Friday Sermon: The Fruit of Ramadan

By: Ustadz Ahmad Soleh, Chairperson of the Al-Fatah Bogor Islamic University (STAI)

الْحَمْدَ ِللهِ اَّلذِى اَمَرَنَا بِلُزُوْمِ الجَمَاعَةِ وَنَهَانَاعَنِ الْاِخْتِلَافِ وَالتَّفَرُّقةِ
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَََُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُْْ.
اللهم صل وسلم على نبينا وحبيبنا وشفيعنا محمد وعلى اله واصحابه هدا ت الا مة ومن تبعهم بإ حسان الى يوم القيامة
اَيُّهَاالْمُسْلِمُوْنَ أُوْصِيْكُمْ وَنَفْسِيْ بِتَقْوَى اللهِ فَقَدْ فَازَالْمُتَّقُوْنَ
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلا تَمُوتُنّ إِلا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمون
يا أيها الناس اتقوا ربكم الذي خلقكم من نفس واحدة وخلق منها زوجها وبث منهما رجالا كثيرا ونساء واتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به والأرحام إن الله كان عليكم رقيبا
ياأيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديد * يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما
اَمَّا بَعْد,
فإن أصدق الحديث كتاب الله, وخير الهدي هدي محمد صل الله عليه وسلم وشرالأمور محدثاتها وكل محدثة بدعة وكل بدعة ضلالة وكل ضلالة فىالنار

Servant of God, Jumah Rahimakumullah Congregation

Alhamdulillah, first, we should be grateful to Allah for all the invaluable blessings for our life and salvation in this world and the hereafter, namely the blessings of faith and the blessings of Islam.

Secondly, we should always hope to Allah the Exalted, that our deeds of worship and Fasting Ramadan that have just passed by him will be accepted and become our savings in the final year, and can lead us to become servants who increasingly base the attributes of devotion to Allah, as the purpose of fasting, la’alakum tattaqun (so that we are pious).

Regarding pious (taqwa), Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, he said, that taqwa is;  first, so that God is obeyed and not followed. So a believer always puts obedience to God first. Allah the Exalted said:

وما كان لمؤمن ولا مؤمنة إذا قضى الله ورسوله أمرا أن يكون لهم الخيرة من أمرهم ومن يعص الله ورسوله فقد ضل ضلالا مبينا

“And it is not appropriate for a believing man and not (also) for a believing woman if Allah and His Messenger have established a provision, they have (other) choices about their affairs. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then surely he has gone astray, a real heretic “(Surah Al Ahzab: 36).

Shaykh Abdurrahman bin Nashir As Sa’di said: “It is not appropriate for a believer, if Allah has determined something firmly, then he has another choice. Namely the choice to do it or not. Then, you should not make lust as a barrier between him and Allah and His Messenger “.

Second, always remember Allah, not forget Him. A believer wherever and whenever always remembers Allah, remembers His rules and Shari’a and remembers His punishment and mercy. So that his life always feels watched and cared for by Allah SWT.

Third, give thanks to Allah, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala commands gratitude and promises a reward of gratitude in the form of additional kindness from Him. As stated in another verse, which is His word:

وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ

“And (remember) when your Lord declares,” Verily, if you are grateful, surely We will add (favor) to you, and if you deny (my favor), then indeed My punishment is very painful. ”  (Surah Ibrahim: 7)

Congregation Friday Rahimakumullah

Taqwa also means caution, like the beautiful conversations of these two friends of Umar bin Khattab RA and Ubay bin Ka’ab. Umar asked Ubay, “O Ubay, what is the meaning of piety?” Ubay was asked instead, asking. “O Umar, have you ever walked along a thorny road?”

Umar replied, “Of course I have.”  “What were you doing at that time, O Umar?”  continued Ubay asked. “Of course I will walk carefully,” Umar replied. Ubay then said, “That is the essence of piety.”

This conversation teaches us, being pious is essentially being a person who is always careful. He did not want his feet to step on the thorns prohibited by Allah SWT.

He was willing to put the brakes on his speed, cut his ego, sharpen his gaze, scrutinize the surroundings, and look for gaps in safety.

He maximizes all bodily functions so he is not harmed. So that even a thorn does not hurt and then shed blood from his feet.

Taqwa is careful, so shaum Ramadhan has taught us to be immense, refrain from various prohibitions of Allah.

Congregation Friday Rahimakumullah

We can take other taqwa lessons from the story of Prophet Adam and Eve in heaven before Allah sent them both to the face of the earth.  Allah SWT said,

وقلنا يا آدم اسكن أنت وزوجك الجنة وكلا منها رغدا حيث شئتما ولا تقربا هذه الشجرة فتكونا من الظالمين

“And We say:” O Adam, stay with you and your wife this paradise, and eat many more good foods wherever you like, and do not approach this tree, which causes you to be among the wrongdoers.  ”  (Surat al-Baqarah: 35)

In this verse Allah uses the word hadzihi (هَذِه). The word hadzihii is used to indicate nouns that are muannasts that are close to the speaker. Meaning that God was so close to Adam at that time (before he ate the forbidden fruit).

In Surah Al-A’raf, Allah says;

ويا آدم اسكن أنت وزوجك الجنة فكلا من حيث شئتما ولا تقربا هذه الشجرة فتكونا من الظالمين (19) فوسوس لهما الشيطان ليبدي لهما ما ووري عنهما من سوآتهما وقال ما نهاكما ربكما عن هذه الشجرة إلا أن تكونا ملكين أو تكونا من الخالدين (20)

“(And Allah says’),” O Adam, stay with you and your wife in heaven and eat by both of you (fruits) wherever you like, and let neither of you approach this tree, then be the two of you including the people  wrongdoers. “

So the devil whispered evil thoughts to both of them to reveal to them what was covered from them, namely their genitals, and the devil said, “Your Lord did not forbid you from approaching this tree, but so that you both do not become angels or do not become eternal people (  in heaven). ”  (Surat al-A’raf: 19-20)

Allah SWT relates that He allowed Adam a.s. and Eve (his wife) lived in heaven and ate all the fruit that was in it, except for a tree.

Prof. Dr. Hamka in the interpretation of Al-Azhar said, when Adam and Eve were in heaven they were given freedom, eat and drink, eat the available fruits and just pick. That is, free independence.

However, in this verse Allah excludes eating the fruit of forbidden tree, this shows that freedom is freedom to limit oneself, not absolute without limits, so as not to lose money.

People who are unable to maintain their independence will inevitably lose that independence. And if independence has been lost, losses will be found. So, every human violation of God’s prohibition can slip it to the loss.

This verse teaches us, how Adam and Eve were brought out of heaven, which is a place of calm and peace and far from the sufferings and tribulations of Satan’s deception.

Then Adam and Eve were sent down to the face of the earth because of the devil’s temptation to pick the fruit of a tree in heaven called Satan as a tree of error, even though God forbid both of them.

So, after the two of them approached and picked the fruit, their genitalia was immediately revealed. Thus according to the history of Ibn Jarir with a valid sanad up to Ibn Abbas.

Mujahid said that the two of them began to pluck the leaves of heaven, then patched them into clothes.

Then Allah commanded them to leave heaven, as He said:

فدلاهما بغرور فلما ذاقا الشجرة بدت لهما سوآتهما وطفقا يخصفان عليهما من ورق الجنة وناداهما ربهما ألم أنهكما عن تلكما الشجرة وأقل لكما إن الشيطان لكما عدو مبين

“Then Shaitan entices the two (to eat the fruit) by deception.  When both of them had tasted the fruit of wood, they appeared to both their nakedness, and they both began to cover it with the leaves of heaven.

Then their Lord called on them: “Did I not forbid you both from the tree and I say to you:” Surely the devil is the real enemy for both of you? ”  (Surat al-A’raf: 22)

In this verse, after the Prophet Adam violated, Allah called him using the word Tilkuma (تِلْكَما), a demonstrative word that has meaning and is used if the object is far away, because at that time the Prophet Adam was far from God because he violated God’s prohibition.

Likewise, when someone violates Allah’s prohibition, then at that time Allah will away from him, Allah is far from those who deny, so that our nakedness will be revealed. We become excited and ashamed, in a state of sin.

Therefore, Ramadan that we have been running for one full month should be able to patch up our mistakes for the previous eleven months.

So that in the end this god-fearing will function as a garment that covers sin and error, our genitals will again be covered with god-fearing clothing.

Taqwa clothes not only cover up the sins committed but also lead the wearer to the love of Allah.

As Adam and his wife realized that they had been wronged, Adam returned to God by repenting, regretting his actions.

قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَآ اَنْفُسَنَا وَاِنْ لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُوْنَنَّ مِنَْْْْْْْْْْْ

Meaning: Both said, “O our Lord, we have wronged ourselves;  and if you do not forgive us and give mercy to us, surely we must be among the losers. ”  (Surat al-A’raf: 23).

Congregation Friday the womb

With the Ramadan, we are expected to be better able to control the desires and passions according to the will of God, can develop a social soul to be more caring, sympathetic and empathetic towards others.

With the passing of the Ramadan, may it have a positive influence on life, truly being able to increase our piety in order to achieve great rewards and attain the degree of pious believers, as the purpose of fasting …

لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

أَقُوْلُ قَوْلِيْ هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الْعَظِيْمَ لِيْ وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ.  فَاسْتَغْفِرُوْهُ ، إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُوْرُ الرَّحِيْمُ

Second Sermon

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ حَمْدًا كَثِيْرًا كَمَا أَمَرَ.  أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين, أما بعد;  عِبَادَ اللهِ ، أُوْصِيْكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ بِتَقْوَى اللهِ ، فَاتَّقُوا اللهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ ََُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُُِّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّ

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلاَئِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّوْنَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوْا صَلُّوْا عَلَيْهِوَََََََََََََََََُُُ
اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد, كما صليت على إبراهيم وعلى آل إبراهيم, وبارك على محمد وعلى آل محمد, كما باركت على إبراهيم وعلى آل إبراهيم, في العالمين إنك حميد مجيد

اللهم اغفر للمؤمنين والمؤمنات, والمسلمين والمسلمات, الأحياء منهم والأموات, إنك سميع قريب مجيب الدعاء
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الْهُدَى وَالتُّقَى وَالعَفَافَ وَالغِنَى
اللهم أعز الإسلام والمسلمين, ووحد اللهم صفوفهم, وأجمع كلمتهم على الحق, واكسر شوكة الظالمين, واكتب السلام والأمن لعبادك أجمعين
رَبَّنَا لا تُزِغْ قُلُوْبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا ، وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً ، إَََََََََََََِ
رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنْفُسَنَا وَإِنْ لَمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُوْنَنَّ مِنَ الخَاسرِي
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا في الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
عِبَادَ اللهِ:
إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عن الفحشاء والمنكر والبغي يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون

(AT/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)