Assalam
Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu
May the
peace, mercy and blessings of Allah azza wa jal be upon you!
Alhamdullilah
we are in the blessed month of Ramadan. Some of us are excited about the coming
30 days and have planned everything there is to plan while some of us are sooooooo
excited that we still haven’t come up with a plan yet. :P
But Alhamdullilah in
some way or the other we are slowly getting into the spirit of this blessed
month.
What
picture comes to our mind when we think of Ramadan…?
Is it
fasting? Or the feast after fasting? The first bite of chicken samosa or haleem
is all that plays in our mind in rewind mode. :P
Anyway
on a serious note, usually either fasting or taraweeh prayers or iftaar timings
come to our mind when we think about Ramadan.
But that’s
not what Allah (swt) wants us to think.
This is
the verse that has been repeated over and over but today let’s take a closer
look at it which is the 185th verse from Surah al-Baqarah where
Allah (swt) says,
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِنَ الْهُدَىٰ وَالْفُرْقَانِ
“The
month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and
clear proofs of guidance and criterion.”
Allah
(swt) did not introduce us to Ramadan by fasting but by saying that the Quran
was revealed in this month. Religious or not, we know that in this month we
work a lil extra in worshipping Allah (swt) and in getting closer to Him. And
the key to get close to Allah (swt) is through the Quran itself! When we don’t put
an effort in learning and trying to understand what Allah (swt) says in the
Quran then we’re not actually fulfilling the purpose of Ramadan! The entire
purpose of Ramadan is to celebrate the Quran.
This is
the month where we need to put in that effort in understanding the Quran and
introduce ourselves to it like never before.
The
lazy part of us might say that it’s enough to read articles about the Quran or
roughly go through it’s translation or atleast recite the Quran once during
Ramadan. But that’s not enough. Why? Because the Quran is a purposeful book and
how can we derive its benefits when we don’t understand what it says!
Some of
us have the habit of reading the newspaper as soon as we wake up or as they say
“kill” time by gazing at pictures in the magazine but we don’t pick the Quran
and try to understand what Allah (swt) wants us to know through this Book! Is
it that hard for us to devote at least half an hour to study the Quran and
ponder over its verses? What sort of preoccupation is this where we have plenty
of time to read wordly books but no time to understand the Divine Book.
Answer
me this. If you receive a letter from your friend in a language that you cannot
understand, wouldn’t you ask someone to translate it for you or atleast use the
translate app on your phone? But little do we care to know the message sent by
The Lord of the worlds for us.
In the
2nd verse of Surah al-Jum’ah, Allah (swt) says,
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى بَعَثَ
فِى ٱلْأُمِّيِّۦنَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن
كَانُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِى ضَلَٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ
“It is He who has sent among the unlettered a
Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom -
although they were before in clear error.”
The word يزكيهم comes from the root word ز ك ي which
means purify.
يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ means
when Prophet Muhammad (saws) recites the verses of the Quran to his people, it purifies
them. This has two indications. Purification of –
1. Mind
2. Heart
By purifying our Minds,
Allah (swt) teaches us how to think and how to give right answers. There are
verses in the Quran where Allah (swt) asks us to think a certain way, to answer
in a specific manner and to reflect on certain things. With every verse, He
(swt) is constantly training us to think and learn lessons from them thereby
purifying our mind.
And then there’s
purification of the Heart. Our heart is filled with diseases like jealousy,
laziness, greed, temptation and lust. As we understand Allah’s Book, these
diseases slowly diminish. Allah (swt) gives us the power to control them and
thereby He (swt) purifies our hearts.
There may be spiritual
or intellectual books but the combination of these two can be found only in the
Quran. Subhan Allah! When we understand the Quran, Allah (swt) balances our
heart and mind.
Now some of us may say
that because the Quran is in Arabic, it’s hard to understand and maybe to
recite it as well. But there’s good news for them from Allah (swt) Himself!
Allah (swt) says in Surah al-Qamar, verse 40,
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا
الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ
“And We have certainly
made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?”
Allah (swt) is asking
who among you will remember the Quran… He, The Almighty, The most Powerful, your
Creator is calling you to remember His Book… And we turn away from this call… That’s
something that needs to be fixed. Don’t you think?
This Ramadan, may Allah
azza wa jal help us build our relationship with the Quran, understand its
beauty and help us remember the divine verses. May Allah azza wa jal help us
purify our minds and hearts. May He (swt) fill our hearts with love only for
Him and help us detach our hearts from everything that takes us away from His
remembrance. May He (swt) make us among those who earn His blessings in this
world and the Hereafter and may He make the path to Jannah easy for us.
Lastly, please don’t forget
our Ummah in your dua. As we enter Ramadan with all the luxuries of life, there
are our Muslim brothers and sisters who are entering Ramadan with not enough
food for suhoor or iftaar, with no roof over their head and with constant fear.
May Allah (swt) give patience to the Muslims who are going through a tough period
and reward their patience by uniting them with their families in Jannah. May He
(swt) accept their duas and have mercy on them. Ameen.
Ramadan Mubarak to you. :)
Assalam Alaykum.
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