any other limb of the body. A sahabi
once came to blessed Prophet a and
informed him of two women who
were extremely hungry and desperate
to break their fast. The blessed
Prophet a understood that they had
been backbiting (which, according to
the Qur’an, is tantamount to eating
the flesh of a Muslim brother). He
said, “They are not fasting; how can
someone fast while eating the flesh
of human beings? Go and tell them
to vomit, if they are, indeed, fasting.”
When both women induced vomit,
they vomited out clotted blood
(Musnad Abi Dawud al-Tayalasi).
Reciting Qur’an
The month of Ramadan should be
characterized by two main devotions:
spending wealth in the path of Allah
and reciting Qur’an. Abdullah ibn
Abbas k said, “The blessed Prophet
a was the most generous of people,
and his generosity would reach its
peak in the month of Ramadan when
Jibril e would come and meet him
and they would recite Qur’an to
one another.” Those of us who can
dedicate the whole month to worship
should dedicate the bulk of their time
to recitation of Qur’an. Those whose
schedules do not permit them to do
so should set a goal to recite more in
the blessed month than they do the
rest of the year. After all, Allah says,
“The month of Ramadan is that in
which the Quran was revealed” (2:185).
Du‘a
Du‘a is inseparable from fasting and
Ramadan. The blessed Prophet a
said, “Du‘a is the essence of worship”
(Tirmidhi), which is equal to saying
that worship without du‘a is like a
human being without an intellect.
Since the intellect distinguishes
the human species from all other
creatures, the intellect can be said to
be the essence of the human being.
Allah says, “When my servants ask
about Me, (inform them that) I am
near. I answer the call of the one
who calls out to Me when (ever) he
calls out to Me” (2:186). This ayah
is strategically located between two
ayahs on Ramadan, which proves
the inseparable relationship between
du‘a and fasting and Ramadan. A call
is made throughout the nights of
Ramadan to turn to Allah. The blessed
Prophet a said, “When it is the first
night of the month of Ramadan,
the devils and evil jinns are chained
up, (all) the doors of Hell are closed,
not a single one is left open, (all) the
doors of Paradise are opened, not a
single one is left closed, and someone
makes a call, saying, ‘O seeker of
good! Come forward. O seeker of
evil! Turn away (from sin).’ And
Allah frees a few servants from the
Hellfire. This happens every night”
(Tirmidhi). Making du‘a does not
simply mean to intone prayers from
the Qur’an and hadith, it means to
invoke Allah and to open your heart
to Him in whichever language you
express yourself best. If you cannot
express what is in your heart, Allah
still knows what is in there. The fast is
complete even without du‘a, but the
optimal spiritual benefit of the fast
and Ramadan, in general, cannot be
attained without constantly praying to
Allah in du‘a.
Appreciating the
Commandments of Allah
Allah has decreed that worship in
the month of Ramadan is more
rewarding than worship in any other
month of the year. The blessed
Prophet a said, “The one who
attempts to gain closeness to Allah
in the month of Ramadan through
a nafl worship is like he who has
performed a compulsory act; and
the one who performs a compulsory
act in Ramadan is like the one who
performs 70 compulsory acts every
other month of the year” (Bayhaqi).
This is the enormous reward for
Ramadan Readiness continued from
page 10
the believer who worships Him
in the month of Ramadan. The
Sahaba l devoted all their time in
Ramadan to worshipping Allah, and
they would have fasted by day and
offered salat by night even if fasting
was not compulsory in Ramadan so
that they could hoard the rewards
of the blessed month. We, on the
other hand, due to the weakness in
our faith, would likely lose out on
the great reward this month has to
offer had it not been obligatory upon
us. The Prophet a said, “Whoever
fasts in Ramadan with faith and
anticipation of reward (from Allah),
his past sins will be forgiven. Whoever
stands (before Allah in prayer) in
Ramadan with faith and anticipation
of reward (from Him), his past sins
will be forgiven. Whoever stands
(before Allah in prayer) in Laylat al
Qadr with faith and anticipation of
reward (from Him), his past sins will
be forgiven.” Mandating the fast by
day and tarawih by night is a huge
bounty from Allah, since it inevitably
forces us to commit to worship to
have our sins forgiven.
Understanding the Value of
Ramadan
What is the value of Ramadan? We
should know that it is not a festival
for social gatherings, completion-of-
Qur’an gatherings, and iftar parties.
It is essentially ya month to strive
in worshipping Allah. The blessed
Prophet a maximized his time and
energy in worshipping Allah in the
beginning of Ramadan, but optimized
it even more in the last ten days of
Ramadan. We should strive in the
blessed month to try to be among
the forgiven ones and not from
unforgiven who, according to one
hadith, are cursed by both Jibril e
and the blessed Prophet a for letting
such a valuable opportunity slip from
their hands.
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