Lecture: Ramadan for the Youth
Assalamu Alaikum.
Still struggling to explain Ramadan to your kiddies?
Try the following lecture:
Ramadan for the Youth by Abu Taubah
Lecture: Making the Most of Ramadan
Assalamu Alaikum.
Too late to listen to this lecture?
No, I don’t think so. We all need a “pick me up” and we all need to be constantly reminded.
The main point of the lecture is how to maximise the benefits of Ramadan. It has some good points that I haven’t come across before (e.g. how some of the weak ahadeeth encourage one to be lazy).
Making the Most of Ramadan by Abu Usamah Adh-Dhahabi
Article: Turn Your Regular Activities into Acts of Worship
Assalamu Alaikum.
One of my friends (you know who you are) just sent me this wonderful article.
We only have 12 days of Ramadan left so we need to squeeze them for all their worth.
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http://abdurrahmanorg.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/turn-your-regular-activities-into-acts-of-worship/
Turn your Regular Activities into Acts of Worship
Beware of slacking in acts of worship during the Month of Ramadan
by Sheikh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-’Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy upon him.
All praise is due to Allah, much blessed praise. I bear witness that no one has the right to be worshipped except Allah alone having no partners.
And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger. Allah sent him with the guidance and the religion of truth, aided him against his enemies and thus he vanquished them with a severe vanquishing. So all the praise is for Allah, the Lord of all that exist and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, companions and all those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
O Mankind: How many of a people wish to reach the Month of Ramadan but do not reach?!
How many of a people were thinking about fasting Ramadan but did not get the chance to fast it?!
How many a people are in their grave(s) depending upon their deeds, incapable of adding a single good deed to his good deeds or able to diminish a single evil deed from his evil deeds?!
But you, Allah has favored you to reach this virtuous month, therefore take advantage of it by doing righteous actions that draw you closer to Allah! Seize this happening with a good intention and sincerity to Allah, ‘azza wa jall, and properly following His Messenger, sallahu ‘alayhi wasallam.
O Muslims! Indeed many of the people are (very) heedless in this Month. They spend their nights in senseless matters that do not contain any benefit in them. Rather, these matters could quite well be detrimental for them. They loiter around in the market places waiting for suhoor (pre-dawn meal) until when the time for suhoor comes; they eat and may even over sleep the fajr prayer. As regards their day(s), majority of them are spent sleeping. They don’t benefit from them. And this, by Allah, is (without question) bereavement. Certainly, this time period, rather this magnificent season is for gain and profit; the individual seizes this opportunity to get closer to Allah, ‘azza wa jall.
For indeed, the successful one is him who is able to turn habits into worship and the neglectful one turns his acts of worship into habits. (TN: May Allah help us!!!) The successful one has the ability to turn his regular activities into acts of worship.
Half of Ramadan is over…
Assalamu Alaikum.
Depressing, isn’t it? Almost makes you want to cry, huh?
Okay, let’s put it another way:
Half of Ramadan is still left!
How’s that?
I was so busy berating myself the last few days for my not-so-great Ramadan that I almost missed the fact that I STILL had a chance to make it an awesome Ramadan.
The days that are gone are GONE. There’s no point in moaning and groaning about them.
Don’t think about the past that you can’t change, think of the future that you CAN.
We’re all still alive so we still have a chance to increase in our good deeds. And we still have about 2 weeks left to make a difference (and Laylatul Qadr hasn’t come yet.)
I remember Ramadan 2008. My first 20 days were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad. I wasn’t feel well so I felt like sleeping the whole day.
The last ten days though were a different story. They were wonderful. I even got to do Itikaaf for 4 days.
So, come on. We all need to wake up. Otherwise, it’ll be Shawwal soon.
What about working on the following small (attainable) goals:
[Remember: We want to keep this going BEYOND Ramadan]
1) Improve the quality of our salah (and quantity as well).
2) Increase our time with the Quran (recitation, some tafsir and maybe some hifdh as well)
3) Give in charity and help the poor
4) Increase in dua (supplication) and istighfar
5) Try to be well-mannered (smile, control our tongues, try to help others, etc)
Oh and we try to avoid sinning, of course.
Yes, these are very simple goals but:
1) Simplicity is always the key.
2) Complicated does not equate to greatness
3) How many of us are regular in doing these “simple” deeds?
I think it’s best to live from (fard) prayer to prayer. So, first we work on that prayer and then we try to do as much of Nos. 1-5 as we can before we reach the next prayer.
What do you think?
Simple, no?
So, let’s get going!
PS. Sorry about the lack of teensie-weensie reminders. I’ll post one tomorrow, insha-Allah.
Teensie-Weensie Reminder (Day 12): The likeness of Ramadan and Wimbledon – Part 2
Assalamu Alaikum.
Here’s Part 1.
Wimbledon begins…
Ramadan begins…
DURING THE TOURNAMENT
The great tennis players know that they now have to completely focus for the next two weeks. They cannot let anything distract them from their goal or else they’ll be out of the tournament. These two weeks have been blocked out on their calender. They only have one aim during this time: get their hands on that trophy.
The believers know that they now have to completely focus on their ibaadah. They cannot let anything distract them from their goal or else Ramadan will pass them by. This one month has been blocked out on their calender. They have only one aim during this time: attain piety and get granted Paradise.
The great tennis players know that they need to pace themselves during the tournament. There are 7 rounds to be played, all of which are important. However, they won’t give their all in the first few matches, because those matches will be against lower-level opposition. They don’t want to exhaust themselves too early. Rather they’ll keep something in reserve for the latter rounds (i.e. the quarter finals, semi-finals and the finals) because that’s when they’ll meet the better players.
The believers know that they need to pace themselves during Ramadan. There are 29-30 days of this blessed, ALL of which are important. However, they can’t put in all their efforts in the first few days only to get tired out for the rest of Ramadan. Rather they need to keep something in reserve for the last ten nights, which are the greatest nights of the night and which contain a night that is equivalent to a 1000 months.
The tennis players start their matches.
The believers start fasting.
It is imperative for the tennis player to not look ahead. He needs to take it point by point.
It is imperative for the believer to not look ahead. He needs to take it day by day. As a matter of fact, it would be better for him to live from prayer to prayer, because he doesn’t know whether he will be alive when the adhan of the next prayer is called.
The tennis player is alone. He cannot get anybody’s help during the match. It’s just him versus the opponent.
However, he will keep looking at the player’s box, where his entourage are sitting, in order to get some encouragement. After all, everyone needs encouragement.
Still, he needs to do all the work on his own.
Teensie-Weensie Reminder (Day 11): The likeness of Ramadan and Wimbledon – Part 1
Assalamu Alaikum.
If you don’t know me, then the title probably shocked you (although if you’ve been following this blog closely, then nothing probably surprises you any more).
If you’re one of my students, you were probably like: “Here she goes again! I knew she couldn’t resist talking about tennis.”
Indeed.
For all those of you who are not my students, allow me to explain:
1) In my youth, I was a rabid tennis fan.
I was completely OBSESSED with it. I followed all the tournaments and knew all the scores. I was crazy about tennis.
What about now? Well no, I’m not obsessed. I don’t watch it although unfortunately I do read tennis news from time to time.
However, because it was a part of my life for so long, my brain still thinks in tennis terms.
People like to hear analogies. So in class I would present a lot of analogies and because of my tennis brain, there were a LOT of tennis analogies.
In an earlier post, I added a tennis reference without even realising it. My student was the one that noticed it!
2) Why use analogies anyway?
Well, if you read the Quran and the authentic ahadeeth, you’ll see that there are lots of analogies (or parables) there as they help a person to understand the concept.
3) Is there REALLY a likeness between Ramadan and Wimbledon?
In reality, of course not. Ramadan is worth everything and Wimbledon is ultimately worth nothing (read the series until the end and then you’ll understand, insha-Allah).
However, people need to be spoken to at their level. I had posted an article earlier: The Likeness of Ramadan and Prophet Yusuf (alaihissalam) by Imam Al-Jawzee (rahimahullah).
It was a fantastic article. However, try telling that story to a non-Muslim or Muslim who barely practices the religion. They won’t know the story of Yusuf (alaihissalam) so they might not get it.
However, many of these individuals love sports. And everyone knows what Wimbledon is.
So I thought that perhaps I could this opportunity to explain Ramadan to them in their own language.
[Interesting fact: Augusta where the Masters (the Wimbledon of golf) are held is usually referred to as the "Mecca of the golfing world."]
[The analogy will be in green and the explanation in black. Grass is green, after all.]
Read more 
Article: Ramadan Warriors
Assalamu Alaikum.
Yes, the title made me laugh too.
You’ll have to read the article to read what he meant. That’s even funnier.
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http://www.khutbah.com/en/ramadan_hajj/warriors.php
Ramadan Warriors
by Muhammad Alshareef
Sahl Ibn Sa’d radi Allahu anhu narrates that RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“In Jannah, there is a gate called Ar-Rayyan: a door which the Saa’imoon will enter from, no one else except them. It will be announced, ‘Where are the Saa’imoon?’ and the Saa’imoon will stand. No one except them will enter from the gate called Rayyan.”
Have you ever heard of a weekend warrior? They are employees who sit in cubicles and relax at a coffee station, weighed down with donuts all week long. Then on the weekend, they rip off their suits bearing their Reebok gear underneath and spend the entire weekend playing basketball, hang gliding, and mountain climbing. What happens? They break their knees, pull a dozen muscles, and are hospitalized on Monday.
The Islamic Ruling on Masturbation (especially whilst fasting)
Assalamu Alaikum.
Yes, I know. You read the title and thought: “WHY is talking about this subject on her blog???”
A question to you: Why SHOULDN’T I be talking about this subject on my blog?
1) This blog is supposed to tackle all the issues surrounding fasting and Ramadan.
And believe me, masturbation is an issue that keeps coming up when people discuss Ramadan.
2) Many people are ignorant of the ruling on masturbation (it’s prohibited by 99% of the scholars).
I was teaching in class once and this issue came up. One of my students asked me if there was an expiation (kaffarah) for masturbating in Ramadan. I was quite surprised by the question and I didn’t have the answer so I said that I would get back to her. So I did and I found the answer.
3) Many people are too shy to ask about such matters.
Allah is not shy of the truth so I wonder why we are?
It’s interesting that there so many people out there who will never discuss these sorts of issues under the pretext of “piety” or “modesty” yet they don’t feel shy spending the whole day backbiting about others. Where did their shame go?? [And yes, I have personally seen many people do this.]
If one is ignorant about a matter, then one needs to ask. Why? Because otherwise one of two things may happen:
1) Making the haram halal
2) Making the halal haram
So ignorance leads people to getting confused about what is lawful and what is prohibited.
Another reason that people don’t want to ask about such sensitive issues is because they don’t want people to scream at them:
“You did WHAT in Ramadan? Don’t you know that it’s HARAAM? Do you want to go to HELL?”
After two years of teaching, I’ve realised that many people want to be able to tell those with some knowledge about their problems or ask sensitive/ embarrassing questions, without being judged or screamed at.
Some might say: “Okay, this stuff is important but is it befitting that a woman talks about such matters?”
Well, I would suggest that you read the chapter on Tahaarah (Purification) in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim. You’ll be surprised at some of the personal stuff narrated by the wives of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam).
They didn’t do it because they liked it rather they did it because they had a duty.
So, I’m just doing this as a duty. Perhaps someone will benefit from this information.
Remember: There is nothing sick about informing people about the rulings of the shariah.
Here are two links which are enough for those who want to know more:
1) All the fatwas from Islam QA related to this issue:
http://www.islamqa.com/en/search2/masturbation/AllWords/t,q,a
2) A brother has collected various articles on this issue. It’s a good collection especially for those who are trying to cure themselves of practicing this habit:
http://ibnalhyderabadee.wordpress.com/2006/09/28/masturbation-in-islam-compilation-of-articles-and-fatwas/
Note: This issue is not just related to men. Sadly, many woman are also involved in it.
Comments are closed for this post. You never know if there are any sickos loitering around.
Teensie-Weensie Reminder (Day 8): Time to assess our Ramadan…- Part 1
Assalamu Alaikum.
[Okay, a little apology before I begin. It seems that some people really liked the last couple of reminders. However, one should not have high expectations for every post.
This is going to be a simple, possibly drab post and might be more negative as compared to the earlier ones. I say what I have to say and I'm not going to go out of my way just to please any readers who might be expecting great posts.]
[A note: I haven't added any references for some of the things that I've mentioned because: 1) It's already late and I'm tired and 2) These things are well-known. However, if you want the references then please feel free to ask because it is your right to do so.]
So, we’ve finished 8 days of Ramadan now (less if you’re in other countries).
8 days.
8 days.
8 days.
Is it just me or does that sound like far too much considering the fact the Ramadan seemed to start just yesterday?
I had all these high aims but the first week of Ramadan has been a disappointment for me. I didn’t do all the things that I set out to do. Perhaps some of you might have the same issue.
So, what do we need to do?
We need to check and see what we did do, what we didn’t do, and what we need to do in the next 21-22 days.
If you’ve skimmed my blog, you might have noticed a category that states “Ramadan: Month of…”. There are lots of subcategories below that.
So, insha-Allah, I thought I would review our Ramadan in the context of these subcategories:
[Note: the subcategories are in alphabetical order but my list is not.]
[I'm just going to list a whole lot of questions that we need to ask ourselves.]
