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"KUALA LUMPUR: The government has agreed to pay bonus of half month salary with minimum payment of RM500 for civil servants. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said besides this, the government had also agreed to give special payment of RM500 to government pensioners."

This was the headline of one of the local newspapers in Malaysia a few weeks ago. When the Malaysian government announced this, almost instantly the news spread like wildfire in cyberspace, and a wave of euphoria could be felt amongst the government employees. I for one, saw it's repercussions most notably on the ever so popular social networking site, Facebook.

"Ah, half month bonus, what a relief! It's about high time that I deserved extra pay due to my good performance. After all, I surely deserved this break." This was the general atmosphere of status updates and comments seen around the social sphere. Being the skeptic that I am, I wasn't impressed. "Half month? That's it?" I thought to myself. It's not much, but I must admit that at least it was a start.

I'm for one of drawing parallels with current issues to the present self. They say, think global but act local. So I began thinking, what if our employers gave us ten months bonus? How about twenty months? A hundred months? No, what if our employers were so generous they awarded us with a thousand months bonus? You would call them crazy. It's certainly not possible. Get real!

But if it was for real, the only person who would be called crazy is you. You would be called crazy if you missed out on this special offer. What a great opportunity! A sort of mega sale promotion so to speak. A once in a lifetime encounter perhaps? Who knows whether you will get another chance to see another offer like so. And that is precisely how I would call it, crazy.

Because whether we realize it or not, we are living through this crazy period, the month of mercy, the month of Ramadhan. That's right, I said crazy. Why crazy you ask? Because every deed you do in this month is given a bonus by our Employer, our Master, our Creator. A ten times bonus in rewards for every letter of the Qur'an you recite. A bonus in rewards of supererogatory (sunnah) prayers upgraded to obligatory (fardh) prayers status. And every good deed done has a bonus multiplied seventy times over. Isn't that just crazy? If life was like a computer game, then certainly this month would be known as the bonus level. A bonus stage where only those who take advantage of it wisely will triumph.

And as if that was not crazy enough, on this bonus stage called Ramadhan, there is another secret level. Where whatever you do on that secret level is multiplied one thousand times. That's right, a one thousand month bonus, for one day of work, can you imagine? I'm quite surprised people get ecstatic over a half month bonus when the thousand month bonus is laying right in front of their noses. So what is this secret level? That's right, it is none other than Lailatul Qadr, the Night of Power.

As Allah SWT says in the Qur'an:

The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. [97:3]

Subhanallah, can you even begin to comprehend the magnanimity of this night? The equation simply does not add up. One night is better than a thousand months, how can this be? But we are not here to place a question mark where Allah puts a fullstop. Because Allah's Mercy is infinite. We cannot fathom the Greatness of the Almighty. As Sheikh Hamza Yusuf once put it, whatever thought of Allah that comes to your mind, Allah is other than that. Because our minds are limited, and His Mercy is limitless.

However like all promotions, all things must come to an end. And so we must race towards goodness and in seeking His pleasure in what time we have left of Ramadhan. "Fastabiqul khairaat, fastaqim kamaa umirt." So race towards goodness, and be steadfast in what is ordained for you.

And with all these bonuses, you might just be able to buy yourself that expensive ticket. I'm sure that many of us here in New Zealand will identify well with the vernacular of Air NZ. If you haven't then you might want to check it out. Have you reserved your seat this month? Unlimited tickets. Destination Jannah. One way, no return. Hurry, offer expires in about 10 days. Grab a seat.