A Great Month Is Coming....

`Abdullah ibn `Amr reported that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "The fast and the Qur'an are two intercessors for the servant of Allah on the Day of Resurrection. The fast will say: 'O Lord, I prevented him from his food and desires during the day. Let me intercede for him.' The Qur'an will say: 'I prevented him from sleeping at night. Let me intercede for him.' And their intercession will be accepted."

[Ahmad]

Explanation : A great month is coming to you. A blessed month. A month in which there is one night that is better than a thousand months. A month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night.

Whoever draws nearer to Allah by performing any of the voluntary good deeds in this month shall receive the same reward as is there for performing an obligatory deed at any other time. And whoever discharges an obligatory deed in this month shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of Sabr (patience), and the reward for sabr is Heaven. It is the month of kindness and charity. It is a month in which a believer's sustenance is increased.

Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without the latter's reward being diminished at all.

We should welcome this month and embrace it with happiness and joy. We should have the truest resolve to observe the fasts and the prayers and to compete in doing righteous deeds. During this month, we should ardently repent for all of our sins and encourage each other to engage in virtuous deeds and call to what is right and forbid what is wrong. In this way, we will succeed in attaining the blessings and the great rewards of Ramadan.

The fast provides us with many benefits and is full of wisdom. It purifies and strengthens our hearts. It rids us of our baser tendencies like exuberance, arrogance, and stinginess. It reinforces our good traits like fortitude, clemency, and generosity. It supports us in our inner struggle to please Allah and attain nearness to Him.

Fasting teaches us about ourselves and our needs. It shows us how weak we are and how truly dependent we are upon our Lord. It shows us how much Allah has blessed us. We are reminded of our brethren those who are less fortunate and are inspired to treat them well. We are compelled to thank Allah and to use the blessings He has provided us in obedience to Him.

We must seize the opportunity presented to us in this blessed month and appreciate the greatness of this time by engaging in all the worship that we can. We must hasten to perform good deeds. Allah has made this month a time for worship and for competing with one another in righteousness. We must increase our prayer and our spending in charity.

We must busy ourselves with reading the Qur’ân. We must hasten to help the poor, the needy, and the orphans. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the most generous of all people and he was even more generous in Ramadan. We must follow the good example of our Prophet (peace be upon him) by redoubling our efforts in this month.

We must beseech Allah for forgiveness in this month and do all that we can to take advantage of this precious time. We must avoid committing any offence against the fast that will diminish its blessings and invoke Allah’s anger. Therefore, we must not be negligent of our prayers or stingy with our Zakâh. We must not consume interest or the property of the orphans. We must not steal, oppress anyone, or disrespect our parents. We must not spurn our kinfolk.

We must avoid backbiting, slander, lies, and falsehood. We must eschew false oaths and claims. We must not shave or trim our beards or leave our moustaches to grow. We must not listen to song and musical instruments. Women must not make a wanton display of themselves and men should not mix with them. These sins are forbidden throughout the year, but in Ramadan they are even more forbidden and more sinful.

We must fear Allah and avoid what Allah and His Messenger (saws) have prohibited us. We must be upright in our obedience in Ramadan and throughout the rest of the year. We should call one another to this and by doing so attain the success and salvation that this month promises us.

The Muslim Youth

Prophet Muhammad (saws) said that "Allah will ask people on the Day of Judgment how they utilized their youth"

[Tirmidhi]

Explanation : If the life of this world is an illusion, the period of greatest illusion occurs during youth. It is a period of high energy and great enthusiasm, coupled with an air of invincibility and perpetuity. For this reason there are special warnings for the youth and glad tidings for the person who uses this energy wisely.

The great task of Muslim youth is to bring the life-giving message of Islam to wherever they live. With love, dedication, wisdom, and insight.

The person who devoted his youth to the worship of Allah will be among the selected seven kinds of people for whom Allah will provide His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His shade. [Bukahri, Muslim]

'Generation gap' is a clever term that aims at giving scientific respectability to rudeness and rebellion. The idea is to create a wedge between generations and make it look acceptable for a young person to be indifferent to any wise counsel from one's close and well-wishing elders. Which reminds us of the special challenge faced by the youth today. While temptations have always been strong in young age, today the problem is magnified by mega efforts targeting the youth, especially the Muslim youth in the Western world, at all levels including intellectual and philosophical.

A favorite theme of these campaigns is to separate Islam from its culture. When in France, follow the French culture not the Muslim Algerian one, so the argument goes. This argument needs to be carefully deconstructed. Like all clever arguments this one also begins with a bit of truth. It is true that Islam is a universal religion and not restricted to a particular region. It is also true that many Muslim lands, during their period of decline, developed or adopted some cultural practices that were not based in Islam and need to be pruned. Certainly, not everything that has become accepted social practice in every Muslim country is Islamic. But it is a very long jump from there to conclude that everything being done in the Muslim world is un-Islamic and must be jettisoned. And it is even more bizarre to suggest that the replacement of all that with the pop-culture is just fine.

When Islam reached the lands that today form the Muslim world, it influenced the life style and cultural practices there without forcing a monoculture.

The propaganda machine presents this common core of Islamic culture as a great burden, but one only needs to look at the unfortunate millions who are left on their own in the name of freedom, to ascertain the truth.

Hence the profound advice in another famous hadith to value five things: "Youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before preoccupation, and life before death."

Love For Allah

"There are three characteristics whoever has them will taste the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger(saw) are more loved by him than everything else, that he loves or does not love a person only for Allah's sake and that he would hate to revert into disbelief just as he would hate to be thrown into fire."

[Bukhari]

Explanation : Once we place Allah and love for Him foremost in everything we do, then all of our difficulties will seem to vanish and doors of opportunity will open up for us. All this is achieved by obeying the commands of Allah, frequenting the mosque, and submitting ourselves fully to our Creator. We will only understand the true value of this in the Hereafter.

Allah is so merciful that He races towards the one who takes just one step towards Him. The Holy Quran tells us that Allah loves intensely those who believe in Him. The depth of this love is directly proportional to the amount of faith a believer has in His Lord, and is inversely proportional to how strongly a believer will feel the difficulties he faces in his life. This means that a believer will be able to tolerate more difficulty and obstacles, the greater his love for Allah, and vice versa.

All difficulties, be they physical, financial, or otherwise, become easy for the believer when he has love for Allah in his heart. Moreover, the true believer even longs to make sacrifices for Allah, and is even willing to sacrifice his biggest asset, his life, for the sake of the Lord who blessed him with this gift in the first place.

Nothing seems difficult or onerous to the one who achieves this high degree of love. Standing in prayer is no longer a burden but a source of immense pleasure. If a lover of ice cream is presented with the flavor of his choice and the person offering it says, “Please bear the burden of eating this,” this will sound ludicrous to the one on the receiving end. Far from seeing it as a burden, he loves the ice-cream and longs for any opportunity to consume it. This is the case of a lover of Allah and how he perceives the commands of his beloved Lord.

The Prophet (saws) Used to Fast in Sha'ban

Ummul Mu'mineen 'Aishah, Radi-Allahu anha says,"I never saw the Messenger of Allah, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, fasting a complete month, except the month of Ramadan, and I have never seen him fasting in a month more frequently than he did in Sha'ban."

[Sahih Muslim]

Explanation: Sha'baan is the eight month of the Islamic calendar. It falls between two sacred months, Rajab and Ramadaan. Sha’ban is one of the meritorious months for which we find some particular instructions in the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saws). It is reported in the authentic ahadith that Prophet Muhammad (saws) used to fast most of the month in Sha’ban.

Fasting in Sha'baan serves as training before Ramadaan. However, fasting the whole month of Shabaan is Makrooh (disliked) and against the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam). Ibn Abbas (radhi allahu anhu) said: “The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) did not fast any entire month apart from Ramadaan.” [Saheeh al-Bukharee]

But it should be kept in mind that the fasts of Sha'ban are for those persons only who are capable of keeping them without causing deficiency in the obligatory fasts of Ramadan. Therefore, if one fears that after fasting in Sha'ban, he will lose strength or freshness for the fasts of Ramadan and will not be able to fast in it with freshness, he should not fast in Sha'ban, because the fasts of Ramadan, being obligatory, are more important than the optional fasts of Sha'ban.

That is why Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, himself has forbidden the Muslims from fasting one or two days immediately before the commencement of Ramadan. The blessed Companion Abu Hurairah, Radi-Allahu anhu, reports Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, to have said, "Do not fast after the first half of the month of Sha'ban is gone."

According to another report Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam has said: "Do not precede the month of Ramadan with one or two fasts."

The essence of the above-quoted ahadith is that Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, himself used to fast most of the month of Sha'ban, because he had no fear of developing weakness or weariness before the commencement of Ramadan. As for others, he ordered them not to fast after the 15th of Sha'ban for the fear that they would lose their strength and freshness before Ramadan starts, and would not be able to welcome the month of Ramadan with enthusiasm.

The Blessings Of Marriage

It has been narrated by Zaid Ibn Arqam that the Prophet sallallahu alaihe wasallam stated, "Oh Zaid! Be wedded, for your purity will be further increased."

(Dailami)

Explanation: The Sunnah indicates that it is prescribed to get married, and that it is one of the Sunnahs of the Messengers. By getting married a person can, with the help of Allaah, overcome many of the traps of evil, for marriage helps him to lower his gaze and guard his chastity.

Allah Ta'ala created the institution of marriage to promote harmony, peace and love amongst mankind. The Qur'an describes husbands and wives in this way: “They are garments for you, and you are garments for them” (Qur'an 2:187). Allah suggests that both partners come together to cover, protect and beautify each other in the same way that a garment covers, protects and beautifies the one who wears it. Through this metaphor, we understand that when two people get married, they cease to consider themselves individuals but instead as a couple - each person benefiting by the other equally.

Husband and wife, by uniting together, cover the natural shortcomings of each other, and this union protects them from hardships and difficulties which one faces by living alone; the sun of happiness and prosperity shines on the horizon of life; and both, by their joint efforts, discharge all the duties laid upon them by human nature.

Marriage inculcates a sense of responsibility and improvement of one’s self through expending effort and making sacrifices for the protection and welfare of one’s family, taking care of their needs (physical, material, emotional, spiritual), and bearing inconveniences and each other’s faults patiently.

Light Will Shine

Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: Rasulullah (SAW) went to Baqi` and said, “May you be secured from punishment, O dwellers of abode of the believers! We, if Allah wills, will follow you. I wish we see my brothers.” The Companions said, “O Messenger of Allah! Are not we your brothers?” Rasulullah (SAW) said, “You are my Companions, but my brothers are those who have not come into the world yet.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah! How will you recognize those of your Ummah who are not born yet?” Rasulullah (SAW) said: “Say, if a man has white-footed horses with white foreheads among horses which are pure black, will he not recognize his own horses?” They said: “Certainly, O Messenger of Allah!” Rasulullah (SAW) said: “They (my followers) will come with bright faces and white limbs because of Wudhu’; and I will arrive at the Al-Kauthar ahead of them.”

[Muslim]

Explanation : Light which will shine through the hands and feet of the believers because of their habit of performing Wudu'. This means that the believers among the Muslims will be distinguished from other communities by virtue of the radiance issuing from their faces, hands and feet on the Day of Resurrection in the same way that a horse with a white forehead is easily distinguised from other horses.

On the principle "The believers are brothers'' that is manifested in Surat Al-Hujurat of the Qur'an (49:10), the Prophet (SAW) regarded all the successive generations of Muslims as his brothers. His Companions have an added distinction that they are his brothers as well as his companions.

This Hadith also mentions Haud Al-Kauthar which is awarded to the Prophet (SAW) on the Day of Requital, and he will give water from it to his followers after which they will never feel thirst.

Uthman bin `Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "He who performs the Wudu' perfectly (i.e., according to Sunnah), his sins will depart from his body, even from under his nails.''[Muslim].

Wudu' is a means of remission of minor sins, provided those sins are not related to the rights of people because they too will not be forgiven without penitence and compensating the aggrieved or the wronged.

To perform Wudu' at home before proceeding to the mosque for Salat is highly meritorious. He who does so, will be purged of minor sins. Then his going to the mosque and performance of Salat there, is a means for gaining further reward.

O’Allah make us among those who constantly purify themselves, inwardly and outwardly. Aameen.