Farewell Ramadan

Consider the following, Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) says in the Qur’an: وَالضُّحَى / “I swear by the morning brightness” [Surah Ad-Duhaa 93:1], وَاللَّيْلِ / “I swear by the night” [Surah Ad-Duhaa 93:2], وَالْفَجْرِ / “I swear by dawn” [Surah Al-Fajr 89:1], وَالْعَصْرِ / “I swear by time” [Surah Al-‘Asr 103:1]. Allah, being The Greatest, only takes oaths upon the greatest of matters, and the fact that time is one of them in so many passages of the Qur’an speaks volumes in of itself.

It’s around this time during Ramadan each year that we’ll hear: “Ramadan’s almost over! It’s bidding us farewell already.” Not only is it a valid observation, but one that is increasing in validity each year as the blessing of time constantly decreases, just as Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ; peace be upon him) prophesized would happen towards the end of times.

We are hours, minutes, and seconds, and so each day of Ramadan that ends demarcates the ending of a part of you. In this regard, Ustadh Ali Hammuda shares two bits of advice that may be of practical use moving forward:

1. Create a clearly defined set of goals. Not just for what remains of Ramadan, but for the rest of your life. You see, when we aspire to get married, we do get married, and when we aspire for work, we do find work, and so on. The reasons why we get things done is because of the clarity of the objective; we know exactly where we want to be in how many years and how we shall go about doing it. As for the “I’m going to try my best” approach, this – by itself - isn’t effective. Our commitment to Islam mustn’t be to a lower standard. Write down your Ramadan and life-based Islamic goals.

2. Create a sense of urgency. Diamonds only become diamonds when coal is subjected to pressure. Pressure makes diamonds, and so apply pressure upon yourself to compete for Jannah with the many competitors out there, a pressure to save yourself from the hellfire, a pressure to be accepted by Allah and to be happy on the Day of judgement.

In reality, it is not Ramadan that is bidding us farewell, but we are the ones who are bidding it farewell. When Ramadan departs, it shall return many times over and will be witnessed by countless people. However, when we depart from this world, we shall never be returned. We ask Allah to accept from us what we’ve done so far, to forgive the countless shortcomings, to allow us to live until the end of this Ramadan and bless us with many more such opportunities where our appreciation of time is even greater – Ameen!

Suggested good deed

Make the most of the momentum you have built in Ramadan, by fasting six days in Shawwal (month immediately after Ramadan) post Eid celebrations sooner rather than later when it will become more difficult. Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari (radiAllahu’anhu; may Allah be pleased with him) relates that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ, peace be upon him) said: “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days of fasting in the month of Shawwal, it will be as if he fasted the year through.” [Sahih Muslim, 1163]