Holy
Ramadan - Opening the Gates of Allah's Mercy
from the
teachings of
Shaykh
Muhammad Nazim Adil
The
Prophet (s) gave good tidings about this holy
month. The first third of this Holy Ramadan
contains days of mercy for all people, the second
ten days are the days of forgiveness of Allah
subhanahu wa ta`ala, and the last one-third is
when Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala frees the
believers from Hell. Therefore, believers who try
to keep Allah ta`ala's orders during the days of
Blessed Ramadan by fasting and during the night
by praying tarawih1and tahajjud (supererogatory
night prayers), may be rewarded by our Lord
giving them immunity bara`a) from Hell2, and they have
been given good tidings of Paradise.3
"Whoever fasted Ramadan
with faith and in expectancy of reward, his
previous sins are forgiven him." [Bukhari
and Muslim]
The whole spiritual structure
of mankind is built on cleanliness, and it is
impossible for a person to improve his spiritual
station without first attaining complete
cleanliness, physically and spiritually. Fasting
is a beginning for spiritual cleanliness. The
first step is the common level of fasting: trying
to free yourself from your nafs commands and
control. As long as you are under the control of
your nafs you remain unclean.
Therefore the first level of
fasting is to compel our ego so that we may take
control from its hands and put control in our own
hands; therefore we abstain from eating, drinking
and sexual contact in the daytime.
The first step is to avoid
during the day what is halal (permitted)
on every day except during Ramadan. Eating and
drinking and sexual intercourse are halal,
permitted; but in Ramadan, the permitted thing
becomes haram--forbidden--during the
daytime. That is the basic level of cleanliness,
but it is of a higher purpose to seek even
greater cleanliness.
The second step to attain
greater cleanliness, is by trying to be clean
from sins: you must guard your eyes, your tongue,
your ears, your hands, your feet and all the
parts of your body from wrongdoing. You must tell
yourself, " O my tongue! Just as I am
keeping myself from eating and drinking, but
still you must be careful. Don't say anything
that is prohibited."
That second step isto clean
ourselves from all prohibited actions and sins
makes us physically and spiritually lighter; we
may move toward higher spiritual stations. Yet it
is not enough.
The third step is for hearts:
you must attend to your heart. Allah Almighty
says "your heart belongs to Me. Among the
Children of Adam, every part of the body belongs
to him but one. Your heart belongs to Me, not to
anyone else." He says, "Therefore I am
asking that it be clean, absolutely clean."4
How can it be clean? Everything
except Allah Almighty and His Pleasure must be
put out of your heart. Every time you are by
yourself, you can look into your heart to see if
you are with your Lord or with someone or
something else. Whenever you examine your heart
and find yourself with your Lord, Almighty Allah,
you must deem yourself fortunate. At that time
divine light will enter your heart, and you will
reach the true pleasure of faith, such that if
that pleasure were divided among all the sad
people on earth, they would jump and dance with
joy. The Prophet (s) said, "The lustful
glance is one of the poison arrows of Satan. He
who because of pity abstains therefrom will
receive a belief from Allah, the sweetness of
which will fill his heart."
Thus it is important for every
believer to control his or her every action.
Without guarding our actions we are destined to
lose. And every action begins with a thought.
Satan is well-aware of the nature of mankind. In
every kind of thought he has put some of his
tricks.
Whoever is able to control his
thoughts, may be safe from Satan's promptings;
but whoever is unable to control them will have
his mind filled with evil ideas and falsehood.
Whoever is under Satan's control cannot be an
obedient servant to his Lord. As Muslims and
believers this must be our first concern is to
control ourselves. If you find any of Satan's
control affecting yourself, in either actions or
thoughts, you must strive to make them clean.
Increased
Worship - A Means of Approach to Allah, subhanahu
wa ta`ala
When Ramadan comes to an end,
we may find ourselves "crying for
Ramadan". This month gives so much pleasure
to us, through our increased obedience and
worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala. These two
are the source of all true happiness and
obedience and worship. For that reason the
Prophet (s) "and the coolness of my eyes is
prayers (salaat)".
Allah Almighty sent us His
messages through His prophets. The summary of
those messages is that people should take control
of themselves. Therefore Allah Almighty orders
prayers five times a day, plus sunnah worship as
well. There are the five times of prayer which
Allah Almighty makes obligatory on His servants,
but the Prophet, (s) did sunnah-prayers by day
and by night also, because when we pray we are
taking control of our limbs and our hearts. Allah
Almighty says in a hadith qudsi, "O
My servant! If you take one step toward Me, I am
taking ten towards you."
Therefore we are in need to be
active for His Sake. Make your steps more firm on
the Straight Path and more powerful, day by day.
It is this holy season of worshipping which will
cause you to move toward Allah Almighty.
"When Ramadan comes... a caller calls out
every night: "Oh seeker increase worship and
increase devotion." In it are prescribed tarawih
and the night prayers by means of which we may
move ever closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala.
We have an opportunity during
Holy Ramadan more than at any other time. The one
who is able to control himself during Ramadan is
going to be able, with Allah Almighty's support,
to take control of himself for the other eleven
months. Everything begins small and grows, good
things and bad things, good habits and bad
habits; for each one we have a beginning. And the
beginning is difficult, but you must be patient
and continue; if you know that something is
right, you must continue to keep on that way,
even though it may be so difficult. Difficulties
may be overcome by a strong faith and strong
faith is with those people who are able to
control themselves. Therefore make a firm and
continuous intention to increased devotion, not
only for for this holy month, Ramadan, but make
it a constant practice, until one day... who
knows?
1Yahya related to me from Malik
that Yazid ibn Ruman said, "The people used
to watch the night in prayer during Ramadan for
twenty-three rak`ats in the time of Umar
ibn al-Khattab (r)." [Al-Muwatta]
2 This is a month, the first
part of which brings Allah's Mercy, the middle of
which brings Allah's forgiveness and the last
part of which brings emancipation from hellfire.
[Bukhari]
3The Prophet (s) said:
"Every good deed is rewarded from ten to
seven hundred times over, but Allah says fasting
is the exception; it is for Me, and My servant
forgoes his eating and drinking for my sake, so I
Myself will reward My servant for it."
4 This is one tafsir of
the hadith qudsi: Narrated Abu Huraira
(r): The Prophet (s) said, "Allah said: The
Fast is for Me and I will give the reward for it,
as he (the one who observes the fast) leaves his
sexual desire, food and drink for My Sake.
Fasting is a screen (from Hell) and there are two
pleasures for a fasting person, one at the time
of breaking his fast, and the other at the time
when he will meet his Lord. And the smell of the
mouth of a fasting person is better in Allah's
Sight than the smell of musk." [Bukhari]
|
