Eid Mubarak

My Dear Members of PAAMA!
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah.
May the Lord of mankind open unto you the gates of His mercy and may He so ordain that you are always accompanied by the supplication of His angels. Ameen.
Now that the holy month of Ramadhan has concluded, in accordance with Allah’s command and the traditions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we gather together to rejoice and celebrate. With that in mind, I take this opportunity to wish you all Eid Mubarak!
Solely for the sake of Allah, while fasting in Ramadhan we abstained from that which is otherwise lawful for us and eradicated from our being those trespasses emanating from our tongues, limbs and eyes. In celebration we adorn our bodies with new clothes, feast on delightful foods and engage in merriments with our families, friends and loved ones. With that, we gift our bodies with reward. Yet the greatest rewards are not of those which embellish our bodies and our bellies. Rather they are of the spiritual acquisitions that our souls have realised. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an that the main purpose of fasting is the cultivation of righteousness and self-purification (Ch.2:V.186). This is the true prize from the month of fasting. The Holy Qur’an further states:
“O children of Adam! We have indeed sent down to you raiment to cover your shame, and to be an elegant dress; but the raiment of righteousness — that is the best. That is one of the Signs of Allah, that they may remember.” (Ch.7:V.27)
And so as we cloak our bodies with new clothes so should we also adorn our spirits with a robe of righteousness. In that rests Allah’s pledge that He will reward us in this life and the life to come.
Over the course of thirty nights you have engaged in heartfelt prayer, rising during the deepest darkness of the night and cultivated the habit of offering Tahajjud and Fajr prayers. You have read and studied the tremendous wisdom of the Holy Qur’an, increased your attendance at the mosque making friends and acquaintances of like-minded people, made charitable donations, engaged in good deeds and abstained from those practices that are harmful. Over the course of the month you have exemplified what it means to encapsulate the very essence of Islam and Ahmadiyyat. The challenge before us all now is to maintain those good habits and the righteousness that we have sought to cultivate – to make these the tools that regulate and enhance our every action so that we find Allah’s blessing in all that we do.
May Allah grant us all the wisdom and prudence to clutch the treasured and captivating jewels that the hallowed month of Ramadhan presented us with and use them on each day forth. May He sanction our determination to increase in righteousness and cause the fruits of our actions to become the most visible symbol of encouragement to all those who seek truth. Ameen.
Eid Mubarak, once again, to you and all your dear ones!
Yours humbly,
Tommy Kallon.
President Pan-African Ahmadiyya Mulsim Association UK