2nd Day of Ramadan

(In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful)

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Taala Wa Barakatuh..

All Praises is due to Allah, Lord of Majesty and Bounty, The Only Ruling Judge in the Day of Resurrection. Allah, You Alone We Worship, and unto You We ask for help    

It is known that our early Muslim scholars used to spend the six months leading up to Ramadhan asking Allah to let them witness it with life and faith, and the six months following it praying for Allah's acceptance of all the good they tried to do in it.


So much depends on this one month of beauty-so much in terms of reaching our full potential with the support of Allah to purify our faith and practice. For with all the focus packed into this "spiritual intensive," we cannot-cannot possibly-afford to let it go without having tried our very best.Before Ramadhan's thin crescent appears, we need to practically and spiritually prepare ourselves as much as we can so that we do not lose any ounce of benefit when this portal of Heaven does actually open for us. To be in such close proximity to Allah, His Books, His Angels and His Worship, when we can truly be born anew, is of inexplicable worth.


Earning More in Ramadhan

As Ramadhan is on track, focus as much of your mind as you can on two things: ibadah and 'adah, acts of worship and qualities of character. Many a time we home-in on worship, such as how much Qur'an to read and what portion of it we will recite in taraweeh. Yet we pay no mind to the personal qualities we need to change and the habits we need to eliminate or develop.


The Month of Qur'an


Ramadhan is the month of Qur'an, therefore, iqra'bismi rabbika! Read the Qur'an in the Name of your Lord. And read it on multiple levels- of recitation, understanding, and explanation. And with a mind to implement as much of it as you are so able. For that, after all, is the purpose of the Qur'an.

Use Ramadhan to get in the habit of reading a bit everyday, of opening ourselves to conversing with Allah, and getting into a deeper study of Qur'an and hadeeth. Keep a record of its commandments and exhortations, and create a check list for their implementation to the extent you are able.

This brings us to another serious check. We need to become mindful of the correctness of our salah, and the sincerity widi which we perform it. If you are praying taraweeh alone, incorporate the recitation of the Qur'an into this as much as you are able. If you've memorized new surahs this will make your salah flower all the more. Sometimes we recite the same surahs day after day in our salah without paying heed to how purely mechanical our recitation of them has become. Mindless recitation does not engage the heart.The Qur'an is more proclamation than recitation, and it can only become that if we focus on what is being said.

Lastly, make use of Ramadhan's three divisions-mercy, forgiveness, and escape from Hellfire. Beg Allah for His mercy in the first 10 days, for His forgiveness in the next, and for protection from Hellfire in the last.

Remain blessed.
Wa Salam.


May We be saved!
_________________
Brother-In-Islam,
(Suleiman Ibn Adam)
sulbaf@gmail.com