Eid Mubarak – Valuing Allah’s bounties is to truly thank Allah for them.

As the sun sets on this blessed month and our expectant eyes seek the crescent of Shawwal, let us remember what Allah (s.w.t) says in verse 185 of Suratul Baqarah:

“…..he desires you to fast the whole month and to glorify him for giving you the guidance and to give thanks to him.”

Indeed Eid is the time for thanksgiving because during this month Allah (s.w.t) opened the gates of his mercy for us and multiplied every good deed countless times.

Alhamdulillah, now that we have completed fasting as prescribed by Him, and as we celebrate Eid, which means recurring happiness, we also must show our gratitude. Gratitude for giving us healthy bodies and minds, gratitude for time and opportunity to do good deeds during our lives, gratitude for wealth and material bounties.

Ponder for a minute on the essence of takbir when we recite before Namaaz – e – Eid:

“Allaho Akbar, Allaho Akbar, laa ilahaa illallah

Wallaho Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Wa lillahil Hamd

Alhamdulillah Alaa Maa Hadaana  walahu shukr Alaa

Ma Aulana”

“Allah is the greatest; Allah is the greatest there is no one worthy

Of worship but, Allah and Allah is the greatest.

and all praise is for Allah, and to Allah belongs all praise, for what

he has guided us and to him belongs thanks for what he has given us”

Fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan is not only an act of worship, devotion and a means to nourish our piety, but also an act of gratefulness to Allah (s.w.t) for his true guidance, for all his favours, bounties and benevolence.

To show our gratitude to him is to prepare ourselves to serve the purpose of what he has bestowed on us to come closer to him and earn his pleasure.

Here I am reminded of a hadith of our noble Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w.w) which says,

Be thankful for and take advantage of five before five:

“Your youth before your old age,

  Your health before your sickness,

  Your wealth before your poverty,

  Your free time before your preoccupation, and

  Your life before death”.

We should take heed of this precious hadith and consider,

1. Whether our youths are making the most of their age for themselves and community before their old age?
2. Whether the healthy ones are making the most of their health for themselves and the community, before sickness afflicts them?
3. Whether the wealthy are making the most of their wealth for themselves and the  community, before it evaporates?
4. Whether we are making the most of our time for the community and ourselves before the days turn to months and months to years?
5. And above all, whether we are we making the most of our lives for the community and ourselves before death overtakes us?

If the answers to all these questions are YES then there is a very good reason to celebrate this day and in the spiritual sense say “This day is Eid”. This is a day of happiness and we pray this will be a day that will recur in our lives everyday and every moment.

Our young men and women who have graduated from universities have today a wonderful opportunity to pursue higher Islamic Education according to the pristine teachings of Ahlul Bayt (a.s)

An avenue is open to them to respond to the call of Allah (s.w.t) in verse 122 of Suratul Tawba where it says,

“So why should not a group from every section of the community seek to become specialists in gaining knowledge in religion, and upon returning educate their people to guard themselves:,

You are aware that the World Federation has established and Institution called, The Islamic Institute of Post Graduate Studies in the proximity of the shrine of Seyyida Zainab (a.s) in Damascus.

This Institution, the single most important project in the history of the Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Community, is an exciting development in teaching, and research in the study of Islam.

It offers post graduate Masters of Arts (MA) degree in Islamic Studies, combining standard Hawza training modules with modern academic modules, validated by renowned University of Winchester of England.

The vision behind setting up this institute is to produce our own trained ullama who will be able to meet the needs of our communities, especially the younger generation and provide effective guidance to every Jamaat in the world.

I wish to encourage the young men and women of the community to enroll for this program and urge leaders, elders and especially our ulama to encourage them to consider it as viable and a noble career choice, which inshallah, has its rewards both here and in the hereafter.

Finally, as we celebrate this day of Eid let us remember the plight of the less fortunate amongst us. Let us all pledge to do what little we can in unison with our Jamaats and Federations to alleviate their plight with the resources which we have been blessed with.

In closing I request you to remember all our marhumeen, especially those who were with us last Eid, and are no longer with us today Sure – e – Fateha.

Wasalaam.

Alhaj Ramzan Nanji,

Chairman,

Federation of KSIA Jamaats of Africa

01 Shawwal 1429A.H/1st October 2008