Eid days have flied by us as we were celebrating, and I hope we don’t forget about all the good deeds we’ve done forour societies and our families, and that we should be proud of what we have accomplished during Ramadan. This month was a chance to really look at ourselves and clear up as many bad habits as we can. Ramadan is a month in which we renew our commitment and strengthen it to Allah and His religion.
We fast, give to charity, read Qur’an and pray Qiyam; we avoid telling lies and gossip; we pretty much do our very best to avoid sin. But as now that Ramadan has ended, the majority of us will revert to what we were before Ramadan had started, and the Qur’an will return to its wrong place, the shelves, fasting will be postponed until next year and Qiyam prayer will be completely forgotten. These acts help you to be a better person, award you, so why should they be limited to Ramadan?
It’s sad that most people read Qur’an only duringRamadan, and by not reading them we are missing the blessing, and the good deeds we are rewarded by reading said words. Allah says, “There is no doubt in this Book.” (Qur’an 2:2). The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said, "Whoever reads a harf (letter) of the book of Allah shall have a good deed (recorded for him or her) and every good deed is increased a ten-fold (reward). I do not say that alif lam meem is a harf, but that alif is a harf, lam is a harf and meem is a harf," (Tirmithi) And he also said, peace be upon him: “read the Qur’an, it comes the Day of Resurrectioninterceding for its companions” (Muslim). One of the best ways to draw close to Allah is by reciting his words. AbuSa'eed may Allah be pleased with him narrates that prophet Mohammed peace be upon him said "Almighty Allah says; ‘If anybody finds no time for My remembrance and for begging favors of Me, because of his remaining busy with the Qur’an, I shall give him more than what I give to all those who beg favors of Me. The superiority of the Word of Allah over all other words is like the superiority of Allah over the entire creation’" (Tirmidhi, Bayhaqi)
Qiyam, the night prayer, isn’t restricted to Ramadan only;Allah is watching over you all year, and He will look over you in the middle of the night while praying no matter what month you were praying in. Aisha report, May Allah be pleased with her ”When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would miss his prayers in the night due to pain or some other reason, he would pray twelve cycles (raka’ah) during the day.” This shows how important The Night Prayer is that even when the Prophet (PBUH) was sick, he replaced it with twelve raka’ah during the day.
As we all know, fasting is one of main actions during Ramadan, but there are also optional days to fast which areMondays and Thursdays, or the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth days of the hijri month. Fasting during Ramadan is an act of moral training and self-disciplining, Abu Hurayrahreported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,said “Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting he should neither indulge in obscene language nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: ‘I am fasting’”(Muslim) Also, fasting in Ramadan serves as a protection for the Muslim from the Hell Fire, Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said “Anyone who fasts for one day for Allah's sake, Allah will keep his face away from the Hellfire for a distance covered by a journey of seventy years.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Thankfully, many of us live a life of relative comfort, but not all of us live under the same circumstances, others can’t even provide basic life needs, such as food or shelter. During Ramadan, most of us give to charity, but we forget about charitiesduring the rest of the year. If we give what we love for the pleasure of helping mankind with the faithfulness to Allah, He will reward us back, replace it with more, and therefore increase it. Giving and helping those in need is established in Islam and for that, we must always remind ourselves to provide help for those less fortunate. They need help, not only in Ramadan, but also during the course of the year. Remember,the Almighty promises us that if we teach ourselves to give in times of ease and hardship, our sustenance will increase. By giving, we remain thankful to what Allah provided for us and share it with our brothers and sisters who are in need.
Faris Alothimin
Twitter: @AlothiminFaris