Sawm

Are you a student, or working? Are you depressed or frustrated that you could not take the advantage of the last ten nights of Ramadan? There were midterms, assignments, and projects for all the working folk, all those cliched reasons, or maybe you did take advantage. Here is another chance. Its on our doorsteps, the most beloved days to Allah, the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. It was reported by Ibn ‘Abbas (رضي الله عنه) that the Rasoolullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: “There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.

Now that Ramadan’s over, many of us feel sad–we miss the spirituality, the eman rush, the amazing strength that we all demonstrate in Ramadan. So what can you do to bring those feelings back? One thing is to keep performing the deeds you performed in Ramadan–and this is one of the signs that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) accepted your deeds. Another act you can perform is to fast six days of Shawwal, the month right after Ramadan.

Just like we have different starting dates for Ramadan, we have different Eid dates. And you know what? That’s ok. Why? Because it’s all based on legitimate difference of opinion. Not some beardy guy making stuff up because he feels like it. So when ‘Eid rolls around, enjoy it, and don’t hate on other people for when they celebrate. That’s messed up. By the way–when ‘Eid rolls around, remember this: you just fasted for 30 days straight, give or take a day.

One of the verses of the Qur’an we hear all the time in the context of fasting is this one: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ Translation: O you who believe! Allah prescribed fasting upon you, as it He prescribed for those before you, that you may attain taqwa (piety, God-consciousness). [Al-Baqarah, 2:183] Those last two words summarize the entire purpose of fasting: to attain taqwa.

Ramadan is the month of Qur’an. A month where many of us fast, pray Taraweeh, pray Qiyam al-Layl, and read the entire Qur’an–maybe more then once! But subhanallah, in our love for Ramadan and our zeal for good deeds, we sometimes aim to accomplish more then our human capacity. We’re humans, we all have limits. But people say “I’m going to read the WHOLE QUR’AN this time!” when they can’t–sometimes, even reading only one juz, maybe even the last juz, is an accomplishment for them, one within their ability.

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) taught us five favourable (mustahab or “sunnah”) actions for us to follow while fasting. These are: Hasten Iftaar: When Maghrib time arrives, hasten to break your fast–do not delay. It’s said that he, (صلي الله عليه وسلم), sent Bilal (رضي الله عنه) to stand on top of a high-up hill to see when the sun set, then broke his fast immediately. Eat Suhoor: A lot of cultures teach us to skip suhoor and start fasting when we sleep.

Ramadan Mubarak to you and your families! May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) make this a most blessed and beneficial month for you all, and a source of taqwa and eman for the whole year, ameen! Subhanallah, one of the companions of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) even said, “We spend half the year making du’a for Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) to allow us to see another Ramdaaan, and we spend half the year making du’a for Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) to accept the Ramdaan that passed.

Ramadan kills all the excuses we make for ourselves throughout the year, and allows us to soar to new heights of eman! If someone said to you, “let’s go to the masjid every day,” you’d say “we can’t do it!” but, in Ramdan, you do it! If someone said “let’s play Qiyam al-Layl all night,” you’d say “we can’t do it!” but, in Ramdan, you do it! Subhanallah, in Ramdan, wishes and hopes and dreams can become reality!

In many countries (mostly Western countries–America, Canada, Europe, etc.) our communities fight over the actual start date of Ramadan. This, itself, is not so bad–because, alhamdulillah, everyone backs up their opinion with a legitimate fiqh source (more on that in a second). However, the problem is that people in the same region fast on different days–sometimes, even two people in the same house fast on different days! So how do we go about picking an appropriate date to start fasting?