That Ramadan Hype!

[LOVE ISLAM]

Meaningful Ramadan

 

OK folks so Ramadan is just around the corner & with all that Ramadan hype surrounding us, let's revise some tips for a better Ramadan ahead.

 

Hints & tips for meaningful fasting:

 

*The Qur’an declares Ramadhaan as the month to program our minds towards taqwa. It is not a month of eating & shopping. It's a month when Allah forgives multitudes of people -  Muslims should know very well whether sins are forgiven in malls and eateries or ibadah.

How right has Allah said: Wama adraka maa laylatul qadr? And what do you know what is Laylatul Qadr? Only if we knew what really is Laylatul Qadr?! 

 

*Remain Cheerful in spite of hunger, thirst and fatigue due to long travel, office work or exams. Don’t look as if Ramadhan is a burden on your appetite. Expressing love and affection in hardship is a display of a strong personality, where as nagging for petty things reflect your weak character. Implementing patience, tolerance (sabr) and (overlooking people’s faults) gives a fantastic charm to your face that no makeup or face pack can match. 

 

*There Has To Be No "because it's still 5 hours to go till iftaar, don't mess with me" attitude!

How  to look fresh? Don’t throw shouts at people rather be normal and join household chores as if you have just woke up and ready for a long day, even if you have just returned from a hectic day. Do you know it is possible? Go back to the glorious history of Islam. The great day of Badr. It was a hot summer of Ramadhaan, and yet the 313 soldiers of Islam ignored their hunger, thirst, broken weapons and went deep inside the enemy only to come out victorious.

 

*Reveal the real-you: What did you do this Ramadhan? Is this year’s Ramadhan as past year if compared to your ibdadah and other virtuous deeds or a little faded one? Did you give up any deed that was a barrier between you and taqwa? Were your fasts a shield strong enough to protect you from the fire of hell? Or was your Ramadhan just a month of festival of food and shopping and more rest and little work?

 

* Ponder this: "So that you may become people having Taqwaa."

 

So Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, when He commands His believing servants, or obligates them with some Legislation, (then He) usually just mentions the command, without explaining the wisdom for it.  This is because the general wisdom behind Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic¹s, placing duties upon His servants is that He should test them by it, so that it should become apparent (as to) those who will obey Him and those who will disobey Him, the Exalted and Most High.

However in this aayah, He mentioned something that is not found frequently in the NobleQuraan, which is that He mentioned the reason for the order to Fast, by His Saying:

So that you may become people of Taqwaa.

 

So the wisdom behind the Believers to fast is not just that they should prevent themselves from enjoyable and permissible and good things, even though this is an obligation upon the fasting person - but this is not the only thing that is required and intended by this Fasting.  So Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, concluded His command to fast by His Saying:

So that you may become people of Taqwaa.

Meaning: that the wisdom behind the prescription of Fasting is that the Muslim should increase in obedience to Allaah, the Exalted and Most High, in the month of Fasting, and become more obedient than he was before it. 

 

*Fasting is a great act of worship for the Muslim which he performs by neglecting his desires to please his Lord and hopes for His Reward. It just common sense that the one who would not give up desired things except that it would be for something more desirable. In this case the pleasure of Allah is the most sought after desire. Knowing this will make fasting more easy and pleasant!

 

*Maximize your connection with the Book of Allah as much as you can this Ramadan. and increase your dua's to Allah. Ramadan has a strong connection with duas.

 

*He who does not pray, or does not stop lying, or does not stay away from indecency but still fasts need to read the meaning of fasting once again. Don't just stay hungry, FAST! 

 

> Renew your connection with Allah's Speech. Try to understand the meaning.

> While fasting don't just abstain from food & drink, but majorly from sins.

> Plan for itikaaf.

> Work on some inner self improvement program. 

> Be generous. Cough up some cash for worthy causes. Building a mosque, funding some dawah event, helping a deprived person?

Options are endless. Think! 

 

End of Ramadan - words of wisdom:

 

*If you cannot get your act together even in Ramadaan, there is no good in you.

Almost every one changes in Ramadan, one way or the other. You see people frequent the masajid more, more Qur'an being recited, more charity, etc.

Now look at yourself, do you see some positive change in yourself too? The answer hopefully is yes. This means that we all are actually capable of being good. We all are capable of doing more, of leaving the evil desires behind, of obeying Allah, of being a Muslim. Yes, we are capable. The change in us that we feel, the more number of people in the masajid is a proof of that. So O Muslims, know that you can become a better version of yourself. Don't let anyone stop you.

Don't become what you thought you were. Become what you are capable of becoming (pious) and SOAR. 

 

*What are we going to do once Ramadaan is over? Get back to the old routine? The routine of music in bed, interest (riba) in dealings, gossip in gatherings, flirting in streets? The same old routine of neglecting salaah? Or have you decided to change, to really change, this time?

A sign that our efforts have been accepted in Ramadaan is that we continue to do good even after Ramadaan. It does not mean that we fast every single day even after Ramadaan. We all know we will not be going to the masjid for naafil prayers outside of Ramadaan that often. Our recitation too would decrease. That's the reality. But still there must be (there should be!) some steps up the ladder that you took in Ramadaan. Let's say you have come up 100 steps. Now after Ramadaan, yes we might go down a few steps, say 30 steps down. Yes, that happens. Sure. But the point is: don't go crashing down. Don't go back to the initial zero state. 

Ramadaan is a time we change ourselves. We get freed from the prisons of our making; the prison of loss, of desires, of obsession, of blameworthy attachments, of addictions, of being a slave of our whims. Don't lose your freedom after Ramadaan.

And how tragicit is when people acknowledge Allah only in Ramadaan...

 

*We all tasted the sweetness of imaan in Ramadaan. More recitation, more Qur'an, more brotherhood, more frequenting the masajid, more prayers, more du'a. And we all rediscovered the beauty of Islam.

We were reintroduced through fasting, through taraweeh, through charity, through long sujood at night that there is nothing more sweet than worshipping Allaah.

Now that we know the other side of the story, now that we know where true peace lies, what are we going to do after Ramadan? Would we want to taste this sweetness of iman over and over again or would we prefer the bitter, restless, dark life of pursuing every sinful desire?

 

Bottom line:

Well, happy fasting!