Welcome Ramadaan 1433 AH / 2012

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وءاله وصحبه وسلم “من صام رمضان إيمانا واحتسابا غفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه”. رواه البخاري. وتقبل الله صيامكم وطاعاتكم.
Rasoolullah (Sallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam) said: “Whoever fasts Ramadaan out of faith and hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” [Bukhari]

Here in South Africa the moon was not sighted yesterday, so tonight (20 July 2012 / 01 Ramadaan 1433 AH) will be our first taraweeh commencing with our first Sawm for 1433 AH tomorrow Inshaa-Allah!

كُلُّ حَسَنة بعشْرِ أمثالها إلى سبعمائة ضعف إلا الصيّام فإنَّهُ لى و أنا أجزي بِه
al Bukhari related a Hadeeth Qudsiyy that Rasoolullah (Sallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam) said:
“The reward of every good deed is multiplied from ten up to seven-hundred times, except that of the Fasting, for it is for Me and I am it’s reward”.

It is indeed a great day of ‘ibaadah for us as it is Yawmul Jumu’ah and the start of Ramadaan 1433 AH. Let us all exert in good deeds. Put the tv sets and the time wasting with games and friends and visits to the malls aside. Let us make good use of this month to attain nearness to Allah ‘Azza wa Jall. Many will fast but will spend most of their free time sleeping while the women will spend most of the time before iftaar in their kitchens making an array of food, half of which is not even normally eaten out of Ramadaan.
Does this not defeat the purpose of attaining spirituality in Ramadaan? If Ramadaan is meant to gain nearness to Allah, why do we become so lazy? Most of the time it is lack of preparation for the month and sheer neglect. If Ramadaan is meant to teach our children what the poor feel, how do they learn that, by picking and choosing from a table spread so packed with little space for even a plate to rest upon. It makes no use to fill the stomach and merely keep the phrase or rather an accusation on the tongue “We are so fortunate that we have while the poor people have nothing” while we lazily wipe our mouths and unbutton our pants!

Rasoolullah (Sallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam) said, “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.” [Tirmidhi 1381 Ibn Maajah 3349 classed as Sahih] As the above hadeeth shows, filling the stomach was disliked by Rasoolullah (Sallahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam). One should also not starve oneself as the amount of food eaten varies according to different persons and their activities.

Let us try our utmost to not do these things excessively although they are very much allowed after iftaar
1) Eating and drinking
2) Sleeping
3) Relaxing
This is the month of Qur-aan and exertion in good deeds. We can eat, drink, sleep and relax in the other 11 months of the year.

May Allah help us to attain nearness to Him in this month especially and may we not forget those less fortunate than us. Keep in mind also that a person with a saturated stomach and a sleepy mind cannot fully have his heart connected to Allah. May Allah grant us all a spiritually uplifting month of Ramadaan better than we have ever experienced!