MONTH OF RAMADAN

"O’ you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint." [Al-Baqara, 2:183]

Ramadan was chosen as the month of fasting by Allah Almighty, and also favored it over other months by making it a month of forgiveness, worship and mercy for all believers. The month of Ramadan is indeed superior to all months because Allah Almighty commenced His revelation of The Quran.

It is advised to read Quran in profusion during the month of Ramadan. But we fail to understand and practice the teachings Quran and the practices that it has given us through its code of conduct.

Aisha (R.A) described the Prophet's character as being the walking Quran. Do our characters reflect the message of the Quran? Do we apply it in our lives? Do we feel its weight on our shoulders?

Allah said in the Holy Quran:

"Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbling itself and split asunder (crumbling) by the fear of Allah. Such are the parables that We put forward to mankind that they may reflect." [Al-Hashr, 59:21]

Allah reveals to mankind that had He sent the Quran upon a mighty mountain, many times the size of a man it would have crumbled in the fear of Allah! Do we, in our petty and insignificant stature, then feel humbled by the Quran, which was revealed to us and not the mountains? Do we live by the commands and prohibitions that Allah has laid down in the Quran, His final revelation?

We fast in the month of Ramadan according to Allah’s will, but we are not aware if we are going to be able to fast next year. We should give it a second thought and make our self worthy of the mercy of Allah Almighty. This might be our last chance benefit from the holy month of Ramadan. We must evaluate our actions and judge if we will be successful on the Day of Judgment, or would we fail Allah. Everybody will be answerable for his own deeds that Day.

Allah has mentioned:

"That Day shall a man flee from his own brother, And from his mother and his father, And from his wife and his children, Each one of them, that Day, will have enough concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others." [‘Abasa, 80:34-37]

We will be answerable for our own deeds and actions so we must assess the actions we have performed in our lives and see if we have done anything that’s worthy of forgiveness. If we have some good deeds in store then we can continue the practice or we have acted otherwise then we must repent for our wrongdoings. The Prophet said:

"If comes Ramadan, the gates of Heaven are opened, the gates of hell are locked, and the devils are chained." [Bukhari & Muslim]

On the grounds of this Hadith, the scholars say that Heaven literally opens its doors and Hell closes its doors and the shayateen are chained! So the only enemy we have to overcome is our Nafs (inner desires).

We must use this opportunity to overcome our Nafs, since all the shayateen are chained up and cannot provoke us to do any wrongdoings, so we can get accustomed to obeying Allah in all circles of life without exceptions, whether we are at the mosque or at home, school or work, whether we are buying a house or selling a car. In short, we must be prevalent towards Islam in all phases of our lives.

Ramadan provides a good opportunity to seek Islamic knowledge and enlarge our understanding of the Islamic way of life. The more we are conscious of Islam the better ability we have to run our lives according to it. Allah revealed:

"Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge." [Al-Faatir, 35:28]

The prophet used to recite the Quran with the Archangel Jibrael. Al-Bukhari and Muslim reported that Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, had said: "The Prophet was the most generous of people. He used to be the most generous in Ramadan when he would meet with angel Jibreal and study the Quran with him. Angel Jibreal would meet with the Prophet every night in Ramadan to teach him the Quran. The Prophet was so generous when he met with Jibreal, more generous than the wind that brings rain." Imam Ah-mad added to this narration: "And nothing he was asked for but he would give it." Furthermore, Al-Bayhaqi reported that 'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, had said, “When Ramadan would start, the Prophet would release all prisoners of war and fulfill the need of every person who would ask him for something."

Studying the meaning of Ayahs of the Holy Quran is what is important. Learn about the life of our Prophet and his companions. The way they led their lives and the sacrifices they made in life and limb to make Islam a supreme religion. Remember Musab ibn Umayr (ra): the sahabi who went from being the richest man to the poorest - so poor that when died he did not own enough clothes to cover his own body because he realized that the promise of Allah is true. Read about the regulations of interaction in Islam whether in trade, finance, agriculture or other. The teachings of Islam about he relation of Man and woman, family and children must be understood. Hence we can invest some time and study all that we come across in our daily lives since Islam is a complete code of conduct, we can learn different methods that we lack in our knowledge. Make sincere efforts to benefit from this Holy month of piousness and worship.

Use this chance to extend the association of brother-hood and earn rewards by welcoming Muslims for Iftar as the Prophet has said:

"He who feeds a fasting person will gain the same reward as he will, without decreasing from the fasting person's rewards." [Ahmad]

The month of Ramadan was termed in the time of the Prophet as a time of purification, enjoining the good, forbidding evil and striving hard with one's life and wealth to make the word of Allah the highest. After the death of the Prophet Muslims carried this Sunnah on and Allah Almighty used the believers to shape the course of history.

Ramadan is a time of extreme activities, spending the day in work and might in prayer to call upon the Allah Almighty to bestow His mercy upon all the human beings, to ask for His forgiveness. The spirit of Ramadan has enabled our forefathers to face immense challenges, and we shall work to keep that spirit alive.

The month of Ramadan should be taken as a month of worship, giving Zakat, recitation of Quran, the month of making our relations strong between relatives. It is a month of generosity and fine treatment towards the needy. We should be aware of the implications of our actions and speech. It is the month of re-invigorating our relationship with Allah and purifying our hearts, also the month of increasing our knowledge of Quran, Sunnah and Fiqh, and the month of engaging in the da'wa to implement the Quran and the Sunnah in the world.

We must pray that Allah the Most Glorious One makes us that generation of Muslims who lay the right fundamentals of the Islamic rule for the coming generations and make us of those who carry out our Islam during Ramadan and beyond.

"To the righteous soul will be said: ‘O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back thou to thy Lord, - well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! Enter thou, then, among My devotees! Yea, enter thou My Heaven.'" [Al-Fajr, 89:27-30]