My dear brothers, may you be blessed by Allah,
The Holy month of Ramadhan will leave us in less than four days time. Let us make full use of what remains of this month. Let us strengthen our taqwa to Allah s.w.t. May we always be blessed with His protection in this world and the next when we truly are conscious of Him, Amin Ya Rabbal ‘Alamin.

My dear brothers,
When Ramadhan leaves us, Syawal greets us. Syawal marks the victory for Muslims after a whole month of fasting.

Certainly, many of us celebrate Syawal with joy and happiness. For some of us, the preparations for Syawal have been done much earlier. We decorate our homes, we prepare new clothes and a variety of delicacies to offer our guests. We await the coming of Eidulfitri.

But before we are overcome by joy and celebration, we should end our training and schooling in the month of Ramadhan with several important questions.

What did we actually set out to achieve and celebrate? How then should we celebrate these achievements?

My dear brothers,
I would like to remind us all that fasting has a clear purpose and objective; to develop mankind to become individuals who are fully conscious of Allah through taqwa. Allah s.w.t. says in Surah al-Baqarah verse 183:

Which means: “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.”

My dear brothers,
Do we still remember how we prepared ourselves early on in the month? Do we still remember how we spend our days in the month of Ramadhan?

We started our day with the pre-dawn meal with our family members. We performed our obligatory prayers in the congregation at the mosque. We did a lot of charity. We trained our eyes to look at, and read the Quran. We enlightened our hearts with understanding the Quran and listening to religious advice. We break fast with family and friends. We stand in prayer every night in the terawih congregation. We strengthened our relationship with our families. In the last 10 nights, we stand before Allah s.w.t. in prayers.

Therefore brothers, think about it. These are the sweet moments we had spent in the month of Ramadhan. But now, Ramadhan will leave us!

Should we rejoice at its departure?

The real rejoice and celebration is when we have succeeded to uplift our taqwa to a new level when Ramadhan leaves us.

This is the true achievement and success in the eyes of Allah. Thus, if we cannot make enough preparations for Syawal, we don’t have new clothes, or our homes are not as beautiful as last year, or we don’t have enough Hari Raya delicacies, we should not be remorseful.

But we must cry in sadness, we must be remorseful, if Syawal arrives but our hearts and souls are devoid of spirituality and taqwa. We must be sad if fasting has still not shaped us to become good Muslims. A whole month of fasting has still not elevated and uplifted us. The Holy Prophet s.a.w. said:

Which means: “There are many who fast in Ramadhan, but get nothing of it except hunger. There are many who stay up in prayer at night but get nothing except tireness because of no sleep.”
(Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad)

My dear brothers,

I am sure we do not want to be among such people whom the Prophet described in this hadith. We do not want our fasting to go to waste, devoid of meaning and quality. So, how do we ensure that the impact of fasting on us lasts beyond Ramadhan?

My dear brothers,
First: We must continue with all good deeds and with efforts to uplift our devotion to Allah s.w.t. even after Ramadhan. Let us not become those whom Allah describes in Surah An-Nahl verse 92:

Which means: “And be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly.”

For example, we have trained ourselves to fast and perform night prayers for the month of Ramadhan. So continue with these good deeds. Do not entirely abandon these actions once Ramadhan leaves us.

So let us remain steadfast. In the month of Syawal, we are encouraged to fast six days. Don’t waste this opportunity.

My dear brothers,
Secondly: When we celebrate Eidulfitri, do not ever forget to praise, thank and glorify Allah s.w.t. We praise Allah for His blessings by reciting the takbir as much as we can on the eve of Eidulfitri. When we recite the takbir sincerely, it shows that we are grateful to Allah and it is the best way to celebrate Eidulfitri itself. Allah s.w.t. says in the Quran:

Which means: “and (He desires) that you should complete the prescribed period and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks.”

Another sign of our gratitude is when we pay the obligatory act of zakat fitrah. Let us pay this zakat before the prayer of Eidulfitri. This act, if done sincerely, will complete our deeds and fasting in the month of Ramadhan.

Thirdly, we celebrate Eidulfitri by visiting our family members and relatives. This strengthens the bonds between us. But in visiting each other, we must not neglect the ethics of doing so.

For example, we must take care of our health. For the whole month, we have consumed good and healthy food. Do not be excessive during Eidulfitri. Be moderate in our consumption. Choose healthy food, such as fruits, and try to avoid sweet drinks. Remember, that fasting has enhanced our health, so do not reverse the process by consuming anything and everything after Ramadhan.

When we do our visits, we must ensure we stick with the ethics. Visit others at suitable times. Do not stay at one’s house until late at night, as usually, people need to rest, but may be shy to indicate that to you. Take care of the rights of our neighbours, so do not let waste spill onto their doorstep, or noise coming from our homes to affect them.

These are some examples which will demonstrate to us how far Ramadhan has able to shape us into good Muslims. Because Ramadhan offers us a comprehensive education. It strengthens our relationship with Allah. It also inculcates in us good relations with others.

InshaAllah, when we truly understand the significance of Eidulfitri, our fast will be impactful and powerful, and will serve us good on the day of judgement. We ask Allah to accept all our deeds and to grant us His forgiveness Amin Ya Rabbal ‘Alamin.