Ramadan- A Time For Change
There is only one ayah about Ramadan in the
Qur’an, just one and it is situated in Surah Baqarah, in the latter half
of the surah. In Surah Baqarah, Allah says:
“The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which
was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of
guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month,
let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal
number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for
you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify
Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be
grateful.” [2:185]
When you read this ayah, the first thing
Allah wants us to know about it is that it is the month of Qur’an- this
book is better than any other book, this month is better than any other
month. A couple of ayahs before this Allah talks about fasting in
general because fasting was a tradition even before Ramadan was
ordained. In a couple of ayahs before this in Surah Baqarah, Allah said…
“O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the
fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before
you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V.2:2)”
Allah describes Ramadan as a prescription, a
prescription for our soul. During the entire year outside this month, we
normally feed our bodies but very often our soul starves. But in this
month, we do the opposite- we starve our bodies but we feed our soul. We feed our souls. And Allah the most merciful makes it very easy.
Allah opens every door of mercy, Allah gives
us the perfect set up, the perfect layout, circumstances full of
potential. The shayateen get chained. Normally the blame game is very
easy to play but in this month there is no blame game. The focus is on
the self. Allah helps us focus on ourselves. Zoom out and zone in on
you, on us- that’s it. The gates of hell become closed and the gates of
Jannah are open as Abu Hurairah narrates Rasulullah (sws) saying. Its
prime time. If there was any ideal time to change it was in this month,
it is Ramadan. You see people come in and out- complete 180. You see
people come into Ramadan barely praying, don’t wear hijab, and come out
with hijab, giving up some of the things they love most, praying five
times a day. The ibadah in this month is like nothing else. The reward
in this month is like nothing else. The Du’a in this month is like
nothing else.
If you want to change, and this should be
every single one of us including myself, we want to change, we’ve spent
this whole past year stumbling and falling on our knees, we’ve
accumulated black dots all over our hearts, we come covered in sins
again but this Ramadan, we beg Allah to change us. But before we can
change we need to know how to talk to Allah, how to make dua’, how to
return to Allah so that we can take small steps towards change.
Ramadan and The Quran
The month of Ramadan is the blessed month in which the Quran was revealed. It was narrated that Ibn Abbas said. “
The messenger of Allah peace be upon him was the most generous person,
and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would
come to him every night and he would study the Quran with him. Truly
when Allah’s messenger peace be upon him would meet Jibril, he would be
more generous than a fleeting wind” Subanallah every Ramadan
even the prophet peace be upon him would read and study the whole
Quran. This is an important aspect because the prophet peace be upon him
had the Quran memorized. It was already in his heart yet he still
studied every part of the Quran on this blessed month of Ramadan. We
should take the example of the prophet peace be upon him because just
because he had the Quran memorized does not mean he did not ever ponder
back on its meaning! No the prophet peace be upon him studied and
learned. The prophet peace be upon him continued to study the Quran
until his passing. Now ask yourself is it just during Ramadan you read
the Quran? Or do you read the Quran just the first week of Ramadan and
than toss it? Or do you get frustrated because you don’t understand the
Quran so you never read it?
If you are not reading the Quran regularly.
Then yes the Quran is going to be very hard for you. Reading the Quran
just ONCE a month out of a whole year is not the way it should be. We
have 365 days in a year. Ramadan is 30 days. Most of us read the whole
Quran and mash Allah that is awesome! But reading the Quran only 30 days
out of the 365 days year round? We need to make a change. And that
change will be this month inshallah. During the time of Ramadan, to make
Quran apart of our lives we should make it a habit to read it whenever
we are free. For example after isha most of us are at home. So instead
of getting up right away and rushing off to do what we have to do like
the face book or TV, We should take the time to ponder and recite the
Quran. But don’t overwhelm yourself. If you never read the Quran start
off by reading it every day for 5 minutes then as you get better
increase the time inshallah. I promise if you just set a habit every day
you will stick to it. Many excuses when it comes to the Quran ar: I
don’t have time. But you have time to face book every day for hours? Or talk on the phone for hours? Text for hours? This is our holy book! This is the Quran that is going to speak upon us on the day of judgment
“Recite the Qur’an, for on the Day of Resurrection, it shall come as an intercessor for its companion.” [Muslim].
So how can we not make time for the Quran?
If only we knew how much the Quran will help us on the Day of Judgment
we would never put it down. Another excuse people make is, I don’t
understand what I’m reading or I struggle reciting the Quran. This is
why we have Qurans that are translated in English for us. To help us
better understand what we are reading and even if you don’t understand
what you are reading still READ and recite! The more we recite the more
we will understand the words of Allah SWT. With every struggle while
reciting the Quran you are getting rewarded. If your intention is to
recite, to ponder the meaning of every ayah you will get rewarded. Aa’ishah (RA), relates that the Prophet peace be upon him said “Verily
the one who recites the Qur’an beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he
will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the
one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its
verses, then he will have TWICE that reward.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] See how merciful Allah SWT is! Even through struggle we get rewarded! Allah hu Akbar!! The prophet peace be upon him said, “Whoever
reads a letter from the Book of Allah will receive a hasanah (good
deed) from it (i.e. his recitation), and the hasanah is multiplied by
ten. I do not say that Alif-Laam-Meem is (considered as) a letter,
rather Alif is a letter, Laam is a letter, and Meem is a letter.”
[At-Tirmidhi, Ad-Darimi]. Subahanllah just by reading one
letter we are getting a hasanah. Imagine if we had the pure intention to
recite the Quran every day at least once or twice throughout the week.
Or even finish the whole Quran how much rewards we would be gaining? How much knowledge we would be learning? There is always so much to learn from the Quran. Now imagine how much the reward is during Ramadan? Ramadan is a time to read the Quran but we should ALWAYS be reading the Quran and memorizing as much as we can.
Let’s make Ramadan a time to recite the Quran
every day, to understand the Quran more and inshallah in those 30 days
we will make it a habit to continue the reading of the Quran even after
Ramadan. May we be among the mumineen that hold firm to the Quran in our
hearts. That never neglect the Quran and that always keep the Quran
apart of our everyday lives inshallah. Let’s keep in mind that when we
are reading the Quran we are having a conversation with Allah SWT. After
all the Quran was sent down upon us for a reason, “It is
a Book that We have sent down to you blessed, so that they may
contemplate its verses and so that people of understanding may take
heed.” [38:29]
What can I do?
Make Goals
As states above, Ramadan is the best time to
change because it is all us with no distractions but in order to
facilitate this change we must know what we want to change, our plan to
do so and WRITE THEM DOWN. Many of us, go through Ramadans stating that
we are going to change but never actually do because we forget what we
planned to change from the get go, so if we write them down with a plan
to change, we are more than likely to do so.
Here is a goal sheet, it is very clean and to
the point, write down your goals, you plan, and keep this in a place
where you will actually see it, https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1XKkVLDtebSKGBk0c0kJH4yLp8bo_FecDti6GQoYmu5c
When making goals we have to keep one thing
in mind, adding is not the best option. If I had a cup with a bunch of
holes in it and kept adding water, adding the water would be pointless
right? Or if I had an abaya that was mega dirty and kept adding sequins,
you would still notice the big Samosa stain, right? When coming up with
your goals, think more on the fixing note, the purifying effect of
Ramadan and then add. So I would suggest that we fix two major things
such as anger or patience and then add one major thing, such as
finishing the whole Quran during Ramadan or waking up for Qiyyam every
night. Along the way, we can always add minor things that are less
“burdensome” for lack of better words, such as taking a walk to get
healthy or adding tasbeh after every prayer but 10 of each instead of 33
or saying surah ikhlas before we go to sleep.
Lastly, one thing to keep in mind is to not
overdue do it. Yes, you want to take advantage of your Ramadan but you
don’t want to be a mullah the first 10 days and be back to your old self
for the rest of Ramadan. You want to be smart in what you add, don’t
add a bunch of major things but add one or two and many smaller things,
this will be easier to keep up with during and after Ramadan. You know
yourself and what you can handle, you know if reading the whole Quran
everyday three days, praying all sunnah and many nafls, praying taraweh
every night and saying tasbeh over 20 twenty times a day is too much. We
are all different and consistency us key.
Allah loves that which is consistent. So
something else you can do, is grade yourself every 10 days, to gauge how
you are doing and don’t forget to write this stuff down! :)
Maximize your time
Make sure not to waste your time during this
month, have a daily planner or a to-do list, you don’t want to waste
this time, you want to maximize this time! And sleeping all day is not
something to put on your chart.
Give
Give, whether it be items or actual money.
Everything during Ramadan is multiplied, take advantage of this. Also,
helping around in the house can count as a sadaqah, so don’t feel bad
that you have to help your mom cook iftar (as long as it’s not a whole
day affair) or clean the house.
***Also a note on Zakat, if you do not give
zakat before the Eid prayer, it does not count as Zakat but Sadaqah, so
please make sure to get to eid prayer on time!
Increase Dua
The Dua of a fasting person is accepted, so
amp it up, inshaallah! Also, write your duas down, so you will remember
them, inshaallah.
Dua List:
Stay positive
Be happy, it is the month of mercy and the
best time to become the people we have always wanted to be. Enjoy your
Ramadan, smiling and being kind is not haram but Sunnah.
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