Spiritual delights of fasting Ramadhan (15)

Today on the 15th day of the blessed month of Ramadhan, we start our daily programme titled “Spiritual Delights of Fasting Ramadhan” with the special supplication for the day:

“O Allah, grant me this day the obedience of the humble; open my breast therein to the penitence of the humble, with Your clemency, O Haven of the frightened!”

Ramadhan is the month of growth in love, devotion, and striving towards lasting change. It is the month when we are engrossed in the worship of our Loving Creator, through acts of devotion, including fasting, prayers, supplications and the doing of good to others. As part of our worship we strive to excel in all good acts, and making lasting changes in our inner and outer lives. First and foremost to remember as we engage in the various acts of worship during Ramadhan is that these acts of devotion offer us the opportunity to get closer to Allah and to increase the love we have for Him in our hearts.

As Muslims, our faith requires that our love for Allah and His Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) supersedes any love we have for any other object or creation. Of course, the love for the Prophet is not complete, unless we love his Blessed Household and practically adhere to the path of the Infallible Imams – as commanded by God Almighty. It is said that Allah has created mankind, —the soul and the heart—in such a way that all human beings have the natural tendency to love Allah. However, since a person’s heart is gradually intruded upon by doubts, desires, and temptations, the natural love for God needs to be rekindled from time to time through both faith and knowledge.

Ramadhan provides us with the perfect opportunity to increase the love we have in our hearts for Allah by devoting this period to perfecting our deeds and acts of devotion. For example, the ritual prayer is the pillar of Islam, so during the blessed month of fasting, we can focus on increasing the quality of our prayers by being conscious of what we recite of the surahs and other phrases. In other words, we should strive to focus our hearts and minds on our prayers in order to develop better cognizance of Allah. The same attitude we should have while reciting the holy Qur’an, performing zikr or the remembrance of Allah, giving charity, and other acts of devotion.

Let’s make sure, therefore, that our intentions when performing acts of devotion are solely for the purpose of pleasing Allah and that we devote our efforts to increasing our love for Him in our hearts. In Islam, the practice of good deeds extends beyond the realm of prayer and fasting. Unfortunately, for many devout Muslims, the broader definition of good deeds is often lost. Many Muslims are quite steadfast in prayer and fasting, but they tend to be less committed to other moral standards stressed by the Prophet. Ramadhan thus provides us with an excellent opportunity to broaden our horizons when doing good deeds on the basis of what we have learned from both the Qur’an and the hadith, but rarely practice in our lives.

Such opportunities include: visiting the sick, repairing family relationships and other personal ties, being kind and respectful to our spouses, attending funerals, and helping others in their time of need. Doing such good deeds during Ramadan could earn us even greater rewards. However, let’s make certain that whenever we perform any good deeds or charity, we don’t boast about them by telling other people. Good actions are solely for the purpose of pleasing Allah, so whatever we do should be between God and us. Islam encourages us to constantly increase our levels of doing good. Efforts of this type, which we would not normally do except for Ramadhan, help us to improve even further. We should follow the example of the Prophet, who was the most generous person of time, and was even more generous during Ramadhan.

During that time, he would give more in charity and treat people even more kindly than usual. He would also devote more time to worship. Therefore, by following the example of the Prophet and his Infallible Heirs, we should increase the range and quality of good deeds in our lives. With all its blessings and opportunities, Ramadhan shifts us into high gear for increasing our obedience to Allah and seeking His pleasure. Yet, though many of us start this period with enthusiasm, our usual habits often prevent us from achieving permanent change. So in this month of Ramadhan, let’s dedicate ourselves to real, lasting change in our daily actions. We can do this best by leaving behind what God dislikes and wholeheartedly embracing the good, not only during Ramadhan but throughout the entire year and, even better, throughout our entire lives. Doing good may involve a lot of patience, so let’s remember that Allah rewards us according to the efforts we expend.

Here we present you a supplication taught by the Prophet’s 6^th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS) for recitation during Ramadhan after the ritual prayers:

“O Allah, by You and from You do I seek the fulfillment of my needs. There might be some who seek fulfillment of their needs from the people, but I do not seek fulfillment of my needs except from You. You are One and You have no partner! I beseech You by Your grace and Your good pleasure to bless Mohammad and his Ahl al-Bayt and to provide me the means of pilgrimage to Your sacred House, as one whose Hajj is graced with acceptance, a Hajj made purely and exclusively for You, whereby I may draw spiritual comfort and which may elevate me in rank. Enable me to keep my eyes downcast, to guard my private parts, and to refrain from all things made unlawful by You, until I do not prefer anything over compliance with Your commands, to humility before You, to working for that which You love and abstaining from what You disapprove of and have forbidden, and make all that easy and facile for me, accompanied with well-being and what You have blessed me with. I beseech You to ordain my death to be martyrdom in Your path under the banner of Your Prophet and in the company of Your friends. I beseech You to slay by my means Your enemies and the enemies of Your Prophet. I beseech You to honour me by humiliating whoever of Your creatures that You choose, but not to make my humiliation the means of honouring any of Your friends. O Allah, enable me to follow the path of the Prophet! Allah is sufficient for me, and what Allah wishes (takes place!)

AS/SS