Please, Be Gentle With God’s Guests In Ramadan I Sh Mohammad Elshinawy

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Grantor of Mercy

Many new and renewed Muslims fill the masjids in Ramadan. For some of them, it’s an opportunity for incredible growth in their religious commitments. For others, it becomes the time when their Islam is challenged by other Muslims. If you serve in the community, it won’t be long before you hear heartbreaking stories about the second group; those who resign to isolation (or bad company) over God’s house, because of the mistreatment they’ve experienced inside. I have already heard some painstaking accounts of this, just three days into Ramadan.

Without being overly verbose, I implore everyone in a masjid – for the love of Allah ! – to keep the following thoughts in mind:

• Especially with converts, the Qur’an mentions their doubled reward for becoming Muslim and their being forgiven for every sin.

“Those will be given their reward twice for what they patiently endured and [because] they avert evil through good, and from what We have provided them they spend.” [Surah al-Qaṣaṣ 28-54]

Perhaps a major reason for all this is the cost they paid with family and loved ones upon choosing Islam.

• In an authentic hadith, we learn that nobody is happier than Allah over the repentance of a person.

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah is more joyful with the repentance of his servant than one of you who has lost his camel on a journey in an empty desert while it carries his food and drink.” [Sahih al-Bukhari] 

In another narration, the Prophet said, “Having lost hope, he lies down in the shade and despairs over his camel, but all of a sudden he finds the camel standing over him. He takes hold of its reins and out of joy he proclaims: O Allah, you are my servant and I am your Lord. He makes a mistake due to his extreme joy.” [Sahih Muslim]

So let’s be His servants, and reflect that joy to every newcomer.

• Even the bartender extends pleasant customer service to keep people coming; is not every Muslim responsible to invite the world in from the darkness to God’s lighthouse?

• Nobody is liable for what they have not yet learned, so beware of being that oppressor who treats the uninformed (sinless) like the negligent.

So please, just be gentle with everyone, and give them the benefit of the doubt. We are all still learning, and even those of us a little ahead in knowledge may still have a lot to learn in terms of prophetic character and compassion.

I ask Allah to never count us among those who drive out from His house those He sent seeking eternal refuge therein. Walḥamdulillāh.

Related:

 – Ramadan SOS – Rescuing New Muslims from Iftar Loneliness – MuslimMatters.org

 – In The Age of Islamophobia, Why Reverts Are Leaving Islam – MuslimMatters.org