How Ramadan Helps Us Prepare for Hajj

This post comes from Footsteps to Hajj:

 

Some of the qualities of a good Muslim character are patience, restraint, humility, gratitude and trust in Allah.  Muslims need to develop these and other good qualities in order to try to please Allah during Ramadan and at hajj.  Ramadan offers Muslims the opportunity to develop these aspects of good character even as we fast and pray for forgiveness during this sacred month. The benefit is that we are then able to draw upon these qualities as we need them during hajj.

Sex Education for Muslim Students

Sexuality is taught in a moral vacuum 

Parents have the right to remove their children from sex education classes without affecting the rest of the academic program.  Parents have to remember to opt-out every school year, because sex education classes are taught every year in most places, from elementary school all the way through high school.  If more Muslim parents knew what is in the sex-education curriculum being taught at their child’s school, they would insist that their child be exempted from the classes.  Why should Muslim parents do this? Because public schools teach human sexuality in a moral vacuum without regard for the laws of Islam or any other religion.   The classes go far beyond the basic biological facts and present the haram and the halal without distinction. 

Preparing for Ramadan

Shaban is an important month.  With Ramadan less than a month away, it is your last chance to make up any days missed from last Ramadan.  You cannot, however, fast until the end of the month and continue into Ramadan without a break.

As far as the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is concerned, we’re told by `Aishah, the Mother of the believers (may Allah be please with her) that the Prophet “used to fast most of the days of Sha`ban, but he stopped fasting when he got close to the month of Ramadan.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Based on this, it is considered highly recommended to fast in the early part of Sha`ban and stop fasting the last few days of the month. (Islamonline.net)

The etiquette of fasting demand patience and an even temper, even when someone is trying to start an argument with you:

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Allah the Exalted and Majestic said: Every act of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting. It is (exclusively) meant for Me and I (alone) will reward it. Fasting is a shield. When any one of you is fasting on a day, he should neither indulge in obscene language, nor raise the voice; or if anyone reviles him or tries to quarrel with him he should say: I am a person fasting. By Him, in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, the breath of the observer of fast is sweeter to Allah on the Day of judgment than the fragrance of musk. The one who fasts has two (occasions) of joy, one when he breaks the fast he is glad with the breaking of (the fast) and one when he meets his Lord he is glad with his fast. Emphasis added (Sahih Muslim)

You will also find that fasting before Ramadan helps your body to adjust to fasting more quickly once Ramadan starts.  To find tips on fasting click here.  For more on preparing spiritually for Ramadan click here.

 

The Five Pillars of Faith

From the time I was first began to study Islam, I found the visual image of the five pillars of faith in Islam unsettling—that Shahadah (testifying there is no god but Allah and Mohammad is His Messenger), Salat ( 5 daily prayers), Ramadan (fasting), Zakat (charity) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)—were somehow holding my iman, my faith suspended in midair. 

I have come to understand that the reason the image is unsettling is because it so accurate.  Our Islam is indeed suspended above us as a shelter against the trials of this life, and it is only as stable and secure as our obedience to those five pillars makes it.  Whenever our adherence to any of the pillars falters, our Islam shudders.

It is not enough to rely on “being a good person” to sustain us in our faith or help us gain Allah’s mercy in the grave and on the Day of Judgment.  In fact, if we busy ourselves with the task of “being a good person” while ignoring or faltering in our responsibility  to maintain these pillars of faith, we risk falling into the trap of becoming disobedient and arrogant.

A Treasure Without Price

 

 

The greatest treasure in the world that Allah gives to Muslims is iman. Without iman, we are not Muslim. Being Muslim is a gift from Allah that we did nothing to earn and can not be worthy of having.  We can do nothing to give iman to someone else whom we love, or take it away from anyone we don’t like.  Yet we are oftentimes so careless with this priceless gift of iman. 

Our character as Muslims should be the best.    In America, it has become a cultural pastime to publicly proclaim ourselves to be a victim or a survivor of something, so instead of nurturing the best qualities in ourselves, we frequently excuse and  justify our shortcomings.

Salat is supposed to be the jewel of the day, each prayer glittering in pure, spiritual light–our closely guarded moments of connection to Allah.  Yet too often we will regard salat as a  inconvenience, an intrusion upon our work and play.  We end up making several prayers at once or even squeezing in a prayer or two during the tv commericial breaks. We treat salat casually like an old favorite t-shirt, we won’t discard it, but it is forever stained, buried in the dirty clothes or lost under the bed. 

Survivors, Winners, The Olympics and Islam

We all love heroes.  But we do not live in a mythical land of dragons and monsters.  We all love champions, but our age and culture do not lend themselves to chivalry.  Alas, we live in the age of public confessions.  We have survivors.  They get their 15 minutes of fame, and we get to love them.  And, of course, we have all manner of competition—in sport and in business—because everyone loves a winner, right?

 

We spend money on books and classes that tell us how to become survivors and winners.  We spend time and money—sometimes a lot of it—going to sporting events.  We may make going to the Olympics a priority over going to hajj, hoping to take on a patina of victory ourselves simply by being there.

 

We respond to the person who takes on the tests in life and achieves mastery over them.  Whether it is by becoming a stronger person after a terrible experience or by beating all opponents on the field; all of us appreciate the time, the sacrifice and the emotional endurance it takes to come out on top.  That is, we appreciate success in every arena except Islam.

 

Our Sexuality is a Test

Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, “We believe.”, and that they will not be tested?  (Quran 29:2)

Allah uses every aspect of our lives to test us–even down to the innate biological urges He instilled in us.  We must eat to live, but what we eat may be halal or haram.  We must drink to live, and again we must choose between halal and haram.  With our sexual urges, we must also choose between halal and haram.

Halal and haram.  Right and wrong.  Good and evil.  Those who submit to their Lord and those who do not submit.   Despite all of the unfathomable complexity of the universe, Allah has made our role in it easy and simple for us to understand.  At the same time, the free will that Allah allows us and the Mercy He extends to us make possible the seemingly infinite range of human behaviors and choices.

So when it comes to the myriad possibilities of human sexual activity, Allah helps us keep it simple–sex is only permissible between husband and wife.  That’s it.  Oh, how that simple rule tests us.  How many excuses, rationalizations and justifications we can give for breaking it.