Feel Ramadan – 12) The Easy way to Success

Do you love to be closer to Allah?

The messenger of Allah (May Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him) has taught us the way to there :  ”The closest that a person can be to his Lord, the Mighty and Sublime, is when he is prostrating, so increase in supplication then.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 1137)

 Do you want to sit with the beloved Prophet (PBUH) in the Paradise? 
Well, Prophet(PBUH) had taught us solution for that too, by drawing his middle and index fingers closer.

The Prophet (PBUH) said, “I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will be in Paradise like this,” putting his index and middle fingers together. (Sahih Bukhari : Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 34)

Would you like to reap a reward equivalent to those who fight in the cause of Allah or pray the whole night, or fast throughout the day, for the sake of Him? 

The Prophet (PBUH) said, “The one who looks after a widow or a poor person is like a Mujahid (warrior) who fights for Allah’s Cause, or like him who performs prayers all the night and fasts all the day.” (Sahih Bukhari : Vol. 7, Book 64, Hadith 265)

Do you want to be among those for whom Prophet (PBUH) has assured the final resort as heaven?

Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Paradise for him.” (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 8, Book 76, Hadith 481)

Do you desire to be among to be those who will be overwhelmed with good deeds?

 The Prophet (PBUH) said, “(There are) two words which are dear to the Beneficent (Allah) and very light (easy) for the tongue (to say), but very heavy in weight in the balance. They are: ”Subhan Allah wa-bi hamdihi” and ”Subhan Allah Al-`Azim.”  Sahih Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 93, Hadith 652)

Would you like to get the rewards of praying whole night?

Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said: “Whoever attends Isha (prayer) in congregation, then he has (the reward as if he had) stood half of the night. And whoever prays Isha and Fajr in congregation, then he has (the reward as if he had) spend the entire night standing (in prayer).”  (Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 2, Hadith 221)

Do you want to increase your rank in front of Allah?

Whoever lowers himself, Allah will elevate him. And whoever is arrogant Allah will will disgrace him” (Mishkaat)

Would you want Allah to love to meet you?

 “The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: ‘whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah, hates to meet him.”‘  (Sunan an-Nasa’i Vol. 3, Book 1, Hadith 1838)

Do you want to be under the protection of Allah, throughout a day?

 He who prayed the morning prayer (in congregation) he is in fact under the protection of Allah. (Sahih Muslim  Book 4, Hadith 1381)

Wouldn’t you love to reap the rewards equal to fasting a whole year?

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: ‘Whoever fasts three days in every month, then that is (similar to) fasting every day.’ (Part of Hadith Tirmidhi  Vol. 2, Book 3, Hadith 762)

Don’t you want Allah to ease your difficulties?

Whoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the Day of Resurrection. And whoever alleviates the need of a needy person, Allah will alleviate his needs in this world and the Hereafter. (Part of Hadith 36 | Imaam Nawawi)

Do you want Allah to build a house for you in the Paradise?

 ”Whoever is regular with twelve Rak’ah of Sunnah (prayer), Allah will build a house form him in Paradise: Four Rak’ah before Zuhr, two Rak’ah after it, two Rak’ah after Maghrib, two Rak’ah after Isha, and two Rak’ah before Fajr.” (Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 2, Hadith 414)

Don’t to want Qur’an to bear witness for you in the hereafter?

 “Read the Qur’an, for it will come as an intercessor for its reciters on the Day of Resurrection.” (Riyad as-Salihin Book 9, Hadith 991)

Wouldn’t you like to be the best among people?

 The Prophet (PBUH) said, “The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” ( Bukhari Vol. 6, Book 61, Hadith 545)

Don’t you love to obtain the shade of Allah, on the day of reckoning?

 The Messenger of Allah(PBUH) said, “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah, the Exalted, will say: ‘Where are those who have mutual love for the sake of My Glory? Today I shall shelter them in My Shade when there will be no shade except Mine”. (Sahih Muslim Book 1, Hadith 377)

Do you want Allah to conceal your secrets?

The servant (who conceals) the faults of others in this world, Allah would conceal his faults on the Day of Resurrection. (Sahih Muslim Book 32, Hadith 6267)

Are you overwhelmed by dreadful hardships? Do you want answer to your problems?

 Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Safeguard the Commandments of Allah, you will find Him before you. Remember Him inprosperity and He will remember you in adversity. Be sure that which you miss, was not to hit you; and what hits you, was never to miss you. Remember that the Help of Allah is obtained with patience, and relief emerges after distress, prosperity follows adversity, and hardship is followed by ease”.  (Riyad as-Salihin)

Don’t you have money to give in charity?

Prophet (PBUH) said: In every declaration of the glorification of Allah (i. e. saying Subhan Allah) there is a Sadaqa, and every Takbir (i. e. saying Allah-O-Akbar) is a sadaqa, and every praise of His (saying al-Hamdu Lillah) is a Sadaqa and every declaration that He is One (La illha ill-Allah) is a sadaqa, and enjoining of good is a sadaqa, and forbidding of that which is evil is a Sadaqa… (Sahih Muslim Part of Hadith Book 5, Hadith 2198)

Feel Ramadan – 11) Let’s forget sorrows

Had read a story of a little girl who was traveling in a train for the first time. All excited about the journey, she was giggling and running across the compartment. A wonderful journey by enjoying the scenic greenries and wide tillage. It is when she peeped through the window she saw that shocking scene. A river is flowing a bit away and the train is running towards it.
Her heart began to beat faster. As the train was nearing the river she was more and more frightened. That little heart could only imagine herself crying out for helping hands and drowning in the water. Suddenly she saw the train taking a beautiful and strong bridge built across the river. Every time she saw rivers she was frightened but everywhere someone had built strong bridges for the train to pass through. She continued all of her journeys without getting drenched in the river streams.
Many people have the mind of this little girl when any hardships befall on them. Their hearts wrench with unwanted anxieties and worries as if something dreadful is going to happen in life. This clearly shows the lack of firm and strong awareness about the Lord. If our awareness about Him is ‘just a belief’, we won’t be able to pass through the painful ordeals of life. Rather, how we believe that everything we see around is true and we have breath and life, if we can comprehend the belief in Allah, in the same way, we won’t fall flat in front of the trails of life.
Take a Look at the nature around us. It rains heavily and stops. Sunshine falls and leaves. Flowers blossom and wither. Leaves spike and fall off. Plants grow and fall apart. But no one really bothers to worry about all these, right? Why? Because we all know that these are common happenings in the nature around, the law of nature. If so, isn’t the same common law of nature is happening in our lives too?
Yes, happiness, grievance, sorrows, ailments, birth, death, success, failure, gains, losses…all these are part of very natural shadows of life.
To cook food items properly, it should be exposed to heat. In the same way, with the heat of tears and sufferings, our mind get molded into the shape it is suppose to be. Plants grow only if they get both sunshine and rain. If it is only sunshine plants will be withered and if only rain they will be putrefied. This is how the sorrows and hapinesses weave together our life.
A life without trails is like a school without learning. Nothing will be there to learn. Tortoises would have a long story to narrate about the ways they travelled, not rabbits. The fortitude attained by people who undergo severe hardships in life would be much more than the people who live an easy life.
Whatever befalls on us in this life are decreed by the Most Merciful Creator. To live a peaceful life through hardships, we must teach our minds that Allah is Most Merciful and would shower only mercy upon His slaves.
The shadows of sorrows should never steal the happiness of our lives. In this life something may happen and some other things may not happen, the way we wanted.
Verses 22 and 23rd of Surat Hadid is the shower of solace. These verses would pour in energy to face every happenings in this life, happily.

Many times, we wont reach the place we longed for. We must be successful in making the place we reached, a worthy abode. We are suppose to live our every day as if it’s the last one. That means our life should be that much fruitful and enjoyable. In this small life, we have only a countable number of sorrows. But the blessings we live in are uncountable. Take the learning from every distress and forget rest. Live happily!

Feel Ramadan – 10) Crying eyes are not far

There is story about a companion of Prophet (Many peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Before eating food, he would get out of house and give some portions of food for the birds and cats out there. When he was asked about that, he reminded his friend, about the saying of prophet (PBUH). Didn’t prophet(PBUH) say “A man is not a believer who fills his stomach while his neighbor is hungry” (Al-Adab al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari IV – 61). I do not think that only humans are included when he mentioned hungry neighbor.

Look at the minds of the people who lived at the time of Prophet! (PBUH) There are so many golden stories from their life where they themselves starved but fed the hungry neighbor. The messenger of Allah fostered their minds such that their broad hearts could give utmost importance to others than their own welfare. He acquainted them to love every living being and the nature around them and thus he nurtured a lofty example of inimitable humanity. He advised to love, help and feed the neighbor even without bothering about their ideology or faith group.
There are numerous people around this globe, struggling through overwhelming ordeals. Though they can be seen, heard and very reachable, many people prefer not to reach them. In the same society where people spent millions to get a fancy number for their vehicle, there also live another bunch who wish for a few pennies to buy their medicine, food for one time or a good cloth and a small house to sleep…
When would we feel contentment in life? Is it when we spent our entire money, time and energy only for ourselves? If so, many people in this world would have been happy and contented. But, the reality is that most people are unhappy. Though they built huge walls for their house and block any grievance entering their house, from the neighborhood, most in our time are still not able to sleep blissfully.

Those who believe in the Most Merciful, deep from the heart, would not be able to ignore their responsibilities in this world. How can we love our lord the unseen, if we can’t see the grievance of people living under our eyelids?
‘Woe to the performers of salaah who pushes away the orphan and do not persuade to feed poor” (Qur’an 107: 2,3). Doesn’t Qur’an refer to such people? Those who strictly fulfill their obligation towards Allah on time , but ignore their responsibilities towards the people around, they are not only losers but are in the path of destruction.
While fasting we realize how much we love food and water. The real hungry people around the globe, do not have delicious food to eat at dusk. Rather they are helpless in front of the reality that they can not afford to serve a healthy dish at least once in a day for their kids. Those mothers around the globe, who covers the noses of their children, when the delicious smell of mouthwatering dish airs from neighborhood kitchen, let their helpless faces annoy our minds, during every Iftar.
Look, every drop of tear that we shed for ourselves is nothing more than a few drops of wasted water. But if it is shed for others, that’s the best of tears.

Feel Ramadan – 9) Careful Words…

Some people take very little water in mouth during ablution while they are fasting, fearing that they may swallow water. But, the same vigilance won’t be there in their talking. They don’t keep silent fearing that they may end up talking vain. Bridling of tongue- this is a greatest lesson to learn from fasting. Lies, pride, ridicule etc all undesirable acts originate from words and that could be the reason why Prophet(May peace and blessings from Allah be upon him) had warned about it many times. We are advised to use and practice truth, kindness, affection, simplicity etc.
A person’s words reflect his personality. Each and every inappropriate word degrades his value and personality. If built with carefully framed words, our life itself would be much beautiful. To whom, when, what, how- we should carefully evaluate this before every wordings. When every single word that we speak is by understanding the mindset of the listener, indeed our conversation would be priceless. People’s attitudes and mindsets would change according to the circumstance. Words considering these situations can be dearer to them.
Let’s look at an example from Prophet’s (PBUH) life. Prophet(PBUH) was at the house of beloved wife of Prophet(PBUH) Ayesha (RA). A girl came with Prophet(PBUH)’s favorite dish. It was sent by Prophet(PBUH)’s another wife. Ayesha (RA) trembled with rage and fury, took the bowl and hurled it away. Prophet(PBUH) gathered the broken pieces of the dish and then started collecting on them the food which had been in the dish and said, “Your mother (my wife) felt jealous.” He did not rage at her or blamed her. Ayesha was deeply moved by this response of the Prophet(PBUH) of Mercy. She realized her mistake and repented. [Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 62, Number 152: ]
How lofty is Prophet’s(PBUH) speech and response!! He never used to blame anyone in public. Nor did he hurt anyone with words. Even to the enemies, he displayed affection and mercy. His smiling face could diminish the anger of even the gravest enemies. Those with courageous stand and strong minds, would not hurt anyone even with a small word. Prophet(PBUH)’s word were wrapped in simplicity, softness and affection. Say the truth. Say it pleasingly. Don’t say in an unpleasing way.
The increased use ‘I’ in our speeches would not make it a good conversation. This eventually creates disinterest in listener.The more we reduce usage of ‘I’, the better will be our conversation. Let us make our words beautiful and meaningful.

Feel Ramadan – 8) Three Special Lessons

Time for Suhoor. Silently, they creep out of bed; should not interrupt the sleeping wee child! Carefully, they prepare food and serve. But, somehow that child hears the giggle of vessels and wakes up. Haven’t you seen some kids they are very eager to get up for Suhoor and obstinately keep fasting along with parents?
Those little tots who welcome Ramadan wholeheartedly, try to derive benefit out of blessed month by passionately joining their parents with tiny helping hands, zealously reciting Qur’an and energetically offering prayers! As the time passes, they feel tiredness and their energy diminishes. Upon seeing their stale face, empty belly, dried lips and tired body, how much affection their parents and siblings feel towards them! We all will feel full of love, kindness and sympathy towards such zealous kids, right? Indeed!
Dear brothers and sisters, similar way, there is someone who would feel boundless mercy, sympathy and love towards us, when He finds us fasting for His sake- indeed that is Allah, The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate! His love, mercy and sympathy are beyond the description of words. There is no moment in this world, without His abundant Mercy, kindness or Love being showered upon His slaves. He is the One who protects us, everyday, every moment and everywhere! Nothing but Mercy gushes from the Most Merciful towards His slaves.
His mercy is there even in making fasting compulsory upon His slaves. He wants us to leave the path we lived so far and embrace the most beautiful road of revering piety and everlasting virtues. The All Loving Lord, who doesn’t like to put burden on His slaves, made fasting compulsory because He wants his slaves to achieve the only ultimate aim of this life- Taqwa. This is what Qur’an has taught us. The first special lesson from Ramadan is the deep awareness about our Creator, the firm relationship with Him and the assurance about His everlasting affection towards His best slaves.
The second special lesson Ramadan teaches us, like we discussed before, is the piousness in our secret life. It is a golden opportunity to get rid of the adornments and distractions of the world outside and focus on renovating our secret life and inner purity. Qur’an recounts ‘Those who fear their Lord in secret’ as one of qualities of a true believer. Imaam Gazali describes the purpose of fasting as follows:

The object of fast is to anoint one with one of the divine attributes. That attributes. That attribute meaning is to be bereft of hunger and thirst and to follow the angels as far as possible being free from passion. The rank of a man is far more superior than that of a lover animal as he can control his passion by dint of his intellect, but his rank is lower than that of an angel as his passion is strong and he is tried by it. Angels are near God. (Ihya-ul-uloomidheen)

The third special lesson is that we get to learn the real Islamic life during Ramadan. Self control, patience, sympathy, kindness, charity giving, strictness and punctuality in the acts of worships, unity,  affection, watchfulness in expenditure, closeness with Masjid, tongues reverberating in Qur’anic verses, heartfelt supplications, and sincere thouba- that’s the complete Islamic life and that’s what we practice in Ramadan. This is how the life of a believer should be, always. The only extra act of worship in Ramadan is fasting- rest everything should be a part of our life even outside Ramadan. We are not ordered even a single extra rakat in Salah as a part of Ramadan. The difference between other days and Ramadan is that fasting teaches us good habits and conduct. It frees us from evil entanglements.
Those who continue with the life in Ramadan even after its departure, indeed those will be among the successful. Others, are the losers who lost the chance to attain Heaven even after witnessing one more blessed month in their life.

Feel Ramadan- 7) Reminding the Return

Have you heard an old Arabic fable about a man who made friendship with the Angel of death? At the spring of their friendship the man made an unusual agreement with the Angel. He demanded that before arriving to take his soul, the Angel should send him a notice well in advance. The agreement was made. Weeks became months and months into years. One bitterly cold night, as the man sat alone thinking of his success in life, Angel of death tapped on his shoulder. “You are here too soon” the man cried out. “You sent no messenger. I thought we had an agreement!” The Angel whispered: “Dear, notice your hair, when we made friendship, it was full and black, skin was smooth, teeth were shiny, eyesight was sharp, body was sturdy and hearing was strong. Today, your hair has plenty of silver streaks; skin is wrinkled, hearing and eyesight has weakened, teeth have fallen off and body is frail. You had asked me to send one messenger but I have sent many through the years! I have kept my word. Still, didn’t you expect my arrival?”
This may be a fable, besides it holds a strong message and reality of our life. Death will be rude awakening for those who live in sluggishness, without remembering about the return journey despite the shadows fell on every luster of life. They would be panicked as the death knocks at the door. Qur’an warns that as death approaches, they are those who will plead:
“My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous.” [Qura’an 63:10].
In the next verse Allah warns us that: “But never will Allah delay a soul when its time has come. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do.” (63:11)
In a Hadith reported by Tirmidi, Prophet (May Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) mentions: “Not a day passes upon the grave except it will say I am the home of remoteness, the home of loneliness, the home of soil, the home of worms. (Tirmidi)

Each Ramadan we meet should remind us that we are one more year closer to the inevitable reality of death. We must effectively utilize Ramadan to bring down our affection and affinity towards this mundane world. The main threes, which conquer the minds and flutter in the thoughts of a person, are food, home and sexual urge. Fasting separates these threes from us. While fasting, every believer abstains from food and physical urges. Through I’thikaaf (retreat in the masjid), believers temporarily separate themselves from the warmth of household.

Ramadan does not separate us from the ties of this world, forever. But, it powerfully reminds us about the transient nature of this worldly life. In brief, it strengthens our awareness and remembrance of the eternal life. It enables us to prepare for the big day. It purifies our life and prepares us to embrace the reality called death.
Those who live in the warmth of luxury and enjoyment would faint easily. Their hearts would be entangled by materialistic cravings. It would be grave hard for them to trot through the road of inner purity and piety. Let’s absorb the lesson of simple life, stoic thoughts, awakening death and the salvation of this life, from this Ramadan.

Feel Ramadan – 6) The fuel for Taqwa

“O the Messenger of Allah! Would you advice me a favorable deed?”, said Abu Umama (May Allah be pleased with him).
“Perform fasting because there is no worship equal to fasting” : Replied the Messenger of Allah (May Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him)
“Would you advice me a good deed?” Abu Umama repeated.
The Prophet replied: “Try to fast because there is no other worship as meritorious as it before Allah.” (Nasaî, Siyam: 43)
Introspection is the best path to attain inner purity. With the relentless questions we ask to our inner selves, we can dig out our hidden flaws. Most of us, face society by concealing our inner lapses. Many peoples’ private life would be a mysterious world, with a lot of crimes and bad deeds obscured in, different from what is shown to world outside.
It is very easy to get enslaved by forbidden whims and to treasure them secretly.  These days, anyone can enjoy the privacy and coolness of wrong deeds with a cellphone, even in the middle of a crowd. The cruel world of hypocrites who dare to deceive even the nearest ones very tactically!!
Ramadan treats our stinking private world of sins. It advices us to forget the past and renovate our most secretive life. The biggest tragedy in life is that we get enslaved by passions. Then, no external advices or warnings can influence us. We tend to treat these advises from outside as ‘nuisance’. But, the admonitions and realizations arising from our inner selves can influence us, tremendously. Such a path of rejuvenation is Ramadan. It intervenes to our secret life. It exterminates the filth from there, transforms our habits, and  imprisons our whims. It trains us to live in purity even in our secret life. That’s the inner meaning of fasting.

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More than the deed we offer, Allah values our mindset at that moment. We are asked to seriously evaluate the fluctuations in our mindsets. In a world where rights and wrongs are mixed up, it is very natural that our minds may sway in between. To preserve the purity of our hearts, we need to undergo strict training. Self control can be attained by stringent rules and systematic toils. Taqwa is achieved through very attentive self control. Hearts should be rejuvenated and controlled by the assurance of our imaan. We usually tie the things which are about to fallen off, with strong ropes. Our hearts may fall into sins, anytime. Even the word qalbu literally indicates that.

Prophet (PBUH) said, “The heart is like a feather that is being blown about by the wind in a desert” ( Ahmad 4: 408).
In Arabic we say aqeeda for the matters which we believe with conviction. Aqada means bonding or tie. That means imaan is the silver thread that ties our qalb (heart) with Allah. The bonding of our swerving hearts with unswerving faith. It must be the catalyst behind our worships.
Once, Prophet (PBUH) mentioned the purpose of fasting is to amass strength for doing acts of worships. (Ahmad 2: 524). It also begets mercy, cleansing of sins and protection from Hellfire (Bbnu Qusaima 1887). Indeed, these are ultimate aims of any true believer, aren’t they?
Journeying through sins, corrupts our fitra or inner purity. Fasting pours in the energy to sway away from and fight against all the evils. Our sins create fences between Allah and us. It obstructs us from creating a strong relationship with the Lord of worlds. Fasting is the solution that helps break the fences and hasten to the presence of Allah.
We abstain from every basic thing which we would need to preserve our breath, including our food and water.  Even the things that were otherwise halal  become haram while fasting. Why are asked to abstain from even those halal matters? Isn’t that to train ourselves to refrain from harms even after Ramadan?
Fasting is a very personal and secret worship, no one will know if another is really fasting or not. No other worships are the same. Salah is suppose to perform in congregation, zakat is the giving to others, Hajj is performed along with millions, but fasting is very secretive.
Why is it so? It could be for us to practice taqwa even in our personal and secret occasions. In this era where show offs are more and inner purity has deteriorated, this purpose has broad meanings.