Farewell Oh sweet Ramadhaan 2011

The time has come for us once again to bid farewell to this most precious and blessed month of Ramadhaan. It honestly feels like just yesterday when it dawned upon us. How many of us can say that we benefitted from this gracious month? How many of us can say we have made some sought of a change for the better? Have we really done justice to this month?

“Everything is a rush” we say. We wake up in a rush and this is how we pass our days. We have prepared so much for Iftaar and Eid, yet, have we spiritually prepared ourselves for the months to come? Being pious shouldn’t only be about being pious in Ramadhaan. It should be more than that. Ramadhaan should be the month where we make a firm commitment to change our lives forever.

Someone once told me that Ramadhaan is like the story of Yusuf (AS) and his brothers. Yusuf (AS) had 11 brothers, he was the 12th and the most loved and special to his father. His brothers mishandled him by throwing him into a well. Despite this terrible treatment he received from them, he still had mercy on them by forgiving them. Likewise, we have 11 months which we “mishandle”. We become unmindful of our salaah times, we rarely read the Quraan, we hardly make dhikr or dedicate some time for Deen. Then comes this one month, this is the most special month, wherein despite our short-comings all year round, Allah still overlooks our faults and forgives us – Allahu Akbar.

Allah (SWT) says in the Quraan : “Has not the time arrived for the believers to submit with fervent hearts to Allah’s warning and to the truth he has revealed?” (57:15)

We were born Muslim, but that’s not the most important thing, because everyone is born Muslim. What’s important is being able to keep up our Islamic identities wherever we are in which ever situation we find ourselves. What’s important is standing up for islam and fighting for what we believe is right. The point I’m trying to make is that we are Muslim every single year, month, day and hour, and we should be absolutely proud to be able to represent islam.

One thing we can be sure of is that Ramadhaan will be back next year, but will we? So lets ask ourselves, if this was our last Ramadhaan, what do we regret not doing? Or if we only had one more day to live, can we honestly say we have done enough for Allahs Deen ….. so while we are alive and well, lets do more!

Let us make a firm intention to abandon our old habits. Lets end this month with humility and perseverance to continue praying, giving charity, helping others and just being the best Muslims we can be. Let us consider each month as a blessing from The Almighty who is giving us yet another chance to reform and repent.

May Allah accept or Ibaadah and make it a means of drawing closer to Him. Aameen.