Tonight is Shab-e-baraat. It’s a very special night for
all the Muslims around the world. Its the night when Allah(s.w.t) decides whose
life is going to end in the following year. Who gets to live and who doesn't.
We have very special prayers for this night. We seek forgiveness from The
Forgiver (العفو). We ask for mercy from
The Merciful (الرحيم). We are thankful to Him
for the previous year and seek guidance for the coming year. We ask each other
for forgiveness, if we did something that hurt them. Because Allah(s.w.t) says
that if we hurt someone, we have to seek forgiveness from them before we go to
Allah(s.w.t). But why do we do this? What's the purpose of all this? Because we
know that if we die, we will never be able to seek forgiveness from Allah or His
creation. All this will come to an end, the day we die. So why are we that
indulged in our busy lives that we do not remember what are we here for. If we
die not knowing the real purpose of our life, what exactly have we been doing?
If we do not listen to what our creator tells us, if we do not seek for His
forgiveness, what will be our end? What fate will we meet? That is the question
we need to ask ourselves.