Sunday, August 25, 2013

Why I miss Ramadhaan



It’s already half way into the month of Shawaal and still I’m sad that Ramadhaan is gone. It seems that it just came and went so quickly, like a breath of fresh air, a momentary breeze and then it was just gone. I’m not complaining about these days, Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) these days are good too and there’s always the opportunity for worship but somehow Ramadhaan is just special, and no matter how hard you may try after Ramadhaan there’s just no way of getting the same feeling.

Ramadhaan is filled with peace and blessings and it’s as if you can feel the Mercy of Allah most Glorious all around. People seem to be more patient and more giving, time seems to have more blessings and even though you eat so much less, you somehow are able to do so much more.

People may see this month as a month of restriction- where Muslims are stifled and forced to go through difficulty, but it is so far from that. In fact, Ramadhaan is a month where human beings are given a glimpse into their true potential. Where the restrictions that we usually place upon ourselves are lifted. Where we realise that the material things of this world, such as food, are actually the things that hold us back and which stifle our spirituality and productivity.

Somehow you are able to perform extra Salaah, recite extra Quraan, make extra duaa (prayers) and still achieve all your work for the day. It’s like this is a reminder that when we let go of the worldy things with the intention of pleasing Allah Almighty, then Allah raises us and shows us that we are actually spiritual beings with huge potential. This is why those who are closest to Allah Almighty (like Prophets (peace be upon them), saints and so on) were able to achieve so many miracles and amazing things in their lifetime- they could do things that we could only dream of because they gave up this world and its glamour, to achieve closeness to Allah Almighty, all Glorious.

Ramadhaan comes to wake us up, to revitalise us, to cleanse us and to make us more aware, and although this vigour and enthusiasm lasts for a while after Ramadhaan, a few months down the line it’s gone again and we need another Ramadhaan to remind us once more.

For me Ramadhaan is a beautiful time. I see people who are willing to give and help as much as possible. I see people who are caring and loving, patient and content. People are just naturally better and this makes so much sense when you realise that this is as a result of people whose main concern is connecting with their Lord. When people are constantly conscious of their Creator then they generally tend to be concerned about bettering themselves as well as uplifting others.

So the most special thing about Ramadhaan is our constant connection to Allah Almighty. It’s like we give up the world to focus on Allah for twenty nine or thirty days. Everything else can take a back seat, we think, because our time is for Allah. Ramadhaan lasts for one month, what a glorious month! But can you imagine how much we could achieve if all our days were like the days of Ramadhaan, can you imagine what amazing people the world would be filled with?

“But then Ramadhaan wouldn't be special”, I hear you responding. And of course I cannot disagree, every day could never be like Ramadhaan because we would definitely lose momentum and get bored. Human beings have a low attention span after all.


So all we can do is try our hardest to better ourselves for the rest of the year, so that Inshaa-Allah if we live to see another beautiful month of Ramadhaan, then we will be better people and thus our month will be more amazing than it was this year.


I guess it’s time to let go of Ramadhaan, but I pray that we never let go of the goodness that we have received in the Blessed month. 

Image from here

Sunday, August 11, 2013

HOPE

So now that the Blessed month of Ramadhaan is over (way too quickly), I have a little more time to do extra things, like blogging. I hope that everyone has been well over the past month and I hope that Ramadhaan brought many blessings and a lot of peace to all of you. (Inshaa-Allah I plan to do a post on Ramadhaan soon, but we’ll have to wait for that J

Anyway… As regular readers of this blog would’ve noticed (since it’s blatantly obvious) I have decided to change my blog template after a very long while. I was comfortable with my old template and it took me so long to find something I was happy with that I decided it was way too much effort to change it. See, I have to complicate life by insisting on things being symbolic and meaningful (instead of just choosing something because it looks nice, or for the fun of it). In any case, after searching some other sites for templates I got irritated and decided to see what blogger has to offer and there it was, the template I’ve chosen now, RAIN- This was perfect and I’ll tell you why!


Rain symbolises growth, the beginning of new things… but perhaps the most of all, it symbolises HOPE! Hope for a brighter tomorrow, for new life, for clean air, a clean slate, hope for many things- The perfection of rain water, emerging from dark grey clouds, translucent drops of perfection- SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah), if rain doesn’t remind us that anything is possible, then what does?


This Ramadhaan I’ve been hearing about hope a lot, even today while listening to a lecture by Mufti Menk, I was reminded about hope once more. Mufti Menk spoke about how Allah Almighty wants people to be hopeful and that people should always have hope in Allah, because without hope faith can quickly disappear.


I find this so beautiful, and so reassuring. Imagine that the All Glorious Creator, who is Self Sufficient, expects us, weak human beings, to hope for Allah’s mercy, to hope that Allah will help us, to hope that things will be good if we turn to Allah. SubhanAllah! HOPE!!!


So today and all the days after this, let us remember to have HOPE. Let us hope that Allah will favour us and shower His special mercy on us, let us hope to be amongst the Ummah (community) of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on the Day of Judgement, let us hope that Our prayers will be answered, and that we will have a good life and a good death and the best in the Hereafter. Let us hope for anything that we want to, because Allah Almighty is generous and there are no ends to Allah’s bounties and there is no impossibilities for Allah! SubhanAllah!!!


LET US HAVE HOPE IN ALLAH, LET THE BEAUTIFUL RAIN BE A REMINDER FOR US THAT THERE CAN ALWAYS BE NEW BEGINNINGS, THAT COMPLETE BEAUTY CAN EMERGE FROM DARKNESS, THAT HOPE CAN SUSTAIN US, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, ALLAH ALMIGHTY SAYS SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT – ‘I AM AS MY SERVANT THINKS I AM’, SO LET US THINK OF ALLAH ALMIGHTY AS THE MOST GENEROUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL AND THE ONE WHO CAN MAKE ANYTHING HAPPEN FOR US, AND INSHAA-ALLAH WE WILL SEE THAT WHEN WE HAVE HOPE IN ALLAH, THEN TRULY, THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT!



MAY WE ALWAYS BE OF THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO HAVE HOPE, INSHAA-ALLAH AMEEN! 

Image from here