Introduction
Alhamdulillah; all praises are due to Allah. All thanks are for Allah. All good are in the Good Hands of Allah. All affairs shall be returned to Allah. We seek His forgiveness at all time, and to Him, alone, we repent. May His Peace and Blessings be upon our Master, Habibi Muhammad, his family members, his Sahabah, and all those who follow their guided path.
As much as we are excited for the arrival of the most awaited month; Ramadhan, we thank Allah for granting us another opportunity to live, to see and to experience it, this year.
This is a highlight of 6 things which I strongly believe we should achieve in Ramadhan. It must be the basics of our observing for Ramadhan. Feel free to add one or more of your own. In fact, share yours with us (readers ofGSalam.Net), by commenting below, and you will be rewarded for drawing the attention of your Muslim brothers and sisters towards righteous deeds, insha Allah.
Let’s fast extra-ordinarily
Understandably; there’s no Ramadhan without fasting from dawn to sunset. I mean; the Muslim may not feel the significance of Ramadhan, if they are unable to practically observe fasting, , regardless of whether or not, they have excuse for not fasting. Any other ‘ibadah that is observed in Ramadan comes as an additional to fasting, and the otherwise is not true.
In addition to that, every matured Muslim fasts, but those who really fast meaningfully are those who are able to take their fasting to the extraordinary level.
The objective of fasting goes far beyond refraining from food and sexual intercourse, to instilling self-discipline and developing higher level of human compassion. Thus, if one is able to control their desire over food and sex, and even over backbiting and extending their eyes, they are expected to be able to control their desire over other prohibited acts, i.e. injustice, lies, false speech, double standards (hypocrisy) and etc.
Imam Al-Bukhari reported a Hadeeth which was narrated by Abu Hurairah, r.a., that Rasulullah s.a.w. said:
مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ حَاجَةٌ فِي أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ
It means, “Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah will have no need of him giving up his food and drink.”
Let’s take the needy amongst us into consideration
Allah s.w.t. has bestowed His favours upon you, by making your means of living easier, so to see how much appreciative you can be. One of the ways we can show our appreciations and gratefulness towards the abundant favours of Allah, on us, is by sharing those His Bestowals with those who are less fortunate than we are.
So let Allah be pleased with you by sharing His Bounties on you, with others, on top of fasting extra-ordinarily.
The one who goes to sleep with filled stomach while his neighbour goes to bed emptied stomach, is ranked low in Iman, what more about those who neglect their needy neighbours in Ramadhan?
Let’s take another look at our Taraweeh
Here, I’m not going to discuss about the number of Raka’ahs supposed to be offered in Taraweeh. I leave that to you to decide. Rasulullah s.a.w. himself did not impose specific number of Raka’ah on his Ummah.
Rather, I would l would like to say, that although Taraweeh is Sunnah, it should be done with full of sincerity and concentration. The Muslim Ummah is matured enough, and thus has to stop the old argument, which repeats itself every other year, ineffectively.
The bottom line is; the minimum of Taraweeh is 2 Raka’ahs, whereas the maximum is up the amount one can afford! Does this mean that Taraweeh can be offered more than 20 Raka’ah? The answer is: YES! Can Taraweeh be offered less than 8 Raka’ah? The answer is also YES!
Instead of arguing on the number of Raka’ahs offered by Rasulullah s.a.w., it will be wise to reflect on the quality of those Raka’ahs which he offered. It’s not about quantity. It’s rather about quality; spirit and sincerity. Unless it’s otherwise instructed by Islam.
The Taraweeh of the one who offers only two Raka’ahs, with better concentration, sincerity and focused communication with Allah (supplication), is better than that of the one who offers twenty Raka’ahs, in 20 minutes.
Whether we decide to offer eight Raka’ahs, more or less, it’s very important that one person does not be the cause for an entire mosque to offer only 8 Raka’ah, in accordance to his desire or wish. One can always leave after 8 Raka’ahs, and allow the Taraweeh to continue. There’s nothing wrong with doing that.
Also, if we decide to offer 20 Raka’ahs, The decision should come after we have ensured we are going to do it with heart. There’s no need for us to offer 20 Raka’ahs in 30 minutes. Solat, even if offered as Sunnah, it’s ‘ibadah. ‘Ibadah (of various kinds) has to be offered with respect. Rewards are granted in accordance to the amount of sincerity and respect shown.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ إِذَا عَمِلَ أَحَدُكُمْ عَمَلاً أَنْ يُتْقِنَهُ
It means, “Allah loves, when one of you does something, for him to do it well.” ~ Hadeeth.
Rasulullah also said, in a Hadeeth narrated by Abu Hurairah, r.a., and authenticated by Imam Muslim:
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لا يَقْبَلُ إِلا طَيِّبًا
It means, “O people, Allah is Good and does not accept anything but that which is good.”
The common sense in effective taraweeh is that we remember to be moderate in our consumption of food and drinks, during iftaar (breakfast). Therefore, we can make it a point to break our fast with light meals, have sufficient fluids after Maghrib, and enjoy our Taraweeh, accordingly.
One is unlikely to retire from Taraweeh after 6 or 8 Raka’ahs if they feel fresh. To stay fresh and active during Taraweeh, let us not fill our stomachs duringiftaar.
Rasulullah s.a.w. said, in a Hadeeth narrated by Muslim:
مَنْ قَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِيـمَاناً وَاحْتِسَاباً غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
It means, “Whoever spends the nights of Ramadhan in prayer out of faith and in the hope of reward [from Allah], his previous sins will be forgiven.”
Let’s make our Fridays in Ramadhan more special
Rasulullah did encourage us to make our Fridays special, as he himself lived Fridays specially. We can live our Fridays specially by increasing the amount of ‘ibadah we do in them. Such ‘ibadahs are reading Qur’an (Surah Al-Kahf, basically), reciting more solawat upon Rasulillah s.a.w., going to our Friday prayers earlier, giving charity, being ‘extra’ kind to human, animal and plant; and etc.
Rasulullah s.a.w. said in a Hadeeth of Abi Hurairah, reported by Imam Muslim:
مَنْ تَوَضَّأَ فأَحْسَنَ الوُضُوءَ ثُمَّ أَتى الجُمُعَةَ، فاسْتَمَعَ وَأَنْصتَ، غُفِرَ لَهُ ما بَيْنَه وَبَيْنَ الجُمُعَةِ وزِيَادة ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ
It means, “Whoever masters his wudhu, goes to the mosque (for Friday prayers) and listens silently, will have his sins forgiven for the next three days.”
Reading Surah Al-Kahf on Friday entitles us for brightness. Rasulullah said in a Hadeeth:
مَنْ قَرَأَ سُورَةَ الكَهْفِ فِي يَوْمِ الجُمُعَةِ أَضَاءَ لَهُ مِنَ النُّورِ مَا بَيْنَ الجُمُعَتَيْنِ
It means, “Whoever reads Surah Al-Kahf on Friday, will have a light that will shine for him from one Friday to the next.”
Every solat we send upon Rasulillah entitles us for Solat upon us, in multiples of 10s, from Allah Himself. Rasulullah said:
إِنَّ مِنْ أَفضَلِ أَيَّامِكُمْ يَوْم الجُمُعَةِ ، فأَكثروا عليَّ مِنَ الصَّلاةِ فِيهِ
It mean, “The best day among your days is Friday, so send more solawat upon me on [Fridays].”
All the above are achievable in our normal Fridays. When it comes to Ramadhan, they are multiplied in 10s and 100s, even 1000s, or up to what Allah wills.
Let’s prepare for Lailatul-Qadr in advance
Every moment in Ramadhan is precious. Every night in Ramadhan is significant, and is unlike any other night. But the most significant night of all in Ramadhan is Lailatul-Qadr (the Night of decree).
Allah said with regards to this special night in Surah Al-Qadr, 97:3-5:
لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ * تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ * سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ
It means, “The Night of Destiny (Decree) is better than a thousand months; on that night, the angels and the Spirit (Jibril) come down by the permission of their Lord with His decrees for all matters; it is all peace till the break of dawn.”
The night of Lailatul-Qadr is a one night, that occurs once a year, in Ramadhan only. It falls on odd nights in the last 10 days of Ramadhan, which can be the night (evening) of 21, 23, 25, 27 or 29 of Ramadhan.
Due to the importance of this night, each one of us is encouraged to prepare our wish-list, which we will be presenting before Allah s.w.t. All wishes and requests are granted, as well as sins are forgiven, except those unprepared nor presented or sought forgiveness for.
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah r.a. narrated a Hadeeth, which was authenticated by Imam(s) Al-Bukhari and Muslim, that Rasulullah s.a.w. said:
منْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ القَدْرِ إِيمَاناً وَاحْتِسَاباً، غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
It means, “Whosoever performs (coincides) Qiyam during theLailatul-Qadr, out of faith and in the hope of reward [from Allah], his previous sins will be forgiven.”
They (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) also reported another Hadeeth, that Sayyidatuna ‘Aishah r.a. said:
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا دَخَلَ العَشْرُ الأَوَاخِرُ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ أَحْيَا اللَّيْلَ وَأَيْقَظَ أَهْلَهُ وَجَدَّ وَشَدَّ المِئْزَرَ
It means, “When the last ten nights (of Ramadhan) would begin, Rasulullah s.a.w. would keep awake at night (for prayer and devotion), awaken his family and prepare himself to be more diligent in worship.”
Sayyidatuna ‘Aishah r.a. also said in another Hadeeth reported by Imam Al-Tirmizhi:
قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ عَلِمْتُ أَيَّ لَيْلَةٍ لَيْلَةُ القَدْرِ، مَا أَقُولُ فِيهَا؟ قَالَ: قُولِي: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ العَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
It means, “I asked: “Yaa Rasulullah! If I realize (coincide with)Lailatul-Qadr, what should I supplicate in it?” Rasulullah s.a.w. replied, “You should supplicate: Allahumma innaka `afuwwun, tuhibbul-`afwa, fa`fu `anni (O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness; so forgive me).”
In the last 10 days, most of us supplicate to their fullest, something that is obviously good. It is important to know one can say their du’as in their language of convenience; in the language that they can easily break down (into tears) to show their humility before Allah s.w.t. One can preferably recite those du’as said by Rasulullah s.a.w. during these days.
Let’s celebrate our Eid together
Eid marks the happy moments of successfully accomplished Ramadhan. We are allowed to celebrate it in any righteous way that our respective cultures approve. But not in any way accepted by our cultures and disapproved by Islam.
SubhanAllah.. In Eid, children are automatically excited, and so does every Muslim. This excitement is usually translated into the various activities we do and the new clothes we wear.
However, not all among us will have the privilege to celebrate it equally with us. If you really don’t believe this, think of the children of Palestine, the children of Syria, the children of Iraq, the children of Afghanistan and the children of Somalia. That’s if we think far. If we think near and look around, those you don’t expect to be suffering are the ones suffering. Share with them your happiness, or take away some of their sorrow. This is why Zakatul-Fitr is imposed. So don’t forget to pay your Zakatul-Fitr on time, generously. Zakatul-Fitr is imposed to ensure the less fortunate are provided with something to eat on the day of Eid. You may, however, donate more to ensure the children can afford new clothes too.
On the day of Eid, as we go out for the Eid Prayers, Allah will be proud of us, in front of his angels. And He would bestow upon us his Presents. And insha Allah, we look forward to be more pleased in the Hereafter.
Conclusion
You are granted Jannah!. But you have to make a successful transit to reach there. This transit is made through death. In order to successfully pass through this transit, you are required to ensure that all your deeds are righteous. The season of Ramadhan is one of such; in which a small/one righteous deed earns you endless rewards and points…
Last year, we may have not welcomed the blessed month of Ramadhan well. So, this year, let’s seize the opportunity and welcome our Ramadhan appropriately and bid it the farewell it deserves. “Lailatul-Qadr (The Night of Decree) is better than a thousand months”.
Ramadhan ends the moment it starts. Let’s ensure by the time it passes, we don’t regret for wasting any moment of it.
Are we prepared? Yes we are!
Don’t forget to share with us your plans for this Ramadhan (leave your comment below). Let’s inspire one another, in Allah’s Sake. Do you have anything to add, so we can practise them together? Remember to enjoin us in your Ramadhan secrets… J
Did I forget something? Yes.. Remember to share this article. Don’t let the benefit stop at you. Share it with others.. Let’s care to share.
Allahu Hafiz 
Abdul-Salam Abdul-Hameed
GSalam.Net
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