Tuesday, July 17, 2012

MYSA Ramadan Intensive


MYSA Ramadan Intensive

Ramadan- A Time For Change
There is only one ayah about Ramadan in the Qur’an, just one and it is situated in Surah Baqarah, in the latter half of the surah. In Surah Baqarah, Allah says:
 2:185

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” [2:185]
When you read this ayah, the first thing Allah wants us to know about it is that it is the month of Qur’an- this book is better than any other book, this month is better than any other month. A couple of ayahs before this Allah talks about fasting in general because fasting was a tradition even before Ramadan was ordained. In a couple of ayahs before this in Surah Baqarah, Allah said…

2:183

“O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V.2:2)”
Allah describes Ramadan as a prescription, a prescription for our soul. During the entire year outside this month, we normally feed our bodies but very often our soul starves. But in this month, we do the opposite- we starve our bodies but we feed our soul. We feed our souls. And Allah the most merciful makes it very easy.

Allah opens every door of mercy, Allah gives us the perfect set up, the perfect layout, circumstances full of potential. The shayateen get chained. Normally the blame game is very easy to play but in this month there is no blame game. The focus is on the self. Allah helps us focus on ourselves. Zoom out and zone in on you, on us- that’s it. The gates of hell become closed and the gates of Jannah are open as Abu Hurairah narrates Rasulullah (sws)  saying. Its prime time. If there was any ideal time to change it was in this month, it is Ramadan. You see people come in and out- complete 180. You see people come into Ramadan barely praying, don’t wear hijab, and come out with hijab, giving up some of the things they love most, praying five times a day. The ibadah in this month is like nothing else. The reward in this month is like nothing else. The Du’a in this month is like nothing else.

If you want to change, and this should be every single one of us including myself, we want to change, we’ve spent this whole past year stumbling and falling on our knees, we’ve accumulated black dots all over our hearts, we come covered in sins again but this Ramadan, we beg Allah to change us. But before we can change we need to know how to talk to Allah, how to make dua’, how to return to Allah so that we can take small steps towards change.

Ramadan and The Quran

The month of Ramadan is the blessed month in which the Quran was revealed. It was narrated that Ibn Abbas said. “ The messenger of Allah peace be upon him was the most generous person, and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would come to him every night and he would study the Quran with him. Truly when Allah’s messenger peace be upon him would meet Jibril, he would be more generous than a fleeting wind” Subanallah every Ramadan even the prophet peace be upon him would read and  study the whole Quran. This is an important aspect because the prophet peace be upon him had the Quran memorized. It was already in his heart yet he still studied  every part of the Quran on this blessed month of Ramadan. We should take the example of the prophet peace be upon him because just because he had the Quran memorized does not mean he did not ever ponder back on its meaning! No the prophet peace be upon him studied and learned. The prophet peace be upon him continued to study the Quran until his passing. Now ask yourself is it just during Ramadan you read the Quran? Or do you read the Quran just the first week of Ramadan and than toss it? Or do you get frustrated because you don’t understand the Quran so you never read it?

If you are not reading the Quran regularly. Then yes the Quran is going to be very hard for you. Reading the Quran just ONCE a month out of a whole year is not the way it should be. We have 365 days in a year. Ramadan is 30 days. Most of us read the whole Quran and mash Allah that is awesome! But reading the Quran only 30 days out of the 365 days year round? We need to make a change. And that change will be this month inshallah. During the time of Ramadan, to make Quran apart of our lives we should make it a habit to read it whenever we are free. For example after isha most of us are at home. So instead of getting up right away and rushing off to do what we have to do like the face book or TV, We should take the time to ponder and recite the Quran. But don’t overwhelm yourself. If you never read the Quran start off by reading it every day for 5 minutes then as you get better increase the time inshallah. I promise if you just set a habit every day you will stick to it. Many excuses when it comes to the Quran ar: I don’t have time. But you have time to face book every day for hours? Or talk on the phone for hours? Text for hours? This is our holy book! This is the Quran that is going to speak upon us on the day of judgment

“Recite the Qur'an, for on the Day of Resurrection, it shall come as an intercessor for its companion.” [Muslim].

So how can we not make time for the Quran? If only we knew how much the Quran will help us on the Day of Judgment we would never put it down. Another excuse people make is, I don’t understand what I’m reading or I struggle reciting the Quran. This is why we have Qurans that are  translated in English for us. To help us better understand what we are reading and even if you don’t understand what you are reading still READ and recite! The more we recite the more we will understand the words of Allah SWT. With every struggle while reciting the Quran you are getting rewarded. If your intention is to recite, to ponder the meaning of every ayah you will get rewarded. Aa’ishah (RA), relates that the Prophet peace be upon him said “Verily the one who recites the Qur’an beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have TWICE that reward.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] See how merciful Allah SWT is! Even through struggle we get rewarded! Allah hu Akbar!! The prophet peace be upon him said, “Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah will receive a hasanah (good deed) from it (i.e. his recitation), and the hasanah is multiplied by ten. I do not say that Alif-Laam-Meem is (considered as) a letter, rather Alif is a letter, Laam is a letter, and Meem is a letter.” [At-Tirmidhi, Ad-Darimi]. Subahanllah just by reading one letter we are getting a hasanah. Imagine if we had the pure intention to recite the Quran every day at least once or twice throughout the week. Or even finish the whole Quran how much rewards we would be gaining? How much knowledge we would be learning? There is always so much to learn from the Quran. Now imagine how much the reward is during Ramadan? Ramadan is a time to read the Quran but we should ALWAYS be reading the Quran and memorizing as much as we can.

Let’s make Ramadan a time to recite the Quran every day, to understand the Quran more and inshallah in those 30 days we will make it a habit to continue the reading of the Quran even after Ramadan. May we be among the mumineen that hold firm to the Quran in our hearts. That never neglect the Quran and that always keep the Quran apart of our everyday lives inshallah. Let’s keep in mind that when we are reading the Quran we are having a conversation with Allah SWT. After all the Quran was sent down upon us for a reason, “It is a Book that We have sent down to you blessed, so that they may contemplate its verses and so that people of understanding may take heed.” [38:29]

What can I do?

Make Goals

As states above, Ramadan is the best time to change because it is all us with no distractions but in order to facilitate this change we must know what we want to change, our plan to do so and WRITE THEM DOWN. Many of us, go through Ramadans stating that we are going to change but never actually do because we forget what we planned to change from the get go, so if we write them down with a plan to change, we are more than likely to do so.

Here is a goal sheet, it is very clean and to the point, write down your goals, you plan, and keep this in a place where you will actually see it, https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1XKkVLDtebSKGBk0c0kJH4yLp8bo_FecDti6GQoYmu5c

When making goals we have to keep one thing in mind, adding is not the best option. If I had a cup with a bunch of holes in it and kept adding water, adding the water would be pointless right? Or if I had an abaya that was mega dirty and kept adding sequins, you would still notice the big Samosa stain, right? When coming up with your goals, think more on the fixing note, the purifying effect of Ramadan and then add. So I would suggest that we fix two major things such as anger or patience and then add one major thing, such as finishing the whole Quran during Ramadan or waking up for Qiyyam every night. Along the way, we can always add minor things that are less “burdensome” for lack of better words, such as taking a walk to get healthy or adding tasbeh after every prayer but 10 of each instead of 33 or saying surah ikhlas before we go to sleep.

Lastly, one thing to keep in mind is to not overdue do it. Yes, you want to take advantage of your Ramadan but you don’t want to be a mullah the first 10 days and be back to your old self for the rest of Ramadan. You want to be smart in what you add, don’t add a bunch of major things but add one or two and many smaller things, this will be easier to keep up with during and after Ramadan. You know yourself and what you can handle, you know if reading the whole Quran everyday three days, praying all sunnah and many nafls, praying taraweh every night and saying tasbeh over 20 twenty times a day is too much. We are all different and consistency us key.

Allah loves that which is consistent. So something else you can do, is grade yourself every 10 days, to gauge how you are doing and don’t forget to write this stuff down! :)

Maximize your time

Make sure not to waste your time during this month, have a daily planner or a to-do list, you don’t want to waste this time, you want to maximize this time! And sleeping all day is not something to put on your chart.  

Give

Give, whether it be items or actual money. Everything during Ramadan is multiplied, take advantage of this. Also, helping around in the house can count as a sadaqah, so don’t feel bad that you have to help your mom cook iftar (as long as it’s not a whole day affair) or clean the house.  

***Also a note on Zakat, if you do not give zakat before the Eid prayer, it does not count as Zakat but Sadaqah, so please make sure to get to eid prayer on time!  

Increase Dua

The Dua of a fasting person is accepted, so amp it up, inshaallah! Also, write your duas down, so you will remember them, inshaallah.

Dua List:


Stay positive

Be happy, it is the month of mercy and the best time to become the people we have always wanted to be. Enjoy your Ramadan, smiling and being kind is not haram but Sunnah. 

:) :) :) 

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