What After Ramadan?

The swift passing of the nights and the days confirms that time is passing faster and this is a sign of the coming of the Last Day. Each day as it passes gives us a chance to draw near to Allah ta ‘ala by good deeds, because each day and every moment will be a witness for us or against us. And it is He Who made the Night and the Day to follow each other: for such as have the will to celebrate His praises or to show their gratitude. Furqan 25:62.

The wise person is the one who makes good use of his time. Shadad ibn Aws, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: ‘The wise man keeps an account of his deeds and works for the Next Life, but the foolish man follows his desires and hopes for forgiveness.’ (At-Tirmidhi) "On the day when every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done and all the evil it has done it will wish there were a great distance between it and its evil. But Allah cautions you (to remember) Himself. And Allah is full of kindness to those that serve Him. Ali-Imran 3:30.

The Muslims have just spent the month of Ramadan receiving the blessings of Allah. We saw them worshipping Allah ta 'ala by du’a (supplication), dhikr (remembering His name and reciting the Holy Quran), praying extra salat (bowing and prostrating), giving sadaqat (alms), and doing many extra good deeds. Now that Ramadan is over, some of us have left these acts of worship and neglected to do them, as if the only time to worship Allah ta ‘ala is in Ramadan. Is the Lord of Ramadan not also the Lord of Shawal and all the other months too?

Just as a way station on a caravan route is a place to take refreshment and stock up with provisions for the next leg of the journey home, so is Ramadan a time when the Muslim can find spiritual refreshment and gather his provisions for the next year of his journey to Allah ta ‘ala. The wise Muslim is the one who has gathered his provision and learned greater self restraint during this blessed month.

In Ramadan, we learned to control our tongues. We avoided saying anything bad, telling lies, or speaking ill of others behind their backs. Should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior? We lowered our eyes to avoid looking at temptations which would have distracted us from remembering our Lord. Should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior? We controlled our hearts and tried to be constantly connected to Allah and far from thinking about worldly things. Should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior?

The Reality of Worship

We must consider the inner reality of our worship, not only the outward appearance. The reason Allah ta ‘ala has commanded us to worship Him is to purify our souls. By the Soul and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right; truly he succeeds that purifies it, And he fails that corrupts it! As-Shams 91:7-10. Allah has no need of our worship and receives no benefit from it. Our obedience will not benefit Him nor will our disobedience harm Him. What really happens is that the benefits of our obedience will return to us and the punishment for our disobedience will return to us. Abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Holy Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said that Allah ta ‘ala said: ‘O My slaves! However much you try to harm Me you cannot. However much you try to benefit Me, you cannot. O My slaves! If all of you from the first to the last, men and jinn, were to have perfect obedience to Me it would not increase my Kingdom at all. O My slaves! If all of you from the first to the last, men and jinn, were to disobey Me it would not decrease my Kingdom at all. O My slaves! These are your deeds. I count them for you and I will judge you, so whoever finds good he must thank Allah, and whoever finds bad can only blame himself.” (Muslim)

The Secret of Acceptenace

The essential ingredient that enables our acts of worship to be accepted is ikhlas, sincerity. And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah offering Him sincere devotion being True (in faith); to establish regular Prayer; and to practice regular Charity; and that is the Religion Right and Straight. Al-Bayinnah, 98:5. When sincerity is present in an action, however small, it will have baraka, it will be blessed. If our deeds are intended for someone or something other than for the Face of Allah, this is shirk. When we showing off, hoping to be seen and admired by others, this is riyah. If either of these elements is present they will render our action valueless, even if it appears to be great in the sight of others.

Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Holy Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to his Companions; “Three people will enter the Fire first; a scholar, a martyr, and a generous man.” The Companions were surprised and so the Holy Prophet explained. ‘Allah will address the scholar and say: “I gave you knowledge and what did you do with it?” The scholar will say: “I taught the people for Your sake.” Allah will say to him: “You are a liar! You wanted people to treat you with respect because you had knowledge.” Then Allah will address the martyr and say, “I gave you health and strength. What did you do with it?” The martyr will say, “I fought jihad until I died for Your sake.” Allah will say to him, “You are a liar! You fought and died because you wanted to be admired by others as a hero.” Then Allah will address the generous man and say: “I gave you wealth and property and what did you do with it?” The generous man will say, “I gave it to the poor and needy for Your sake.” Allah will say to him: “You are a liar! You gave in charity because you wanted people to honor you as a generous man.” Finally, Allah will order His angels to take them all to Hell.’ (Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasai)

Allah knows very well the intention behind our actions. He rewards each of us according to our intention, and sometimes the reward for making the intention is greater than the action itself. There is a story of one of the Bani Israel from previous generations in a time when there was a terrible famine. On his travels he passed by a mountain and he thought, ‘If I only I had food as much as that mountain I would bring it back to my people and relieve their hunger.’ Allah rewarded him for making this good intention as if he had actually carried it out. (Al Ghazali in Al-Ihya)

The Signs of Acceptance

There are some signs by which we can know that Allah has accepted our actions, and there are signs by which we can know that He has not accepted our actions. In this context, actions and worship are synonymous, because the rightly guided slave intends by every single action to be pleasing to Allah, and therefore everything he does is worship. The first sign of acceptance is to follow goodness with more good. Therefore the sign that Allah ta ‘ala has accepted your Ramadan is that you continue to perform the good actions that you have established.

Fasting - The fasting of Ramadan has ended, by fasting has been made available to us throughout the whole year. It is sunnah to fast six days of Shawwal. Abu Ayub al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever completes the fast of Ramadan and fasts six days in Shawal, will be rewarded as if he had fasted the whole year.” (Muslim) It is recommended to begin this fast on the second day of the Eid Al-Fitr, and to complete it as we are able. Abu Huraira related: “My beloved brother, blessings and peace be upon him, advised me to do three things, and I will not leave them until I leave this world: To pray the witr before sleeping; to pray the two rakat of duha; and to fast three days in every month. (This means the white days, when the moon is full, that is on the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of each month.) Usama ibn Zaid, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Holy Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was asked why he fasted on Mondays and Thursdays and he answered: “A man’s actions are offered up to Allah on Mondays and Thursdays, and I like my actions to be offered up while I am fasting.” (Imam Ahmad and An-Nasai) Considering the great benefits of fasting, should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior?

Night Prayer – The taroweeh of each night of Ramadan have ended, but the tahajud, standing in prayer at night is always available to us. When the night comes the ones who desire to draw near to Allah transform its darkness into light. They love the darkness of the night more than the light of the day because they know it contains a great secret. One of the saliheen, Sulayman Ad-Daraniy, said: “If it were not for the night I would love nothing in this world. Another, Ali ibn Bakar, said: “For these forty years nothing has made me sad except the coming of dawn.” One of the greatest gifts that Allah gives His beloved slaves is to awake them to pray while others are sleeping. One man asked Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, why the faces of the people who perform the tahajud (night prayers) shine more brightly than others. He answered: “It is because when they are alone with the Light of the All-Merciful, He clothes them with light from His Light.” Abd-al Azziz ibn Umayra, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “When a man goes to the king of the kings of this world, he receives the treasures of this world. What about the man who goes to the King of all the Worlds, will Allah not give him a greater reward? Considering the great value of the night prayers, should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior?

Holy Quran - During Ramadan, some of us tried to recite a part of the Holy Quran everyday, and some of us tried to complete the whole Quran. Recitation of the Quran is one of the best ways to draw near to Allah. For reading just one letter, we will be rewarded with ten hasanat (good actions). Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him said: “The best of you is the one who learns the Quran and teaches it.” (Bukhari) Aisha, may Allah be please with her, related that the Holy Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: ‘The one who recites the Holy Quran well will be with the foremost ones, and the one who reads it although it is difficult will receive a double reward. (Bukhari & Muslim) Considering the benefits of reciting the Holy Quran, should we not continue to recite as much as we can everyday?

Dhikr (rememberance) is the best way to draw near to Allah, and the best dhikr is that of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Allah said on the tongue of His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him: “I am with the thinking of the slave when he thinks of Me and I am with him when he remembers Me.” (Bukhari and Muslim) Abdullah ibn Busr, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that one of the Companions came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him and said: “The good actions of Islam are numerous so recommend to me something which I should do.” The Prophet replied: “Keep your tongue busy with the remembrance of Allah.”(At-Tirmidhi) In another hadith the Holy Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “No action can save a slave from the anger of Allah as surely as the remembrance of Allah.”(At-Tabarani, Ahmad & Ibn Maajah) Abu Musa al-Ashari, may Allah be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “The slave who remembers Allah and the one who does not are like the living and the dead.”(Bukhari) Considering the great status of dhikr, should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior?

Muhasibat un-Nafs - We prepared for Ramadan by taking ourselves to account. Only by being aware of our actions can we begin to increase our good deeds and reduce our bad deeds. Allah says in Surat Al-Qiyamah: “I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And I swear by the self-reproaching soul.” 75:1,2. This self continues to reproach itself saying: “Why did you do this?” or “You should not have done that!” This action has a great status in the eyes of Allah, so should we not continue with this praiseworthy behavior?

It is better if we can continue to control our tongue, our eyes, our ears and all our limbs as well. We should continue doing a good action even if we think it is too small, because Aisha related that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “The actions best loved by Allah are the ones which are repeated continuously, even if they are only small.”

Regarding the following verse: And those who give that (in charity) which they give (and also do other good deeds) with their hearts full of fear (whether their alms and charities have been accepted or not) because they are sure to return to their Lord (for reckoning) Al-Muminoon, 23:60. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, asked the Holy Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: “Are they the people who drink alcohol and steal? The Holy Prophet replied: ‘No! O daughter of As-Siddiq, they are the ones fast, pray and give alms, and they are afraid that their deeds may not be accepted. These are the people who hurry to do good deeds. (At-Tirmidhi)

The Signs of Failure to Gain Acceptance

The sign that Allah ta ‘ala did not accept our actions during Ramadan is that they have had no effect on your daily life since Ramadan, in other words, you have ceased to perform them.

Take great care to examine yourself honestly and determine whether you are among the winners or among the losers of Ramadan. If you find that you are one of the winners you must thank Allah and try to continue as well as you did during Ramadan or even better than that. If you find yourself to be in the second group, the losers, you must weep over the great opportunity that you have lost in Ramadan and hasten to make tawba, turning to Allah in repentance.

We mentioned in previous lectures that the prize for the winners in this holy month is taqwa, being aware that Allah witnesses everything that you do.. If you are one of them then Allah will increase your taqwa, and the sign of this is that you will fear to let all the good actions which you established in Ramadan slip away.

Al Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “O my people! Continue and continue, because Allah does not put any limit on the actions of the believer until his death.” I advise you to read what Allah has said in the Holy Quran: ‘Worship your Lord until what is Certain (death) comes to you.’” 15:99.

In conclusion we must slaves of the Lord of the Worlds, not just slaves of Ramadan, because Allah is also the Lord of Shawwal and all the other months too! When a believer does not lessen in his worship, it is a clear sign that Allah has accepted his Ramadan, so may Allah ta ‘ala guide us and accept all our deeds and help us to continue with the good behavior which we established during Ramadan.