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Ramadan
Reflections - Juz 9 September
16, 2008 Juz 9 - He reminded us from the beginning of the khutbah that Ramadan has always
been associated as the month of victory for the Muslims - victories of all
sorts, internal and external. In this month did the Muslims have the great
victory at Badr, the Conquest of Mecca and even the great battle of Hitteen
(which opened the Conquest of Jerusalem) under the leadership of Salahudeen all
occured in this great month. On a lesser scale, we see Muslims like Hakeem
Olajuwon and other athletes actually elevate their performance
in this month. He then elucidated a beautiful point that I had never considered
before; why does Allah grant so much victory in this month? The reason is easy
if you think about it carefully; it is because in this month, we apply all of
the factors that bring about victory. This is the month that Allah blesses us
by chaining up the devils, a month that has lailatul Qadr and of course a month
in which we fast daily and stand for long periods in the night praying.
Certainly our increase in such noble and lofty acts of worship has a great
impact on our endeavors in this month. He then recited these beautiful and
profound ayaat from the Quran: يَا
أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ
إِذَا لَقِيتُمْ
فِئَةً
فَاثْبُتُواْ
وَاذْكُرُواْ
اللّهَ
كَثِيراً
لَّعَلَّكُمْ
تُفْلَحُونَ وَأَطِيعُواْ
اللّهَ
وَرَسُولَهُ
وَلاَ تَنَازَعُواْ
فَتَفْشَلُواْ
وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ
وَاصْبِرُواْ
إِنَّ اللّهَ
مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ وَلاَ
تَكُونُواْ
كَالَّذِينَ
خَرَجُواْ
مِن دِيَارِهِم
بَطَرًا
وَرِئَاء
النَّاسِ وَيَصُدُّونَ
عَن سَبِيلِ
اللّهِ
وَاللّهُ بِمَا
يَعْمَلُونَ
مُحِيطٌ O you who believe! When you meet (an
enemy) force, take a firm stand against them and remember the Name of Allah
much, so that you may be successful. And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do
not dispute (with one another) lest you lose courage and your strength depart,
and be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient. And be not like
those who come out of their homes boastfully and to be seen of men, and hinder
(men) from the Path of Allah. And Allah encompasses and thoroughly comprehends
all that they do. [8:45-47] In these three ayaat, Allah provides us with
the six ingredients for success in our endeavors whatever they may be, and
insha’Allah we will try to understand each one of them below: 1.
The first of these ingredients for success is “ath-thabaat”
which means to be firm. The firmness here is in reference to the obedience to
Allah in general. Thus, remaining firm is to remain firm in the obedience to
Allah in both what He commands us to do and what He forbids us from doing. In
Ramadan, we can see how this command is fulfilled as you see a general increase
in concern for acts of worship by the Muslims. People who neglected their
prayers the remainder of the year seem to make a greater effort to make their
prayers on time. They fast and remain firm in starting their fast on time and
are keen to break their fast on time. Many Muslims also seem to have chosen
Ramadan as the month in which they pay their zakaat every year and again, the
payment of the zakaat is an act of worship in obedience to the command of
Allah. A careful regard for the prohibited also exists among the members of the
Ummah in this month as they leave off much of the prohibitions they used to
endulge in so that they have time for the acts of worship. May Allah help us to
reflect deeply on this issue the remainder of the year to comprehend how much
of our failures stem from a failure to act on this point the remainder of the
year. 2.
The second ingredient is one that we have discussed in
detail before and will briefly remember now: to remember Allah much (Thikr).
It is narrated in an authentic hadith that a man once came to the Prophet
(saas) and said, “O’ Prophet of Allah, the laws of Islam have become too much
for us. So, is there one thing that we can hold on to that would be inclusive
(of many other things?)” He (saas) replied, “Keep your tongue moist with
the remembrance of Allah, most Exalted, Magnificent.” (Ahmad) Thus the
frequent remembrance of Allah is a great matter that is commonly neglected by
us especially in our modern world of distractions. Let us also remember that
the comprehensive definition of thikr is not just to remember him with the
tongue, but it is to obey Him physically as this demonstrates that you are
keeping Him in heart and mind. When we do remember Him with our tongues, this
remembrance should be accompanied by the presence of the heart and mind,
reflecting and pondering the words we are saying and His greatness. So again in
Ramadan we find the Muslims giving up many of the distractions of the rest of
the year to focus on the best type of thikr - the Qur’an. It is narrated that
Khabaab ibnul Arrat once said,”Seek closeness to Allah by any of the
(legislated) means that you wish, but know that you shall not get closer to Him
by anything more beloved to Him than His speech (the Qur’an).” Hence we see an
immediate effect on our lives when we increase our recitation of the Qur’an and
remembering Allah, an effect which can only produce success in our lives. 3.
The third ingredient of success is the obedience of
Allah and His Messenger, a topic we have focused on much in this Ramadan series
due to its importance. It is taqwa, it is thikr, it is thabaat
amd it can only lead to success of all types in this life and the
Hereafter. In fact, in this very surah, Allah commands the believers with the
following instruction (what means): “O you who believe! give your
response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calls you to that which will give
you life.” [8:24] And recently we remembered Allah’s statement in
Aali-’Imraan wherein He said what means, “And obey Allah and the
Messenger, that you may obtain mercy.” [3:132] This must remind us, as
should the condition of our lives during Ramadan, how Allah only commands us
with that which is pure and beneficial for us, and forbids us from that which
is impure and harmful and that He knows best as he is our Creator and
Sustainer. Let us remember Allah’s statement from 4.
The fourth ingredient mentioned is to remain united
and not dispute with one another lest our strength depart. Once again, this is
one of the most beautiful elements of Islam is that so many people put down
their differences in Ramadan to come together under one roof and in the same
lines of prayer beseeching their Lord for His mercy, forgiveness and victory.
They remember that they are fasting in the day and avoid arguing or
disagreement and they don’t lose time in the evenings because they are keen to
use that time for worship. The issue of what is the basis for unity is beyond
the scope of this simple reminder, so we shall suffice ourselves with an
important point on this issue which is that unity is not the ultimate goal of
this deen. Yes, it is an important issue that we should strive for but it is
not the reason for which we were created and thus we cannot ignore certain
differences simply for the sake of being unified. Allah has said what means, “And
if your had so willed, He could surely have made mankind one Ummah [nation or community
(following one religion only i.e. Islâm)], but they will not cease to disagree.
Except him on whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy and for that did He
create them ….” [11:118-119] Here we see that if Allah had willed He
could have united the people as one, but that is not the goal for which we were
created. Differences will exist and there will be those who will choose the
path of wrong no matter what unfortunately. o
Ibn Kathir states
in regards to the meaning behind this noble and often overlooked verse, “This
means that those who have received the mercy of Allah by following the
Messengers are excluded from this. They are those who adhere to what they are
commanded in the religion by the Messengers of Allah. That has always been
their characteristic until the coming of the finality of the Prophets and
Messengers (Muhammad ). Those who received Allah’s mercy are those who followed
him, believed in him and supported him. Therefore, they succeeded by achieving
happiness in this life and the Hereafter. They are the Saved Sect mentioned in
the authentic hadith … wherein the Prophet (saas) said, “Verily, the Jews
split into seventy-one sects, and the Christians split into seventy-two sects,
and this nation (of Muslims) will split into seventy-three sects. All of them
will be in the Fire except one sect. They (the Companions) said, “Who are
they (the Saved Sect) O Messenger of Allah” He said, “The sect that is upon
what my Companions and I are upon“. (Ahmad and others) o
Notice also how
the ayah states, “and for that did He create them “. For what
did Allah then create us? For following the guidance that He has sent to us
upon the lips of the Messengers and that guidance is to worship Allah alone as
has been repeated over and over again throughout the Quran upon the lips of the
Messengers one after the other, “O my people! worship Allah alone! You
have no other god but Him.” [7:59, 65, 73, etc.] The purpose for which
we were created and the reason by which we attain the mercy of Allah is to
devote all of our worship to Him alone according to the guidance of the Quran
and Sunnah as it was understood and practiced by the Companions. This is the
basis of unity and this is the non-negotiable issue that must be agreed upon
before we can expect success. 5.
The fifth ingredient of success is patience. Patience
too is an extensive topic but it involves patience with the obedience to
Allah’s commands (praying on time, fasting, etc.), patience with the avoidance
of Allah’s prohibitions (lowering the gaze, guarding your speech, avoiding
zina, etc.) and lastly patience with the trials Allah tests us with. Once
again, you can see how we increase our patience in this blessed month by doing
all of the above. We are patient with the fasting by being sure to do all that
it entails and we remain patient with our hunger, thirst and desire for our
spouses. He are also more vigilant with the prohibitions especially lowering
the gaze and avoiding vain speech and all forms of prohibited speech. And it is
for this reason that Ramadan has come to be known as the month of patience, may
Allah make us worthy of it! 6.
The sixth and last ingredient of success as mentioned
in these powerful ayaat is the avoidance of arrogance and showing off. We had
already mentioned the authentic hadith of the Prophet (saas) in regards to
arrogance wherein he said, “Whoever has a mustard seed’s weight of arrogance in
their heart will not enter And Allah knows best. May Allah benefit us by these beneficial
points and bless and reward Shaikh Waleed for sharing them with us and gather
us all among the successful in this life and the Hereafter in His pleasure and
in His Jannaat. http://muslimmatters.org/2008/09/14/ramadan-reflections-juz-9-2/ |
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