Ramadan Advice

Ramadan Advice

Opening Supplication

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Peace and blessings be upon the prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all his companions.

Fasting: The Fourth Pillar of Islam

And then the third pillar being zakat, and the fourth pillar being fasting, and then the fifth being the hajj. And fasting, which is what we're doing in Ramadan, is something that all the previous religious traditions have had. So it's actually an extension of all previous religious traditions.

The Quranic Foundation of Fasting

And the Quran says,

- That fasting has been prescribed for you just as it was prescribed for those who went before you in previous religious dispensations, Jews and Christians and other prophetic traditions. And this is in order that you might learn taqwa.

And this is also a reaffirmation of the first command in the Quran when Allah says

- O humanity, worship your Lord who created you and those who went before you in order that you might be people of taqwa. You might learn taqwa.

Understanding Taqwa and Protection

So what is taqwa? Taqwa comes from a root word which is wiqaya, which means a prevention or a protection. And it's interesting that the Prophet ﷺ said (الصِّيَامُ جُنَّةٌ - as-Siyamu Junnah) (Sahih al-Bukhari 1894, Sahih Muslim 1151) - That fasting is a shield.

And so again this idea or concept of shielding oneself, of protecting oneself is not only embedded in the idea of worshipping Allah but also in the particulars through which we worship Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said, (الْوُضُوءُ سِلَاحُ الْمُؤْمِنِ - al-Wudu'u Silahu al-Mu'min) or the ritual purification we do is a weapon for the believer. And what do you use a weapon for but to defend yourself, to protect yourself.

The Protective Nature of Islamic Practices

So wudu is a protection. Prayer is a protection. Zakat is a way of protecting your wealth. Fasting is a way of protecting yourself. And then hajj is also a way of protecting yourself. So actually what we're doing is we are

creating through this gift that Allah has given us, this protective barrier between ourselves and between those things that can harm us.

And obviously the greatest harm that can come to us is the harm that we bring upon ourselves by falling into heedlessness. So the fasting is a way really of coming back to our true nature of reminding ourselves who we are.

The Conduct of the Fasting Person

And when the Prophet ﷺ said (الصِّيَامُ جُنَّةٌ - as-Siyamu Junnah) - That fasting is a shield. And then he said, (فَلَا يَرْفُتْ وَلَا يَجْهَلْ - fa laa yarfuth wa laa yajhal) (Sahih al-Bukhari 1904) - And he should not speak of inappropriate matters. And he should also not (يَجْهَلْ - yajhal) - And I want to go into that in a moment, the idea that he should not be impetuous or ignorant or behave in the way that the people of Jahiliyyah or the pre-Islamic period behaved.

But I want to go into that in detail. But then he said, And if a man should oppose you, should argue with you, attack you, or curse you (فَلْيَقُلْ إِنِّي صَائِمٌ - fa lyaqul inni sa'im) - say I am fasting. And let him say it two times.

- To remind themselves that I am fasting. In other words, I am in a state of discipline with my Lord. I'm in a state of discipline and I'm not going to allow somebody to unsettle my state so that I can fall into these old patterns of behavior.

Breaking Free from Automatic Reactions

Because ultimately what we have, the majority of people in the world, they're almost on automatic pilot. They're automatons that are really sleepwalking through existence. And they end up being constantly reacting in these reactionary states to certain stimuli in the world that they're engaged with.

And so if somebody calls them a name, they have pushed a button, so to speak. And there's an automatic response. And so what the Prophet ﷺ is saying here is if somebody calls you a name, say, I'm fasting. In other words, I'm in a state of awareness, a higher state of consciousness, and I'm not going to engage in this game of automatic behavior, of reactionary behavior. Because fasting is ultimately about moving to a higher state of consciousness. And that's where the Prophet ﷺ was taking people.

He was taking people to a higher level of awareness. Because most of what we see out there in the world of problems and tribulations, if you actually look and analyze them, what you're seeing is people that are asleep. The human conflicts in houses, domestic conflicts, are because of patterned behavior.

Breaking Destructive Patterns

It's people that are literally in patterned behavior. And they fall into these patterns early on, and then the patterns are replicated, sometimes for entire lifetimes. And sometimes it gets to a point where the people cannot take the patterns anymore, and they'll break out of a relationship. But then often they'll go to just another relationship and fall into the same patterns.

So what Islam is about is waking up. It's definitely been said by Sayyidina Ali that, that people are asleep. So when they die, suddenly they become awake or aware. And then in the hadith, Consider yourself already in the graves. In other words, die before you die. Wake up now. Don't wait until death comes upon you. And then you say, Who woke us up from this sleep? This is what the merciful has promised. And the prophets were truthful. The messengers were truthful. Don't wait until that point.

Ramadan: A Time of Awakening

So the idea is to really to wake up. And that's what Ramadan is about. It's about waking up. It's about getting up. Getting up in the night. It's getting up earlier than you usually do. It's about staying up for tahajjud. Ramadan is about waking up. And fasting is about waking up.

And it's one of the things that people do after they have a big meal. They go to sleep. And so Ramadan is also about lessening the food. Lessening the substance that pulls the body into that lethargic state.

Prophetic Guidance on Eating

If you're eating, The prophet said, It's enough for the son of Adam to have small morsels that keep his back straight. But if he has to, Then let him only fill his stomach one third with food, One third with water. And then one third for breath. So the prophet said, That was if you have to do that. But the ideal state is just to eat what you need to survive. Which is a lot less than most people think.

Understanding Jahiliyyah

But I want to go into this idea of, Let him not be ignorant during the times he's fasting. One of the things that Muslims generally think is that the pre-Islamic period, Which is known as Al-Asr Al-Jahili. Or Al-Ahd Al-Jahili. The period of Jahiliyya. In Arabic, Jahil means, Obviously, One of the opposites is knowledge.

So Alim is somebody who knows. And a Jahil is somebody who's ignorant. So you call a person a Jahil who's ignorant. But the pre-Islamic Arabs had a different understanding of Jahil.

The True Meaning of Jahil

To them, The Jahil was somebody who responded with disproportionate zeal if he was insulted. And the idea was, If somebody insulted you or your tribe, That what was expected of you was to display a level of ignorance. That would completely put that other person into a state of fear, Humiliation. And the famous Jahili poet, Amr Ibn Kulthum, Who said, No one will show us this Jahil, This arrogance or zeal, Impetuousness. Except that we will show a Jahil that surpasses their Jahil. That we will actually become so Jahil to them, That we'll remove the effects of their ignorance or their zealousness.

So this Jahil is a very interesting concept. And so the prophet, Was saying that during fasting, Let him not fall into this state of Jahil. So what I would like to interpret that as reactionary state. The age of Jahiliyya is the age

The Dignity of the Believer

So this idea of having this sakina, this state of tranquility, this state of peace, and that's the way the Muslims are.

"And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace."

It's not a meekness like a lamb, but it's the dignity of a lion. You watch a lion, he has a sakina. The lion doesn't need to be agitated, doesn't need to be troubled. When he needs to leap, he leaps. But he's got this dignity that he carries with him wherever he goes. So that is at the essence of the believer.

The Lion's Wisdom

And the beauty of the lion, the lion only attacks when it needs to attack. To defend itself or for its food. And it will never, there will never be carnage. Lions will never go out and slaughter a herd of zebras or sheep or something like that for carnage's sake. A lion takes what it needs. And that's why if you watch, if you've ever seen these films where they show the lion when he'll attack the zebras.

You'll see all the zebras will run. But once the lion gets one zebra, they all stop and go back to their grazing. Because they know it's over. The lion got what it needed from them. So they no longer have any fear. They don't fear because the lion only takes what it needs. And those are qualities that the believer has in the world. The believer is not out there to exploit.

Learning Tranquility Through Fasting

These are all part of the process of learning this. And that's why it's so important for Muslims to remember that this is a time of sakinah. Of learning this tranquility. It's a time of forbearance. Fasting is in order to learn forbearance. Because that is at the essence of the word taqwa. When Allah says, So what follows this sakinah is taqwa.

And that's part of what fasting is. It's about bringing this sakinah and this state of tranquility to the heart. And then from that emerges this state of piety. This state of taqwa. This state of wiqaya. Of awareness of Allah. That puts you into a protected state. But also others are protected from you.

Mutual Protection Through Divine Constraint

And that's why Allah says in the same chapter, (وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا - wa kāna-llāhu bimā taʿmalūna baṣīrā) - He is the one who constrained them from harming you. And you from harming them. So Allah constrained the kuffar from harming the believers. When they were weak in Mecca. And then He constrained the Muslims from harming them once they were given power over them. By Allah. And Allah sees all things.

So the goal is not to overcome your enemies in order to humiliate them. In order to subjugate them. No. The goal is to overcome your enemies in order to elevate them to a higher state of awareness. In order for you to teach them how to behave when power is placed in your hands. Because power is a responsibility.

Spiritual Preparation for Sovereignty

And you cannot do that if you are not disciplined. And that is why the spiritual practices that Muslims have been given are in order to prepare them for sovereignty. But if they are not prepared spiritually Allah will deny them sovereignty. And the reason that He denies them sovereignty is because they are not worthy of it. Because if they are given sovereignty in a wretched state they will disgrace Islam. Whereas if they are given sovereignty in a state of spiritual discipline and awareness they will honor Islam.

Bloodless Victories: The True Greatness of Islam

And that is why when we look back in our history at our great victories. Our great victories are bloodless. The real great victories of Islam. The day that the Prophet ﷺ entered into Mecca. And after 20 years of persecuting the Prophet. Of attacking the Prophet. Of doing all these wretched things. He comes in and tells these people all of you are forgiven. That you are forgiven.

He says you have no loss on this day. And then to the head enemy. His chief enemy. He says whoever enters into the house of Abu Sufyan is safe and secure. He honors him. This isn't a revolution where the revolutionaries take those who are high and abase them. And humiliate them in front of the proletariat. This is somebody who came into that city and took those who were high. And he gave them their place and honored them.

Because they were the Asyad. They were the masters of their people. He didn't humiliate them. He honored them. But he showed them a new way. A new way of behaving. A new way of displaying power. Because all power is Allah's. Power is Allah's alone. It's a sacred trust. That Allah puts in the hands of some of his servants. And if they abuse that trust. Then they will send their souls to perdition. They will enter into a state where they have wronged their souls. That they are oppressors.

Saladin's Example of Forbearance

And so, if you look at Saladin Ayyubi. On July 4th, his great victory in Hattin against the crusaders. And then when he comes in to Jerusalem as the conquering lion of the Muslims. He doesn't have slaughter. He doesn't

have widespread massacre. He doesn't allow looting and pillaging. There's no raping of the women. He gives them a general amnesty. He allows the crusaders to take their properties and go back to Europe if they want. Or to stay in the lands of the Muslims. The churches were open that Sunday for worship.

And this is a ruler who came into a city. That the crusaders when they came in killed 70,000 men, women and children on one day. And even their own chronicler said that blood flowed in the streets on that day. And so, here's a man who's entering in as a conqueror of a people. That had completely abased and savagely brutalized the Muslims. And yet, he comes in, in this state of hilm. In this state of forbearance. Not as a jahil. As a halim. Not as an ignorant man.

And that is because of a deep spiritual discipline. And part of it came from fasting. And learning how to be aware of Allah. And so, that is what Muslims have to go back to. And only by going back to that state will Allah once again elevate them in the earth. And make them the inheritors. And make them the khulafa. But if they're not in that state, they're not worthy of it. And there will be other people that will be put over them as a humiliation for them.

Divine Mercy in Muslim Weakness

But also, because those in kufr, when they do wrong, they're wrong. So, they might have an excuse with their lord because they're ignorant until they're told the truth. Whereas the Muslims, who have been given revelation, given prophetic dispensation, been told right from wrong. When they do wrong, what is their excuse with their lord?

And that's why it's a mercy that Allah makes Muslims who are not prepared for power to be powerless. And that's why we should really look at the state of the Muslims now as a mercy from Allah. And thank Allah. We should be in a state of gratitude to Allah. And instead of looking at that we're in humiliation. No, we have humiliated ourselves.

And it's a blessing from Allah that he hasn't made the humiliation worse by giving us power. And then watching us sow all this corruption in the earth. And actually disgrace Islam on top of ourselves. That's really where the Muslims should be. And that's at the essence of what Ramadan is about.

Reconnecting with Allah

It's about reconnecting with your lord. About re-establishing that bond with Allah. This tie with Allah. The habl of Allah. The rope that Allah has given us, which is the Quran. When Allah says, Cling all of you together to the rope of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said that the Quran is, It is the unbreakable rope of Allah. That is the Quran.

Returning to the Quran

And so part of the covenant with Allah during Ramadan is to return to the book of Allah. And to discipline

ourselves to reading it, to reflecting on its meaning. Don't they deeply ponder this Quran? Or are their hearts sealed? This is the time to go back to the Quran, to reflect on the Quran.

This is the time to do muhasabah, to reckon the self, to do a reckoning with the self. Where have we been in the past year? And what do we plan to do in the coming year? If Allah gives us life. It's re-committing ourselves to the sacred path and to this tradition.

The Prophetic Path

This is the way of Abraham. This is the way of Moses. This is the way of John the Baptist, of Jesus. And this is the way of Muhammad ﷺ. This is the prophetic way. We're walking in the path of prophets. This is the muwatta, the well-trodden path. This is the path of the people that were closest to God.

And so when we're fasting, we are sharing and partaking in a discipline that every seeker of God in the past of any prophetic tradition has done. So we are connecting ourselves with an unbroken chain of tradition. Of connecting ourselves in a deep and sacred bond with every seeker of God from the beginning of time until the end of time. That we're connected with them in this sacred search to rescue ourselves and be rescued. Allow ourselves to be rescued by Allah. And that's why it's a blessed month.

Practical Advice for Ramadan

It's a time for people to take the most benefit they can. Not to waste the time. It's a time to turn off the television. It's a time to shut down the chatter box. To let the tongue begin to do dhikr of Allah instead of remembering others with wrongs. Instead of speaking ill of people. Instead of wasting our time in empty chatter. And he said and it was said and they said and she said. It's a time of disciplining the tongue. It's a time of disciplining the heart.

Fasting of the Heart

Imam al-Ghazali says that the real fasting is not the fasting of the tongue and the stomach. But the real fasting is the fasting of the heart. Where you begin to actually prevent your heart from feasting on prohibited thoughts. On prohibited concerns like doubt and fear. Anxiety about provision. Anxiety about provision is not tawakkul ala Allah. It's not trusting in Allah. So it's letting go of all of the fear.

And one of the things about the modern world is it's a fear-based world. There's all these demons out there trying to scare people. Scare them about their provision. Scare them about this. Scare them about that. You could lose your job. You could lose your wealth. You could lose this. You could. Indeed you could. You could lose it all. But if you have Allah you haven't lost anything.

Because everything. Just as the poet said. Everything you desire exists with Allah. So seek Allah and you'll get everything you desire. So all this fear and all this worry. Ramadan is the time to give that up. It's just to let go.

The Message for the World

And that's the message that we all have to take out to this world. Because if you look at the state of the world right now. And the state of human beings in the world. Human beings are in a very serious condition. The fact that the number one industry on this planet is intoxicants. Intoxicants. And the number two industry on this planet is armaments. Keeping people in a state of stupor. And then giving them the means by which they destroy themselves.

Breaking Free Through Fasting

Fasting. And this is how we break free of all this madness. Of disciplining ourselves. Of refusing to enter into the reactionary modes. Entering into the obsessive compulsive demands of the self. Take this. And you need this. And I have to have this. And I must have that. It's just rejecting all of that. And saying, I trust in Allah.

And that's what this month is about. It's about trusting Allah. It's about recognizing that all the things that you need you already have. You've always had them. They're inside you. They're with you. And Allah has always been there. Allah has never not been there. And this is Iman. This is what it's about.

Rejecting Fear and Embracing Truth

And this is what all of the demonic forces and dark forces in the world out there, they're just trying to tell people that, no, none of that's real. It's not true. You have to be in this state of fear. You have to be in this state of need. You have to be in this state of want. And those are the things that make you miserable. Those are the things that make you miserable.

It's accepting the real truths, the truths that the prophets brought. Those are the things that give human beings this equilibrium, this state, this ability to be in the world and to maintain one's dignity, to maintain one's self-discipline, to stay in the world and be a positive force in the world, be a force that's changing, that's bringing light into the world, that's educating, edifying, taking people to higher levels of understanding. That is what Islam is about. And that's what Muslims are meant to be doing.

Living Up to the Truths of Islam

And all those people out there that are abusing Islam, all those people out there that are not living up to the truths of Islam, to the compassion of Islam, to the mercy of Islam, to the demands of Islam, that we go out in the world with humility to take this Deen. And those who accept it, they're our brothers. And those that reject it, they're still our brothers because we're children of Adam.

The Brotherhood of Humanity

And we see them as people that need to be protected. And those are called Ahl al-Dhimma, the people that live under Islam who are not Muslims. They're still, the Prophet ﷺ said (لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ - lā yū'minu aḥadukum ḥattā yuḥibba li'akhīhi mā yuḥibbu)

لِنَفْسِهِ )Sahih al-Bukhari 13, Sahih Muslim 45) - None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.

Imam al-Nawawi in his commentary said, and that brother includes people of other religions because of the Adamic bond that we have with them. So that brotherhood is a brotherhood of an Adamic bond. And so when we look at people out there who are not Muslims, we should look with the eye of compassion, with the eye of commiseration, not with this eye of arrogance, with this eye of contempt.

Avoiding Spiritual Pride

Because that spiritual pride, and that's one of the things that will prevent you from entering into paradise.

Because when you look and see people out there that have not been given the gift that you've been given, you have to recognize that it's an arbitrary god that chose you over that person. It's a god that does what he wants and gives to whom he pleases.

That you cannot see it as that you're better than that person or that you're, that's a type of arrogance that enters into the heart, and that's from the devil himself. That's from shaitan. So you look to people with compassion, and you look to people that they have yet to be guided, and that as long as they're taking breaths, that the possibility for guidance to come into their hearts is always there.

And we should never despair of people's guidance and never assume that anybody out there, anybody that you look at, never assume that they're for the hellfire. Because it's Allah who does what he pleases, to whom he pleases, when he pleases, where he pleases, with what means he pleases. That is our Lord.

Final Advice: Making the Most of Ramadan

And so my advice to myself and to all the brothers and sisters is to take this opportunity to use Ramadan, to make it a time of prayer and a time of peace and a time of recitation of the Quran, a reflection of the Quran. Get rid of the television, turn it off. Don't allow it on during these months. Put it in your closet. Disengage. Fasting from all of this madness.

Don't look at any of the advertisements. Because it's not just food and drink. It's about fasting from those things that make you heedless of Allah. Inshallah. That's my advice.