Dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
 
Assalamu Alaikum! Alhamdulillah the holy month of Ramadan is upon us once again! I pray that you all have a blessed and fruitful month, and grow closer to Allah (SWT) in these upcoming days, inshaAllah.

Allah (SWT) tells us that the sole purpose of our fast is to attain taqwa, or God consciousness. Let us try our best in this month to be constantly aware of Allah, and actively seek His mercy, forgiveness and salvation from the Hellfire.
Allah (SWT) has blessed us with numerous outlets by which to become closer to Him in this month. We can study the Qur’an extensively, observe our fast in a commendable manner, perform Salatut Taraweeh and Qiyamul Lail (and if possible Itikaf during the last ten days), share our wealth with the less fortunate and donate to righteous and worthy causes.

See: ICNA’s Position on Moon Sighting
 

Let us be more caring while dealing with people of all faiths, cleanse our hearts and tongues and perfect our daily dealings; as we all know, improving ourselves in these areas is critical to attaining Allah’s pleasure. Let us strive to make improvements in our daily lives during this blessed month, and work to keep those habits alive once the thirty days have passed. When our beloved Prophet (peace be up on him) was asked, “What deeds are most pleasing to Allah?” he replied, “The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few.” (Bukhari)
Ramadan is a month of both reflection and action. Last Ramadan ICNA launched a yearlong campaign to increase public understanding of Shariah and counter the rise of Islamophobia in America. In the past year, the religious freedoms of American Muslims have been under blatant attack; now more than ever, the Defending Religious Freedom, Understanding Shariah campaign needs your support. I encourage you to take action this Ramadan and support our campaign by donating at www.icna.org/donation.
I pray that Allah (SWT) blesses our families and communities with peace, tranquility, strong faith, and healthy and active lives. May He give us the best of this world and the Hereafter. Ameen.
Your brother in Islam,
Zahid H. Bukhari

5 Responses

  1. You are starting Ramdan based on calculation or Based on Saudi calendar. Allah (swt) mentioned many places in the Holy Quran “My obedience in the obedience of Nabee (saw)”. Sahih Msuslim Hadith # 2381 “Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) made a mention of the new moon and (in this connection) said: Observe fast when you see it (the new moon) and breakfast when you see it (the new moon of Shawwal), but when (the actual position of the month is) concealed from you (on account of cloudy sky), then count thirty days.” Several similar Ahadith are in Bukhari, Muslim Abu Daud, Termizi etc. You want to disobey Nabee of Allah (swt) and follow the calculation or Saudi calendar. Have fear of Allah (swt). These ahadith are their for reason. Nabee (saw) did not speak any except what Allah (swt) revealed to him. if you are base on calculation lets see, I had email exchange with Brother Khalid Shuakat of moonsighting.com he said “there is no possibility of moon sighting in the USA on July 16.” If you using this method so your wrong. If you based on Saudi calendar, let me tell you in last 20 years Saudi made minimum three wrong announcements and later they reversed them and apologies to the peoples and asked the to fast a day they missed and donated millions of Royals’. One announcement was the last year at Eidulfitr, and one when I witness my self when I was in Hajj 2004 or 2005 when on 4th of Zelhaj they changed the date of Hajj (10th of Zelha moved it one day earlier, this caused panic). Many neibouring countries do not follow Saudi calendar or date of Ramdan, Eids or Hajj and they are always one or two days behind, such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia etc. do not follow Saudi and these are the countries has about 65% of the total Muslims population. Please reads the article of Justice Mufti Taqi Usmani published in their web side “deeneislam.com”, He wrote this article after attending the Moon Sighting Conference in Makkah from February 11 -13 2012. Also I ask youa questions why only USA want to follow calculation and rest of the world which mentioned name of few countires follow actual moon sighting? Are you have more knowledge of Deen then these Muftis in these countries? My last words, If you disobey the order of Nabi of Allah (swt) you are asking for hell in hereafter.

  2. Wa Alaikum Assalamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu. May Allah reward you & your team….. The article is really educative and motivating…Allah will surely help us in achieving taqwa which is the sole purpose of our fast & is something which will make us enter Paradise safely….Ameen to the dua.

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