Ramadan : The Virtues of Fasting

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, as saying: “Allah said: ‘Every action of the son of Adam is for him except fasting, for that is solely for Me. I give the reward for it.’ The fast is a shield. If one is fasting, he should not use foul language, raise his voice, or behave foolishly. If someone reviles him or fights with him he should say, ‘I am fasting,’ twice. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the [bad] breath of the one who is fasting is better in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection than the smell of musk. The one who is fasting is happy at two times: when he breaks his fast he is happy with it, and when he meets his Lord he will be happy that he has fasted.” (Related by Ahmad, Muslim, and an-Nasa’i).Al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud, added in another version: “He leaves his food, drink, and desires for My sake. His fasting is for Me… I will give the reward for it, and for every good deed, he will receive ten similar to it.”

Sahl ibn Sa`d reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “There is a gate to Paradise that is called Ar-Rayyan. On the Day of Resurrection it will say: ‘Where are those who fasted?’ When the last [one] has passed through the gate, it will be locked.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “When a woman observes the five daily prayer, fasts during Ramadan, preserves her chastity and obeys her husband, she may enter by any of the gates of Paradise she wishes.” (Tirmidhi)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger, offers prayer perfectly and fasts the month of Ramadan, will rightfully be granted Paradise by Allah, no matter whether he fights in Allah’s cause or remains in the land where he is born.” (Bukhari)

Yet again, we are here and Ramadan is here again. Alhamdulillah. Indeed all thanks are due to Allah who has given us the Continued Existence and We thank Him for our Condition, which is better than the Conditions of those who disbelieve. We praise Him and we thank Him.

“If you reject (Allah), Truly Allah has no need of you; but He likes not ingratitude from His servants: if you are grateful, He is pleased with you…” (Qur’an 39 verse 7)

Our continued existence is a special favour of Allah. We are alive not because of the security we invest in, it is not because of the safety steps we took, or some precautions we made. It is not about us, or about our deeds or misdeeds. Allah has simply permitted us to live to witness Yet Another Ramadan. Will you cease the opportunity?

In Ramadan are several opportunities. The Ultimate Opportunity is to earn A Place in Paradise. The Rasul (peace be upon him) noted in a Hadith that: “When Ramadan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened.” (Bukhari)

Start Ramadan with a pure intention. Ramadan is a month of Action. If you want to make those actions count, then know that they will be judge according to the intentions you make now. Umar Ibn Al-Khattab stated that he heard the Messenger of Allah say, “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.” (Bukhari)

As you enter into Ramadan, intend that all your Actions are solely for Allah’s sake. All your Hands-Off are purely to please Allah. All your Extra Efforts are solely for His Pleasure. Intend that you hope to secure Allah’s forgiveness, His Blessings, His Salvation (from Hell-Fire) and His Reward of Paradise. First Thing First: your intention should first be purified.

Ramadan: a Spiritual Time in Senegal

Ramadan: a Spiritual Time in Senegal for a Foreign Student
by Ben Hubbard
January 1998

Northwestern University

EVANSTON, Ill. — As-Salaam Alaikum. At this time last year I was fasting. For those of you who don’t know, this is the month of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim year. It is observed by Muslims worldwide through fasting and increased concentration on purification of the soul and closeness with God.

While not a Muslim myself, this time last year found me in Senegal, the westernmost country in Africa, whose population is 90 percent Muslim. Given that just about everyone I knew was Muslim and would be fasting during Ramadan, I decided, rather reluctantly, to fast as well.

If all my friends had to force themselves through it, I figured the least I could do was try it for myself to better sympathize with what they were going through. When in Rome, do as the Romans; when in Senegal, fast.

While I had resolved to fast for the entire month, I can’t say I was particularly excited about it. The prospect of no food or drink from sunrise to sunset for 28 days straight didn’t strike me as particularly appealing, especially in a climate much more conducive to thirst than our own.

Senegal is not known for its mild mid day temperatures, which often soar above 90 degrees.

Ramadan started with a bang, a rather large one, that woke me up at 5:30 a.m. as my friend pounded on my door telling me we had to go eat before sunrise or we would never make it to 7 p.m. when we could break our fast.

Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and dragged my half-asleep body to the dining hall where we ate the heavy porridge that was supposed to get us throug h the next 11 hours of non-consumption.

“This is what they have to go through every day,” I told myself, proud for being so compassionate and forcing myself to experience the pain and suffering that my friends had to go through every day.

But this is where I got it all wrong. I went into Ramadan thinking that it was a miserable time in which Muslims forced themselves to endure the excruciating discomfort of hunger and thirst out of some cruel religious obligation.

But as the month progressed, I discovered that quite the opposite was true. The early breakfasts I had originally despised became more tolerable. I actually began to look forward to sunset, when we would all gather in friends’ rooms to break the fast together while talking and joking about who was hungrier.

As time went on, I discovered that the focus of Ramadan is not, as many outsiders believe, on the pain and self-denial of fasting.

For Muslims worldwide, Ramadan is a time of increased focus on spiritual purity and closeness to God, a time for reconciling differences between people, and a time for visiting with friends and family.

While I had gone into Ramadan thinking that I was “putting myself through it” in order to “better sympathize” with my friends, sympathy was the last thing they needed.

Ramadan was the most treasured time of the year.

When it ended, I was sitting with one of my friends, saying, “I can’t believe it’s over already.” All the fun had just begun.

Joys of Ramadan : A few words

Joys of Ramadan : A few words

It is a known fact that in pre-Islamic Arabia, it was a custom to train horses for battle by making them fast and run against the wind. Fasting was prescribed to humans to learn self restraint.

“O you who believe fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you so that you can learn self restraint”. (Quran 2:183)

The Arabic word Taqwa is translated in many ways including God consciousness, God fearing, piety, and self restraining. Thus we are asked to fast daily for one month from dawn to dusk and avoid food, water, sex and vulgar talk during that period. In addition to this obligatory fasting, we are advised to do non-obligatory fasting on Mondays and Thursdays and the last 10 days of the month of Shaban, and 9th and 10th day of Moharram.

But why do we need to fast? It is our experience that temptations and ways of the world tend to spoil our purity and austerity. Thus we indulge in food all of the time, snacking and nibbling the whole day, leading to obesity. We drink too much coffee, or tea, or carbonated drinks. Some sexaholics cannot stay away from sex unless they do it at least once or more a day. When we argue, we leave our decency aside and resort to vulgar talk and even physical fighting.

Now when one is fasting, he or she cannot do all of that. When he looks at mouth watering food, he cannot even taste it and he has to give up snacking and nibbling as well as smoking cigarettes if he does. No constant coffee, tea or Coke drinking either. Sexual passions have to be curtailed and when he is provoked to fight, he says “I am fasting [so] I cannot respond to your provocation”.

To achieve God consciousness or God nearness, a better word, we are advised to do additional prayer and read the Quran. The medical benefits of fasting include lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and a small reduction in weight and psychological tranquility. These effects will last if the lessons learned during Ramadan are carried [on] after Ramadan is over.

Thus during Ramadan, we always feel better, have more energy, we sleep less and work more. We pray more and read more of the Quran.

Fasting is a special act of worship which is only between humans and God since no one else knows for sure if this person is actually fasting. Thus God says in [a] hadith qudsi that “Fasting is for Me and I only will reward it”. In another hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said; “If one does not give up falsehoods in words and actions, God has no need of him giving up food and drink”.

Ramadan in History

The Demise of Fatimah

Fatimah was the youngest daughter of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and her mother was Khadijah Bint Khuwailid. Fatimah was born five years before prophethood, i.e. before Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was sent as Allah’s Prophet.

She was engaged to `Ali Ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, in the second year after Hijrah (the Prophet’s Migration to Madinah) in Ramadan, then they got married in Dhul Hijja. She gave birth to Al-Hasan, Al-Husain, Zainab, Umm Kulthum and Muhsin who died when he was a child.

She was very dear to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. `A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated: “Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, was coming towards our home, walking exactly like the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet said: ‘Welcome, my daughter!’ He seated her to his right or left. Then he told her something in secret, and she cried. I (`A’ishah) said to her: ‘The Prophet discloses his secrets to you and you cry, how come? Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told her another thing in secret and she laughed. Hence I (`A’ishah) said: ‘I’ve never seen a sad mood turning in a moment to happiness as I see today’. I asked her about what the Prophet told her, but she said: ‘I am not to reveal the secrets of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.’

Later on when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, passed away, I asked her again. She answered: He (the Prophet) told me: ‘Gabriel used to reveal the Qur’an to me once a year. Yet he did it twice this year. So I think it is a sign that my days are numbered, and you will be the first one of my folk who will die after me. What a good predecessor I am to you!’ Hence, I cried. Then he told me: ‘Doesn’t it gladden you to be the master of believing women in Paradise?’ Hence, I laughed.” This incident is agreed upon.

It is said that she never laughed after the Prophet’s demise out of overwhelming sadness and eagerness to follow her father, peace and blessings be upon him.

Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, died on the third of Ramadan, the night of Tuesday, 11 A.H. May Allah be pleased with her.

 

Martyrdom of Imam `Ali Ibn Abu Talib

`Ali Ibn Abu Talib was the Prophet’s nephew; his father was Abu Talib Ibn Abdul Muttalib, and his mother was Fatimah bint Asad. He embraced Islam when he was just seven. He married Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter and apple of his eye and the mistress of believing women in Paradise. Fatimah bore him Al-Hasan, Al-Husain, Zainab and Umm Kulthum.

On the Day of Khaibar, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Tomorrow, I will give the banner to a man whom Allah will make victorious. That man loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him.” On the next day, the Prophet, peace be upon him, summoned Ali and gave him the banner. Also, on the day of Tabuk, Ali was sad that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would leave him at home to take care of the household. Hence the Prophet said to him: “Aren’t you happy that you are for me exactly as Harun (Aaron) was for Musa (Moses), save that there is no Prophet after me?”

`Ali was one of the greatest heroes of Islam; he never refrained from fighting nor feared death in the cause of Allah. On the Battle of Badr, he fought along with Hamzah and `Ubaidah Ibn El-Harith against three of the enemies and the Muslim group won. On the Battle of Al-Khandaq, he fought `Amr Ibn Wudd, one of the strongest men in Quraish, and killed him. `Ali was assassinated by `Abdur-Rahman Ibn Muljam, may Allah curse him, on 17th Ramadan, 40 A.H. at the age of 58.

His Quotable Remarks:

Once he said: “The true scholar is the one who does not make the people despair of Allah’s Mercy; or make them heedless of His punishment; or gives them permission to disobey Him; or (he himself) discards the Qur’an for the sake of anything else; and there is no good in worship that is void of knowledge, and knowledge that is void of understanding, and reading that is void of contemplation. ”

  

 The Massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque

The dawn of Friday 15 Ramadan 1414 a.h. / 25 February 1994 marked the first of three massacres perpetrated by Israeli settlers accompanied by the Israeli Army. There were more than 90 martyrs and 270 injured. The victims were performing Fajr (Dawn) Prayer at the mosque.

The main criminal was Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler of American origin who grew up in Brooklyn , NY in an Orthodox Jewish family. His friends say that his father was very strict with him and did not want Baruch to play with Catholic children, out of his Zionist sense that the assimilation of Jews in non-Jewish society is almost a sin. His original name was Benjamin, but in keeping with the present trend among American Jews of showing their commitment to the Jewish cause and Israel, he changed his name to the Jewish name Baruch. His friends describe him as a typical Zionist with a strong commitment to the Jewish cause and Israel.

Just like previous cases, the massacre was met with nothing more than condemnation. It was nothing new; rather, it was just a reminder of the many massacres that had happened before, including Deir Yaseen, Sabra and Shatilla, to name but a few.

After more than eight years (after 9/11 occured), comes the question: Who really cherishes terrorism and supports the killing of civilians and non-combatants?

  

The Prophet Married Sawdah

Sawdah Bint Zam`ah Ibn Qays was a noble Qurayshiete woman. She was the first woman to whom the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, got married after the death of Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her. She was a noble, respectful woman. She was married first to As-Sakran Ibn `Amr, brother of Suhayl Ibn `Amr Al-`Amiri. When they came back from Abyssinia, her husband died and then the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, proposed to her.

The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, got married to her in Ramadan, 10 years after his mission. He migrated with her from Makkah to Madinah where she died in Shawwal, 54 A.H. Some scholars say that she died during the Caliphate of `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with them all.

It is worth stressing here that she was the one who when attained old age, donated her own night with the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, to `A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with them all, as a sign of love and kindness.

 

`Ali Ibn Abu Talib & Khalid Ibn Al-Walid in Yemen

Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, sent `Ali Ibn Abu Talib and Khalid Ibn Al-Walid to Yemen in Ramadan 10 A.H.

Al-Hafiz Al-Bayhaqi narrated on the authority of Abu Is-haq that Al-Bara’ said that Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, sent Khalid to people of Yemen to call on them to Islam.

Al-bara’ said: I was one of those who went with Khalid and we stayed amongst people there for six months propagating Islam, but nobody answered, so Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, sent us `Ali Ibn Abu Talib and asked him to send Khalid back with his group, unless someone would like to stay. Actually I opted for staying.

After `Ali came we went to the Yemenis and they gave us warm reception. `Ali then led us in a prayer. After that he organized us all in one line and started to read to us Prophet Muhammad’s letter. At hearing the letter all members of the tribe of Hamadan embraced Islam.

`Ali then sent the news of Hamadan’s embracing Islam to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. On hearing that the Prophet knelt down and prostrated for Allah, showing gratefulness to Him, and he raised his head repeating: “Peace be upon Hamadan, Peace be upon Hamadan.”

Al-Bayhaqi also said that this incident was narrated by Al-Bukhari, but in a shorter narration and from another source.

 

Hurub Ar-Riddah (The Wars of Apostasy)

Muslims were stricken by the demise of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and none could pacify them but Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, when he recited to people the Qur’anic verse, {Muhammad is but a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) have passed away before him. Will it be that, when he dieth or is slain, ye will turn back on your heels? He who turneth back doth no hurt to Allah, and Allah will reward the thankful}. (Al `Imran: 144) But some Arab tribes began to reject Islamic Law and refused to pay the due Zakat, while some others made undue claims to prophethood.

After becoming Caliph, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, recommended before his death, Abu Bakr pursued the policy of the Prophet, peace be upon him. So he considered those who refused to pay Zakat as apostates, and said: “By Allah, if they withhold a rope of a camel they used to give its due Zakat to Allah’s Messenger, I will fight them for it.”

Abu Bakr set for preparing the Muslim armies, but, beforehand, he sent envoys to the rebel tribes to call them to return to Islam or face severe punishment.

At the beginning of Rajab, eleven Muslim armies set out to fight renegade tribes all over the Arab Peninsula. Khalid Ibn Al-Walid led three-thousand army to the tribe of Taiy whole leader Tulaihah Ibn Khwailed Al-Asdi claimed prophethood. War broke out between them in a place called Bozakhah at the beginning of Ramadan, 11 A.H. Then the Muslim fighters managed to win the war and end temptations against Islam, Tulaihah could flee. Later on he repented and pledged allegiance to `Umar and fought in the cause of Allah.

 

Badr

In the first year after the Hijrah, the Prophet (pbuh) sent Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib with thirty Muslim riders to Saif al Bahr to investigate three hundred riders from Quraish who had camped auspiciously in that area. The Muslims were about to engage the disbelievers, but they were separated by Majdy ibn Umar al-Juhany. The Hypocrites of Al-Madinah, hoping to oppose the unity of the Muslims, built their own masjid (called Masjid al-Dhirar). The Prophet (pbuh) ordered this masjid to be destroyed in Ramadan. On the seventeenth of Ramadan, 2 A.H., Almighty Allah (SWT) separated truth from falsehood at the Great Battle of Badr. Allah (SWT) gave them a decisive victory on this day of Ramadan, that would never to be forgotten. The Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, and 313 of his companions set out to intercept a caravan of their own goods that had been left in Makkah. It was led by Abu Sufyan himself, and estimated at 50,000 dinars. They were met, instead, by a well-equipped army of the nobility of Quraish, intend on putting out the light of Islam. Despite being outnumbered three to one and appearing weak and unseasoned, the Muslims defended their faith with a burning desire to protect the Prophet and meet their Lord through martyrdom. Allah gave them a decisive victory on this day of Ramadan, that would never be forgotten.