Ramadan Reminders; Day 5

Assalam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu! :)

May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you!

Daily Reminder 5:

Ramadan is only mentioned once in the entire Quran in Surah Baqarah, verse 185. And the introductory line speaks about the Quran itself!

“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.”

Allah swt did not describe this month as the month of fasting or prayer but He described it as the month in which the Quran was revealed.

What we need to ponder over here is that Surah Baqarah is a Madani Surah which means that it was revealed after the migration of the Prophet (saws) from Makkah to Madinah (roughly 10 years after Prophethood).

Question is, Muslims received the Quran almost a decade ago, then why did Allah introduce the Quran as though it was the first time He is speaking about His Book? 

Because this is the period when we should be renewing our relationship with the Quran. Ramadan is the month of rejuvenating our experience with the Quran like never before. In fact, this month should be the celebration of revelation itself!

Ibn Abbas narrates;

“The Messenger of Allah (saws) was the most generous person, and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would come to him every night and he would study the Qur’an with him. Truly, when Allah’s Messenger (saws) would meet Jibril, he would be more generous than a fleeting wind.” 

[Agreed Upon]

Such a beautiful hadith, Subhan Allah! Our Prophet (saws) would himself revise the Quran in Ramadan even though it was revealed upon him! 

If you’ve been reciting, memorising and understanding the Quran the entire year, turn it up a few notches this time. Because the beauty of the Quran is such that no matter how many times you revisit an ayah, there’s always something new to comprehend and reflect! Such is the Book of Allah, the treasures of it are never ending, Subhan Allah!

After all, at the end of the day what matters is how close you are to Allah, and what better way to get closer to Allah than constantly pondering over His words and renewing our relationship with His Book. 

Verse of the Day:

Juz: 5

Surah: An Nisa

Verse: 36

وَاعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْجَارِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالاً فَخُورًا

“Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the neighbour farther away, the companion at your side, the traveller, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.”

This ayah basically speaks about some of the key ingredients that we need to follow in order to reserve our spot in Jannah. The first and foremost being: Worship Allah alone and do not associate any partners with Allah.

Followed by the categories of people who we need to be kind and generous to:

Parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, the neighbour who stays close by (who you are well acquainted with), the neighbour who stays far away (those who are a stranger to you), the companion at your side (the one who is next to you), the traveller and your slaves or helpers.

But what caught my eye is what Allah says after this,

“Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.”

This is something I bet each and every one of us are guilty of committing at least once in our lives.

Sometimes we think high of ourselves and belittle others. When we buy a brand new iPhone while our friends have a Samsung or we got a Gucci handbag while everybody around us have a 10$ purse or our watch belongs to the priciest brand there is, we tend to look down on others. There’s a sense of pride in us and we try to show off wherever and whenever possible.

At-Tirmidhi (1999), Abu Dawood (4091) and Ibn Maajah (59) narrated from Abdullah ibn Masood that the Prophet (saws) said: 

“No one will enter Paradise in whose heart is an atom’s weight of arrogance and no one will enter Hell in whose heart is an atom’s weight of faith.” A man said: What if I like my clothes to look nice and my shoes to look nice? He said: “Verily Allah loves beauty; rather arrogance means rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”

You have all the rights to look beautiful and to wear the best clothes, the best watch, the best shoes but that shouldn’t be the reason for you to look down on someone. Perhaps Allah has blessed them in ways you can never ever imagine!

Or maybe there’s someone sitting next to you, neither do you exchange a Salam nor do you smile, you don’t acknowledge the existence of an individual right next to you! Isn’t that being self-deluding or being lost in yourself (that’s what it means in the ayah)?

Allah swt says that He does NOT LIKE these people who are lost in themselves and who are proud and boastful. Remember, the one who is disliked by Allah, he can never be liked by people either. 

But the one who follows the above mentioned obligation and fulfills the rights of the people, commits righteous deeds, follows the ways and teachings of our Prophet (saws) is dearly loved by Allah! And whomever Allah loves, He places the love for him in the hearts of people. Subhan Allah!

May Allah swt make us humble, pure and the ones who fulfil the rights of Allah and the rights of people around us and bestow upon us His love, mercy and protection! Ameen.

Sunnah Challenge 5:

Yes you have read it right! Let Jannah make duaa for you!

But how can Jannah make dua for you...?!

Often in our prayers, we make dua to Allah to lead us to Jannah and protect us from Jahannam. But have we thought about how many times we would have asked for the same?

Anas ibn Malik (ra) narrated the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: 

“Whoever asks Allah for Jannah three times, Paradise says, “ Oh Allah enter him into Jannah. Whoever seeks protection with Allah from Hell three times, Jahanim says, “ Oh Allah protect him from the Fire.”

[At Tirmidhi]

Rasulullah (saws) tells us to ask for Jannah not once, or twice, but THREE times! Why? Because when we ask something repeatedly we emphasize on the matter until the request is earnest and sincere, from within our hearts.

And what is more glorious than Paradise itself asking for us to be entered in it?  

We can bring this small supplication into our daily duaas to ask Allah for Jannah and protection from Jahannam.. And remember to ask for it THRICE!!

The dua is as follows:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ

Allaahumma ‘innee ‘as’alukal-jannata wa ‘a’oothu bika minan-naar.

“O Allah, I ask You for Paradise and seek Your protection from the Fire”

Reference: Abu Dawud. See also Al-Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 2/328.

Assalam Alaykum.