ALLAH CONCIOUS OR FOOD CONCIOUS – IT IS RAMADHAN / RAMADHAN FULL OF (IBAADAAH) OR DELICACIES By ARIF MOHAMMED

My school teacher who is a Muslim mailed me few weeks ago and asked me for recipes to be prepared during Ramadhan. Her condition was that the recipes that I give should have the ingredients which are easily available in the local market and should be easy to prepare.  And the best part was she wanted to have atleast 40-50 recipes out of which she can make one per day the whole month. And she wanted to have a mix of Continental, Italian, Chinese etc.

There is a hadeeth which comes to my mind..

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The child of Adam fills no vessel worse than his stomach. Sufficient for the child of Adam are a few morsels to keep his back straight. If he must eat more, then a third should be for his food, a third for his drink, and a third left for air.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (2380) and Musnad Ahmad (17186) and authenticated by al-Albânî in Sahîh al-Jâmi`

I wondered during Ifthaar when we have been eating till we feel that our stomachs are like big baloons which may burst with a prick of a pin. Do you think that this is what Ramadhan is for.

But Unfortunately there are families amongst our ummah, which does not take into account any of the things mentioned above.  The burden that the mothers and the sisters take during this month is really uncalled for. Most of the time they are in Kitchen, preparing either Abba’s favourite Bhajia , Bhai’s dahi kadi or Sonu’s favourite dish. And they also have their favourites but they sacrifice that for the last that if they have time then they make it for themselves.  Spending most of the time in Kitchen is not an easy task to do at all. They wake up before everybody atleast 2 hours before Fajr, may be they pray few rakaa’s and they cook for family, whereas the whole family can pray during that time, how better would it be, if mothers can manage to cook what is required for all and not prepare special for each member and rest of the time she can pray and do her (Reading Quran, Tasbeeh, Salaah) But many homes, sorry to say have kept the Quran wrapped during Ramadhan and they take it out only for Jaagne ki raat/ Shabe baarat.

Further strenous job for mothers and sisters is to prepare for ifthaar.. Ya Allah.. They start just after praying Dhuhr Salaah.. Either pre-preparation for Kheema, Aloo Chole, Puri Bhaji,Ragda, Bhajia, Samosa, Kababs etc or they may start with cutting the vegetables for making some Curry/ Dal/ Kheer/Khichda/Mirch ki Salan etc.. or May be Biryani, Pulao, Khichdi etc.. When you ask them they say sabne roza rakha hain toh khaayenge na..Yes we are fasting, but these many items are not going to make you more healthy any which ways as the whole day you are fasting and you eat these many items all at one time which makes it very difficult to digest.. that is the reason why you see just after 2 fasts ,people queueing at the clinics..The best way to break fast (ifthaar) is to eat dates, few fruits and drink Water and rush to pray Maghrib with Jamaat. Many don’t go to pray maghrib with Jamaat coz of one glass of Kheer/Falooda.. but no mujhe yeh chahiye hi chahiye..(I want it at any cost) then Maa ki Mamta..Glass bhar ke pee lee...

Praying Salaah with Jamaat is more important. Falooda/ Kheer can wait, but if you miss jamaat then, that’s gone.  After you have come back from Salaah, then may be you can have something but you have been keeping your stomach empty since morning, so don’t over eat, try to eat less because you have to go to sleep and it takes atleast two hours minimum from the time you have put food onto your mouth. Mothers are more or less busy cooking cooking cooking and cooking… This is how Ramadhan goes for them.. Brothers should understand and also it is the duty of the mothers where they should advise and try to plan out things which will make it easy for them to give time for Resting/Ibaadaah etc. Ramadhan can make you get rid of all the accumulated waste which are detrimental to health. Ramadhan can strengthen your body and cure many diseases. But Farmaaish(requests) make it impossible for these things to happen.These are just few health benefits there are several other benefits of Fasting which has Rewards in Akhiraah and also in this duniya you can gain in more resistance to diseases, become more healthy..etc..

The main objective of Ramadhan is to reform and purify ourselves, our bodies, our minds, our hearts through praying, fasting, doing dhikr and remember Allah, Thank him for blessing you with an oppportunity I.e Ramadhan. It is not enough not to eat, not to drink : to fast is to rediscover a philosophy of life that demands constant effort to improve, and to reconcile ourselves with the values and the objectives we have set for our lives. To fast is to rediscover the meaning of mercy (rahmah) and compassion of Allah(swt), starting with our own selves.

O MOTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE KITCHEN.. Prophet (pbuh) sad: When Ramadhan starts, the door of heaven are opened, and the doors of hell are closed and the devils are chained up(bukhari). More than cooking the favourite dishes for your family, it is also your right to attain Taqwaah, this Holy Month of Ramadhan…Please don’t spend much time in kitchen..Recite more and more of the Quran, try to understand it and implement in your life, Stand the night for Salaah, Ask for forgiveness from Allah for your sins, Make Dua for you, your family, your society, the whole muslim Ummah.

May Allah give grant us with his mercy to make most out of this Ramadhan…

Jazak Allahu Khairan for reading.

Please leave your comments and suggestions at dawah_thebestcall@yahoo.in

ARE YOU ENRICHING YOUR ROOH OR YOUR BODY THIS RAMADHAN?

Several times have we made this promise that this ramadhan I will fast  all throughout the month and also the six fasts after Eid day, I will pray each night this month, I will do this and I will do that. But at the end of the month, are we sure about whether did we actually complete or fulfill those promises that we made. The answer  for many of us could be:

 yes I did but not satisfied,

Yes I did but I missed few of XYZ things,

 No I didn’t.

 Rarely do we get the reply as a complete Yes, wherein you are 100% sure that all the parameters where in place.

 Let us read this ayat from the Quran from Surah Araf: Verse 172 which says:-

 When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! We do testify!"

There was a gathering of all the rooh’s, that we all have within ourselves where Allah asks “ Alastu bi rabbikum” and we all answered “balaa shahidna”.The Rooh that we have knows Allah. It has already spoken to him and has given a covenant in the above verse. 

Now, This Rooh is blown into our body and when we are born the Rooh comes out with the body.

So, we have the Rooh and the Body. Both have needs.

Body has needs:  Food, Protection, it has a need to beautify itself, does things to comfort itself, various needs and desires.

Rooh has needs: It needs the tranquility by you praising Allah, doing righteous deeds, following the commands of Allah and all that he has declared as Halaal. As Allah says in Surah Raad:Verse 28 that Truly in the rememberance of Allah, do hearts find peace.

When it is Ramadhan, we are getting an opportunity from Allah(swt) to increase our Taqwa by feeding our Rooh and not feeding our needs of our body.

Allah says: O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may achieve Taqwa( Surah Baqarah).

 We have not been so serious with the needs of the Rooh for other months, so it is like a training programme wherein you control yourself ( hunger, speech, thirst, intimacy and many other things which are not allowed when you are fasting). Allah says that if we fast then we can attain taqwa.

When it comes to standing the night, Allah says in Surah Zariyat: verse 17 that “ They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night”.

 Please read this verse carefully and also read from the Glorious Quran the verses before and after this verse. You should be standing at night even in other days to attain Jannah as Allah says that Jannati’s are those who slept less at night. Coming back to Ramadhan, There is also a hadeeth where prophet (pbuh) says that whoever stands and prays the nights in Ramadhan with perfect faith and seeking reward, all his past sins are forgiven(Bukhari).

And think for a while, how much are we in pace with the commands of Allah and His Messenger(pbuh) and  How much have we prepared for Jannah. Ramadhan is an opportunity which Allah has bestowed with where we can change our habits and try to get more and more closer to Allah, Alhumdulilaah. We cant say we will be in this world next Ramadan.

Before I end let me warn you by telling you why did Allah take a promise from all our Rooh. Allah gives the answer in the same verse of Surah Araf.. This we did , lest  you mankind  should say on the day of Resurrection, "Indeed, we were of this unaware". Our Rooh will not be able to say on the day of judgement: Inna kunna a’n hadha gafileen, because Rooh already knows Allah and it had a conversation with Allah.

Are we making use of this Ramadhan to enrich our Rooh or are we are still the same as we were enriching our Body?

HOW WILL YOUR RAMADHAN BE?

  Years  back when Ramadhan was in hot summer of Mumbai.. I heard a man selling fish. He was a Muslim, a middle aged man, carrying a basket of around 20 kgs of fish on his head and walked in hot sun for few kms to earn halal in the month of Ramdhaan. He told me that he fasts regularly and sells fish for past ten years on the street of Mumbai.  There is another labourer who visits my locality selling pastries and cookies. He carries a huge Basket with 30 kgs of goods and shouts from the road looking for costumers. Once I called him to my house and spoke to him about his hard life.. That man had six daughters in his village and he is here in Mumbai selling cookies to make our suhur tastier.And he fasts as well.

    In my neighbourhood there are tournaments of Volleyball, night cricket, and carom boards in the nights of Ramadhaan. Last Ramadhaan I met a grown up boy around 17 years, who was preparing for HSC exams ,so he did not fast ! He told me.. My parents say that focus on your exams and careers you may fast  next years onwards.So the boys studied hwole night to get into medicine while the rest of the family did suhur and fasted . 

Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, used to pray at night what he wished, until it was in the middle of the night, when he would wake up his family to pray; then he would say to them "prayer.. prayer", and would recite this verse of the Qur'an, "Enjoin prayer on your people, and be constant therein. We ask you not to provide sustenance: We provide it for you. But the fruit of the Hereafter is for righteousness" [Qur'an 20:132].

  The Prophet (pbuh) was the most generous of people, and he was most generous during Ramadan. He was more generous with good deeds than the blowing wind. The Messenger of Allah also said, "The best charity is one given during Ramadan." [Related by Al-Tirmidhi from Anas].

Allah the Almighty says, "And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive (saying), 'We feed you for the sake of Allah Alone. No rewards do we desire from you, nor thanks. We only fear a Day of frowning and stress from the side of our Lord.' But Allah will deliver them from the evil of that day, and will spread over them brightness and a (blissful) joy. And because they were patient and constant, He will reward them with a garden (and garments of) silk" [Qur'an 76:8-12].

The Salaf used to ensure feeding others and they placed it before many acts of worship, and it is equally rewarded whether you feed a hungry person or a good Muslim brother of yours. Ibn Umar did not break his fast except with the orphans and the needy. Sometimes, if he learned that his family had turned back the orphans and the needy, he would not break the fast that night.

The only news that national news papers in India carry about Ramadhaan is about lavish food sold in the nights of Muslim streets.  At times they discuss about the business done in the nights of Muslims markets.

  Ramdhaan is not the month of festival but ibadah which not only includes recitation of the Qur'an but also generosity, charity and caring for poor and orphans.Meanwhile people living in the Gulf will be comforting in airconditions during the hot summer of ramadhaan, while those living in Bangladesh and Bihar and Bengal will be looking for means to save themselves from the yearly flood of Brahmaputra river... How will you pass your Ramadhaan? And Yes  how will I pass my Ramadhaan?

  Author: Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on the behalf of Islam and Muslims and ofcourse Humanity.. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

HOW TO MAKE EFFECTIVE DUA THIS RAMADHAN

We all make mistakes and we are all in dire need for forgiveness for the sins which we commit day and night. It is out of the mercy of Allaah upon us that He facilitated many ways to attain forgiveness.

We beg Allah to forgive and overlook our misdeeds. Whenever we beg for forgiveness Allah will answer our prayer and He, all praise be to Him, will overlook our evil deeds.

When a person commits a sin, he goes away from Allah. When he repents, he returns to Allah and desires for being pardoned by Him, and getting near Him.

The moment you raise your hands to heavens and say ‘O Lord,’ you become in direct close contact with Allah, you can pray and say whatever you wish, for it will remain between you and your Lord.

“And your Lord says, ‘Call on Me and I shall respond to you’” (Ghâfir, 40: 60)

“Du’a, and seeking of protection from Allah are like weapons, but the sharpness of a weapon is not sufficient for it to cause effect, for the person that handles it also play a role. So whenever the weapon is a perfect one, having no flaw in it, and the forearm is strong, and there are no preventing factors, then it will cause an effect on the enemy…” Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

During this blessed month of Ramadan I will be sharing with you tips on how to make an effective dua. Be on the lookout for the email series “How to make effective dua this Ramadan” coming your way through out this month insha Allah.

Ramadan Mubarak! COURTESY: ZAKIA USMANI