Islam

Friday Sermon: Chronicles of Corruption 2

Published

4 years ago

July 24, 2020

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

“Honoré de Balzac may after all be right when he had said that behind every great fortune for which one is at a loss to account there is a crime.” Justice Khosa: Panama Case Judgment

Corruption in Africa is a development and social issue which becomes an impediment to change and a serious constraint on economic development and poverty reduction.

Some authorities claim that corruption started with the ‘court interpreter’ system in the early days of colonialism: With all his antics and shenanigans. The interpreter gained the reputation of being the intermediary between the town folks and the ‘Whiteman’; he collected bribes and other such tolls in order to facilitate an audience with the Oyibo. The legend of the famous ‘Natrik’ in Okposi in the Eastern region easily comes to mind. Since then corruption has spread like wildfire: From the pimping ‘ocho passenger’ at the motor park, to the flinching tramp who begs for money, to the girls who follow men for money, to the wives who covet their husband’s rich friends, to the man of God who relish in carnal knowledge of the women in their congregations, to the father who is happy at his child bringing home loads of designer clothes when he is not a drycleaner, to the children who cannot vouch for the source of their parents wealth, to the leaders who cannot keep their hands off the common purse; when the social atmosphere is tainted, the whole fabric of society becomes rotten and everybody is corrupt.

Political corruption started long before independence but has grown in leaps and bound ever since. Early documentary cases of corruption would include the ‘Storey Commission’ of 1952, set up to look into the affairs of the Lagos Town Council which was established in 1951 with Dr. Abubakar Ibiyinka Olorunnimbe as the 1^st Mayor of Lagos; he leveled allegations of corruption against the councilors. The Commission found most of the councilors guilty; some were removed and others sent to jail. The Town Council was also dissolved.

By 2012, Nigeria was estimated to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since independence. We wonder how much that would be today.

In 1956, the Foster-Sutton Tribunal investigated the Premier of the Eastern Region, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe for his involvement in the affairs of African Continental Bank (ACB). The Colonial government did not chastise Zik because the government supported the NCNC as third leg of the political tripod.The national interest of the country demanded that Zik continue as leader of the party. The truth is that Zik was needed to actualize the British plan for post independence Nigeria.

The Governor of the Eastern Region Sir Clement Pleass further observed: “A number of sensible people realized that Zik had done harm in the East in the last two years, but the mass of the people, ignorant and uneducated, voted him back to power.” This is being repeated in our political arena today.

The post independence years were however, characterized by political corruption that was clouded by political infighting. On June 20, 1962, , the Prime Minister appointed a Commission headed by Justice GBA Coker, to inquire into the financial and investment policies and the business operations of six statutory corporations in Western Nigeria since October 1, 1954. It was politically motivated. The affected companies included Western Region Marketing Board, the Western Nigeria Development Corporation, the Western Region Finance Corporation and the Western Region Housing Corporation.

The Commission sat for 92 days. Chief Awolowo who on November 2, 1962, had been charged with treasonable felony and conspiracy to overthrow the Federal Government by force had refused to give evidence before the Coker Commission of Inquiry. Awo said that he had come to the conclusion that no useful purpose would be served by his further participation in the inquiry. The Commission made recommendations that the Western Nigeria Marketing Board should take over immediately all properties of the National Investment and Properties Company Ltd; that the Board should take steps to recover from the Action Group a sum of 8,000,000 BP which Action Group had received from the National Investment and Properties Company between April 18, 1958 and May 31, 1962. In a statement signed by Chief Awolowo, the Action Group rejected the report.

The Coker Commission found Awolowo responsible for all the ills of the Western Region Marketing Board, and said; “Awolowo without a doubt has failed to adhere to the standards of conduct which are required for persons holding such a post.” However, unlike developments in other regions, the Action Group government of Western Nigeria was able to build a strong economic base for the development of the region. National Investment Company was the company that built the Western House in Lagos, Cocoa House in Ibadan and Bristol Hotel in Lagos. It was the same company that built most of the companies that are under Odua Investment Company today. It was this group that was behind the Western Region leap that became the envy of other regions. The run was however truncated by corruption in subsequent years thereby attenuating what could have been the fulfillment of the dream of ‘freedom for all and life more abundant’.

Today we know that the financial legacies of most of the big names were proceeds of corruption, including the much vaunted Dideolu Estate, which became the subject of ‘Great Exposition’ by Concord newspaper of rested memory. Fingers were also pointed at the source of Shonibare Estate in Maryland and many other such overnight wealth of the time.

In the Northern region, against the backdrop of corruption allegations leveled against some native authority officials in Borno; the Northern Government enacted the Customary Presents Order to forestall any further breach of regulations.

Later on, it was the British administration that was accused of corrupt practices in the results of elections which enthroned a Fulani political leadership in Kano; reports later linking the British authorities to electoral irregularities were discovered.

It has also come out into the open that the British not only rigged the census but also the National Election on the eve of independence. See ‘The Nigerian Federal Election of 1959’ by K W J Post. The Last Great Act of Treason?

An interesting case was that of Samuel Okotie Eboh. He was the politician charged by the British to tie the NPC and NCNC together so that a pro-British alliance would rule Nigeria after Independence. Dr Azikiwe, who had been blackmailed by the British to ally himself with an implacable enemy, dutifully visited the Northern leaders in May 1958 to cement the deal, which had been set up even earlier in 1956 at the instigation of the British. Okotie Eboh was the most important politician for the British but was also the most corrupt. Shortly before he was swept away by the January 1966 coup, as our finance minister he had imposed a tax on imported shoes while he was setting up his own shoe factory. He did not live to enjoy the proceeds of his crime. When questioned about his fantastic wealth, he often replied: “For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has” (Matthew 13:12)

Among the greatest impetus to political corruption is the cost of elections. Immediately after the elections, the race begins to recoup the monies spent by way of engaging in an orgy of corrupt. We have had a case of a political investor demanding a huge slice of the State’s statutory allocation as his payback. Governors have been taken to Juju shrines to enter blood oaths before being sponsored for elections. And where he reneges, ways are found to impeach him out of office and the state is made ungovernable.

Electoral corruption is not merely a means to an end but it is also a lucrative pursuit unto itself. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) estimates that it spent about $550 million on the 2015 election while the country’s political parties perhaps spent as much as $2 billion campaigning. Each of Nigeria’s thirty-six states also infuse millions of dollars each year into State Independent Electoral Commissions tasked with conducting sham local government elections on behalf of the governor in power. Al these monies are sourced from the commonwealth.

Federal legislators’ excessive salaries, allowances, and other benefits—amounting to $540,000 per lawmaker in 2017—are also seen by many Nigerians as corruption.

Senators and representatives also pad the national budget. This is the origin of the excessive funds at the disposal of agencies of government such as the NDDC and others which gives them the lee way to pay 3.7Billion Naira for the supply of plastic chairs.

Equally bizarre was the vote of $32.7million for three space agencies for a country that is not in the space age; for a country that has no nuclear facility we budgeted the whooping sum of $13.3 million for our Atomic Energy Commission and $20.5 Million for the Nuclear Regulatory Authority: All avenues for corruption.

The NNPC has been described as the epicenter of corruption in Nigeria. It is a veritable ATM for the executive branch of government.

Nigeria lost $2.8 billion in revenues to import waivers over a five-year period (2011–2015), according to a Nigerian Customs Service report. The greatest beneficiary had been Africa’s richest man, who is also reputed to be the largest beneficiary of government’s import restrictions on certain goods thereby creating a monopoly. The ban on imported poultry has also benefitted a former president who is the biggest poultry farmer in the country.

Between 1980 and 2010, agricultural subsidies totaled ₦873 billion ($5.8 billion in 2010 dollars); of that amount, an estimated ₦776 billion ($5.2 billion) was lost to corruption.

The power sector is another cesspool of corruption. It is estimated that from 1999 to 2017, the country has lost N11 trillion or $64 Billion to corruption. Attempts at privatization only delivered the power sector into the hands of the ‘Usual Suspects’; people of questionable pedigree and integrity. As we write most of the so-called power holding companies have not supplied meters to their clients.

Between 2007 and 2015, politicians and ‘evil’ servants embezzled most of the N432billion allocated for ecological fund.

As we all cry out over the state of insecurity, others have stolen monies earmarked for our security on a grand scale. The case of the National Security Adviser who delivered the sum of $2Billion into the hands of politicians and their cohorts is still inconclusive. None of the beneficiaries are in jail and many are still big players in the political arena.

“Security votes” is an opaque slush fund given to certain federal, state, and local officials totaling over $670 million annually. At the federal level, the number of security votes tucked into the federal budget increased from about ₦9.3 billion ($46.2 million) in 2016 to over ₦18.4 billion ($51 million) in 2018.

Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is endemically corrupt. In March 2018, Nigeria’s accountant general revealed he had identified over 80,000 ghost workers in the Nigeria Police Force: over 20 percent of the total force; read my lips.

Nigeria’s three main anticorruption agencies—the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Code of Conduct Bureau—have at times faced corruption accusations themselves. The ongoing searchlight beamed on the EFCC is a case in point; likewise the soon to be featured Malamigate: Coming to a Cinema near you!

Only in Nigeria will a JAMB official, accused of embezzling ₦36 million ($100,000), claim that a snake had entered into her office and had eaten the money. Baba ooo!!!

In our Chronicles of Corruption when we come to the period of the 3^rd Republic which is now in its 20^th year of unbroken civil rule and so called democracy, we are bound to come to the inescapable conclusion that we are witnessing the worst days of corruption in our country. May God save us from those we elected to preside over our affairs!

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend

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Islam

Friday Sermon: Orgy of Genocide and Destruction in Gaza and the Arms Bazzar

Published

6 days ago

April 12, 2024

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

Six months into the Israeli genocide in Gaza, facts are getting clear to the whole world, especially Western Europe and ‘grandpa’ United States that things are not what they thought it would be. There is no doubt they are all having a rethink about their initial support for Israel. Today, many European nations are not comfortable with the tag ‘supporters of genocide’ and with the United States have started sending cautionary signals to Netanyahu. But despite these, the United States and the West remain the major supplier of arms to Israel, hence, its continued intransigence in the face of world condemnation.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza, 70% of them children and women. 60% of Gaza stands destroyed and laid to waste. A destruction never before witnessed in modern time.

Of those killed in the Israeli air and artillery attacks on the Strip, 28,951 (92%) were civilians, including 12,345 children, 6,471 women, 295 health personnel, 41 civil defense personnel, and 140 journalists. Meanwhile, 61,079 individuals have been injured, hundreds of them critically.

Approximately 2 million or 85% of the total population of the Strip have been displaced from their homes and residential areas amid a lack of safe shelters.

The facilities that have been targeted by Israel include 320 schools; 1,671 industrial facilities; 183 health facilities, including 23 hospitals, 59 clinics, and 92 ambulances; 239 mosques; three churches; and 170 press offices.

Israel continues to escalate its military assaults against Palestinian civilians in an apparent attempt to expand its territory to include the entire Gaza Strip, uprooting the vast majority of the Strip’s population.

Israel is deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in order to cause as many casualties, material losses, and as much general destruction as possible as a form of retaliation and collective punishment. This is against international humanitarian law, the 1949 Geneva Convention, and amounts to war crimes according to the Rome Statute, which governs the International Criminal Court. This is tantamount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Unfortunately for Israel, the children that survive today’s genocide are the potential Hamas of tomorrow. There will never be an end to the state of war. Israel will never know peace nor sleep with two eyes closed. It must learn to live in peace with the Palestinians.

In 1939 Europe’s Jewish population was around 9.5 million people, and it is estimated that six million of these were ultimately slaughtered by 1945 by the German machine.

In an ironic twist of history, Germany that was responsible for the genocide of over 6 million Jews is today a major supplier of weapons of genocide to Israel for the purpose of exterminating Palestinians. What has the world turned to?

According to a BBC report Western governments are coming under growing pressure to halt arms sales to Israel over how it is waging the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is a major weapons exporter, but its military has been heavily reliant on imported aircraft, guided bombs, and missiles to conduct what experts have described as one of the most intense and destructive aerial campaigns in recent history.

Campaign groups and some politicians among Israel’s Western allies say arms exports should be suspended because, they say, Israel is failing to do enough to protect the lives of civilians and ensure enough humanitarian aid reaches them.

Recently, the UN Human Rights Council backed a weapons ban, with 28 countries voting in favour, six against and 13 abstentions. The US and Germany – which account for the vast majority of Israel’s arms imports – both voted against.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, which killed about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.

The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, having helped it build one of the most technologically sophisticated military in the world.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US accounted for 69% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.

The US provides Israel with $3.8bn (£3bn) in annual military aid under a 10-year agreement that is intended to allow its ally to maintain what it calls a “qualitative military edge” over neighbouring countries.

Israel has used the grants to finance orders of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, a stealth aircraft considered the most advanced ever made. It has so far ordered 75 and taken delivery of more than 30 of the aircraft. It was the first country other than the US to receive an F-35 and the first to use one in combat.

Part of the aid – $500m annually – is set aside to fund missile defense programs, including the jointly developed Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling systems. Israel has relied on them during the war to defend itself against rocket, missile, and drone attacks by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.

Since the start of the war, only two US military sales to Israel have been made public after receiving emergency approval – one for 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth $106m and the other for $147m of components to make 155mm artillery shells.

But US media report that President Joe Biden’s administration has also quietly made more than 100 military sales to Israel, most falling below the dollar amount that would require Congress to be formally notified. They are said to include thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, and small arms.

One deal that is large enough to require Congressional notification is the $18bn sale of up to 50 F-15 fighter jets. Congress has not yet approved the deal.

Even though the aircraft would need to be built from scratch and would not be delivered immediately, the sale is expected to be hotly debated by Democratic Party, many of whose representatives in Congress and supporters are increasingly concerned by Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has said she is prepared to block the deal and has accused Israel of “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.

The US has reportedly allowed Israel to draw artillery shells from its reserve stockpile there, Israel is also home to a vast US army depot set up in 1984 to pre-position supplies for its troops in case of a regional conflict, as well as to give Israel quick access to weapons in emergencies.

Stockpiled munitions in the US. Military depot in Israel has reportedly been freely supplied since the start of the Gaza war.

Germany is the next biggest arms exporter to Israel, accounting for 30% of imports between 2019 and 2023, according to SIPRI.

As of early November, the European nation’s weapons sales to Israel last year were worth €300m ($326m; $257m) – a 10-fold increase compared with 2022 – with the majority of those export licenses granted after the 7 October attacks.

Components for air defense systems and communications equipment accounted for most of the sales, according to the DPA news agency.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been a staunch supporter of Israel’s right to self-defense throughout the war and, although his tone on Israeli actions in Gaza has shifted in recent weeks and there has been some debate in Germany, the arms sales do not appear to be at risk of suspension.

Italy is the third-biggest arms exporter to Israel, but it accounted for only 0.9% of Israeli imports between 2019 and 2023. They have reportedly included helicopters and naval artillery.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament last month that Italy had honored existing contracts after checking them on a case-by-case basis and ensuring “they did not concern materials that could be used against civilians”.

The UK’s arms exports to Israel are “relatively small”, according to the UK government, amounting to only £42m ($53m) in 2022.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) says that since 2008, the UK has granted arms export licenses to Israel worth £574m ($727m) in total.

Much of those are for components used in US-made warplanes that end up in Israel. But the British government is coming under growing pressure to suspend even those exports.

But a senior government source has said an arms embargo on Israel was “not going to happen”.

However, as the genocide in Gaza continues, the situation continues to prick the conscience of many people and nations so much so that the Government of South Africa took the matter to the International Court of Justice at the Hague, accusing Israel of genocide. However, it has since been realized the as with most UN organs, ‘talk is cheap’, they cannot walk the talk as they lack means of enforcing their judgement.

Recently the Government of Nicaragua approached The Hague, on a similar mission demanding that the Court sanction Israel and stop the genocide, accusing Germany specifically of supplying weapons of genocide to Israel. Nothing will probably come out of it.

Even in the United States some Democrat senators have petitioned President Biden to order a halt to the sale of weapons to Israel.

Unfortunately, all the protests and marches all over the world have failed to yield any result, except that people are standing up to be counted. It is rather bizarre that Nigeria, the foremost anti-apartheid nation of old and a major leader of ECOWAS and EU has remained mute on the issue. Not even a pim. Who or what are we afraid of? If ‘Free Palestine’ is too heavy for us to say, then we need not wonder why our people continue to suffer and wallow in poverty, penury, and impoverishment in their own land. The government just doesn’t care and is not bothered by the plight of its people not to talk of the suffering of Palestinians.

With all the opportunities of economic leverage at the command of its Arab brethren, it is a big shame that little, or nothing is being done to ameliorate the plight of the beleaguered people of Palestine. But soon, something must give. It cannot continue like this. With this current orgy of destruction and killings, the world is getting to know Israel for what it is, apartheid and genocidal nation, land grabber and nation of mass destruction.

Barka Juma’at and happy weekend.

Headline

Akwa Ibom Government Invests N112 Billion in Road Infrastructure Projects

Published

1 week ago

April 11, 2024

Admin

…DAKKADA OIL PALM FACTORY COMMENCES MILLING SOON

“Since May 2023, Akwa Ibom State Government Invests N112 Billion in Road Infrastructure”

Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Prof. Eno Ibanga disclosed this when he presented a breakdown at the State Executive Council meeting in Uyo.

He revealed that 39 new road projects have been undertaken with N78.77 billion released to fund them, while old projects have been funded to the tune of over N30 Billion, with an additional N12 Billion recently released by the Governor.

Details of the Exco meeting were made public by the Commissioner for Information, Ini Ememobong.

The Executive Council also approved the increment of pension for pensioners who retired before 2012, effective April 2024.

Following the ongoing harvesting of fruits, milling will soon commence at the Dakkada Global Oil Palms.

The Managing Director of the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation, Pastor Imoabasi Jacob announced this during his presentation at the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Umo Eno.

Two projects executed through the Direct Labour Agency have been completed with 19 other ones ongoing.

The Director of Operations of the Agency, presented a status update on the projects under their supervision, also disclosed that 31 of the 100 initial ARISE Compassionate Homes will be completed and presented soon.

The Council was also briefed on the progress at Ibom LED, where 800 people have been trained and N400m has been approved to fund the grant of N500,000 to each of the participants, which will soon be done.

The Governor charged all the Executive Council members to ensure that all the projects and programmes under their supervision are people-centric from ideation to execution. He advised that project monitoring should be ramped up to ensure quick completion.

Major Highlights of the meeting are as follows:

√Status update on Food sufficiency received; proposal on increased cocoa, rice production & Ibom Model Farm submitted by HC for Agriculture & Rural Development

√Presentation of proposal by MD, AKICORP on Ibom Towers, FalconNext, Landmark Beach Resort.

√Dakkada Global Oil Palms Ltd ready to commence milling of ongoing harvested fruits

√Confirmation of N400m disbursed at N500,000 each to 800 IBOM-LED trainees in two batches

√Briefing by HC Works & Fire Service on N112 billion disbursed by the Governor for road infrastructure since May 2023, with 39 new road projects receiving N78.77 billion & N30 Billion for old projects, with additional release of N12 Billion

√Presentation by HC Culture & Tourism on tourism blueprint for proposed development of Tourism hubs at Ikot Abasi, Itu, and Oron

√ Two projects ready, 19 ongoing through Direct Labour Agency on 1 Project per Local Government Area; 31 ARISE Compassionate Homes nearly completed

√Approval for increment of pension for pensioners who retired before 2012, effective April 2024.

Islam

Friday Sermon: Ramadan: Time for Religious and Divine Reflection 4

Published

2 weeks ago

April 5, 2024

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

During this holy month of Ramadan, all mosques have been recording a huge increase in worshippers; spiritual contemplation and acts of charity have increased; ties of brotherhood strengthened; angers and tempers subsided, and an atmosphere of peace has prevailed. If only these could continue after Ramadan, the Ummah and the country would be a better place. But lo, the evil machinations of man will gather speed once again and the march towards perdition will be renewed with vigor. It would be as if the Ramadan fast was an interlude in our inglorious life, making the whole sacrifice unworthy and an exercise in futility. This would be a great shame.

Already, we have it on good authority that there are plans afoot to celebrate the end of Ramadan with roaring rainfall. All over the metropolis arrangements are in top gear for the end of Ramadan parties. From Agarawu to Ricca, down to Okepopo, Oshodi, Freeman and Lafiaji, and all the ‘palaces’ on the Island chairs and canopies are being rented and all the tools and accessories of stormy weather are being iced. This is Lagos, land of Aquatic Splendor. But must it be like this?

We should resolve to be steadfast in the good habits acquired during the holy month of Ramadan.

Muslims should be bold enough to admit that many of their problems are created by themselves. To admit this is the first step toward solving the numerous problems facing the Muslim Ummah. We, as Muslims, are obliged to follow the teachings of the Holy Quran and the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). I believe that the only solution to our present difficulties is to read, understand and follow the teachings of the Quran in its proper perspective. Fasting is not merely abstention from food and drink; it is a temporary cessation of eating and drinking which enables attention to be directed to higher things and thus making the fast more meaningful; like kindness and goodness of which Mark Twain said: “Goodness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

Let us pray that as we approach the end of this holy month of Ramadan, a sincere effort will be made by all Muslims to come closer to Almighty Allah through prayers, compassion, forgiveness, empathy, Zakat, and charity: And, through hard work, let us make this a better world for us and our children.

This is particularly important for our leaders, as Simon Kolawole admonished in his column: “I think our leaders need to have a genuine conversation with their consciences. As they bask in the sunshine from the balconies of their yachts, they need to ask themselves if this is the reward for our love. As they lavish billions of naira to arrange weddings for their sons and daughters and designer-cars for their wives, they need to examine their consciences. The reckless display of wealth in the midst of poverty is an insult upon injury. Nigerians are justified to expect the dividends of democracy.”

And while doing our duty by our fellow man, our families, children, and community, let us pray:

Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith. (Quran 2:286)

O Almighty Allah help us attain the true spirit and essence of Ramadan and accept our fasting. Ameen!

What have we gained from Ramadan? Have we been spiritually rejuvenated, recharged, and reengineered? Has it been morally fulfilling? Have we been able to shed many of our iniquitous baggage? Have we relinquished the sins of fornication, covetousness, and a life of deceit? Have we been able to move nearer God in an atmosphere of God-consciousness? Have we been doing the needful in our homes and to our fellow man? Have we given the orphan his due? Have we entrenched Justice, Fairness, and Equity in our daily living?

What about compassion and empathy? Do we feel the pains of our fellowmen, our subjects, and followers? Have we taken steps to right the wrongs we brought on the people around us? Have we been fair to our wives, children, relations, and neighbors? Are we satisfied with our new lease of spiritual awakening? Must all the gains of Ramadan end today? Are we returning to our old ways of cheating, backbiting, slander, and wickedness?

Today is therefore, a day of decisions. Are we going to consolidate on the gains of Ramadan or descend back into the abyss of a sinful life? The choice is ours. Ihdinas siraatal Mustaqeem.

Ramadan has rightly been described as a school of Iman and a stop to recharge our spiritual batteries. Must we allow that battery to die by going back to the old ways? The choice is ours.

Unfortunately, the fall and descent into a life of sin and iniquity starts a few days after Ramadan; when we say ‘fasting is finished, the nightly prayers are over; the group gatherings to break the fast have vanished. We can eat, drink, and be merry again when we like.’ And that special feeling of God consciousness gradually fades away. The spiritual high evaporates, and all we are left with are the bad habits we tried to shed during Ramadan which mysteriously rear their ugly heads once it is over.

Ramadan is supposed to increase our faith and God-consciousness:

“Believers! Fasting has been prescribed for you-as it was prescribed for those before you-so that you may be conscious of God.” (Quran 2:183).

Prophet Muhammad (SAW), said: “Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions [while fasting], God is not in need of his leaving his food and drink.”

Ramadan is a month of training for us so that we may become doers of good and refrain from evil throughout the year. Each and every year this blessed month helps to train us to become better Muslims.

Many of us did not say our prayers before Ramadan but during the blessed month we found it easier to pray. We cannot continue our lives without praying; otherwise, we are not fulfilling the purpose of our lives.

Allah says: “I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship” (Quran; 51:56)

We will not be successful in this life or the next without prayer. The Prophet (SAW) said, “The first thing that a person will be questioned about is his prayers.” Missing prayers intentionally is so serious that it is tantamount to disbelief: The Prophet (SAW) said: “What lies between a man and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer.” (Muslim). Unfortunately, there will be many Muslims in Hell who did not say their prayers.

Many of us left the Quran on the top shelf throughout the year but when Ramadan came, we picked up the Quran and blew off the dust and began to recite it again. By returning the Quran to the bookshelf, we will be missing out on receiving intercession from the Quran on the Day of Judgment: The Prophet (SAW) says: “Recite the Holy Quran as much as you can for It will come as an intercessor for its reciter on the Day of Judgment” (Muslim)

Allah the Most High said:

Establish regular prayers–at the sun’s decline till the darkness of the night, and the morning prayer and reading: For the prayer and reading in the morning carry their testimony. And pray in the small watches of the morning: (It would be) an additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for thee: Soon will thy Lord raise thee to a Station of Praise and Glory! (Quran 17: 78-79)

During the blessed days and nights of Ramadan we were given the ability to repent and ask Allah for his mercy and forgiveness and to thank him for his infinite favors upon us. But now that Ramadan is over, we must not stop repenting to Allah for our sins and we must continue to be thankful to Allah for his infinite favors upon us.

For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean. (Quran 2:222)

“Our Lord!” (They say), “Let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure.” (Quran 3:8)

Jumuah Mufeedah and Happy Eid.

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