Full Moon of Shaban

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

During these last three days and nights of the full moon of Shaban we have arrived at the gate of Ramadan, the ocean of boundless divine mercy.

Tonight is the third night, the full manifestation of absolute mercy and forgiveness from Allah for all beings.

Tonight is the night when our Prophet and his blessed family prayed for the salvation and happiness of humanity, and freedom from the fires of negativity and conflict. They did that because the Most Merciful of the Merciful asked them to pray. The Intercessor desired to intercede passionately with the Forgiver on this night. So Allah asked the blessed Prophet, the family of the Prophet and probably others chosen for this movement of love, to pray on this night.

We too who are their inheritors must pray in the same way.

We beg and supplicate because this is part of our nature and part of our inheritance from the Messenger of mercy and the Prophets of love. This is the part of divine compassion, Rahmet, that Allah has placed in us. It intercedes with Allah the Sovereign. It longs for forgiveness and it longs to forgive.

On this night, when the floodgates of forgiveness and love are wide open we must forgive all and everyone. How can we ask for forgiveness for ourselves, our families and humanity if we do not also forgive? We are invited to release any grudge that remains against another, any desire for bad to come to another, or for another to get their penance.

When we hold a grudge we sustain a bond of negative energy flowing onto our self. It might or might not affect the other person, but for sure it affects us. The intelligent way is to release it and release the other person into Allah’s mercy. Again, how can we expect mercy for ourselves and our dear ones if we do not desire mercy for others.

Tonight we recognize our incapacity and lowliness before Allah. And this is a great blessing.

Tonight we have our foreheads on the earth, whether actually or inwardly. But actually is better if we are physically able to do so.

We participate in the great blessing of return to our original state of non-existence. And from there we recognize something of what Allah has bestowed upon us through existence and we know that we are not the lords of existence. If anything at all, we are servants of the All Merciful, servants of Rahman.

To experience this is to taste the fana of our limited self and the baqa of life in the All Merciful, the Most Beautiful.

This night is a healing and a removal of burdens and obstacles.
An untying of knots.
An erasing of past accounts.
A release of toxins from our soul and from the earth.
A restructuring of life on a more harmonious pattern.
An influx of divine creativity.
A renewal of the original bond with Allah when we cried out Yes! in pre-eternity.
A refreshment of the bonds of love and mercy on earth.
A new vision for humanity and the earth.
A deepening of knowledge and wisdom.
A new qibla for ourselves and the world.
A new beginning.
A new era.
A new humanity.
A new way of seeing and relating to the Source of Being.
A new life.

In the gardens of our hearts praying together

Fariha Fatima