Life After Ramadaan
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Adil ibn Manzoor Khan
Sep 2, 2011, 3:57:30 PM9/2/11
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"May the
Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that
there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
Life After Ramadaan
Complied by Imran Ayub
Are
you a Ramadaan Muslim?
·
Are you a Muslim
who prayers 5 times a day, and fasts, throughout Ramadaan, but stops when ‘Eid
arrives?
·
Do you do good
deeds in Ramadaan but return to your sins after ‘Eid?
·
Do you grow the
beard (brothers) and wear the hijaab (sisters) when Ramadaan arrives, then abandon
your obligations as soon as ‘Eid is announced?
It’s
time to wake up from this ‘dream state’ and realize the reality of our actions.
If you are a Muslim who, for example, prayers 5 times a day and yet commits
sins, are you really completing your prayer correctly?
Allaah,
the Most High, says “…Verily, As-Salat (the prayer)
prevents from Al-Fahsha and Al-Munkar...”[1]
Imaam
ibn Katheer said, “Abu Al-`Aliyah said, "Prayer
has three attributes, and any prayer that contains none of these attributes is
not truly prayer: Being done purely and sincerely for Allah alone (Ikhlas),
fear of Allah, and remembrance of Allah. Ikhlas makes a person do good deeds,
fear prevents him from doing evil deeds, and the remembrance of Allah is the
Quran which contains commands and prohibitions.''
Ibn Awn Al-Ansari said: "When you
are praying, you are doing good, it is keeping you away from immoral sins and
evil wicked deeds and what you are doing is part of the remembrance of Allah
which is greater.''”[2]
Do
not return back to a sinful state. Many Muslims worked very hard and
accumulated many good deeds in Ramadaan. However, some of these Muslims will
return to their evil ways and commits sins (openly and secretly). The effect of
this will be the blackening of their hearts and that on the Day of Judgement,
they will see all their deeds turn to dust! Imagine watching all the iftar
food, all the dates you donated, all the charity, the taraweeh, etc. all your
deeds being as large as a mountain, then turning into dust and floating off the
scales….
It
was narrated from Aboo Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon
him) said, “When
a believer commits sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he repents and
gives up the sin and seeks forgiveness, his heart will be polished. But if (the
sin) increases, (the black spot) increases. That is the Raan that Allaah
mentions in His Book: ‘Nay! But on their
hearts is the Ran (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn.’[3]”[4]
It
was narrated from Thawbaan that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “I certainly
know people of my nation who will on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds
like the mountains of Tihaamah, but Allaah will make them like scattered dust.” Thawban said, “O Messenger of Allaah, describe them to us and tell us
more, so that we will not become of them unknowingly.” He (peace be
upon him) said, “They
are your brothers and from your race, worshiping at night as you do, but they
will be people who, when they are alone, transgress the scared limits of
Allaah.”[5]
Allaah,
the Most High, says, “Leave (O mankind, all kinds
of) sin, open and secret. Verily, those who commit sin will get due
recompense for that which they used to commit.”[6]
Beware
of even the smallest of bad deeds. It
was narrated that Aaishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The
Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) said to me, “O Aaishah, beware of (evil) deeds that
are regarded as insignificant, for they have a pursuer from Allaah (i.e. accountability).”[7]
Reflect
on all the good work you did this Ramadaan. Think of the deeds that you found
you can do consistently and brought you closer to Allaah. Plan you days,
months, year, to maximize these deeds and reap their benefits
Aboo
Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace be upon him) said, “Take only as much as you can do of good deeds for the
best of deeds is that which is done consistently, even if it is little.”[8]
Sheikh
Muhammad Sâlih al-Munajjid said, “After
the end of Ramadaan, the people are divided into various types, two of the most
prominent of which I will describe here. The first types are those whom you see
in Ramadaan striving hard in worship. You never see them but they are
prostrating or standing in prayer, or reading Quraan, or weeping, so much that
they remind you of some of the worshipers among the salaf, and you even feel
compassion for them because of the intensity of their efforts and striving. Yet
hardly has the month ended, before they go back to negligence and committing
sin, as if they were prisoners of that worship, so they turn their attention to
their desires and become negligent and commit sins which they think will take
away their distress and grief. But these poor people forget that sin is the
cause of doom, because sins are like war wounds, one of which may turn out to
be fatal. How often has sin prevented a person from saying Laa ilaaha
ill-Allaah when in the throes of death.
After spending this entire month with
faith, (reading) Quraan and other acts of worship, these people then
backslide, Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billaah (there is no power and no
strength except with Allaah). These are the occasional worshippers who only
acknowledge Allaah on certain occasions or at times of calamity and distress,
then after that there is no more obedience or worship. What a bad habit that
is.
“The worshipper prayed for something
that he wanted, and when the matter was done, he neither prayed nor fasted.”
[Arabic poetry]
I wonder what is the point of worshiping for a whole month, if that is going to be followed by a return to dishonorable ways?
The second type are those who feel
distressed at the departure of Ramadaan, because they have tasted the sweetness
of being safe from sin, and the bitterness of patience became insignificant to
them, because they came to realize the true nature of their weakness and need
for their Master (Allaah) and their need to obey Him. They fasted in a true
sense and stood in prayer at night out of love, so when they bade farewell to
Ramadaan, their tears flowed and their hearts were broken. Those among them who
were burdened with sin hoped to be freed from sin and ransomed from Hell, and
to join the caravan of those who are accepted. Ask yourself, my brother, which
of the two groups do you belong to?”[9]
I
ask Allah to accept from us and you our fasting, our prayers and other
righteous actions, that our condition after Ramadaan be a better one, that the
state of our Ummah improves, that we are granted honour and that we truly turn
to our Lord…Ameen[10]
And It is Only Allaah Who grants
success. May Allaah Exalt the mention of His slave and Messenger Muhammad
(peace be upon him), and render him, his household and companion safe from
Evil.
[1] The Noble Qur’aan, Soorah Al-'Ankabut 29:45, http://www.thenoblequran.com/sps/nbq/
[2] Tafseer ibn
Katheer, 29:45, http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2165&Itemid=85
[3] The Noble Qur’aan, Soorah Al-Mutaffifin 83:14
[4] Sunan ibn
Maajah, Volume 5, Hadeeth Number 4,244, p. 360-361; Classed as Hasan by Haafiz Zubayr ‘Alee, Darussalam
Publishers (English Translation), 2007
[5] Sunan ibn
Maajah, Volume 5, Hadeeth Number 4,245, p. 361; Classed as Hasan by Haafiz Zubayr ‘Alee
[6] The Noble Qur’aan, Soorah Al-An'am 6:120
[7] Sunan ibn
Maajah, Volume 5, Hadeeth Number 4,243, p. 360; Classed as Saheh by Haafiz Zubayr ‘Alee
[8] Sunan ibn
Maajah, Volume 5, Hadeeth Number 4,240, p. 358; Classed as Saheh by Haafiz Zubayr ‘Alee
[9] ‘Advice after
Ramadaan’, http://islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1206&category=130
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