By Muhammad Al-Shareef
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“Hasn’t there come upon man a period of time when they were nothing remembered?” (Insaan 76/1)
Imagine that you are on the beach. You are four years old. The camp leader has told you that you have five minutes to build a great castle. “Quickly,” your three year old Ameer tells you, “the sand here is too soft. Run closer to the water and get better sand!”
Off you run and grab, with your tiny hands, as much sand as you can hold. But, as you run back, plop, plop, plop, you feel the sand slipping through your fingers. You can do nothing about it. In your haste, all the sand has slipped away. Bang. The competition is over. This is the analogy of our lives. This is the analogy of our time in Ramadan.
For many living in Western countries, Ramadan is passed daily with 9 to 5 jobs or school – nights where we may or may not go for Taraaweeh. A peak at the TV (may Allah protect us) and the night is over. Back to work where all around us people are eating and drinking from crystal water fountains. Blink. Ramadan is over.
The question of the hour is: how do we take full advantage of this gift of Allah? This is our topic, before the sands of Ramadan slip away.
How many years have we been fasting Ramadan? 10 or 15 or 40 years? Are we 10 or 15 or 40 times better? Or, does it seem like we have arrived back at the drawing board every time Ramadan comes around? All acts of worship are for our own benefit! Don’t do it and harm befalls you, which is the way life was programmed.
Ramadan is no small matter. It is one of the pillars of this Deen of Islam – without it one’s Islam would not be complete. In this month, Rasul Allah – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – would intensify his worship of Allah ta’ala. In doing so, he laid the foundation for his Ummah after him to emulate.
Ibn AlQayyim – rahimahullaah – wrote: “From his blessed guidance – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – in Ramadan is that he used to intensify and diversify his actions of worship. So, for example, Jibreel used to rehearse the Qur’an with him during the nights of Ramadan. When Jibreel would visit him, he would intensify the amount of Sadaqah that he would give. He was the most generous out of all people – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and Ramadan was the time when he was most generous. In Ramadan, he would fill his time with Sadaqah, treating people kindly, reciting Qur’an, performing Salaah, remembering Allah, and performing I’tikaaf.” – Zaad AlMa’aad
Observers described the way Allah’s Messenger- sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – gave like Ar-Reeh AlMursalah, like the blessed wind. Why? The blessed wind, as they knew it, was a wind that brought coolness to everyone – no one was denied its blessing. The blessed wind, additionally, was not lazy in bringing its goodness to the people. It would come swiftly to all. This is how Rasul Allah – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – was described, and this is how our service to humanity should be: swift and encompassing. Bi idhnillah.
There are ten ideas to help make the most of Ramadan – before it slips through our hands. We will continue with them in the next newsletter Insha Allah!
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