A hypocrite…or just a human being?

Assalamu Alaikum.

Please ponder over the following hadeeth:

[I’ll explain the purpose of this post in the next Remember Ramadan Ramblings post, insha-Allah, because some people may misunderstand what it means. I could have done it now but my brain is half-asleep. Sorry.]

“Hanzala Usayyidi, who was amongst the scribes of Allah’s Messenger (salallahu alaihi wasallam). reported: I met Abu Bakr. He said: Who are you? He (Hanzala) said: Hanzala has turned to be a hypocrite. He (Abu Bakr) said: Subhan Allah, what are you saying? Thereupon he said: I say that when we are in the company of Allah’s Messenger we ponder over Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our very eyes and when we are away from Allah’s Messenger (salallahu alaihi wasallam) we attend to our wives, our children, our business; most of these things (pertaining to After-life) slip out of our minds.

Abu Bakr said: By Allah, I also experience the same. So I and Abu Bakr went to Allah’s Messenger and said to him: Allah’s Messenger, Hanzala has turned to be a hypocrite. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said: What has happened to you? I said: Allah’s Messenger, when we are in your company, we are reminded of Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but whenever we go away from you and attend to our wives, children and business, much of these things go out of our minds.

Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the Angels will shake hands with you in your beds and in your paths but, Hanzala, time should be devoted (to the worldly affairs) and time (should be devoted to prayer and meditation). He (the Prophet) said this thrice.” [Sahih Muslim, Hadeeth No. 6623]

Remember Ramadan Ramblings – Episode 3: Muharram – Our Fourth Chance

Assalamu Alaikum.

Yes, Ramadan was our 2nd chance and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah was the 3rd.

Now, we have yet another chance: Muharram.

You might wonder why I keep pointing to specific months as being 3rd or 4th chances when, in reality, a person can make a fresh start from…NOW.

Yes, that’s true. However, the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah and Muharram are what I call mini-goals and iman-boosting opportunities, because of their many virtues.

It is very difficult for a person to think about working hard for a lifetime. So we need to shorten that to working hard until the end of Ramadan, so that we can take it year by year. However, as Ramadan is still quite far away, we need to work towards another goal that is close by in order to keep ourselves motivated.

That’s what I’ve noticed about most people. They need deadlines. I’m like that too. I need a real tangible deadline so that I can get the adrenaline going.

So, let’s give ourselves yet another deadline to improve: Muharram.

And we’ll just keep doing this until Ramadan comes, insha-Allah.

Remember: The only way to actually “remember” Ramadan is to become our “Ramadan selves” and better in all the months.

PS. Question to all of you: Are you still asking Allah to accept your Ramadan? If not, then why not? The early generations did this for 6 months after Ramadan!

Remember Ramadan Ramblings – Episode 2: Dhul Hijjah – Our Third Chance

Assalamu Alaikum.

Yes, Ramadan was our second chance (remember?) and Dhul Hijjah is our third.

So, why should we stick to “remembering” (i.e. dreaming about) Ramadan? Why don’t we just take advantage of the ten best days* that are coming up in order to give ourselves another little Ramadan?

[*Actually, even the days of Tashreeq (11th-13th) have some virtues so we shouldn’t forget about them. Sadly, most people do exactly that because they’re too busy partying their brains out because it’s Eid.]

What should we do?

1) Aim for a fresh start (don’t wait for Dhul Hijjah, do it NOW). Seek Allah’s Forgiveness and ask Him to make things easy for you.

2) Read about the virtues of Dhul Hijjah and write down all the specific deeds that can be done during this time (e.g. fasting, takbeer, etc).

[Note: We need to read about Eid Al-Adha and the days of Tashreeq too as they are a religious celebration, not a 4 day party.]

Rather than waiting for next Ramadan to come, we need to pretend that it is already here and that we are in the last ten days (hey, there’s even an Eid after them!).

3) Bring out all those Ramadan Resolutions papers out from the bottom of your drawers. Oh yes.

However, now we’re going to call this “Dhul Hijjah resolutions”.

Look over those resolutions and then write down your goals for these 10 days.

4) Write down all the good things that you did in Ramadan and then aim to do them in Dhul Hijjah as well.

5) Write down where (and why) you messed up in Ramadan and take steps to rectify that in Dhul Hijjah.

6) Try to get the Eid shopping done before these 10 days.

7) Encourage everybody to participate in Dhul Hijjah.

See, one of the great things about Ramadan is that everybody is trying to be good, so it’s much easier for us to be good.

8) Try to prepare a checklist for Dhul Hijjah (we have so many Ramadan checklists but not even one Dhul Hijjah checklist!).

It’s always easier to remember things when you have a checklist (we’re not elephants, remember?)

[Note: To the menstruating women, remember that even though you can’t pray or fast, you can still do a lot.]

9) Try to prepare a dua list as well (remember the wonderful day of Arafah?)

10) Remember that ultimately the purpose of Ramadan is the same as Dhul Hijjah: to get closer to Allah.

Therefore, we should once again aim to continue the good deeds even after Dhul Hijjah. If we just intend them for Dhul Hijjah and don’t want to bother doing them after that, it means we have a problem with our sincerity.

So, let’s get going, insha-Allah. We don’t want to waste our third chance, would we?

Remember Ramadan Ramblings – Episode 1: Elephants don’t forget (but sadly, human beings do)

Assalamu Alaikum.

[Yes, the Remember Ramadan Series is finally here.]

Yes indeed. Elephants are quite sharp (although they look quite dumb). They remember old acquaintances and they can harbour grudges for years.

Human beings? Well, the word “insaan” (humans in Arabic) actually comes from the word which means “to forget” (ditto for the word “nisaa” which is the word for women in Arabic, which makes perfect sense as women are especially forgetful).

So, what did we (i.e. Muslims) forget this time?

Ramadan, of course.

Remember Ramadan? It ended just 27 days ago. That’s less than a month.

Remember Ramadan? That’s the month we all love because we can finally stop all our excuses and submit to the Lord of the Worlds.

Remember Ramadan? That’s the month that exposes us for the big frauds and liars that we really are.

Ouch.

Was I too blunt?

Well, sorry. Someone had to point out that elephant* in the room.

[This elephant has no relation to the aforementioned elephants. It’s just that the English language seems to have far too many sayings dedicated to elephants.]