In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
By
Abu Aishah.
Fasting gets
tough in summer, and tougher for those who work outside air-conditioned
offices. But I am not going to talk about how to stay cool (body temperature
wise) in summer. That’s for the physical trainers and nutritionists to tackle.
What I am going to point out here are things which we do in Ramadan that
we do not realize are cool (awesome) for us as common Muslims. Realization of
completing one level gives a boost of confidence to excel in the next, in turn, pumping moretaqwa in our souls. If we take
a minute and have a look at our mirrors, we should say to ourselves “Abdullah
(you), you are doing great; and yes, you are better than this”.
Super
Fasting of Inputs in
summer is the next level of fasting. The heat consumes all the comfort of our
movements throughout the day and gives us nothing but tiredness and intense
thirst. That’s why I said “Super Fasting”, rather than ‘fasting’. Inputs to our
bodies includes eyes, ears and feelings along with our mouths (for consuming
food), which are strictly monitored. We remind ourselves while browsing,
press the mute button when the music comes up and keep away from our spouses
during the day. In other words, different senses in our bodies are fasting as
well. Isn’t it cool that we are able to strictly monitor our senses and keep calm while
consciously depriving our physical needs for the sake of Allah
?
I think it’s great.
Super
Fasting of Outputs is
nothing but how we monitor our output devices, in other words, how they fast
with us. Tongue and limbs keep working for us throughout the day. Hunger,
thirst and tiredness act as catalysts to ignite a flamethrower in us when
anybody makes a tiny mistake. It’s indeed a miracle when we manage to keep our
anger in control and let our hands and tongue work in the opposite direction
i.e., by showing good behavior. Isn’t it cool to stretch and twist our bodies
and souls with patience in difficult moments just to be good Muslim (in turn,
obeying Allah
continuously
and to be precise, developing taqwa (Qur’an 2:183))? I think, it’s awesome.
Iftaar with a few dates and some water will literally make
you forget that it’s Ramadan. By the end of maghrib prayer, I feel so
light and normal, like as if I haven’t fasted the whole day! A normal dinner
makes my night prayers much more active. Isn’t it cool that Allah
magically
makes you so normal and calm after a tiring sunny day? I think, it’s
incredible.
I still
wonder why some people are so concerned about their food shopping before
Ramadan when a single date box can act as a perfect brotherly gift.
Praying
Taraaweh (the night prayer) wasn’t
our habit. We didn’t even think that we would go for an extra mile to pray nawafil prayers
regularly. However, during Ramadan, we pray taraweeh in the peak active hours, which
on a regular day, would have been reserved for friends and hobbies. Isn’t it
cool that we lift ourselves from being an average worshiper and try to reach
excellence?
Praying Witr was hardly an option before Ramadan. Many
people are not even sure how to pray witr. Ramadan teaches us the
two (sunnah) ways of prayingwitr accompanied with lots of duas.
Can you recall how many days went by before you raised your hands to ask
something from Allah
?
In Ramadan, we ask so much that it kicks back a feeling of being a helpless
needy servant in front of Allah
.
Isn’t it cool to realize one’s real status in front of Allah
at
least for a month in a whole year? Isn’t it cooler that these acts of ours is
*in* Ramadan when Allah
said
that He
is
looking out to answer His servant’s prayers? Woohoo! I think, it’s amazing how
Allah
wants
to dip us in His Blessings and Mercy in this month. The pleasure is all ours.
Let’s shift the gear to push ourselves to the next level of worship, insha
Allah.
Source: Islamiconlineuniversity.com
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