A quick post-
even if you're not living in the area, check out the blog Radio Ramadan High Wycombe for some great info and articles:
http://www.radioramadanhw.blogspot.com/
Thanks!
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Thursday 12 August 2010
This time again
Nearly all the blogs I've subscribed to have posted something about Ramadan. It's all part of the unique Ramadan atmosphere. You know the atmosphere I'm talking about. Not just the spiritual changes we undergo with the change of month, but the atmosphere that comes with the change of routine, i.e. when people are willingly waking hours before dawn to pray and begin their fasts, when TV channels are blasting Live Taraweh Prayers instead of EastEnders, when visits to the musjid become more frequent and when there's a general feeling of calm in your household because everyone's trying their best to be nice to one another.
Yup, it's a wonderful atmosphere. Even with its yearly moon-sighting dramas and Taraweh 'burping episodes' that Baba Ali sums up perfectly:
Anyway, I apologise if there are any non Muslims reading this who don't know much about Ramadan and therefore don't know what I'm talking about. The Cover Fell Off gives a brief explanation on her blog. Just to add to that, 'Taraweh' is the name of a special prayer performed during the nights of Ramadan.
Before I end this post, I'd like to draw your attention to an advert that I found hilarious before I got the point of it:
Needless to say this is a necessary reminder for us all. We're blessed with an entire range of different foods to break our fasts with, but some people only have water and dates, if they're lucky.
Feed the Fasting-Islamic Relief
Yup, it's a wonderful atmosphere. Even with its yearly moon-sighting dramas and Taraweh 'burping episodes' that Baba Ali sums up perfectly:
Anyway, I apologise if there are any non Muslims reading this who don't know much about Ramadan and therefore don't know what I'm talking about. The Cover Fell Off gives a brief explanation on her blog. Just to add to that, 'Taraweh' is the name of a special prayer performed during the nights of Ramadan.
Before I end this post, I'd like to draw your attention to an advert that I found hilarious before I got the point of it:
Needless to say this is a necessary reminder for us all. We're blessed with an entire range of different foods to break our fasts with, but some people only have water and dates, if they're lucky.
Feed the Fasting-Islamic Relief
Friday 6 August 2010
Nouman Ali Khan
A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a talk by brother Nourman Ali Khan. If you haven’t heard of him already he’s an extremely well spoken lecturer of Islam, an imam and the founder of the Bayyina institute, which is an Arabic studies institute in America.
If you go on youtube, you’ll see that he’s done a whole range of different lectures and talks. The one I watched was about harmony in the household.
On a radio show that I'm doing this Ramadan one of the topics I want to adress is kindness amongst the family. Brother Nouman has provided me with many points to talk about, I have a quote from one of his lectures which states,
‘We cannot talk about establishing a harmonious Islamic society, until we have harmony inside the household.’
And how do we achieve harmony, is the question I'll have to tackle. Again, here’s a quote from brother Nouman’s lecture:
‘We have to be the best to our spouses. We have to be the best to our parents. These are fundamental in relationships—all the other relationships are fixed if these two are fixed, and the only way these two will be fixed is if your relationship with Allah is fixed. So if you have marriage problems or parental problems, do you know what the real problem is? Taqwa and imaan. You’re not grateful enough. Your parents and spouses are a gift to you, and to be ungrateful to them is to be ungrateful to Allah.’
So in order to be kind to our families, we must remember that they are a gift from Allah. But realistically, we all know that creating harmony in the household can be difficult if there are huge problems with understanding each other, or, as is usually the case,a culture/religion clash. Brother Nouman addresses all of these problems in his talks, and gives very good solutions, so I definitely recommend searching for him online and listening to some of his talks if you haven't done so already.
Another problem we find with harmony amongst the family is that there’s a total lack of respect for parents. Now of course, this is a reminder to myself as well as everyone else. In surah Al Isra, verse 23, Allah tells us:
‘And do good to thy parents. Should one of them, or both, attain old age in thy care, never say “urg” to them or scold them, but always speak unto them with reverent speech, and spread over them humbly the wings of thy tenderness and say: “O my sustainer! Bestow Thy grace upon them, even as they cherished me and reared me when I was a child!”
Notice how in this verse, several commands are made by Allah regarding parents, particularly when they reach old age. As a general rule, as people get older, they become more demanding and more difficult to satisfy. Of course Allah is aware of this, and He tests us with it. Even when our parents do get old, Allah requires that we especially obey them. We should ‘never say “urg” to them,’ never ‘scold them,’ and ‘spread over them humbly the wings of tenderness,’ the way they did when we were children.
Regarding family relationships, culture divisions and the youth, Brother Nouman has said plenty. I really like his style of lectures, he has an amazing grasp of how the youth thinks- he'd be very good at family councilling I think!
If you go on youtube, you’ll see that he’s done a whole range of different lectures and talks. The one I watched was about harmony in the household.
On a radio show that I'm doing this Ramadan one of the topics I want to adress is kindness amongst the family. Brother Nouman has provided me with many points to talk about, I have a quote from one of his lectures which states,
‘We cannot talk about establishing a harmonious Islamic society, until we have harmony inside the household.’
And how do we achieve harmony, is the question I'll have to tackle. Again, here’s a quote from brother Nouman’s lecture:
‘We have to be the best to our spouses. We have to be the best to our parents. These are fundamental in relationships—all the other relationships are fixed if these two are fixed, and the only way these two will be fixed is if your relationship with Allah is fixed. So if you have marriage problems or parental problems, do you know what the real problem is? Taqwa and imaan. You’re not grateful enough. Your parents and spouses are a gift to you, and to be ungrateful to them is to be ungrateful to Allah.’
So in order to be kind to our families, we must remember that they are a gift from Allah. But realistically, we all know that creating harmony in the household can be difficult if there are huge problems with understanding each other, or, as is usually the case,a culture/religion clash. Brother Nouman addresses all of these problems in his talks, and gives very good solutions, so I definitely recommend searching for him online and listening to some of his talks if you haven't done so already.
Another problem we find with harmony amongst the family is that there’s a total lack of respect for parents. Now of course, this is a reminder to myself as well as everyone else. In surah Al Isra, verse 23, Allah tells us:
‘And do good to thy parents. Should one of them, or both, attain old age in thy care, never say “urg” to them or scold them, but always speak unto them with reverent speech, and spread over them humbly the wings of thy tenderness and say: “O my sustainer! Bestow Thy grace upon them, even as they cherished me and reared me when I was a child!”
Notice how in this verse, several commands are made by Allah regarding parents, particularly when they reach old age. As a general rule, as people get older, they become more demanding and more difficult to satisfy. Of course Allah is aware of this, and He tests us with it. Even when our parents do get old, Allah requires that we especially obey them. We should ‘never say “urg” to them,’ never ‘scold them,’ and ‘spread over them humbly the wings of tenderness,’ the way they did when we were children.
Regarding family relationships, culture divisions and the youth, Brother Nouman has said plenty. I really like his style of lectures, he has an amazing grasp of how the youth thinks- he'd be very good at family councilling I think!
Sunday 1 August 2010
An Obligatory Ramadan Post
In the lead up to Ramadan I wanted to post something that would serve as a reminder and be of some benefit to all those who are preparing for the blessed month of fasting. Now, with about a week to go, we should begin preparing ourselves both physically and mentally. Now’s the time to start cutting back on food in preparation for the fast, and now’s the time to control our tongues and train our eyes to observe only what is good for us.
Whilst there is so much more I’d like to write, it’s 2am and I’m quite exhausted. I’m only keeping myself up because I have one more fast to make up from last year and if I sleep now I’ll never get up. Therefore, the remainder of this Ramadan post consists of an article I wrote for a magazine a year ago.
Ramadan, a month of spiritual training
‘O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may learn self restraint.’ (2:183)
In this ayaa of the Quran, Allah reveals to us part of the valuable essence of Ramadan: the principle of self restraint. Self restraint not only refers to restraining oneself from food and drink, but from any act which would displease Allah. Ramadan is therefore a period of time where all things haraam for the eyes, the ears, the mouth and the heart are avoided. In effect, Ramadan is a time of fasting for the senses. The ears are trained to avoid listening to gossip or indecent music, the eyes are shut to haraam images on the TV screen and the heart and mouth are prohibited from back biting and telling lies. So important is it that we avoid backbiting and lies during Ramadan that Prophet (pbuh) warned: ‘if one does not abandon falsehood in words and deeds, Allah has no need for his abandoning of his food and drink.’ (al- Bukhari) Therefore the self restraint we are asked to exercise during this wonderful month pushes us beyond the self restraint of our stomachs and towards the self restraint of our souls.
At what is the purpose of exercising self restraint on the soul? What do we gain?
Well the answer is that primarily, we are training the soul in Taqwa. During Ramadan, we avoid lawful things, such as food. Therefore by giving up the lawful, we are much more capable of avoiding the unlawful. Additionally, we learn sincerity. Fasting is one of the few acts of worship which is entirely based on self restraint. So no other person except for yourself will know for sure whether you are fasting, or if you have broken your fast in secret. Therefore, restraining one’s self from doing these acts teaches us a high level of sincerity. This restraint is also a form of jihad. It teaches our soul how to master our desires rather than being controlled by them, which is by no means easy. And Inshallah, Allah will reward us for our efforts. The self restraint that we practice during Ramadan is indeed an act of atonement for our past mistakes, as mentioned by Prophet (pbuh): ‘whoever fasts the month of Ramadan in the basis of Iman and seeking the pleasure of Allah, his past errors are forgiven.’ (Ahmad).
So, as we wake for suhoor each morning during Ramadan, we must remind ourselves that that purpose of our fast is not just to avoid food and drink but to avoid all that is unlawful and harmful for the soul. By doing so, we are nourishing our souls and training ourselves in becoming obedient, sincere and worthy young Muslims. Inshallah, we will be on the path towards forgiveness and in reach of the gates of Jannah, which during this month are held wide open for us.
Whilst there is so much more I’d like to write, it’s 2am and I’m quite exhausted. I’m only keeping myself up because I have one more fast to make up from last year and if I sleep now I’ll never get up. Therefore, the remainder of this Ramadan post consists of an article I wrote for a magazine a year ago.
Ramadan, a month of spiritual training
‘O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you so that you may learn self restraint.’ (2:183)
In this ayaa of the Quran, Allah reveals to us part of the valuable essence of Ramadan: the principle of self restraint. Self restraint not only refers to restraining oneself from food and drink, but from any act which would displease Allah. Ramadan is therefore a period of time where all things haraam for the eyes, the ears, the mouth and the heart are avoided. In effect, Ramadan is a time of fasting for the senses. The ears are trained to avoid listening to gossip or indecent music, the eyes are shut to haraam images on the TV screen and the heart and mouth are prohibited from back biting and telling lies. So important is it that we avoid backbiting and lies during Ramadan that Prophet (pbuh) warned: ‘if one does not abandon falsehood in words and deeds, Allah has no need for his abandoning of his food and drink.’ (al- Bukhari) Therefore the self restraint we are asked to exercise during this wonderful month pushes us beyond the self restraint of our stomachs and towards the self restraint of our souls.
At what is the purpose of exercising self restraint on the soul? What do we gain?
Well the answer is that primarily, we are training the soul in Taqwa. During Ramadan, we avoid lawful things, such as food. Therefore by giving up the lawful, we are much more capable of avoiding the unlawful. Additionally, we learn sincerity. Fasting is one of the few acts of worship which is entirely based on self restraint. So no other person except for yourself will know for sure whether you are fasting, or if you have broken your fast in secret. Therefore, restraining one’s self from doing these acts teaches us a high level of sincerity. This restraint is also a form of jihad. It teaches our soul how to master our desires rather than being controlled by them, which is by no means easy. And Inshallah, Allah will reward us for our efforts. The self restraint that we practice during Ramadan is indeed an act of atonement for our past mistakes, as mentioned by Prophet (pbuh): ‘whoever fasts the month of Ramadan in the basis of Iman and seeking the pleasure of Allah, his past errors are forgiven.’ (Ahmad).
So, as we wake for suhoor each morning during Ramadan, we must remind ourselves that that purpose of our fast is not just to avoid food and drink but to avoid all that is unlawful and harmful for the soul. By doing so, we are nourishing our souls and training ourselves in becoming obedient, sincere and worthy young Muslims. Inshallah, we will be on the path towards forgiveness and in reach of the gates of Jannah, which during this month are held wide open for us.
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