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Ramadan Notes: Making the Best
Use of Ramadan
By Ali Khan
Purpose of Fasting:
- To practice self restraint;
- To realize how we take for granted Allah’s
blessings with something as basic as food and water;
- To develop sympathy and empathy for those
who go to bed hungry, if they have a bed that is;
- To nurture our inner Muslim i.e. to actually
become a practicing Muslim rather than a Muslim by default
or by name;
- To develop practices to prepare for the
real life so in the coming months after Ramadan we’re
able to comply with the orders with much more ease and less
effort;
- To constantly involve in a state of Ibadah
so as to evolve infinite love
for Allah and a much higher level to acquire Jannah and
do well in this temporary life;
- To make acts of Salah , humility, Quranic
recitation, modesty and honesty a part of our daily lives;
- To revisit our main purpose of existence
which is not to accumulate wealth, buy expensive cars, get
a 6 figure salary, buy a huge house, but to worship Allah
and follow His Messenger first, and then address our worldly
needs in compliance with the Islamic Law.
During Ramadan:
- Try to keep all acts of ibadah a secret,
so as never to show off to others that you’re fasting,
or praying or reciting the Quran
- Never complain or whine about how hungry
you are or how thirsty you feel or how you’re mighty
enough to fast without sahoor
- When you fast, it isn’t just food
and water you’re restraining from; it’s equally
important to keep the following in mind:
1. Modesty : this includes lowering your gaze as applicable,
avoiding foul language at all times
2. Backbiting: this is a common disease us desis carry,
it needs to be
avoided at all times as a famous hadith speaks along the
lines “ when you talk bad about a person behind their
back your hasana (good deeds) get transferred to him /her”
3. Humility and humbleness: No matter what your accomplishments
in life are, no matter how much your bank balance or how
good you look, always remember you’re a Slave of Allah
and whatever you have is His Blessing; another Sahih Hadith
indicates: “any one with even a ‘grain’
worth of pride will not enter paradise”
4. Respect for all religions: Just because you’re
fasting and trying your best to comply with shariah, it
shouldn’t make you feel better than any other Muslim
or non Muslim, have respect for all races, all religions,
all people
- Don’t fall in the ‘part time’
Muslim category by practicing all above laws during Ramadan
only and return to ignorance and satanic seduction once
Ramadan is over- let this month be a warm up and reference
to how a practicing Muslim is supposed to pass their lives;
- Don’t consider the period of fasting
as ‘time you need to kill’ by watching movies,
by sleeping/napping extended hours or being on the phone
– stay conscious most movies and TV shows directly
violate the orders of Surah Nisa and Nur – indulge
in listening to Islamic programs on TV and lectures online
instead – its also recommended to offer as much prayers
as possible in the mosque, not only because of the much
higher reward but also for inspirational purposes;
- Keep and maintain focus on aakhirah, make
pleasing Allah and eventually acquiring Jannah your ultimate
motive, your ultimate ambition and your utmost priority
- Spend as much time as possible being productive
in Islam as in learning more and more about laws and commentary
on Quranic Surahs and ahadees
- Stay conscious of how much you eat during
iftaar or even sahoor; don’t let a heavy food intake
make you lazy to the point you can’t focus during
salah or Taraveeh.; a heavy iftaar and/or dinner intake
also makes it very difficult to get up for Fajr the following
morning;
- If you notice an individual enduring to
be a better Muslim in whatever way possible, be it a guy
refusing to watch Bollywood movies or a girl refusing to
wear skin tight pants, don’t try to intimidate them
by calling out names like Mullah or even extremists- since
your definition of extremism is limited by your knowledge,
interpretational accuracy, level of Hidayah you’ve
received and how ambitious you are with regards to the next
life.
- Maximize the blessings of Ramadan by getting
up at least 20 minutes prior to Fajur and offer salat-e-tahajjud
even it’s for the minimum 2 Rakah
- Encourage yourselves to pay as much zakat
and sadqah possible – as Surah Yaseen indicates, paying
charity removes sins; I’m sure during Ramadan we save
quite a bit of money that’s spent on tea/coffee/beverages
and lunch at work/leisure etc – we can use that to
pay for charity;
- The laws of Islam may appear difficult
to practice from the exterior only, but the beauty of these
rules is such that once you make that initial effort, it
not only gets easier but you derive pleasure out of it and
crave it if you ever deviate. Islam isn’t just a religion,
it’s a philosophy, a whole prescribed way of life;
it would be nice if we try to implement Islam in its entirety
in the blessed month of Ramadan
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