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Ramadan Warriors by Muhammad Alshareef Amatu Al-Muntaqim
August 31, 2008
“In Jannah, there is a gate called Ar-Rayyan: a
door which the Saa’imoon will enter from, no one else except them. It will be
announced, ‘Where are the Saa’imoon?’ and the Saa’imoon will stand. No one
except them will enter from the gate called Rayyan.” Have you ever heard of a weekend warrior? They are employees who sit in
cubicles and relax at a coffee station, weighed down with donuts all week long.
Then on the weekend, they rip off their suits bearing their Reebok gear
underneath and spend the entire weekend playing basketball, hang gliding, and mountain
climbing. What happens? They break their knees, pull a dozen muscles, and are
hospitalized on Monday. This is in relation to the physical body. But there are people that should
be known as Ramadan warriors. They are those that haven’t fasted all year long
and then shock their bodies with a whole month. Or haven’t prayed in the masjid
or haven’t woken up to pray in the night all year long. What happens to them?
As one Muslim doctor said, “In normal days, we have about 5 to 7 patients a
day. On the first day of Ramadan, the patients increase to over 50!” Ramadan warriors were rare in our Islamic history. To illustrate, let’s all
remember where we were at the beginning of Safar. We were probably praying for
work to end, or just finished up with exams, or looking through brochures for a
holiday getaway. Interestingly, if we were sitting beside a Tabi’oon over a thousand years
ago in a simple masjid, we would have heard him raising his hands asking Allah
to grant him the blessing of being around when a guest comes, a guest called
Ramadan! There are different ways that we can ‘warm up’ for Ramadan. One of those
ways is by increasing the frequency of our du’a. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala
says in the Qur’an, with the verse before it talking about Ramadan and the
verse after it speaking about Ramadan, and right in the middle we read: And when My servants ask you, (O Muhammad),
concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant
when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me (by obedience) and believe in
Me that they may be guided (Al-Baqarah 2/186). Every goodness on earth is from Allah. And one of the most exclusive
blessings is Ramadan. So let us ask the Lord of Ramadan to help us find His
mercy in the coming days. I once gave a khutbah on Hajj entitled The Call of Ibrahim. A
brother told me that during that khutbah he raised his hands to Allah and asked
Allah to find him a way to make Hajj. He said that he had no money to make the
trip, but that night more than one brother approached him with the offer,
“Brother, we have a Hajj program for new Muslims, would you like to come?”
Alhamdulillah, that brother made Hajj that year from a du’a that came straight
from the heart, in sha Allah. The early generations of the ummah used to make du’a 6 months after Ramadan
that Allah accept their deeds in Ramadan. And for the next 6 months, they would
make du’a to Allah to grant them the blessing of being alive in the coming
Ramadan. Cleanliness – Whenever a guest comes, we prepare in advance for his arrival
by vacuuming the carpet, dusting the shelves, and scrubbing the sinks. We
should do this for our guest called Ramadan. But the scrubbing should not just
be of our physical surroundings; it should include the scrubbing of our sins. Listen to the words of RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam speaking
about those people that don’t want to clean up for Ramadan: “Whoever doesn’t desist from speaking falsehood
and acting upon it, Allah has no need that he desist from his food and drink” (Bukhari). Fasting in Sha’baan (the month before Ramadan) – The biggest downfall of
the weekend warriors was that they were not properly warmed up for the
exercise, which caused the injuries. Similarly, when fasting, some people only
do it once a year, making their bodies very foreign to going without food and
drink. From here we see the following Sunnah: Umm Al-Mu’mineen Aisha radi Allahu
anha observes, “Allah’s Messenger never fasted an entire month other than
Ramadan and I haven’t seen him fast more than he did in Sha’baan.” A poet said: Oh ye who isn’t satisfied with his sins in Rajab So much so that you continued disobedience in
Sha’baan, The month of fasting has now come upon you So do not convert it also to a month of
disobedience. PART II When we look at the celebrations of ‘the holy days’ of this country, we see
that they put all their time and effort and spirit in preparation. I tell you,
go to any store outside this masjid and you will see preparations of candy
canes, red and green bouquets, even eggnog all in the wait for the annual
celebration of the birth - as they falsely claim- of Prophet ‘Eesa alayhis
salaam. They are preparing for their falsehood almost 2 months in advance! One
of the ways to prepare for Ramadan is to educate ourselves in the Fiqh of Ramadan.
Alhamdulillah, sitting in this masjid today are many brothers and sisters for
whom this will be their first Ramadan. Allahu Akbar! May Allah accept it from
them and allow them and us to share in the blessing of Ramadan for many years
to come. Let us briefly review what fasting is: Fasting in Ramadan is not optional - it is a must. The evidence for this is
found in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Allah says: O you who believe! Observing as-sawn (the fasting)
is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may
become al-muttaqoon (the righteous) (Al-Baqarah 2/183). The Prophet said: “Islam is built on five (pillars)…” among which he
mentioned fasting in Ramadan (Bukhari). The Arabic word for fasting is sawm. In Arabic, it literally means to
abstain from something. And in Islamic Law, it is to abstain from those things
that break the fast starting from dawn (Fajr prayer) and ending with sunset
(Maghrib prayer) having first made the intention to do so. The things which break one’s fast, the things which he or she must abstain
from, from dawn to sunset, are as follows: eating and drinking, and marital
relations. These apply if 3 conditions are met: that the person is not ignorant that
this thing breaks one’s fast, that he is aware that he is doing something that
breaks his fast (meaning he did not do so in forgetfulness), and he does so out
of his free will and no one forced him to break his fast. In conclusion, as the month of Ramadan draws nearer, we should prepare for
this special guest by preparing a Ramadan program (‘Operation: Valuable Time’)
in our homes and at our masajid. The program should in sha Allah include: 1. Locked times of the day when we will consistently recite Qur’an, learning
its meanings and memorizing new surahs. 2. Something useful for the time before Taraweeh prayers and the time after
Taraweeh. And how to increase our worship in the last ten nights – i.e. what
will we do extra. 3. We should make sure that there are days of this month when we feed people.
Bring dates or milk to the masjid for Maghrib. Invite people over to have
dinner with your family. Organize a dinner in the masjid and invite people that
don’t normally get invited because they are new. Take care of the new Muslims
in your community and for the sake of Allah ta’aala make their Ramadan special. 4. Make the intention to double and triple the amount of sadaqah we give, the
worship we normally do, the dhikr we do, and the deeds that’ll help us purify
our souls. 5. And finally, for those that can afford it, plan an Umrah to the Ka’bah in
Ramadan! After returning from the Farewell Hajj, RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa
sallam saw an Ansari woman who had not made the Hajj. He asked her, “What
kept you back from joining in the Hajj?” ·
FINDING STRENGTH FOR THE BATTLES The Noble Qur'an An-Nisaa'
4:104 And don't be weak in the pursuit of the enemy; if you are suffering
(hardships) then surely, they (too) are suffering (hardships) as you are
suffering, but you have a hope from Allâh (for the reward, i.e. Paradise) that
for which they hope not, and Allâh is Ever AllKnowing, AllWise. |
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