RhythmsOfSilence
29-09-2005, 02:45 PM
Bismillahirrahmanirraheem....
Bros n sis....
When we look .across the ummah ....we see that on abstract level ummah is divided into 2 groups .. One... Those who practice deeen in some way or the other....... second those who do not practice at all... and are just mulims by names...
Out of those who practice ... unfortunately ... a vast majority is of those who practice things without ever bothering to know the neccassary ILM, objective.... method of Sunnah...
~ Al Ilmu Imaamul Amal .... ILM is the Guide of Actions... ~
Therefore because of the wrong knowledge ....
i) Its impossible to get the true Spirit and Noor of the Action....
ii) We may end up doing completely wrong action.... or even a SIN... without even knowing ever...
In this universe... the importance & existance of every thing, action is defined by 2 fundamental aspects... .
1. Objective.....
2. Process.......to achieve that objective...
1. Objective..... The Soul of An Action...
Objective defines the importance of existance of something... u ll agree with the fact that... whenever something deviates from its objective....... its existance becomes useless... which ends up into its death and elimination.
Just like Allah said in quran.,... wama khalaqtul jinnah wal insa illa liya'badoon... i.e. The purpose.. of life is Worship of Allah... hence when there will be no one on earth to remember Allah... this will be the destruction of the universe... ... The Saa'ah ... The Qiyamah..
2. Importance of Process.....
To achieve the objective we always need a right process and path that leads to it. For example To achieve the objective to Enter paradise with Allah's Mercy... The objective as mentioned above is "WORSHIP Allah swt". However the immediate question that arises is How can we do that..or whats the correct way to Worship? As we know many sincere followers of other religions worship God as well...Are they Right???
Allah swt answers ... Follow The Quran and The Sunnah of The Prophet s.a.w.... this is the Sirat e Mustaqeem, The Only Right & Streight Path....and This fact is confirmed in Surah al-Anaam ...ayah 153...
And He (commands you, saying) This is My straight path, so follow it. Follow not other ways, lest you be parted from His way. This has He ordained for you, that you may ward off evil."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained this verse. He once drew a straight line with his hand and said, "This is the straight path of Allah." Then on its left and on its right he drew other lines and he said, "These paths all have Satan calling (people) to them." And then he recited the above verse. [This was narrated by Ahmad, al-Haakim, who called it sahih, and al-Nasa'i]
With this background in mind... Now lets spot on our topic... with help of the perception ...set above ....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
1. Objective of Syaam (Fasting)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Although .. without a doubt, the fundamental objective of all the Ibaadat and actions of a muslim is... ~ Allah ki Raza ~
However ... every ibadat .. has its specific & distinct objective as well.... Just like The basic Objective of Salah is .. ~ Seeking Help & Qurb of Allah ~ ... Objective of Taubah is Reviving the Ta'alluq Ma'allah (relation with Allah swt ) and so on.....
Similarly ... The Objective of Syaam (Fasting) is to Gain Taqwah...
Ya-ayyuhalladhina Amanu kutiba 'alaikumusiyamu kama kutiba 'alalladhina min qablikum la'allakum tattaqun - 2:183
But What is Taqwah....?
Many muslims confuse ... missunderstand and misuse this term.... and this is because
Taqwa is one of the many words whose exact equivalent cannot be found in English or other languages. It can be understood as a state based on qualities such as "fear of Allah", "piety", "righteousness", "dutifulness" and "God-conciousness",
Taqwa in the Light of Quran....
Following are very few of the verses in quran that talks bout taqwa....
Taqwa the best asset....
Allah swt says in quran..
And make provision for yourselves; the best provision is taqwa". (Quran, 2:197)
Taqwa - The sign of respect
Allah swt says in quran.. ...
"And that whoever respects the symbols of Allah, it is from the taqwa of the hearts" (22:35).
Social Impacts...Hate n Justice....
Without taqwa there is chances that one is motivated by hatred of one's enemies instead of love for Allah, discipline and awareness slip away:
"........and do not let hatred of a people incite you to be unfair to therm Be 'fair! That is the nearest to taqwa. Fear Allah! Indeed, Allah is aware of what you do" (Qur'an, 5:8).
Taqwa thus has practical social and political implications. It is not a meditative (Rahbaniayt) state which isolates one from the world.... rather its like a vehicle that drives one's way through the world... into Jannah.... with Allah's mercy...
Collective & Global Impact....
We see from the above verses that Taqwa not only has individual implications... but... ... it has infinite dimensions spread thru out a person's social cultural ...political n economical life... ... dimensions requires justice and fairness. That is why ...the historian, Marshall Hodgson. attributes the success of early islamic era not to some financial economical conditions or military power. but to the Taqwa of the Muslims.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Part 2 .......... The Process ... How to Apply Taqwa.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
~ Mann chaahi zindagi chor kar..... Rabb chahi Zindagi par aana .... ~
A continuous effort n process thru out our life ....to lead a 24 hrs life in a way that pleases Allah swt....as prophet s.a.w adviced us to stick to Kitabullah wa sunnate Rasool s.a.w. all our life...
we can achieve this process by the help of 2 things...
1. Gain ilm....(Knowledge)
Before doing anything...... in our routine life... we must try know the Commands of Allah ... as well as the Sunnah of the Prophet s.a.w. ... regarding that ....
2. Implementation of what we know
To make a sincere effort to implement THE knowledge in our routine activities.. like jobs, games, studies, marriage, eating, sleeping .... OR shopping & walking down the Oxford Street,,,, of london ....42nd Avenue of NY.. ... Zaibunnisa st. of Karachi ... Jinnah Super of islamabad... or liberty market of Lahore...
This I mentioned as Being in ~ STATE OF SALAH ~ 24/7/all life... .... in the article on Salah...
by this i mean Just like our hands... feet.. body movements.. our eyes.. tongue .. ears n heart ..are bound to operate according to the Commands Of Allah swt and SUNNAH of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w . ......... Similarly.. our 24 hours Life should be bound to the Commands Of Allah swt and Sunnah of sayyidina Rasulullah s.a.w.
Just like a river .. if it flows between the 2 banks...its beneficial ... its If it comes out.. it could cause wild damages... similarly if a person isnt bound by the 2 banks mentioned above.... it will ruin their Duniya... and Akhirah ...
Final Statement...
" Alam ya'lam bi an – nallaha yaraa" ......(Surah 96 Verse 14). ...
O Insaan... before u lock the doors... put curtains .... n turn off lights... to satisfy ur desires and NAFS... thinkin no one is watchin u.... Dont u know that ur Allah swt is watching..... YOU... ?
The continuous feeling....... the Ehsaas... as mentioned in the above ayah ...that My Allah is watching me... no matter where I am.. no matter what I'm doing... and then act according to that feeling .......... is the STATE OF TAQWA...
The more we reflect on it .... over and again.. the more will it increase our Taqwa inshallah... which will naturally offer a resistance big enough to avoid sins...
Connection of Ramadan and Taqwa
You must be wondering that the article title is Ramadan and Taqwa... but i hardly talked about ramadan.... and all the time i was talkin bout Taqwa.... why ?
Reason is ... today the ummah hamdulillah knows mechanincs of Ramadan and Fasting... but we hardly know much about its Objective ...Taqwa... and its mechanics and dynamics....
Hence.... now that we understand Taqwa....which is an effort to stay away from All the majors and minor haraam things... n sins... .....we can do our best to achieve it in Ramadan.. inshallah... ameen
Ramadan... A Workshop.....
Last but not the least... lets brush up a bit ... what we know about ramadan already.... We can easily understand and appreciate the fact that ramadan itself is a One Month refresher course.. a training workshop that if we do it well .. Inshallah it helps us trhrough out the year to live without sins..
But Because... this is a course... therefore only those students will Pass who done it with care.. responsibility... and on merit... but if not........... there is a big faliure.... down the road...
Fasting in the light of Ahadeeth...
These Passing and failure states are categorically told in the following ahadeeth....
Hadeeth 1... Abu Umaamah r.a.a. said: "I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, tell me of an action by which I may enter Paradise'. He said: 'Take to Fasting, there is nothing like it.' " [An-Nasaa'ee, Ibn Hibbaan, Al-Haakim, Saheeh]
Subhan Allah we see that Prophet s.a.w.....exclusively mentioned fasting only when asked about a deed that leads its doer to the best of rewards, Paradise. This fact alone is sufficient for us to understand the greatness of fasting.
Hadeeth 2... Indeed, the Prophet (s.a.w.) has said: "Perhaps a person fasting will receive nothing from his fasting except hunger and thirst." [Ibn Maajah, Ad-Daarimee, Ahmad, al-Baihaqee, Saheeh]
The comparison of above 2 ahadeeth will help realize the importance of the discussion on Taqwa... and the point that real fasting is only when its done with true spirit... otherwise its just a mere state of hunger n thirst....
May Allah swt increase our sincerity .. imaan and desire to perform this act of worship with the best intention and in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet ( s.a.w.)... ameen
Bros n sis....
When we look .across the ummah ....we see that on abstract level ummah is divided into 2 groups .. One... Those who practice deeen in some way or the other....... second those who do not practice at all... and are just mulims by names...
Out of those who practice ... unfortunately ... a vast majority is of those who practice things without ever bothering to know the neccassary ILM, objective.... method of Sunnah...
~ Al Ilmu Imaamul Amal .... ILM is the Guide of Actions... ~
Therefore because of the wrong knowledge ....
i) Its impossible to get the true Spirit and Noor of the Action....
ii) We may end up doing completely wrong action.... or even a SIN... without even knowing ever...
In this universe... the importance & existance of every thing, action is defined by 2 fundamental aspects... .
1. Objective.....
2. Process.......to achieve that objective...
1. Objective..... The Soul of An Action...
Objective defines the importance of existance of something... u ll agree with the fact that... whenever something deviates from its objective....... its existance becomes useless... which ends up into its death and elimination.
Just like Allah said in quran.,... wama khalaqtul jinnah wal insa illa liya'badoon... i.e. The purpose.. of life is Worship of Allah... hence when there will be no one on earth to remember Allah... this will be the destruction of the universe... ... The Saa'ah ... The Qiyamah..
2. Importance of Process.....
To achieve the objective we always need a right process and path that leads to it. For example To achieve the objective to Enter paradise with Allah's Mercy... The objective as mentioned above is "WORSHIP Allah swt". However the immediate question that arises is How can we do that..or whats the correct way to Worship? As we know many sincere followers of other religions worship God as well...Are they Right???
Allah swt answers ... Follow The Quran and The Sunnah of The Prophet s.a.w.... this is the Sirat e Mustaqeem, The Only Right & Streight Path....and This fact is confirmed in Surah al-Anaam ...ayah 153...
And He (commands you, saying) This is My straight path, so follow it. Follow not other ways, lest you be parted from His way. This has He ordained for you, that you may ward off evil."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained this verse. He once drew a straight line with his hand and said, "This is the straight path of Allah." Then on its left and on its right he drew other lines and he said, "These paths all have Satan calling (people) to them." And then he recited the above verse. [This was narrated by Ahmad, al-Haakim, who called it sahih, and al-Nasa'i]
With this background in mind... Now lets spot on our topic... with help of the perception ...set above ....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
1. Objective of Syaam (Fasting)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Although .. without a doubt, the fundamental objective of all the Ibaadat and actions of a muslim is... ~ Allah ki Raza ~
However ... every ibadat .. has its specific & distinct objective as well.... Just like The basic Objective of Salah is .. ~ Seeking Help & Qurb of Allah ~ ... Objective of Taubah is Reviving the Ta'alluq Ma'allah (relation with Allah swt ) and so on.....
Similarly ... The Objective of Syaam (Fasting) is to Gain Taqwah...
Ya-ayyuhalladhina Amanu kutiba 'alaikumusiyamu kama kutiba 'alalladhina min qablikum la'allakum tattaqun - 2:183
But What is Taqwah....?
Many muslims confuse ... missunderstand and misuse this term.... and this is because
Taqwa is one of the many words whose exact equivalent cannot be found in English or other languages. It can be understood as a state based on qualities such as "fear of Allah", "piety", "righteousness", "dutifulness" and "God-conciousness",
Taqwa in the Light of Quran....
Following are very few of the verses in quran that talks bout taqwa....
Taqwa the best asset....
Allah swt says in quran..
And make provision for yourselves; the best provision is taqwa". (Quran, 2:197)
Taqwa - The sign of respect
Allah swt says in quran.. ...
"And that whoever respects the symbols of Allah, it is from the taqwa of the hearts" (22:35).
Social Impacts...Hate n Justice....
Without taqwa there is chances that one is motivated by hatred of one's enemies instead of love for Allah, discipline and awareness slip away:
"........and do not let hatred of a people incite you to be unfair to therm Be 'fair! That is the nearest to taqwa. Fear Allah! Indeed, Allah is aware of what you do" (Qur'an, 5:8).
Taqwa thus has practical social and political implications. It is not a meditative (Rahbaniayt) state which isolates one from the world.... rather its like a vehicle that drives one's way through the world... into Jannah.... with Allah's mercy...
Collective & Global Impact....
We see from the above verses that Taqwa not only has individual implications... but... ... it has infinite dimensions spread thru out a person's social cultural ...political n economical life... ... dimensions requires justice and fairness. That is why ...the historian, Marshall Hodgson. attributes the success of early islamic era not to some financial economical conditions or military power. but to the Taqwa of the Muslims.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Part 2 .......... The Process ... How to Apply Taqwa.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
~ Mann chaahi zindagi chor kar..... Rabb chahi Zindagi par aana .... ~
A continuous effort n process thru out our life ....to lead a 24 hrs life in a way that pleases Allah swt....as prophet s.a.w adviced us to stick to Kitabullah wa sunnate Rasool s.a.w. all our life...
we can achieve this process by the help of 2 things...
1. Gain ilm....(Knowledge)
Before doing anything...... in our routine life... we must try know the Commands of Allah ... as well as the Sunnah of the Prophet s.a.w. ... regarding that ....
2. Implementation of what we know
To make a sincere effort to implement THE knowledge in our routine activities.. like jobs, games, studies, marriage, eating, sleeping .... OR shopping & walking down the Oxford Street,,,, of london ....42nd Avenue of NY.. ... Zaibunnisa st. of Karachi ... Jinnah Super of islamabad... or liberty market of Lahore...
This I mentioned as Being in ~ STATE OF SALAH ~ 24/7/all life... .... in the article on Salah...
by this i mean Just like our hands... feet.. body movements.. our eyes.. tongue .. ears n heart ..are bound to operate according to the Commands Of Allah swt and SUNNAH of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w . ......... Similarly.. our 24 hours Life should be bound to the Commands Of Allah swt and Sunnah of sayyidina Rasulullah s.a.w.
Just like a river .. if it flows between the 2 banks...its beneficial ... its If it comes out.. it could cause wild damages... similarly if a person isnt bound by the 2 banks mentioned above.... it will ruin their Duniya... and Akhirah ...
Final Statement...
" Alam ya'lam bi an – nallaha yaraa" ......(Surah 96 Verse 14). ...
O Insaan... before u lock the doors... put curtains .... n turn off lights... to satisfy ur desires and NAFS... thinkin no one is watchin u.... Dont u know that ur Allah swt is watching..... YOU... ?
The continuous feeling....... the Ehsaas... as mentioned in the above ayah ...that My Allah is watching me... no matter where I am.. no matter what I'm doing... and then act according to that feeling .......... is the STATE OF TAQWA...
The more we reflect on it .... over and again.. the more will it increase our Taqwa inshallah... which will naturally offer a resistance big enough to avoid sins...
Connection of Ramadan and Taqwa
You must be wondering that the article title is Ramadan and Taqwa... but i hardly talked about ramadan.... and all the time i was talkin bout Taqwa.... why ?
Reason is ... today the ummah hamdulillah knows mechanincs of Ramadan and Fasting... but we hardly know much about its Objective ...Taqwa... and its mechanics and dynamics....
Hence.... now that we understand Taqwa....which is an effort to stay away from All the majors and minor haraam things... n sins... .....we can do our best to achieve it in Ramadan.. inshallah... ameen
Ramadan... A Workshop.....
Last but not the least... lets brush up a bit ... what we know about ramadan already.... We can easily understand and appreciate the fact that ramadan itself is a One Month refresher course.. a training workshop that if we do it well .. Inshallah it helps us trhrough out the year to live without sins..
But Because... this is a course... therefore only those students will Pass who done it with care.. responsibility... and on merit... but if not........... there is a big faliure.... down the road...
Fasting in the light of Ahadeeth...
These Passing and failure states are categorically told in the following ahadeeth....
Hadeeth 1... Abu Umaamah r.a.a. said: "I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, tell me of an action by which I may enter Paradise'. He said: 'Take to Fasting, there is nothing like it.' " [An-Nasaa'ee, Ibn Hibbaan, Al-Haakim, Saheeh]
Subhan Allah we see that Prophet s.a.w.....exclusively mentioned fasting only when asked about a deed that leads its doer to the best of rewards, Paradise. This fact alone is sufficient for us to understand the greatness of fasting.
Hadeeth 2... Indeed, the Prophet (s.a.w.) has said: "Perhaps a person fasting will receive nothing from his fasting except hunger and thirst." [Ibn Maajah, Ad-Daarimee, Ahmad, al-Baihaqee, Saheeh]
The comparison of above 2 ahadeeth will help realize the importance of the discussion on Taqwa... and the point that real fasting is only when its done with true spirit... otherwise its just a mere state of hunger n thirst....
May Allah swt increase our sincerity .. imaan and desire to perform this act of worship with the best intention and in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet ( s.a.w.)... ameen