the remarkable achievement of these noble sons 
of Islam.

This was the spirit of Ramadan that enabled our righteous forefathers 
to face seemingly impossible challenges. It was a time of intense 
activity, spending the day in the saddle and the night in prayer while 
calling upon Allah for His mercy and forgiveness.


Today, the Muslim world is faced with drought, military aggression, 
widespread corruption and tempting materialism. Surely we are in need or 
believers who can walk in the footsteps of our beloved Prophet (saw), 
the illustrious Sahabah, Tariq ibn Ziyad, Qutuz, Salahuddin and the 
countless heroes of Islam. Surely we are in need of believers who are 
unafraid of the threats of the disbelievers, yet kind and humble to the 
believing people; Muslims whose fast is complete and not just a source of 
hunger and thirst.

May Allah raise up a generation of Muslims who can carry Islam to all 
corners of the globe in a manner that befits our age, and may He give us 
the strength and the success to lay the proper foundations for them. 
May Allah make us of those who carry out our Islam during Ramadan and 
after it, and may He not make us of those who say what they do not do. 
Surely Allah and His Angels invoke blessings and peace upon our Prophet 
Muhammad. O you who believe, send blessings and peace to him forever.





source: email from iis organization