Perhaps It May be Our Last Ramadan!

The month of Ramadan is a divine spring when rain of blessing from Allah provides a new spirit upon His believers, who eagerly wait for its advent. It is month of purification and salvation, but there are some who even in the month of Ramadan are largely involved in activities which are condemned by the Shariah and its Granter, such as immoral behavior, unjust actions, unfair dealings etc. These sins become their cause of destruction of good deeds and destroy piety. Many people spend money in the name of charity in Ramadan in public platform for self glorification, which destroy its religious significance. Hadith Literature provides us guidance that charity is offered in the same manner as you would receive from others i.e.: in an honorable mode. Ramadan gives us lessons of tolerance and patience, so we can act on it throughout the year with sympathy for the less fortunate class. People approach Ramadan in different ways. Its perception differs from people to people. Some people view Ramadan as a period of expressing their undying love for the Beloved. For them, Ramadan is a valuable, precious, and rare occasion. They spend all their time doing good, convinced that the reward of each act is multiplied manifold. Patience, sympathy, and generosity beautify the demeanor. They guard their tongues and remain preoccupied in recitation of Qur'an and Doa, seeking forgiveness, begging for Jannah, and seeking protection from Jahannam. There are others who regard Ramadan as a painstaking task. It is a painful practice and a torturous month for these so called moderates. They reluctantly keep Sawm and offer Sal'at. Their concept of Siy'am is limited to physical abstention of food, drink, and marital relationship with wife. They spend their time in chitchat, watching TV, and wasting their nights in markets and restaurants. They are not ever inclined towards Khair'at, nor are they careful of their Ibadah. Their goal in Ramadan is to prepare for Eid. The following Hadith suitably describes their spiritless actions: "Many are the ones who keep Sawm attaining nothing by such except hunger, and many perform Sal'at by night attaining nothing by it except the discomfort of staying awake." There is yet a third group who is hardly ever moved by Ramadan. They never believe in Ibadah and remain busy in their worldly activities. They are less concerned with religion, and nor have the will or the time to change their daily routines, as per injunctions of the Shariah. The following Hadith should serve as a harsh warning to them: "Jibrael appeared before me and said: "Woe to him who found the blessed month of Ramadan and let it passes by without gaining forgiveness". Upon that I said: Aameen". Ramadan is a School which after completion of one month course gives result to each believer, to evaluate his position. Ramadan is a sacred training School where a believer learns how to recharge one's spiritual batteries-to gain one's provision for the Akhirah. If one can not attain advantage from this month then when will he do so? This is the month for renewing our Aqidah, strengthening our willpower, and seeking Taubah, a unique opportunity to fortify the bond of love with our Creator, through Ibadah Zahirah & Aam'al Batinah. Sal'at and Zak'at are inter-connected and linked to the category of Ibadah Zahirah. Instructions have been given that Faraid should be done openly, so other people should incline towards it. Khair'at is under the head of Aam'al Batinah which has direct link to Allah alone. It is a noted fact that after each Ramadan, on Eid holidays many people indulge in immoral, shameless and indecent activities of enjoyment, which Shariah condemns. People revert to entertainment of music, forbidden films, and women displaying their beautification etc. They spend lavishly on gambling, drinking, and profligacy, and consider it as a part of joy of the festival. Involvement of the Muslims in such nefarious activities is the major cause of humiliation and fall of Muslim Power worldwide. When non Muslims observe the ugly life style of Muslims they enjoy, and support them. Ramadan ends with Eid al Fitar but the deeds and actions displayed during Ramadan should serve as facilitator which should be followed throughout the year. Eid is a bliss occasion of Islam which has no concern with the festival of other faiths. Divine help shall not reach to the corrupt by nature. Rehmat is not conferred on those who only take the name of Allah and forget true actions. Islam is a religion of qualities, not faces or personalities. It has no concern with any community or locality, but it is universal, for all time to come. Instead of improving our own character, we are happy with our own brand of Islam. The teachings of Islam has become so contaminated with foreign customs, and un-Islamic ideologies, that a converted Muslim has to make an effort to search for the Qur'an and Sunnah brand of Islam or remain confused and ignorant. A few days earlier, a senior diplomat who converted to Islam a few months ago contacted me and request to suggest an authentic book of Muslim Customs & Traditions. I advised him that it is better to perform Faraid of Islam and not to confuse himself in it, as it is not a part of religion. Know that Ramadan is an appearance of blessings; and can be a turning point in an individual's life; an opportunity of transformation towards an improved mode of life; a change from the disgrace of sins to the beauty of submission; a way to benevolence from bad society and hateful habits to morality and decent behavior. We should not loose the blessings of Ramadan by falling back on our previous careless ways. Take hold of this blessing which gives a new shape to our lives, and thus become a human worthy of being called Muslims! May Allah grant us inspiration, strength and spirit to make this Ramadan as a start towards a new phase of our life. May He grant us the ability to abide by the Shariah. It is not a matter of Doa alone but time to practice strongly, with the true concept of Taqwa (fear of Allah). May Allah allow us this opportunity to utilize our time in a positive and constructive manner, for the pleasure of Allah. Ramadan demands from each Muslim to avoid misdeeds, forbidden actions, such as vulgar language and discussion. Perhaps it may be our last Ramadan, our last opportunity to benefit from the special blessings and forgiveness that accompanies this month, for who knows we may be there or not to receive the blessings next year. On the following 'Imami Doa' in a form of Farewell Sal'am I am closing this discussion: "Ya Moulaya Allah'humma La Taqalibni Min Muzey'i Hazal Yawma illa Wa'qad Ghafarta Li Jami'a Zunubi Bi'Hawlika wa Quwatika wa Min'nika wa Ra'fatika" (O my Moula! O Allah! Do not transfer me from this place (world) but in a condition that You have forgive all my sins with Your power and command and Naimah and affection), A'amin. Source and Copyright © 2009 Qazi Dr. Shaikh Abbas Borhany Email: qazishkborhany@hotmail.com

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5 ways to make this Ramadan extraordinary

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu


Welcome to our long-lost friend: Ramadan. How we have missed the days of self-restraint and the nights of mercy and delight! After eleven months of sinning, we now have the opportunity to avail ourselves of a month of mercy and forgiveness. For those whose duas have not been answered, the month of answered duas has arrived. For those who have drifted away from the soothing night prayer, or who have never achieved it, the month of the blessed taraweeh has arrived. Welcome to our Lord’s mercy: the month of Ramadan. No doubt each and every one of us approaches Ramadan with a special excitement. Alas for many of us, however: the excitement is met with fear and dread instead.

Will this Ramadan be like the previous ones where I failed to truly take full advantage and mend my ways?

Will this Ramadan only demonstrate to me how far away from Allah I truly am?

Will it be yet another month that passes by without my taking full advantage of it?

If you are feeling this way, know that you are not alone. Many of us feel this way and do not know how to tackle it. As a result, the fear and dread are enough for us to avoid setting new goals and higher aspirations for this month. As a result, we find ourselves at the end of the month in the situation of having failed to benefit from this opportunity and languishing in sorrow at the thought that we will never improve.

I too used to get these whispers and thoughts in my mind. However, I overcame these thoughts with the help of Allah. Here are five things that I have done to tackle these "Ramadan blues". Let me share them with you; perhaps the suggestions may benefit you, and help you to overlook the past and focus on the future.

Good thoughts about Allah: I remind myself that my Lord is most Generous and Kind. He loves me sincerely. The proof is that even when I disobey Him He still provides for me. That is why He is giving me yet another Ramadan: yet another opportunity to get closer to Him again. He loves to forgive, and His best friends are those who seek His forgiveness the most. He has brought me to another Ramadan so that I can have yet another chance at Laylatul Qadr, and yet another chance to make my duas accepted at the time of iftar, and yet another chance to do Hajj with Rasul-Allah (sall-Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) by doing umrah in this month. He has brought me to Ramadan to sooth the sorrows in my heart with His remembrance, and for me to be reminded of the nights in my grave by the solitude of i’tikaaf: by seeing how it feels to be alone with Him in the mosque. He wants me to lighten the load on my mind, so that is why He has given me the month of the Qur’an: so that I can relive the amazing Word of my Rabb (Lord and Master). The salaf (pious predecessors) would beg Allah for another opportunity for Ramadan, so how fortunate I am that He has given me this chance once again. How fortunate I am that He has given me the chance to know when this month is, so that I can take advantage of it. How fortunate I am that He has given me the yearning in my heart to meet my Lord in this month - and I know that the one who loves to meet His Lord, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’ala also loves to meet him.

Forget the past and focus on the future: I remind myself that past deeds are just that: a matter of the past. I live for the future, not the past. The past will be forgiven insha’Allah if I can mend the future. My concern should be the next deed that I do, because Allah loves to forgive; so I can have every confidence that He will forgive the past because I have nothing but regret for my past sins. The most important consideration for me is what sort of amends I make now. I remind myself of what Imam Ibnul-Qayyim (rahimahu-Allah) said in his Nooniyyah:

By Allah I am not afraid of my past sins,
For indeed they are upon the path of repentance and forgiveness;
Rather my real concern is that [in the next deed] this heart
Might cease to act upon revelation and upon the noble Qur’an.

Evaluate previous attempts in order to plan a strategy to make it work this time: I remember that it is illogical to think that my future chances of success are a reflection of my failures in the past. My past inabilities only show me what to do better this time so that I can increase my chances this time around. So if I tried to pray taraweeh every night but failed, I should look back at what happened in order to learn lessons from those failures. Was it that the Imam’s recitation was not good? If so, then let me try to find a mosque to go to whose Imam recites better. If I failed to complete reciting the whole Qur’an last year, let me look at why that was the case and how I can change it. Can I put up reminders to read the Qur’an, or shall I buy a few more copies of the Qur’an and put them in more convenient places, such as one in my car, another in my briefcase and another on my table, so that I have a mushaf always on hand? If I missed getting up for fajr last Ramadan, why did it happen and how can I change it? Perhaps I should buy more alarm clocks, so let me go to the store right now. Perhaps I should SMS my friends to start a fajr prayer-calling group so that each day one of us is responsible for waking the others up. Perhaps I should make my suhur my heaviest meal so that my body feels hungry at suhur-time and so I get up more easily.

Reward, challenge and penalise myself: I can plan and prepare to reward myself if I finish this Ramadan satisfactorily. So I tell myself that if I can make myself pray all my prayers at the earliest time this Ramadan and recite the Qur’an five times this month, then I will buy myself a new laptop; if I can recite it ten times then I will go away with my family for a holiday, or some other significant reward that I know I would definitely like to treat myself with. I warn myself that if I fail to at least recite the Qur’an five times in this month, then I will donate a thousand dollars to charity. I remind myself that even Allah’s Messenger sall-Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam used to give worldly rewards to those who excelled in battle: e.g. half the war-booty from the raids to the Muslim knights who had taken part in the raid; he (saw) would consider it a great sin upon the one who fails to join the obligatory battle. In the same spirit of reward, challenge and penalty, I would do this for my children and my wife as well by helping them with a reward if they do something extraordinary this month, and a penalty if they did not even do the minimum extra level. In this way I can give them an added incentive to do good in this limited time of Ramadan. I remind myself that ultimately we must do it for Allah and never for a physical prize, but associating an emotional desire with an action and fear of a punishment at the non-performance of it will cause that action to be foremost in the subconscious part of my mind. I remind myself that the worst thing about not making this Ramadan special is going to be something worse than the penalty I have stipulated. It will be the disappointment of a Ramadan wasted, and the risk of Allah’s wrath.

Create peer-pressure and responsibility: I remind myself that if I make my friends and family aware of some of my goals, then they might help me. So I share some of my goals with them, ensuring that I am doing it to engage their help in performing it, not in a spirit of boasting. I hope that this will give me added support and encouragement to ensure that they help me in achieving the good things I have set out to do. If they do not help, at the very least they should not mind when I excuse myself from their service or company in order to spend some time on working towards my goal.

I hope that some or all of these things will help you to look upon this Ramadan with a fresh outlook. Make lots of dua to Allah that this Ramadan will be special for you, for your family, and for the Ummah of our beloved sall-Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. I am interested in hearing from you if you have other things that you do to focus positively at the advent of another Ramadan.

Jazaakumullahulkhair and my duas for you and your family for a fantastic and blessed Ramadan, insha’Allah;
wassalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Health Guide For the Ramadan

This article provides useful advice on how to avoid some common problems encountered in Ramadan. If followed, it would enable one to fast comfortably and enjoy fully the spiritual benefits of Ramadan.

During the holy month of Ramadan, our diet should not differ very much from our normal diet and should be as simple as possible. The diet should be such that we maintain our normal weight, neither losing nor gaining. However, if one is over-weight, Ramadhan is an ideal time to normalise one's weight.

In view of the long hours of fasting, we should consume slow digesting foods including fibre containing-foods rather than fast-digesting foods. Slow digesting foods last up to 8 hours, while fast-digesting foods last for only 3 to 4 hours.

Slow-digesting foods are foods that contain grains and seeds like barley, wheat, oats, millet, semolina, beans, lentils, whole meal flour, unpolished rice, etc. (called complex carbohydrates).

Fast-burning foods are foods that contain sugar, white flour, etc. (called refined carbohydrates).

Fibre-containing foods are bran-containing foods, whole wheat, grains and seeds, vegetables like green beans, peas, sem (papry), marrow, mealies, spinach, and other herbs like methie, the leaves of beetroot (iron-rich), fruit with skin, dried fruit especially dried apricots, figs and prunes, almonds, etc.

The foods eaten should be well-balanced, from each food group, i.e. fruits, vegetables, meat/chicken/fish, bread/cereals and dairy products.

Fried foods are unhealthy and should be limited. They cause indigestion, heart-burn, and weight problems.

AVOID
-Fried and fatty foods.
-Foods containing too much sugar.
-Over-eating especially at sehri.
-Too much tea at sehri. Tea makes you pass more urine taking with it valuable mineral salts that your body would need during the day.
-Smoking cigarettes. If you cannot give up smoking, cut down gradually starting a few weeks before Ramadan. Smoking is unhealthy and one should stop completely.

EAT
-Complex carbohydrates at sehri so that the food lasts longer making you less hungry.
-Haleem is an excellent source of protein and is a slow-burning food.
-Dates are excellent source of sugar, fibre, carbohydrates, potassium and magnesium.
-Almonds are rich in protein and fibre with less fat.
-Bananas are a good source of potassium, magnesium and carbohydrates.

DRINK
-As much water or fruit juices as possible between iftar and bedtime so that your body may adjust fluid levels in time.

REMEDIES:

CONSTIPATION - Constipation can cause piles (haemorroids), fissures (painful cracks in anal canal) and indigestion with a bloated feeling.
Causes: Too much refined foods, too little water and not enough fibre in the diet.
Remedy: Avoid excessive refined foods, increase water intake, use bran in baking, brown flour when making roti.

INDIGESTION AND WIND
Causes: Over-eating. Too much fried and fatty foods, spicy foods, and foods that produce wind e.g. eggs, cabbage, lentils, carbonated drinks like Cola also produce gas.
Remedy: Do not over-eat, drink fruit juices or better still drink water. Avoid fried foods, add ajmor to wind-producing foods.

LETHARGY ('low blood pressure') - Excessive sweating, weakness, tiredness, lack of energy, dizziness, especially on getting up from sitting position, pale appearance and feeling faint are symptoms associated with "low blood pressure". This tends to occur towards the afternoon.
Causes: Too little fluid intake, decreased salt intake.
Remedy: Keep cool, increase fluid and salt intake.
Caution: Low blood pressure should be confirmed by taking a blood pressure reading when symptoms are present. Persons with high blood pressure may need their medication adjusted during Ramadhan. They should consult their doctor.

HEADACHE
Causes: Caffeine and tobacco-withdrawal, doing too much in one day, lack of sleep, hunger usually occur as the day goes by and worsens at the end of the day. When associated with "low blood pressure", the headache can be quite severe and can also cause nausea before Iftar.
Remedy: Cut down caffeine and tobacco slowly starting a week or two before Ramadhan. Herbal and caffeine-free teas may be substituted. Reorganise your schedule during the Ramadan so as to have adequate sleep.

LOW BLOOD SUGAR - Weakness, dizziness, tiredness, poor concentration, perspiring easily, feeling shaky (tremor), unable to perform physical activities, headache, palpitations are symptoms of low blood sugar.
Causes in non-diabetics: Having too much sugar i.e. refined carbohydrates especially at sehri. The body produces too much insulin causing the blood glucose to drop.
Remedy: Eat something at sehri and limit sugar-containing foods and drinks.
Caution: Diabetics may need to adjust their medication in Ramadan, consult your doctor.

MUSCLE CRAMPS
Causes: Inadequate intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium foods.
Remedy: Eat foods rich in the above minerals e.g. vegetables, fruit, dairy products, meat and dates.
Caution: Those on high blood pressure medication and with kidney stone problems should consult their doctor.

PEPTIC ULCERS, HEART BURN, GASTRITIS AND HIATUS HERNIA - Increased acid levels in the empty stomach in Ramadhan aggravate the above conditions. It presents as a burning feeling in the stomach area under the ribs and can extend up to the throat. Spicy foods, coffee, and Cola drinks worsen these conditions.
Medications are available to control acid levels in the stomach. People with proven peptic ulcers and hiatus hernia should consult their doctor well before Ramadhan.

KIDNEY STONES - Kidney stones may occur in people who have less liquids to drink. Therefore, it is essential to drink extra liquids so as to prevent stone formation.

JOINT PAINS
Causes: During Ramadan, when extra Salâh are performed the pressure on the knee joints increases. In the elderly and those with arthritis this may result in pain, stiffness, swelling and discomfort.
Remedy: Lose weight so that the knees do not have to carry any extra load. Exercise the lower limbs before Ramadhan so that they can be prepared for the additional strain. Being physically fit allows greater fulfillment, thus enabling one to be able to perform Salâh with ease.

99 Names of Allah

99 Names Allah
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For finding meaning of allah names, visit http://wakeup-mumineen.blogspot.com/2011/11/99-names-of-allah-and-their-meaning.html