Eid al-Fitr (Ramadan) Message From Fethullah Gulen Hocaefendi
When sorrows are gone,
When the veil is lifted from the heart
When all the sins are forgiven
That’s when the festival is
The holy month of Ramadan comes along with much finesse and fulfilling thoughts. Its days and nights manifest with mercy. When it is over, it withdraws from the scene with a resounding leave. So that the souls that got immersed with it do not feel left in a void, it leaves behind a festival (Eid al-Fitr) that comes with an all-in-one package of goodness, abundance, and joy. All those who were able to have a heart-deep resonance with Ramadan finds Eid al-Fitr as a time of Divine grace pouring over us.
Festivals are the best times to connect with others. They offer us the most convenient opportunities to represent universal human values and offer them generously to all those who need them around the world; to embrace all humanity with love and understanding, to acknowledge everyone for who they are, and to promote fraternity. Festivals are the times to reinforce bonds among individuals and masses regardless of language, religion, race, and color.
In this day and age, we are experiencing festivals broken-hearted. At the same time our spirits want to imbibe in all the lofty feelings of the festivals, we happen to be going through such a vile period of history which is pumping sorrow and agony into our hearts with its never-ending tyranny. Thinking of the tens of thousands of innocents unjustly imprisoned, the hundreds of thousands more entering another festival without their loved ones by their side, and pondering over the pitch-darkness that is all around, our hearts are stabbed as we cry: “What is it to me if the festival has come / When my heart is bleeding.”
We are heartbroken, yes. But we also seek consolation with the dreams of a future, when, we believe, we will reach the heavenly gardens. While our eyes are as soaked as the clouds of spring, the seedlings of hope for that future are growing in our souls. We are going through a nor’easter, but our faith in the grace and generosity of the All-Merciful One is promising us fresh and upcoming springs!
I am sighing with the longing of those blessed days that I believe we will live. Yet at the same time, I can feel deep in my soul every hour, minute, and seconds of those most distinguished days. I can feel all the charm of those “days of God” when we will meet friends hands in hands, hearts in hearts. With all my trust in God, I believe that the oppression will be over, darkness will go and everywhere will be filled with light, feelings of grudge and hatred will be shattered to be replaced with love and fraternity, and that we will live those days with the joys of a festival.
For the sake of the prayers of all the oppressed and the victims whose cries have reached the heavenly gates, I appeal to the All-Powerful One to bring an end to tyranny and make it a real festival for all humanity.
M. Fethullah GULEN
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