Part I | Part II | Part III

Somehow the stars seemed to be aligned just right, because my fortune could not have been better. I embarked on my dream to live in Muslim countries during the month of Ramadan this year.

Hassan II mosque. (Flickr/Robbie's Photo Art)

Anxiously awaiting Ramadan to begin while in the middle of Fez, Morocco, I wondered what it would be like to walk to taraweeh (the night prayer) with a crowd of spiritual bodies waiting to pray to our Lord.

The next day I was on a train to Casablanca, where the famous Hassan II Mosque was erected just a few decades back. I wandered around the city without orientation, trying to communicate in my broken Arabic to the taxi driver that I didn’t book a hotel. My anxiety was unresolved through the evening, leading into the sunset. The matter was not about having a place to sleep at night; rather, it was about safety. I entered a different taxi in hopes that I would find one– never had I come to a city so unprepared. But I had no time back in Fez, because I was growing sicker by the minute.

Finally, I found another taxi cab since this driver could be of no assistance. I tried to communicate to him that I wanted to go to the center of the city to find a hotel. To my dismay, the center of the city was kilometers away from the Mosque. As the driver accelerated faster to ascend the on-ramp of the freeway, I began to yell. “Wrong way, wrong way!”

Although I am usually a composed individual, and very calm during mishaps, something unleashed the anxiety in me and tears began escaping so quickly it was hard to keep up with a napkin. I cried because I could not communicate, I cried because I had no place to stay, I cried because I was in this man’s taxi at the late hours of night. I prayed more sincerely in those few minutes than I did for the length of my trip thus far. God, please, just keep me safe. As long as I am safe…

The driver, experiencing the dilemma of catering to my emotional outburst versus attending to the road, was at a loss for repair. A few seconds later, the Quran began playing. Subhanallah.

To be continued…

Source: Flickr/ Itinerant Tightwad

As a member of the South Asian community, I have attended numerous iftars that seem more like parties than iftar gatherings. If you’re a Muslim you’re probably thinking, “Iftar ‘parties’ and ‘gatherings’ are the same thing, dummy!”

Sadly, our community has failed to distinguish between the kind of parties we host during most of the year and the kind of gatherings we should host in the blessed month of Ramadan. An extravagant iftar “party” ends up taking a big chunk of our night away from gaining the good deeds Allah offers to us so generously in this wonderful month.

At these parties usually so much food is prepared for the iftar andthe dinner that by the end of the night, many have adjusted their belts and buttons to accommodate their full stomachs. Sometimes people take more food than they can handle and end up throwing it away.

We seem to forget that in these short summer nights there’s not that much time between the start of maghrib and ishaa. At these type of iftar parties, the ishaa and taraweeh prayer at the masjid are usually missed due to the lengthy duration of these parties. Appalled by this excessiveness,  my family decided to host a different kind of iftar this year. By utilizing these techniques, we were able to have a more successful iftar gathering:

• Tell guests beforehand of your intention to attend ishaa prayer at the local masjid.
• Make a couple of signs to remind everyone not to waste food. For example, one sign can remind the guests of the condition in East Africa. Another can remind that God does not like wastefulness.
• Make a moderate amount of food dishes so as to not take too much time from your worship in cooking. This will prevent overindulgence and wastage of food at the iftar.
• Break the fast simply with dates and milk. Then, pray maghrib in congregation with your guests.
• After prayer, serve dinner. Gentlemen, try to let ladies and children go first!
• Try your best to make time for a small halaqah or Islamic reminder about Ramadan. You can serve tea and sweets with the talk. Imagine how much Allah swt and the angels will love listening to us talk about our religion rather than gossip or politics!
• Keep an eye on the clock to make sure you do not miss the ishaa prayer at the masjid!

Previous iftars I have either been a part of hosting or attending have usually left me feeling guilty at the end of the night. This kind of carefully planned iftar, on the other hand, ended up enhancing the productivity of the night and allowed us to also earn extra good deeds for feeding our fasting guests!

Try to recall the last time you achieved something big, commendable, note-worthy. Straight A’s? A promotion? Election into a high position? Admission into a competitive university?

Most of us have experienced the sweetness of success. Some of us view it as a blessing. Fewer of us recognize the Source of it and remember to thank Him.

But it’s so easy to be blinded by the brightness of our achievements, to convince ourselves that it was our own hands that earned our accomplishments. We pat ourselves on the back and then we look around to make sure others also recognize our work.

I have been fortunate enough to know a few people that serve as great role models in the case of humility. I have never received any news of their accomplishments from their own mouths and it’s not until I read about it in the news or hear it announced at an event that I come to know of some of the truly remarkable things they have done.

When I give my congratulations, I notice them tolerate it but never welcome it warmly into their hearts (or heads).  That’s when I truly realized how important our intentions are.

For when we do something to seek other people’s appreciation, we are not satisfied until they take notice of it. But when we do it for God alone, for His pleasure, the only Being we desire recognition from already knows.

Then, He rewards us both for our intentions and our actions. “… But what is with your Lord is better and more lasting” (20:31).  And that is enough for us.

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Badr. The day when Muslims, greatly outnumbered by their opponents, came out victorious with the assistance of God. One timeless lesson from that day that God even reminds us of in the Qur’an is that success comes only from God.

“And already had Allah given you victory at Badr while you were few in number. Then fear Allah; perhaps you will be grateful.” (3:123)

by Samina Mohammad

Since I live in a college town in Indiana, Ramadan and Eid is the time when my community comes together to help the college students feel part of a family. The mosque has daily iftars for them and each family would be responsible for cooking for a particular day. We have about 15 families that contribute and the MSA brothers come to our houses to pick up the food to distribute for iftar. Two of the days is designated to community iftars, so a family would host the iftar for the whole community usually at a banquet hall, hotel or even a high school gymnasium.

Memories:

During the day, I remember my mom preparing/cooking for iftar and she always would have the Taleem ul-Quran (tafseer/explantion of the surahs) by Dr. Farhat Hashmi (an urdu scholar who is masha’Allah amazing) played as much as possible, mostly in preparation of what we would be reciting in taraweeh that night. My dad would have me and my brother prepare mini khaterahs to give after asr prayer – mostly it was from Riyad ul Saliheen. Even to this day, he still makes my brother do it or if I’m home, I have to do it. As a family we set a goal to read the entire Qur’an and compete to see who will finish it first, but every year it’s the same person: my mama!

Ramadan Meals:

At the time of breaking our fast, we have dates and a drink called Rooh Afza. This drink is the one thing you will find at many Indo-Pak homes during Ramadan. As for snacks or meals, we have a dish called pakoras served with mint chutney, fruit chaat (spicy fruit salad), dahiy baray (which is basically soft dumplings made out of lentils in yogurt), and samosas (stuffed fried pastry either with beef or potatoes, and/or cutlets).

Eid:

Indo-Pak folks have this thing called “Chand Raat” (Night of the New Moon) the day before Eid (last night of Ramadan) where all the females get together and prepare for Eid and apply mehndi (henna) on their hands. Usually we have the “Chand Raat” at my house for Eid al-Fitr. I always grew up with having “Chand Raat” to prepare for Eid, like the goodie bags for the kids, working on last minute carnival stuff.

On the day of the Eid, we would get up early to get ready. We always wear new clothes (it’s not Eid unless we get new clothes). I usually wear a traditional Indo-Pak outfit with a matching abaya over it. If there was a time that my family got on each other’s nerves it would on the morning of Eid –trying to get everyone to prayer on time, figuring out how many cars to take to Eid prayer, asking why is this not ironed, etc.

Before going to prayer, my mom would make us eat seviyan (vermichelli noodles) and dates. It is of the Sunnah to eat an odd number of dates before going to pray Salatul Eid. The Prophet (saws) would not go out on the day of Ed al-Fitr without eating and odd number of dates (Bukhari).

My community does not pray Eid at our Masjid, instead we pray outside in an open field (during the summers/spring) or in gymnasium (during the winter months), as it is Sunnah to pray outside for the Eid prayer unless you are in Makkah (there, Eid prayer is at Masjid Ul-Haram). After Eid prayer, we usually greet one another and take pictures. My friends and I take our traditional Eid pictures, which we’ve been taking since we were 5-7 years old, and then we take one with our families.

After that, we have a mini award ceremony for the Ramadan volunteers to show our appreciation for their hard work and dedication in making the month of Ramadan successful. Then we have our community breakfast along with a carnival for the kids. My friends and I usually never stay for that and instead go to our favorite place: Ihop (when you live in a college town, there are not that many choices). After that, my family has our typical brunch/lunch gathering for all the single students, mostly for the brothers, so I’m there to help my mom out. After they all leave, we usually take a nap or we open our Eid gifts. In the evening, we have a community Eid dinner where we reserve a restaurant or a banquet hall.

So all in all, Ramadan and Eid is like major family bonding time!

*Al-Talib has asked its staff and readers to share their Ramadan traditions, experiences or memories with us. If you would also like to share what makes Ramadan special for you, please e-mail us at webmaster@al-talib.org. Ramadan Mubarak!

“By time, Indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” (Qur’an, 103:1-3)

Allah (subhan wata’alah ) establishes the default position for all mankind at the very beginning of the ayah (verse): a state of loss. That is followed by the exceptions to the default position, namely those people that have iman (faith), do good deeds, propagate truths and exercise patience. Interestingly, all of these four exceptions allude to actions done consistently. Even iman itself is not a static state, but its level fluctuates in every individual, with the exception of prophets, depending on a person’s actions and worship. As such, we realize a hard fact: everyone is losing with the passage of time by default, with the exception of those that are doing righteous actions. With time, it’s use it or lose it. Contrary to what most of us would like to believe, there is no stationary state. If we are exactly the same person today as we were yesterday, we are actually losers under this definition. Certainly, amongst the major differences in this world and the next is time itself: this life is temporary, and the next life is eternal.

Yet people forget that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave Da’wah his entire life. This was his purpose on Earth, to call people to Islam. And in the Qur’an, we are commanded by Allah:

“Call to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious” [The Qur'an 16:125]

Yet even though this is an obligation upon every Muslim, many people neglect it because of fear of speaking with strangers. However the model of Da’wah that Muhammad (pbuh) used was to first start with speaking to his family about Islam. Later, he gave Da’wah to his friends. Soon after that, Allah commanded him in Surat Najm (The Stars) to give Da’wah to the public and this is when he made his first recitation to the tribe of the Quraysh (the tribe that Muhammad (pbuh) was born into and the tribe whom persecuted him for 23 years). Therefore by following the model of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in giving Da’wah, we can successfully gain comfort in the way we speak to people about Islam and at the same time gain knowledge about our own faith and others’ faith.

Many of us may fear giving Da’wah to strangers because they not be as welcoming as friends or family. So start with your family and friends. And as you gain comfort, move on to giving Da’wah to strangers. Just remember that no one will ever have every bit of Islamic Knowledge. But if you start out with Tawheed, I guarantee you will always succeed. So please do not delay this commandment from Allah, and share your religion with those deprived from it!

Analysis of Piety

From the morals and manners of the righteous was that they would strictly analyze their taqwa (piety) never claiming to be a possessor of such. Allah the Most High has said, “Therefore do not declare yourselves as being purified. He knows best who has taqwa.” [53:32]

The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (May Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him), said, “Taqwa is here,” and he pointed to his chest. [Muslim (16/120, 121) in al-Birr..and at-Tirmidhi (8/115) in al-Birr and Ahmad (2/277)]

‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azeez, rahimahullaah (May Allah have mercy upon him), used to say, “None can reach the station of taqwaa until he possesses neither action nor words that can be exposed to his embarrassment either in this world or the Hereafter.” He was once asked, “When does the worshipper reach the peak of tawqa?” He replied, “If he put all his thoughts and desires in his heart on a plate and then wandered around in the market, he should not feel ashamed of anything there.” He would frequently say, “The sign of muttaqi (pious person) is to bridle oneself from speaking just like one in ihraam bridles himself from speaking. The muttaqi needs to be a scholar (‘aalim) of the Sharee’ah, all of it, otherwise he leaves taqwa without realising.”

Abu Darda, radhiAllaahu ‘anhu (May Allah be pleased with him), said: “From the completion of taqwa is that the slaves fears from his Lord even with regards to things the weight of an atom.”

Abu Hurayrah, radhiAllaahu ‘anhu, was asked about taqwa. He said, “It is a road full of thorns. One who walks it needs to have extreme patience.”

Sufyaan ath-Thawri rahimahullah said, “We met a people who loved it when it was said to them – Fear Allah the Most High. Today you find that people only become annoyed at this.”

A person asked Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyaad rahimahullaah, “Which country would you like me to live in? Fudhayl replied, “There is no connection between you and any nation. The best country for you is the country which helps you to acquire taqwa.”

O brothers and sisters! Search your soul. Have you feared Allah as the righteous have feared? Or have you fallen short of that. Seek the forgiveness of Allah as all praise is to Him the Lord of the worlds.