Dedication During Ramadan and After.

At this point we should ponder over our Ibadah. Today;s post will touch a couple minds and make them reflect. I have a short story i stumbled upon yesterday, a story i would love to share as it spurred me on to today's topic. I do have a few questions before we move on. How much importance do we attach to our Ibadah in Ramadan? How many Nawafil (optional) Solat do we perform? As for Fardh (obligatory) deeds, we observe how numerous people who after having eaten Suhoor get back into bed with the result that the Subuh Solat is neglected. Many perform Subuh Solat, but not with Jama'ah. It gives the impression that we are giving thanks to Allah for the food we had eaten for Suhoor by not performing the most important Fardh as how it should be performed. Infact, such a Solat has been termed defective.

It has come to us that Rasulullah (SAW) has said: "There is no Solat for those near the Masjid except in the Masjid."

I have also learnt that there is actually no reward (spiritual benefit) for the Solat not performed with Jama'ah without any valid excuse. Similarly, in numerous cases at the time of Iftar (break-fast), Maghrib Solat is missed, and many who do come to the Masjid miss the Takbir at the beginning or miss the first raka'at. In some parts of the world, there are many people who hasten to get over the Tarawih Solat early and even perform the Ishai Solat before its actual time commences. Worse still, there are some who do not pay any attention to Solat - even in Ramadan!

In this day and age, that is the way we see how we look after our very important Fardh Solat in the month of Ramadan. Sometimes in the process of performing one Fardh, three others are destroyed. How often do we see even the time of Zuhr going by because we are asleep, while the time of Asar goes by because we are too busy buying, selling or cooking to prepare for Iftaar. If our brothers in islam are Jahil (ignorant), we cannot expect our sisters to be suddenly enlightened from nowhere. Brothers should be ever diligent in matters of Deen. That's what all true Muslim men should aspire to become and mantain. Nowadays, many men are not even ashamed to say that their wife is more Deen-oriented than themselves. Where is our dignity? How shall we face Rasulullah (SAW) on the Day of Judgement? Will he (SAW) be able to recognize us owing to our cowardice? If such is the case with the Faraa'idh (obligatory injunctions), then we can imagine how much less importance is given to the Nawafil (optional) actions. The fact is, one finds that because of sleeping after Subuh prayer, the time of Solat-ul-Dhuha goes by. Then what about Solat-ul-Awwabeen just after Maghrib Solat? Here we find ourselves busy with Iftaar, even to such an extent that after about an hour this Solat-ul-Tarawih too becomes wasted. Further we find that for Solat-ul-Tahajjud the time is the same as that for Sahur with the result that this too goes by.

An Excellent Example In Recent Times

Believe it or not, we may actually see that there are indeed many pious personalities who do find the time to do all these Ibadahs during these precious moments. Sheikh Khalil Ahmad RA was a scholar who is one of the preservers of classical traditional Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah. He was a weak sickly person and of advanced age but in spite of these drawbacks he used to read one and a quarter juz of the Qur'an in Nawafil Solat after Maghrib. Thereafter he used to have meals for about half an hour only. After performing all other necessities in preparation for Taraweeh Solat he used to stand in Taraweeh for about two and a half hours to three hours. Thereafter he used to sleep about two or three hours only. Then he used to get up and again recite the Qur'an in Tahajjud Solat until about half an hour before Subuh. It was in that short period that he ate his Sahur. From that time until Subuh, he remained busy with reading the Qur'an or Wazifahs/Zikr. After dawn set in, Sheikh Khalil Ahmad RA performed Subuh Solat with Jama'ah, and thereafter he remained in Muraqabah (meditation) until Ishraq. Having performed Solat-ul-Ishraq he used to write his famous kitab - "Basi-ul-Majhud" - which is a commentary on Sunan Abu Dawud. After that, he normally attended to letters and dictated replies up to midday. Next he used to rest up to Zuhr Solat. Between Zuhr and Asar he used to recite the Qur'an. From Asar until Maghrib he used to be busy with the recitation of Tasbih and answering the queries of those who visited him. Upon completion of "Bazi-ul-Majhud", then part of the morning used to be spent in Tilawat of the Qur'an and studying some religious works. This was his daily programme for Nawafil Ibadah throughout the year; but in Ramadhan, he used to spend a bit more time in his Ibadah, making the raka'ats longer. Sheikh Khalil Ahmad RA was honoured to be granted a resting place in the graves of the Sahabah RA at Jannatul Baqi' beside Masjid Nabawi in Madinah. He was buried in the plot of land dedicated for the Ahlul Bayt - the family of Rasulullah SAW. Such was the end of his life.

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