Ramzan III

Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim...

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious...

InshaAllah apart from sharing another hadeeth from the Daily Hadith app, I would also like to share bits of reflections of how this Ramadhan has been going on so far for me. So, long post warning.

I have been meaning to write this for a while, and I guess it's time now. For a lot of reasons, I've always think that one of the best thing about Ramadhan is that you get to be spiritually cleansed once again.

And yes, it's true isn't it? Ramadhan has been always the special month that Allah has given us to race and persist in doing good ibadah that eventually will becoming habit throughout the year, if not throughout our life.

One of the reasons why Ramadhan is so so ultimately wonderful due to the fact that it is in this month that the miraculous Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him). It is almost by default then with the revelation of words from God (Allah) that we, Muslims get to know about the beautiful messages in Islam.

In which the truth and gems lie within in the Quran that it should be a great motivation for all of us to study it better to understand more about our religion, what Allah wants us to know about Him, his creations and all that matter to him, beyond what is on this earth.

Personally, verses about differences in colors, races, and the way Prophets' of God (Adam, Ibrahim-Abraham, Yusuf-Joseph, Yaaqub-Jaacob and others) mentioned in the Quran always struck me. You see, as we go through and read the quran alongside its tafseer, Prophet Ibrahim alayhissalam (a.s) was endowed in intellect, Musa a.s had the strength,  Sulayman a.s had the power, and Prophet Muhammad pbuh had emotional intelligence...

Here Allah is showing us that He created people with differences be it in the physical, intellectual, emotional self. Allah knows that we, as humans especially, are different from each other but the best thing is, He taught us to be respectful and be graceful on others about it.

If we are in differences, be mindful and walk away if the other start throwing you bad words and/or choose to engage in mutual discourse that leaves both parties in peace...InshaAllah. We are taught in the Quran about adab and hikmah so much so that we could even see lessons from the verses in Sura Ibrahim about kalimah at-thoyyiba, from the verses in Sura Taha about qaulan sadida when Allah ask of Prophet Musa(Moses) a.s to meet Firaun(Pharaoh) and a lot more.

Yet sometimes we get transfixed on how the other person isn't having the same faith, race, intellect nor emotional aspects similar to us that we failed to see on the other side what it is like for them, and to approach the issue with care, after having reflections including good choices of words.

This also includes the way we're doing dawah. Its sometimes easier to blame, scoff, and act like, "I'm holier than thou" or "I actually hold the one and the only truth" or "Your fikrah is wayyy off" ...Right? :( When in fact, people receive guidance from Allah in different forms of invitations, be it through halaqas/usrah/circles, good characters, self study of Quran.

We have to acknowledge that we have reverts, muslims from various backgrounds, of different madzhab, of different upbringing...Hence, just know that the truth lies always with God, and we are, especially only another medium to invite. Therefore, keep doing your amal with ihsan and itqan and full of Rahmah.

On another hand, with deep reflections, thereupon comes responsibility to act upon it. Though this has been quite a struggle for each and everyone of us (especially idealists), I would like to encourage that every individual acts according to what is within his/her capabilities. As an example, given that a lot of saying, love is simply not words but acts or love is a verb, I would argue that some people do have difficulty in expressing their love with acts and some have difficulty with words. It all really boils down to appreciating any form of love is presented to us. Love could take in many forms, and it's terribly wonderful if we could just feel it deep down, be grateful and never forget to sayالحمد الله

Another thing to add is, with principles in line with presenting "truth", there are needs to speak up when injustice has been done; injustice to our own spiritual self, injustice to fellow human beings, including injustice to the creations of God alongside us. When we feel the need to speak up, it is upon us especially Muslims to address the issue after series of investigation and verification (tabayyun) of the issue followed with good words, and with clarity (not sarcasm, seriously). -I myself, sometimes fall into liking statuses of people who wrote with sarcasm and I'm ashamed with that-

Last but not least, let's not forget upon how we will be gathered in front of Allah in the day of Judgment, and will be asked of our own deed. And the fact that Allah will put someone inside Jannah with His mercy mashaAllah...and those who are with qalbun saleem (purified heart)...as well as with taqwa...may we be amongst those people who are fortunate enough to receive such mercy and enter one of the Gates to Jannah.

With Ramadan to end in another 5 days, let's be hopeful and strive to end it with goodness and receiving forgiveness from God and continuing on our resolutions during Ramadhan.

Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun kareem, tuhibbul' afwa fa'fu 'anni...