THE TIME PASSES

Allah the Almighty says (translation of the meaning): ' It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light and measured out for it stages that you might know the number of years and the reckoning. Allah did not create this but in truth.' (Qur'an 10:5)

Through the usage of these signs that Allah has mercifully given us to mark and know the passage of the years, we have witnessed the passage of yet another year and another Ramadhan. So quickly it has come, and so quickly it has gone.

It seems like only yesterday that we were awaiting the sighting of the new moon to determine the beginning of the fast. And it seems not so long ago that we were witnessing the passage of the previous Ramadhan.

A month has come and gone-the holy month of Ramadhan. A year has come and gone. Many years have passed from each of our lives. And for each one of us, our time to end this earthly life is coming nearer. With the passage of every moment, we come closer. How much closer, none of us knows for sure. But it is without question that with each breath we take in and then release, we become closer at the end.

With the passage of this time, our records are updated with whatever we have done or not done in that time. Imagine if you yourself were to keep a written daily log of your own activities, speech, and comings and goings. What would you find if you were to re-open that daily log for review? What will be found is your record that Allah has commanded to be recorded? What – if anything – did you accomplish in this holy month of Ramadhan? What have you accomplished during this past year since last Ramadhan, or during the previous years?

Allah the Almighty has endowed us humans with the great honor and responsibility of being His vicegerents on this earth. It is our duty to Him that we take this position seriously to make the best out of the time He has granted us. It is our duty to ourselves that we not waste the time granted us on things truly unworthy of our precious time.

I ask again-what have you accomplished in this Ramadhan? Did you review the Qur'an? Did you learn something new? Did you learn the value of patience? Did you learn how the poor feel when they are hungry? Did you help someone out in need? Did you increase your prayers?

If you did any of these or similar acts, then I commend and congratulate you heartily. For that is in part of what Ramadhan is all about, to help return us on the right path towards pleasing Allah and coming closer to Him through the various acts of worship.

And if you did not accomplish any of those mentioned, but spent Ramadhan in the flimsy cares and worries of this life-only fasting in the physical sense without paying attention to your spiritual needs, then I pray for you that you will soon awaken to the starvation that your soul is going through.

For, there is much more to be gained from Ramadhan than the mere accomplishment of the physical fast.

The greatest gain one can find with Ramadhan is the nourishment and maturing of the soul. Feed it with the knowledge and inspiration found only in the Qur'an. Sustain it by your connection to the Creator through prayer. Help it towards maturity by the patience necessary to continue on through a month-long fast.

I bid farewell to this beloved month of ours with the supplication to Allah that He may graciously accept our meager efforts and forgive us our misgivings and mistakes. I pray that if we should not live to witness yet another Ramadhan that He will grant us His Merciful Pardon, for He is the Most Merciful and Gracious of those who grant pardon. I pray also that if He shall grant us a longer life to witness yet another Ramadhan, that He shall bless us with the health and stamina to worship Him as He deserves.

The moments come and go; they pass and add up to days. The days turn into weeks and months, which then turn into the passage of yet another year. The years pass us by, and before we know it, a lifetime has passed us by. And what do we have to show for it all?

May Allah have mercy upon us and grant us His pardon.