Ayatollah Fazel-Lankarani congratulates Muslims on Eid al-Fitr festival

Rasa - Ayatollah Mohammad-Javad Fazel-Lankarani, the chairman of the Jurisprudence Centre of the Pure Imams (A) in the holy city of Qom, congratulated the believers on the festival of Eid al-Fitr.

News ID: 966

Date: 28 July 2014 - 18:30

Rasa News Agency - Ayatollah Mohammad-Javad Fazel-Lankarani, the chairman of the Jurisprudence Centre of the Pure Imams (A) in the holy city of Qom, congratulated the believers on the festival of Eid al-Fitr (Feast of Breaking the Fast) in an interview with Rasa News Agency, saying: “Eid al-Fitr is one of the greatest festivals of Islam. We hope that God will accept all the acts of worship of all the worshippers during the holy month of Ramadhan.”

His Eminence explained that Eid al-Fitr is a day of divine reward: “At the end of the Holy month of Ramadhan, the believers and fasters must perform their Eid duties, such as performing the Eid prayer and giving the zakat al-fitrah alms. On the night of Eid al-Fitr, God sends down His vast mercy upon the believers and those who spent the holy month fasting.”

He explained on the eve of Eid al-Fitr a call from the heavens is heralded which says “Oh believers! Hasten towards the rewards which you have earned.”

“The Prophet Muhammad (S) said to his companion, Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari: ‘The rewards from God and the rewards from the kings are incomparable,’” His Eminence explained.

In another narration, it is stated that on the day of Eid al-Fitr, angels stand on every street corner and call out: “Hasten towards your Beneficent Lord! The gate of the mercy of God is opened wider on this day than it is at any other time. Your Lord bestows on you whatever you need and cleanses you from your major sins!”

Ayatollah Fazel-Lankarani explained that we must not ignore the congregational Eid al-Fitr prayer because it has a great effect on the believers and many blessings are associated with it. “There is also a special prayer to be prayed on the eve of Eid al-Fitr which is known as the prayer of one thousand “Qul huwa Allahu ahad” recitations [Say, ‘He is God, [who is] One’]. The great scholars and gnostics emphasize the importance of this prayer,” he explained.

“There are numerous narrations which state that anyone who performs two units of prayer and anything that that he requests from God will be granted to him,” His Eminence added.

He pointed to narrations which state the importance of night vigils on the eve of Eid al-Fitr and said: “We should take advantage of this great opportunity because some narrations say that on the day when all the hearts have died, the hearts of those who have spent the night of Eid al-Fitr in worship will not die.”

Ayatollah Fazel-Lankaran recommended that the believers recite some of the many rich supplications on this night: “There are many recommended acts to perform on the eve of Eid al-Fitr.”

He referred to a narration from the Prophet Muhammad (S) about the importance of Eid al-Fitr: “Lest anyone stay home on the day of Eid because the day of Eid is a new dawn. So, go out of your homes so that you may receive the mercy of God!”

Ayatollah Fazel-Lankarani concluded by stating: “We are hopeful that on the day of Eid al-Fitr, God bestows the greatest prize on our community of fasters – the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi (AJ) – and eliminates our hostile enemies from among the Islamic community.”

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