Hva fasten krever av oss

Innleggsvurdering

Vurder dette innlegget

Legg ut etiketter

Andre innlegg

Av Rent ekteskap - Kan, 6th 2019

Forfatter: Mufti Taqi Uthmani

Kilde: https://muslimmatters.org/2019/05/02/what-fasting-demands-from-us-mufti-taqi/

What Does “Ramaḍān” Mean?

The correct pronunciation of Ramaḍān is with afatḥah (zabar) on the lettermeem(م), dvs. رَمَضَان (Ramaḍān). To pronounce it withsukūn on the lettermeem, dvs. رَمْضَان (Ramdan) is incorrect. As for its meaning, much has been stated, derimot, linguistically it means scorchedness, extreme heat that burns. The very first time this month was being named, it was during a scorching summer, derfor, they called it “Ramaḍān”.

derimot, the scholars explain the reason for naming this month as Ramaḍān is that in this month Allah burns the sins of His servants out of His Mercy and Benevolence. Derfor, remove the curtain of heedlessness from your heart and cleanse it from the darkness of sins. Repent for the sins committed in the past eleven months and seek forgiveness in this month for the mistakes and shortfalls. Come back to Allah and begin a new chapter in your life!

The Noble Qur’ān states:

“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.” (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:183)

This means that the fast of Ramaḍān is made obligatory in order for us to develop taqwa and put an end to the life of heedlessness. Just as a machine needs servicing for its parts to function properly, Allah has made this month a means to “overhaul” His servants’ hearts so that they can live with renewed conviction.

Take A Break:

Derfor, this month demands from us that we make time for it. Just the fast andtarāwīḥ prayers would not be enough, rather we must free ourselves from other obligations that have kept us busy in the past eleven months. We should focus upon our life’s purpose and the purpose of our creation.

If for some reason, we are not able to free up this month solely for the worship of Allah, then we must make as much time as possible, however much our circumstances allow us, and we need to utilize it in the worship of Allah. For this, we would need to plan ahead and have a (personal) Ramaḍān program.

How to Welcome Ramaḍān?

There has been a practice of welcoming Ramaḍān that originated from Egypt and Syria and now has spread in many countries. og hvem den svarte, a couple of days prior to the beginning of Ramaḍān, a community event is hosted to welcome the month. It is hosted with sincerity and noble intentions. derimot, it is often those very practices that begin with noble intentions that later take the form of reprehensible religious innovation, and in a few places, it has taken such a form already.

The best way to welcome the month of Ramaḍān is to reschedule your daily routine for the coming month to give you the most time for worshipping Allah. Before Ramaḍān begins, think of all those activities that can be reduced in the upcoming month that can free you up for increased worship. If someone is able to free up their entire month then Subḥān-Allah, otherwise, free yourself up as much as you can by abandoning that which can be abandoned or delaying that which can be delayed until after the Eid, so that you can spend as much of your time in the worship of Allah.

This is the best way of welcoming the month of Ramaḍān. If by the Will of Allah, someone is able to reorganize their routine for Ramaḍān then they will be able to avail the most of this month by reaching its true spirit and the abundance of blessings that come with it. Ellers, the month will pass by and you will not be able to benefit from its true spirit and blessings.

What To Do With The Free Time

When you have made yourself a Ramaḍān routine and freed yourself up with extra time, how would you utilize this time?

The fast of Ramaḍān is obligatory, that much is certain. As for thetarāwīḥbønner, it’s importance is also known. Whoever has an atom’s weight ofimān, and honor and respect for the blessed month of Ramaḍān, they increase their acts of worship in this month. It is because of this reason that we see people who normally do not pray the five daily prayers in the mosque outside of Ramaḍān are also among those who stand in the longtarāwīḥ bønner. All thanks are due to Allah that because of the blessings of this noble month, the believers increase their ṣalāh, dhikr (minne) av Allah, and the recitation of the Noble Qur’ān. derimot, one important aspect that gets neglected, when it should be the top-most priority for this month, is abstaining from sins and trying to make Ramaḍān a sin-free month.

We should make sure that we protect our gaze by not looking at inappropriate things. We should protect our ears and tongues from listening and speaking that which darkens our hearts, and in this blessed month of Ramaḍān we should try to completely abstain from the disobedience of Allah. If you are able to spend this noble month free from sins then you are worthy of being congratulated and you have attained the blessings of this noble month, even if you did not offer a single supererogatory (begjær) bønn, nor did you increase the recitation of the Qur’ān or engaged yourself with thedhikr.

We have spent the past eleven months the way we have; Allah is offering this month to cleanse ourselves from our sins. Commit to yourself that you will not disobey Allah, that you will not lie in this month, nor would you backbite, or have an evil glance. Decide now that you will neither engage with bribery nor would you misuse your ears by listening to that which is prohibited, and that you will not consume riba (interest) for this one month alone!

What Kind of Fast Is This?

Fasting means to abstain from eating, drinking, and fulfilling sexual desires. All of these are by nature permissible in Islam – eating and drinking are permissible and for a man and a woman to fulfill their sexual desires through the institution of marriage is also permissible.

derimot, while fasting if you abstain from these three things, which are otherwise permissible, but you do not abstain from that which is already prohibited, f.eks. lyver, backbiting, evil glances, is this fasting? If someone is fasting from these three things, but they are lying or backbiting, or in order to pass the time they are watching indecent movies, would this be called a fast? They have abandoned that which was permissible but they did not abstain from that which is otherwise prohibited. Det er, for this reason, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sa, "Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need of his giving up his food and drink” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1804).

It is true that from the legal point of view their fast would be valid, and if they were to ask a mufti, they would not be obliged to make up that fast after Ramaḍān. derimot, even though there is no making up for such a fast, they certainly have washed away the reward and blessings that accompany it. Derfor, such an individual failed to acquire the spirit of the fast.

The Purpose of Fast Is To Kindle The Light of Taqwa:

As mentioned earlier that the Qur’ān says, "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous” (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:183). This verse mentions the purpose of fasting is to kindle the light of taqwa.

Some scholars have said that the way fasting instills taqwa is by breaking the powerful hold of base human and animal desires. When a fasting person bears hunger, it crushes within them their base desires, which makes acting upon a sin, less attractive to them.

På den andre siden, Shaykh Ashraf ‘Ali Thanwi, may Allah elevate his ranks, said that the fast, not only curbs base desires, rather it is in of itself a noble means of acquiring taqwa.

What is the Meaning of Taqwa?

Taqwa means to abstain from sinning while being conscious of the greatness of Allah. Med andre ord, to constantly remind myself that I am a slave of Allah and He is watching me, and I will have to answer in front of Him; with this in mind, when a person abandons a sin, it is called taqwa.

As Allah says:

“But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [ulovlig] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be [hans] refuge.” (Surah al-Nāzi‘āt, 79:40-41)

Derfor, taqwa is when an individual out of the fear of standing in front of Allah, stops themselves from fulfilling their base and carnal desires.

My Lord Is Watching Me

Fasting is the best training for acquiring taqwa, even for a flagrant sinner, for when they fast their condition changes. In a hot summer day, when such a fasting person is alone in their room and they have their personal fridge with cold water, in spite of their desire to drink that cold water they don’t! If they do so there is no other person around to reproach them and they could very easily go out for ifṭār in the evening with friends, and no one else would know. derimot, they do not do it because their fasting was for Allah and they know that He is Watching.

Derfor, the Messenger of Allah said:
“Indeed your Lord said: ‘Every good deed is rewarded with ten of the same up to seven hundred times over. Fasting is for Me, and I shall reward for it.’ (Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhi, 764).
For all of the other actions, Allah will reward tenfold or seventy fold or hundred, even up to seven hundred times for charity. derimot, fasting is the only action that Allah has said that He will reward it because this is an action that is done solely for His sake. This awareness is taqwa, and fasting is one of the means and the manifestation of it.

Dessuten, as you are getting trained to acquire taqwa by abstaining from drinking that cold water then why do you not take it a step further? Why do you not abstain from the unlawful when you go out to work? Just as you fear Allah for drinking that cold water while fasting, why do you not fear Allah while dealing unlawfully in your business or at work? Why do you not prevent your eyes from the evil glances and your ears from the unlawful sounds and your tongue from the unlawful speech? Your Ramaḍān training course will only be complete if you abstain from all the unlawful things.

Just as the medicine is necessary to cure a disease, so is the abstinence from that which causes it or adds to it! Allah has made fasting obligatory in this month in order for us to acquire taqwa, but that cannot be without the abstinence from sins. If you turn on the air-condition of your room, but you don’t close up your windows, it will not cool your room. på samme måte, if you leave the windows of sins open, your fast will not be able to give you it’s desired benefit.

Real Objective Is To Obey

As mentioned earlier, fasting curbs the base desires within a person, derimot, this is a (ikke noe galt i det du sa) wisdom behind it. The real objective of fasting is to obey the command of Allah and His Messenger. Whenever they command us to eat, eating at that moment is thedīn, and whenever they command us to stop eating, then at that moment thedīn is to stop. The entiredīn revolves around obeying Allah and His Messenger.

You fasted the entire day and when the command came to open it at the sunset (ifṭār), it is recommended for you to haste in opening the fast and it is disliked to delay without a valid reason. The real objective of fasting is to obey Allah’s command and not to follow one’s desires. In regular circumstances, greed is a reprehensible characteristic. derimot, when He commands us to be greedy then acting upon it has it’s unique pleasure.

Seek Purity in Livelihood

Another important point that I want to shed light upon is the importance of consuming halāl at least in this month. You want to avoid a situation where you open your fast from the wealth that is polluted byribaor you have your suhūr from the wealth earned through bribery. What kind of fast would it be in which thesuhūr ogifṭār are from harām wealth? Derfor, prevent yourself from harām earning and seek help from Allah! Speak to Him and say, "Å Allah! I want to consume halāl, save me from the harām.”

Some people have halāl livelihood, derimot, because of their carelessness, some harām gets mixed with their earnings. For such individuals it is very easy to avoid harām, they just need to be extra careful in this month in how they do things at work. På den andre siden, there are those whose primary mode of earning is from a harām source, for eksempel, they might be dealing with interest. Regarding such individuals, Dr. ‘Abdul Ḥayy al-‘Ārifī (d. 1986 CE/1406 AH)[2] suggested that they should take a month leave from their work and only utilize the funds from halāl source for this month; if possible try to find another halāl work during this time. If this is not possible, then take a (non-interest bearing) loan for this month’s expenses and have a firm conviction that they will only consume and feed their family from a halāl source.

Ramaḍān is the month in which Satan gets chained and locked away. Derfor, it becomes much easier to abstain from sins. In spite of the increased worship in this blessed month, try to abandon the sins.

Konklusjon

The third important note I would like to make before I conclude is to avoid anger in this blessed month. This month is of patience and forbearance, derfor, avoid anger so that you can abstain from the sins that follow it.

Allahs sendebud (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sa:
“If one of you is abused by an ignorant person while fasting, then let him say: ‘Indeed I am fasting.’” (Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhi, 764)

As for worship in this month, it is known to all the believers that the fasting andtarāwīḥ prayers are the most important acts of worship. I tillegg, the recitation of the Qur’ān is also an important form of worship, because in this month Angel Jibreel would review the entire Qur’ān with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Derfor, increase the recitation of the Qur’ān as much as you can.

In addition to it, moist your tongue with the constant remembrance of Allah while you walk, drive, run your daily errands. Recite the following:

سُبحَانَ اللهِ و الحَمدُ للهِ و لا إلهَ إلا اللهُ و اللهُ أكبر

“Subḥānallāhi wal-Ḥamdolilāhi wa Lā ilāha illallāhu wa Allahu Akbar.”

“All the praises are due to Allah, and all the thanks are due to Allah, and there is no god except Allah, and Allah is Greater.”

Også, increase the salutations upon Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), increase seeking your forgiveness and the number of supererogatory prayers. During thesuhūr tid, you have an ample opportunity to offer thetaḥajjud bønner, derfor, wake a little earlier and offer a fewtaḥajjud bønner. Try to have focus in your salāt; the men should join the congregational prayers in the mosque, and above all avoid the sins.

May Allah give us the tawfīq to act upon what we have learned today, and may Allah make this Ramaḍān a month full of blessings, and allow us to fully benefit from it. Amīn.