Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura

28 July 2014 / 1 Syawal 1435

Continuing T! Spirit "# $ama%an Trougout T! &!ar
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Dear Muslimin and Muslimat.
On this blessed and joyous morning, let us enhance our takwa
to Allah s.w.t. Obey all of His commands and abstain from His
prohibitions. Know one is a successful belieer when one is
able to lie one!s life based on the commands of Allah and His
Messenger. "t is only by obeying Allah and His #asul that we
will be able to attain true success. Allah says in surah Al$
%athiyah, erse &'(
)hich means( Then, as to those who believed and did
righteous deeds, their Lord will admit them to His Mercy that will
be the achievement for all to see.
*hus, as a belieer, one should be able to feel the improement
to one!s personality and soul as a result of a month of fasting.
And on this +id day, eery Mukmin e,periences an
incomparable pleasure, which words alone cannot describe.
'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar*
'llau '()ar +a ,illail -am%
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Ma-asyiral Muslimin wa .umratal Mukminin rahimakumullah,
*he arrial of /yawal is a reminder that #amadan has left us 0
along with all its blessings and special benefits such as fasting,
the ni!mah of performing terawih prayers and the anticipation of
the night of 1ailatul 2adar. *here is no guarantee that we will be
able to e,perience all these in the coming years. Despite that,
we should not mourn the passing of #amadan. "nstead, we
should strie to continue to enlien the spirit of #amadan by
making the acts of worship that we performed in #amadan, a
habit in our daily lies.
3or e,ample, since we hae fasted throughout the entire month
of #amadan, we should strie to perform sunnah fasting
throughout the year4 "f we hae paid our .akat in #amadan,
then let us strie to do charity wheneer we are able to do so. "f
we filled the nights of #amadan with terawih prayers, then we
should continue to fill our nights outside of #amadan with
tahajjud prayers.
*his is what it means by making the acts of worship in
#amadan as a habit in our lies. /aidatina Aisyah r.a. in
describing the deeds of the 5rophet s.a.w. said
)hich means( Verily the deeds of the prophet s.a.w. were
continuous consistent!. 6Hadith reported by "mam Al$7ukhari8
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7eloed jemaah, let us emulate #asulullah s.a.w. by performing
a deed continuously and consistently, and making it a habit that
is an integral part of our daily lies.
Dear jemaah,
"n line with this, we should ensure that the alues we hae
learned during #amadan continue to be applied in our daily
lies as well.
*hroughout the month of #amadan, we hae been constantly
reminded of the importance of )uil%ing a #amily that holds on
to Islami. /alu!s an% tra%itions* a family that is truly loes
Allah and His Messenger9 a family that practices "slam based
on the 2uran and the /unnah of our beloed 5rophet
Muhammad s.a.w9 a family who upholds "slamic alues such as
speaking the truth, trustworthiness, patience and so on. And
such a family will thus reflect these alues in their daily life. *his
was the #amadan message that we hae understood and
appreciated together. And we must continue on with these
efforts in order to build a successful family.

'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar*
'llau '()ar +a ,illail -am%
%emaah,
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*hroughout #amadan we hae tried to build the resilience of
our iman and increase our takwa through fasting. A resilient
iman should make us more responsible and more conscious of
what is happening around us, especially the struggles faced by
our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. Howeer, we
should not beliee eery information and reports that we read
as there are many untrue claims that are being widely
circulated.
*his morning, as the beautiful call of the takbir echoes through
the masjid, our homes adorned with new curtains and arious
delicious dishes await us when we come back from our prayers,
we should be mindful and concerned about the grim situation
and hardship faced by our fellow Muslims in the Middle +ast
and many other parts of the world due to wars and internal
conflicts.
)e are sad for them, we sympathise with their conditions, and
we constantly make doa that Allah s.w.t. will pae the way for
them to be free from their sufferings. )e also make doa that
Allah will help them in finding a solution to end the conflict that
has gone on for many years. Amin :a #abbal Alamin.
At the same time, as a Mukmin, we must be critical towards the
news that we read, listen to and watch. )ith sound knowledge
and a resilient faith that we hae deeloped in #amadan, we
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should be able to siee through and differentiate between
reports that are reliable and those that are not. )e are also able
to differentiate between actions that are based on 2uran and
sunnah and those that are not.
"t definitely worries us when we read the news and watch
ideos of iolence and injustices committed. Many aspects of
what we see in these ideos, and what we read about in the
reports, are against "slamic teachings, because they are
propagated by misinterpretations of the teachings9 or the
actions are in support of a certain agenda. *hus, the command
to be just and not to oppress anyone, een when one is caught
in a conflict, is often ignored. #asulullah s.a.w. said in a hadith
reported by Abu Dawud which means( "o not #ill any old
person, any child or any woman$ and be #ind, verily %llah
s.w.t. li#es those who are #ind.
"n fact some of the brutalities that we witnessed are being
carried out by those who make the call for jihad9 using "slam to
justify their actions and call for the establishment of an "slamic
caliphate. *hese claims hae been determined to be against
"slamic teachings by our renowned scholars, as they use it to
commit iolence and atrocities among one another, and unjustly
the lies of innocent people are unjustly implicated.
'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar*
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'llau '()ar +a ,illail -am%
My brothers and sisters rahimakumullah.
)e should always remember that "slam is a religion of peace
and rejects, as well as condemns, any iolent acts and killings.
Allah says in surah Al$;isaa! erse <&(
)hich means( &f a man #ills a believer intentionally, his
recompense is Hell, to abide therein 'or ever!( %nd the wrath
and the curse of %llah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is
prepared for him.
Due to the seere implications that will be faced by all parties
inoled in a conflict, "slam has ruled that no indiidual or
organisation is =ualified to make the call for jihad simply in the
name of "slam and Muslim. *his is also against the /yara!
>"slamic teachings? because it can only be made by the leaders
that are acknowledged by /yara!, and they must also ensure
that they are doing so based on reasons that are not against
the /yara!. *hus, we must be e,tremely careful and discerning
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when we read fatwas and indiidual opinions that call upon
Muslims to kill and commit acts of iolence to others.
7lessed jemaah,
"n order to ensure that our family members and ourseles will
continue to remain on the right path, it is important for us to be
e=uipped with sound religious knowledge. )e will not be
gullible and easily swayed by all sorts of claims that are being
widely circulated. )e will not fall for the manipulated
interpretations of the religious te,ts that these people are
making to justify their own desires and personal gains.
#emember that Allah s.w.t. has granted wisdom to the
belieers. #asulullah s.a.w. described the wisdom and
consciousness of a Mukmin in a hadith that means( % believer
does not fall into the same hole twice. 6Hadith reported by
"mam Al$7ukhari8
'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar*
'llau '()ar +a ,illail -am%
Ma-asyiral Muslimin rahimakumullah,
*hese challenges, and many others, are part and parcel of the
life of a belieer. "n fact, #amadan proides us with the golden
opportunity to replenish and recharge ourseles spiritually, as
we prepare ourseles to face life challenges for the rest of the
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year. *here will definitely be hurdles and struggles throughout
our journey in achieing our desired goals of Allah!s mercy and
His eternal paradise, and we must therefore prepare ourseles
well to face these challenges.
And dear jemaah, how can we prepare ourseles well for this
trying and challenging journey4 *he answer is to build on our
takwa. Allah s.w.t. says in surah Al$7a=arah erse @<A(
)hich means( %nd ta#e a provision )ith you! for the *ourney,
but the best of provisions is ta#wa. +o fear Me, o ye that are
wise.
As such, dear jemaah, #amadan is a ery special month
because it proides us with many opportunities for us to
heighten our takwa. And +idulfitri is also ery special because it
is the day we celebrate the takwa that has bloomed in our
hearts after going through the holy month of #amadan
*hus, one that has successfully strengthened one!s iman and
increased one!s takwa throughout #amadan should be
changing into a better person who is more gracious, respectful
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and compassionate. One will also be more forgiing, instead of
simply waiting for others to apologise first. One will prefer to
maintain good relations with family and friends, and make the
effort to resole any issues, instead of waiting for the other party
to make the first moe. *he 5rophet s.a.w. said(
)hich means( % person who upholds the ties of #inship is not
a person who hopes for a reward, but a person who uphold ties
of #inship is the one when others cuts ties with him, he will
uphold the ties of #inship. 6Hadith reported by "mam Al$7ukhari8
%emaah, the lesson we can derie from this hadith is(
#esponding kindly to those who hae done good to us is
normal. 7ut what the 5rophet s.a.w. asks of us is to respond to
harshness eil acts with kindness, hostility with peace, and
rudeness with politeness.
*hus, let us take the opportunity of +id to forgie the mistakes
of others. 3orget about the conflicts and fights that we had in
the past. Don!t we all truly hope for Allah!s forgieness for our
own sins and mistakes4 "f so, we should be the first one to seek
forgieness from others. Allah says in surah Al$;ur erse BB(
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)hich means( ...let them forgive and overloo#, do you not wish
that %llah should forgive you, 'or %llah is -ft.'orgiving, Most
Merciful./.
May Allah s.w.t. grant us the purity of heart and takwa to build
good relations with our family, insyaAllah. May our success and
ictory today last us until we are gien the opportunity to greet
#amadan again ne,t year.
'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar*
'llau '()ar +a ,illail -am%
:a Allah, :a #ahman :a #ahim, we depend only upon :ou :a
Allah. )e are weak without you :a Allah, so strengthen us. )e
hae committed sins :a #ahman, so please forgie us. *o
whom shall we turn if not to :ou. :ou are *he One, *he
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Almighty. *he One who is Most 3orgiing of our mistakes. 1ook
upon us :a Allah with :our mercy.
5lease accept all our deeds and worship :a Allah. Crant us
longeity so we may continue to sere :ou.
1et this ictory be meaningful, filled with :our diine loe and
:our blessings.
:a Allah, *he Most 3orgiing and Most Merciful,
#amadan came and went, but we are still here hoping for :our
guidance. )e seek :our blessings, and we seek :our loe.
5lease do not turn our hearts astray after we hae receied
:our guidance9 we seek :our protection, and :our loe is
eerything to us.
5rotect us from any forms of deiance and ignorance9 protect
our families from any eil and sufferings9 and grant our
community the success, peace and prosperity that :ou are
pleased with.
'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar* 'llau '()ar*
'llau '()ar +a ,illail -am%
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S!.on% S!rmon
28 July 2014 / 1 Syawal 1435
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