The Holy Prophet(SA) states, “There is a gate of paradise called Rayyan through which only those will enter on the Day of Judgment who are regular in observing fast and no one else. A call will go forth: Where are those who observed the fast regularly? And they will step forth and no one beside him will enter through that gate. After they shall have entered the gate will be closed and no one else will enter thereby.” [Bukhari/Muslim] Alhamdulillah the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Baltimore observed the Holy Month of Ramadan from Sunday June 30th to Monday July 28th 2014. Special arrangements were underway for the past few months to make it a comfortable Ramadan for everyone. This included an Ansar, Khuddam, and Atfal clean up of the Garrison Mosque, procuring new chairs, setting up a Marquee, and setting up A/V System in the Lajna Hall. The Marquee allowed men to eat outdoors in the spectacular weather and gave more room and space to the ladies. Worth mentioning are the efforts of the Ziafat (Cooking) team who tirelessly undertook food preparation for 6 Iftar. This year a third Iftar was introduced as potluck in the Garrison Mosque on Sundays and Maghrib Salat and Iftar were also arranged from Monday-Thursday in Masjid Baitul Kareem. JazaakAllah to all those who participated in cooking for the guests of AllahSWT and those who cleaned the House of AllahSWT. Besides taking care of the physical comforts, admirable efforts were made for nurturing the spiritual requirements of the soul at the Garrison Mosque. Worshipers flocked to the mosque for Jummah prayers in large numbers. Inspiring Friday sermons were delivered by Imam Hammad Ahmad Sahib who continued this enthusiasm into Dars of the Holy Quran every Friday and Saturday evening. Chapter Al Hujurat was selected. Split word translation of Arabic into English, and a detailed commentary was eloquently delivered by Imam Sahib. Taraveeh prayers were regularly led from Friday to Monday by Hafiz Abdul Qudoos Kukoyi Sahib. What a blessing! Jamaat Members even young children participated in the heart wrenching Vitr prayers by Hafiz Sahib. To encourage boys from 7-15 to become leaders of tomorrow, President Sahib encouraged them to lead Maghrib and Isha prayers and deliver Adhan. Atfal and Nasirat observed fasts, and many of them completed the whole recitation of the Holy Quran, Alhamdulillah. Some even tried to do it with translation and commentary. Arrangements were also made for Itekaaf in Garrison Mosque. May AllahSWT grant us the opportunity to observe Ramadan next year in the spirit of the 1st Khalifa tur Rashideen, Hazrat Abu Bakr SiddiqRA. Once the moon of Shawwal had become visible and companions of the Holy ProphetSA were rejoicing. But when they looked for Hazrat Abu Bakr SiddiqRA, they found him in a graveyard, heavily crying. When asked what the matter was, Hazrat Abu Bakr SiddiqRA replied that at that moment he was not aware if Allah would grant him enough long life to draw benefit from the blessings of Ramadan next year.
