Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Ramadan Mubarak |
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| jannah |
| 11/29/00 at 17:46:54 |
| Assalaam 3alaikum, Alhamdulillah we are all alive and have been given the blessing of another ramadan. I just wanted to wish you all a blessed and fruitful ramadan. I hope that we as an ummah can come back to Islam and use this ramadan as a time to re-energize ourselves spiritually, get closer to Allah and really affect change within us. Br. Mokhtar was telling us each day in ramadan should be better than the day before, we should fast with focus, turn to Allah in salah and dua and instead of celebrating food, we celebrate something that is beyond the physical. This past weekend some of us traveled to Maryland for the MYNA conference. There, brother Muhammad Al-Shareef told us a story of some youth in the Middle East who were in a car accident. When people came upon the scene of the accident all they heard was the blasting of the radio music with some song playing. They went to the youth and found that one of them was in very bad condition about to die. They started repeating the Shahada to him asking him to repeat "Ashadu anna laa ilaa ha...", but all he kept repeating was the lyrics to the song. Subhanallah at the moment of his death when it was most important to say the shahadah so he could go to jannah he wasn't able to. He also told us of a second story of a boy, a teenager too, who's car broke down. He went to the trunk to take something out when another car came careening down the hill and slammed into the back of the first car. The policeman and others who came knew that he probably would not make it. On the way to the hospital they noticed that the boy kept mumbling something over and over. And then when they leaned down they realized that he was reciting Quran and before they could even encourage him to say the shahadah he said it on his own, "Ashadu anna laa ilaa ha illallah, wa ashadu anna muhammadur rasoolullah". On our way back from the MYNA conference we were tied up in traffic for hours and figured it must have been because of all the thanksgiving day travel. Then as we were driving for awhile we noticed that the entire other side of the highway was completely empty. Our side was packed bumper to bumper with hundreds of cars but the other side across the wide ditch was totally deserted. We continued driving, it was high up in the mountains with alot of fog and difficult to see. Then we noticed ahead of us sirens, flashing lights, fire trucks, ambulances and cars. There were cars in the ditch between the two highways, on top of each other, there were cars that were totaled, others were dented or completely messed up. There were people everywhere, near the cars, walking away, police and officials everywhere. It was like a scene of a disaster area. There were trucks that had crashed into each other, one tractor trailer half gone with all it's fish produce spread across the highway. Another pickup lay in the ditch at an angle with the door open. A dog remained alone inside barking. In all it was a 75 car accident, the destruction continued for at least a mile. 30 people, they said, had been taken to the hospital. At the end of the last crashed cars, a police barrier was put up and the highway for miles and miles just contained parked cars, with hundreds of people out of their cars walking, talking to each other, trying to figure out why they weren't moving for the last hour. If those stories don't scare you I don't know what will. Despite what that first boy thought he wasn't able to lie when his end came, his own lips bore witness to his life. The same for the second story. Also for us, despite what we might have thought, that accident could just as easily have been on our side. Death can come to any of us at any time. We should take examples like these as signs and make sure that when our end comes we don't regret anything and haven't lived a life of heedlessness. For we won't be able to lie to anyone or even ourselves, our body parts and our deeds will speak for us. On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions. On that Day Allah will pay them back (all) their just dues, and they will realize that Allah is the (very) Truth, that makes all things manifest. [Quran 24:24-25] We know during Ramadan there is great reward for any good deed, for reading Quran, fasting, standing in prayer, feeding others. The Prophet (s) said, "Whoever fasted the month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith (i.e. belief) and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his past sins will be forgiven, and whoever stood for the prayers in the night of Qadr out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven ." [Bukhari] This is a promise from Allah. I wonder that our actions sometimes seem to doubt this. "...So I said: Rasulullah, I wish you had led us in superogatory prayers during the whole of tonight. He (s) said: When one prays with an imam till he goes he is reckoned as having spent a whole night in prayer. [Bukhari] "A blessed month has arrived. Observing it in fasting is mandated on you (the believers). During this month, the gates of Paradise will be opened and the gates of Hellfire will be closed. The evil ones (Shayaatin) will be handcuffed. In it there is one night, during which worship is better than worship in a thousand months. Whoever is denied its blessings has been denied the biggest blessing." [Ahmed, Nasaae, and Bayhaqi] More on the virtues, benefits & rewards of Ramadan @ jannah.org/ramadan Ramadan Mubarak :) May Allah accept from you and from us our deeds this Ramadan inshaAllah. Please mention me in your duas. I really need them. [url]http://www.jannah.org/ramadan[/url] [url]http://www.qss.org/articles/ramadan/7.html[/url] [url]http://www.jannah.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=ramadan[/url] |
| Re: Ramadan Mubarak |
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| Asim |
| 11/29/00 at 19:04:06 |
| wlm Death is inevitable, and it is not bound by time and location. Reflecting on death is the best method to increase our taqwaa. Mashallah Jannah that was an inspiring post. Please remember us in your duas. We all need them too :) Wasalaam. |
| Re: Ramadan Mubarak |
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| Madani |
| 11/29/00 at 21:21:41 |
| slm alhamdulillah I have a personal story that really taught me the meaning of those 'final moment' stories. In our martial arts class, a brother who has had a black belt for 20 years (and we're glad he is on our side!), did a floor sweep on me. I've had knee problems, so the floor slice snapped my knee and I fell to the ground. Of course, after that the ice came, the free medical advice from every brother and the constant, "What happened Muhammad? What happened?" A brother drove me home and said, "You know what was really amazing Muhammad? When you fell down the first thing you did was raise your index finger and said was, 'Ash hadu an Laa ilaaha illa Allah wa anna Muhammadan 'Abduhu wa rasooluh!'" I was like, " Did I say that? " And then i remembered that I did. Subhan Allah, I realized then that it is IMPOSSIBLE to cheat by saying the Shahaadah at our final moments. It must come from a life lived by the Shahaadah. In the pain and shock of the moment, it is Impossible to remember to say it unless we lived it. May Allah ta'ala allow us all to say 'Laa ilaaha illa Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah,' as our last words on this earth. Ameen. |
| Re: Ramadan Mubarak |
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| jannah |
| 11/29/00 at 22:45:45 |
| Subhanallah brother muhammad, that's pretty scary..it's a good thing that brother is teaching muslims :) This is an email from a beloved sister of mine. Mashallah she has some great ideas for Ramadan: Asalaamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu everyone Ramadan Mubarak to those of you who i haven't spoken to in a while.. borrowing from Sr. Huma's email "A blessed month has arrived. Observing it in fasting is mandated on you (the believers). During this month, the gates of Paradise will be opened and the gates of Hellfire will be closed. The evil ones (Shayaatin) will be handcuffed. In it there is one night, during which worship is better than worship in a thousand months. Whoever is denied its blessings has been denied the biggest blessing." [Ahmed, Nasaae, and Bayhaqi] In the Spirit of Ramadan then i have an idea that might help all of us increase our iman and taqwaah..its simple and seems logical and it is..its not somethin u have to be a genuis to think of and im sure many of you already do this ...but here's the idea.. During Ramadan i think everyone should reflect upon who they are, and who they want to become...but sometimes it's hard when we are so consumed with work and school etc..so here is what i suggest: Step 1: you make a list of 12-13 questions you ask yourself EVERY DAY of Ramadan and insha'Allah if u do so consistently u will be able to do so even after Ramadan...type these questions up and hang it on a place where you know you will look at it at least once before going to bed (like on the wall jus above ure bed for example)..Questions might include: Did i pray all prayers on time? Did i pray with Khushoo? Did i wake up for Tahujud? Did I recite Quran at all? Did i read islamic books to increase my knowledge? Did I lie(even if its jokingly)? Did i backbite about someone? Did i disrespect my parents? Did i make dua right before breaking fast? Did i ask for forgiveness at every prayer? Did i pray salatul tasbih? or Did i pray at least 2 more rakah than mandated? These are just examples but u can formulate ure own depending on what u think ure strengths and weaknesses are..it sounds conry but type them up and hang them on a wall.. Step 2 of the plan:) is Keeping a Ramadan Journal/Log... the shaitan are locked up this month adn alhamdullialh for many its easier to pray on time etc. and do all the things we are supposed to do all year long.. but the shaitan has this tendency to distract many of us( if not each and every one of us) once Ramadan is over..we become weaker and often forget the wonderful feeling we had during Ramadan when we did things/gave up things for the sake of Allah. So for each day of Ramadan in ure journal the first thing ud do is answer ure list of questions..that way u can reflect on how u utilized the 24 hours Allah blesed you wtih ..keeping in mind the sheer purpose of our existance is to worship Allah(SWT). After answering them (which doesnt take long..jus writ the numbr o fthe question and then "y" or "n") in additoin..you write everything you feel...or felt that day...all the good deeds u did, AND the bad deeds, or sins that u can remember...often times we become immune even to the smallest of sins..but writing down your actions of the day and your thoughts about ureself and ure iman adn how u felt during a certain prayer or how u felt during Taraweeh prayer helps you look at things realistically..it helps balance ure good deeds against ure bad..and then write down things u *want* to do the next day..As Sr. Huma mentioned in her email each day of Ramadn should be better than the last ...take advantage of every moment..write down how u feel..and insha'Alalh even after Ramadan is over you have it right there even if ure losing that "feeling" of watning to be closer to Allah (SWT)... i guess the journal shoudl be called project-self cause its for no one to see but yourself...do it for the sake of Allah --....in additoin writing down everything Allah has given you and what u are grateful for helps you see howmuch u have rather than what u dont have..we all complain so much..but "And He gave you all that you asked for, and if you count the gifts of Allah you will never be able to count them" (14:34). SubhanAllah this sounds 5th gradish to some of you i know..and it sounds like something so small that u wonder how it could make a difference..but TRUST ME subhanAllah when u go to sleep at night ...n right before u do u write down everything, EVERYTING you remmeber that u did that ure glad about n things that u regret n things that u want to improve the next day...it gives you a whole new outlook on life, on yourself and the importance of your deen rather than this dunya... you begin to see things as they really are rather than cherry gloss themto appera great....some people not only during Ramadanbut all year say "oh i prayed all 5 times and i went to jummah" and they become arrogant thinking thats enough.. NONE of us can do nething that would make us deserving of jannah..its out of Allah's mercy and love that we will enter jannah if that be Allah's will insha'Allah..BUT we need to caution ourselves against getting arrogant and ever thinking that what we are doing for teh sake of Alalh everyday is *enough* because we can all do so much more..and in essence when you begin to write things down u realize that in reality even though at timesu think you have done SO much, you really hvae done very little...and can go SO MUCH FURTHER...and if you ask Allah for guidance in remembering Him and for strength surely insha'Allah if u ask sincerely He will give it to you... "it is in remembrance of Allah taht the heart finds rest" I have found that REALLY thikning of Allah as teh last thing before u close ure eyes is probably the most peaceful feeling...so many of us are inclined to worry about the test we have the next morning or the meeting we can't be late to...n we clutter our minds with useless thingswhen the feeling of submitting to Allah RIGHT before u close ure eyes, sincerely, as sincerely as u can, is so much more peaceful... When i thought of this i figured i have time to write useless papers about nonsense and read about karl marx and the development of an infant at age 6 weeks and 5 days...and i have the audacity to say that i dont have time to keep a journal of my actions towards Allah(SWT)? when the angels are keeping track of my deeds how wonderful woudl it be if i could reflect upon my deen adn myself every day of Ramadan, if not my life, just to challenge myself to do MORE and MORE each day.. really everyone...i can't promise miracles and i cant even say that ull feel nething if you do this..but as your sister in islam i wanted to tell everyone whom i thought would appreciate it that i thought of doing this for myself and its amazing how Allah can bless even the smallest actions..and i dont want you to miss out... please for the sake of Allah..if not for forever, then just for Ramadan keep a journal...reflect on ureself..this life..how you live each day..each hour...who you come in contact wtih...who u help...who you hurt..adn i know it will make you want to be a better person insha'Allah in teh end.... After Ramadan is over i want to go back and read about the times i had so much khushoo in my prayers i cried and then the times when i didn't have khushoo and find out what it is i did to bounce back insha'Allah..i want to be able to have something to reinforce these feelings that many of us have this month..of wanting to be closer to Allah at any cost..its a precious feeling that is so easily lost and forgotten....n i know none of us ever want to forget or lose it..make dua to Allah...and please accept this suggestino and just something i recommend because i know its helping me alhamdullilah..n i hope insha'Allah it will benefit all of you in some way.. may Allah guide us and give us strength to increase our Iman and Taqwaah may He bless us and our families with infinite knowledge and wisdom to worship Him purely and sincerely may He shower us with His mercy upon us so that we may attain Paradise in the Hereafter. Ameen. Walaikumasalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu your sister Muniba |
| NS |
| Re: Ramadan Mubarak |
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| Asim |
| 11/29/00 at 23:49:04 |
| Assalaamu alaikum, Mashallah, these are wise words from the sister. What the sister said is true universally. As those who have an engineering background would know, every instrument has to be calibrated. The output of each instrument has to be compared with a benchmark and adjusted accordingly. And this process has to be done repeatedly because with use, wear and tear the instrument loses its calibration and gives erroneous results. Same is the case with us humans. Our benchmark is the Law of Allah, the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet. We have to constantly recalibrate ourselves so that we don’t go astray. The world around us constantly bombards us and cause us to lose focus and deviate. A fundamental requirement for any recalibration process is the determination of the present state and how far it has deviated from the benchmark. For us Muslims, this is where self-reflection comes in. If we don’t reflect on our state then we don’t know where we stand, and we will not know how to correct ourselves. We would be in a state of ignorance and heedlessness. And our conduct would not be right. One should reflect at every prayer time or at least at bed time and determine the conformance to the teachings of Islam. If something is wrong then a resolve should be made to correct it until the next reflection time. Keeping a journal is a great idea ‘coz writing allows a person to focus (at least for me that is the case). Actually I started writing a short article on this topic a while ago but never finished it :( Procrastination, a big problem for me :( Wasalaam. |
| Re: Ramadan Mubarak |
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| Saleema |
| 11/30/00 at 00:37:39 |
| Assalam ualykum, When I was ten years old I fell from my bike and hit the ground so hard that I couldn't breath. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even cry. No one was nearby. I started reciting the shahada in my heart hoping that it would ease my pain. After 30 seconds or so I was able to gasp air in, I still couldn't get up though. With every gasp of air, I said a syllable of the shahada and after lying in this state for a few minutes, I finally had enough strength to sit up straight. I was still too weak to get up though and so I sat there shaking and crying. When you are in such pain you immediately think of death and God. Since I was only a child, the thought of death didn't scare me, I kept thinking that I will go to heaven especially since I am reciting the shahada. In ninth grade I almost drowned. I recited my shahada then too but this time I did it out of fear, I didn't want to meet Allah and I thought of all the bad deeds that I had done. Alhamdulilah, Allah saved my life. That was when I realized that I really needed to straighten myself up, that I didn't want to be afraid of meeting Allah. That's when my interest in Islam really began to flourish. It has been hard, this gradual process of implementing Islam into my life. I still have a long way to go. May Allah guide me through the hard times and may He protect me from evil and may He forgive my sins. Ameen wassalam, Saleema |
| Re: Ramadan Mubarak |
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| Arsalan |
| 11/30/00 at 01:36:21 |
| Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah, I started a "muhaasabah" project for myself two Ramadans ago. Alhamdulillah it turned out to be extremely beneficial. I'll share it with you in case it may be useful for you also. Muhaasabah = Self evaluation. I think every Muslim should evaluate his/herself regularly, just to see where he's at, where's he's heading, and whether or not he's moving the right direction at the right pace. Although muhaasabah is usually done in the mind, I decided to take a more paper-and-pencil approach for myself two years ago. I would ask myself a certain set of questions every night before going to bed, and record them the answers on a sheet of paper. At the end of the month, I would analyze my progress. You'll understand the process more as you see the Self Evaluation Sheet below. Here's what I came up with: DAILY EVALUATION Date:________________ 5 prayers: 0 1 2 3 4 5 Prayers in Masjid: 0 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration in prayers[1]: 0 1 2 3 4 5 Recitation of the Quran: Not-at-all Arabic-only Arabic-w/trans Idle talk[2]: 0 1 2 3 4 5 Control of tongue[3]: 1 2 3 4 5 Control of eyes[4]: 1 2 3 4 5 Interaction with brothers[5]: 1 2 3 4 5 Behavior with others[6]: 1 2 3 4 5 Time spent on TV[7]: 1 2 3 4 5 Time spent on School-work[8]: 1 2 3 4 5 Overall remembrance of Allah[9]: 1 2 3 4 5 Imaan Check (change from yesterday) Worsened Unchanged Improved Comments/Notes: FOOTNOTES 1. How many prayers performed with sincere attempts of concentration? 2. 1=Too Much, 2=A lot, 3=A little, 4=Almost nonexistent, 5=Nonexistent 3. This includes backbiting, gossip, taunting, ridiculing, insulting, lying, etc. 1=No control; 2=Very little control; 3=Little control; 4=Pretty controlled; 5=Complete control 4. 1=No control; 2=Very little control; 3=Little control; 4=Pretty controlled; 5=Complete control 5. 1=No interaction ... 5=Excellent interaction 6. 1=Worst behavior ... 5=Best behavior 7. 1=Too much ... 5=No TV 8. 1=None ... 5=Optimal 9. 1=Oh, yeah! I forgot about that!!! ... 5=Complete state of Ihsan! ===================================================== So, at the end of the month, I would actually plot the data and see how the curves were moving. It worked while it lasted. My only problem was being consistent with doing the daily evals. Try it! See if it works for you. Modify the questions to suit yourself. Change whatever you like. May Allah help us all in becoming His righteous servants. Wassalamu alikum. |
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