بسم الله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه وعلى كل من اتبع سنته واهتدى بهديه إلى يوم الدين.

No doubt that the Covid19 (Coronavirus) pandemic has caused a great deal of fear, sadness, and distress in different parts of the world. So far about 2.5 million people have been infected and more than 180,000 people have lost their lives.

As a result of the lockdowns enforced in the majority of the cities in the world, mostly all businesses have been shut down and many people have lost their livelihoods and stay now with no source of income. Even for the first time in our memory, we have seen the Masajids closed.

It is evidently a plight that has afflicted the whole world and so far its consequences are being felt day after day.

However, what we, Muslims, should do in such a calamity?

First of all, as believers in Allah SWT, we shouldn’t show any kind of discontent towards that plight or towards what may have happened to us as a result of it. The fact of the matter is that this plight has been decreed by Allah SWT and, as believers, we are certain that nothing happens in this world except by the will of Allah SWT. This will make it quite enough for us to accept that test and strive hard to pass it successfully. All what Allah SWT would decide for us is made out of wisdom and justice.

Moreover, in fact, real believers emerge as winners in all situations.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said in a hadith narrated in Sahih Muslim:

عجبا لأمر المؤمن إن أمره كله له خير، وليس ذلك لأحد إلا المؤمن، إن أصابته سراء شكر فكان خيرا له، وإن أصابته ضراء صبر فكان خيرا له.

The reaction of the real believer in different situations is really impressive and this characteristic is exclusive to him. The believer when blessed by a good fortune he’ll show his gratitude to Allah SWT and this will be good for him. Even when he’s inflected by misfortune he’ll show patience and this will be good for him too.

The real believers should look at all the decrees of Allah SWT by the end-results of those decrees, not by their outward appearance. Many decrees by Allah SWT may look, in the eyes of people at the beginning, as evil but at the end, they turn out to be a blessing from Allah SWT.

Allah SWT. says in the Quran:

وعسى أن تكرهوا شيئا وهو خير لكم وعسى أن تحبوا شيئا وهو شر لكم، والله يعلم وأنتم لا تعلمون.

You may dislike a thing and then it turns out to be good for you and you may like a thing and then it turns out to be bad for you. Allah SWT knows and you know not. (Al-Baqarah: 2-216)

When we look around us now, we’ll find most people in this world are completely headless about their Creator Allah SWT and about the purpose of their creation, which is to worship Him. They are totally obsessed with the worldly gains around them. They are unaware that there is a day in front of them on which they’ll be fully accountable, before their Creator, for all what they do in this worldly life.

Moreover, as a result of the vast advances in ٍٍScience and Technology, most people think that they’ve become in full control of that world, totally overlooking the fact that this whole world is owned by Allah SWT, the Creator of the whole universe, not only this little tiny earth on which they live. This earth, compared to the whole universe, is nothing but a little piece of sand in a huge vast desert.

Allah SWT says in the Quran:

حتى إذا أخذت الأرض زخرفها وازينت وظن أهلها أنهم قادرون عليها أتاها أمرنا ليلا أو نهارا فجعلناها حصيدا كأن لم تغن بالأمس، كذلك نفصل الآيات لقوم يتفكرون.

When the earth will look in its full ornaments and people will think that they are in full control of it, then the commandment of Allah SWT will come to pass for it by night or by day and He SWT will make it as a harvested land as if it never has flourished before, thus Allah SWT explains His signs for people who give thought. (Yunus: 10-24)

At this moment, when we look around us, for example, in the city of New York, where we live, everything around us is closed. The people of the city used to boast that it is a city that never sleeps. However, it looks now as “never flourished before”, which confirms the description mentioned in the previous Aiah.

Therefore, we can safely say that the plight of Covid19 is just a wake-up call from Allah SWT, the Creator of this world, to the people on this earth, just to awaken them to the fact that they are completely helpless before Allah SWT, and they should return back to their Creator and fulfill their duty towards Him.

We’ve seen some signs that some people have been awakened by this calamity and become certain that they are in dire need to Allah SWT, their Creator. People in some cities have been, by some videos, shown in streets stretching their hands to heaven, declaring their total helplessness and seeking the succor and help from above.

In a health crisis like this the real believers should, after taking the necessary precautions, put their total trust in their Creator Allah SWT, who is the only source of mercy and recovery. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad:

واعلم أن ما أخطأك لم يكن ليصيبك وما أصابك لم يكن ليخطئك، واعلم أن النصر مع الصبر، وأن الفرج مع الكرب، وأن مع العسر يسرا.

Be certain that what has missed you wouldn’t have happened to you and what has happened to you wouldn’t have missed you. Be certain also that the succor or help from Allah SWT comes after showing patience and there’ll be a relief in times of distress and ease in a time of hardship.

How beautiful are those words that give the believers full comfort and encourage them to submit their total will to that of Allah SWT, their Creator, and be rest assured that with distress or calamity there’ll be relief and easiness from Allah SWT.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith narrated by Bukhari:

ما أنزل الله من داء إلا أنزل الله الشفاء

Allah SWT has never created an illness except after creating a remedy for it.

In another Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad and Tabarani, the Prophet(صلى الله عليه وسلم:) said

ما أنزل الله عز وجل من داء إلا أنزل له دواء علمه من علمه أو جهله من جهله.

Allah SWT, the totally glorified, has never created an illness except after creating a remedy for it, which some will know and others will not.

The conclusion from those two hadiths is that the believers if inflicted with the Coronavirus, should put their total trust in Allah SWT and know that InshaAllah they’ll get rid of that illness by the help of their Creator.

It’s well known that the recovery from Coronavirus is totally dependent upon the strength of the immune system because, so far, there’s no treatment for that plague. The modern science, according to some studies conducted by non-Muslims, has proved that the more faith the people will have in their heart the much stronger will be their immunity. Therefore, the immunity of the believers is really solid and with the help of Allah SWT, they’ll be able to overcome that disease.

Even in the worst scenario, if the believer will lose his life as a result of that disease he’ll have InshaAllah the reward of the Shahid.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim:

الطاعون شهادة لكل مسلم.

If a Muslim will die as a result of Ta’oon (epidemic) he’ll have the reward of Shahid.

On the other hand, Covid19 pandemic has proved the truthfulness of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who has recommended, more than fourteen hundred years ago, to apply the quarantine when an epidemic would afflict a place.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith narrated by Bukhari:

إذا سمعتم بالطاعون بأرض فلا تدخلوها وإن وقع بأرض وأنتم فيها فلا تخرجوا منها.

When you hear that Ta’oon has occurred in an area don’t enter into that area and when it occurs in an area while you’re there don’t go out of it.

That is exactly what has been applied in different parts of the world to prevent the spread of Covid19. The cities, where it has happened, have been closed and people inflicted with the virus have been quarantined and isolated.

Day after day, Allah S. has been proving to the non-Muslims that Islam is the right religion for people of the world.

Allah SWT says in Quran:

سنريهم آياتنا في الآفاق وفي أنفسهم حتى يتبين لهم أنه الحق.

We’ll let them witness our sings in all places around them and in their own selves so that it’ll become manifest for them that Islam is the right religion for them. (Fussilat: 41-53).

Moreover, Alhamdullilah, the believers, in the face of that plague, have their own defensive tools that’ll help them in that crisis.

First, after taking the proper precautions, they put their total trust in Allah SWT. This InshaAllah will bring His succor and help.

Secondly, making supplication and Dua to Allah SWT and He SWT has assured the believers of His response.

Thirdly, reciting Muawizat (the protecting suras), suras of al-Ikhals, al-Falaq, and Annas three times every day by night before going to bed, then wipe the whole body with hands. This will InshaAllah ensure total protection for the believers, as promised by our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .

We, as believers, put our total trust in Allah SWT and raise our hands to Him seeking His succor and help in that crisis and asking Him to give full and speedy recovery to our brothers who have been afflicted by that disease. We humbly ask our Lord to relieve us from that crisis soon InsahAllah.

وآخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين.

Written by Sayed Abutaleb (Imam Masjid Fatima)

The blessed month of Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. No doubt that the month of Ramadan is the most blessed month of the whole year. It is the only month mentioned by name by Allah SWT in the Quran.

Allah SWT has favored that blessed month with great virtues and blessings detailed as follows.

1- Revelation of the Quran

Allah SWT has chosen the month of Ramadan to be the month that had witnessed the revelation of the Quran, the last perfected Divine Book decreed to all Mankind.

Allah SWT says in the Quran:

شهر رمضان الذي أُنزل فيه القرآن هدى للناس وبيِّنات من الهدى والفرقان (البقرة- 185)

The month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran has been revealed as guidance for people, with clear proofs of guidance and criterion (between right and wrong) (Albaqrah: 2-186).

Quran had been revealed as a whole during the month of Ramadan, on Lailatul Qadre, from the Preserved Tablet (Allouh Almahfuz) to the nearest heaven to the earth. It was revealed gradually afterward by the angle Jibreal to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم over twenty-three years, thirteen years in Makkah, and ten years in Madinah.

The reason for revealing Quran step by step to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was to provide, in some cases, the necessary guidelines to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his Companions (Sahabah) concerning some events.

Allah SWT said in the Quran:

وقال الذين كفروا لولا نُزِّل عليه القرآن جملة واحدة، كذلك لنثبت به فؤادك ورتلناه ترتيلا (الفرقان: 32).

Those who disbelieve say why the Quran has not been revealed to him (the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ) all at once? The reason is that We purposed to strengthen your heart thereby, so We have revealed it in stages.

2- Revelation of other Divine Books

The blessed month of Ramadan had witnessed not only the revelation of the Quran but also the other Divine Books sent to the messengers who came before our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in hadith narrated by Tabarani and Bayhaqi:

أُنزلت صحف إبراهيم في أول ليلة من شهر رمضان، وأنزلت التوراة لست مضين من رمضان، وأنزل الإنجيل لثلاث عشرة مضت من رمضان، وأنزل الزبور لثماني عشرة خلت من رمضان، وأنزل القرآن لأربع وعشرين خلت من رمضان.

The scriptures of Ibrahim (Ibraham) were revealed on the first night of Ramadan, the Torah was revealed on the sixth day of Ramadan, Ingil (Gospel) was revealed on the thirteenth of Ramadan, Zabour (psalm) was revealed on the eighteenth of Ramadan and Quran was revealed on the twenty-fourth of Ramadan.

3- Fasting

Based on the great honor and virtue ascribed by Allah SWT to the month of Ramadan, it has been decreed by Allah SWT to be the month of obligatory fasting in Islam. Fasting of the month of Ramadan is the Fourth pillar of Islam.

Allah SWT says in the Quran:

فمن شهد منكم الشهر فليصمه (البقرة: 186)

Whoever will witness the month of Ramadan he has to fast it (Albaqrah: 2-186).

When the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was asked about the definition of Islam by the angle Jibreel in the famous hadith that is called Hadith Jibreel, he answered:

أن تشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله، وتقيم الصلاة، وتؤتي الزكاة، وتصوم رمضان، وتحج البيت إن استطعت إليه سبيلا.

Bearing witness that there is no God but Allah SWT and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah SWT, the establishment of prayers, paying Zakah, fasting the month of Ramadan, and performing Hajj if the necessary means are available.

4- Lailatul Qadre

In the month of Ramadan, Allah SWT has appointed the night of Lailatul Qadre, the most blessed night in the whole year. Allah SWT has decreed that the worship of Lailatul Qadre is better than the worship of one thousand months (eighty-three years and three months).

As mentioned above Lailatul Qadre has been made sacred by Allah SWT as the night on which Quran has been revealed as a whole from the Preserved Tablet to the nearest heaven to the earth.

Allah SWT says in the Quran:

إنا أنزلناه في ليلة القدر، وما أدراك ما ليلة القدر، ليلة القدر خير من ألف شهر (القدر:1-3)

We have revealed it (Quran) on Lailatul Qadre and how would you know what Lailatul Qadre is, Lailatul Qadre is better than a thousand months. (Alqadre: 1-3)

During that blessed night, each year, Allah SWT ordains all the events that will happen in the following year and all the people’s affairs for that year.

Allah SWT says in the Quran:

إنا أنزلناه في ليلة مباركة، إنا كنا منذرين، فيها يفرق كل أمر حكيم (الدخان: 3و4)

We have revealed it (Quran) on a blessed night (Lailatul Qadre), so as to warn (Mankind). During that night all matters of ordainment are decreed.

The blessed night of Lailatul Qadre is a night of mercy and forgiveness.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim:

من قام ليلة القدر إيمانا واحتسابا غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه.

Whoever will observe the worship of Allah SWT during Lailatul Qadre, believing in Allah SWT and hoping for His reward will have his previous sins forgiven.

5- The last ten nights of Ramadan

Allah SWT has ascribed great value to the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. They are the best ten nights in the whole year and no wonder as Lailatul Qadre is hidden in those blessed nights.

Muslims are highly recommended to exert their utmost endeavors in performing worship during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan as a confirmed Sunnah by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .

In hadith narrated in Sahih Muslim our mother Aishah said:

كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يجتهد في العشر الأواخر من رمضان ما لا يجتهد في غيرها.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to perform more acts of worship in the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan than any other time during the year.

In another hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, she said:

كان إذا دخل العشر أحيا الليل وأيقظ أهله وشد مئزره.

When the last ten nights of Ramadan start the Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم used to stand in prayer all night, awaken his wives and get ready for performing the acts of worship.

One of the reasons for the virtue ascribed to those ten nights is the fact that Lailatul Qadre is pursued during them.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in hadith narrated by Bukhari:

تحروا ليلة القدر في الوتر من العشر الأواخر.

Try to spot Lailatul Qadre during the nights of the odd days in the last ten nights (of the month of Ramadan).

As a sign of seriousness in worshiping Allah SWT, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to make I’tkaf during those last ten nights. Hence, Muslims are recommended to follow suit and make I’tkaf during those nights. This InshaAllah will allow them the opportunity to get the blessing of successfully spotting Lailatul Qadre.

6- Omrah in Ramadan equals Hajj

One of the other virtues of the blessed month of Ramadan is that Allah SWT has made performing Omrah during that respected month will equal performing Hajj. Accordingly, we see thousands of Muslims travel to Makkah during that blessed month to perform Omrah.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has advised a Muslim woman to perform Omrah in the month of Ramadan saying to her as narrated by Bukhari and Muslim:

فإذا كان رمضان اعتمري فيه، فإن عمرة فيه تعدل حجة.

When the month of Ramadan comes make Omrah in that month as Omrah in it equals Hajj.

The scholars has explained the phrase “equals Hajj” by saying that Omrah during the month of Ramadan will equal Hajj just in reward. However, the Muslim will still have to perform Hajj if he or she has the necessary means, as a fulfillment of the duty to perform that pillar of Islam.

7- Opening the gates of Jannah and closing the gates of Hellfire

 Allah SWT, by His Grace and Mercy, will let the gates of Jannah opened and the gates of Hellfire closed at the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan. As an added favor Allah SWT also will have the devils chained during that month.

This kind of Goodness of Allah SWT is metaphorical to opening the gates of Mercy and Forgiveness for Muslims and shutting down the gates of sins and errors in front of them during the blessed month of Ramadan.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim:

إذا جاء رمضان فُتحت أبواب الجنة وغُلقت أبواب النار وصفدت الشياطين.

At the start of the month of Ramadan, the gates of Jannah will be opened and the gates of Hellfire will be closed and the devils will be chained.

8- Deliverance from Hellfire and responding to supplications

The virtuous month of Ramadan is the time for deliverance from Hellfire and answering the supplications of Muslims.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم confirmed that virtue in a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad. He said:

إن لله عتقاء في كل يوم وليلة، لكل عبد منهم دعوة مستجابة.

On each day and night (of the month of Ramadan) Allah SWT will deliver some Muslims from Hellfire and each one of them will have a specific supplication to which Allah SWT will respond.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in another hadith narrated by Bayhaqi:

للصائم عند فطره دعوة لا ترد.

Each Muslim will have when breaking his fasting, a specific supplication to which Allah SWT will respond.

For all these virtues and blessings from our Creator, Allah SWT, Muslims should spare no efforts or endeavors to make the blessed month of Ramadan a month of serious and sincere worship. This InsahAllah will help them to get closer to Allah SWT and successfully gain His Mercy, Forgiveness, and Grace.

Written by Sayed Abutaleb, Imam of Masjid Fatima