The call of the Masjid

All praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds and peace and blessings be upon His final messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

The blessed month of Ramadhan is about to come to an end. With itself, it will also take away the blessings that are especially bestowed by Allah in this holy month. Lucky were those who kept fast, offered prayers regularly in congregation (both obligatory and taraweeh), recited Qur'aan, kept themselves busy with Allah's zikr, saved themselves from committing sins and tried to do as much good as possible. Never will this particular Ramadhan come back again and who knows whether we will get another Ramadhan or not.

Why is it that when Ramadhan begins, the masajid begin to swell up and as the days go by, the crowd begins to wean out? By the time Ramadhan comes to an end, Allah's house is found wanted for the believers. Those who seldom used to turn towards Allah's house, are found bowing before Him in Ramadhan. But sadly, they again disappear after Ramadhan, only to come back in next Ramadhan, provided they live that long.

Why do we do this to ourselves? What can bring our brothers back to Allah's house? If so many promises from our most-loving Lord about the never-ending bliss in Jannah cannot bring them to the house of the Most Merciful Lord, what can? May God forbid, have they struck a better deal with someone that they are taking the promises of Allah for granted? Is Jannah, which is ten times bigger than this world, according to Muhammad (Peace be upon him), not enough as a reward in return for being obedient to Allah and His beloved Rasool?

My dear brothers, what turns you away from this blessed house? Is it trivial things that are going to last for just few days? Have they become so dear to you that you are ready to sacrifice this blessed house? The believers were never such fools nor was their Faith so cheap. They struck the most profitable deal with their Lord. The deal was that Allah bought their lives and everything they possessed in lieu of Jannah.

Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise)
Qur'aan, 9:111

Now, if you are breaking this deal then Allah too can step back and humiliate you both in this world and (may Allah forbid) in the world Hereafter.
You are the cream of the entire mankind on the basis of your Faith in Allah and His Rasool. You are the Ummatees of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), the privilege many Prophets (peace be upon them) aspired to have. Please know your worth. Only Allah can buy you. No power or wealth in the world has got the means to buy you, your prayers, your Taqwa or your Faith. The Faith you possess is the most precious thing a man can have. Even if the heavens and the earth and everything that is between them were to be put on one side of the scale and La-ilaha-illallah on the other side, the side having the Kalima will be heavier. This is the worth of the Kalima that you recite and believe in. Have the few pennies that you earn have got the power pull you, my brother, out of from this blessed house? That's not possible. The Faith that you have is not so week. It means, we were never Muslims in the true sense, otherwise this money we are going crazy about, would never have had such power to pull us out from Masajid.

We need to look inside ourselves and see whether we are really Muslims or just fooling ourselves and others around us by wearing the garb of Muslims? If we are reluctant in coming to the Masjid, it's better that we stop calling ourselves Muslims because a Muslim is the one who submits his will to the Will of Allah. How can one claim to be a Muslim by forgoing the obligatory salah (prayer)? In other words, we are refusing to bow down before Allah. It has come in a Hadith that one who intentionally skips salah has surely committed kufr.

Isn't salah the most outstanding feature of Islam and its followers? Isn't it the perfect manifestation of our belief that we, as believers, don't bow down before anyone other than Allah? If this is your Faith, then please come back to Masajid. Don't leave this most blessed house on earth.

I assure you that Allah will (Insha Allah) not leave you wanting. Sufficient is He for the believers. He cares more for you than you yourself or your mother can ever care for you. He loves you, so you should also love Him as He is to be loved. He will surely return your lost respect and make you successful in both the worlds — here and Hereafter. You have got the right to ask Him and so has He over you.
Salah is the life and soul of a Muslim, without which he is a mass of walking flesh. Salah is both the most lethal weapon as well as a shield of the believers. Where are you roaming around without your weapon and shield in these trying times? Wherever you might be — on ground, sea or in the air — don't skip Salah. Get armed with it and rule the world. So please come back, the masjid is calling you. Allah's mercy and blessing is calling you. Respond to the call of the minaret by saying, “here I am O my Lord!”

This calling to Allah was supposed to be meant for our non-Muslims brothers and sisters. But our condition has deteriorated so much that we are calling our brothers in Faith for the five daily prayers. Salah comes automatically to those who believe in Allah and His Rasool. An invitation is not needed.

It's never too late to make amends. Wake-up now. Once you start coming to Masajid, invite your non-muslim brothers also to worship their true Lord. Just as our Lord and creator is one , so also are our Prophet (Pease be upon him) & Book (Qur’aan) the same. Invite them to worship none but Allah. This is your duty and this is why you were sent to this world. This (Islam) is their trust with us. If we do not give it to them, we will be made accountable for this in the Hereafter.
This is the job that was entrusted to us by Allah's beloved slave Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in his farewell pilgrimage (Haj). Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: "All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O Allah, that I have conveyed your message to your people".

I only desire (your) betterment to the best of my power; and my success (in my task) can only come from Allah. In Him I trust, and unto Him I look.
Qur'aan, 11:88

Your brother in Faith,
Hasan Muhammad Ali
Cell: 9936139559 (Lucknow)
9958069541 (New Delhi)
E-mail: hasan.hma@gmail.com
hma_hasan@yahoo.com