The International Affairs Division of Ayatollah Makarem Shiraz’s Office Offers Dear Brothers and Sisters the Informative Package of “Ramadan Spiritual Sustenance-27th”

11 خرداد 1398
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The package includes the Daily ’Istiftā’, the Lamp of Guidance, Daily prayers of the Month with quick commentary and a word of wisdom‌

"Ramadan Spiritual Sustenance"

Hadith of the Day Daily ’Istiftā’ Daily Prayers of the Month The Lamp of Guidance

Hadith of the Day

رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله:

أفضَلُ الصَّدَقةِ في رَمَضانَ

The Prophet (s) said:

The best act of charity is carried out in the month of Ramadan.

Kanz al-ʿUmmāl, no. 16362

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Daily ’Istiftā’

Is it permissible to spend the amount of kaffāra on the poor general needs other than food, of course with the permission of the Faqīh?

The kaffāra must be spent solely on feeding the poor.

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Daily Prayer of the Month

Ramadan 27^th

A Commentary on the Supplicatory Prayer of Ramadan 27^th

Thesupplicatory prayer of Ramadan 27^th is as follows:

اللهُمَّ ارْزُقْنى فيهِ فَضْلَ لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ، وَصَيِّرْ امُورى فيهِ مِنَ الْعُسْرِ الَى الْيُسْرِ، وَاقْبَلْ مَعاذيرى ، وَحُطَّ عَنِّى الذَّنْبَ وَالْوِزْرَ، يا رَؤُفاً بِعِبادِهِ الصَّالِحينَ

“O’ Lord! Grant me the opportunity to receive the blessings of the Nigh of Qadr in this month, and transform my endeavors in it from their state of difficulty into ease, and accept my apologies, and forgive me my sins and misdeeds, O’ the Most Kind to the Righteous Servants!”[1]

The most important points in the supplicatory prayer of Ramadan 27 are as follows:

Explaining the importance of the Nigh of Qadr and its blessings; the leniency and flexibility of the laws of Islam; the necessity of imploring Allah for forgiveness and pardon; the importance of accepting other people’s apologies; and the ways to eliminate one’s sins.

* The Significance and Blessedness of the Night of Qadr

The holy Quran was first revealed to the heart of the Prophet (s) in the month of Ramadan and in the Night of Qadr.[2] The Night of Qadr is therefore a greatly blessed night when the human world was transformed into a completely new one with the revelation of the Quran.[3]

When referring to the Night of Qadr, the holy Quran states that “it is better than a thousand months”[4] which means that keeping prayer vigil and worshipping Allah on this night is far more valuable and effective than in any other time during the year.[5]

The Night of Qadr is a clear manifestation of Allah’s boundless kindness and compassion toward the people; it shows that Allah uses every chance and every opportunity to forgive His servants.[6]

Imam al-Baqir (‘a) has been quoted as saying in this regard: “Anyone who keeps vigil to pray on the Night of Qadr, all of their sins will be forgiven even if they are a lot in number”.[7] [8]

The holy Quran and the Islamic traditions all indicate that the angels descend to the earth on this special night with the mission of delivering Allah’s ordinances in the earth for the following year.[9]

It should be noted that these ordainments concern the destiny of all the people, but they are not haphazard; Allah ordains things for people based on their merits, worthiness, and their past deeds. The holy Quran states the following in this regard:

تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلائِكَةُ وَ الرُّوحُ فيها بِاذْنِ رَبِّهِم مَنْ كُلِّ امْر

“On it descend the angels and the Spirit, by their Lord’s Leave, with every ordainment.”[10]

* A Lenient Religion and Easily Practicable Laws

After explaining the laws of fasting in the Quran, announcing it obligatory for all the people except for the traveling and sick individuals, Allah states the following:

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَ لا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ[11]

“Allah intends ease for you; He does not intend hardship for you.”[12]

It is possible that this verse is indicative of the fact that Allah has ordered the people to do things which are not beyond their means, abilities, or power. Moreover, He has even made exceptions to His laws wherever carrying out His orders can be very difficult for the people. This is why He has exempted the sick, the weak, and the traveling individuals from fasting.[13]

Considering that the above-mentioned verse has a rather general exposition, it is, in fact, considered a general rule regarding all of the Islamic laws, a rule which has come to be known as the principle of “Lā Ḥaraj” within the framework of Islamic jurisprudence.[14]

There could be another interpretation to this verse; that is, though some of the laws of Islam, including fasting, might seem a bit difficult to follow because they create some sort of restriction for people, they will yield tremendous ease both spiritually and physically.[15]

* O’ Lord! Accept Our Apologies!

Allah has promised in the holy Quran[16] that whoever of His servants turns penitently to Him, apologize for their sins, and ask His forgiveness and mercy, their prayers will be answered and their sorrow will be wiped out.[17]

Therefore, we should keep in mind that we must not consider ourselves perfect and flawless after having performed certain acts of worship in the month of Ramadan. In other words, we must never consider Allah indebted to us because of the acts of worship that we perform.

On the contrary, we must always feel indebted to Allah and frequently ask Him for forgiveness for our sins and misdeeds. One reason is that no matter how hard we try, we will ultimately be unable to worship and thank Allah for His blessings the way He truly deserves.[18]

* The Necessity of accepting Other People’s Apologies

The key to a happy life in this world is accepting one’s mistake and apologizing for them and also accepting other people’s apologies when they offer them. This is also the key to winning people’s hearts and affection which is, in turn, the key to success in every endeavor in life.[19]

How can one expect Allah to forgive them the abundance of their sins while they are unwilling to accept anyone else’s apologies and forgive them? When one goes on to accept other people’s apologies, one will become worthy of Allah’s forgiveness as well.[20]

* How can one be relieved of the Burden of his Sins?

The Arabic term “Ḥiṭṭa” which has been used with regard to sins in this prayer literally translates into “falling down” and “cutting down”. This means that in this prayer, we pray to Allah to cut down our sins and free us from the burden of our sins.[21]

This is what we have been instructed by the Quran as well. Allah instruct us in the holy Quran to say the following in order to ask him to forgive us our sins:

وَ قُولُوا حِطَّةٌ[22]

“… say: “O’ Lord! Cut down our sins”, that We may forgive your misdeeds…”[23]

Therefore, we need to pray this from the bottom of our hearts so that Allah may make our sins fall off of us and forgive us.[24]

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The Lamp of Guidance

According to a tradition, once the Prophet (s) was talking to people about the tongue and the dangerous sins which it could commit then a layman asked him: ‘Will we be held accountable for the things that we say?’ The Prophet (s) replied to the man and said: ‘You ask whether our words are among the deeds for which we will be held accountable; I say the greatest cause of people being thrown in the hellfire will be the sins committed by their tongues’. Therefore, the tongue has been emphasized in the aforementioned tradition for the following three reasons:

1. The potential sins committed by the tongue are much greater than the other body parts; approximately thirty mortal sins can be committed by the tongue.

2. The tongue is an available means of sin unlike other sins which are more difficult to commit.

3. People trivialize and underestimate the gravity of the sins committed by the tongue.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE QURAN

Tradition

کَتَبَ الامام محمد التَّقِی (علیه السلام) إلی سَعْدِ الخَیْرِ(1): «... وَ کُلُّ أُمَّة قَدْ رَفَعَ اللهُ عَنْهُمْ عِلْمَ الکِتَابِ حَیْنَ نَبَذُوُهُ وَ وَلاّهُمْ عَدُوَّهُمْ حَیْنَ تُوَّلُوُه وَ کَانَ مِنْ نَبْذِهِمُ الْکِتَابَ أَنْ أَقَامُوا حُرُوفَهُ وَ حَرِّفوا حُدُودَهُ فَهُمْ یَرْوُونَهُ وَ لاَیَرْعُونَهُ وَ الجُهَّالُ یُعْجِبُهُمْ حِفْظُهُمْ لِلرَّوَایَةِ وَ الْعُلَمَاءُ یَحْزُنُهُمْ تَرْکُهُمْ لِلرَّعَایَةِ...»

In his letter to Sa'ad al-Khayr , Imam al-Jawad ('a) is narrated to have written the following: ‘… When any nation leaves aside the Book of Allah, Allah will take away from them the knowledge of the Book, which is to say the spirit and essence of the Book, and when they befriend their enemies, He will make those enemies dominant over them. Leaving aside the book means that (the people) will hold onto its words but they will not observe its laws and regulations. The ignorant will become happy with memorizing its words while the (true) scholars will be saddened because its rules are not abided by’.

Commentary

The Quran can be viewed in two ways:

1. The first involves looking at it as a book of holy words which are so sanctified that one cannot even touch its pages without being in a state of ritual purity.

2. The second involves looking at it as a book which includes a complete program of action for spiritual transcendence.

If we consider the Quran merely as a book of holy words, we will be limited to its appearance alone and this may not have much of an effect on our lives. Yet, if we recognize the Quran as a book of guidance we will strive to implement its teachings in our lives. Let us look around our societies and gauge ourselves—how do we Muslims treat the Quran? In our society today, much attention is paid to the Quran. There are many reciters and many memorizers of the Quran; there are also universities which teach various specialized topics with regard to the Quran. In spite of this, we can say that these are all concerned with the text of the Quran as a collection of holy words, not a divine book of guidance the laws and regulations of which need to be observed.

For example, one of the important teachings of the Quran relates to safeguarding various trusts. Yet, we must ask ourselves to what degree is this teaching followed in our society today? How do we treat the trusts we are given, which include things such as money, our children, our religion, etc.? This is a very important question which we must ask ourselves as a society.

Another example is the following Quranic verse: ‘Woe to the defrauders’ we have to realize that this verse has a very broad meaning. According to this verse, anyone who doesn’t do his job correctly and sufficiently is considered as a defrauder. Thus, we should not only focus on reciting the Quran and memorizing it, but we should also give importance to its meaning and its implementation.

[1] The New Mafātīḥ, p. 817.

[2] Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, vol. 21, p. 147.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Al-Qadr, 3.

[5] A Selection of Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, vol. 5, p. 548.

[6] The Speech of G. A. Makarem Shirazi [1385.04.07].

[7] The Speech of G. A. Makarem Shirazi [1385.04.07].

[8] The New Mafātīḥ, p. 785.

[9] Religious Q&As, p. 500.

[10] Al-Qadr, 4.

[11] Al-Baqarah, 185.

[12] The Verses of Wilāyah in the Quran, p. 157.