With the name of Allah; the Beneficent,
the Merciful.
NOTHING is
worthy of worship EXCEPT Allah; and
Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a
Servant and Messenger of Allah.
Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the last
of the Prophets (peace be upon them)
ever sent on this Earth. He was sent as
MERCY for the WORLDs (worlds of Mankind,
Animals, Jins etc). Like other
Prophets(peace be upon them), through
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him), Allah showed us the ways to
worship ALLAH and get the best out of
ourselves & lives. And through him,
the Qur'an was given to us.
Peace be
upon the (true) Prophets of Allah, how
well are the Prophets of Allah!
Silent
words, been observed.
Assalamu 'alalikum wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuh,
Alhamdulillah, I have received a fair
number of reminders about Ramadhan and
Fasting from wonderful people; which
have very useful information, and may
Allah reward them for that.
There are
several things which were silent. I have
found them very important, so
bear with me a moment and try to pay a
close attention to them. Please do not
ignore, Insha'Allah you will not be
bored.
REMEMBRANCE
Lets think
about:
Is it "I"
that performs Salaah or "my body"?
Is it "I" that observes Fasting or "my
body"?
When "I"
perform Salaah (Prayers) I should be
praying with my Heart & Mind too. "I"
should keep my "thoughts" under "my"
control. Usually, our body is doing it's
job but our mind is somewhere else.
The Qur'an
[al-Ma'un(107):4-7]
-
So woe
to the praying ones,
-
Who are
unmindful of their prayers,
-
Who do
(good) to be seen,
-
And
refuse to help the needy.
Similarly, when "I" observe Fasting (saoum)
I should observe it with my Heart & Mind
too.
When we
observe Fasting, here is something that
happens:
-
I feel
hungry - > My mind says "I am
Fasting" suddenly I REMEMBER MY LORD
because I am Fasting for Him!
-
I feel
thirsty - > My mind says "I am
Fasting" suddenly I REMEMBER MY
LORD.
-
I think
something NEGATIVE my mind says "I
am Fasting" suddenly I REMEMBER MY
LORD because I am Fasting for Him!
-
Fasting
helps us to become 'Conscious of
God', He is watching us! Beware!
Allah (swt) says: "Fasting is
Mine and it I who give reward for it. [A
man] gives up his sexual passion, his
food and his drink for my sake.
Fasting is like a shield, and he who
fasts has two joys: a joy whin he breaks
his fast and a joy when he meets his
Lord. The change in the breath of the
mouth of him who fasts is better in
Allah's estimation than the smell of
musk." Hadith Qudsi.
Allah (swt) says: "I am as My
servant thinks I am. I am with him when
he makes mention of Me. If he makes
mention of Me to himself, I make mention
of him to Myself; and if he makes
mention of Me in an assembly, I make
mention of him in an assemble better
than it. And if he draws near to Me an
arm's length, I draw near to him a
fathom's length. And if he comes to Me
walking, I go to him at speed."
Hadith Qudsi
The Qur'an [al-Hashr(59):18-20]
-
O YOU
who have attained to faith! Remain
conscious of God; and let every
human being look to what he sends
ahead for the morrow! And [once
again]: Remain conscious of God, for
God is fully aware of all that you
do;
-
Be not
like those who forgot Allah, as a
result Allah caused them to forget
themselves, it is they who are the
transgressors.
-
The
companions of hell and the
companions of paradise are not
equals, of course the companions of
paradise are far superior.
The Qur'an
[al-Baqarah(2):152]
-
Therefore, remember Me, and,
I will remember you, be grateful
to Me and never deny Me.
GRATEFULNESS
Islam
commands us to be GRATEFUL to ALLAH by
using His favours in proper manners. We
should share ALLAH's favours on us, with
others. Allah can provide them (needy
ones) better than what He has given to
us, but He wants to test us: Is the
love of Allah more in our hearts or the
love of Dollars?
Sadaqat-ul-Fitr is a very important
part of Fasting in Ramadan. One very
important aspect of fasting is that we
become aware of how poor people feel.
Poverty is a cause of many problems.
Imagine poor parents, their children are
crying out of starvation,
IN FRONT OF THEM. If that parents do a
crime to feed their children, will they
be really criminal?
Many of our
ministers do not know what starvation
is like, and they have other interests.
How would they try to solve this
problem?
Al
hamdulillah, Islam has really solved the
big problem of Slavery. And
insha'Allah, Poverty will be
solved.
The
Qur'an [at-Talaq(65):7]
We should
pay Sadaqat-ul-Fitr as early as
possible, and try to pay more
than the minimum value.
PURIFICATION
The Qur'an
[ash-Shams(91):7-10]
-
by the
Nafs (~one's self~) and Him
Who perfected it
-
and
inspired it with knowledge of
what is wrong for it and what is
right for it
-
indeed
successful will be the one
who keeps it pure,
-
and
indeed failure will be the
one who corrupts it!
The Qur'an
[al-A'la(87):14-19]
-
The one
who will take admonition and purify
himself shall be successful,
-
who
remembers the name of his Lord and
prays.
-
But O
men! You prefer the life of this
world;
-
while
the Hereafter is better and
everlasting.
-
Surely
the same was said in the earlier
scriptures;
-
the
scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
Allah's
Apostle (Peace be upon him) said, "When
the month of Ramadan starts, the gates
of the heaven are opened and the gates
of Hell are closed and the devils are
chained." {Al-Bukhari - Narrated
by Abu Huraira (R.A.) }
Al Qur'an
calls us to purity. Devil calls us to
impurity.
Now consider a jar of impure water. Add
some purifier. Someone also adds in
impurities. Will the water
ever be fully pure?
Ramadan is the time when we can fully
purify ourselves (our way of thinking,
actions etc).
Smelling
honey might benefit but little. Tasting
honey is better. Eating honey is even
better!
Just like this, Reading Qur'an will
benefit. Studying Qur'an purifies one's
thinking. Practicing Qur'an purifies
one's self. We should study Qur'an in
the language that we understand best.
Ramadan will soon go, so be quick to
fully purify yourself!
Qur'an
commands us to pay Zakkah and
Sadaqah(Charity), which in a way
purifies us from greediness and it
solves many other problems too.
CONCLUSION
Insha'Allah,
after remembering (being conscious) of
our Lord and purifying our selves (inner
+ outer) we may feel that night, which
is the night of Qadr and peace.
If anyone
thinks fasting a whole day is
'harshness'. Well, we sleep for about
7-10 hours WITHOUT EATING & DRINKING,
but we do not die! I feel more hungry in
the morning (after sleep) than while
fasting in the day. Beside Allah does
not want to put us to hardship:
The Qur'an
[al-Baqarah(2):185]
It is the
month of Ramadhan in which the Qur'an
was revealed,
a guidance for mankind with clear
teachings showing the Right Way and a
criterion of truth and falsehood.
Therefore, anyone of you who witnesses
that month should fast therein, and
whoever is ill or upon a journey shall
fast a similar number of days later on.
Allah intends your well-being and
does not want to put you to hardship.
He wants you to complete the prescribed
period so that you should glorify His
Greatness and render thanks to Him for
giving you guidance.
The
Qur'an [al-Ma'un(107):1-7]
-
Have
you considered him who calls the
judgment a lie?
-
That is
the one who treats the orphan with
harshness,
-
And
does not urge (others) to feed the
poor.
-
So woe
to the praying ones,
-
Who are
unmindful of their prayers,
-
Who do
(good) to be seen,
-
And
withhold the necessaries of life.
The Qur'an
[an-Nahl(16):90]
Let us:
-
Learn
Islam with ambition,
-
Observe
Islam with sincerity,
-
Practice Islam with discipline (Sunnah),
-
Spread
Islam with truth & kindness.
We should
keep reminding each other that which
will benefit. Lets do it.
The Qur'an
[al-A'la(87):9-10]
-
Therefore remind, surely
reminder does benefit.
-
He who
fears Allah will heed the
reminder,
-
and he
who is unfortunate will avoid
it.
Praise be
to Allah
who sent Prophets (Peace be upon them),
and protected the Qur'an, and made us
Muslims and bestowed on us Ramadan.
Author's name withheld on request
Allah
Knows Best