Mufti İbrahim Şerif issue message for Berat Night
Mufti İbrahim Şerif's Berat Kandili message is as follows:
"Saturday evening, 24 February 2024 is the fifteenth night of the month of Sha'ban and it is Berat Kandili. Berat Kandili is the herald of the month of Ramadan, a blessed night adorned with the vast forgiveness, forgiveness and mercy of Allah Almighty.
The word "Berat", which is the abbreviated form of the word "Beraet" and is also used in our language, in the dictionary; means getting rid of debt, illness, crime and punishment.
As a religious term, it means to be cleansed from sins, to be cleared, to be granted divine forgiveness and mercy.
Since it is hoped that many believers who confess their mistakes and faults, confess their mistakes and faults, realise the sins they have committed, repent and make repentance and ask forgiveness by reaching the spiritual pleasure of being a servant of Allah, will attain divine mercy and get rid of their sins, this night is called "Berat Night" in the sense of "night of salvation".
The Night of Berat has long been considered sacred by Muslims, and it has become customary to spend this night differently from other nights, especially in our minority, to pray and pray more on this night.
"In the middle of the month of Sha'ban, worship at night and fast during the day. Allah manifests Himself in the sky of the world with the setting of the sun that night and says, "Whoever seeks forgiveness from Me, I will forgive him; whoever seeks sustenance from Me, I will give him sustenance; whoever is afflicted with a calamity, I will grant him pardon; whoever is afflicted with this or that!"" (Ibn-i Mâja, Ikâma, 191)
Hz Âisha (r.a.) narrates as follows: "The Prophet got up one night and prayed. He prolonged his prostration so long that I thought he had died in prostration. When I touched his foot with my hand, he moved. I was glad and returned to my place." I heard him praying in prostration as follows:
"O Allah, I seek asylum from your punishment to your forgiveness, from your wrath to your consent, and from you to you again. I do not find my praise to you equal to your praise to yourself. I am incapable of praising you properly." When he lifted his head from the prostration and finished the prayer:
- O 'A'isha, do you think Allah's Messenger will be unjust?
- I said, "No, O Messenger of Allah, I swear by Allah, I did not think so, but I thought you had died because you were prostrating for a long time." Then the Prophet said:
- Do you know which night is this night? I said:
I said, "Allah and His Messenger know better." Our Prophet:
The fact that some scholars accept that the turning of the qiblah from Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem to the direction of Ka'ba in Mecca occurred on the Night of Berat in the second year of the Hijrah has given the night a special importance.
Islamic scholars, taking into account the aforementioned hadiths, have stated that spending the Night of Berat by praying, reciting the Holy Qur'an, repenting, asking forgiveness and praying will lead to reward and forgiveness of sins. Because Berat Night is the night of forgiveness and forgiveness.
Islam is the religion of nature. It is accepted that human beings, who are created with the ability to commit sin and good deeds, will commit sin and ways have been shown to get rid of it and minimise its effect. In a hadith that describes human nature in the most beautiful way; "If you had not sinned, Allah would have destroyed you and created in your place servants who sinned and then repented." (Muslim, Tawbah, 9, 10, 11)
Allah Almighty said: "... O believers, repent together so that you may attain salvation..." (Nûr, 24/31) "O you who believe! Repent to Allah sincerely. Perhaps your Lord will cover your evil deeds" (Tahrîm, 66/8).
The Prophet called us to repentance by saying, "O people, repent to Allah..." (Bukhari, Deawât, 3; Muslim, Zikr, 42) and he himself set an example for people in this regard. The Prophet stated that he repented and begged Allah 70 (Bukhari, Deawât, 3; Ibn-i Mâja, Edep, 59) or 100 (Muslim, Zikr, 42) times every day. These statements show that even the Prophet could not remain free from repentance. Even though he was innocent, as he himself stated (Muslim, Zikr, 41), he repented both because of some things that came to his heart and to set an example for his ummah.
We know that all human beings can commit sins, but virtue and goodness are in repentance (Ibn Mâja, Zuhd, 30; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, III, 198). While introducing Himself, Allah Almighty has stated His characteristic of accepting repentance as follows. "He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants, forgives evil deeds and knows what you do." (Shoora, 42/25)
In addition, the fact that Allah Almighty praises those who repent (al-Tawbah, 9/112) and expresses His love for His servants who knock on the door of repentance (al-Baqarah, 2/222) are proofs that repentance will be accepted.
Prophet Muhammad reported that the joy of Allah Almighty for the repentance of the servants is greater than the joy of the person who lost his camel in the desert and found it again. (Bk. Bukhari, Deawât, 4; Muslim, Tawbah, 3)
Our religion regards repentance and supplication as an event that takes place between Allah and the servant. While asking for forgiveness from Allah, the Muslim can fulfil his duty without the need for any other helper or intermediary. In this respect, we should frequently knock on the door of repentance opened by Allah Almighty to us, ask for forgiveness for our sins and know that true peace is in this.
A person who believes in the principles of faith should never despair of his sins and despair of divine mercy. This is because the Holy Qur'an says Say: "O My servants who have gone too far against themselves! Do not despair of Allah's mercy. Surely Allah forgives all sins. For He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful." (Zumar, 39/53) Therefore, the sinner should not look at the magnitude of his sins, but at the breadth of Allah's mercy.
This is the fifteenth night of the month of Sha'ban. Allah Almighty manifests His mercy to His servants on this night and forgives those who ask for forgiveness, has mercy on those who ask for mercy, and leaves those who are filled with hatred to their own devices (Munzirî, Et-Tarğîb vet-Terhîb, Beirut, 1968, II, 119).
Berat Kandili is the best opportunity to review ourselves, to evaluate our relations with the beings around us, to determine the status of our duties towards Allah, to make an accounting of our attitudes and actions that we do not notice in the very fast flow of our lives."
Taking advantage of the brightness of these lamps, we should first cleanse our hearts, which are stained by various reasons, with repentance and repentance; then we should endeavour to be a good servant and a mature Mu'min by filling them with love of Allah, love of humanity and love of homeland. We should stay away from evils such as mischief, mischief, backbiting and slander that make us enemies of each other, we should embrace by eliminating resentment and resentments, we should try to be one, to be alive.
Again, in the light of these lamps, we should reinforce our unity and solidarity by thinking once more about the recommendations in the verses "Believers are only brothers" (Hujurât, 49/10) and "Do not be divided" (Âl-i Imrân, 3/103), and we should not give opportunity to those who want to disrupt our order and peace.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
As the Mufti's Office, we are working and striving for a more enthusiastic observance of the nights of Qandil as a community with the programmes we organise in our "Komotini Yeni Mahalle, Bulatköy, Ircan, Payamlar, Karacaoğlan, Şapçı and Kumçiftliği mosques".
I ask Allah Almighty to make Berat Kandili auspicious."
