A line "drawkcab" in time ...

Remember you implored the assistance of your Lord, and He answered you: "I will assist you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks." - 8:9

Most of us vibrantly celebrate everything of Ramadan except the Battle of Badr and the lessons thereof.  

Badr was a battle between Darkness and Light, Disbelief and Faith, Falsehood and Truth, and between Ignorance and Islam. A contest of two unequal forces, indeed.

A small group of Muslims offer in Badr an unparallel legacy. They fulfilled (in Badr) the essentials of Islam as a complete code of human life and conduct. Before Badr, Islam was a mere religion, after Badr it became a system of justice and righteousness that we can only dream of today. A line, if drawn backward in time to the 2nd year of Hijra reveals lessons for today's and tomorrows.

The ancient Badr must also help us remember the Ramadan of recent years. Eight precise years ago, over 50 Muslims were shot killed and many hundreds were severely wounded while peacefully performing their Fajr (Dawn) prayers in Masjid Ibrahim, in the Occupied Lands of Hebron. During recent Ramadans (1999) while everyone was fasting during the days and feasting during the nights, Muslims in Albania and Chechnya were bombed and butchered by Serbs and Russians. And, lo behold this Ramadan, we find it is Afghanistan's turn at the hand of Americans and Afghans themselves! Of course no one knows what the future shall unfold for whom, where and how. 

Fasting during the month of Ramadan must rejuvenate in us a spirit that is troubled, like a sleepless mother wanting to feed her infant in the middle of the night. Palestinians, Kashmiris, Chechens and others are striving for a just peace, dignity and honor. None of us must simply rely on the waving hands of the Friday Khateebs stabbing the air. It does nothing but warehouse our memories. Years of unbroken emotional assault and a gulf in lost memories makes the pain flat, outstretching too long ago to know its origins and thus to contemplate its end.

Muslims will not regain independence until we free ourselves from the bondage of the self to the slavery of One God. In Him and Him alone, we will undoubtedly find ourselves truly independent and content.

Let us pray that God bless us with His Shade and keep us under His Protection only. O God, guide us to do that is right and forbid what is wrong. Give us Your Guidance to truly feel the Ramadan of others and help us fulfill our obligations to ourselves, our families, neighbors, relatives, friends and the humanity.