BIDDING FAREWELL TO RAMADAN- BY PROFESSOR TIMEHIN S. OLUROTIMI

As we begin to prepare to bid farewell to the holy month of Ramadan, a note of caution should be sounded. This is because as close as we are to the end of the month, only Allah knows those who will see the day of 'eid. By His Grace, we have fasted, and by His Power, we are at the threshold of its completion.

We have sought His Forgiveness and Mercy in this month, and we are assured of His Clemency because we have witnessed the vastness of His Grace, the depth of His kindness, and the awesomeness of His Mercy.

We have learnt that there is nothing in life that cannot be resolved with love and compassion.* 

As you desire His Forgiveness, therefore, forgive those that hurt you, and you will enjoy the fruits of His Favours in your affairs. 

Remember that forgiveness is nothing but putting the hurts of the past behind you and refusing to be defined by it for the rest of your life.

You can thus focus on the future without being tied to the past. It doesn't mean you excuse the crime, it only  means you're no longer willing to be the victim.

As you prepare to complete this spiritual journey of a month, therefore, I ask Allah on this last Jum'ah of the Ramadan to embrace your efforts with His Mercy. May He bless you and your household by the purity of every Quranic verse recited daily, every nafil observed, every dhikr chanted, and every sadaqah made. May His Omnipotence avert from you and your family the  typhoon of His wrath; may His Majestic Authority divert from you the hurricane of His trials and tribulations; may His Invincible Power repel for you the onslaught of calamities and may the Magnificence of His Celestial Hordes eliminate for you all problems and embrace you with uncommon blessings, irreversible successes, unprecedented favours, everlasting joy, inner peace and contentment.

By Allah's Unfathomable Grace which surpasses all things; and His Mercy which encompasses all things and the Light of His Countenance which illuminates all things,  I ask Him to make you one of those who attained piety and purity through fasting in Ramadan; and of those who achieved spiritual elevation through its nawafil; and whose spiritual thirsts were satiated from the Springs of His Forgiveness and whose hearts incline to the Meadows of His Benevolence.

Jum'ah Mubarakah 

PROFESSOR TIMEHIN SAHEED OLUROTIMI

- Nigeria