By Niqabi Swag Girl
I checked my blinking phone to see whose text message it is: “Reunion of Class of 2013 of ABC department of XYZ University at ChinaTown this Sunday…”
Boy! They did it again!
Oh yes, come Ramadan and there’s a deluge of invitations of iftaar parties and reunions and meet-those-friends-that-you-did-not-meet-the-whole-year-so-you-can-have-some-juicy-gossip-that-will-last-a-year.
And why not? You’ve been busy in your studies and jobs and family commitments all these months, isn’t this the perfect time to relax and party especially since you have the perfect excuse of not being able to eat for so many hours and not being able to drink in this scorching heat? You DESERVE a treat after all this torture, right?
Umm… Wait a sec! You think you DESERVE to lose all these precious moments that are here for only these few days in which you can multiply the reward of your good deeds enormously, get forgiveness for ALL your sins, cry in front of Allah and get your name removed from the inhabitants of hell-fire and have it written in those that will be in the highest Jannah, get the fate of your coming year all set with goodness and set your affairs of this world right? Really?
Come on! Don’t lower yourself this much, mate. Don’t lose on this time. Your parties and reunions can wait.
Ramadan is not the month of parties. It is the month of worship, it is the month of reconnecting with your Creator.
These days are supposed to be taken extremely seriously. We need a perspective shift. Rather than relaxing in these days, you can relax in the rest of the months of the year. If you don’t let your job or studies ride you like an animal and don’t run blindly after this dunya, it won’t matter in the end.
This month is like the rain falling down in a season of drought, with the people standing outside to collect the rainwater. Some have with them huge buckets, some have bowls, and some only have little cups. The bigger the utensil, the more rainwater they’ll be able to catch. This rain is like the rain of mercy and rewards in Ramadan, and your utensils are your good deeds. It’s your choice how much you want to strive to attain that mercy. Indeed that person would be extremely foolish who chooses to ignore the rain and die of thirst. And the one who refuses to be blessed by the droplets and puts up his umbrella of sins would be absolutely mad.
So don’t let that mercy miss you by wasting your time talking and partying at iftaar time.
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, “At every breaking of the fast, Allaah has people whom He redeems.” [Ahmad (5/256)]
Who doesn’t want to ask Allah to set him free from the fire? Who doesn’t have loved ones that have died and does not want to make dua for them to be released from the fire?
Every moment is precious in this blessed month. Our pious predecessors used to stop studying all other subjects and open the Quran in the month of Ramadan. They used to ask Allah six months before Ramadan to grant them long life so that they could reach Ramadan and they used to ask Allah six months after Ramadan to accept their fasting.
As for these last 10 days, do you know how our Prophet (ﷺ) used to spend them?
His wife, Aisha RA narrates, “With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet (ﷺ) used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) and used to pray all the night, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers.” [Bukhari 2024]
Let’s gird up our loins and get going. May Allah save us from being of the following people,
“Once Angle Gabriel A.S supplicated, “Woe be upon him who got the Month of Ramadan (in a state of health & well being) but could not earn an expatiation of his sins”, Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) said “ameen”.” [Hakim]
