Ramadan Reflections 4- Purifying our hearts

يسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of God, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate

Imagine a person who is really trying during Ramadan to increase in his acts of worship- he is reading more Qur’an, praying qiyaam, and really asking Allah. Yet somehow, and only by Allah’s will, he misses out on laylat al-qadr. Why would that happen?

When the last 10 days was upon the Muslims, Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra) would bring the people together in the mosque and declare:
كل الناس مني في حل
Which, to translate the meaning roughly, that all of the people are absolved of any blame from him- he would not carry any bad feelings towards any of the Muslims even if he were wronged. Why? He knew laylat al-qadr was at the door, and he did not want anything to prevent him from reaching it. Ibn Masud (ra) would say that none of them dared to greet the new moon of Ramadan with even an atom’s weight of rancor towards other Muslims.

Recently I went to a talk, and the speaker was speaking about this issue. Yes, Ramadan is the month to get back on track and increase in our acts of worship- no doubt. But it is also a month of cleansing the hearts. Who of us does not suffer from some disease in the heart- whether it is a lack of sincerity, or hatred, or resentment towards someone?

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Ramadan Reflections 3- will they not contemplate the Qur’an?

يسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والحمدلله لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين
In the name of God, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate
All praise and thanks be to God, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of Prophets and Messengers

“أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَآ
“Will they not contemplate the Quran? Do they have locks on their hearts?” (Surat Muhammad, 47:24)

Abu Bakr (ra) was so affected by the Qur’an that when he would pray by the ka’ba and recite, he would weep, so much so that the people of Qureish forbade him from doing so because they were afraid that he would affect the people. When the Prophet (pbuh) was dying and he wanted Abu Bakr (ra) to lead the prayers, Aisha (ra) suggested Umar (ra) because she knew her father would not be able to hold back his tears when leading the prayers. These people are truly examples of those who contemplate the Qur’an.

As I was reading the Qur’an, I started thinking about the verse above. What is the Qur’an’s impact on my life, especially during Ramadan? Or is there a lock on my heart too? The Qur’an is a Reminder (tathkira/تذكرة) and a Guide (huda/هدى), a gift from Allah, to be applied to our lives. I was reminded today as the imam who was reciting for taraweeh recounted Mariam’s (as) story. In those short rak’as I learned a lot and could apply it to my own life and aspirations- and that’s why there are so many stories, and always shown from different angles, for us to learn from these situations. Allah says:

“وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ
“We have made it easy to learn lessons from the Quran: will anyone take heed?” (Surat Al-Qamar, 54:22)

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Ramadan Reflections 2- contemplate

يسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والحمدلله لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين
In the name of God, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate
All praise and thanks be to God, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of Prophets and Messengers

“وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلْأَذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعا
“They fall down on their faces, weeping, and [the Quran] increases their humility.” (Surat Al-Isra, 17:109)

A week of Ramadan has passed. Most of us had goals that we wanted to achieve, and the intentions of increasing our du’a, our khushoo’ (devotion) and so on. This is supposed to be THE Ramadan. We imagined hearing verses of Qur’an and tears flowing from our eyes, and being like the people described in the verse above. But for some, 7 days have passed and still that feeling in the heart hasn’t kicked in. There is something missing. Everything outwardly is going good, but inside… it’s not all there (If it is you can skip to the bottom ;)).

There are some practical reasons as to why. Sometimes we get so caught up in doing (“I have to finish 3 juz’ by fajr!!”) that we forget the thought behind it. That this act is being done to get closer to Allah, in hope of the reward, that we pray it will be accepted and will intercede for us on the Day of Judgment.

It could also be a sin that we have not repented from and are persisting with during Ramadan. This is also requires us to sit down and think, go back to Allah and try to stop that act.

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Ramadan Reflections 1

يسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
والحمدلله لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين
In the name of God, the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate
All praise and thanks be to God, and may peace and blessings be upon the most noble of Prophets and Messengers

Ramadan is a time of reflection. InshAllah throughout the month I’ll be sending out some small reminders and reflections; mostly because I need them but I hope that sharing them will enter us into the realm of those who remember Allah in congregation…

“Or take the one who passed by a ruined town. He said, ‘How will God give this life when it has died?’ So God made him die for a hundred years, and then raised him up, saying, ‘How long did you stay like that?’ He answered, ‘A day, or part of a day.’ God said, ‘No, you stayed like that for a hundred years. Look at your food and drink: they have not gone bad. Look at your donkey- We will make you a sign for the people- look at the bones: see how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh!’ When all became clear to him, he said, ‘Now I know that God has power over everything.” (Surat Al-Baqara, 2:259)

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