Part 3

In this context it was reported that when Umar ibn al Khattab sat with the companions he used to say: ‘O Abu Musa! Remind us of our Lord.’ The latter would surge forward and recite with his beautiful voice leaving them all crying.

Verily the listening to his words has caused me to cry, For how would it be if my eyes were to see Him manifest.He recited the remembrance of his Master and yearned to meet Him And the longing of the hearts of those who know Him are renewed.

When the whims of later generations turned them away from listening to the words of Allah, learning became distorted, dispositions were turned upside down and understandings became afflicted.

When the Quran was substituted by other sources of guidance, corruption became common, calamities multiplied, understandings were thrown into disarray and fortitude disappeared. Surely the purpose of the Quran is to guide people to the straight path. It is a light and remedy for the illnesses of the heart. It is knowledge, culture and evidence. The Quran is life, spirit, salvation, happiness, reward and recompense. It is a divine teaching, a constitution and eternal wisdom.

Will we not then live with the Quran in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan? Will we not recognize the greatness of the Quran and fill our hearts with its happiness, and radiance? Will we not do this?

The chants of those who fast

There are to the people who fast certain special melodies, cherished songs and unceasing chants. Those who fast are the most conscious of Allah. They remember Him always with by saying: ‘Glory be to Allah (Subhanallah), all praise is due Allah (Alhamdulillah), Allah is the greatest (Allahu Akbar), and I ask Allah for forgiveness (Astagfirullah)’. If the day becomes long for the fasting, they make it shorter with their constant remembrance of Allah. If the pangs of hunger pain them, they overcome this through the remembrance of Allah. They find delight in their remembrance and happiness. They remember Allah and He remembers them. ‘So remember Me, and I shall remember you’ (2:152).

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Likewise, when they give thanks and show gratitude to Him,

He increases His favour upon them. ‘If you are grateful [to

Me], I shall most certainly give you more and more’ (14:7).

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The truthful fasters remember Allah standing, sitting and reclining on their sides. Their hearts become contented with the remembrance of Allah, their spirits become happy with love for Allah, their souls become relaxed with the longing to meet Allah. Prophet Muhammad & said: ‘The example of the one who remembers Allah and the one who does not remember Him is like the living and the dead.’ There are many dead people who do not know the remembrance of Allah, They live, eat, drink, roam freely and rejoice. Yet they absolutely do not know life.

It was reported that the Prophet # said: ‘Those who are singled out will arrive before others.’ The companions asked, ‘Who are they that are singled out?’ He replied, ‘The men and women who remember Allah often.’ The fasting person who remembers Allah is foremost in doing good. Such a one is close to Paradise and far from the fire of Hell. His records are filled with good deeds and overflowing with righteousness. Congratulations and best wishes to him.

Toward this end, a man asked the Prophet to inform him of a deed that he should cling to. Allah’s Messenger told him: ‘Keep your tongue always moistened with the remembrance of Allah.’

The following poem (written originally in Arabic) jis an excellent expression of this sublime reverence. It reflects the peak of ingenuity. It tells of how a fasting person becomes hungry and yet always remembers Allah. How he thirsts and yet continues to glorify Allah:

Remember us as we remember You, perhaps remembrance will shorten the distance.

Remember the searcher when he crosses Your path, shedding tears and yearning for happiness.

Those who remember Allah much, often do so with the exhaling of their breath, the meeting of their lips and the succession of every moment. They secure with their contemplation the greatest rewards, highest aspirations and most generous sacrifice. If some of the negligent turn away from the remembrance of Allah, they will be overcome by anxiety and trapped by distress and sadness. Surely they have the remedy, but they do not take it. They have the cure but they do not know it. ‘Verily, in the remembrance of [God] men’s hearts do find their rest’

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The Prophet & said: ‘Whoever says glory and praise be to Allah, a date tree shall be planted for him in Paradise.’ How many date trees, therefore, have eluded the people who indulge in heavy sleep and long hours of folly?

Will you feel sorry for the one who insists on wrong-doing,

Will you show mercy to him but you show no mercy to yourself?

You shun me always because of my thoughtlessness, And yet you spent your life in negligence.

Still on the virtues of God consciousness, the Prophet & said: ‘I prefer to say glory be to Allah, praise to Allah, there is no God save Allah, and Allah is the greatest, than to have all that the sun ever shone upon.’ And what is this world anyway? Of what value is its gold, silver and palaces? This is how the Prophet & weighed and valued them. For all that the sun ever shone upon is

not equal to ‘glory be to Allah, praise to Allah, there is no God save Allah, and Allah is the greatest’. Is there not a conscious being who would fill his hours with these precious words so that he may find them on the Day of the Greatest Presentation a source of light, pleasure and happiness?

The Prophet & said: ‘Shall I not inform you of your best and most precious deeds before your Master? It is better for you than to spend gold and money. It is better for you than to meet your enemy and you smite their necks and they smite your necks?’ The companions said: ‘Yes, tell us O Messenger of Allah.’ He said: ‘The remembrance of God Almighty.’

Whenever the righteous predecessors prayed al Fajr, the morning prayer, they used to sit and remember Allah until day broke. Some used to spread their copies of the Quran after the morning prayer and devote their entire beings to the study of the signs and momentous rulings. They would fill their bosoms with light and their records with rewards. The one who has suffered the worst kind of losses is he whom Ramadan passes and who does not attain happiness in it from the remembrance of his Lord and does not spend his time in glorifying his Master. Is there not, therefore, a diligent one who would seize every breath of his life and minutes of time?

Ramadan is a school for the learning of generosity and sacrifice

Allah Almighty says: ‘For whatever good deed you may offer up in your own behalf, you shall truly find it with

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He also says: ‘The parable of those who spend their possessions for the sake of God is that of a grain out of which grow seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains: for God grants manifold increase unto whom He wills; and God is

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In an authentic hadith, Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet 4& was naturally the most generous of people and that he used to be more generous than ever in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Indeed, he used to be more generous than a blessed wind. Fasting calls for the feeding of the hungry, giving to the indigent and offering to the poor. Ramadan is a season for the open-handed, a well-timed opportunity for those who sacrifice and give. Allah has given you, so sacrifice out of what he has given you, for wealth is a loan for exchange, and life is a traveller. Wealth is like water, if its flow is obstructed it becomes brackish, and if it flows, it becomes sweet and fresh.

What sublime sacrifice, what excellent charity, what beautiful offering. The Prophet & said: ‘Verily Allah has two angels who call every morning. One says: “O Allah give the generous a replacement for what he spent.” The other angel would say: “O Allah give the miserly wastage.”

Thus, every time a servant of Allah gives something in charity Allah eases his physical, spiritual and mental conditions. And He expands for him his sustenance. The Prophet said: ‘Charity extinguishes a wrong as water puts out fire.” Wrong-doings create a heat in the hearts and a flame in the souls, and a burning fire in life. Only charity can put out this blazing fire. Indeed, charity is a cooling for the heart and a fragrance for the spirit, erasing in the most complete way every wrong-doing.

Here again, the Prophet & said: ‘Every person will be in the shade of his charity on the Day of Judgement, until all matters are settled between the people.’ This is truly astonishing: that charity should have an expansive shade and shadows in which the servants of Allah shade themselves on the Day of Judgement; each one according to the shade that was produced by his charity in this world.

The third Righteously Guided Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, was very rich. He used his wealth and vast possessions to gain the pleasure of Allah by equipping the Muslim army before it set out for the Battle of Tabuk. He bought an entire well especially for the Muslims. He will certainly be rewarded for his generosity and sacrifice. Abdur Rahman ibn Awf was another wealthy companion. On one occasion he gave to the poor people of Madinah, for the sake of Allah, the merchandise of an entire caravan comprising 700 camels.

There are people who fast and do not have a piece of bread, or a taste of milk or a handful of dates. There are others who fast and do not have a house to shelter themselves, or means of transport to convey them, or a friend to support them.

Still besides, there are other people who fast and do not have anything to eat before or after their fast.

In this context the Prophet # said: ‘Whoever feeds a fasting person he will have the same reward like him, without there being any reduction in the reward of the one who is fasting.’ Hence, the generosity of righteous people is increased in Ramadan. They give, spend and sacrifice. Many of them usually provide meals for gatherings of poor Muslims to break their fast each day in Ramadan. By so doing, they seek a great and abundant reward from Allah Almighty.