Post-Ramadan
Blessings
Continue
The Pursuit
of
Righteousness
After
Ramadan!
(M.
Javed Naseem)
“O
you who believe! Seek help with patient
perseverance
and prayer (Salaat); for Allah
is
with those who patiently persevere.”
(al-Quran
2:153)
Ramadan
is the best occasion to practice and continue the journey on the
spiritual road. It is the best kick-start that you can get without
any investment or without any extra effort. One-month journey on the
road to righteousness should enable you (and facilitate you) to
follow the arduous road to piety otherwise difficult. Ramadan should
have helped you to make the 'good deeds' as part of your routine
daily life. It should have helped you to pursue the goal of piety and
righteousness without any special effort. But if, unfortunately, you
are unable to follow the spiritual 'right' path after 30 days of
fasting in Ramadan, then it is not the fault of Ramadan (the declared
month of blessings). There is something missing in you effort, in
your pursuit and in your 'connection' with the Almighty.
Those
people are very unfortunate and unlucky who had the opportunity to
get the maximum benefits and Allah's unlimited blessings during the
month of Ramadan but failed to get a ticket to Paradise. Maybe, their
efforts lacked sincerity and honesty of purpose. They treated Ramadan
as an 'obligation' that they 'must' perform otherwise other people
would criticize them. Ramadan is not a social duty; neither a
face-saving performance; nor is it an action to show-off. It is an
opportunity to establish and consolidate your connection to the
Divine.
All
good deeds and rituals in Islam (prayer, fasting, charity, good
deeds, etc.) are meant to discipline us so that we become righteous
and pious. Allah makes it very clear in the Quran:
“O
you believers! Fasting is prescribed to you
as
it was prescribed to those before you, that
you
many learn piety and righteousness."
(al-Quran
2:183)
Same
thing goes for prayer (Salaat). It is supposed to make us pious and
righteous so that we can stay away from evil and indecent behavior.
We are supposed to glorify Allah's name and remember Him all the
time, under all circumstances. Only the remembrance of Allah can
protect us from evil as it thwarts all attacks from the Devil and his
friends. It's the best shield. Allah says in the Quran:
“Recite
what is sent of the Book by inspiration
to
you, and establish regular prayer; for prayer
restrains
from shameful and unjust deeds. And
remembrance
of Allah is the greatest (thing in
life)
without doubt. And Allah knows the
(deeds)
that you do.”
(al-Quran
29:45)
The
Almighty says that the prayer (Salaat) restrains us from shameful and
unjust (evil) deeds. But if it (the prayer) doesn't do that, it is
not the fault of the prayer (Salaat). It is our fault because we lack
the conviction, the sincerity, honesty, concentration and devotion.
There's definitely something missing on our part. We need to be very
serious, committed and devout in our prayer. We should not take it
lightly. It is a very serious and important matter. Allah commands
us:
“Guard
strictly your (habit of) prayers (Salaat),
especially
the middle prayer; and stand before
Allah
in a devout (frame of mind).”
(al-Quran
2:238)
It
is very naive to consider and perceive Islam as a 'religion' – a
part-time 'once-a-week' affair that has nothing to do with our daily
life affairs. That wrong concept was given to it by the evil-spirited
promoters of Capitalism as well as Communism. They want to keep
religion out of their daily lives.
The
Bible says:
"Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." –
(Philippians
4:6)
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." – (Jeremiah 33:3)
"But
when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your
Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you." – (Matthew 6:6)
On
the contrary, Islam is NOT a mere religion. It is a system of life
that covers all aspects of our lives – social, cultural, political,
financial, educational and religious. Religion is just a small part
of Islam. The major part concerns 'others' (our families, friends,
neighbors, community, the poor, the needy, the less fortunate, etc.).
Islam was introduced to mankind to make us pious and righteous so
that we could establish a society based on social justice and
equality.
If
we can achieve that immensely important and great objective, we would
be successful in both worlds. Here's the guarantee from the Lords of
the Worlds:
“Those
who believe, and do deeds of righteousness,
and
establish regular prayers and regular charity,
will
have their reward with their Lord. On them
shall
be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
(al-Quran
2:277)
We
need to be God-conscious and God-fearing in all our worldly affairs.
The fear of Allah and the reminder of the Day of Justice should work
as a perfect deterrent against evil deeds. We should be able to
achieve a state where everything we do, we do it for the pleasure of
Allah. Islam means to surrender or to submit to the Will of Allah.
The Almighty commands us:
“Say:
'Truly, my prayer and my service of
sacrifice,
my life and my death, are (all)
for
Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds!”
(al-Quran
6:162)
**************
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