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The Ramadhan Experience
AbuKhaled
11/23/00 at 05:52:52
Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem, Assalam alaikum Beloved Brothers & Sisters.   For me Ramadhan is a time to reflect and grow. To look behind and look ahead and make sure that my future -  bit'ithnillah ta'ala - will improve on my past. I love Ramadhan for all that it is (from Allah (awj)), and all that it can be (which is down to me, by His (SubHana Wa Ta`ala ) permission). For as far back as I can remember now I cannot recollect a Ramadhan where I could forget that which I am preoccupied with all year around that distracts me from Him (awj), and instead focus myself solely on this month and optimising the chances for reaping it's many and varied blessings. So many things intrude of the Dunya. Those who are students know what I mean, as do those who work for a living. Those Sisters whose husbands/families render their Ramadhan into kitchen duty, astaghfirullah. They are left with only their evenings to truly direct their energies towards Allah (SubHana Wa Ta`ala). And sometimes not even that, for they are exhausted by activity which should be treated as marginal in this month. For example, elaborate delicacies for the time of breaking the fast- why is it that we treat Ramadhan as a month to make all those special things which we don't make during the rest of the year??!! This is not the time! So I figured to myself, I want at least *one* year in my life which I can spend a Ramadhan where nothing bothers me, and I can luxuriate in all that is Ramadhan, 24-7. So I made a concerted effort to create such a situation, and alhamdulillah- as I always say- Allah ta'ala never allows the efforts to be in vain. So, this year, I hope to spend the bulk of this glorious month in the company of some illustrious Ulema, imbibing their company, attending  their classes during the day, and their taraweeh-led prayers during the evenings. To be around people who make me remember Allah (SubHana Wa Ta`ala), and *want* to increase my ibadaat, and dhikr. Not people who treat this month as an excuse to eat nicer food in the evenings! Or who go to the masjid to socialise. People who stand for taraweeh only because they feel they must, rather than because they actually have the shawq [desire]. I want to be around people of excellence! People who affect me in a way which is good for my Deen, not people who leave me no better off than I was before, even if I am no worse off, wallahu a'lam. I want to *see* Ramadhan in the Muslims around me. Honestly, this is a time for excellence, not mediocrity. A time to excel as a Muslim, not just coast (and that doesn't mean we are mediocre, or coast, the rest of the year ;-) ). I want to, for once, experience what it is like just losing myself in ibadaat, the pursuit of Sacred Knowledge, the suhba [accompaniment] of the inheritors of the Messenger of Allah (saw) - i.e. the Ulema - and concentrate on making it a month to remember with an outcome that for once won't fade, but will be indelible. I want to be able to start the day with a niyyah for Allah (SubHana Wa Ta`ala ), and not be coerced into forgetting Him (awj) by the demands and dictates of dunya. Just once, for I yearn to know such a feeling. I've felt for so long now that my Ramadhan's have never really truly yielded the full benefits that this Sacred Month has to offer, as I half-heartedly didn't give my all. Insha'Allah this year I want to change that, and pray that He (awj) will facilitate this for me. Enough of being satisfied with the same standard! Let us be like an athelete! Time to raise the bar! It's just a personal opinion, but I feel that if one isn't doing it always, then at least Ramadhan should be a time when we push the ibadaat boat out. Exceed ourselves and establish a new benchmark for our devotion to Allah ta'ala. Which we can then work on maintaining, habitualising, and then again at some point down the road, raising the bar yet again. I seek to rectify my affair from Ramadhan pasts, as I directed my half-hearted energies into a Ramadhan effort which was satisfied with doing not enough, and reluctant to do more than that, wal iyadhubillah. To doing so little in the month of much. I want finally to have a Ramadhan which when I look back in years to come (insha'Allah), I can say, "I want it to be like the Ramadhan of 2000, only more and better." Not like now, where looking to the past brings no memory of a Ramadhan spent the way it should have been, to the utmost, and where I feel as if I short-changed myself, astaghfirullah. I want to *experience* this month for what it is, not to just go through the motions of suhur, siyam and taraweeh, etc. I want to transport myself back to a timeplace where the best of mankind (saw) and his (saw) Sahabah (raa) walked and fasted and prayed and did so so much more. To awaken the proximity to Allah (SubHana Wa Ta`ala ) that they (saw & raa) must have realised through the excellence of their ibadaat. To give my utmost. Just to know what it is like. To create a psyhe, a mentality, a heartbeat, which pumps and functions for this month the way I've always felt it should, but never felt it did in years gone by. I want to change the oversight of neglecting the small things which when combined with the greater, and more obvious deeds we undertake during this month, make it into something so incredible, that words can but fail to express the sheer overwhelming power it can have if one can just create, through a holistic effort, pure niyyah, and altruistic ibadaat, the true sense of Ramadhan. The shukr to Allah (awj) for the one who makes our suhur, or the shukr to Him (awj) for giving us the energy to do so if we prepare it ourselves. The tawba to Him (awj) for missing an opportunity to do a good deed, even if that deed wasn't obligatory upon us, for this is a month in which the meritorious has thawab which is amplified, so it is plain foolhardiness to bypass such an opportunity. The smallest of deeds is magnified by His (awj) immense Graciousness, alhamdulillah. So let us avail ourselves of all that Ramadhan can be, and should be, rather than being satisfied with another year of mere mediocrity. Insha'Allah this is what I wish for myself, and you all. Pray for me please, for if we but realised it, at the onset of this month we stand at the edge of something great. And alhamdulillah for that, always. Abu Khaled

Re: The Ramadhan Experience
Saleema
11/23/00 at 17:57:19
Assalamoalykum, Whatever happened to the rest of the posts?????

Re: The Ramadhan Experience
Kathy
11/24/00 at 10:08:32
slm Masha Allah. Abu Khalid you are the first brother I have heard bring up the issue of kitchen duty and food. It is so true in so many families. More money is spent on food during this month than any of the others. Also many husbands expect a feast every night, and a mezze at sahoor. Insha Allah, this will change with our new generation of Muslims.
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