Ramadan Month of the Quran
Based on Ibn Rajab's "Lata If Al-Maarif" and other sources
© Islaam.com
The first part of this is based on an extract from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's Lata'if al-Ma'arif (pp. 179-182), quoted by Fahd bin Sulaiman in Kayf Nastafeed min Ramadan (pp. 48-50). The advice given in this article is all the more important now that we are in the last ten nights of Ramadan. Imam Bukhari reports from 'Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would tighten his waist-cloth (i.e. detach himself from his wives), spend the night in worship and awake his family, during the last ten nights of Ramadan. Ramadan is nearly over, so make the most of this precious opportunity!
Ramadan has a special relationship with the Qur'an, of course:
"The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was sent down, a guidance for mankind, clear proofs for the guidance, the Criterion; so whoever amongst you witnesses this month, let him fast it." (cf. Surah al-Baqarah 2:185)
The word 'so' (fa) in this ayah leads to the following paraphrase of one aspect of its meaning: "Fast this month because it is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down" -- see Fasting in Ramadaan by Ali al-Halabi & Saleem al-Hilali, Al-Hidaayah, 1414/1994, pp. 11-12.
Ibn 'Abbas narrates "that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was the most generous person, and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would come to him every night and he would rehearse the Qur'an with him." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Eng. trans. 6/486)
This hadith contains recommendation of the following:
Studying the Qur'an in Ramadan;
coming together for this purpose;
checking (one's memory/knowledge of) the Qur'an with someone who has preserved it better;
increasing recitation of the Qur'an in Ramadan;
that the night time is the best time to recite, when other preoccupations decrease and it is easier to concentrate, as in Surah al-Muzzammil 73:6.
Further, Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated from her father (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who told her that Jibril would rehearse the Quran with him (in Ramadan) once every year, and he did so twice in the year of his death. (Bukhari 6/485)
After mentioning the above aspects of the Sunnah, Ibn Rajab talks about the situation of the Salaf (the early Muslims) during Ramadan:
"... Some of the Salaf would complete reciting the whole Quran during the night prayer of Ramadan every 3 days, others every 7 days e.g. Qataadah, others in 10 days e.g. Abu Rajaa' al-Atardi. The Salaf would recite Quran in Ramadan in Prayer as well as outside it. Al-Aswad would finish the Quran every 2 nights in Ramadan; Ibrahim an-Nakh'I would do likewise in the last 10 nights specifically, & every 3 nights during the rest of the month. Qataadah would regularly finish the Quran in 7 days, but in 3 days during Ramadan, when he would study the Quran especially, and every night during its last 10 days. Al-Zuhri would say when Ramadan began, 'It is recitation of the Quran and feeding of people.' When Ramadan began, Imam Malik would cease narrating Hadith and sitting with the people of knowledge, and stick to reciting the Quran from its pages, while Sufyan al-Thawri would leave other acts of worship and stick to reciting the Quran. 'Aishah would recite from the pages of the Quran at the beginning of the day in Ramadan (i.e. after Dawn), until when the sun had risen, she would sleep. Zayd al-Yaami would bring copies of the Quran when Ramadan began and gather his companions around him. ..."
Ibn Rajab later continues, "The forbiddance of completing recitation of the Quran in less than 3 days applies to this being made a regular practice, but as for favoured times such as Ramadan, esp. the nights in which Laylat al-Qadr is sought, or favoured places such as Makkah for the visitor, it is recommended to increase reciting the Quran to avail the time and place. This is the view of Ahmad, Ishaq & other Imams, and the practice of others indicates this too."
The purpose here is not to discuss whether or not the latter view is correct or not, since that is purely academic for most of us, as we do not get anywhere near reciting the whole Quran in three days! However, the practice of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), his Companions, and those who followed their path, should be clear enough. As a further example, Bukhari (3/79) quotes from the noble Companion Zaid bin Thabit who answered the question, "How much time was there between the pre-dawn meal and the Dawn Prayer?" by saying, "Enough time to recite fifty ayat"; since the practice of the Arabs was to measure time in terms of everyday actions, this shows that the Sahabah were pre-occupied with the Qur'an, especially in Ramadan.
Compare all this with our sad state, when we talk so much about establishing Islam, implementing the Quran, etc. and yet have such little contact with it, maybe not completing its recitation ever at all since childhood, or perhaps never! Hence we become imbalanced in our understanding of Islam, because there are ayat which we rarely or never hear or think about; we repeat only certain selected ayat over and over again; we lost the context of the verses, the overall flow, argument and balance of the Quran, all of which is beautiful & miraculous. Because of this ignorance we go astray from the Straight Path, split up into sects, lose the blessings of Allah ...
"We took a covenant from those who said: we are Christians, but they forgot part of the message with which they had been reminded, so we ingrained amongst them enmity and hatred until the Day of Judgment..." (Surah al-Ma'idah 5:14)
In Sahih Bukhari (6/521), there is an amazing piece of advice from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Recite the Quran as long as your hearts agree on it; if you disagree about it, stop reciting it (for the time being)" -- studying the Quran should bring people together!
In Surah al-Mu'minoon (23:53), there is mention of the people before us (in whose footsteps we would follow), who broke up their Deen into sects (zuburan), each party rejoicing in what it had. One understanding of this, from the word zuburan meaning literally 'books', is that each sect left the Book of Allah, & concentrated solely on the books of its own sect, so "they split their deen up into books"!
The most twisted, ridiculous, shallow ideas, innovations and superstitions are propagated amongst Muslims when they are away from the Quran, because any little knowledge of the Quran would be enough to dispel them.
Hence, O slave of Allah, leave aside secondary books and concentrate on studying the Blessed Book of Allah in this Blessed Month (use a good translation/commentary if needed), for it is the source of all Knowledge in other books, and keep away from wasting time, especially in futile discussions and arguments which lead nowhere, for that is a sure sign of being misguided, as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Whenever a people went astray after they had been on guidance, they were given to argumentation (jadl)." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah - Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, no. 5633)
Finally, remember that the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will complain to Allah on the Day of Judgment that his people neglected the Qur'an (Surah al-Furqan 25:30). Neglect of the Qur'an is of different levels, as Ibn al-Qayyim writes:
not reciting or listening to it;
not studying and understanding it;
not conveying its message;
not judging by it in personal and communal matters, at all levels of society;
not believing in it.
All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.
Abu Dharr, Ramadan 1415.
Your Shields *
By Ibn Al-Qayyim
How to protect yourself from the whispers of Satan? How to repel his continuous attempts to ensnare you? How to guard your faith against his malicious tricks? Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim recommends the following ten shields in your ceaseless war with Satan:
1. Seeking refuge with Allah from Satan. Allah the Most High says, [And if a whisper from the devil reach thee (O Muhammad) then seek refuge in Allah. Lo! He is the Hearer, the Knower.] (Fussilat 41:36)
2. Reciting the two surahs of Al-Falaq and An-Nas, as they have a wondrous effect in weakening Satan and protecting one from his evils. This is why the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described them to be of incomparable effect when seeking refuge (An-Nasa'i, 5337).
3. Reciting Ayat Al-Kursi (Al-Baqarah 2:255).
4. Reciting Surat Al-Baqarah. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The house in which Al-Baqarah is recited is not approached by Satan" (Muslim).
5. Reciting the final part of Al-Baqarah. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The last two verses of Surat Al-Baqarah will suffice whoever recites them at night" (Muslim).
6. Reciting the first three verses of Surat Ghafir.
7. Saying "la ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa `ala kulli shay'in qadir" (There is no god worthy of worship except Allah, He has no partner, His is the dominion and praise, and He is able to do all things) a hundred times.
8. Among the most beneficial forms of protection from Satan is the abundant remembrance of Allah the Exalted.
9. Ablution and prayer, which are among the greatest means of protection, especially at the time of anger or desire.
10. Abstinence from excess speech, food, and mixing with people.
Finally it is important to note that the above supplications need to be uttered with full reflection and comprehension. The point here is that they are kinds of remembrance (dhikr), and to remember Allah is not a matter of lip-service. Rather it is a process that involves one's tongue, heart, and mind. How could one truly remember Allah while the mind is engaged with alien things?
* Abridged from Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim's Bda'i` al-Fawa'id, here excerpted, with some modifications, from:
http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=651
Shirku-Du'a Calling on Other Than Allah
From Nida'ul Islam Magazine Issue 22 1998
By Abdullah Mujahid�
The purpose of Mankind, the sole reason behind our creation, is to worship Allah Alone: "And I created not the Jinns and men except that they should worship Me (Alone)." [51: 56]
Worship has been defined by Ibn Taymiyyah as being: "a term which comprises everything that Allah (s.w.t) loves and approves of from the apparent and hidden sayings and deeds."
The main condition for such worship to be accepted however, is that they must be solely made for the Sake of Allah, and no one else. This is the essence of Tawheed, and the Kalima itself, which declares boldly that there is no deity worthy of worship except for Allah.
And Du'a (supplication) is undoubtedly a part of worship, as Ibn Abbas said, "the best forms of worship is the du'a" [Munthir and Ibn Haakim].
To Allah belongs certain rights, among these including to slaughter in His Name, to prostrate before no one but Him, and to direct Du'a to no one but Him. In this regard, the scholar Ibn Rajab said: "Know that it is an obligation to invoke Allah Alone in Du`a, and not His creation... Admitting (and showing) humility and meekness can only be revealed to Allah, Alone, for this is the essence of worship."
Ibnul Qayyim said: "And from the types of Shirk, requesting needs from the dead, and Istighaathah from them and direction (of the call) to them, and this is the original of the Shirk of Mankind. Since the dead has his deeds cut off from him, and he cannot cause upon himself any good nor bad, let alone whoever seeks help from him, or asked him to seek intercession from Allah on his behalf. "
Calling upon the dead represents a hollow attempt to seek help from a creature who can benefit the caller nothing. Allah Says: "If you call upon them, they hear not your call, and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not grant it (your request) to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them" [35: 14]
The argument of the Quraish was similar to that of today's people: they only invoked their idols as a means or intermediary towards reaching Allah "We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah." [39: 3]. Similarly, the Walis (saints) and Sheikhs and prophets are still called upon by those seeking need, in the hope that they could fulfil their needs. Yet This practice was never done by the Companions nor their predecessors, but rather was done by Hindus and other pagans who Muslims came in contact with during later conquests.
And if the dead could indeed help anyone, they would help themselves. Take for example Saad Bin Muath, the Sayyid (Leader) of the Ansar, upon whose death the Throne of Allah shook, this exemplary model himself faced the closing in of the grave, yet he had no power to stop this.
So the one who does this faces the torment of death, and the punishment f the grave, and dwells in Hell, for Allah says: "When our Messengers (the angels) come to them to take their souls, they will say: 'Where are those whom you used to invoke and worship besides Allah,'they will reply, 'They have vanished and deserted us. 'And they will bear witness against themselves, that they were disbelievers." [7: 37].
Yet many will swear that upon asking the dead or those far away for assistance, their du'a is answered. This is no proof for their statements however, and in reality, this is true also of other religions, who worship idols and animals and planets, for they too find their supplications an. Rather, and as the Scholars have explained, any such occurrence is merely a coincidence or an act of the Jinns who seek to deviate Muslims. They rush to fulfil their desires, thus making this act fair-seeming and correct in the eyes of the Muslim.
During the time of the Prophet, there was a hypocrite who was causing harm upon the Believers. So some of them said "Let us go to the Prophet (s.a.w) and ask him to Istagheeth (seek for the removal of harm) for us from this hypocrite." So the Prophet (s.a.w) replied "Verily, Istighaathah cannot be requested from me, rather, from Allah." Although it was within the Prophet's (s.a.w) ability and power to prevent the harm from the hypocrite, and although their request was Islamically valid, he stressed on the importance of using such terms for Allah only, because of the consequent damage it could cause to the Tawheed of his Ummah, had it been used to other than Allah.
Nonetheless, a myriad of Muslims still persist in this vice, even though the Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah have agreed upon its impermissibility. Ibn Taymiyyah commented in this regard: "But whoever takes them (Sheikhs, Awliyaa', Pirs etc..) as intermediaries between Allah and His creation... So that they are the ones to pass on to Allah the needs of His creations, since (they believe that) Allah gives the guidance and the sustenance because of their intercession, so that the people would ask them (the intermediaries), who will then ask Allah, just as the kings' intermediaries present people's needs to the kings because they are closer to them from the need-seeker.. Whoever takes them as intermediaries in this manner, then such person is Kaffir and Mushrik, and should be asked to repent, and should be killed if he refuses; such people are Mushabbiha (resemblers), who have resembled the Creator to His creation, and have adopted partners with Him".
The ways of the Prophets was to call Mankind to the worship of Allah, to seek His Help in every way, for He is the All-Hearer and All-Seer: "And when My slaves ask you concerning Me, then (say) I am indeed near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright." [2: 186]
The Weight of 'LaailaahaillAllaah'
`Abdullaah ibn `Amr said, "Allaah's Messenger sallAllaahu ` alayhi wa sallam said,
'A man from my nation will be called out in front of the whole of the creation on the Day of Resurrection. So ninety-nine scrolls will be laid out for him. Each of the scrolls will be as far as the eye can see. Then it will be said, "Do you deny anything from this?" So he will say, "No, O my Lord." So it will be said, "Do you have any excuse or any good deed?" So the man will fear and he will say, "No." So it will be said: "Yes indeed, you have good deeds with Us. You will not be wronged with regard to them." So a parchment will be brought out for him containing, 'I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. So he will say, "O my Lord, what is this parchment in comparison to those scrolls?" So it will be said, "You will not be wronged." So the scrolls will be placed on one scale and that parchment will be placed on one scale. So the scrolls will be lighter and the parchment will outweigh.'"
Reported by Ibnul-Mubaarak in his book az-Zuhd and in his Musnad and by Imaam Ahmad and by at-Tirmithee and Ibn Maajah and others besides.
Shaykh al-Albaanee declared this hadeeth saheeh, authentic.
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