Anticipating Ramadan

Ramadan is just around the corner. It will be a great blessing for those of us who live to see it and pick its invaluable fruits. It is a time of Taqwa (piety), of Eeman (faith), and of Ihsaan (excellence). It’s time for renovation of faith, for renewal of our pledge to Allah Almighty, for refuelling our soul for the onslaughts the next year holds for us. Yet, it will pass by many of us without touching them. How deprived are those who will remain untouched by it! And how lucky are those whom its nights will bless with tears of love and fear, and its days with the sweet hunger and thirst of fasting!Allah breaks the monotony of human life by appointing times and places that He, by His infinite Wisdom and Knowledge, made special, ones that have the special touch of Allah’s Benediction and Blessing. This concept of blessing is extremely important for it appears quite frequently in the Qur’an and the Prophetic narrations.The concept of blessing has a kind of mystery in it. The devoted slave of Allah does not know exactly how, when and in what form will the promised increase or acceptance descend, so he or she keeps an eye on the unknown prize and keeps going. It is hidden in some moments of the night, some morsels of food, some days of the week, some months of the year, and some cities or places in the world. No one knows but The All-Knower- Allah, The Most Exalted.Even a cursory look at the history of various human cultures shows that humans have a timeless instinct to separate the special from the mundane and to distinguish the sacred from the profane. This very distinction has formed the essence of worship in all human societies, primitive or modern. In the true religion of Allah, all sanctity and devotion goes finally to Allah, and Allah alone. Yet to break our routine, to grab our attention, to challenge our intellect, to satiate our spiritual yearning, and finally to fill our instinctive need of worship, devotion and love, Allah has chosen, by His Wisdom, tangible symbols for us. These symbols of time and space, of sacred moments and blessed places, are an aid to our worship. Ramadan is perhaps the richest, the largest and the most loaded of these symbols.The modern secular society has played havoc with this sense of sacredness, leaving us without symbols and their spirituality and mystery. Surrounded by man-made buildings, cars, computers, highways and gadgets, we forget The Creator of the makers of these trivialities. Social media messages preempt prayers, cheap fiction strikes off the Qur’an, fashion magazines replace beneficial books; TV sports take care of any reflective moments you might have otherwise had.Ramadan comes to many of us without arousing any ecstasy in the heart or anticipation in the mind. All the joys of its anticipation and memories of its presence are sidelined by the clutter of this busy life.If you are busy, but not necessarily getting much done in terms of real responsibilities of your life, that is, there is no blessing in your time and efforts, nor have you any ‘spare’ time for pondering Allah’s Message, then be sure, the one keeping you busy is none but Satan. The solution is easy: seeking Allah’s refuge. But it is being aware and ready perpetually to seek Allah’s refuge that makes the toughest challenge. The times and places of blessing help us do just that.Don’t be too busy for Ramadan. Small things like Masjid announcements about Ramadan and other sacred days and nights, discussions with friends and relatives about your plans to read Qur’an and mutual encouragement to excel in piety can work wonders. Seek blessings by keeping track of the Islamic calendar and of the months and days, fasting on the recommended days, and visiting outdoors to reflect upon the creation of Allah. Learn the sayings of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, about such blessed moments like Ramadan, and intensify your worship, devotions and supplications during these times. Keep your tongue wet by remembering Allah and asking for His mercy and blessings. Meet the blessed Ramadan fully prepared to reap its gifts. Pray that Ramadan touches you with its incalculable blessings.A believer should not be stung twice from the same hole!To be precautious and prudent is a Prophetic directive, especially when dealing with those who have been proven deceitful and dishonest. It is unbecoming of a Muslim to be gullible that he would be deceived twice by the same trick. A person may see things in other than their real form and, thus, he gets deceived by them – and this is normal – but not to be precautious and allow himself to be deceived twice, this is unacceptable naivety that is unbecoming of a believer. This directive is a universal principle and most beneficial advice eloquently coined in a terse statement made by the master of eloquence, Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam (may Allah exalt his mention).Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “A believer should not be stung twice from the same hole.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]The Hadith uses the Arabic verb “Yuldagh” which means to be bitten or injured by a venomous creature such as scorpions and snakes; and the term “Juhr” (hole) means the burrow dug by vermin and wild animals.Commenting on the Hadith, Abu ‘Ubayd, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “This eloquent statement was never uttered by anyone before the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and he first said it to an Arab poet named Abu ‘Azzah al-Jumahi. When this man was taken prisoner by the Muslims during the Battle of Badr, he appealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, to release him without ransom because he was poor and had a family to support. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, granted him his request. When the same man was later taken prisoner by the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud, he again appealed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, for his release, mentioning his poverty and dependents. In response, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said to him: “You will not boast in Makkah and say that you had mocked Muhammad twice!’ Thereupon, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, ordered that he be killed. This story was cited by Ibn Is-haaq in Al-Maghaazi.”Given the richness and depth of the meaning of this succinct Prophetic directive, the commentators of Hadith mentioned many interpretations for it that are all possible despite its brevity.Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy upon him, cited some of these possible interpretations. He quoted Al-Khattaabi, may Allah have mercy upon him, saying: “The wording of this Hadith is in the form of a statement intended as an imperative, as if saying: let the believer be firm and precautious lest he would be fooled twice by the same source. This applies to one’s religious affairs as much as it applies to worldly ones. In fact, the religious affairs are worthy of precautious and prudence with greater reason. It was also said that the statement: ‘A believer should not be stung twice from the same hole’ means that when a person commits a sin and receives his due punishment in the worldly life, he will not be punished for it again in the Hereafter. I believe that if the sayer meant that the general indication of the Hadith’s wording includes this meaning, then it is possible or else the context of the Hadith does not support this specific meaning. This is further supported by the view that the Hadith included a warning against letting oneself be fooled and a reference to being astute.”It can be said that the Hadith instructs a Muslim to be precautious of potential harms incurred on his worldly affairs or those of the Hereafter. He is enjoined to be vigilant and prudent regarding all his affairs. The fact that the wording of the Hadith indicates one of them in particular (i.e. the worldly affairs) does not prevent interpreting it to apply to both the worldly and religious affairs. What matters is the general indication of the statement, not the specific context in which it was made.In his explanation of the Hadith, Ibn al-Humaam, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “The Hadith ‘A believer should not be stung,’ could be read as an imperative statement indicative of the forbiddance in this regard, meaning: Let the believer be heedful and prudent so as not to be harmed twice in the same manner. This is an example of the succinct speech of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, that none had ever coined before him. The intent was to warn the believer against exposing himself to the same harm twice, and this is required of him regarding the affairs of the Hereafter as much as it is required for his worldly affairs. When a believer commits a sin, his heart should ache the same way his body aches when he is stung, and thus he avoids committing the sin again. After the incident when Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), may Allah exalt his mention, almost responded to Zulaykhah’s temptation, he would not speak to a woman except while covering his face.” Evidently, a Muslim needs to heed this prophetic directive in all his affairs, especially with people who are principally treacherous and dishonest and known for their evil intentions towards Muslims. A believer should be cautious of the plots of Satan and the enemies of Islam with their different names and ideologies. It is unbecoming of a Muslim to let himself be vulnerable to their scheming and deceit. The basic principle regarding the Muslim’s interactions with them should be extreme precaution, heedfulness and prudence; otherwise, he would be repeatedly harmed by them and vulnerable to serious dangers.Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/