Nurul Aine
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In the name of Allah the most Gracious, the most Merciful
Ramadaan , The month of Quran, the Month of Allah
Ramadan for all Mankind!
What is the meaning of Ramadan and its essence. Why did Allah (swt) give us Ramadan?
Most of the non Muslims when they look at us they see Ramadan as the month of eating, the month of sleeping, the month of Tarawih without Tarawih.
How many people in Mecca and Medina and all over the world pray tarawih this month? Is the tarawih people pray the tarawih Allah wants? Is it with any message?
Let us examine the tarawih
What is Ramadan and it essences?
When the month of Rajab and shabaan arrived Rassullah (SWAS) used to say "Allahumma Barik Lana fi Rajab, Wa Shabaan Wa Bal-ligna Ramadan." oh Allah (swt) give us the blessing of the month Rajab and shabaan and allow us to reach and keep us alive until Ramadan.
Another hadith, " Allahumma Barik Lana fi Shaban Wa Gan-nim-na Ramadan.”
Oh Allah (swt) give us the blessing of shabaan and give us the treasure of Ramadan.
Let’s go step by step about what is Ramadan?
Allah (swt) said, He created everything and He chooses. He created all the creations and He chose earth and He chose mankind. He created the day and He chose the day of Arafat. From all the places he chose Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. From the mankind He chose the messengers. From all the messengers He chose 5. From 5 He chose 2 and from 2 He chose Mohammad (SWAS). He created time, and He chose Ramadan from all the months" and from all the days He chose Friday. He chose Lailatul-Qadr (the night of power).
Someone said a non Muslim asked him what is fasting. He said he does not know because everyone has different understanding of fasting.
Allah (swt) has the power to choose whatever he wants. According to many reports Ramadan is special to Allah. All the revelations were received during the month of Ramadan. During this month he gives the ultimate mercy to mankind, He gave us guidance, He reveled the Quran and all the scriptures and revelations before. This month is the ultimate mercy. He chose it this way. Because this is the month of mercy. He is advertising it to us.
What is so special?
He gave us Lailatul-Qadr, the hidden night, the night of qadr, which is better than thousand months. This is the month Allah choose, some scholars have said the month of Ramadan has over 60 names. Just to name a few, The month of Allah (swt), the month of Rahma (Mercy), Purification, kindness, compassion. The month Allah choose to send the ultimate mercy to mankind.
His hidaya (guidance) to us, to lead us to Him, to His pleasure and Mercy and to Paradise, Inshallah.
Why the month of Ramadan?
According to Allah (swt)'s Knowledge: But before that, according to Rasullah (SWAS), when he used to see the crescent, the new moon on the month of Rajab which is 1 month before Shabaan or 2 months before Ramadaan, he used to say 'Oh Allah (swt) give us the blessing of this month and the following month and allow us to reach Ramadan.” According to Another report he used to say, "Oh Allah give us the blessings of Shabaan and ga'nimna (treasures) of Ramadan'. The word Ga'nimna in Arabic contains many meaning: it means a treasure, something so high, something that can not be found anywhere anytime, something so significant. Something so precious, valuable, and something very important that will be given to you by Allah (swt).
The elevation belongs to Allah, Rasullah (SWAS) said, on the day of judgment some people will gain nothing except the hunger and thirst in Ramadan. Fasting of the food is just an example. Fasting is to be free from our temptation, our desire, to gain wisdom, blessing and guidance of Allah (swt).
Rasulllah (SWAS) said, “The month of Ramadan is divided into 3 parts. The first ten days are Rahma, the second ten days are for Maghfira (forgiveness), and the last ten days are for purification from the hell fire.
a) Mercy,
b) Forgiveness,
c) And purification from hell fire.
Aisha (RA) asked the Prophet (SWAS), " If I see the night of Qadr, what should I say?" Rasullah (SWAS) replied, say "Allah-humm- innaka-Af'wun, tu hibbul Af'wa, Fa'hfuannah", which means 'Oh Allah (swt) one of your attribute is Al Aafoon, the one who erase, delete all bad deeds. You love this quality, erasing, its higher than forgiveness so give me A'af'.
It means if Allah (swt) give Aaf to any human being he calls the left side angel who writes all of our sins and mischief, He says to the Angel, I give Aaf to such and such person, erase all of his sins. By this way his book will contain no sins, as if he will start fresh. The angel who writes will not even remember any bad deeds. And Allah (swt) calls the earth and says "oh earth delete all the sins this person committed on the earth and delete every signs of sins of this person". This person can meet Allah (swt) without any bad deeds.
One of the closest sahabah of the Prophet (SWAS), Umar bin Al Khattab (RA), he used to say, “ If I die and I leave this duniya without any bad deeds I am lucky.”
Before we understand the message of Ramadan, we have to remember who is reminding us of this message. It is Allah (swt) who is telling us directly about his Mercy, His Rahma and all of His bounty.
Why is Allah doing this?
Allah (swt) is telling us, telling Muslims, come you have dirty yourself, you have done many bad deeds come to the month of cleansing, the month of a chance to go back and remember and clean yourself. This is the essence of salatul Tarawih in Ramadan. Allah (swt) wants us to remember that every night is very important. He want us to remember His words, His mercy, His command, His advice, His wisdom, His promise about Jannah and His warnings about jahannam.
The Arabic people in the early days used to say, the meaning of "If someone talks do not listen to him, but see who he is and what he is doing. By this way you will understand what he is talking about. If you think about it Allah (swt) is talking to us, He is calling us, why is He calling us? To be careful, to wake up, to make an effort, to sacrifice, to struggle to do your utmost in Ramadan. Why? Because this is the month through out the year in which we can gain all the treasures.
For example, If someone says, "Come to me and I will give you a million dollar," Do you think you will go late? Will you give excuses? Will you say he said this , she said this? My job, my study? Or you will do your utmost effort to be on time for the money.
Remember and remind others that Allah (swt) wants us to make an effort to gain His mercy in Ramadan. By remembering Him more and getting closer to Him more.
Lets understand in detail about Ramadan:
In Sura Bakarah (verse 185) , Allah (swt) said, " oh you who believe, I give you and prescribe to you fasting. Maybe you will gain takwa (piety)".
(notice here, Allah (swt) did not say oh Muslim, He said oh BELIEVER). It means we have to embrace Islam, we have to live as a Muslim, we have to be in a state of obedience and in a state of trying to be a believer. We have to stay away from all the sins the maximum we can, so we can be among those who belong to this verse)
What is Siyam?
In a linguistic meaning, it is to stop, to stop something. In the early days, people used to fast from talking, from different things. Allah (swt) gave us something special, from sunrise to sunset. Food is halal, permissible, but in Ramadan its not allowed during this specific time, so is your husband/wife.
Why?
Allah (swt) wants to train us (our nafs) and our soul to stop living like an animal. They also eat, sleep, have sexual relationships like us but we as a human being have more responsibility to do in life, our purpose is different.. Allah (swt) wants to train us from falling into our every desires, every demand. Human beings can demand to the point that they destroy their souls. Allah (swt) wants us to wake up and not go to sleep and forget His message. Wake yourself and your soul by not allowing yourself to be just like an animal eating and sleeping. He wants us to go to the journey of Imaan (faith), the reality and to be closer to Him.
Why Allah gave us fasting?
He also gave to people before us. He gave us small days and only one month, imagine we have to fast the whole year? To remember Him and get us closer to Him. And if you have a problem, you can feel how a poor person feels.
Allah (swt) said, whoever will fast it will be good for him. And if you fast it will be better for you, only if you knew. Know what? Know the amount of reward and bounty. Allah (swt) said fasting belongs to Me and I will reward you on the day of judgment. This is one of the pillars of Islam (fasting) which Allah (swt) has not mentioned of how much reward he will give us. If we only comprehend the meaning of just to fast we will be crying and thanking Allah (swt) to allow us to live as a human being and give us the guidance and the ability to obey Him even in fasting.
Allah (swt) explained what is Ramadan:
He said “Ramadan is the month of revelation of the Quran, guidance to mankind and sign of guidance and distinguish between truth and wrong. Whoever is of age and is in good health then fast. If you are unable to fast then break it and make it on another time. Why? Allah ((swt) wants to make it easy for you and not difficult and to continue fasting and to complete the month. And to do tagbirah (allahu-akbar) for the hidaya of Allah v to you (day of Eid).”
On the day of Eid we say Allahu-Akbar , Allahu-Akbar, la ilaha illallah, Allahu-Akbar , Allahu-Akbar, wa -lillahil-humd.
Why?
To Thank Allah (swt) for still being alive and the ability to fast and thank Allah (swt) for making us Muslim, we reach this day to obey Allah (swt).
In the beginning he talked about Takwa (peity) and at the end he talked about Shukr (giving thanks).
What is the difference?
The essence of fasting is gaining piety. But at the end, Allah want us to thank Him because you have already gained piety.
When you study about the Quran, the part of Quran revealed in Mecca, when people used to ask about certain issue Allah (swt) said to the Prophet “Qul” (say) this is the answer...But when the people used to ask of Allah (swt), Allah (swt) said "I am near”, He did not say Qul. Even the prophet was not mentioned in the verse. Allah (swt) talks directly to the people. Unbelievable closeness and unity is between us and Allah (swt). Allah (swt) wants us to realize how much closer He is to us. How much He loves us and wants us to be guided.
Allah (swt) said, “I am near, I accept the duaas, wishes, supplications, requests and prayer of the one who call Me. Obey Me, come back to me, and believe in Me, maybe you will gain rujd (a combination of wisdom and guidance)”, this is the level of messengers and prophets. Allah guides whom ever He wants.
Lailatul-Qadr in details
A lot of people worship in the middle of Shabaan and elevate it to the night of Lailatul Qadr, there is no authentic hadiths about the middle of this Shabaan.. On Lailatul Qadr Allah (swt) look at the book containing everything from the beginning of creation to the end (Kitabul Mubin). He looks to the book of human beings. He shares this knowledge with us to tell us we will go back to him. He created the pen, the pen asked what I should write, Allah said, write everything.
Lailatul Qadr, the night of power, it contains Qadr (destiny and elevation, status). If Allah (swt) forgives you, if He looks at you and smiles, you have a status, if He puts you in Jannah you have status, if He switches bad qualitites to good qualities you have a status. If you have any calamity in this world, in the hereafter you will have a status.
A lot of people do not understand the difference between Lailatul Qadr and Qadr. The Prophet SWS said, "When a baby is in the womb of the mother, during the 4th months an angel comes with a book which has a copy of everything of the mother with a chain and chains it to the baby's head or neck and the belly of the mother. This book has 4 things containing everything , his Amal (deeds), rizk (provision), ajal (time of life & death), and if he will be among the happy or the disgrace ones (people of Jannah or Jahannam). When Allah (swt) created Adam (AS) He took him to all the souls of the people of his progeny. Adam (AS) asked Allah (swt), why some of the people are in darkness and why some of them are in light. Allah (swt) said, whoever have reached by My light will be among the people of paradise and the people who do not have my light will be among the people of hell fire. He said the people who are among Jannah are there by My mercy. And the people of hell fire are there with My wisdom, knowledge and justice. Allah (swt) created us so He knows which soul belongs to where.
Now someone might say if everything is written then what can I do?
Allah (swt) gave us a chance, a chance by giving us intellect, a brain to think, and the ability to communicate, heart and soul and after that you choose according to your humbleness and humility. If you are humble and humility you gain wisdom and guidance from Allah (swt). If you are arrogant and have no respect for the creator, and what He does for you and you are ungrateful then He will deny you of His Rahma and guidance. Allah (swt) said, yes I wrote everything but I erase what I want and I keep what I want. Allah is sharing this with us even though destiny is written, but worship and humble yourself in Lailatul-Qadr. If you are a sinner ask for forgiveness and cry for My mercy. If you do good deed thank me. (Surah Al Ra'ad 13 verse 39)
Rasullah SWS said, "Oh you people, the month of Ramadan came to you, it is so high and so blessed, in one month you have one night which is more important and more elevated than a 1000 months". Allah (swt) made the fasting of this month during the day time an obligation and tarawih at night not an obligation (voluntary). Whoever comes with any quality toward Allah (swt), is equal to one who do an obligation good deed in any other months. But whoever do any good deed in Ramadan(obligation) it is equal to 70 in another month.
Ramadan is the month of patience, increase the provision of a believer. Whoever helps another person to break his fast with even a piece of date Allah forgives his sins and cleans him from jahannam and purify him for Jannah. Allah (swt) gives a lot of reward in this month even for a sip of water that you give to someone else. Rasulahllah (SWAS) adviced us to increase four habits :
1. Increase saying la ilaha ilallah
2. Do a lot of istagfar to Allah(for forgiveness).
3. Increase asking Allah to give you jannah
4. And ask Allah to protect you from hell fire
Whoever helps another person who is fasting in the time of breaking his fast with sip of water, on the day of judgment Allah (swt) will give that person water to drink and that person will never be thirsty in the day of judgment until he enter jannah"
During Ramadan the big shaitaan is chained so it is a chance to change your bad habits, and develop good habits. Allah (swt) will see who will sacrifice everything and worship Him to gain the treasures of Ramadan. If anyone is too busy and do not use Ramadan to increase his imaan, then he is a looser.
The Prophet (SWAS) said, In the month of Ramadan Allah (swt) has given him something that no other prophets was given before, in the first night of Ramadan Allah can look at a servant and he will never go to Jahannam. The angels asks Allah to forgive our sins. Allah (swt) tells Jannah to decorate itself and be ready for the servant. The odor from the mouth of a fasting person is most beloved to Allah (swt) than the smell of any musk. Allah tells the angels, "look at my servant he/she is trying to please Me bare witness I forgive his/her sins".
Do not recite the Quran as a routine, do not pray tarawih as a routine in life. Try to live the message, try to understand what Allah (swt) wants from you. Why Allah wants you to pray Tarawih? Is it to gain extra reward only? Yes, we get a lot of reward but that is not the only purpose. It is to get closer to him, to wake up and to gain the knowledge of Quran. We might be alive during this Ramadan but what is the guarantee that we will reach the next Ramadan.
Ramadan is the month of patient and patient is half of the Iman. Rasullah (SWAS) said, "The month of Ramadan is to be patient and kindness and generosity". And the whole thing is sacrificing, training your nafs, the lucky one will be the one who wins the night of Lailatul Qadr. The time and day is unknown. How many rakats of prayer is not important. People fight about what day it will be, some countries says this day some say next day.
Once someone came to the prophet and said so and so is an orphan, the Prophet (SWAS) said, "The one who does not have anyone is not an orphan. An orphan is the one who enters Ramadan and does not gain the Rahma (mercy) of Allah and His mercy in Ramadan". The month of Ramadan is about giving, spending, seclusion, oneness, unity. Elevate yourself to be for ALLAH (swt), purify yourself from all the materialistic desires. Live for Akhirah. If you enter Ramadan with the right intentions you will increase your good manner, your Iman will be increased, your habit will be changed, you will be a different person. Show Allah (swt) you are ready to sacrifice, show Him your respect and want and desire His blessing, want His forgiveness, His pleasure and Jannah. We want to de-attach from duniya and elevate our souls.
To finalize all what I have said before, to generate the understanding and the purpose of different command and ritual in Ramadan (i.e prayer, extra Zikr (remembering Allah(SWT) reciting Qur'an, praying Tarawih, spending and of course fasting) the purpose of all this is purification and training yourself to be an 'abd, that is to be pure and elevate yourself from the animal level. Which is not to be running to fulfill the desire, but to elevate to the angel level, which is to be purely for Allah (SWT) with soul and body. This purpose is to benefit the individual and his/her diseases of the heart, such as greed, accumulation, stinginess, misery, loving oneself. The maximum purification and the solution these sicknesses as mentioned above can be reached through generosity, scarifying, the love to help others, sharing, short hope, and most of all work to please Allah (swt) and gain the hereafter. To show Allah (swt) how much we are sincere in our journey of iman, how much we're willing to give up whatever we own, or we think we own in this life, to achieve His Pleasure and Generosity to us by Granting us His Rahma (Mercy) and the ultimate Paradise in the hereafter. And by achieving that as an individual, it generates the manner, the conduct of a quality, equality, and now I'm good to myself, good to others, benefit to myself, benefit to others in a family level, in a neighbor level, in a society level, and in a humanity level.
And all of the above will help to generate a just, kind, giving, person, which in a bigger picture generate a society and a nation with a beautiful quality and manner and a character, elevated, number 1 in the eyes of Allah (swt), angels, mankind, and this will be the role model and the leader and the carrier of guidance to mankind. The individual will be purified and elevated to be ready for the great job, the greater job, the job of Messengers and Prophets, to help mankind to go to the Mercy of Allah (swt), to believe and live and worship as a slave and servant of the Almighty in achieving Paradise and the Pleasure of Allah (swt). And Allah (swt) will Grant us His own Pleasure for infinity.
This is some of the wisdom and purposes of Ramadan and meaning and a goal to live and achieve. Whoever enter Ramadan with the right understanding the right niya (intention) with the right goal, he will be elevated according to his effort and his sacrifice to reach the highest level of the love and the Pleasure and elevation of Allah(swt) to such servant.
And what can be more than being elevated from animal level to angel level, to be the carrier and the spreader of the message of the Almighty?
Ramadan is the training, the rehab center, to prepare an individual to be ready for the greater mission. To be ready, to be accepted for the highest level. Whoever pass, he will be elevated and enter a new phase. Higher, respected, beloved by the Almighty Creator. And this is also the challenge all of us have to meet, to choose between what we think we have or we own, to what Allah (swt) is willing to give us from all His promises. Its an examination of the belief of Allah's promise and reward, verses our weakness, temptation, diseases of the heart, material life.
Today we have a chance. Tomorrow we don't.
This is Ramadan. A glimpse of the purpose, essence, and wisdom of Ramadan.
Imagine an individual willing to give.
Imagine a nation willing to give.
What does it mean?
No millionare. No billionare. But a justice, kindness, no poverty, no deprivation, no orphan living alone, no lonely people, because everyone cares about each other and are sharing with everyone.
This is Ramadan. This is Islam. The elevation of Allah (swt) to us. You give to Allah(swt), Allah (swt) gives you. And all the talk and all this will never work unless we reach iman. The real iman not the fake iman. The iman to believe in Allah (swt) 's promise and rewarding. And if we claim so, each one of us has to think where we are from the message. Where am I from my own desire to fulfilling my desire, to my own desire to fulfilling His promise by giving me the ultimate fulfillment of the desire for infinity- jennah, paradise.
This is Ramadan.
Where is the believer?
May Allah (swt) grant us the blessings of Shaban and Treasures of the Ramadan, Ameen.
Da’ee Ahmed Moait
www.noora1.com
Ramadaan , The month of Quran, the Month of Allah
Ramadan for all Mankind!
What is the meaning of Ramadan and its essence. Why did Allah (swt) give us Ramadan?
Most of the non Muslims when they look at us they see Ramadan as the month of eating, the month of sleeping, the month of Tarawih without Tarawih.
How many people in Mecca and Medina and all over the world pray tarawih this month? Is the tarawih people pray the tarawih Allah wants? Is it with any message?
Let us examine the tarawih
What is Ramadan and it essences?
When the month of Rajab and shabaan arrived Rassullah (SWAS) used to say "Allahumma Barik Lana fi Rajab, Wa Shabaan Wa Bal-ligna Ramadan." oh Allah (swt) give us the blessing of the month Rajab and shabaan and allow us to reach and keep us alive until Ramadan.
Another hadith, " Allahumma Barik Lana fi Shaban Wa Gan-nim-na Ramadan.”
Oh Allah (swt) give us the blessing of shabaan and give us the treasure of Ramadan.
Let’s go step by step about what is Ramadan?
Allah (swt) said, He created everything and He chooses. He created all the creations and He chose earth and He chose mankind. He created the day and He chose the day of Arafat. From all the places he chose Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. From the mankind He chose the messengers. From all the messengers He chose 5. From 5 He chose 2 and from 2 He chose Mohammad (SWAS). He created time, and He chose Ramadan from all the months" and from all the days He chose Friday. He chose Lailatul-Qadr (the night of power).
Someone said a non Muslim asked him what is fasting. He said he does not know because everyone has different understanding of fasting.
Allah (swt) has the power to choose whatever he wants. According to many reports Ramadan is special to Allah. All the revelations were received during the month of Ramadan. During this month he gives the ultimate mercy to mankind, He gave us guidance, He reveled the Quran and all the scriptures and revelations before. This month is the ultimate mercy. He chose it this way. Because this is the month of mercy. He is advertising it to us.
What is so special?
He gave us Lailatul-Qadr, the hidden night, the night of qadr, which is better than thousand months. This is the month Allah choose, some scholars have said the month of Ramadan has over 60 names. Just to name a few, The month of Allah (swt), the month of Rahma (Mercy), Purification, kindness, compassion. The month Allah choose to send the ultimate mercy to mankind.
His hidaya (guidance) to us, to lead us to Him, to His pleasure and Mercy and to Paradise, Inshallah.
Why the month of Ramadan?
According to Allah (swt)'s Knowledge: But before that, according to Rasullah (SWAS), when he used to see the crescent, the new moon on the month of Rajab which is 1 month before Shabaan or 2 months before Ramadaan, he used to say 'Oh Allah (swt) give us the blessing of this month and the following month and allow us to reach Ramadan.” According to Another report he used to say, "Oh Allah give us the blessings of Shabaan and ga'nimna (treasures) of Ramadan'. The word Ga'nimna in Arabic contains many meaning: it means a treasure, something so high, something that can not be found anywhere anytime, something so significant. Something so precious, valuable, and something very important that will be given to you by Allah (swt).
The elevation belongs to Allah, Rasullah (SWAS) said, on the day of judgment some people will gain nothing except the hunger and thirst in Ramadan. Fasting of the food is just an example. Fasting is to be free from our temptation, our desire, to gain wisdom, blessing and guidance of Allah (swt).
Rasulllah (SWAS) said, “The month of Ramadan is divided into 3 parts. The first ten days are Rahma, the second ten days are for Maghfira (forgiveness), and the last ten days are for purification from the hell fire.
a) Mercy,
b) Forgiveness,
c) And purification from hell fire.
Aisha (RA) asked the Prophet (SWAS), " If I see the night of Qadr, what should I say?" Rasullah (SWAS) replied, say "Allah-humm- innaka-Af'wun, tu hibbul Af'wa, Fa'hfuannah", which means 'Oh Allah (swt) one of your attribute is Al Aafoon, the one who erase, delete all bad deeds. You love this quality, erasing, its higher than forgiveness so give me A'af'.
It means if Allah (swt) give Aaf to any human being he calls the left side angel who writes all of our sins and mischief, He says to the Angel, I give Aaf to such and such person, erase all of his sins. By this way his book will contain no sins, as if he will start fresh. The angel who writes will not even remember any bad deeds. And Allah (swt) calls the earth and says "oh earth delete all the sins this person committed on the earth and delete every signs of sins of this person". This person can meet Allah (swt) without any bad deeds.
One of the closest sahabah of the Prophet (SWAS), Umar bin Al Khattab (RA), he used to say, “ If I die and I leave this duniya without any bad deeds I am lucky.”
Before we understand the message of Ramadan, we have to remember who is reminding us of this message. It is Allah (swt) who is telling us directly about his Mercy, His Rahma and all of His bounty.
Why is Allah doing this?
Allah (swt) is telling us, telling Muslims, come you have dirty yourself, you have done many bad deeds come to the month of cleansing, the month of a chance to go back and remember and clean yourself. This is the essence of salatul Tarawih in Ramadan. Allah (swt) wants us to remember that every night is very important. He want us to remember His words, His mercy, His command, His advice, His wisdom, His promise about Jannah and His warnings about jahannam.
The Arabic people in the early days used to say, the meaning of "If someone talks do not listen to him, but see who he is and what he is doing. By this way you will understand what he is talking about. If you think about it Allah (swt) is talking to us, He is calling us, why is He calling us? To be careful, to wake up, to make an effort, to sacrifice, to struggle to do your utmost in Ramadan. Why? Because this is the month through out the year in which we can gain all the treasures.
For example, If someone says, "Come to me and I will give you a million dollar," Do you think you will go late? Will you give excuses? Will you say he said this , she said this? My job, my study? Or you will do your utmost effort to be on time for the money.
Remember and remind others that Allah (swt) wants us to make an effort to gain His mercy in Ramadan. By remembering Him more and getting closer to Him more.
Lets understand in detail about Ramadan:
In Sura Bakarah (verse 185) , Allah (swt) said, " oh you who believe, I give you and prescribe to you fasting. Maybe you will gain takwa (piety)".
(notice here, Allah (swt) did not say oh Muslim, He said oh BELIEVER). It means we have to embrace Islam, we have to live as a Muslim, we have to be in a state of obedience and in a state of trying to be a believer. We have to stay away from all the sins the maximum we can, so we can be among those who belong to this verse)
What is Siyam?
In a linguistic meaning, it is to stop, to stop something. In the early days, people used to fast from talking, from different things. Allah (swt) gave us something special, from sunrise to sunset. Food is halal, permissible, but in Ramadan its not allowed during this specific time, so is your husband/wife.
Why?
Allah (swt) wants to train us (our nafs) and our soul to stop living like an animal. They also eat, sleep, have sexual relationships like us but we as a human being have more responsibility to do in life, our purpose is different.. Allah (swt) wants to train us from falling into our every desires, every demand. Human beings can demand to the point that they destroy their souls. Allah (swt) wants us to wake up and not go to sleep and forget His message. Wake yourself and your soul by not allowing yourself to be just like an animal eating and sleeping. He wants us to go to the journey of Imaan (faith), the reality and to be closer to Him.
Why Allah gave us fasting?
He also gave to people before us. He gave us small days and only one month, imagine we have to fast the whole year? To remember Him and get us closer to Him. And if you have a problem, you can feel how a poor person feels.
Allah (swt) said, whoever will fast it will be good for him. And if you fast it will be better for you, only if you knew. Know what? Know the amount of reward and bounty. Allah (swt) said fasting belongs to Me and I will reward you on the day of judgment. This is one of the pillars of Islam (fasting) which Allah (swt) has not mentioned of how much reward he will give us. If we only comprehend the meaning of just to fast we will be crying and thanking Allah (swt) to allow us to live as a human being and give us the guidance and the ability to obey Him even in fasting.
Allah (swt) explained what is Ramadan:
He said “Ramadan is the month of revelation of the Quran, guidance to mankind and sign of guidance and distinguish between truth and wrong. Whoever is of age and is in good health then fast. If you are unable to fast then break it and make it on another time. Why? Allah ((swt) wants to make it easy for you and not difficult and to continue fasting and to complete the month. And to do tagbirah (allahu-akbar) for the hidaya of Allah v to you (day of Eid).”
On the day of Eid we say Allahu-Akbar , Allahu-Akbar, la ilaha illallah, Allahu-Akbar , Allahu-Akbar, wa -lillahil-humd.
Why?
To Thank Allah (swt) for still being alive and the ability to fast and thank Allah (swt) for making us Muslim, we reach this day to obey Allah (swt).
In the beginning he talked about Takwa (peity) and at the end he talked about Shukr (giving thanks).
What is the difference?
The essence of fasting is gaining piety. But at the end, Allah want us to thank Him because you have already gained piety.
When you study about the Quran, the part of Quran revealed in Mecca, when people used to ask about certain issue Allah (swt) said to the Prophet “Qul” (say) this is the answer...But when the people used to ask of Allah (swt), Allah (swt) said "I am near”, He did not say Qul. Even the prophet was not mentioned in the verse. Allah (swt) talks directly to the people. Unbelievable closeness and unity is between us and Allah (swt). Allah (swt) wants us to realize how much closer He is to us. How much He loves us and wants us to be guided.
Allah (swt) said, “I am near, I accept the duaas, wishes, supplications, requests and prayer of the one who call Me. Obey Me, come back to me, and believe in Me, maybe you will gain rujd (a combination of wisdom and guidance)”, this is the level of messengers and prophets. Allah guides whom ever He wants.
Lailatul-Qadr in details
A lot of people worship in the middle of Shabaan and elevate it to the night of Lailatul Qadr, there is no authentic hadiths about the middle of this Shabaan.. On Lailatul Qadr Allah (swt) look at the book containing everything from the beginning of creation to the end (Kitabul Mubin). He looks to the book of human beings. He shares this knowledge with us to tell us we will go back to him. He created the pen, the pen asked what I should write, Allah said, write everything.
Lailatul Qadr, the night of power, it contains Qadr (destiny and elevation, status). If Allah (swt) forgives you, if He looks at you and smiles, you have a status, if He puts you in Jannah you have status, if He switches bad qualitites to good qualities you have a status. If you have any calamity in this world, in the hereafter you will have a status.
A lot of people do not understand the difference between Lailatul Qadr and Qadr. The Prophet SWS said, "When a baby is in the womb of the mother, during the 4th months an angel comes with a book which has a copy of everything of the mother with a chain and chains it to the baby's head or neck and the belly of the mother. This book has 4 things containing everything , his Amal (deeds), rizk (provision), ajal (time of life & death), and if he will be among the happy or the disgrace ones (people of Jannah or Jahannam). When Allah (swt) created Adam (AS) He took him to all the souls of the people of his progeny. Adam (AS) asked Allah (swt), why some of the people are in darkness and why some of them are in light. Allah (swt) said, whoever have reached by My light will be among the people of paradise and the people who do not have my light will be among the people of hell fire. He said the people who are among Jannah are there by My mercy. And the people of hell fire are there with My wisdom, knowledge and justice. Allah (swt) created us so He knows which soul belongs to where.
Now someone might say if everything is written then what can I do?
Allah (swt) gave us a chance, a chance by giving us intellect, a brain to think, and the ability to communicate, heart and soul and after that you choose according to your humbleness and humility. If you are humble and humility you gain wisdom and guidance from Allah (swt). If you are arrogant and have no respect for the creator, and what He does for you and you are ungrateful then He will deny you of His Rahma and guidance. Allah (swt) said, yes I wrote everything but I erase what I want and I keep what I want. Allah is sharing this with us even though destiny is written, but worship and humble yourself in Lailatul-Qadr. If you are a sinner ask for forgiveness and cry for My mercy. If you do good deed thank me. (Surah Al Ra'ad 13 verse 39)
Rasullah SWS said, "Oh you people, the month of Ramadan came to you, it is so high and so blessed, in one month you have one night which is more important and more elevated than a 1000 months". Allah (swt) made the fasting of this month during the day time an obligation and tarawih at night not an obligation (voluntary). Whoever comes with any quality toward Allah (swt), is equal to one who do an obligation good deed in any other months. But whoever do any good deed in Ramadan(obligation) it is equal to 70 in another month.
Ramadan is the month of patience, increase the provision of a believer. Whoever helps another person to break his fast with even a piece of date Allah forgives his sins and cleans him from jahannam and purify him for Jannah. Allah (swt) gives a lot of reward in this month even for a sip of water that you give to someone else. Rasulahllah (SWAS) adviced us to increase four habits :
1. Increase saying la ilaha ilallah
2. Do a lot of istagfar to Allah(for forgiveness).
3. Increase asking Allah to give you jannah
4. And ask Allah to protect you from hell fire
Whoever helps another person who is fasting in the time of breaking his fast with sip of water, on the day of judgment Allah (swt) will give that person water to drink and that person will never be thirsty in the day of judgment until he enter jannah"
During Ramadan the big shaitaan is chained so it is a chance to change your bad habits, and develop good habits. Allah (swt) will see who will sacrifice everything and worship Him to gain the treasures of Ramadan. If anyone is too busy and do not use Ramadan to increase his imaan, then he is a looser.
The Prophet (SWAS) said, In the month of Ramadan Allah (swt) has given him something that no other prophets was given before, in the first night of Ramadan Allah can look at a servant and he will never go to Jahannam. The angels asks Allah to forgive our sins. Allah (swt) tells Jannah to decorate itself and be ready for the servant. The odor from the mouth of a fasting person is most beloved to Allah (swt) than the smell of any musk. Allah tells the angels, "look at my servant he/she is trying to please Me bare witness I forgive his/her sins".
Do not recite the Quran as a routine, do not pray tarawih as a routine in life. Try to live the message, try to understand what Allah (swt) wants from you. Why Allah wants you to pray Tarawih? Is it to gain extra reward only? Yes, we get a lot of reward but that is not the only purpose. It is to get closer to him, to wake up and to gain the knowledge of Quran. We might be alive during this Ramadan but what is the guarantee that we will reach the next Ramadan.
Ramadan is the month of patient and patient is half of the Iman. Rasullah (SWAS) said, "The month of Ramadan is to be patient and kindness and generosity". And the whole thing is sacrificing, training your nafs, the lucky one will be the one who wins the night of Lailatul Qadr. The time and day is unknown. How many rakats of prayer is not important. People fight about what day it will be, some countries says this day some say next day.
Once someone came to the prophet and said so and so is an orphan, the Prophet (SWAS) said, "The one who does not have anyone is not an orphan. An orphan is the one who enters Ramadan and does not gain the Rahma (mercy) of Allah and His mercy in Ramadan". The month of Ramadan is about giving, spending, seclusion, oneness, unity. Elevate yourself to be for ALLAH (swt), purify yourself from all the materialistic desires. Live for Akhirah. If you enter Ramadan with the right intentions you will increase your good manner, your Iman will be increased, your habit will be changed, you will be a different person. Show Allah (swt) you are ready to sacrifice, show Him your respect and want and desire His blessing, want His forgiveness, His pleasure and Jannah. We want to de-attach from duniya and elevate our souls.
To finalize all what I have said before, to generate the understanding and the purpose of different command and ritual in Ramadan (i.e prayer, extra Zikr (remembering Allah(SWT) reciting Qur'an, praying Tarawih, spending and of course fasting) the purpose of all this is purification and training yourself to be an 'abd, that is to be pure and elevate yourself from the animal level. Which is not to be running to fulfill the desire, but to elevate to the angel level, which is to be purely for Allah (SWT) with soul and body. This purpose is to benefit the individual and his/her diseases of the heart, such as greed, accumulation, stinginess, misery, loving oneself. The maximum purification and the solution these sicknesses as mentioned above can be reached through generosity, scarifying, the love to help others, sharing, short hope, and most of all work to please Allah (swt) and gain the hereafter. To show Allah (swt) how much we are sincere in our journey of iman, how much we're willing to give up whatever we own, or we think we own in this life, to achieve His Pleasure and Generosity to us by Granting us His Rahma (Mercy) and the ultimate Paradise in the hereafter. And by achieving that as an individual, it generates the manner, the conduct of a quality, equality, and now I'm good to myself, good to others, benefit to myself, benefit to others in a family level, in a neighbor level, in a society level, and in a humanity level.
And all of the above will help to generate a just, kind, giving, person, which in a bigger picture generate a society and a nation with a beautiful quality and manner and a character, elevated, number 1 in the eyes of Allah (swt), angels, mankind, and this will be the role model and the leader and the carrier of guidance to mankind. The individual will be purified and elevated to be ready for the great job, the greater job, the job of Messengers and Prophets, to help mankind to go to the Mercy of Allah (swt), to believe and live and worship as a slave and servant of the Almighty in achieving Paradise and the Pleasure of Allah (swt). And Allah (swt) will Grant us His own Pleasure for infinity.
This is some of the wisdom and purposes of Ramadan and meaning and a goal to live and achieve. Whoever enter Ramadan with the right understanding the right niya (intention) with the right goal, he will be elevated according to his effort and his sacrifice to reach the highest level of the love and the Pleasure and elevation of Allah(swt) to such servant.
And what can be more than being elevated from animal level to angel level, to be the carrier and the spreader of the message of the Almighty?
Ramadan is the training, the rehab center, to prepare an individual to be ready for the greater mission. To be ready, to be accepted for the highest level. Whoever pass, he will be elevated and enter a new phase. Higher, respected, beloved by the Almighty Creator. And this is also the challenge all of us have to meet, to choose between what we think we have or we own, to what Allah (swt) is willing to give us from all His promises. Its an examination of the belief of Allah's promise and reward, verses our weakness, temptation, diseases of the heart, material life.
Today we have a chance. Tomorrow we don't.
This is Ramadan. A glimpse of the purpose, essence, and wisdom of Ramadan.
Imagine an individual willing to give.
Imagine a nation willing to give.
What does it mean?
No millionare. No billionare. But a justice, kindness, no poverty, no deprivation, no orphan living alone, no lonely people, because everyone cares about each other and are sharing with everyone.
This is Ramadan. This is Islam. The elevation of Allah (swt) to us. You give to Allah(swt), Allah (swt) gives you. And all the talk and all this will never work unless we reach iman. The real iman not the fake iman. The iman to believe in Allah (swt) 's promise and rewarding. And if we claim so, each one of us has to think where we are from the message. Where am I from my own desire to fulfilling my desire, to my own desire to fulfilling His promise by giving me the ultimate fulfillment of the desire for infinity- jennah, paradise.
This is Ramadan.
Where is the believer?
May Allah (swt) grant us the blessings of Shaban and Treasures of the Ramadan, Ameen.
Da’ee Ahmed Moait
www.noora1.com
