The Month of Ramadan is Near

Ramadan is near! ... Cleanse your heart in the month of Shabaan, Let the month of Shaban be the means to purify your heart, so You can POLISH your heart in the month of Ramadan. You can avail the maximum barkah of Ramadan if you don't waste the month of Shaban.

For Formula 1 lovers, you can consider the importance of Shabaan as the qualifying session prior to race day. :-)

Night of 15th of Sha'ban & it's importance

Allah Talah , due to his infinite grace and mercy, presented to His bondsmen some special occasions wherein they have a golden opportunity of earning the mercy and forgiveness of Allah. 

Some explicit examples of these special occasions are the nights of Ramadan and Laylatul Qadr. In the same mold is the fifteenth night of Sha'baan. 

Several Ahaadith extol the tremendous merit of this occasion. Amongst them is the fact that countless people are forgiven by Allah during this blessed night. It is due to this reason that this night is called "The night of Bara'at" (i.e. the night wherein judgment of being free from Jahannam and punishment is passed).

SOME AHADITH CONCERNING SHAB-E-BARA'AT

1. It is reported from Hazrat Mau’dh Ibn-e-Jabal (R.A.) that Rasulullah (S.A.W.)said: "On the fifteenth night of Sha’ban Allah bestows his special attention on His entire creation. He then pardons His entire creation except an idolater and one who harbours enmity.' 

2.  It is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr (R.A.) that RasulAllah (S.A.W.) said "Allah looks with special attention towards His creation on the fifteenth night of Sha'baan and forgives all his servants except two categories of people; the person who harbours enmity and a murderer." 

And countless other such narrations are found. However while some of the narrations regarding Laylatul Bara’ah are weak and may lead one into the error of totally disregarding this wondrous night, we have to see what the understanding of Muhaditheen was regarding these narrations & save ourselves from adopting an attitude that might lead us into missing out on this night’s Barakah. 

VIEW OF MUHADITHEEN REGARDING SHAB-E-BARA'AT:

“An overview of the various narrations regarding this night lends credence to the acceptability of the virtue of this night. The Reason being that although these narrations are weak, they are numerous and narrated by a number of Sahabah.

 Some are such that not much criticism has been leveled at their Sanad (chain of narrators). Ibnu-Hibbaan has included some of these narrations in his 'Sahih" and Hafiz Mundhiri has remarked regarding the Sanad of some that 'LA BA'SA BIHI' (it is acceptable). 

Therefore, according to the principal of the Muhadditheen, the excellence of the night of Bara'at is proven from a conjunction of all narrations.  This is the general consensus of the Muhadditheen and Fuqaha and this is correct. 

Even Ibn-e-Taymiyyah, accepts the virtue of the night of Bara'at.  He says: 'So many Ahaadith and reports exist regarding the excellence of the fifteenth night of Sha'ban that one is compelled to accept that this night does possess some virtue.' Some of the pious predecessors used to specially devote this night for Salah” -Muhaddith Shaykh Fazl-ur-Rahman al-Azam

VIRTUE OF THIS NIGHT AS ESTABLISHED BY MUHADITHEEN

 “The virtue of this night that is established from these Ahaadith is that from the very beginning of the night Allah turns with special mercy and attention towards the creation and forgives those who repent and seek forgiveness. Every Muslim should therefore value this night. Turn towards Allah with sincere regret and shame over sins committed and make a promise never to return to sin again and seek forgiveness from Allah. Seek forgiveness for oneself and the rest of the Muslims, living and deceased. Have the firm hope and resolution in the heart that Allah will surely show mercy and forgiveness.” - Muhaddith Shaykh Fazl-ur-Rahman al-Azam

UNFORTUNATE PEOPLE WHO ARE DEPRIVED ON THIS NIGHT:

It is understood from the Ahaadith that even on this night, some servants of Allah are deprived of His forgiveness. They are as follows:

1. Idolaters

2. Those who harbour enmity against others

3. Consumers of alcohol

4. Those who disobey their parents

5. Those who wear their trousers, kurtas, lungis, etc. below their ankles;

6. Those who commit adultery and murderers

7. And those who sever family ties.

We can thus gauge the severity of these sins and the need to perpetually abstain from them as they are so grave that even on an occasion when Allah's mercy comes to the fore, they still pose an obstacle to our forgiveness.

Every Muslim should consider carefully and if he is involved in any of these sins, he should sincerely repent and seek forgiveness for his sin lest he be deprived of this night.

THE SPECIAL VIRTUE OF THE NIGHT OF BARA'AT:

The special virtues of the night of Bara'at are:

1. Contrary to other nights wherein the last third of the night has special blessings and Allah descends to the lowest Heaven during this section of the night, on the night of Bara'at the special rain of the mercy and forgiveness of Allah begins to shower down right from the beginning of the night and continues right up till dawn.

2. The sins of countless of people are pardoned. The numbers of pronouncements seeking out those who want forgiveness far supersede those which occur on other nights. 

THE FAST OF THE 15TH OF SHA'BAAN

Whereas the fast of 15th of Sha’ban is not Sunnah, however it was a Sunnah of Nabi SAW to fast a lot in the month of Sha’baan. And if we have uptil now been deprived of this Sunnah, 15th of Sha’baan can be a good chance for us; a night of Ibadah followed up by a day of fasting will inshAllah benefit us spiritually.

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed, regarding the fast of 15th of Sha’ban states:

“Muhadiseen have viewed the reports about the 15th of Shaban to be transmitted by a chain that is known as ‘hasan’. Ibn-e-Tamiyah himself mentions the amal or the practice of all the great and pious generations of Muslims, that they would make special worship on this night and that they would fast on the day of the 15th of Sha’ban. So, I would encourage generally that the Prophet saw used to increase his fasts in the month of Sha’ban and if someone hasn’t started as yet, starting from the 15th would be a wonderful way to start. Otherwise, it was a year round sunnah of the Prophet saw, that he saw used to fast on the 13th, 14th and 15th of any month.”

The shaykh also states:

“For us, who live extremely busy lives that are distracted from the remembrance of Allah swt, we may need something to snap us into this reality that the month of Ramadan is indeed coming soon and I think for that reason, if nothing else, marking the night before the 15th of Sha’ban with extra ibadat and spending the day of the 15th of Shaban in a state of fasting is even more important and critical for us modernity afflicted Muslims, because we don’t have that Sunnah temperament that we are present and preparing for the month of Ramadan, which for us still seems like a distant future event. 

The thing that is critical for many of us that we should spend the night of the 15th of Shaban with as much ibadat as we can and that day in a state of fasting to snap us out of worldly distractions and back into heightened remembrance and awareness of Allah swt and to really make us feel the imminent coming of the month of Ramadan like the Prophet saw felt the imminent coming of the month of Ramadan.”

WHAT IBADAH TO DO IN THIS NIGHT?

 A person can do any sort of Ibadah on this night. No nawafil or special Salah of Laylatul Bara’ah are sunnah. One should try to do all sorts of Ibadah; darood, astaghfar, nawafil, zikr, dua etc.

Also no special amal is associated with this night, according to Sunnah.

MAKE SPECIAL DUA ON THIS NIGHT REGARDING SPIRITUAL RIZQ

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed states:

“There are some Ahadith that mention that the night of 15th Sha’ban is a night in which Allah swt decides the Rizq of the creation for the upcoming year again these ahadith are hasan  in their chain of narration, they are reliably sound but not of utmost soundness. So, it’s not a necessary part of the Deen of Islam that a person believe in this but again we have to look and make our response the way that the muhadiseen and ullema was and it is that the vast overwhelming 95% of all of the mufasireen, muhadiseen, fuqaha, usooleen, auliya-e-kamileen took this to heart and they would make extra prayers and dua to Allah swt to make them a good Rizq in the following year.”

CONCEPT OF RIZQ

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed:  “We need to understand that the concept of Rizq is much more than just monetary wealth and our sustenance, it includes first and foremost our spiritual rizq: that how much ‘amal we are going to do next year, how much ikhlaas it is going to have, how much qubooliat it will have i.e. how much will be accepted by Allah swt, how much tahajjud we are going to do, how much fajr we are going to do, how much isha we are going to do or how much jama’at we are going to do, how much dhikr we are going to do, how much tillawat, istighfar, durood salawaat, khidmat etc that we are going to do. 

And when we think of it like that, it’s very interesting that in the deen of Islam, Allah swt has linked this annual planning to the month of Ramadan, it almost seems that the 15th of Shaban is the initial decision by Allah swt about about how much to bestow upon us the following year but then Allah swt gave us the rest of Sha’ban and all of Ramadan to earn more and more.

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**The above mentioned text has either been taken from “15th of Sha’ban in the Light of Quran & Hadith” by the great Muhaddith Shaykh Fazl-ur-Rahman al-Azam. Or from the audio by Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed.

The full text can be read at:

http://attahawi.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/15th-night-shabaan.pdf

And the audio at:

http://www.islamicspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Laylatul-Baraah-And-Spending-Shaban.mp3

The Eid of our Pious Predecessors

Eid-ul-Fitr is not all about dressing up in fine new clothes, eating delicious treats and pursuing carnal pleasures and delights.

In its outward celebration Eid-ul-Fitr is actually meant to symbolize:

• the acceptance of acts of worshipful obedience;
• the remission of sins and mistakes;
• the conversion of bad deeds into good deeds;
• the glad tidings of promotion to higher spiritual degrees
• and the conferring of robes of honor, gifts and gracious favors.

Eid should be celebrated, but together with celebrating it, Allah Ta’ala should also be remembered.

Whether there is happiness or sadness, He should never be forgotten; just as Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said, “The people who will be called towards Paradise first on the Day of Judgment are those who praised Allah Ta’ala during happiness and sadness.”

 Let us look at the true essence and significance of Eid-ul-Fitr and the way in which those pious servants closest to Almighty Allah celebrated Eid.

Eid of our Pious Predecessors 

If we study the lives of the Companions and our pious predecessors we will see that even though they used to worship extensively in the month of Ramadaan, they would still feel regret and sorrow on the day of Eid. They were constantly worried about the fact of whether or not they had fulfilled the rights of Ramadaan.

Sayidinna Umar RA

It is reported about Hazrat Umar (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) that on the day of Eid, he sat in a corner and cried so much that his blessed beard became soaked. When people asked the reason for this, he replied, “How can a person who does not know if his fasts have been accepted celebrate Eid?”  

This is that same Hazrat Umar (Radiallahu Ta’ala ‘Anh) about whom Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said that his good deeds are equivalent to the number of stars in the sky, is crying upon reflecting as to whether his fasts have been accepted or not, whether he has obeyed the orders of Almighty Allah properly and if Allah Ta’ala is pleased with them.

Allahu Akbar Kabeera!

And yet sinners like us are absolutely carefree and cannot wait to engage ourselves into sin again!

Sayidinna Ali RA

It was on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr that a man once entered the presence of Hadrat Ali (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) and found him eating coarse brown bread.

“Today is the day of Eid, yet here you are, eating coarse brown bread!” the man exclaimed.

So Hadrat Ali (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) replied to the visitor, saying, “Today is the day of Eid for someone whose fast has been accepted, whose effort has been deemed worthy, and whose sin has been forgiven. Today is Eid for us, and tomorrow is Eid for us. Every day in which we do not disobey Allah Ta’ala is an Eid for us.”

Commenting on this incident,  Hazrat Shaykh Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jilani (R.A.) says that it is therefore important for every intelligent person to stop focusing on the external aspect, and not to let it capture his attention. His perspective on the day of Eid should be from the standpoint of contemplation and reflection.

Let us, this year spend a different Eid than we have spent all our lives, and show some loyalty to our Rabb who gave us the blessing of Ramadan. Let us prove to Him that we worship not only the Rabb of Ramadan but the Rabb of all 12 months. And that we want to please Him outside of Ramadan as well!

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/zaynab-academy-karachi-unofficial/the-eid-of-our-pious-predecessors/233043146819067

Beautiful woman who wanted to get married

There was this beautiful woman, who wanted to get married, but she wanted a very pious husband, so she said that she’ll marry the man who recites the whole Quran every single day, fasts for the whole year and stays awake and worships Allah all throughout the night.

She was a very beautiful woman, and a lot of suitors wanted to marry her, but they knew they couldn’t fulfil the conditions she set. Until this one man stepped forward and said he could fulfil them. So the Imam got both of them married.

After the first night of the marriage, the wife sees that the husband doesn’t recite the whole of the Quran, nor does he fast, nor does he stay awake in the worship of Allah, she decided to let it roll on for a few weeks to see if there were any changes, there weren’t, so she filed a complaint and asked for a divorce.

They are both taken in front of the judge, and the judge asked, ‘What were the conditions of the marriage?’ the man replied ‘They were for me to recite the whole Quran daily, keep fast for the whole year and to worship Allah all throughout the night.’

The Judge asked, ‘ did you fulfil them? The man calmly answered, ‘…yes.’

The judge answers, ‘you lie, your wife has said that you don’t, that’s why she’s asking for a divorce’.

But the man insisted that he had fulfilled the conditions, so the judge asked, ‘did you recite the full Quran everyday?’ The man answered yes. The Judge, baffled asked, ‘how? How can you do that?’ The man coolly answered, ‘I recite Surah Ikhlas three times a day and according to Prophet Muhammad (saw), reciting Surah Ikhlas three times is equivalent to reciting the whole Quran.’ The Judge was intrigued, so he asked, ‘how did you fast the whole year?’ The man answered, ‘ I fasted for the whole month of Ramadan, then kept another six fasts in the month of Shawwal, according to Prophet Muhammad (saw), keeping all of the fast of Ramadan then keeping six fasts in the month of Shawwal, is as if you have fasted for the whole year.’

The Judge remained silent, he couldn’t give a reply saying the man was wrong, so finally he asked, ‘ how did you stay awake all night and worship Allah, when your wife saw you sleeping?’ The Judge thought the man wouldn’t be able to answer this one, but the man, cool as a cucumber answered, ‘I prayed Salatul Isha with jamaat, then the next day prayed Salatul Fajr with jamaat, according to Prophet Muhammad (saw), the one who prays Salatul Isha and Salatul Fajr with jamaat, it is as if he had stayed up all night worshipping Allah.’

The Judge sat there looking at the man; the final verdict was about to be released…

He said to the man and his wife, ‘…go, just go, there is nothing wrong with this marriage’…

The Five Pillars of Islam

1.) Shahadah (Testimony of Faith)

Shahadah is the first pillar of Islam. It means to believe and declare the faith by saying the Shahadah, known as the Kalimah.
"There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (s.a.w) is His Messenger." This is called the Shahada, which is the declaration of the Islamic faith. The Shahada is the acceptance of Allah, Muhammad, his prophet, and all of Islam as prescribed to us by Allah’s Messenger Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w).

2.) Salah (Daily Ritual Prayers)

Salah (prayer) is the second pillar of Islam. Prayer is obligatory and must be performed five times a day. These five times are dawn (Fajr), immediately after noon (Dhuhr), mid-afternoon (‘Asr), sunset (Maghrib), and early night (Isha’).

3.) Zakah (Alms Tax for Poor)

The third pillar of Islam is the alms-tax (Zakah). Zakah is an Arabic word which literally means “purification” and in religious terminology it is understood to mean that a person “purifies” his holdings of wealth from greed and stinginess.

4.) Sawm (Fasting during the Month of Ramadhan)

The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting. Allah (s.w.t) has prescribed daily fasting for all able, adult Muslims during the month of 'Ramadan' which is during the lunar year. The fasting would also be known as the 'Sawm'. The Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and will not eat, drink or be sexually involved with their husband or wife.

5.) Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)

The fifth pillar of Islam is to make a pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah, in Saudi Arabia, at least once in one’s lifetime. Hajj is obligatory for every Muslim, male or female, provided that he/she is physically fit and financially able to do so.