My advice to the Ummah for Ramadhaan : Dr Zakir Naik
Yusuf Chambers: what are your particular words of
advice regarding the…on the occasion of Ramadhaan approaching us?
Dr. Zakir: My advice would be that every Muslim he or she
should make it a point that they should make a resolution that they should fast
each and every day of this blessed month of Ramadhaan. And we should try and
acquire all the benefits of this month and we should not to waste a single
minute in this blessed month on things which are trivial and try and
concentrate as much as possible in remembering Allah (swt). We should try and
look for His mercy, we have to try and ask for forgiveness, we have to try and
seek for His love and we have to try and increase our piety, our righteousness
and our patience.
And our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said in Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 3
in the Book of Fasting Hadith no.1903 our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said:
“Anyone who does not leave the false action and false speech, Allah
(swt) does not care if he leaves his eating and drinking”
That means if a person does not abstain from false action and false
speech, Allah (swt) does not care if you abstain from food and drink. That
means your fasting will not be accepted unless you stay away from false action
and false speech.
And our beloved Prophet Muhammad
(saws) he also said its mentioned in Sahih Hadith which is written in
Musnad Ahmad Vol. no. 2 page no. 230 Hadith no. 7148 and it also appears in
Sunan Nasai ch. no. 5 Hadith no. 2106 where our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws)
said
“O people the blessed month of Ramadhaan is approaching and Allah has
ordained for you that you fast in this month and the gates of heaven will be
opened in this month and the gates of hell will be closed and the devils, they
will be chained, In this month is the night which is better than a thousand
months and if a person is deprived of the blessings in this month he is truly a
deprived person”
So we have to make it a point that we gain the benefits of this blessed
month.
Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said it’s mentioned in Sahih Bukhari
Vol. no. 3 in the Book of Fasting Hadith no. 1901
Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said that
“Anyone who fasts in this month with Faith seeking the reward of Allah
(swt) all his past sins will be forgiven.”
That means if he truly with sincerity fasts in this month and seeks the
reward of Allah (swt) all our past sins will be forgiven. Imagine it is such an
easy way to have our sins forgiven of the past.
And our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) also said it’s mentioned in
Sahih Bukhari Viol. No. 3 in the Book of Fasting Hadith no. 1904 it’s a very
long Hadith which has basically 4 points
Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said that
“All the children of Adam, all the deeds that they do are for themselves
except for fasting. Fasting is for me and I will reward him.
And he further said that Fasting is a shield, it prevents you from sin
and a person who observes the fast he should abstain from obscenity from
yelling and from ignorance and if someone yells at him or abuses him he should
say I am fasting, I am fasting.
And the third point our beloved Prophet said in this Hadith is that I
swear by Allah in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad (saws) that the breath of
a faster, the person who fasts is sweeter to Allah (Swt) than the scent of
musk.”
Yusuf: Allahu Akbar!
Dr. Zakir: And we find him saying in this Hadith that there
are 2 things when a person fasting is happy and looks forward to it. The first
is when he breaks the fast and the second is when he meets the Lord, Allah
(swt).
And further its mentioned in the Quran in Surah Nur ch. no. 24 verse no.
31, it says
“O you believe truly have faith in Allah (swt) and seek the bliss.”
That means try and enter Jannah.
Its mentioned in Surah Ahqaaf ch. no. 46 verse no. 13 and 14 that
“Those are the people who worship none but Allah (swt) and they are
steadfast in Faith, the word is ‘Istiqam’. They are steadfast in faith that
there is only one Allah and no one else and they shall not have any fear
neither shall they give. Theses are the people who are the people of paradise.
And they shall be rewarded for all the goods that they have done.”
Yusuf: Allahu Akbar!
Dr. Zakir: So this is the advice for the people that they
should take the best of this month and should not spend time on trivial things
and spend their time in the worship of Allah and remembering Allah (swt) and asking
for forgiveness.
Yusuf Chambers: MashaAllah! Next question
is, you have included to that in some of the beautiful Ahadith you have
mentioned just now but.. ah.. what specific reason is it that Ramadhaan is
called the month of forgiveness or known as the month of mercy?
Dr. Zakir: Yes, as I mentioned earlier that our beloved
Prophet Muhammad (saws) said its in a Hadith of Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 3 Book
of Fasting Hadith no. 1901 our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said that
“If anyone fasts in the month of Ramadhaan with the proper intention,
with faith and asking reward from Allah (swt), He will forgive all your past
sins”
And this message is further repeated in Musnad Ahmad Vol. no. 3 Hadith
no.11524 where its mentioned that
“Any person who fasts in the month of Ramadhaan with the proper
intention seeking the reward of Allah (swt), he will have all his previous sins
atoned.”
And further its mentioned in Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 1 Hadith no. 450 our
beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) said that
“The time between the 5 prayers and the 2 Jumu’ah’s and from one
Ramadhaan to the other is the time for expiations of your sins.” It is the time
where you can have all your sins forgiven
And our Prophet Muhammad (saws) also said its mentioned in Sahih Muslim
Vol. no. 4 in the Book of Tawbah Hadith no. 6644 our beloved Prophet Muhammad
(saws) said that
“Allah (swt) at the night time, a person who asks fore forgiveness, he
forgives the sin for the sin he has committed in the day and Allah (swt) in the
day time, He forgives the sin for a person who asks for forgiveness for the
sins he has committed in the night.”
So this is the best month for forgiveness, the month of Ramadhaan where
you can easily have your sins forgiven because the gates of heaves open and the
gates of hell are closed. Therefore it’s called the month of forgiveness.
Yusuf Chambers: Allahu Akbar! No wonder
everybody wants to be active in that month. Now we know why. SubhanAllah. Dr.
Zakir amm… are there any particular activities a Muslim should concentrate upon
during this blessed month of Ramadhaan and of course we should relate to you
the importance of the fact that our viewers really can gain massive benefit by
knowing specific activities they can get involved in and they can start planning
the Ramadhaan now.
Dr. Zakir: Yes, I believe that this is a very good question
because most of the activities we’ll be dealing as time goes on in the episode
but just to give a brief outline I will just specify a few important because
the whole answer will take very long..
Yusuf: Yeah..
Dr. Zakir: ..The few important points to be noted is that no.
1 it is the Niya. The Niya is very important. The Niya of fasting should only be
for Allah (swt). And for a fasting to be accepted the Niya is important. For
making the Niyya is very important without which the fasting will not be
accepted.
No.2 is observing the Sunnah of the fast that we’ll be dealing in detail
in the next few days but just a point to be noted that one of the important
Sunnah is that we should have Suhoor as late as possible i.e. just before the
break of Dawn, just before Fajr Salaah. And we should break our fast, have
Iftaar as early as possible, immediately after sunset.
Further more in this blessed month we should be careful and we should
avoid all things which are prohibited, which are Haraam and all things which
are Makrooh and this is the best opportunity where a person, if he has certain
activities which are against the Shariah whether it be the Haraam activities or
Makrooh activities this is the best time he can abstain from it. And that will
be a good habit which InshaAllah he may abstain may be throughout his life
for example if a person is habituated to alcohol if he can abstain form
alcohol from the break of dawn to sunset, he can abstain from it from the
cradle to the grave. Similarly we should take care that we should abstain from
things that are Makrooh for example it is Makrooh to stand and drink water and
if you are habituated to that so see to it that in the month of Ramadhaan while
having water we should sit-down. This is the Sunnah of the Prophet. So it’s a
good month in which you can abstain from the Haraam activities which you have
been doing may be some of them or the Makrooh activities.
Furthermore it’s a good time where you can implement many of the Sunnah
of the Prophet in your day-to-day life. For example maybe sporting a beard,
many Muslims don’t have a beard so it’s a good month where you can follow the
Sunnah of the Prophet. The Sunnah of the Prophet about the Duas of when you enter
the home, when you leave the toilet, the dua that is there when you are
traveling in your vehicle “Subhaanal-lathee sakhkhara lanaa haathaa wa maa
kunnaa lahu muqrineen. Wa 'innaa 'ilaa Rabbinaa lamunqaliboon” So this is a
good month in which you can adopt as much as Sunnah as possible so that we can
be on the straight path. This is a very good month where you should see to it that
you should offer the Salaah not only the 5 times Salaah which is the Fard even
try and offer as many Nawafil and Sunnah. And if you are not habituated to
reading in congregation see to it that you get the congregation and as far as
possible go to the Mosque for the Salaah.
In this month we should be particular that you do not miss the Taraweeh.
Many people think and it is a fact that it is a Sunnah but many people think
because it s a Sunnah we can miss Taraweeh. Taraweeh is a very important Sunnah
though its not a Fard but every Muslim should make it a point that as far as
possible they should attend Taraweeh because the blessing it has. So Taraweeh
is very important which Muslims should never miss. And when we offer Taraweeh
many of us we rush through Taraweeh because we want to complete the Quran and
many of them read the Taraweeh 100 miles per hour. You should read the Taraweeh
with patience at a moderate pace so that the people can understand what is the
command of Allah (swt). And if time permits and if possible you should try and
do I’tikaaf in the last 10 days and while doing I’tikaaf make it a point that
you don’t socialize. Many people make a mistake of socializing during I’tikaaf
so the whole purpose of I’tikaaf is defeated. Furthermore we should do more of
dua in this month, we should do more supplications. This is the month of Dua
and we should do more Dhikr, spend time in remembering Allah (Swt) and also
worshipping Him. This is the month in which we should try and read as much as
Quran as possible besides reciting the Quran in Arabic, if you know Arabic as a
language then there’s no problem but if you don’t know then also read the
translation of the Quran in the language we understand the best. If you
understand English, you read in English, if you understand Urdu, you read in
Urdu. Read it in the language you understand the best. Burt while reciting the
Quran for which you’ll get Sawab also read the translation of the Quran so that
you can implement on the guidance of Allah (swt).
If possible read the Quran once in every 7 days or at lest read one Juz
everyday so that you complete the Quran at least once in the full month of
Ramadhaan. In this month try and read as much as Hadith as possible but see to
it that you read the authentic Ahadith and the best book on Ahadith is the book
of Sahih Bukhari then is Sahih Muslim you can read the other Kutube Sittah but
read authentic books on Hadith, read books on the lifestyle and the Seerah of
the Prophet Muhammad (saws)
See to it that if you have not given the Zakaat, please give the Zakaat
which is an obligatory charity and every rich person who has a saving of more
than the Nisaab level, more than 85 grams of gold he or she should give 2.5% of
his saving every lunar year in charity i.e. Zakaat. And many people, they do
not calculate the Zakaat properly. You may get a point that you calculate the
Zakaat honestly and it is better to give little bit more rather than to give
less. So calculate it properly and see to it that you give your Zakaat. And
this Ramadhaan is a month of generosity, it’s a month of Sadqa and you get 10
times more reward for your good deeds.
So this is the month where you should give maximum charity and besides
that we should make it a point that during this month we should be cheerful.
Many of the Muslims they look dull, they look gloomy. You should be cheerful
and happy. And we should give more time to our family. Many a times we neglect
our family so we should see to it that we give more time to our family and do
all these activities collectively. We should also have Husn-e-Suluk to the
people around you that means we should deal with the other human beings with
mercy, with love, with care. If they have done some mistakes we have to forgive
them. It’s the month of forgiveness. If you have done something wrong to them ask
for forgiveness. Live with the people around you with love, care and with
affection. We should do ‘Tafakkur’ that means ponder on the things. See to it
that you plan your month of Ramadhaan very properly and see to it that you do
not waste not even a minute, not even a second. This is the month of gaining
and this month is the best month of self improvement also. And besides that we
should also make it a point to do Islah with your other Muslim brothers and
sisters. It’s also the best month to do Da’wah that I convey the message of
Islam to the non-Muslims. So it’s my request to my brothers and sisters that
plan your month efficiently and see to it that you utilize every second of this
blessed month.
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