Ramadhan. In Arabic, literally means the hot month.
"If you
think Singapore is hot already, boy you should be in Syria during the
fasting month," quoted by Ustadz Fizar Zainal, Education Manager Masjid
Al Iman.
Speaking at an event organized by SyababSG, mainly
targeted to our younger generation, the Terawih Cup was held at Masjid
Sultan in conjunction of welcoming the month of Ramadhan which is around
the corner with its main goal in mind; to help prepare our youths for
this 'quest' or 'journey' to match with their ever so busy lifestyles as
a student or even working aduts.
Ustadz Fizar defined Ramadhan as a "Summer Institute". Just like a
normal institute, you need classes, teachers, mentoring, remedials, mock
exams and of course finally the real exam itself. The human body needs
time to adjust when one is fasting, therefore in the month of Syaaban or
more so during Nisfu Syaaban, Muslims are encouraged to fast. It is
also to commemorate Nisfu Syaaban, where
"It is the special night of seeking forgiveness and repenting to
Allah, remembering past sins and sincerely settling the mind that one
will never commit sins in the future. All the deeds that are against
Shari’ah must be totally avoided so that our Du’a and Istighfaar,
hopefully, will be accepted." - Wikipedia.
Ustadz Fizar also shared to his young audience why do Muslims need to fast.
For 3 simple reasons:
1) "
Laallakoom Tattaqoon.
As it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.
2)
Laallakoom Tashkuruun.
Allah
intends for you ease and does not intend for your hardship and wants
for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for which He has
guided you and perhaps you will be grateful.
3) Sin Eliminator.
"Whoever
prayed at night out of sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah
then all his previous sins will be forgiven." - Abu Huraira."
He then posted a question which left many several doubtful faces in the audience,
"Is fasting special for Muslims?"
Many nods and uncertain "yes, it is,..." were heard from the audience.
And Ustadz Fizar simply answered,
"No,
fasting is not special for us. Other religion fasts as well. Christian,
Hindus, etc. So fasting is not special, our solat is,"
and then there was an outburst of "ahhhhhhs" from the audience in enlightenment.
So
how do we maintain our daily routine while fasting? Just like a
battery, we need to 'charge' our body in order to carry on with our
daily routine while fasting.
Ustadz Fizar gave us 3 keys to keep in mind of:
1)Physical Recharge - to purify the body.
This means to get rid or to stop bad eating habits such as eating fast food, smoking, etc.
2)Mental Recharge - to discipline the mind.
With our body
purified, now comes the mental challenge to remain purified. Challenges
such as the urge to smoke, time to eat and lowered gaze will be easily
overcome when we achieved a purified body state.
3)Spiritual Recharge
Now this stage is the most difficult.
Spiritual Recharge can only be achieve through practices of patience,
perseverance, prayers,
ibadah, etc. This is what keeps us close to Allah.
He
also cautioned the member of the audience of the challenges from within
that one will face. As they say, during the month of Ramadhan, all the
Syaitans are tied up; so why are there still wrongdoings occurring in
this holy month?
Hence, he explained to us that it is the forces of Iman, Taqwa and Ihsan playing a huge role for this to occur.
Iman
- is the remembrance of Allah; where is He in our heart? And the
constant "what will Allah say?" before doing a certain action.
Taqwa
- the fear of Allah. This fear is nothing but the conscious mind
thinking of wanting to do good deeds so as to be placed with whom Allah
love.
Ihsan - the absence of sympathy/ insensitivity. This Ustadz Fizar explained with an example.
"Its
almost break fast and you have a Ramli Burger, chicken murtabak, air
katira and nasi pattaya. And there is a guy sitting next to you and he
can only afford a loaf of bread or even a glass of water. And you do not
even care about that guy. Now that is absence of
ihsan."
To sum up his speech, Ustadz Fizar gave us 6 tips for us to make full use of during the Ramadhan.
1) Do not see what displeases Allah.
2) Do not speak of what displeases Allah.
Always chant "I am fasting, i am fasting" to remind ourselves to not speak ill.
3) Do not hear of what displeases Allah.
4) Do not do of what displeases Allah.
5) Avoid overeating.
6) Look to Allah with fear and hope.
"Dating in the month of Ramadhan is allowed. Date with who? With Allah, Quran,
terawih and
Lailatulqadar," said Ustadz Fizar as he ended his speech.
Now
that is a lot of tips and reminders for us to take note of. In Islam i
believe, it is never difficult. Islam is easy; easy to understand, easy
to do. If you do not know, ask. If you do not understand, seek
knowledge. So friends, let us prepare ourselves with the challenges that
we might meet in Ramadhan and let us use it wisely by performing
terawih and reading of the
Quran. And hopefully our deeds performed will be accepted by the Al-Mighty,
Insyallah.
Source - Terawih Cup, SyababSG
