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8 th June 2014 10 Shaaban, 1435 A.H. Gardens of the Righteous: Class 11 The Garden of Ramadan Part 3
8th June 2014 10 Shaaban, 1435 A.H.
Gardens of the Righteous: Class 11
The Garden of Ramadan -‐ Part 3
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The Garden of Ramadan contd.. We studied different gardens of Ramadan in the previous classes. Ramadan is:
-‐ The Garden of Blessings -‐ The Garden of Opportunities -‐ The Garden of Repentance -‐ The Garden of Patience
Today we will cover the other gardens of Ramadan.
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Ramadan – The Garden of Gratitude
What is the meaning of Gratitude (Shuker)?
The Faith (Iman) has two elements that complete / overlap each other:
1. Patience
2. Gratitude (Shuker)
This is based on the Hadith of the Prophet SAW “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2999).
Patience and gratitude is an indicator of a believer. If we want to know how much belief we have, we can test ourselves by checking how much patience we have and how much we are grateful to Allah.
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If a person is not patient and not grateful, he is going beyond his limits. Every human being needs to be either patient or grateful in any situation he is facing in his life
Ibn Qayyim said Gratitude (Shuker) is the ‘appearance’ and it should show on the outside. A grateful person is indicated by his appearance. Gratitude is apparent and it should show on the outside. The word “Shaker” in Arabic means, “to show”.
Gratitude should appear on the heart, tongue and the limbs.
How to show gratitude to Allah by the heart?
Gratitude by the heart
The heart belongs to Allah and we need to be grateful to Allah in our heart.
People appreciate the actions and the tongue so we show our gratitude to people by our actions and tongue but our heart is exclusive for Allah. Allah appreciates what is in our heart.
Gratitude by the tongue
We need to speak aloud about Allah’s favors on us. We need to speak positively with each other.
Gratitude by the limbs
This means to show gratitude to Allah by our actions.
Allah gave us the blessings because he wants us to be grateful and be close to Him. Allah initiates the needs in us so that we attach to Allah. Allah wants us our heart and He wants us to be close to Him. Allah wants us to feel overwhelmed by the blessings so we thank Him.
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Evidence -‐ Surah Nahl: Ayah 78
Here Allah is telling us that we need to know our origin. Allah brought us out from the wombs of our mother and we did not know anything. No one was born with knowledge. People are ungrateful, as they do not know their reality. Then Allah tells us He favored us by giving us the hearing, the sight and the heart as a means for our learning. We survive in this life with knowledge. What we learn from our eyes and ears goes to the heart, which is the container for our knowledge. Then Allah says He bestowed these favors on us in order for us to be grateful. Allah wants us to be grateful
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Evidence -‐ Surah Insaan: Ayah 3
Allah is saying in this life people are divided into two groups.
1. Grateful 2. Ungrateful
Allah guides us and gives us all the means to be grateful and the human being is either grateful or ungrateful.
We need to be like the bee that sees the good and produce good (honey) and not like the fly that sees only the dirt and trash.
If we are grateful then what has Allah promised us? This is mentioned in the following Ayah in Surah Ibrahim
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Evidence -‐ Surah Ibrahim: Ayah 7
Here we are told about the virtues of Gratitude. Allah is saying Remember (O Mohammed (SAW)) when your lord proclaimed that “if you are grateful then surely Allah will increase you.” Allah will give us the increment and the blessings in our time, in our health and in everything in our life.
The scholars say that with gratitude we can trap the blessings e.g. if we don’t want our health to be taken away we should be grateful. We will not only trap the blessings but also increase the blessings. Gratitude is a way of increment.
Then Allah tells us that for the ungrateful person, His punishment is severe. How can we be grateful in the month of Ramadan?
1. We need to be grateful because Allah gave us the month of Ramadan with so many opportunities.
2. We need to be grateful that the opportunities in Ramadan are for everyone.
The opportunity of Ramadan is not restricted to only certain people but it is an open invitation for all.
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3. We need to thank Allah that He removed so many obstacles that we find in the other 11 months. The obstacles are removed by the chaining of the Devils (Shaitaan) and the closing of the Gates of Hell.
4. The Prophet SAW said, “Fasting is like a Shield.” It is a fortress from Hellfire. We need to be grateful to Allah because of this shield.
5. Allah gave us an acceptable supplication before we break our fast everyday. This supplication that we make just before we break the fast will not be rejected. We need to thank Allah that He gave us an acceptable invocation.
6. We need to thank Allah that He made the angels make Istighfar for the fasting people until they break their fast (throughout the fast from fajr to sunset),
7. Allah will free some servants from Hellfire everyday in the month of Ramadan. We need to be grateful that everyday in Ramadan we have the opportunity to be freed from hellfire.
Ramadan – The Garden of Fasting
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One of the most essential and most important worship (Ibadah) we can do in Ramadan is to fast. The Prophet SAW said the religion is built on five pillars. Fasting is one of the Pillars of Islam.
Levels of Fasting: There are three different levels of fasting.
Level 1 – General Fasting
The majority of the people abstain from food from dawn to sunset. This is General Fasting.
Level 2 – Upgraded Fasting
This type of fasting does not only include abstaining from food and drink but also includes fasting from the sins. This means not backbiting, no slandering or lying and not committing any kind of sin. The Prophet SAW said if a fasting person is not stopping his mouth from backbiting, slandering and insulting people then Allah does not need his fast. It is better for such a person to eat and drink.
Level 3 – Top-‐level Fasting
The third level is the fasting of the heart. This means during our fast we are busy thinking of no one but Allah. We need to fast from thinking about anyone else but Allah. From dawn to sunset we need to gather our thoughts and heart to not think about anything but Allah. Our life and our actions should revolve around Allah. We need to stop being busy with anything but Allah. Our heart is occupied with so many concerns; what our life revolves around is what we think about the most. We need to stop indulging in the distractions of the Duniya during Ramadan. Fasting is not only about abstaining from food and drink. We need to fast such that our heart is thinking about no one but Allah. We need to struggle and strive to reach this stage. Allah loves us and He is stretching out His hand for us. Allah loves us when we speak and make supplication (Dua) to Him. Allah gave us the opportunity in Ramadan to do good deeds so that we enter Paradise and we become better than the angels.
Hadith of the Prophet SAW
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The people asked the Prophet SAW “Who among the fasting people would have the greatest reward?” The Prophet SAW replied “The one who remembers Allah more during his fast will have the best reward” What are the virtues of Fasting in the month of Ramadan?
Hadith of the Prophet SAW
The Prophet SAW said he one who fasts during the month of Ramadan with the following two conditions, Allah will expiate all his sins.
1. Belief in Allah 2. Hoping for the reward
We need to have these two things in our heart. This is to help us to focus in order to do all our deeds for Allah alone.
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Hadith of the Prophet SAW
The Prophet SAW said every deed of the son of Adam would be multiplied except the fast. Any good deeds that a believer does will be multiplied by 10 to 700 times except fasting for which there is no multiplication. The fast is for Allah and He will reward us for the fast. This is because the one who is fasting is leaving his desire, leaving his food and drink for the sake of Allah. The fast is the only worship (Ibadah) that no one will take from us on the Day of the Judgment. On the Day of Judgment we will have to settle the scores with anyone that we have wronged in the Duniya by giving away our good deeds, but no one can take our fast and nullify it.
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Hadith of the Prophet SAW
Paradise has eight gates and one of the gates has the name “Ar-‐Rayyan”. This is the gate for the fasting people. Anyone who fasts will have the privilege to enter Paradise from the gate “Ar-‐Rayyan”. Allah made this special gate only for the fasting people. On the Day of Judgment only the fasting people will enter through this door. After they have entered this gate will be closed
To be contd…
