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Lift Up Your Heart & Welcome Ramadan (Live Session)

Muhammad Fathi
04 June, 2016

Ramadan is here, we ask Allah Almighty to make it a blessed month for Muslims all over the world, to enable you and I to draw nearer to Him, and to grant us the peace of mind and the best of reward in it.

 

Welcoming this great guest, we had this spiritual, heart uplifting session with Muhammad Fathi, Editor of the Shariah page and former Imam at the Quran Institute of America, Michigan USA.

 

We thank all the brothers and sisters who joined us and invite you to read the questions and answers below.

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Monday, Jun. 06, 2016 | 03:00 - 05:00 GMT

Session is over.
DISCLAIMER
Views expressed by hosts/guests on this program (live dialogue, Facebook sessions, etc.) are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.  

I am interested in the field of Tazkiyah (soul development), can you tell me a good read in this topic.



One of the excellent works in this field is Khurram Murad’s book In The Early Hours: Reflections on Spiritual and Self Development.

We also have a dedicated sections for Tazkiyah. Please visit our Refine Your Heart and Spirituality pages.

 

There are some hadiths that promise very big rewards for very small deeds, such as getting the reward of reading one third of the Quran by merely reading Surat Al-Ikhlas. First I thought those hadiths were no more than fabricated exaggerations but I found out that they are indeed authentic hadiths. I wonder then why all those rewards for such small deeds?



Allah is the most merciful and His generosity is limitless. So I think it is better to busy oneself with seizing these generous offers and accumulating as many of hasanat as possible rather than spending much time thinking why such huge hasant are assigned to theses deeds.

 

However that does not mean reflecting on this question is blameworthy. The point is that it should not distract us from benefiting from the blessings that Allah granted us in the form of highly rewarding small acts.

 

I believe that one way to understand the reason behind such great rewards is reflecting on the characteristics of people who are keen on seizing these opportunities:

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– They have great trust in what Allah and the Prophet say and therefore they keep doing these deeds.

– They aspire to maximize their hasanat and therefore they are looking for the best ways to reach this goal.

– They are always alert; they never allow temptations to distract them from accumulating Hasant.

– They prefer the hereafter to this world and therefore they are ready to sacrifice some conveniences of the dunia to secure themselves in the hereafter.

 

To appreciate these qualities, let’s ask ourselves how many of us try to seize these opportunities (for example, pray Fajr in masjid and stay there until Duha time and pray Duha to get the reward of perfect Hajj and `Umrah as we are told by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him).

 

How many of us reduce his/her time on Facebook to repeat some Dhikr or to pray few rak`ahs .

 

Many of us know that reading Surat Al-Ikhlas gains its reader a reward equal to reading one third of the Qur’an, how many of us are keen on not missing this high reward.

Compare our attitude to these special offers with our excessive interest in worldly offers, market sales and promotions.

 

Indeed those small deeds betray the magnitude of our Iman and devotion and perhaps this is why their reward is such huge.

Do you think there is hope for me to be good one day and get accepted by Allah. I heard that being engaged in a sinful life for such long time leads to hardening the heart. I doubt that my heart would have a good heart any more.



Allah Almighty has already given the best answer for this question:

 

{Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”

And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.

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And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord before the punishment comes upon you suddenly while you do not perceive,} (Az-Zumar 39:53-55)

 

Of course there is a chance for you to get back to Allah. Allah is the most kind and the most Merciful. He is ready to forgive your sins and even to replace them with good deeds if you sincerely repent, turn over a new leaf and amend your ways:

{Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.} (Al-Furqan 25: 70)

 

So, please seize this opportunity and rush back to Allah. We are in a very special season of blessings and goodness. So be determined to make the best use of the month of Ramadan.

 

Every year I have a strong intention to make Ramadan the best ever. I even try to be more practicing before Ramadan and do more acts of worship but after a few days I get back to my old ways. I start procrastinating reciting the Quran, miss some traweeh etc. At the end, it is not the month I was dreaming for and not the performance that I intended to achieve. That's really frustrating. I don't want this Ramadan to be the same. Please advice



It is great that you have the passion for a highly-rewarding Ramadan. That is, indeed, the first necessary step which you can build on. The following tips will help insha Allah:

 

– Seek Allah’s help. Be keen on making sincere du`aa’, as much as you can, that Allah grants you the chance to live for the whole month of Ramadan and that He enables you to make the best of it. When Allah sees that you are sincere enough and that you are really eager to get closer to Him, certainly He will not let you down. The following beautiful hadith confirms that:

 

“Allah says, ‘I am as my servant expects Me to be, and I am with him when he remembers me. If he thinks of Me, I think of him. If he mentions Me in company, I mention him in an even better company. When he comes closer to Me by a handspan, I come closer to him an arm’s length. If he draws closer to Me by an arm’s length, I draw closer by a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him. If my servant comes to Me walking, I go to him running.” (Al-Bukhari)

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– Set SMART goals for your Ramadan. The SMART here stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. This is what we do in our daily life with any new project. We plan ahead and set goals, evaluate and re-evaluate to achieve our objectives.

 

– Check your friend list. Friends are an important factor that either pull you up to high levels of Iman and practicing or, otherwise, distract you from the straight path of Allah. So, look for good friends and associate with them. That is, in itself, is a great `ibadah. The Prophet listed among the seven categories of people who will enjoy the special shade prepared by Allah on the Day of Judgment “two persons who love each other only for Allah’s sake and they meet and part in Allah’s cause only” (Al-Bukhari)

 

– Continuous evaluation is very important. Start the habit of assessing your daily performance from day one. Make a checklist of four or five items that you commit yourself to (e.g praying Fajr in Masjid, reading one part of the Qur’an, etc.) and set specific times (at least once a day –e.g. before sleeping) to check what you achieved. Throughout the week monitor your progress and make the adjustment needed and take the necessary measure to address any shortcomings in the fulfillment of the items you are committed to.

 

– Eliminate the time wasters. train yourself to overcome tendencies to waste time in useless activities. I would like to refer here to Facebook and Twitter in particular as many of us waste too long time using them; such precious time could be better spent in reciting the Qur’an, praying few rak`ahs, remembering Allah, etc.

 

– Make use of the special offers. Learn more about this topic by reading: Huge Reward for Small Acts: Why?