Ramadan: A Great Favour
Alhamdulillah, today
is the first Friday of the month of Ramadan and indeed this is a great favour
which Allah (swt) has bestowed upon us, Muslims. Fortunate are those who are
living this blessed month to the fullest. And fortunate is he who has been able
to become closer to Allah in the course of this blessed month and obtain the
pleasure and time to purify his soul from all spiritual impurities and to make "a servicing" (a complete
clean-up and repair) of his whole body whereby he takes not only a complete
spiritual bath, but also a physical bath, keeping his body clean, keeping a
good hygiene.
Last week in my Friday Sermon, I had to stop on
the second precaution which we (Muslims) have to take to preserve our fast, but
due to lack of time and the fact that our members had to go back to work, so it
would have been too lengthily seeing the long content of the Friday Sermon.
Fasting Entails Avoidance of 'Makruh'
Therefore, by the grace of Allah, I shall
expound today on the rest of the precautions to take, i.e. from the third to
sixth precautions which a faster should take to preserve his fast:
3) We need to take lots of precaution so as not
to listen to undesirable/ vain/ illicit (Makruh) things. It is also forbidden
to listen to words which we do not have the right to pronounce.
For example,
between strangers, man and woman, there should not be any Makruh word
pronounced, and there should be the observation of the Pardah (Islamic
veiling/ segregation).
The Messenger of Allah has said that those
kinds of talks/ words are Makruh, and the same goes for Ghibah
(backbiting). The backbiter and the one who listens to him/ her, both of them
are considered as equal partners in sins.
4) All members of one's body should remain far
away from sins and all that which is forbidden. Neither the hands should touch
that which is Haram (illicit), nor the feet should march towards that
which is illicit. Special precaution should be taken, especially at Iftar
(breaking of the fast) time not to consume anything which may be of doubtful
source. When someone fasts and breaks his fast with illicit food, he is like a
sick person who takes medicines to get back his health, but at the same time he
consumes poison along with those medicines which thereafter destroys him.
5) After observing the fast, it is not
advisable for us to fill our stomach completely at Iftar time, even with
Halal (licit) food because the aim of fasting shall be lost. The aim of
keeping fasts is to reduce our physical desires and to reinforce our Iman
(faith) and spiritual capabilities. For eleven months we had all the freedom to
eat and drink whatever Halal food we liked at any time we wanted, but at
least during Ramadan we can reduce our food consumption to the (strict)
minimum. For some people, we observe that Ramadan becomes an opportunity for
them to increase their appetite (and food intake). Moreover, there are a
variety of foods which are placed before us
and which we are not used to consume during the other months (and which
tempt us to overindulge in food consumption). This way of consuming food during
this (blessed) month is completely against the very spirit of Ramadan and
against the aim of fasting.
Besides taking conscience of pangs of hunger,
fasting gives us the time to take conscience of difficult conditions and
sufferings of poor people and this enables us to have sympathy for them. Our
noble prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) said that the best way of eating of man is
that he fills his stomach in the following proportion: One third for food, one
third for water (liquids) and one third for air.
6) We should always be worried about whether
our fasts have been accepted by Allah. The same should be for all our good deeds
and acts of worship (Ibaadat). We can never know whether we have missed an
important aspect of our deed/s or we ignored it/ them completely. Therefore, we
should take precaution lest we commit some wrong in our deeds. A Muslim should
always fear lest Almighty Allah rejects his deeds.
This is a consequence of wrong Niyyah
(intention). There are a lot of examples on the subject in the Hadiths.
Therefore, a faster should always watch over his intention and at the same time
fear lest his intention changes. He must
continue to pray to Allah so that his fasts become a source of pleasure
for Allah.
Do not talk ill of others
Therefore, take care of your fasts. Do not let
Satan deviate you in any situation you may find yourselves; and especially the
one concerning Ghibah (backbiting). Instead of backbiting others you should occupy
your tongue in Zikr (i.e. Remembrance) of Allah, reading the Holy Quran, and
reading this duah (supplication) a lot:
"Laa
Ilaaha Ilallahu, Astaghfirullah, Allahumma inni as’alukal jannah wa awzubika
minan Naar."
(There is no God (to be worshipped) but Allah.
I seek forgiveness from Allah (for all my sins). O Allah, I ask of You Paradise
and protection from hell-fire.)
O Allah, put a distance between us and such
sins which shall cause us harm in this world and the hereafter. Ameen.
Once a Sahabi (i.e. companion) asked the
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) about Ghibah (backbiting).
The Messenger of
Allah (pbuh) said: "It is saying
something about your brother that he dislikes."
It was said, “What if what I say about my brother
is true?”
He (pbuh) said, “If what you say is true then you have
backbitten him, and if it is not true, then you have slandered him.”
Evolve Empathy for Others
The worst form of backbiting is slandering
one's Muslim brother with a false accusation. Moreover, we need to know that in
the month of Ramadan, we should have sympathy for poor people - and this should
be a training for the eleven months to come - like preached by Hazrat Muhammad
(pbuh) in the various Hadiths.
We have been taught that Ramadan is a month of
sharing and brotherhood, especially with the poor and those who are in great
difficulties. The spirit of sharing is such a quality which we should live in
practice. Even if we are not as generous towards others as we are to ourselves,
at least during the Ramadan, we should develop that spirit of sharing. If we
have ten snacks/ cakes for Iftar, then we should at least share 3-4 of
those with the poor.
Insha-Allah, may
Almighty Allah help each one of us in this blessed month and we take care not
to lose these divine favours. Insha-Allah. O Allah guide us all on the
right path. Ameen.
---- Friday Sermon of 02 June 2017(07 Ramadan 1438 AH) delivered by Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.