What was Ramadan meant to change - Part 1

 

Part 1: Ramadan, You, and the Ummah

Ramadan is always a time of reflection and exertion — a period where we push ourselves to become more conscious of Allah. But the year 1447 in the Hijri calendar brought with it real challenges, not just for individuals, but for the Ummah at large. It reminded us of something important: you cannot separate yourself from the Ummah. And that, in itself, is a blessing.

What you do as an individual matters. It reflects on the wider Ummah. The question is — what are you doing with that responsibility, especially in Ramadan?

Allah tells us in Qur’an 2:183 (interpretation of the meaning):

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

That is the purpose of fasting — to develop consciousness of Allah, to become more aware of your actions, to actively pursue good and avoid sin. Now imagine if every Muslim truly lived this reality. The level of spirituality across the Ummah would be something else entirely.

Allah says in Qur’an 3:110 (interpretation of the meaning):

You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah

But this is not a title we inherit automatically. It comes with responsibility. You are only the best when you live by what Allah has commanded. Your background, your language, your ethnicity — none of that defines your status in the sight of Allah. Your actions do.

Now that Ramadan has passed, the question becomes more real. What changed?

Yes, physically you may feel a bit weaker after fasting. That’s expected. But what about spiritually? Did you grow? Did you become more disciplined? More aware of Allah?

The goal now is simple: hold on to that spiritual momentum while you rebuild physically. Look after your health. Improve your nutrition. Work on your fitness, even if it’s small steps.

Because being part of the Ummah is not passive. It requires effort — spiritually and physically. And it starts with you.

See next part:The Cape Muslim Dialogue: What was Ramadan meant to change - Part 2

Iftar at the third haram

How many are aware of the demise of the Caliphate on 03 March 1924 corresponding to 27 Rajab 1342 of the Hijri calendar? And just like the youth do not relate to apartheid, there are life-changing events that are forgotten. Will the Palestinian people be forgotten as it seems that, at this rate, they are getting wiped out?

Just as people debate the importance of the Caliphate, so too there are “debates” about the “need” and the “how” to support the Palestinians. Of course, imagine Jerusalem without Palestinians. Will that be the end of Masjid-al-Aqsa? An example of how we have strayed, i.e. how we have lost our connection to what is important, is the matter of “Ramadan Expo’s”. I thought it was a place where the basics and importance of Ramadan are covered. Rather, it is but a market. By all means have your market, but why associate it to Ramadan since it has nothing to do with Ramadan. We have trivialised some matters and forgotten others. Will you remember the starving Palestinians when you break your fast? Do you understand that the fall of the Caliphate gave rise to monarchs and presidents of “countries” whose role is to justify the division of the ummah, based on nationality. It created a vacuum in which Muslims have no leader. It seemingly removed the duty to defend Muslims. And further to the geographical divide after Muslims rebelled against the Ottoman empire and sided with the British and French so that they can get their fiefdom, the enemies of Islam did not stop there. Muslims are not bound by geographical boundaries, so the enemies of Islam infiltrated further, in many guises, and sought to corrupt the religion of Islam. This is a heavy subject of which we cannot cover the details in a short space of time except to warn against it. The pointing of fingers at Arab leaders has its merits, but self-reflection is important. Your belief must not be corrupted. Things that you may find trivial, may well be far more important than you think. And yet, belief is corrupted. Ramadan is such a month that you must reflect, repent and attain Allah-consciousness. The latter is the goal. Allah is Lord and deifying anyone by giving them attributes that belong only to Allah, is a grave sin. Keep matters simple and worship Allah alone. Reflect on the issues affecting the ummah and the world at large. Remember those suffering and assist to alleviate their plight, especially the Palestinians. Return to the pristine teachings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ upon whom was revealed Quran in the month of Ramadan, and who taught us also through his sunnah.   Avoid innovation for it distorts the teaching of Rasoolullah ﷺ.

Let us, through our sincere actions, be the reason Allah not only saves the Palestinians, but grants us ease from calamity and grants peace. Let us have iftar (break fast) in Jerusalem.

 

 

You need to also read:

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/03/slaughter.html

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/02/final-wake-up-call.html

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/02/wars-and-scores.html

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/02/toxic.html

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/02/red-heifer.html

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/01/why-its-trump.html

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2023/03/suicide-at-cape.html

 

 

 

 

 

Importance of 2024

 

The silly person is the one who is blessed but chooses something else, something imperfect over his blessing. Is not the blessing from your Creator, your Lord, your Provider, Allah the best?

In my last blog, it was mentioned that if there was any day to truly celebrate then it would be the battle of Badr, the battle in which the Muslims defeated the pagans of Mecca. The battle before which Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made a plea to Allah for victory so that Islam is not lost if the Muslims are killed at that battle. Yet here we are in troubled times while we incline to a system other than that ordained by Allah and celebrating events and dates which are foreign to the teachings of Islam. Before there is any misunderstanding, we are in a non-Muslim country, and we are naturally therefore part of the system. However, it is one thing to partake in the system as is necessary but you must be circumspect to that which is not essential, but merely enjoyment and indeed, at times, frivolous. As we enter the Gregorian calendar year of 2024, there is not much to celebrate. Yet Muslims partook in celebrations and took the date and new year to be significant. If so, significant in which way? While Allah has prescribed the Hijri, lunar, calendar, how is it that you pray for a good new year while that new year has its origin in paganism. How is it that the lunar calendar is perfect, and it can only be so because Allah ordained it. The calendar is important in any system. Thus, from a Muslim point of view, the perfect Hijri lunar calendar must trump the imperfect system and calendar of western civilisation. A cursory glance at the Gregorian calendar then the length of the months has no clear reasoning with a month being twenty-eight days while others are either thirty or thirty-one. More confusing is it that months September to December have a numeric prefix from seven for September, eight for October, nine for November and ten for December. However, these are months nine to twelve which means that this calendar is somehow flawed. Were you to analyse the system further, you are sure to pick up many strange things. If there was to be a simple matter of choice between the Islamic system and any other system, then it must be easy to choose the Islamic over anything else. Islam has a calendar which trumps any other calendar and system. Even if there is an issue or something from another system, while Islam is silent on the matter, then it does not automatically mean that you can adopt that matter.

To put things in perspective, if you look around you and take only the Filisteeni issue, then how conflicted are you in your approach and support for these oppressed people. Your system is the Islamic system with its own calendar, its own days of celebration, its own method of celebration. Yet while you claim to support the oppressed and pray for them, you discard the blessings of Allah by choosing to partake in something foreign to Islam. Most don’t know the Hijri date (even approximately) or how close Ramadan is. Furthermore, Islam teaches that the day starts at “sunset” and not midnight. Such is it that the difference between truth and falsehood cannot be trivialised. To be aware is to choose Hijri lunar over Gregorian while we accept that in many cases, we do record the Gregorian date and refer to it. Ease of use under the circumstance is not a key to open the door to discarding the blessings of Allah.

 

You may also be interested in reading (click the link):

https://capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com/2024/01/can-you-see-victory-soon.html

 

 

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