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The Meaning of Ramadan

FASTING during Ramadan was ordained during the second year of Hijra. 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 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 (peace be upon him) 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 11 months, they would not add up to the blessings of Ramadan. 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.

“Any one 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 (peace be upon him). He further said: “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 (peace be upon him) cursed, one is the unfortunate Muslim who finds Ramadan in good health but does not use the opportunity to seek Allah’s mercy.

The Destiny Of Idol Worshipers Hell Fire

[ALLAH’S Quran – 29:25] “And [Abraham] said: “You have chosen to worship idols instead of God for no other reason than to have a bond of love in the life of this world, between yourselves [and your forebears]: but then, on Resurrection Day, you shall disown one another and curse one another – for the goal of you all will be the fire, and you will have none to succour you.”

The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) has said:
[Bukhari, Book #23, Hadith #330] “Narrated ‘Abdullah: Allah’s Apostle said, “Anyone who dies worshiping others along with Allah will definitely enter the Fire.” I said, “Anyone who dies worshiping none along with Allah will definitely enter Paradise.”

1 Week Before Ramadan

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh!

  • Connecting with family and friends’ week
  • Organize a family get together
  • Contact all of your family, those who live locally as well as those abroad, to wish them the best for this Ramadan
  • Organize goody bags for your family and friends children to get them excited about Ramadan
  • Take time out to sit and talk/listen to the people you live with as it can be easy to take them for granted

General Preparation

  • Do your Eid shopping now so as not to consume precious time during Ramadan and especially the last 10 days
  • Find out were you will be praying Taraweeh
  • Print out the Ramadan check list and put it on your wall

Things You Will Need For Ramadan

  • Quran with translation
  • Tafsir book
  • Tasbeeh/counter
  • Book of Adhkar
  • Abridged book of Hadith
  • Lectures of a scholar that you like and a topic that motivates you
  • Books that inspire you and teach you more about Islam and how to become a better Muslim
  • Dates

Coming Last To Take The Lead

Islam was the final message God sent to mankind. Before it a long line of prophets and messengers gave guidance to mankind in various ways and places. However, the divine message maintained its essence in all its forms. The essence is the belief in God’s oneness and His being the only one to whom worship may be addressed and from whom help is to be solicited. He is the sole Creator and everyone in the universe submits to His will, whether willingly or unwillingly. The messages given by prophets differed in details of worship requirements and in certain laws, but the essential moral values remained the same. An earlier message might be complemented, or amended, through a later messenger, as in the case of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) who relaxed some of the restrictions God had imposed on the followers of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). Jesus declared that he did not come to abrogate the message, but to endorse and complement it.

Earlier messages were often distorted, with some divine legislations undergoing change, abrogation or neglect. At times, learned men of religion disagreed on certain principles, with the disagreement leading to great divisions that continued over the centuries. Islam came to set the record straight and purge the divine message of all distortions that crept into it. God has guaranteed to preserve the message contained in His last revelation, the Qur’an. Muslims are required to make this message known to mankind, telling them that God wants them to follow it and then leave people to make their free choice, whether to follow this message or not. No one should be compelled in any way or form to follow it. Faith is a matter of choice. Hence, the Qur’an declares the everlasting principle: “No compulsion is admissible in matters of religion.” (2: 256)

One aspect of the divine faith is that people have a day every week when they are required to perform a special type of worship, and to be a day of relaxation and renewal of their resolve to follow divine guidance. To Muslims, this day is Friday. The following Hadith tells us that it was also applicable to earlier nations.

Abu Hurayrah says that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said: “We are the last community, but we will be ahead of all on the Day of Resurrection. They, however, (i.e. other nations) were given the divine book before us. Then, this (i.e. Friday) is the day that has been made obligatory to them, but they differed concerning it, while God has granted us His guidance. Therefore, others come on our trail concerning it: the Jews tomorrow and the Christians the day after.” (Related by Al-Bukhari).

This statement by the Prophet tells us that Friday was always the day God wanted people to assign for special worship. Muslims offer a congregational prayer at midday, starting with a speech by the imam who should remind people of their duties toward God and that they will have to answer for all their deeds on the Day of Judgment. They then offer a short prayer. God has given us an hour on that day when all our prayers are answered.

It appears from other Hadiths that Moses informed his followers that they should make their special worship on Friday, but they said to him that God did not create anything on Saturday, and they would prefer to make Saturday their special day. He left them to carry on with their choice. The Christians, on the other hand, chose Sunday because it was the day on which God started to create His creation. Both groups erred by not following the guidance given them by their prophets. Muslims on the other hand followed God’s messenger and observed Friday as their special day. On the Day of Judgment they will be the first to be assigned their places after they have submitted their accounts of what they did in this present life.

– By Adil Salahi

The Rights Of Children On Parents

And those who say: “Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders of the Muttaqun (the pious).” (25:74)

Children are one of the joys of life that we ask Allah to grant us: “Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world.” (18:46)

Children are the delight of our hearts in their childhood, our companions and comfort in our old age, and the only source of du`aa’ in our graves; all in all, they are the means by which we earn the fruits of this life and the reward of the hereafter.

Muslims have responsibilities towards their children, and they stand accountable for these responsibilities so that they can truly enjoy and appreciate the blessings of having children and get rewarded by the Most Merciful Lord.

The adult of today was the child of yesterday, and the child of today is the adult of tomorrow. In order for children to fulfill their responsibilities towards their parents, they must first get their rights from them.

Muslim parents should teach their children all about Islam and show them how to worship Allah, with no compulsion or force.

They should also guide them to the stairways to Paradise, and protect them from falling into Hellfire.

It is the responsibility of parents to provide their children with the environment and tools to learn all about Islam.

Practical Tips In Preparation For Ramadan

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Allah Almighty says, “The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion (of right and wrong).)” (Al-Baqarah 2: 185)

Every Muslim should prepare himself to welcome the blessed month of Ramadan by strengthening his relationship with the Qur’an, busing himself with the spirit of fasting, and recharging his spiritual battery to prepare himself to make the whole blessed month of Ramadan a real occasion of sincere obedience.

Ramadan is an event that occurs in the life of the faithful, as individuals and as an Ummah, once a year. It is intended by Allah to help us to recharge our spiritual batteries and thus prepare us for the great mission of realizing His will on earth. Therefore, in order to benefit from Ramadan, we may do well to prepare for it by opening our hearts and minds to embrace it. Let me offer a few tips:

1. We should empower ourselves by learning as much as we can about the precise laws as well as the benefits of fasting.

2. We should ensure that we gain true benefits from our fasting, let us make sure to realize the spirit of fasting: this can only be done by abstaining, not only from food, drink, and sex, but also by strictly restraining our minds, hearts as well as our eyes, ears, hands, tongue, and so on.

3.We must embrace the spirit of fasting as stressed in Hadith: to be charitable and compassionate as much as we can.

4. We should strengthen our relationship with the Qur’an; for Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an.

5. We should engage in dhikr and condition ourselves to make it second nature.

6. Last but not least, we should build up our community through acts of charity and compassion and extending help to those in need as much as we can.

Let us pray that we come out of Ramadan with our faith recharged, gaining strength in our faith and commitment and relationship with Allah.

OH ALLAH! Make useful for me what You taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me!
(Aameen)

By Sheikh Ahmad Kutty

Prepare A Generation That Knows Islam

Countering the intellectual attack
We must confront the intellectual onslaught represented in the radio, books, newspapers, magazines and writings which the Muslim communities in our present time have been afflicted with.

The Muslim male and female spend most of their time with such, despite the fact that they contain deadly poison and misleading propagation most of the time. Therefore confronting this is a very important issue if we want to protect Islam and the Islamic culture from its conspiracies and evil.

The da’ees and the defenders of Islam must devote their time in writing beneficial researches, articles, periodicals and give da’wah. They should respond to different types of cultural attack and expose its defects and clarify its falseness. The enemies have gathered now and are preparing all their efforts and abilities to establish different organizations and various ways to scheme and plot against the Muslims and deceive them.

Therefore we must counter attack these enemies. We must refute and disapprove of their networks, expose them, and present Islam as a faith, belief, legal system and a social and moral system. This should be done in a way that will make the people learn it, through good methods suitable for the age, and with wisdom and good admonition, arguing in a way that is best. We should use all the methods of the media, according to the resources available and our ability.

The deen of Islam is a complete deen, which contains all good. It is the source of happiness for all mankind, and helps us in achieving righteous prosperity, sound progression, security, tranquillity and a noble life and victory in this life and in the Hereafter.

The leaders and the scholars should exert efforts to enlighten and direct the population of Muslims and combat the efforts of the enemies of Islam, by retaliating with their own efforts.

The Muslim Ummah is an Ummah that has been entrusted with this religion and has the responsibility of conveying it. If we are careful to arm our boys and girls in Islamic societies, with knowledge, understanding and comprehension of Islamic Jurisprudence and accustom them to apply these things from a small age, then we will not fear, by the permission of Allah, the Most High, as long as they continue to holding onto the deen of Allah, glorifying it, following its laws, and fighting that which contradicts it. And indeed their enemies will fear them.

Allah says in the Qur’an:
“O you who believe! If you help Allah, He will help you and make your foothold firm.” (Qur’an, 47:7)

“If you remain patient and become pious not the least harm will their cunning to do you. Surely Allah surrounds all that they do.” (Qur’an, 3:120)

There are many verses in the Qur’an which convey this message. The most important factor for us in fighting against the efforts of our enemies is raising and preparing a generation that knows the reality of Islam.

This can be achieved through guidance, taking care of the house and family, the method of educating them, the media and improvement of the society.

In addition to this is the role of steering and guiding which needs to be taken by the Muslim leadership, persevering in beneficial work and continually reminding the people that which will benefit them and make the belief within them grow and flourish.

– Words of Advice regarding Da`wah , Al-Hidaayah Publishers