Ramadan Reminders; Day 19

Assalam Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu! :)

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

Daily Reminder 19:

I’m sure you would’ve definitely come across the Hadith of Rasulullah (saws) in At-Tirmidhi;

“Whoever gives iftaar to one who is fasting will have a reward like his, without that detracting from the reward of the fasting person in the slightest.”

Some of us have mistaken this Hadith to be indicating towards “Iftaar parties”. 

No, I’m not being a Haram Police but think about all the time people spend for an Iftaar party. 

The ladies spend hours in the kitchen, preparing meals that are up to their “standards” and tasting every dish at least 2-3 times, yelling at the kids to clean up the house, getting dressed for the guests and spending the last few precious minutes before Iftar discussing about who’s got the laziest kids at home! 

We see this practice is so common in most of the Muslim families. This is not what the Hadith meant! Wasting food and time is against the Sunnah and the Quran! This is not what’s going to earn you Ajr!

Ibn Umar (ra) would break open his fast with the orphans, poor and the needy!

If our Iftaar parties are less complex, the hosts and guests don’t dress up like they’re off for a wedding and the families encourage each other in remembering Allah or asking the kids to recite Duas, then I’m totally up for one! 

This brings families closer and the act of remembering Allah swt in a group is far more superior than any last minute gossip. 

Breaking open a fast for a person is one of the noblest acts in our Deen. Let’s not ruin the sanctity of it by incorporating “societal norms”.

Verse of the Day:

Juz: 19

Surah: Al Furqan

Verse: 30

وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا

And the Messenger has said, “O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Qur'an as [a thing] abandoned.”

Can you imagine on the Day of Judgement, Rasulullah (saws) will complain to Allah swt regarding people who abandoned the Quran in this Dunya? They never gave the Quran the importance it deserves and they never took any heed from it! The Quran was never on their list of priorities. The Book of Allah was merely an art on their shelves.

Subhan Allah think about it. If not for Ramadan, how often do we pick the Quran? How long does it take for us to complete one recitation of the entire Quran? How many times have we tried to understand this Book? Has it ever happened that we read an ayah and it has made us cry? How close is our relationship with the Book of Allah? Do we truly acknowledge the fact that this Book is a Miracle of Allah swt? 

If the answer is ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ or even a ‘yes’ with the slightest hesitation, we’re in trouble! 

The Prophet (saws) said: “The Quran is an intercessor and one whose intercession shall be accepted. It will argue on behalf of those who read it and it will be confirmed. Whoever places the Quran before himself, the Quran will lead him to paradise. And whoever places the Quran behind his back, it will drive him to hell fire.”

[As Silsilah As Saheehah]

Let me break it down for you.

One, if we recite the Quran often and frequently, understand its verses and abide by this Book for the sake of Allah swt, it will take us to Jannah, no matter what! On the Day of Judgement when we will be in desperate needs of good deeds to make our scale heavy, the Quran will come as our saviour. And this plead of the Quran will never be rejected. Subhan Allah! 

On the other hand, if we neglect the Quran, we don’t make an effort to understand the depth in every word and every ayah and we don’t follow the instructions laid down by Allah swt, the Quran will not stop until it makes sure that the person enters the Hell fire!

Let us make every effort to build a strong relationship with the Quran and make this Miracle of Allah swt a priority in our lives. 

No matter if we have exams or we’re overloaded with assignments and worldly tasks, let’s recite the Quran every day and understand what we’re reciting about. Even if it is just one ayah in a day! Let’s not put the Quran behind our backs and let it take the front seat in our lives.

Because once we start creating a distance between us and the Book of Allah, it will be extremely difficult to hold it back again. This gap will only increase and it’ll be in the next Ramadan when we’ll be lifting this Book again! 

Remember, if we don’t fulfil the rights or the Haqq of the Quran then the one who delivered this Quran to us will be speaking against us on the Day of Judgement.

May Allah swt make us among those who constantly pick up the Quran, recite the Glorious Words of Allah swt, ponder over its message and spread the knowledge of His Book to those around us! Ameen. 

Sunnah Challenge 19:

What makes a person's Dua worthy, and likely of acceptance?

It is praising our Lord, the Greatest, before asking any Dua.

There is this long list of Duas that we ask Allah.. But we feel most of it is not answered.. Why? 

Most of the times, we make our Duas a repetitive chore, losing the very essence and purpose of asking Allah swt itself! We are so hasty in finishing off our Duas to rush to our jobs of Dunya, without a word of praise to the One who Provides it all!! 

Fadalah bin ‘Ubaid narrated:

“While the Messenger of Allah (saws) was seated, a man entered and performed Salat, and he said: ‘O Allah, forgive me, and have mercy upon me.’ The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘You have rushed, O praying person. When you perform Salat and then sit, then praise Allah with what He is deserving of, and send Salat upon me, then call upon Him.’” He said: “Then another man performed Salat after that, so he praised Allah and sent Salat upon the Prophet (saws). The Prophet (saws) said to him: ‘O praying person! Supplicate, and you shall be answered.’”

There are so many ways of praising Allah, we can invoke Him with His most Beautiful names and attributes.. He is the Creator and Sustainer of this Universe, and The most worthy and deserving of all the praise!

Let us remind ourselves to praise Allah, before every Dua that we make, ask for good and put our complete faith and trust in Him alone for acceptance.. May Allah make it easy for all of us!