1] Ramadan: The Month of Deeds

1]
All praise belongs to Allah the Most High, who created both life and
deathas a test to see who is foremost in deed. ThroughHis infinite
mercy He blessed mankind with selected times and seasonsin which the
best deeds are made obligatory and the reward for good deedsis
multiplied. Allah, the Most Wise, prescribed the third pillar of
Islam, fasting, in the second year after the hijrah of the final
Messenger (peace be upon him). Fasting is obligatory upon every sane
Muslim adult, Allah the Most High says,
"O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for
you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain
taqwa." [1]
Taqwa is defined as "the consciousness of the soul to fulfil what
Allah the Most High has commandedand abstain from what He has
prohibited" [2] . Fastingis therefore a means towards achieving a
level of self-restraint. The scholars of tafsir (exegesis)mention
various behaviours that are restrained by fasting including eating,
drinking, fulfilling one's desires, being angry and disobeying Allah
the Most High in general. Sufyan Al Thawri said,
"The reason for the title muttaqin (those who havetaqwa) is that they
leave that which is not left".
Ibn al-Qayyimsaid
"The objective behind fasting is to restrain the soul from desires
(for food,drink, and sexual relations), divert it from itsnormal
circumstances, tame the strong desires, prepare it to attain the
happiness and benefits (from fasting), and purify itfrom its untamed
state. By experiencing the intensity of hunger and thirst, one
isreminded of the condition of the hungry stomachs of needy people."
[3]
The Prophet (peace be upon him)
said "On the first night of Ramadan, the devils and rebellious jinn
are bound in chains; the gates of Paradise are opened until not a
single gate remains closed. The gates of Hell are bound shut until not
a single gate remains open. Then a caller calls out, 'O desirer of
good, go forth! Odesirer of evil, restrain yourself! Allah is
emancipating people from the Fire every night'." [4]
On the last day of Sha'ban, the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave a
sermon and said
, "O people! A great and blessed month has approached you, a month
containing a night better than a thousand months. Allah has made
fasting in its days an obligation and prayer in its nights a
(recommended) voluntary act. Anyone who seeks nearness to Allah in
this month through any virtuous act will be like one who carried out
an obligatory act at another time (outside of Ramadan),and whoever
performs an obligatory act in this month will be like one who
performed seventy such acts at another time. It is the month of
patience,and the reward for patience is Paradise. It is the month of
equality, the month in which the wealth of the believer is
increased..." [5]
With the reward for obligatory acts multiplied, one must exert to
performthem in the best of manners, and with the reward for voluntary
acts multiplied one must hasten to perform good deeds. Ramadan is
withoutdoubt a golden opportunity for the one who seeks to be absolved
from the Hell fire and the one who yearns to dwell in Paradise,
wherein they will have all that they desire.
Many Muslims assume thatwhen Ramadan comes they will endeavour to
become obedient Muslims and do the maximum possible good deeds for the
whole month. If you imagine the reality as a graph, what happens is
that you start off with a peak and then the influx ofdeeds becomes
difficult forso many reasons, so you trough or lull for much of this
precious month. You then try a bit harder at theend to try to catch
laylat-ul-Qadr (the night of decree), but even then youmay sleep some
nights and even miss some obligatory prayers! This approach to Ramadan
is not correct will repeatedly fail. The Messenger (peace be upon him)
and his companions would pray, fast, and be obedient to Allah all year
round. In Ramadan, like other special times in the year, they would
maximise theirefforts to excel in good deeds.
Ramadan should be used as a platform to change lives, every day should
get increasingly better, the case being even more so each and every
year. Allah the Most High loves those deeds that are done with
consistency, because they represent a Muslim's personality, and they
are the deeds that will pave the path to Jannah (paradise). Prior to
Ramadan, Muslims must perform the obligatory acts, otherwise they will
be punished for their negligence after this life. The obligatory acts
should be supplemented with voluntary acts that are part of one's
daily routine. Once Ramadan arrives then that is the time to exceed
beyond your :->

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Bride-Price / Dowry for a poor man

One day, a woman came to see the Prophet of Allah [PBUH= Allah's
blessings and Peace be upon him] and said: "Oh! Messenger of Allah! I
do not have a husband and I want to be a good wife; i give myself to
you."
The Messenger of Allah [PBUH] kept silent for a long while.
Suddenly, a man who waspresent stood up and asked if the woman would
accept him for a husband.
The Messenger of Allah [PBUH] said: "Do you haveanything to give her
as a dowry."
The man thought and said: "I have half of my cloth," and indeed he was
wearing a single cloth around him.
"If you give her part of this cloth, you will have nothing to wear
anymore;it will become her possession. Find something else." Since at
this time the followers of Islam and the Prophet himself [PBUH] were
poor,the man thought again a long time and declared:"No, I do not
possess a thing to give her."
The Messenger of Allah then told him: "Go to yourhouse and look for
something, even if it is an iron ring."
The man departed and came back a while later, and declared: "I looked
everywhere, but I did not find anything to give her as her dowry."
After reflection, the Prophet of Allah [PBUH]said: "Did you learnsome
of the Qur'an?"
"Yes, I have learned by heart so-and-so Surahs [chapters of the Qur'an]"
The Messenger of Alah [PBUH] therefore declared:"Teach her what you
know of the Qur'an, and this will constitute her dowry."
The couple felt contented with what was proposed, and they got married.

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The miracle at the spring of Tabuk

During the year of Tabuk, they went out with the Messenger of Allah
[PBUH=May Allah bless him and grant him Peace],and the Messenger of
Allah (PBUH) prayed Dhur and 'Asr together.
Then he said, "Tomorrow we will meet, Insha Allah, at the spring of
Tabuk. Do not go there until well into the morning. You should not
touch the water until i arrive." We all agreed and, the day after, we
all gathered at the spring of Tabuk. But, when we got there, two men
had already reached it before us and the springwas dripping with very
little water.
The Messenger of Allah [PBUH] approached and asked them: "Did you
touche this water?" They said: "Yes, we did." "Take water with your
hands from the spring little by little until you have collected a
small amount in something." When this was done, the Messenger of Allah
[PBUH] washed his face and hands on it. Then he put it back into the
spring and the spring began to flow with abundant water, and the
people began to draw water from it. Then he said [PBUH): "If you live
long enough, you will see this place full with gardens."

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4a] Laylat al-Qadar - Dividing Qiyaam al-layl into two parts during the last ten days of Ramadan

4a] Laylat al-Qadar
~
:-> The reason why some people object to that is that it is contrary
to what is customary among the people of their countries and most of
the people nowadays; and because ofignorance of the Sunnah and reports
and of the practice of the Sahaabah, Taabi'oon and the imams of Islam;
and because of what some people think, that our prayer during thelast
ten days is a kind of salat al-ta'qeeb which was regarded as makroohby
some scholars, but thatis not in fact the case, because ta'qeeb is a
voluntary prayer offered in congregation after finishing Taraweeh and
Witr.
This is how all the fuqaha'defined ta'qeeb, as a voluntary prayer
offered in congregation after finishing Witr immediately after
Taraweeh. From these words it is clear that prayer offered in
congregation before Witr is not ta'qeeb. End quote.
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan said in Ithaaf Ahl al-Eemaan bi Majaalis
Shahr Ramadaan:
In the last ten days of Ramadan, the Muslims increase their efforts in
worship, following the example of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and seeking Laylat al-Qadr which is better than a
thousand months. Those who pray twenty-three rak'ahs at the beginning
of the month break it up during the last ten days, so they pray ten
rak'ahs at the beginning of the night, calling it Taraweeh, and they
pray ten at the end of the night, making them lengthy, and following
it with three rak'ahs of Witr, which they call qiyaam. This is a
variation in naming only. In fact all of it may be called Taraweeh or
it maybe called qiyaam. As for those who pray eleven or thirteen
rak'ahs at the beginning of the month, they add ten rak'ahs to that
during the last ten days, which they pray at the end of the night,
making it lengthy, makingthe most of the virtue of the last ten days
and increasing their efforts to do good. They have a precedent among
the Sahaabah and others whoprayed twenty-three rak'ahs, as stated
above. Thus they combine the two opinions: the opinionwhich favours
offering thirteen rak'ahs during the first twenty days and the opinion
which favoursoffering twenty-three during the last ten days.

And Allah knows best.

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