Post Ramadan

Don't Forget the Good Habits

Ramadan has ended and we are going back to our pre-Ramadan schedules. Let's not forget the good habits we acquired during Ramadan.

Living in this materialistic world, we tend to be bound by the clock. Ramadan impresses the importance of governing one's day according to the cycles of nature, as opposed to an industrial 9-to-5 existence. Ramadan begins with the new moon, and our daily fasts commence and conclude with dawn and sunset. Submission to the cycles of the sun and moon affirms not merely living in harmony with nature, but submitting to Allah as Creator and Master of all things.

The modern world has parted with millennia of human experience as it bends our will to a full day of labor marked by the hour hand. During the last ten days, some took time off work, some sat in i'tikaf. This emphasized that our existence was not destined for capitulation to fleeting materialism, and Ramadan reminded us of our grander purpose.

Ramadan is a rejection of what the modern world forces us into: yo-yo dieting, consumerism, the mechanization of time, and the obsession to control our lives. Both Muslims and non-Muslims are increasingly looking for peace and meaning to replace the superficial accumulation of possessions. Ramadan was the time to reorient ourselves towards Allah, redefining our relationship with time, community, and the natural world.

Body and Spirit

We humans have physical and spiritual needs. The body requires food, drink, rest, and material goods, and we strive to provide those. Ramadan is like a boot camp: our bodily needs go down as we discipline ourselves not to succumb to desires, and our spiritual life improves. By not feeding the body what it desires, we flourish our spirits.

Just as we pray five times a day for spiritual needs, Ramadan is a month in which we attend to our spirit. One author of self-help books gives the example of Muslims who go into a mosque at prayer times, disconnect from the world for a few minutes, and come out refreshed — telling his readers to take a break several times a day in the same way. Fasting likewise pulls us away from the daily grind and refreshes mind and body.

یَا أَیُّھَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَیْكُمُ الصِّیَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِینَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you, that you may become righteous.”

Al-Baqara 2:183

• The focus is to achieve taqwa (righteousness).
• Taqwa happens through spiritual connection.
• The nafs wants material comfort; the ruh (spirit) wants to elevate you and connect you with the Creator.

What We Achieved in Ramadan

We hope we achieved many goals: becoming more punctual with prayers, knowing which day of Ramadan it was, knowing the salah timings to the minute. People became better Muslims and set goals of extra worship. A friend finished reading the complete translation of the Quran — Alhamdulillah. May Allah increase his desire to go deeper into the study of the Quran.

Fasting trained our souls. Through Qiyam and Siyam we increased our awareness of Allah SWT and our will power. We proved we can control our passions and desires, and increased our patience and ability to abstain from what Allah has forbidden. We realized our needs are beyond the animal desires of eating, drinking, and procreation — no one except Allah was watching our fast, yet we still did it.

In our material world where you are always competing for more, the more physical things you have, the more you desire. You took a break from that rat race during Ramadan for the sake of Allah. Let's keep that thought alive: be close to Allah, make time for worship, and serve humanity and the less fortunate.

Sustaining the Practice

It is recommended to fast six more days anytime during Shawwal except the day of Eid; the reward for those is the same as fasting the entire year (10x reward). Keep the fasting practice alive by fasting on the 13th-14th-15th of the month. Be as regular in your prayers as you were during Ramadan — try to show up at the masjid for at least one prayer per day or week besides Jumu'ah, and wake up a few minutes before Fajr for Tahajjud. Research shows it takes 21 days to form a habit, and you have been forming habits for a month — don't let it go.

As one philosopher said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit." Allah does not want us to pray and pay zakat only in Ramadan — the Prophet PBUH said the most beloved deeds to Allah are those which are continuous even if small.

مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِیمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ

“Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, hoping to attain Allah's reward, then all his past sins will be forgiven.”

Hadith, Bukhari and Muslim (narrated by Abu Hurairah)

• Some people criticize Christian brothers for being Christian only one day a week.
• Let us not become Muslims for only one month in a year.
• Be a Muslim all the time.

Implications of Prayer and Fasting

One of the beautiful characteristics of our faith is that every aspect is tied to ethical outcomes. Take the five daily prayers: Allah says, "Indeed the prayer wards off indecency and lewdness." If we pray five times a day and are yet indecent, something is wrong with our prayer.

Similarly, fasting is tied to certain outcomes: "He who does not give up uttering falsehood and acting according to it, Allah has no need of him giving up his food and drink." In this month we restrain not only from food and drink but from everything that influences our character negatively. Each of us should contemplate: what behavior do I have that is incorrect and requires change? Is it that I lie, backbite, or let love of wealth prevent me from spending freely in charity? We should identify these obstructions and use Ramadan and the following months to remove them.

Reading the Signs

One thing we should learn through introspection is to read the signs Allah sends us in different ways. Imam Abu Hanifa once accidentally stepped on a young man's toe during Hajj; the man snapped, "Do you not have any fear of Allah?" Imam Abu Hanifa fainted, and upon regaining consciousness explained: "I feared that Allah had put these words in his mouth" — reading it as a reminder to fear Allah, rather than dismissing the young man's outburst.

Similarly, Imam Malik once sat in Masjid an-Nabawi after 'Asr holding the legal opinion that one should not pray tahiyatul masjid between 'Asr and Maghrib. A young boy told him, "Get up, and pray the two rakaats!" Imam Malik obeyed, and later explained to his puzzled students: "My opinion has not changed. I merely feared that had I not prayed as the boy commanded, Allah might include me among those of whom it is said, 'And when it is said to them, Bow (in prayer), they do not bow' (77:48)."

Consider a person who intends to wake for worship in the last ten nights seeking Laylatul Qadr, but sleeps through several of them. One way to view this: he simply couldn't wake up. Another, more honest way: perhaps he is involved in some practice displeasing to Allah, and so was not allowed to benefit from that night. This may be frightening, but only an honest assessment of our inner condition lets us rid ourselves of the diseases of the heart.

Change from Within

The nature of change is that it must come from within. When Maryam (AS) was in labor with Isa (AS), she was told to "shake the trunk of the palm tree towards yourself and fresh, ripe dates shall fall upon you" — ten strong men could not shake a palm tree hard enough to loosen its fruit, yet Allah tells us we have the responsibility of initiating the change, after which we leave the rest to Him.

إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ یُغَیِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى یُغَیِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِھِمْ

“Verily Allah will never change the condition of a people until they change it themselves.”

Ar-Ra'd 13:11

Tools for Sustaining Change

We cannot love someone unless we know them. A person with a PhD in Physics understands a law far more profoundly than a beginning student — and whatever any of us knows is incomparable to what Allah ('Aleem) knows, since there is no such thing as Him not knowing something and then knowing it, and no evolution or change in His knowledge.

• Recitation of the Quran
• Reflecting on Allah's Names and Attributes — for example, the difference between 'Alim (one who knows, but not constantly or completely) and 'Aleem (Allah's knowledge, which has no acquisition, no evolution, and is inseparable from Him)

Duas for the Ummah

• May Allah reward those who fasted during the month of Ramadan.
• May Allah reward those who performed Taraweeh and Qiyam prayers.
• May Allah reward those who recited or listened to the whole Quran during the month.
• May Allah reward those who observed the Night of Power.
• May Allah reward and increase the sustenance of those who hosted or supported iftars.
• May Allah reward those who woke early for Suhoor — 'Take Suhoor, for in Suhoor there is blessing' (Hadith, Nasai).
• May Allah bless and reward those who paid their zakat al-fitr and their zakat on wealth and property.
• May Allah bless and reward all those who woke after midnight or before dawn for Tahajjud.