Ramadaan Warriors !!!

As Ramadaan has fast approached, it would be good to take a few moments to reflect on what we did in preparation.

The companions - like 'Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr who was worth a 1,000 warriors - trained in three fields:

1. Ibadah; 
2. Talab ul-'Ilm (studying the tenets of Islam); and
3. Military training.

Let us chart our return to Allah so that when the world takes down the banners, borders up the windows and forgets what happened to our Muslim family ... we won't! 
"Accomplishment begins with action." 

Have you ever heard of a weekend warrior? They are employees who sit in cubicles and relax at a coffee station weighed down with donuts all week long. Then on the weekend they rip off their suits bearing their Reebok gear underneath and spend the entire weekend playing basketball, hang gliding, and mountain climbing. What happens? They break their knees, pull a dozen muscles, and are hospitalized on Sunday.

This is in relation to the physical body. But there are people that should be known as Ramadaan warriors. They are those that haven't fasted all year long and then shock their bodies with a whole month. Or haven't prayed in the Masjid or haven't woken up to pray in the night all year long. What happens to them? As one Muslim doctor said, "In normal days, we have about 5 - 7 patients a day. On the first day of Ramadaan, the patients increase to over 50!" 

Ramadaan warriors were rare in our Islamic history. To illustrate, let's all remember where we were at the beginning of Safar. We were probably praying for work to end, or just finished up with exams, or looking through brochures for a holiday getaway.

Interestingly, if we were sitting beside a tabi'i over a thousand years ago in a simple Masjid, we would have heard him raising his hands asking Allah to grant him the blessing of being around when a guest comes, a guest called Ramadaan!

There are different ways that we could have 'warm up' for Ramadaan. One of those ways was by increasing the frequency of our Du'a. Allah says in the Qur'an ... the verse before it is talking about Ramadaan and the verse after it is speaking about Ramadan, and right in the middle we read: 

"And when My servants ask you, (O Muhammad), concerning Me - Indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me (by obedience) and believe in Me that they may be guided." [2:186] 

Every goodness on earth is from Allah. And one of the most exclusive blessings is Ramadaan. So let us ask the Lord of Ramadaan to help us find His Mercy in the coming days. 

 

The early generations of the Ummah used to make Du'a 6 months after Ramadaan that Allah accept their deeds in Ramadaan. And for the next 6 months, they would make Du'a to Allah to grant them the blessing of being alive in the coming Ramadaan. 

 

Cleanliness - Whenever a guest comes, we prepare in advance for his arrival by vacuuming the carpet, dusting the shelves, and scrubbing the sinks. We should do this for our guest called Ramadaan. But the scrubbing should not just be of our physical surroundings, it should include the scrubbing of our sins.

 

Listen to the words of our Prophet (saws) speaking about those people that don't want to clean up for Ramadaan, "Whoever doesn't desist from speaking falsehood and acting upon it, Allah has no need that he desist from his food and drink." [Bukhari] 

 

Fasting in Sha'ban - The biggest downfall of the weekend warriors was that they were not properly warmed up for the exercise which caused the injuries. Similarly, when Fasting, some people only do it once a year making their bodies very foreign to going without food and drink. 

From here we see the following Sunnah: Umm ul-Mu'minin 'A'ishah observes, "Allah's Messenger (saws) never fasted an entire month other than Ramadhan and I haven't seen him fast more than he did in Sha'ban." 

 

A poet said:

Oh ye who isn't satisfied with his sins in Rajab

So much so that you continued disobedience in Sha'ban

The month of fasting has now come upon you

So do not convert it also to a month of disobedience. 

One of the ways to prepare for Ramadaan was to educate ourselves in the Fiqh of Ramadaan. Let us briefly review what fasting is:

Fasting Ramadaan is not optional - it is a must. The evidence for this is found in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Allah says: 

"O you who believe! Observing as-sawn (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become al-muttaqun (the pious)." [2:183] 

The Prophet (saws) said: "Islam is built on five pillars ... (among which he mentioned) fasting in Ramadaan." [Bukhari] 

The Arabic word for fasting is Sawm. In Arabic it literally means to abstain from something. And in Islamic Law it is to abstain from those things that break the fast starting from dawn (Fajr Prayer) and ending with sunset (Maghrib prayer) having first made the intention to do so.

The things which break ones Fast, the things which he or she must abstain from from dawn to sunset are as follows:

(a) Eating and Drinking

(b) Marital Relations
These apply if 3 conditions are met (1) That the person is not ignorant that this thing breaks ones fast (2) That he is aware that he is doing something that breaks his fast (meaning he did not do so in forgetfulness) (3) He does so out of his free will and no one forced him to break his fast.

In conclusion, as the month of Ramadaan draws nearer, we should prepare for this special guest by preparing a Ramadaan program *Operation: Valuable Time* in our homes and at our Masajid. The program should Insha'Allah include:

1. Locked times of the day when we will consistently recite Qur'an, learning it's meanings and memorizing new chapters;
2. Something useful for the time before Tarawih prayers and the time after Tarawih. And how to increase our worship in the last ten nights - i.e. what will we do extra.
3. We should make sure that there are days of this month when we feed people. Bring dates or milk to the Masjid for Maghrib. Invite people over to have dinner with your family. Organize a dinner in the Masjid and invite people that don't normally get invited because they are new. Take care of the New Muslims in your community and for the sake of Allah make their Ramadaan special.
4. Make the intention to double and triple the amount of Sadaqah we give, the worship we normally do, the Dhikr we do, and the deeds that'll help us purify our souls, etc.
5. And finally, for those that can afford it plan a 'Umrah to the Ka'bah in Ramadaan!

After returning from the farewell Hajj, Rasulallah (saws) saw an Ansari women who had not made the Hajj. He asked her, "What kept you back from joining in the Hajj?" She said, "We had a camel that we used to ride which Abu Fulan and his son went on, and another we used for farming." So Rasulallah (saws) said, "Verily, 'Umrah in Ramadaan is the same (reward) as performing Hajj with me!" [Bukhari and Muslim]