Third Ashra (ten-day spell) of Ramadhan-ul-Mubarak has begun. Everybody seems to be confused, worried or in a hurry. But, the extent of such a situation is different in every individual’s case. First class is of those people who see from the depth of their hearts the blessings of Allah Almighty during the Holy Month. Hundreds of thousands are being pardoned and set free from the hardest punishment in the life hereafter.

There are faithfuls who, braved hunger and thirst, who recited the Holy Qur’an, who gave away what they had in access to the deserving people, who stayed awake in the nights to offer prayers to win Allah’s blessings. Whoever begged before Allah Almighty, the Creator of all worlds, is never disappointed and never returned empty-handed. Trillions of years have passed but there is no dearth of blessings and rewards. Allah gives whoever deserves for anything. This has been continued since centuries when there was no system to counting days, weeks, months or years. Allah Almighty is the only bestower. He always blessed the human being and will continue till the end of the world. After the world finish, He would create new worlds, seas, forests and skies and bless the creatures in different ways. He is the God of innumerable qualities.

One of His treasures is the treasure of pardon. He pardons each and every human being irrespective of what the human being has done in the world and the sins he has committed have crossed all limits, but, as soon as he returns to Allah Almighty and seeks His pardon from the depth of heart, He pardons. This does not minimize the treasures He has. According to a Hadith: “When, on the command of Allah Almighty, the angels come down to the earth, they tell each other lets listen to the sighs of human being which are dearer to Allah than our prayers.”

It is so startling for a faithful whose heart is filled with the love for Allah Almighty and sees the heavy downpour of His blessings. His confusion is not because he is jealous of what is being rewarded by the Allah Almighty to the other human being. Jealousy has no room in Islam and so it is one of the biggest sins. His confusion is that he could not offer prayers to the extent what others offered. His confusion is that he could not shed tears in the nights to beg for Allah’s blessings, what others did. He is now thinking that he should have crossed all limits of begging before Allah Almighty for His blessings on which the angels would have shocked and the Creator of all worlds would tells His angels, “See the human being, who was considered the most cruel and arrogant, is shedding his tears to seek Allah’s pardon from the sins he has done. Be witness to that I am according him pardon and releasing him from the hardest punishment.”

This is the reason that with the apprehension that the Eid day is nearing, his worries and confusion increases. He cuts short his other schedules, minimizes his pre-occupation, lessens his rest hours, leaves his worries for other worldly affairs and spends time in offering prayers, reciting Holy Qur’an with a thinking he might not see the Holy Month the next year or his health might not allow him to offer prayers and fast the whole month. So, he considers the current month of Ramadhan as the last month of his life and tries to win more and more blessings of Allah Almighty. This is always the thinking of true Muslim that he considers every prayer, every night, every day, as the last for his life. And prayer with this thinking gives more pleasure.

There is also a class of those people who are worried in the last Ashra of Ramadhan but their worries are of different nature. They are unaware of the fact that this is the last Ashra of Ramadhan-ul-Mubarak when the Holy Qur’an was sent. They don’t know that this is the last Ashra when people sit in Aitekaf (dissociate themselves with the worldly activities) and spend the ten-day period in greater prayers to win more and more Allah’s blessings. They remain in mosques for days and nights and vow that they would get the blessings of Allah Almighty and will not return their homes empty-handed. This is the last Ashra in which a night, full of blessings falls, the prayers in which are considered more than the prayers offered in thousands of months. And this night is called ‘Lailatul Qadr’. Those who don’t know the importance of this night miss it and miss the blessings of Allah Almighty. But those who know the importance of this night never miss it, never the opportunity of taking benefit of this night and win Allah’s blessings. It is said that if this night is hidden in thousands of nights, the faithfuls would find it and will never be deprived of Allah’s blessings. Moreover, for true Muslims, every night is Lailatul Qadr.

According to Shaikh Sa’adi (rahimahullah), a prince lost his pearl. He ordered to pick all pebbles where the pearl had fallen. When he was questioned, why he had issued such an order? He replied: Had the pearl been searched in a few pebbles it would not have been found, but when all pebbles are picked there is always a possibility of finding it.

The last Ashra of Ramadhan is termed the Ashra of Allah’s blessings. But those who are unaware of the importance of this Ashra, they are neither worried of earning Allah’s blessings and pardon, nor they are desirous of filling their hearts with the love of Islam. They are only worried about, how they would meet the Eid expenses. They are a long list of Eid shopping that contains new white wash in the house, imported curtains, modern jewellery and dresses, latest electrical appliances, and costlier perfumes. Women are more concerned in this regard. Rush of shoppers in the markets does not convey a message that this the month of prayers and blessings. Obscene Eid cards have added more to the shamelessness. Small children are holding Eid cards of semi-nude Indian actresses. Besides all this, there is a trend of night matches of cricket and hockey on the name of Ramadhan Festival. Dish antenna and cable network have opened more obscene channels spoiling the younger generation. Families together watching pictures, which are termed the culture of the West and non-Islamic world. What a co-incidence? Those who are praying in the nights are awake, while those who are spending their time in night matches, and other such activities are also awake. But there is a clear difference between the nature of their acts. And such scenes we witness every year. It is definitely very difficult to change somebody’s thinking but we can at least hold ourselves accountable. We can change ourselves. We can change our priorities. Lets try and there is always a possibility that Allah Almighty would bless us with His blessings. This is our faith.