1a] Reaping the Benefitsof Ramadhan

1a]
So we must check ourselves, are we following the behaviour ofthe
Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him)? For example:
Do we give salaam to those we don't know and those we do know? Do we
follow the manners of Islaam, by telling the truth and only telling
the truth? Are we sincere? Are we merciful tothe creation?
LESSON 6: Recognizing that one can change for the better
The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him) said,
"Every son of Adam sins and the best of the sinnersare those who
repent." (Ibn Maajah) Allah providesmany opportunities to repent to
Him and seek Hisforgiveness. If one was disobedient they can become
obedient.
LESSON 7: Being more charitable
Ibn `Abbaas said, "The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace
upon him) was the most charitable amongst the people, and he used to
be more so in the month of Ramadaan when Jibreel used to meet him on
everynight of Ramadaan till the end of the month…" (al-Bukhaaree) The
Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him) said, "He who
gives food for a fasting person to break his fast, hewill receive the
same reward as him, without nothing being reduced from the fasting
person's reward." (at-Tirmidhee)
LESSON 8: Sensing the unity of the Muslims
The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him) said, "…
Those of you who will live after me will see many differences. Then
you mustcling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided
khaleefahs. Hold fast to it and stick to it." (Aboo Daawood) In this
month we sense that thereis a possibility for unity, because we all
fast together, we break fast together, we all worship Allah together,
and we pray Salaatul-`Eid together. Therefore we sense that the unity
of Muslims is possible. It is possible for Muslims to be a single
body, but this will only be achieved when obedience is only to Allah
and His Messenger.
LESSON 9: Learning discipline
The Prophet (ma Allah send His blessing and peace upon him) made us
adhere to discipline and strictness, strictness that does not lead to
fanaticismor going outside the bounds that Allah has laid down. One
cannot knowingly break the fast before the sunset, as this will not be
accepted by Allah. Muslims should learnto be very strict in their
lives, because they are people of an important message, which they
moldtheir lives around.
LESSON 10: Teaching the young to worship Allah
It was the practice of the people of Madeenah, that during the fast of
`Aashooraa (which is now a recommended fast of one day) to get their
children to fast with them. When the children would cry of hunger and
thirst, their parents would distract their attention by giving them
some sort of toy to play with. The children would break their fast
with their parents. (as mentioned in al-Bukhaaree).
So the young should be brought to the masjid and they should pray with
their parents, so that they are able to get into the habit of becoming
worshippers of Allah. If one does not encourage children to fast when
they are young, they will find it very difficult to fast for thirty
days at the age of puberty. This is why the Prophet (may Allah send
His blessing and peace upon him) said, "Commandyour children to pray
at the age of seven and spank them at the age of ten (if they do not
pray." (Haakim)
LESSON 11: Caring for one's health
Fasting has many medical benefits and it teaches Muslims to take care
of their health and too build strong bodies. The Prophet(may Allah
send His blessing and peace upon him) said, "A strong believer is
better and is more beloved to Allah than a weak believer, and there is
good in everyone." (Muslim)

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Reaping the Benefitsof Ramadhan

In the month of Ramadaanit is very important that we spent a few
moments to understand some of thewisdoms and lessons that we can learn
from this month of fasting.
Unfortunately, many Muslims come in to this month and they are as a
companion of the Prophet,peace be upon him, said:"Let it not be that
the day that you fast and the day that you break fast be equal."
Meaning, one's behaviour, attitude and outlook are the same whether
one fasts or not, i.e. fasting has no effect upon that person. This is
why we need to reflect on some of these lessons.
LESSON 1: Gaining Taqwaa
Allah legislated fasting for gaining taqwaa,
"O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it has
been prescribed upon those before you, so that you may attain taqwaa."
(meaning of Soraat ul Baqarah (2):183)
Taqwaa in this case meansto make a shield between oneself and Allah's
anger and Hellfire. So we should ask ourselves, when we break our
fasts, 'Has this fasting day made us fear Allah more? Has it
resultedthat we want to protect ourselves from the hellfire or not?
LESSON 2: Drawing closerto Allah
This is achieved by recitingand reflecting on Al-Qur'aan during night
and day, attending the taraaweeh prayers, remembering Allah, sittingin
circles of knowledge and, for those who can, making `umrah. Also for
those who can, making I`tikaaf (seclusion) in the last ten nights of
Ramadaan, so as to leave all worldly pursuits and seclude oneself in a
masjidjust thinking of Allah, so asto bring oneself closer to Allah
(SWT). When one sins, one feels distant fromAllah. That is why one
might find it heard to readthe Qur'aan and come to the masjid.
However, the obedient worshipper feels closer to Allah and wants to
worship Allah more, because he is not shy fromhis sins.
LESSON 3: Acquiring patience and strong will
Allah has mentioned patience more than seventy times in the Qur'aan
and has commanded patience in more than sixteen ways in His Book. So
when one fasts, and gives up one's food and drink, and one's marital
sexual relations forthose hours, one learns restraint and patience.
ThisUmmah needs man and women that are strong willed, who can stand
upon the Sunnah and the Book of Allah and not waver in front of the
enemies of Allah. We do not need emotional people, who just raise
slogans and shout, but when the time comes to stand upon something
firm, they cannot do so, they waver.
LESSON 4: Striving for Ihsaan (righteousness and sincerity) and
staying away from riyaa' (showing off)
Ihsaan means to worship Allah as if one seeks Him, and even though one
doesnot see Him, He sees all. Hasan al-Basree said, "By Allah, in the
last twenty years, I have not said a word or taken something with my
hand or refrained to take something with my hand or stepped forth or
stepped back, except that I have thought beforeI have done any action,
'Does Allah love this action? Is Allah pleased with this action?' So
when one is fasting, one should gain this quality of watching oneself
and also staying away from riyaa' (showing off). That is why Allah
said in a hadeeth qudsee, "Fasting is for Me and I reward it."
(al-Bukhaaree) Allah singles out fasting from allother types of
worship saying, "Fasting is for Me", because no one knows whether you
are fasting ornot, except Allah. For example, when one is praying or
giving charity or making tawaaaf, one can be seen by the people, so
one might do the actionseeking the praise of the people. Sufyaan
ath-Thawree used to spend the nights and the days crying and the
peopleused to ask him, "Why do you cry, is it due to the fear of
Allah? He said, 'No.' They said, "Is it due to the fear of the
Hellfire?" He said, 'No. It is not the fear of Hellfire that makes me
cry, what makes me cry is that I have been worshipping Allah all
theseyears and doing scholarly teaching, and I am not certain that my
intentions are purely for Allah.'"
LESSON 5: Refinement of manners, especially those related to
truthfulness and discharging trusts.
The Prophet (may Allah send His blessing and peace upon him) said,
"Whoever does not abandon falsehood in word and action, then Allah
(SWT) has no need that he should heave his food and drink."
(al-Bukhaaree) What we learn from this, is that we must pay attention
to the purification of our manners. The Prophet (may Allah send His
blessing and peace upon him) said, "was sent to perfect good manners."
(Maalik)

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Twenty Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Ramadhan

1. Fast Ramadhan with belief and truly seeking the reward of Allah the Most High so that He may forgive you your past sins.
2. Beware of breaking your fast during the days of Ramadhan without a valid Islamic excuse, for it is from the greatest of sins.
3. Pray Salat ut-Taraweeh and the night prayer during the nights of Ramadhan - especially on Layatul-Qadr - based on belief and truly seeking the reward of Allah, so that Allah may forgive youyour past sins.
4. Make sure that your food, your drink and your clothing are from halal means, in order that your actions be accepted, and your supplications answered. Beware of refraining from the halal while fasting and breakingyour fast with the haram.
5. Give food to some fasting people to gain a reward similar to theirs.
6. Perform your five prayers on time in congregation to gain the reward and Allah's protection.
7. Give a lot of charity for the best charity is that of Ramadhan.
8. Beware of spending your time without performing righteous deeds, for you will be responsible and reckoned for it and will be rewardedfor all you do during your time.
9. Perform `umrah in Ramadhan for `Umrah in Ramadhan is equal to Hajj.
10. Seek help for fasting during the day by eating the sahoor meal in the lastpart of the night before the appearance of Fajr.
11. Hasten breaking your fast after the sun has truly set in order to gain the love of Allah.
12. Perform ghusl before fajr if you need to purify yourself from the state of major impurity so that youare able to do acts of worship in a state of purityand cleanliness.
13. Seize the opportunity of being in Ramadhan and spend it with the good that has been revealed in it - by reciting the noble Qur'an and pondering and reflection of its meanings so that it be a proof for you with your Lord and anintercessor for you on the Day of Reckoning.
14. Preserve your tongue from lying, cursing, backbiting and slander for it decreases the reward of fasting.
15. Do not let fasting cause you cross your boundaries by getting upset due to the slightest of reasons. Rather, fating should be a cause of peacefulness and tranquility of your soul.
16. Upon completion of fasting, be in a state of taqwa of Allah the Most High, being aware of Allah watching you in secret andin public, in thankfulness for His favors, and steadfastness upon obedience of Allah by doing all what He has ordered and shunning all that He has prohibited.
17. Increase in remembrance of Allah, seeking of forgiveness, asking for Paradise and protection against the Fire,especially when fasting, while breaking the fast and during suhoor, for these actions are among greatest causes of attaining Allah's forgiveness.
18. Increase in supplication for yourself, your parents, your childrenand Muslims, for Allah has ordered making of supplications and has guaranteed acceptance.
19. Repent to Allah with a sincere repentance in all times by leaving sins, regretting those that you have done before and firmly deciding not to return to them in the future, for Allah accepts repentance of those who repent.
20. Fast six days of Shawwal, for whoever fasts Ramadhan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasts all the time.
21. Fast on the Day of `Arafah, the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, to attain success by being forgiven your sins ofthe last year and the coming year.
22. Fast on the day of `Aashuraa', the 10th of Muharram, along with the 9th, to attain success by being forgiven your sins ofthe past year.
23. Continue being in a state of iman and taqwa and perform righteous actions after the month of Ramadhan, until you die."And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (i.e. death)". [Qur'an 15:99]
24. Ensure that you attain the positive effects of youracts of worship such as prayer, fasting, zakat and hajj, sincere repentance and leaving of customs that are in variance with the Sharee`ah.
25. Invoke a lot of salawatand salam upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's blessings and peacebe upon him, his Companions and all those who follow them until the Day of Judgment.
O Allah make us and all Muslims of those who fast and stand in prayer duringthe month of Ramadhan based on belief and truly seeking Your reward so that we are forgiven our past and future sins.
O Allah make us of those who fasted the month, attained full reward, witnessed Layatul-Qadr and attained success by permission of the Lord, Blessed and Most High.
O Allah, verily you are Forgiver, like to forgive, so forgive us.
O Lord, accept from us, verily you are the All-Hearing, all-Seeing, O Living, O Independent, O Owner of all majesty and honor./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

Ramadhan: the Month of Qur'an

Compare all this with our sad state, when we talk so much about establishing Islam, implementing the Qur'an, etc. and yet have such little contact with it, maybe not completing its recitation ever at all since childhood, or perhaps never! Hence we become unbalanced in our understanding of Islam, because there are ayat which we rarely or never hear or think about; we repeat only certain selected ayat over and over again; we lost the context of the verses, the overall flow, argument and balance of the Qur'an, all of which is beautiful & miraculous. Because of thisignorance we go astray from the Straight Path, split up into sects, lose the blessings of Allah...
"We took a covenant from those who said: we are Christians, but they forgot part of the message with which they had been reminded, so we ingrainedamongst them enmity andhatred until the Day of Judgment..." (Surah al-Ma'idah 5:14)
In Sahih Bukhari (6/521), there is an amazing piece of advice from the Prophet(may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Recite the Qur'an as long as your hearts agree on it; if you disagree about it, stop reciting it (for the time being)." Studying the Qur'an should bring peopletogether!
In Surah al-Mu'minoon (23:53), there is mention of the people before us (in whose footsteps we wouldfollow), who broke up their Deen into sects (zuburan), each party rejoicing in what it had. One understanding of this, from the word zuburan meaning literally 'books', isthat each sect left the Book of Allah and concentrated solely on the books of its own sect, so"they split their deen up into books"!
The most twisted, ridiculous, shallow ideas, innovations and superstitions are propagated amongst Muslims when they are away from the Qur'an, because any little knowledge of the Qur'an would be enough to dispelthem.
Hence, O servant of Allah, leave aside secondary books and concentrate on studying the blessed Book of Allah in this blessed month (use a good translation/commentary if needed), for it is the sourceof all knowledge in other books, and keep away from wasting time, especially in futile discussions and argumentswhich lead nowhere, for that is a sure sign of being misguided, as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Whenever a people went astray after they had been on guidance, they were given to argumentation (jadl)." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah - Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, no. 5633)
Finally, remember that theMessenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will complain to Allah on the Day of Judgment that his people neglected the Qur'an (Surah al-Furqan 25:30). Neglect of the Qur'an is of different levels, as Ibn al-Qayyim writes:
Not reciting or listening to it;
Not studying and understanding it;
Not conveying its message;
Not judging by it in personal and communal matters, at all levels of society;
Not believing in it.
All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en