Is it enough to give up food? (Issue 1, 2012)

“He will pay them their wages and increase them of His grace; for He is Oft-Forgiving Most Ready to appreciate (service).” Qur'an 35 verse 30

There are lots of write ups and messages being shared during this august month of Ramadan. Ramadan Message was not going to publish because it is not our intention to repeat what is already being said, or to add to the piles of resources competing for your meagre time. However, there is a lot of focus on giving up food and drinks during the long hours of the day, as if this is precisely the goal of Ramadan. Therefore we have decided to publish Ramadan Message again and ask the important question: is it enough to give up these things to fulfilling the objectives of Ramadan?

The desired objective of Ramadan is well known by all as stated in Qur'an chapter 2 verse 183 is to “achieve taqwah”. The verse reads thus: "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become muttaquun (those who have taqwah or piety)."  It is obvious that becoming pious or having piety has little to do with food. Temporarily giving up something is not the end in itself, but a means to the end. If we concentrate on the long hours of not eating and drinking, do we not run the risk of focusing on the means, at the expense of pursuing the end?

Fasting in Ramadan like all other acts of worship requires that you give up what is legally right for the sake of Allah. In a free world, we sacrifice our independent freewill and free-thoughts only to entertain the codified Iman (belief) in God’s Oneness and Supremacy. We give up our precious time to pray the Salaah five times in a day. We give up our wealth to share with others through Zakaah every year. We give up ourselves to undertake the hajj pilgrimage. We also give up our desires to consume and copulate during the day time of Ramadan. We do these only for the sake of Allah.

Yet, Ramadan demand more than that. Allah demands that we give up lewd talk and evil speech to free our tongues from flaming the ambers of Hell. Allah demands that we give up vain pursuit, envious attitude and belligerent qualities to free our soul from the shackles of Shaytan. Allah has made Ramadan an ample instrument of refining our character, reforming our heart and refraining from lowly desires.

To this end, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cautioned, “Whoever does not give up false speech and offensive speech and behaviour, Allah has no need of his giving up his food and drink.” (Bukhari) To emphasis the significance of getting the fast right, the Prophet (peace be upon him) further added, “there may be a fasting person who gets nothing more from his fast that hunger and thirst…” (Ahmad). The goal of the fast is not deprivation; it is elevation of the self from sins, from slavery to passion and from servitude to Shaytan, whose eternal purpose is to undermine our journey towards Allah and His Paradise.

The Rightly-Guided Caliph Umar echoed the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) by explaining: “Fasting does not mean abstaining from food and drink only, rather it is also abstaining from lying, falsehood and idle speech.” Similarly the Ansari Jabir ibn Abdullah explained: “When you fast, then let your hearing, sight and tongue fast from lying and sin and stop abusing servants. Be tranquil and dignified on the day of your fast, and do not let the day you do not fast and the day you fast be the same.”

As we are discouraged from following the path of sins, we are encouraged to engage in a plethora of noble deeds, including closeness to the Qur'an in our recitation and application, seeking opportunities to help the vulnerable, attaining selflessness and purifying the soul.

Therefore, far from the pains of thirst, pang of hungers and emotional paroxysm of unfulfilled passion, Allah requires that in Ramadan, we take steps to get closer to him with our deeds and in our character and we refine ourselves. Allah demands that deep in our heart, on our tongues, in our relationships and within society that we become better. Therefore the question is: are you willing to give yourself up to Allah this Ramadan? What will you do, what step will you take, what in your character will you improve and what in your attitude will you change purely and permanently for the sake of Allah this Ramadan? That is the crucial question. Once you are able to do this during Ramadan and maintain this after Ramadan, then you will have truly fasted and fasting would have truly impacted on you.

“Ramadan is the month which invites you to be the guests of Allah and invites you to be one of those near to Him.” (Baihaqi)

- Contributed by Shamsideen AbuSuad, UK. 2012  www.ramadanmessage.blogspot.com

Day 23: Pursuing the Truth

Ibn Abbas narrated that whenever the Prophet offered the night (Tahajjud) prayer, he used to say, "O Allah! All the Praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. And all the Praises are for You; You are the Keeper of the Heavens and the Earth. All the Praises are for You; You are the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and whatever is therein. You are the Truth, and Your Promise is the Truth, and Your Speech is the Truth, and meeting You is the Truth, and Paradise is the Truth and Hell (Fire) is the Truth and all the prophets are the Truth and the Hour is the Truth. O Allah! I surrender to You, and believe in You, and depend upon You, and repent to You, and in Your cause I fight and with Your orders I rule. So please forgive my past and future sins and those sins which I did in secret or in public. It is You Whom I worship, None has the right to be worshipped except You."  (Bukhari)

Our entire life must therefore be spent on seeking and spewing the truth. In fact, as the world progress, speaking the truth becomes even more difficult, hence Allah says, “By (the Token of) time (through the Ages), verily Man is in loss, except such as have Faith and do righteous deeds and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth and of Patience and Constancy.” (Qur'an 103v1-3)

Standing by truth in a corrupting world is really hard; as such the few who uphold it will be specially rewarded. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "He who abandons lying (to cover up), having already done something wrong, will have a castle built for him just within Paradise. He who abandons disputing (cantankerous argumentation), despite speaking the truth, will have one (a castle) built for him in the middle of Paradise. He whose character is good will have a castle built for him in the highest part of it." (Tirmidhi)

However, although you may be speaking the truth, you have other things to consider: what do I intend to achieve? Is it the right time to speak? Is this the right place? Am I saying it in the right way? We must be careful because even the truth can hurt - even the speaker! "Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its jagged edges." — Herman Melville

People who are affected by the truth we speak might want to naturally feel bad about what we say, but most of the time, it is the way “the truth” has been presented to them. Some people present the truth carelessly; in fact, sometimes deliberately to hurt. Truth doesn't always have to be bitter; it can be delivered in a palatable way, a humane way. Ultimately, the bigger picture, our ultimate goal should be our focus, when presenting the truth.

As Muslims, we are taught to control our tongue, even when speaking the truth, we must be careful of the fitna (calamity) that may arise from poor presentation. We should weigh our words and think through the consequences and implications of our utterances and consider whether silence is the best option or delayed response will better achieve the desired result. When we talk, we should speak with respect for the person we are addressing and for their feelings. We must learn to do these naturally and not hypocritically because our non-verbal communications speak volumes more than the words we utter. This is when we will get the rewards for speaking and pursuing the truth is a world that triumphs on hiding it.

- Contributed by Shamsideen AbuSuad, UK. 2011

Day 29: The Heart @ Peace

Fasting in Ramadan disciplines the body and the soul to acquire humane spirit of fellow feeling and a desire to attain a peace in the mind, peace in the community and peace in the world. Islam facilitates a peaceful status quo as a result of surrendering the hearts, souls and society to the obedience of God. The greeting of Islam is “peace be upon you” and the institutions within Islam strives to establishes global brotherhood of people of diverse races, language, culture and background. There are no artificial and material segregation, there is inter-marriage, because the more you interact, the more tolerant and at-home you are wherever you go.

The heart at peace is a heart that is not hateful, but humbled; not self-serving, but social solution driven. The heart which treats every God-created human being as people - not de-humanised objects. This precisely is the key to unlocking that heart at peace. Hence, the Qur'an provides guidance on human interaction to protect and every body, to show respect and have a feel for other people. God says: “O you who believe! Let not a folk deride a folk who may be better than they (are), nor let women (deride) women who may be better than they are; neither defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. Bad is the name of lewdness after (you have attained) faith. And whoso turns not in repentance, such are evil-doers. O you who believe! Shun much suspicion; for some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You abhor that (so abhor the other)! And keep your duty (to Allah). Lo! Allah is Relenting, Merciful. O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Verily, the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.” (Qur'an 49 verses 11-13)

During conflicts, we are mandated to still see people as human deserving of respect and justice, we may hate their actions, but we can still deal with the action without dehumanising them or condemning their entirety. Remember, they may be your enemies today; they may turn out to be your friends tomorrow. Therefore, they may be holding different opinion or position from you, but they are still like you because they are driven by their experience, by their needs and aspirations. They have families and loved ones like you and just like you they may be a victim of their upbringing, their experience or their reality which they may not have any control over.

Avoid personalising the issues, particularly if the issues are nothing personal. Offences against God is not personal. God himself is aware of their misdeeds, but He let them be for a purpose. God states clearly, “… if any reject Faith let not his rejection grieve thee: to Us is their return and We shall tell them the truth of their deeds: for Allah knows well all that is in (men's) hearts.” (Qur'an 31 verse 23) Therefore, their misdeed cannot be an excuse for justifying your warring hearts including injustice to them. God says, “And let not your hatred of a folk …seduce you to transgress; but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is severe in punishment.” (Qur'an 5 verse 2)

Hatred is not always only directed at people on the other side. Many of our hearts are weighed down because of relationship with people very close to us. While warring with close relatives, we are instructed to still protect them, do our duty as usual and always keep in mind they are human. God says in Qur'an 64 verse 14: “O you who believe! Truly among your wives and your children are (some that are) enemies to yourselves: so beware of them! But if you forgive and overlook and cover up (their faults) verily God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

The heart at peace cannot be reached without two key ingredients. First, anyone seeking a peaceful heart must see everyone as equals to himself or herself and also treat everyone the same way. Secondly, such a person must increase their stewardship towards all of God’s creation. When you heartily and sincerely serve people, you will feel them and see the humanity in them. 

An example of a heart at peace is the heart of Saladin Al-Ayubi. There was an interesting discussion on his gallantry and humane-ness from the chapter titled Peace in Wartime in the book, The Anatomy of Peace: How to Resolve the Heart of Conflict by the Arbinger Institute (pages 20 to 28). It made an interesting read and further beautiful exploitation of the theme “The Heart @ Peace.”

- Contributed by Shamsideen AbuSuad, UK.

Day 6: Following the Excellent Sample

“You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern of conduct (an excellent example) for anyone for him who hopes in Allah and the Final Day…” (Qur’an 33:21)

Everyone desires an example to follow or a good practice to guide, so that mistakes are not repeated and success is replicated. This is human nature from our predecessors’ time in the cave even till today’s era of corporate governance. Indeed, this is the reason why God did not only send revelations, but along came the prophets; being human and while exhibiting human weaknesses, they were examples to follow.

Prophet Muhammad has been described as having “uswatun hasanatul” - a beautiful pattern of conduct or an excellent example.” God encourages us to listen to the Prophet’s instructions and follow his actions. But how do you follow him?

There are two approaches to applying the Sunnah. First, some people approach the idea of following the prophet by believing that “every act and saying of the Prophet (pbuh) was directed by revelation (Wahy) and the Muslim is expected to copy everything. Hence, the way he used to eat, sit, dress, appear, live and earn a living etc must be adopted irrespective of the social context and circumstances that surrounded him.” Allah says: “Nor does he (Muhammad) say (aught) of (his own) desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him.” (Qur’an 53:3-4).

Secondly, another group of Muslims approach following the Sunnah by believing that some actions of the Prophet (particularly the rituals and law) were based on revelation while in certain circumstances he (pbuh) “exercised his personal judgment and reasoning (ijtihad) wherein he was not directly guided by any specific revelation. Therefore, in following his guidance one should consider the spirit or intention and the context or circumstances surrounding his non-ritual actions. This however does not imply that his actions are irrelevant to today’s situation.”

Instances of this was when the Prophet was corrected for focusing his attention on the Quraysh leaders rather than the blind Muslim questioner (Ibn Maktum): “(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). But what could tell you but that perchance he might grow in purity…?” (Qur’an 80:1-3). Similarly, the Prophet once forbade for himself the consumption of honey, and Allah corrected him thus: “O Prophet! Why do you hold to be forbidden that which Allah has made lawful to you: you seek to please your consorts…?” (Qur’an 66:1).

Muslims who follow the first approach insist on strict compliance with daily routines of the Prophet (pbuh) irrespective of the social context whereas those who follow the second approach see that sticking to compliance without consideration of the existing societal context could even result in the opposite of what the Prophet’s intentions were.

This means there is the need for greater tolerance and accommodation on the part of the Muslims for what may at first appear as being too conservative or to too liberal. However, most Muslims adopt one of these two approaches or a mixture of the two depending on the issue in question.

“We have already sent down to you verses making things clear an example from (the story of) people who passed away before you and an admonition for those who fear (Allah).” Qur'an 24 verse 34

Day 5: Time and Time Again

The most valuable commodity that we possess is time.  Rich or poor, we all have the same amount of time and we will all be accountable for how we spend our time. Ibn Abbas reported: Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "There are two blessings in which many people incur loss. (They are) health and free time (for doing good)". (Bukhari) 

How we spend the time we have in this life is what will determine our outcome in the Hereafter. It takes time to pray, read the Qur’an, learn and understand Islam, propagate Islam, etc. Unfortunately, we seem not to have the time at our disposal. We must do those extra hours of overtime at work, attend concert on this weekend, need to take the car to be cleaned, cousin's son is having birthday party and its out of town, etc. 


There are so many things we do with our time that will not benefit us in the hereafter and yet we apportion a disproportionate amount of time to these activities. Meanwhile Allah warns us against the abuse of time, Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "Allah said, 'The offspring of Adam abuse the Dahr (Time), and I am the Dahr; in My Hands are the night and the day!' " (Bukhari)

Our time should be used productively in the way of Islam. Five times a day we are required to give up all our worldly activities to offer salaah. “O believers, when the call to prayer is sounded on the day of congregation, hasten to Allah's remembrance and leave all worldly commerce. This is for your own good, if you but knew it.” (Qur’an 62 verse 9) 


The more you give of your time to Allah, the easier it becomes, the more disciplined you become and the more likely you are to recognize the things that waste our time and discard them accordingly. Time will pass away never to be regained, but the things that we do (during that time) will remain.

- Contributed by the Muslim Message Team, UK.

HOW PREPARED ARE YOU FOR RAMADAN?

How can we not be filled with gratitude to God for the opportunity of yet another Ramadan which is already upon us? We should not take this opportunity for granted. Believe it or not, over 50 million people have died between last Ramadan and today. God has not counted us amongst them for a reason: another chance to be closer to and conscious of Him. And why not?

Ramadan is the month of the greatest revelation and the best opportunity to ask of God and to be close to Him. God (The Exalted) says, “Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting …. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance you shall be grateful. When my servants ask thee concerning Me I am indeed close (to them); I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me; let them also with a will listen to My call and believe in Me; that they may walk in the right way.” (Qur'an 2 verses 185-6)

Those who walk in the right way are those who have attained nearness to God. This is the highest stage of spiritual development. The stage of those who have achieved “taqwah” (a state of righteous piety of those who have ward off evil and purified themselves of sins). These are called the friends of God (Qur'an 45 verse 19) and God loves them dearly (Qur'an 9 verses 4 & 7), and their end will be most befitting (Qur'an 28 verse 83) and an excellent resort await them -Paradise (Qur'an 38 verse 49).

It is thus important to see Ramadan as the opportunity to grow in spiritual height for it is adorned with auspicious moments for such glorious attainment. Another Ramadan is not another feather to our cap or another emblem or badge of achievement to be displayed or bragged about! "15 Ramadans, maasha'Allah!" but what have you to show for it? Have you acquired the taqwah or attained the cynosure of the angels?

Don't miss the opportunity to achieve these. Have you devised a plan yet? Remember the maxim, 'if you fail to plan, you have plan to fail.' How do we prepare for Ramadan? As with any spiritual journey the starting point for the preparation is developing probity or piety, sufficient at least to acquaint you with the consciousness of the importance of the task ahead and give you a psychologically prepared state of mind suitable to withstand the rigours of the trip. Little wonder then that God gave the recommendation before embarking on a spiritual task: "…And take a provision (with you) for the journey but the best of provisions is right conduct. So fear Me! O ye that are wise." (Qur'an 2 verse 197)

Then set for yourself and your family goals to be accomplished during the month of Ramadan. These set of goals will be better written and placed in an obvious place (like the dining area, on the mirror, computer or mobile wallpaper etc.) As usual, goals should be relevant to the spiritual task and SMART (simple, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely). You can set your goals around: Qur'an Listening, Qur'an Recitation, Salaah Punctuality, Mosque attendance, Tahajjud observation, memorisation of Qur'an and Hadith, Allah's Names & Attributes, Sadaqah/charitable contribution, communal/sponsored iftar, Laylatul Qadri, etc.

Therefore, get the tools you would need to accomplish your goals. A portable Qur'an will make reading-on-the-move (or at work) easy; MP3 or portable CD player will make listening & memorising a pleasure; a selection of books to read; alarm clock to keep you on your toes; enough food and fruits for the home and masjid; a diary list of iftar to attend and families to be invited to your home for iftars; list of charity to give sadaqah and how much you hope to spend; da'wah to conduct when, how and to who?; programmes & tafseer to attend; etc.

Remember, none of your action goes in vain, as long as you conduct them with good intentions. Keep the intention simple: to seek nearness to God. May Allah accept these from us all.