Glorious Qur'an,"O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as
it was prescribed for those who came before you that you may keep your
duty to your Lord (havingtaqwa)."(2:185). And mayblessings and peace
of Allah be upon His last Messenger Muhammad ibn Abdullah, forever.
O you who believe, Ramadan is a sacred month wherein Almighty Allah is
constantly testing His creation and giving humanity the opportunity to
achieve infinite, endless Bliss. Fasting is a complete purification
and a means to developing the consciousness of Allah's presence. The
consciousness of Allah (Taqwa) is a protection against the schemes of
Shaitan, and the suffering of this world. Allah has informed us that,
"Whoever keeps his duty to Allah (has taqwa), He ordains a way out for
him and gives him sustenance from where he imagines not. And whoever
trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him. Surely Allah attains His
purpose. Allah has appointed a measure for everything."(65:2)
Many Muslims today havea misconception about fasting and the
activities of a fasting person. They go into a state of
semi-hibernation, spending most of their daylight hours in bad. If
they fear Allah, they wake up for prayer, but then return to sleep
immediately. This unnatural sleep makes them become lazy, dull-witted
and often cranky.
Ramadan is actually a time of increased activity wherein the believer,
now lightened of the burdens of constant eating and drinking, should
be more willing tostrive and struggle for Allah. The Prophet,
sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, passed through approximately nine
Ramadans after the Hijrah. They were filled with decisive events and
left us a shining example of sacrifice and submission to Allah.
In the first year after the Hijrah, the Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa
sallam, sent Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib with thirtyMuslim riders to Saif
al Bahr to investigate three hundred riders from Quraish who had
campedsuspiciously in that area. The Muslims were about to engage the
disbelievers, but they were separated by Majdy ibn Umar al-Juhany. The
Hypocrites of Madinah, hoping to oppose the unity of the Muslims,
builttheir own masjid (called Masjid ad-Dirar). The Prophet,
sallallahu `alaihiwa sallam, ordered this masjid to be destroyed
inRamadan.
On the seventeenth of Ramadan, 3 A.H., Almighty Allah separated truth
from falsehood at the Great Battle of Badr. The Prophet, sallallahu
`alaihi wa sallam, and 313 of his companions set out to intercept a
caravan of their own goods that had been left in Makkah. It was led by
Abu Sufyan himself, and estimated at 50,000 dinars. They were met,
instead, by a well-equipped army of the nobility of Quraish, intent on
putting out the light of Islam. Despite being outnumbered three to one
and appearing weak and unseasoned, the Muslims defended their faith
witha burning desire to protect the Prophet and meet their Lord
through martyrdom. Allah gave them a decisive victory on this day of
Ramadan, that would never be forgotten.
In 6 A.H., Zaid ibn Harithawas sent to Wadi al-Qura at the head of a
detachment to confront Fatimah bint Rabiah, the queen of that area.
Fatimah had previously attacked a caravan led byZaid and had succeeded
in plundering its wealth. She was known to be themost protected woman
in Arabia, as she hung fifty swords of her close relatives in her
home. Fatimah was equally renowned for showing open hostility to
Islam. She was killed in a battle against these Muslims in the month
of Ramadan.
By Ramadan of 8 A.H., thetreaty of Hudaibiyya had been broken and the
Muslim armies had engaged the Byzantines in the north.
Muhammad,sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, felt the need to strike a fatal
blow to disbelief in the Arabian Peninsula and conquer the city of
Mecca. Allah has declared His Sanctuary a place of peace, security and
religious sanctity. Now the time had come to purify the Ka`bah of
nakedness and abomination. The Prophet, sallallahu `alaihiwa sallam
set out with anarmy having more armedmen than al-Madinah hadever seen
before. People were swelling the army's ranks as it moved
towardMakkah. The determination of the believers, guided by the will
of Allah, became so awesome that the city of Makkah was conquered
without a battle, on 20 Ramadan. This was one of the most important
dates in Islamic history for after it, Islam was firmly entrenched in
the Arabian Peninsula. During the same month and year, after smashing
the idols of Makkah, detachments were sent to the other major centers
of polytheism and al-Lat, Manat and Suwa, some of the greatest idols
of Arabia, were destroyed.
Such was the month of Ramadan in the time of the Prophet, sallallahu
`alaihi wa sallam. It was atime of purification, enjoining the good,
forbidding the evil, and striving hard with one's life and wealth.
After the death of the Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, Muslims
carried on this tradition and Allah used the true believers to affect
the course of history. Ramadan continued to be a time of great trials
and crucial events.
Ninety-two years after the Hijrah, Islam had spread across North
Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. Spain was under the
tyrannical rule of King Roderic of the Visigoths. Roderic had forced
his six millions serfs and persecuted Jews to seek the aid of the
Muslims of North Africa in order to be delivered. Musa ibn Husair, the
Umayyad governor of North Africa, responded by sending hiscourageous
general Tariqibn Ziyad at the head of 12,000 Berber and Arab troops.
In Ramadan of that year, they were confronted with a combined Visigoth
army of 90,000 Christians led by Roderic himself, who was seated on a
throne of ivory, silver, and precious gems and drawn by white mules.
After burning his boats, Tariq preached to the Muslims warning them
that victory and Paradise lay ahead of them and defeat and the sea lay
to the rear. They burst forth with great enthusiasm and Allah
manifested a clear victory over the forces of disbelief. Not only was
Roderic killed and his forces completelyannihilated, but also Tariq
and Musa succeeded in liberating the whole of Spain, Sicily and parts
of France. This was the beginning of theGolden Age of Al-Andalus where
Muslims ruled for over 700 years.
In the year 582 A.H., Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, after battling with the
Crusaders for years, finally drove them out of Syria and the whole of
their occupied lands in the month of Ramadan. The Muslim world was
then destined to meet one of its most frightening challenges.
In the seventh century A.H. the Mongols were sweeping across Asia
destroying everything that lay in their path. Genghis Khan called
himself "the scourge of God sent to punish humanity for their sins".
In 617 A.H., Samarkand, Ray and Hamdan were put to the sword causing
more than 700,000 people to be killed or made captive. In 656
A.H.,Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, continued this destruction.
Even Baghdad, the leading cityof the Muslim world, was sacked. Some
estimates say that as many as 1,800,000 Muslims were killed in this
awesome carnage. The Christians were asked to eat pork and drink wine
openly while the surviving Muslims were forced to participate in
drinking bouts. Wine was sprinkled in the masjids and no Azan (call to
prayer) was allowed. In the wake of such a horrible disaster and with
the threat of the whole Muslim world and then Europe being subjected
to the same fate, Allah raised up from the Mamluks of Egypt, Saifuddin
Qutz, who united the Muslim army and met the Mongols at Ain Jalut on
25th of Ramadan, 658 A.H. Although they were under great pressure,
theMuslims with the help of Allah, cunning strategy and unflinching
bravery crushed the Mongol armyand reversed this tidal wave of horror.
The whole of the civilized world sighed in relief and stood in awe at
the remarkable achievement of these noble sons of Islam.
This was the spirit of Ramadan that enabled our righteous
forefathersto face seemingly impossible challenges. It was a time of
intense activity, spending the dayin the saddle and the night in
prayer while calling upon Allah for His mercy and forgiveness.
Today, the Muslim world is faced with drought, military aggression,
widespread corruption and tempting materialism. Surely we are in need
or believers who can walk in the footsteps of our beloved Prophet,
sallallahu `alaihiwa sallam, the illustrious Sahabah, Tariq ibn
Ziyad,Qutuz, Salahuddin and the countless heroes of Islam. Surely we
are in need of believers who are unafraid of the threats of the
disbelievers, yet kind andhumble to the believing people; Muslims
whose fast is complete and not just a source of hunger and thirst.
May Allah raise up a generation of Muslims who can carry Islam to
allcorners of the globe in a manner that befits our age, and may He
give us the strength and the success to lay the proper foundations for
them. May Allah make us of those who carry out our Islam during
Ramadan and after it, and may He not make us of those who say what
they do not do. Surely Allah and His Angels invoke blessings and peace
uponour Prophet Muhammad. O you who believe, send blessings and peace
to him forever.
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