Allie Goder – 2. Purpose of Ramadan
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Dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam
We praise and we glorify Allah
and we send peace and blessings and salutations
upon our beloved prophet Nabi Muhammad
We bear witness
that there's no one worthy of worship except
Allah,
and we bear witness that Nabi Muhammad,
is
the most beloved and the final messenger of
Allah.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have blinked our
eyes once,
and 1 week of the month of Ramadan
has passed.
And we will blink our eyes for a
second time, and we would have reached the
half of the month of Ramadan.
So before we proceed any further into this
month, there is a burning question.
There is a very important and essential question,
and that is what is supposed to be
happening to me
in the month of Ramadan.
Ramadan
has a very specific purpose.
And if I'm not acutely aware of this
purpose,
and if I do not monitor myself
with regards to my progress
regarding this purpose,
then surely the month of Ramadan will pass
me by
and I would
possibly be categorized
amongst those
who Allah says to be Muhammad Sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam about such a person.
Many a fasting person.
He is portion of his fasting.
Meaning, he only derives from his fasting and
you hunger,
walaapush, and thirst.
That's all that has happened to me during
the month of Ramadan.
I went hungry and I went thirsty.
And many a person
who stands in
at night,
perhaps even to his portion,
he is gained
from that standing
is nothing but a but
keeping awake at night losing sleep.
Surely,
I do not want to be categorized among
such people. May Allah save us all from
this. And so
we need to then focus on what the
very purpose of the month of Ramadan is
for.
And we all know because
every year in the month of Ramadan, we
speak about this. And even outside of the
month of Ramadan,
we constantly speak about taqballah.
But firstly, remember,
remember that a reminder benefits a believer.
Says Allah
remind, remind, remind,
For indeed, a reminder benefits a believer.
So we should never ever grow tired of
being reminded of the same thing over and
over again.
Because if we have true iman, then every
time
we are reminded,
that reminder will serve as a benefit
Then the second thing to note is
the question that do we really understand
what
actually means?
And the third question is,
have I ever
assist myself
to see what the level of my taqwa
is?
Whether it meets the grade, whether it will
serve me well in the year after, or
whether it is lacking?
So those are the burning questions to be
asked regarding taqwa as well.
So to simplify
the understanding of taqwa,
I like to look at this concept of
top of mind.
You would probably have heard of this,
especially if you study the subject of industrial
psychology,
where the huge companies
spends 1,000,000 of rands
in getting their brand name or their company
name to be top of mine. Top of
my man and top of your man. So
that whenever there is a specific trigger,
then the first thing that comes to mind
is their company name, their brand.
So
and when I when I speak about this
in class with my students,
I usually do a quick demonstration
to prove this point.
And what I do is I mention
a thing and I request from them to
blurt out,
to shout out
the first thought or the first word or
name that comes to mind.
For example, I would say,
think
of a supermarket.
And in one voice, they would spontaneously
spontaneously
shout out the word or the name Pick
n Pay.
I would say,
mention a
dishwashing liquid
and again the same thing would happen. They
will all shout out sunlight liquid. And I'm
sure perhaps the very same thing just happened
to you now. So that is top of
mind. Now apply this to Allah
This is the position that Allah should hold
in our minds. Allah should be top of
mind
and what should be the triggers
to bring forth the
or to make rushing forth the thought of
Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala,
everything
around us.
Everything
and every moment
should be a trigger
for thinking and remembering. Thinking of Allah and
remembering Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Hence, the words of Rasulullah
Be conscious of Allah. Have taqwa of Allah
wherever you find yourself.
In whatever you find yourself doing,
Allah's
must be pop up mind. The thought of
Allah must be there. SubhanAllah.
So before we get
into more depth with regards to
what Taqwa really is,
let's first look at why.
Why do we need Taqwa? Why is it
so essential?
And what will taqwa do for me? Because
that is how Allah has created the human
psyche
that we are driven to do things
because it will bring us some benefit
or it will keep away harm
and thus we have Jannah, the ultimate benefit,
and thus we have Jahannam,
the ultimate harm to be saved and protected
from.
So
what will Taqwa do for me? Let's see
what Allah says.
Says Allah
194.
What Taqwa in Allah
and you must know. So Allah
specifically says this is something you need to
know.
That Allah
Allah is with those who have taqwa,
with those beside you at all times in
a metaphorical sense
that Allah will be there with you especially
in times of need and difficulty.
Said Allah. Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in Surah Al
Imran
verse number 76.
May the one who fulfills his promise to
Allah,
he fulfills his covenant of obedience
and worship of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And he has taqwa
for indeed Allah loves the.
We earn the special love of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Surah Al Baqarah verse number 27.
Allah
sent. This is the story of
Habil, the son of Nabi Adam, Alaihi Salatu
Wa Salam, speaking to his brother, Kabil, and
he says to him,
only.
Meaning
restricted limited.
Allah only accepts
from those who have who have taqwa, who
are god conscious.
Our deeds, the acceptance of our deeds is
dependent on this. And therefore, the month of
Ramadan, it's acceptance
is dependent on our Taqwa.
Says Allah
verse number
67.
Close friends in this world.
On that day, the day of judgment, the
day of
they will be enemies of each other. SubhanAllah.
Probably
the most intense love that one human can
show to another
would be the love of a mother, a
breastfeeding mother
to a suckling baby. But what does Allah
say about such a mother?
Every breastfeeding mother will abandon their baby. They're
suckling babies. Subhanallah.
What about our mothers?
We would like to think that we would
do anything,
sacrifice anything for our mothers, would even give
our lives.
This is what we would like to think,
but on the day of
says Allah
there will be those who will be prepared
to sell their mothers.
Allow their mothers to go to Jahannam so
that they can be saved.
But here Allah says, coming back to the
verse, except
the
the relationship,
loving for the sake of Allah.
Those relationships
will not be broken in the year after.
It will remain in fact in fact be
even stronger insha'Allah.
Says Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
Surat Duhan verse number 51.
Whilst the entire human race on the day
of will be in a state of panic,
in a state of trauma, in a state
of terror because of the unfolding events of
the day of
Indeed,
those
who
have
they will be in a safe place under
the shade of the arsh of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. May Allah make us of them.
Verse number
3 and 2 and 3.
Whomsoever
has of Allah, Allah will provide an exit
an exit
out of every difficulty.
And he will be sustained.
Sustenance will come to the way of the
muttaqeen
from places and avenues that you would never
have thought of and imagined,
Subhanahu
wa'ala, purely by a virtue of being from
the muttaqeen.
Suratul Tala verse number 4.
Huge, big problems. Problems that seems like a
mountain.
By the virtue of Taqwa,
it will be reduced to look like a
molehill.
Allah will make matters easy.
Again verse number 5.
Being from
the means
that you strive
to refrain from sin, but we can never
ever be absolutely sinless.
We will be committing sin here and there.
But what will happen to those sins? By
virtue of you being from the,
Allah will forgive and wipe out those sins.
Not even will it in fact, in addition
to being wiped out,
Allah says in Surah Al Furqan verse number
70,
those Allah will convert their sins into good
deeds. Subhan Allah.
And being from the, it will mean
that the quality of your deeds, of your
good deeds will be of such a quality,
such a high quality
while you're coming back to verse number 5,
Allah will magnify and multiply the reward of
your deeds, SubhanAllah.
And then the last thing we'll mention about
the benefit of taqwa.
Allah says in Surah Al Baqarah, the very
first verse first and second verse, Allah actually
introduces
the Quran to us.
That book, the Quran.
Allah mentions the first thing about it.
There is no doubt in it.
That is a discussion on its own.
And then the second thing Allah mentions about
it,
the very function and purpose of the Quran
is this, it is a guide.
Guidance is the most important and valuable thing
for all of us, for anyone. Without guidance,
we are doomed. We have absolutely nothing.
Hence,
is what it is because in that Surah,
we are asking Allah.
So guidance, that is the key word. This
Quran
is that means through which we will be
guided insha Allah.
Quran.
The month of Ramadan in which the Quran
is being revealed
and the purpose of the Quran.
It is a guidance for mankind.
But
who from amongst mankind will actually be guided?
Yeah. Our mentions
A guidance for those who have taqwa.
SubhanAllah. Now
after
listening to all those verses
which Allah highlights the benefits of the and
of taqwa,
Surely now we understand that there's no way
we can do without taqwa.
Surely now we really want taqwa.
So 3 questions. Number 1, what is taqwa?
We need a bit more detail regarding what
taqwa is. Number 2,
how do I know whether I have it
or whether it's lacking?
And
number 3,
how do we get this taqwa?
And how do we grow this taqwa? And
how do we save god this taqwa?
So
many scholars
have defined taqwa.
One such definition
is that of Imam Suyid, you're a ham
of Allah,
where it says taqwa is
is a trade.
A trade that becomes the driving force behind
the one who has it to obey the
commands of Allah
and the driving force behind
refraining from the prohibitions of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. But we need to go a bit
deeper than this definition because the question is,
what will bring about the straight
that becomes the driving force? And the answer
is
knowing Allah
and more importantly
being convinced
of what we come to know Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
That
way is the essential thing because
there are many things we know about Allah.
But how convinced are we? We know, we've
learned,
as children that Allah is as Sameer and
Allah is all hearing.
But how convinced are we of this attribute
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?
Check your words.
What words come from your mouth and how
do we how do we express
our words, and that will be a very,
very good indication
of our conviction that Allah is Sameer.
We all know and we've learned
from children, as children,
that Allah is Al Barsir and Allah is
all seeing.
But how convinced are we? Check your actions,
especially when you are alone.
Check your actions and that will be a
very good indication of how convinced you are
that Allah is Basir.
We all know and we've
learned that Allah is
Allah is infinitely
knowledgeable.
There is nothing
that escapes the knowledge of Allah
to the extent
that Allah is.
Allah even knows
what we have in our hearts, our innermost
thoughts that we have. Allah even knows that.
How convinced are we of that? Check your
thoughts.
Check the thoughts that you entertain,
and that will be
a very good indication of how convinced we
are that Allah even knows our thoughts.
So my dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
how do I know?
How would I know that I have taqwa
or that I'm lacking in my taqwa?
There are apparent signs.
We'll mention a few.
You believe in the unseen is the first
thing mentioned by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. What
is the extent Allah believe in the unseen?
How convinced of you of Jannah?
Compare
compare what you've done for your Jannah.
What effort you've made for your Jannah, what
you've spent on your Jannah,
compare to the effort that you've made for
your dunya, for your comfort in this worldly
life.
Look at the reward promised
to us for our deeds
by Allah
through his beloved prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Is 27 times
more
rewarded,
says Nabi
Muhammad
Is that enough?
Is that enough
to motivate us to make more of in
the Nasjid?
Or
if someone were to tell us, we we
were promised
that after every waqt,
you can pick up your
cash envelope
of R1,000
after every waqt you make in in the
masjid.
Would that do it for us? Which one
of the 2 will motivate
us more to perform more of our salawat
of our false salah in the masjid?
Answer that question for yourself.
Salah
in the life of the Muttaqeen
is a rock solid feature.
Therefore, Allah says the second
attribute of the Muttaqeen
established
These are people that no trade,
no business transaction, and nothing else will be
able to deter them from remembering Allah and
from establishing salah.
The muddaqeen
are those
spending is a constant in their lives.
There are those who spend
in times of ease and affluence,
and in times of difficulty
when there are financial constraints,
that does not stop them from spending in
the path of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. The
are those
who they have a very special connection
and bond with the Quran, and that bond
and connection is very apparent in their lives.
The
are those
another constant in their life is
they seek forgiveness
constantly.
In the early hours of the morning, especially
before Fajr, they seek Allah's forgiveness.
And I point to note here,
is that the would
be those persons whose sins were at a
minimum
because they are striving to refrain from haram.
And yet they are the ones who seek
forgiveness the most.
And this is learned from Nabi Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam
who said,
By Allah,
I seek forgiveness
every single day 100
times.
Allahu Akbar.
Nabi Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
is sinless.
He has absolutely
no sin against his name, but he seeks
Allah's forgiveness.
He seeks Allah for for he seeks Allah's
forgiveness 100 times a day, and this is
a sign of Taqwa, SubhanAllah.
The people of Taqwa
are those who are able to suppress their
anger.
There are those who remain calm
and dignified and respectful.
Their children, their spouses,
their
employees.
Do not bear the brunt of their rage
and their anger.
There are those who are able to remain
calm
and collected
and respectful and dignified.
The strong person is not the one who
can wrestle the other one to the ground.
And the wrestling here can be with your
words, with your shouting,
with your rage and anger.
The strong person is the one
who is able to control himself at the
time when he does get angry.
The muttaqeen
are those
who numb firstly,
they do not take offense easily,
and
they forgive easily.
It's easy for them to forgive. They do
not carry anything in the heart, Says Nabi
Muhammad
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continues
to raise the rank and honor of an
individual
as long as that individual is continuously forgiving
others.
People of Taqwa
are those people who
are
intensely worried about the year after.
They regarding the hour, the final hour, they
are really fearful.
They worry about the day when they will
have to stand before Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and give an account
of their life.
SubhanAllah.
And this becomes the driving force
behind the way they love their life, the
way they structure their lives. And the muttaqeen
are those
who when they do fall prey to sin,
which will happen, Witaqeen are not sinless. So
this will definitely happen,
but it will not be it will be
at a minimum inshallah.
But when it does happen,
then they feel so bad. They are so
remorseful
that immediately
they seek Allah's forgiveness, and they do not
persist
on that sin.
They do not persist on that on that
which they do the sin, that particular sin.
Whilst they know that what they're doing is
haram and haram.
Let us quickly distinguish here between
a person who commits a sin and is
not remorseful.
Such a person does not make tawba, does
not seek Allah's forgiveness, and such a person
persists in that sin.
Then
compared to a person
who commits a sin but feels so bad
after doing it and immediately he repents to
Allah, seeks Allah's forgiveness.
And then after that, in a moment of
weakness,
falls prey to that sin again and again
feels bad and again repents and this happens
a few times over and over.
Allah will forgive such a person every time
as long as he is sincere in seeking
forgiveness.
Nabi Muhammad
mentions a few things that we should not
be doing,
which will be
a sign indication
of deficient taqwa,
says Nabi Muhammad
You must not be envious of each other.
You must not bid up prices against each
other.
And you must not have hatred for one
another.
And you should not turn your backs on
each other.
And you should not attempt to contract over
the contract of another.
Be the true slaves of Allah as brothers
of each other. A Muslim a Muslim,
a Muslim is a brother of a Muslim.
He will never
ever oppress him or wrong him.
No one will ever forsake him.
No one will ever belittle him. And then
after mentioning all these things that we should
not be doing,
the prophet of Allah seals that and concludes
that with the words
is located here and he points to his
heart.
And three times he repeats
it.
So my dear brother and sister in Islam,
how do we get this taqwa?
How do we protect this taqwa?
How do we safeguard
it?
Based on the fact that taqwa
is located in the heart, We should then
be focusing on the heart. And regarding the
heart, says Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
In,
indeed these hearts,
does they
rest.
They rest. Just as
iron rests,
such a hard substance,
such a solid substance,
if not cared for, it will rest away
and it will be destroyed.
In the same way, the hearts.
And the resting of the hearts basically means
the diminishing of taqwa
because the heart is the location of taqwa.
It was then asked of Rasulullah, oh messenger
of Allah,
what would then be its polish?
What would be the polish of the heart
to restore it and to safeguard it against
rusting?
He said, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
He mentions 2 things and the first thing
is
remembering
death.
Nothing can be
a better reminder
than the reminder of death.
A reminder
of our true purpose in this dunya.
A reminder
of the a reminder that we need to
meet Allah
That which will bring us back into focus.
Nothing can do the job better than remembering
death.
And this is something that the prophet of
Allah had said that we need to do
often.
Remember and mention and speak of as often
as you can.
That which is going to cut you off
from this worldly pleasures.
Referring to death. And it should not be
a depressing thought, but rather a thought
that energizes
us
to do more to grow.
Inshallah.
But the topic of death
is a topic on its own that requires
a discussion on its own which we may
leave for another Jum'ah inshallah.
And then the second thing mentioned by Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Salam,
Quran
and the recitation
of Quran.
The job of the Quran
is to purify, to cleanse. It's a cleansing
agent, cleansing the heart, growing taqwa.
Because that is essentially what cleansing of the
heart means, growing in taqwa.
And so here again, I remind you and
I urge you
that Quran
must not
be limited only to reading without understanding. We
have to
go the extra mile, take the extra step
in understanding what we are reading.
Because the
Quran, what it's supposed to do is we
need to grow in our knowledge of who
Allah is and conviction of that knowledge.
And that can only really be achieved through
understanding what we are reading inshallah.
So we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala inshallah,
will every passing moment
during the month of Ramadan, will every passing
hour of the month of Ramadan, will every
passing day of the month of Ramadan
that we are growing in our taqwa insha
Allah, and that we
are consciously thinking about it and monitoring it
and worrying about it insha Allah.
And that when we eventually breathe our loss,
that it will be when we are at
our peak with our taqwa inshallah.