Ramadan builds up values

Praised be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds [i.e., people], and peace be upon the noblest of all messenger and prophets:

The world of success is connected with values. However long the life of an individual is, he remains an orphan and naked if he does not have values.

The greatness of an individual on earth is connected with the presence of these values in his reality.

Verily, the Month of Ramadan should change the meaning of Ramadan in the mentality of every person from a religious occasion that is affected by customs to a school of building up values and a chance to achieve every wish that a person dreams of.

We have to realize that we are before a spiritual school that builds up values and roots the great meanings in the life of all individuals. Through these lines I shall take you, dear reader, to the courtyard of this school to read the story of values in the life of great people, and how that school was able to graduate students who are able to build up themselves and their reality in the way they like.

Ramadan teaches us the value of having a goal in life and its impact on reality, and tells us that life without goals is a life without meaning or effect! The issue of having goals in life is a clear issue embodied in the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and hope for the reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." "Whoever performs Qiyam in Ramadan out of faith and hope for the reward, his previous sins of the above sin." "Whoever performs Qiyam in the Night of Qadr out of faith and hope for the reward, his previous sins will be forgiven."

Every Muslim enters the gate of this school sees these goals in all its aspects, cheering and calling him to take the chance of his thirty-days-journey!

• The goal here is crystal-clear, a specific goal with fixed time, starts in Ramadan and ends after thirty days. Of the beauties of goals is that the reward is pushing a person to disregard horrors for the sake of achieving that goal.

• Any project on earth should be of clear goals, otherwise it will fail to achieve anything. Success in any project shall be connected with the greatness and clarity of the goal as well as the ability to identify its end.

Each person should realize that he will not achieve his wishes except by the end of his project after he realizes his goal and tries to achieve it from the very beginning.

How many projects that a person initiates with himself, with his community, or at the level of his nation but he could not achieve its goals until now! How many people dream to finish memorizing the Glorious Qur'an but cannot finish it until now!

How many people have a life-project but have not achieved it until now! How many projects and wishes that people have in mind and they are waiting to achieve them in the future, but have not started yet!

Ramadan came to tell us that fasting, Qiyam -out of faith and hope for the reward-, and achieving piety through them is the greatest goal in this school, and every person wants to test his ability to achieve this value in his life has to try to achieve the wide goal of this month. We have to receive Ramadan while each one of us has a project of which he dreams, and starts to plan to his objectives because without that, the impact of this school will be weak in our lives and reality.

• The values upon which Ramadan emphasizes to create in our lives is the value of seizing opportunities, and the great rank of a person in the Hereafter depends on the investment of these opportunities. "Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and hope for the reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." "Whoever performs Qiyam in Ramadan out of faith and hope for the reward, his previous sins of the above sin." "Whoever performs Qiyam in the Night of Qadr out of faith and hope for the reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." Think about these opportunities, which are presented before each one of us, calling them to take the chance, and the reward is the dream of everyone in the whole world!

• Opportunities need a reasonable wise person to invest them at the first glimmer. You have known that the high status which `Ukkashah (may Allah be pleased with him) gained came from just one chance when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Seventy thousand will enter Paradise without account or punishment." Once the chance came to `Ukkashah, he seized it: "Shall I be one of them O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Yes." Another came to seize the chance, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "`Ukkashah has preceded you."

• Ramadan calls us to invest three chances that are running out. They are free to every person as long as the days of the month are still in hand. It is a value that a person should be keen to gain. We should not allow that chance to be wasted.

• Ramadan builds up in ourselves the value of time and stresses it importance as the dearest thing in life.

Minutes are very effective in the life of an individual, so if a person breaks his fast one minute or less before Maghrib, his fasting will be null and void in that day.

Likewise, if a person eats or drinks after the Fajr Adhan, his fasting will be null and void; all these to give much care to this value in the souls of Muslims and embodying it in their lives.

• Each successful person you see today gives much importance to this value in his scientific and practical life.

I remind you that this value is a history that makes individuals and nations if this value is given its chance of care and attention.

There is no choice for anyone wants to create reality to accept or give up this value, moreover history books give you full story about mens' lives.

These three values make up the history of man, write his biography with golden ink, and perfume the entire life with breathes of challenge and makes change to the dreams which each person seeks to live as reality in Ramadan.

I call the great men of this nation and the makers of its history to open the pages of their hearts and their booknotes to write down these values through studying in this great school of life. Allah is Only One sought for help, upon Him we rely, and from him is the might and strength.