Fasting during Ramadan, the Muslims holy month, was
ordained during the second year of Hijrah. Why not earlier? In Makkah
the economic conditions of the Muslims were bad. They were being
persecuted. Often days would go by before they had anything to eat.
It is easy to skip meals if you don’t have any. Obviously
fasting would have been easier under the circumstances. So why not
then?
The answer may be that Ramadan is not only about
skipping meals. While fasting is an integral and paramount part of
it, Ramadan offers a comprehensive program for our spiritual
overhaul. The entire program required the peace and security that was
offered by Madinah.
Yes, Ramadan is the most important month
of the year. It is the month that the believers await with eagerness.
At the beginning of Rajab --- two full months before Ramadan --- the
Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, used to supplicate
thus: "O Allah! Bless us during Rajab and Sha’ban, and let
us reach Ramadan (in good health)."
During Ramadan the
believers get busy seeking Allah’s mercy, forgiveness, and
protection from Hellfire. This is the month for renewing our
commitment and re-establishing our relationship with our Creator. It
is the spring season for goodness and virtues when righteousness
blossoms throughout the Muslim communities. "If we combine all
the blessings of the other eleven months, they would not add up to
the blessings of Ramadan," said the great scholar and reformer
Shaikh Ahmed Farooqi (Mujaddad Alif Thani). It offers every Muslim an
opportunity to strengthen his Iman, purify his heart and soul, and to
remove the evil effects of the sins committed by him.
"Anyone
who fasts during this month with purity of belief and with
expectation of a good reward (from his Creator), will have his
previous sins forgiven," said Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu
alayhi wa sallam. "Anyone who stands in prayers during its
nights with purity of belief and expectation of a reward, will have
his previous sins forgiven." As other ahadith tell us, the
rewards for good deeds are multiplied manifold during Ramadan.
Along with the possibility of a great reward, there is the
risk of a terrible loss. If we let any other month pass by
carelessly, we just lost a month. If we do the same during Ramadan,
we have lost everything. The person who misses just one day’s
fast without a legitimate reason, cannot really make up for it even
if he were to fast everyday for the rest of his life. And of the
three persons that Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam cursed, one
is the unfortunate Muslim who finds Ramadan in good health but does
not use the opportunity to seek Allah’s mercy.
One who
does not fast is obviously in this category, but so also is the
person who fasts and prays but makes no effort to stay away from sins
or attain purity of the heart through the numerous opportunities
offered by Ramadan. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, warned
us: "There are those who get nothing from their fast but hunger
and thirst. There are those who get nothing from their nightly
prayers but loss of sleep."
Those who understood this,
for them Ramadan was indeed a very special month. In addition to
fasting, mandatory Salat, and extra Travih Salat, they spent the
whole month in acts of worship like voluntary Salat, Tilawa
(recitation of Qur’an), Dhikr etc. After mentioning that this
has been the tradition of the pious people of this Ummah throughout
the centuries, Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi notes: " I have seen with my
own eyes such ulema and mashaikh who used to finish recitation of the
entire Qur’an everyday during Ramadan. They spent almost the
entire night in prayers. They used to eat so little that one wondered
how they could endure all this. These greats valued every moment of
Ramadan and would not waste any of it in any other pursuit…Watching
them made one believe the astounding stories of Ibada and devotion of
our elders recorded by history."
This emphasis on these
acts of worship may sound strange --- even misplaced --- to some. It
requires some explanation. We know that the term Ibada (worship and
obedience) in Islam applies not only to the formal acts of worship
and devotion like Salat , Tilawa, and Dhikr, but it also applies to
worldly acts when performed in obedience to Shariah and with the
intention of pleasing Allah. Thus a believer going to work is
performing Ibada when he seeks Halal income to discharge his
responsibility as a bread-winner for the family. However a
distinction must be made between the two. The first category consists
of direct Ibada, acts that are required for their own sake. The
second category consists of indirect Ibada --- worldly acts that
become Ibada through proper intention and observation of Shariah.
While the second category is important for it extends the idea of
Ibada to our entire life, there is also a danger because by their
very nature these acts can camouflage other motives. (Is my going to
work really Ibada or am I actually in the rat race?). Here the direct
Ibada comes to the rescue. Through them we can purify our motives,
and re-establish our relationship with Allah.
Islam does not
approve of monasticism. It does not ask us to permanently isolate
ourselves from this world, since our test is in living here according
to the Commands of our Creator. But it does ask us to take periodic
breaks from it. The mandatory Salat (five daily prayers) is one
example. For a few minutes every so many hours throughout the day, we
leave the affairs of this world and appear before Allah to remind
ourselves that none but He is worthy of worship and of our
unfaltering obedience. Ramadan takes this to the next higher plane,
providing intense training for a whole month.
This spirit is
captured in I’tikaf, a unique Ibada associated with Ramadan, in
which a person gives up all his normal activities and enters a mosque
for a specific period. There is great merit in it and every Muslim
community is encouraged to provide at least one person who will
perform I’tikaf for the last ten days of Ramadan. But even those
who cannot spare ten days are encouraged to spend as much time in the
mosque as possible.
Through direct Ibada we "charge our
batteries"; the indirect ones allow us to use the power so
accumulated in driving the vehicle of our life. Ramadan is the month
for rebuilding our spiritual strength. How much we benefit from it is
up to us.
from: islamway.com
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