Reflections before Ramadhan

Assalaamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Baraakatahu

Dear Sister, the Dawah Carrier,

As the blessed month of Ramadan approaches you will like all women, prepare your homes and your family for the arrival of this guest.

As all women, you will pray for the best Ramadan and you will strive hard to achieve this goal.

As you open up your Quran and you recite you will ponder on what more you can do to learn the language and as you read or hear a translation you will connect the words to deeper meanings.

Knowing that this is the month of the Quran makes you long for its implementation not just its recitation.

Knowing that this is the month of victory, you wish more and more for the victory for this Ummah, where Allah’s (swt) Deen will be raised high.

Knowing that this is a month of Allah’s (swt) immense mercy and forgiveness, you long to see the complete application of Islam – a TRUE mercy to mankind.

As you ask Allah for yourself and your family, the state of the Ummah will never escape your duas.

So your state is the same as all on the outside as you fast and read and as you pray and raise your hands in dua, but your inner self is not the same.

You will not be pleased by the food you made that everyone happily ate. You will not feel happy at the amount of extra ibadaat your body could do and you will not enjoy the sights and sounds of Ramadan as all others do…you will long for more and so it should be.

You will be with this guest but it is still a stranger as you wished to have welcomed it with the announcement by the Khaleefah. You are happy the guest is nearly here but you do not feel it came as you wanted it to, once again!

So my advice to you and to me-

We are living in an age where we feel the victory is so near, yet at the same time seems so far.

It is like a jigsaw puzzle that is incomplete – the world is speaking about the return of the mighty Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood, the Ummah is in despair and calling out, the thrones of the tyrants are shaking – ready to fall!

So what is missing?

My Dear Sister, it is not for me to say – but we know that Allah’s (swt) promise is to a caliber like the Sahabah (ra).

The promise of victory is on the condition of Iman and Good deeds. So, this Ramadan my advice to me and my advice to you is to connect solely to Allah. Really connect and take the connection beyond this month. So, do not be happy on the numbers in a gathering, do not be happy on the signs we see, we should just keep asking ourselves- is the victory being withheld because of me?

Are we like Abdullah ibn Masood (ra)?- he was weak as we may feel weak but he spoke up and RasulAllah (saw) said his weak legs will weigh more than the mighty mountain of Uhud on the Day of Judgment. In our weaknesses whether illness, ill children or financial woes and no family support- will our actions also be weak or will they be strong like the mountain of Uhud, like Abdullah ibn Masood (ra)?

Are we like the wives of RasulAllah (saw) who left luxuries of the dunya and the enjoyments of free time to serve this Ummah so they gained the title, Mother of the Believers? In our efforts do we open our hearts and homes and give time to nurture and serve this Ummah as mothers, sisters or friends? Or are we happy to message a person and never know what she is feeling and what is happening to her? Will our actions towards the Ummah be disconnected and temporary or connected and focused like the wives of RasulAllah (saw)?

Are we like Abu Bakr as-Sidiqque (ra) - who was always the first?  The one who believed on the first invitation. Then the first to give sadaqah, the first to visit the sick, the first to carry the dead body, always the first and this was even before the day had started! In our efforts are we the first? Do we think we are so busy and we just can’t do it? Or do we do before we are asked? Do we do without being asked? Are we so focused on pleasing Allah (swt) that we do not even look at the time of day like Abu Bakr as-Siddique (ra)?!

The Sahabah (ra) had only one goal and that was to please Allah – this was what they had and this is what made them do all that they did.

They did not act for the sake of an action nor to gain recognition, but their motivation was this deep love for Allah and this deep desire to please Him (swt).

We want to be like them and we want to be with them and we want to be the ones who see the Khilafah in our lifetime. This desire alone and the signs of victory are not enough, even actions without clear objectives towards this goal are not enough.

This Ramadhan my advice to each of you and my advice to me- is to keep asking, is the victory not happening because of me!?

We should ask this and then strive more and more to be of the ranks of those who were granted the victory in the past.  If we start to think the victory rests upon my shoulders and my deeds and my sincerity, we will be closer than we are today.

So as we approach this month, this year, let’s go through the month gaining the fuel we need for our task and let’s renew our oath and pledge to Allah.

Jazakamullah Khairan,

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Your Sister in the Dawah,
Nazia Rehman