This seems to be a widespread issue with our ummah – that many of the Muslims are making school studies the main priority in life. When it comes to exam season parents are pulling their kids out of Qur’an/Arabic schools. They are also replacing the time for religious/Qur’anic studies at home with extra secular revision.
Not only is this an issue among some parents but also older students who forget about their religious duties all throughout the year because of studies and deadlines.
Let us truly ask ourselves, have we really made Allah our priority?
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children – like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion.” 57:20
The world has deluded us all through its beauty. We chase what will not last and prioritise the wrong things. We want that qualification and that job so badly that many of us abandon our Deen entirely because of it. Some are even reaching the point of not fasting on exam days in Ramadan. How have we gotten that far?
The deen of Allah is not merely an obstacle that will get in the way of studies or any aspect of our lives. The deen and the Qur’an is a mercy that will as a matter of fact make everything in our lives easier.
Let us plan the dunya around our Deen, and not our Deen around the dunya.
Time has flew past and we have already reached the last 10 nights of Ramadan. These are the nights in which there is unlimited blessing and in one night specifically is worth a whole lot more than any other. Here are some hadiths pertaining to Laylat-ul-Qadr:
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever establishes Optional Night Salah on the night of Qadr (Night of power) in sincere faith and hoping for Allah’s Reward, Allah shall erase his previous sins.” [Bukhari]
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Ramadan approached, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “This month has come to you, and in it there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of it is deprived of all goodness, and no one is deprived of its goodness except one who is truly deprived.”[Ibn Majah authenticated by al-Albaani]
`A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: “When the last ten nights began Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) kept awake at night (for prayer and devotion), wakened his family, and prepared himself to observe Salah (with more vigor).” [Muslim]
She (may Allah be pleased with her) also narrated: “The Messenger of Allah used to encourage the people to pray Qiyam in Ramadan, without insisting on that. He said: “Whoever spends the nights of Ramadan in prayer out of faith and in the hope of reward, he will be forgiven his previous sins.”[al Nasa’i authenticated by al-Albaani]
There is a difference of opinion when it comes to which night exactly Laylat-ul-Qadr is; the idea that it is for sure on the 27th is not conclusive. As we have seen above, the Prophet (pbuh) used to search for it in the last 10 nights. There are many hadith that mention different narrations, one of which:
Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Once I went to Abu Sa`id Al Khudry and asked him: Won’t you come with us to the date-palm trees to have a talk?
So, Abu Sa`id went out and I asked him: Tell me what you heard from the Prophet (ﷺ) about the Night of Qadr.
Abu Sa`id replied: Once Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) performed I`tikaf (seclusion) on the first ten days of the month of Ramadan and we did the same with him.
Gabriel came to him and said: The night you are looking for is ahead of you. So, the Prophet (ﷺ) performed the I`tikaf in the middle (second) ten days of the month of Ramadan and we too performed I`tikaf with him.
Gabriel came to him and said: The night which you are looking for is ahead of you. In the morning of the 20th of Ramadan the Prophet (ﷺ) delivered a sermon saying: Whoever has performed I`tikaf with me should continue it. I have been shown the Night of “Qadr”, but have forgotten its date, but it is in the odd nights of the last ten nights.
I saw in my dream that I was prostrating in mud and water. In those days the roof of the mosque was made of branches of date-palm trees. At that time the sky was clear and no cloud was visible, but suddenly a cloud came and it rained.
The Prophet (ﷺ) led us in the prayer and I saw the traces of mud on the forehead and on the nose of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). So, it was the confirmation of that dream.”[Bukhari]
Think of it this way: we know for sure that it is the last 10 nights of ramadan, however, we will not know when those last 10 nights have started until we know when Eid is (since Eid is determined by the moon sighting and marks the end of ramadan). Thus in order for us to be sure we have gained its blessings, we must increase in worship in all of these last nights.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Search for it in the last ten nights [i.e., Laylat-ul-Qadr (the Night of Decree)] If one among you shows slackness and weakness (in the earlier part of Ramadan), it should not be allowed to prevail upon him in the last week.”[Sahih Ahmad]
May Allah give us the strength to make the most of these nights and accept all our worship.
Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allah . And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
[2:74]
We know that we as human beings have physical hearts and the hearts of our souls. So what exactly is the relationship or the role of the heart compared to the mind?
You see, our minds they process things. We analyse, we understand, we memorise, we learn and thus our minds progressively develop. In other words, a mind of a child at 4 years of age is less advanced than that of a of a 9 or 10 year old, and that 10 year old is not as advanced at 20 etc. So the mind is constantly growing, maturing and acquiring more and more knowledge as we age.
However, the heart is a different kind of entity. The heart doesn’t mature or grow; the heart fluctuates. Some days we have really good days as far as remembering Allah and being cautious of Allah. On other days it is really bad. We have ups and downs in the heart and the heart can become hard and it can also become soft. It can die and can come back to life etc.
So, on the one hand we have this entity that matures and on the other hand we have this other entity inside of us that is very volatile, very fragile. We have to take care of our hearts. In other words, sometimes we may know something in our minds but the heart still needs it; a reminder about Allah or a principle of Islam for example. Sometimes we start thinking “I already know this”, but in fact our hearts still need it to be told again and again.
Now from an Islamic or a Qur’anic perspective, when we make a decision, does it come from our minds or our hearts? How exactly do we make our decisions?
The answer to that is actually a combination of both, but the heart is in the driver’s seat as far as the Qur’an portrays.
For example, let’s say there is a young person who smokes. This person reads about how harmful smoking really is, is told at school about how it effects the lungs, the doctor is trying to make them stop etc. If one was to ask this person if they know that it is bad, they will say yes. Then if one asks them why they smoke? They never give an intellectual answer, “I like it” or “I will stop soon” or whatever.
So let’s say his same person is in their house upstairs smoking in their room and they see their dad pulling up on the driveway. What happens? The cigarette is immediately flushed down the toilet, air freshener comes out, gum in the mouth. Why? This is due to the fear of the father in their heart.
The lesson here is that if we do not have fear in the heart then even if we know it’s bad for us, we still do it anyway.
Now let’s take a look at an example from the Qur’an. In Surat Al-Baqarah and other places, Allah outlines the story of the Israelites, at the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) – they were known to be very intelligent people. Now they did not have any doubt that the Prophet (ﷺ) was indeed the final messenger from Allah – intellectually they understood this, and yet they still opposed him because their hearts were not willing to accept a gentile.
They were given so many miracles. One of which was a dead man being brought back to life in front of their eyes. Now the mind cannot play any tricks with this – a genuine miracle that they saw for themselves. Something outside the scope of our reality, but Allah says even after all this their hearts became hard, which means that if we let our intellect take control on its own, we have nowhere to go.
For us we have the miracle of the Qur’an and the Sunnah – the endless wisdom in Allah’s word and the Prophecies given by His Prophet (ﷺ) along with perfected narrations about his character. We can only benefit from it if our hearts are softened. A hard heart can get softer, it can be revitalised – as long as we are still breathing it is never too late.
May Allah soften our hearts and forgive our shortcomings, for it is the sins we commit that harden our hearts.
Ramadan is believed to be the month of fasting, yet we tend to forget the true essence of the blessed month. Allah says in the Qur’an:
The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.
[2:185]
It is true that fasting is an important part of Ramadan, but the first thing Allah mentions prior to fasting is the Qur’an itself. It is the month in which He revealed the miracle of His book to the prophet (ﷺ). In his time, it was known as the month of the Qur’an.
Allah mentions “unzila feehi” as in “it was sent down”, without mentioning Himself to highlight the Qur’an even further in this ayah; to show us the importance of its role. Unlike other areas of the Qur’an where He mentions Himself specifically, example: “anzalna al ma'” – “We (majesty form) sent down water”, instead here He eludes directly to the Qur’an to highlight its significance above all else. Thus why the first thing we should be thinking about in the blessed Ramadan is His book. As the month approaches we must plan as to how we are to get closer to the Qur’an.
Allah also clearly mentions that His book was revealed as a guidance to all mankind. Previously the Jews believed that revelation was only meant for them – that everyone else was lower than them in ranks. Until their generation was corrupted and Allah formed a new nation that was given its own revelation. This revelation is not to be kept for just the people in the nation but for all human beings. So first we are to bring ourselves closer to Allah’s book, then we are to share it with the people. It is this book that will bring true peace to the world.
Let’s compare that noble notion to what we have reduced Ramadan to today. Overeating, barely understanding the words we recite if we recite at all, finding the masjid that finishes taraweeh prayer the quickest and maybe only taking the 27th night seriously. We have made it into a cultural festivity type of thing, which we cannot say is haram, but Ramadan goes a lot deeper than this and through the festivity we tend to overlook all its blessings.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “When the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of the heaven are opened; the gates of Hell-fire are closed, and the devils are chained.” [Bukhari]
Why is it that the shayateen are chained? Is it so we can indulge in our fried foods uninterrupted? We must see it as an opportunity, a way to revive our belief in Allah through the Qur’an.
Allah ends the ayah with what we are to accomplish through this month, what we will achieve; He says: “so that perhaps you may be grateful”.
The question is, what are we to be grateful for? The first thing is the fact that we got to see the month through, completing the days of fasting – the fact that we were given a chance to cleanse all of our sins and start fresh. Then there comes the endless reasons through appreciating the fact that we were given Islam, the best gift anyone can have.
So the point of fasting itself is to gain taqwah – the consciousness of Allah, an urge to protect ourselves from sins; but the point of Ramadan as a whole is more grand – to gain true gratitude for what Allah has bestowed upon us as Muslims.
May Allah make Ramadan a means by which we become one with Allah’s book, the month in which we will try to understand the wisdom in His words and with His permission for us all to gain true gratitude.
We are undoubtedly living in difficult times. Trial has affected the world one way or another through the pandemic we are all going through. Doctors and physicians have recommended various practices that we are to adopt in order to minimise the chances of infection. However, many of us are blind to the fact that there has been a far worse disease that we are struggling to contain by not taking the right measures – and that is the disease of the heart.
Long before the current virus came along, we have been suffering at the hands of our own spiritual hearts and yet many of us have not even thought about any kind of containment act. We throw ourselves towards the contagion by constantly sinning, not realising the affects it has on our hearts. Yet when we are advised to use sanitisers for our hands to protect our bodies from disease we do not hesitate to take the necessary measures.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
[The time of] their account has approached for the people, while they are in heedlessness turning away.
[21:1]
Allah at the beginning of Surah Al Anbiya states that mankind is heedless, that we as human beings simply do not care that our time is drawing near, we ignore the warnings and forget.
No mention comes to them anew from their Lord except that they listen to it while they are at play
[22:2]
Then even when we listen to or take heed of a warning that comes from Allah, we just play around – we do not take it seriously.
Let’s take this principle and apply it to our times now. There are many ways of looking at the crisis that is currently happening in the world but let us focus on one scope – the fact that this could very well be a wake up call.
How are we dealing with it?
Needless to mention that we must take the recommended precautions to protect ourselves and those around us, but what exactly are we doing about the spiritual pandemic that has been around forever? Allah tells us directly that we are turning away from the truth – the fact that our time draws near, the fact that the grave is the only guaranteed destination.
We sanitise our hands to remove dirt, but what about the filth that they have committed? The haram money they have spent; the haram things they have been in contact with. Are we spiritually sanitising them through ablution/purification and keeping them away from the diseased places? This is just one example of many that we must ponder over.
At the end of the day our deaths are inevitable; whether they will be at the hands of an illness or not, it is a reality we must face. We must open our eyes and see the truth. We must protect ourselves and those around us from the haram in this world just as we are trying to protect them from the virus.
At the same time, we must remind ourselves of another ayah:
Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried?
[29:2]
Trial is part of our life in the dunya and it will come in many forms. At all points though we must remember that the biggest trials we face are not of a physical nature but of a spiritual nature. Illness and death is a big trial upon mankind, but it is at these times that Allah is testing our hearts the most. As He says:
But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.
[29:3]
Are we going to pass this trial by drawing closer to Him through worship? Or are we going to abandon our duties as Muslims owing to the fact that we are not getting what we want? As Allah says, He will surely make evident those are true to their deen and those who are liars.
May Allah cure all those who are ill, Muslims and non-Muslims alike; and may He protect us from all kinds of trials. May He also cleanse our hearts and make this pandemic a means of purifying our souls and make us of the truthful believers.
