RAMADAN (5)
Slavery
had been known since ancient time. It had been established as an institution in
the time of Hammurabi (ca. 1760 BC).
Slaves
are persons either taken as prisoners of war as captives, or bought. Islam is
against slavery, but it abolishes it gradually. Muslims are highly recommended
to free their slaves. However, there are some penalties for killing a Muslim
unintentionally with freeing a slave and paying blood-money (Q. 4:92).
Moreover, slaves have a share in zakat to free them, until there is no more
slave to free.
In
1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves
in held in Confederate state. Later, in 1948 UN Article 4 of the Declaration of
Human Rights bans slavery globally. The last country which abolished slavery is
Mauritania in 1981. Although slavery has been abolished and banned and now is
officially illegal in all nations, slavery or practices akin to it is still
going on, and zakat is one of many means to fight this slavery in disguise as
well as poverty. Dead Muslims who are leaving his family with a burden of debt
has also a share in zakat to relieve him from this burden.
The
month of Ramadan is the month of revelation. Imam Ibn Kathīr explains the
virtue of Ramadan and the revelation of the Qur’an in it: "Allah praised
Ramadan out of the other months by choosing it to send down the Glorious
Qur’an, just as He did for all of the Divine Books He revealed to the Prophet.
Imam
Ahmad bin Hanbal reported Wāthilah ibn al-Asqa‘ that Allah’s Messenger said:
أُنْزِلَتْ صُحُفُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام فِي أَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ وَأُنْزِلَتْ
التَّوْرَاةُ
لِسِتٍّ مَضَيْنَ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ وَالْإِنْجِيلُ لِثَلَاثَ عَشْرَةَ خَلَتْ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ
وَأُنْزِلَ الْفُرْقَانُ لِأَرْبَعٍ وَعِشْرِينَ خَلَتْ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ
The Ṣuḥuf (Pages) of Ibrahim were
revealed during the
first night of Ramadan. The Torah was revealed
during the
sixth night of Ramadan. The Injil (the
Gospel) was revealed
during the thirteenth night of Ramadan.
Allah revealed
the Qur'an on the twenty-fourth night of Ramadan .
(Musnad Aḥmad , 4: 107)
There
are many major historical events occurred in the month of Ramadan, among which
are as follows:
1. Zakāt
al-Fiṭr (2 AH) enjoined to every Muslim who has enough provision for a day and
a night. This means, even the poor who have enough food to survive for 24 hours
have to pay it. At the night of the ‘Id day a poor person would visit his poor
neighbour bringing with him his zakat. As they themselves are poor they
exchange zakat.
2. The Battle of Badr, (17 Ramadan, 2 AH). This
war involves 313 members of the Muslim army to deal with 1,000Makkan idolaters.
In this war, the Muslim army won the battle with the pagans killed 70 soldiers,
70 more captured. The rest fled.
3. The Battle of the Trench (Ramadan-Shawwal 5
AH), the siege Madinah by the Makkan confederates with 10.000 fighters the
maximum number they could have with the intention to finish the Muslims once
and for all. Suggested by Salmān al-Fārisī trenches were dug along the Northern
part of Madinah to prevent the horsemen from being able to attack which took 9
or 10 days to finish. The trench was 5544 meters long, its average width was
4.62 meters, and its average depth was 3.34 meter. No real fighting took place,
except a limited duels and skirmishes. Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubādah was injured by an arrow
and was taken to a special place near the mosque. The siege lasted for one
month, and Allah sent a strong wind that uprooted their tents, and extinguished
their fires. The army retreated in the dark.
4. The conquest of Makkah (10-20 Ramadan 8 AH).
The Prophet with his army comprised of 10, 000 Muslims entered Makkah as a
victor on 20 Ramadan and destroyed 360 idols around the Ka‘bah. Five days
before the end of Ramadan in the 9H, the Prophet sent Khalid bin Walid to
destroy the statue al ‘Uzzā the largest statue of the goddess at Nakhla. He
sent ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ᾱṣ to destroy al-Lāt, and Sa ‘d ibn Zayd al-Ashhalī to
destroy Manāt.
5. The capture of the Safed fortress from the
Crusaders in Ramadan 584 AH (30 August, 1179CE) by Sultan Saladin al-Ayyūbī.
6. . Liberation of Andalusia (Muslim Spain) in
Ramadan 93 AH. The Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik appointed Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr as
ruler of Maghrib (Morocco), who later conquered Tangiers. He then appointed
Tariq ibn Ziyad to lead the protected area. With twelve-thousand soldiers Tariq
was engaged with the army of the enemy at two nights before the end of Ramadan
92 AH. The battle occurred eight days, ending with the victory of the Muslim
army. One year later, in Ramadan 93 AH, Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr entered Andalusia with
18.000 soldiers, and conquered the neighbouring cities, such as Seville. In
Ramadan 138 AH/756 CE ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil entered Andalusia and establish
a state which ruled for eight centuries where a civilization unknown before
flourished.
7. October War (10 Ramadan 1390 AH), also called
the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, Yom Kippur War,
and Ramadan War (6-22 October 1973), where the Bar Lev Line (named after
Israeli general, Haim Ber Lev) in Sinai was captured by the Egyptian army.
While
we are still in the month of Ramadan there are many things we are required to
do, such as praying in congregation if possible. Some Muslims observe fasting
and tarawih prayer in congregation, but after Ramdan then stop
praying. They observe the recommended ones, but they neglect the obligatory
ones.
In
order to be better Muslims bad habits which we temporarily abandon during
Ramadan should be continued after Ramdan, such as smoking, overeating, and
using foul or harsh language. In a ḥadīth the Prophet s.a.w. said:
: " قَالَ
اللَّهُ: كُلُّ عَمَلِ ابْنِ آدَمَ لَهُ، إِلَّا الصِّيَامَ، فَإِنَّهُ لِي
وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بِهِ،
وَالصِّيَامُ
جُنَّةٌ، وَإِذَا كَانَ يَوْمُ صَوْمِ أَحَدِكُمْ فَلاَ يَرْفُثْ وَلاَ يَصْخَبْ،
فَإِنْ
سَابَّهُ
أَحَدٌ أَوْ قَاتَلَهُ، فَلْيَقُلْ إِنِّي
امْرُؤٌ صَائِمٌ "(رواه
البخاري)
Allah said: “All the deeds of Adam’s son (people) are
for him, except fasting which is for Me, and I will
give
the reward for it; and fasting is a shield from Hell-fire
and if one
of you is fasting, he should not use obscenity
that day nor shout; and if someone speaks abusively
or wants to fight with him, he should say:‘Verily,
I am
fasting’ (Reported by
Bukhari)
We try to stop smoking and to avoid
using obscenity, shouting and speaking abusively during Ramadan, and continue
avoiding these habits after Ramadan. Coffee and tea, although both are
addictive, they are too delicious, and it would be difficult to quit them, especially
coffee. At the end of the 16th century Catholic priests condemned
coffee because of its popularity, saying it was an instrument of Satan, the
wine of Islam, and an infidel drink. But sensible Pope Clement is reported to
have tasted it and exclaimed, “This Satan’s drink is too delicious to let the
heathen have it all to themselves. We shall baptize it and make of it a
Christian beverage.”
The Prophet s.a.w. stressed the
importance of patience and self-restrain while fasting when he said:
أَعِفُّوا الصِّيَامَ؛
فَإِنَّ الصِّيَامَ لَيْسَ مِنَ الطَّعَامِ وَلَا مِنَ الشَّرَابِ،
وَلَكِنَّ
الصِّيَامَ مِنَ الْمَعَاصِي، فَإِذَا صَامَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَجَهِلَ عَلَيْهِ رَجُلٌ
أَوْ شَتَمَهُ فَلْيَقُلْ:
إِنِّي صَائِمٌ “(رواه أبو داؤد)
Refrain (from something indecent) while
fasting, as
fasting is not (refrain) from food and drink,
but fasting from disobedience; so, if one of you is fasting, and someone is
behaving foolishly towards him, or is abusing
him, he
should say ‘I am fasting’ (Reported
by Dā’ūd)
Therefore, we should
keep refraining from committing disobedience after Ramadan, although we do no
fast.
When we are urged to be
generous and to give charity to the needy, especially among our relatives, and
to visit them, we should at least continue doing this noble behaviour after
Ramadan.
It is recommended to do i‘tikāf (seclusion
in the mosque) at the last ten days of Ramadan, as the Prophet did. He did it
after performing the fajr (dawn) prayer. The i‘tikāf
should be done while fasting and in a mosque where Jum’ah congregational
prayer is performed. After Ramadan we can do something like it, staying for a
while after performing the obligatory prayer by reading the Qur’an, making some
du‘ā’, reciting subḥānallāh (Glory be to Allah), al-ḥamdu lillāh (Praise be to Allah),
and allāhu akbar (Allah is Great)
each thirty-three times, as well as āyat
al-kursī (Q. 2:255). etc.
The importance of reciting āyat
al-kursī is mentioned in some ḥadīths, where the Prophet said:
مَنْ
قَرَأَ آيَةَ الْكُرْسِيِّ فِي دُبُرِ كُلِّ صَلَاةٍ مَكْتُوبَةٍ لَمْ يَمْنَعْهُ مِنْ
دُخُولِ
الْجَنَّةِ
إِلَّا أَنْ يَمُوتَ (رواه النسائي و الطبراني)
Whoever reads āyat al-kursī at the end of every
prescribed
prayer, nothing would prevent him from
entering
Paradise except death .
(Reported by al-Nasā’ī and al-Ṭabrānī)
In another ḥadīth the Prophet s.a.w. said:
مَنْ قَرَأَ آيَةَ الْكُرْسِيِّ
فِي دُبُرِ الصَّلَاةِ الْمَكْتُوبَةِ كَانَ فِي ذِمَّةِ
اللَّهِ
عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَتَّى الصَّلَاةِ الْأُخْرَى» (رواه الطبراني)
Whoever reads āyat al-kursī at the end
of every
prescribed prayer, he would be under
Allah’s
protection
until the next (prescribed) prayer.
(Reported by al-Ṭabrānī)
The
Prophet also said,
مَنْ
صَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا، غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
(متفق عليه)
Whoever observes fasting in Ramadan with
perfect faith and seeking reward, he
will his
previous sins forgiven (Agreed upon)
This does not mean that by doing this
we will become “born again Muslims”, for the following reasons:
a. It
does not include major sins, either committing what is prohibited by Allah,
such as: drinking alcohol, adultery, sealing, killing innocent people, etc., or
not doing what is enjoined by Allah, such as the five-daily prayers, paying
zakat and performing hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah once in one’s life-time)
for people who can afford it. This kind of disobedience is only forgiven
through repentance and following His injunction.
b.
It does not include our unsettled dealings
with our fellow human beings, such as business transactions, paying bills,
rents and debts, and our mistakes with them, such as cheating, back-biting, and
insulting. We have to pay them and ask forgiveness from them in order to avoid
their claim for justice against us in the Judgment Day. Otherwise, we have to
pay them by giving them some rewards of our good deeds in this world, and if no
more good deed left for us, we shall take the penalty of their bad deeds in
this world.
If
we hit or abuse someone, and he does not retaliate, although he has the right
to do so, it does not mean that he is weak and stupid. He might be smart expecting
compensation in the Hereafter where he will take the reward of our good deeds,
or give us the penalty of his bad deeds. The consequence is that we are the one
who did good deeds, and they got the reward; they are the one who did bad
deeds, and we got the punishment.
This
is the importance of having two festival days, Id al-Fitr after fasting in
Ramadan, and ‘Id al-Adha commemorating the total obedience of Prophet
Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Isma‘il who was also patient to be sacrificed in
total obedience to Allah. This is one example of total obedient to Allah, even
with something unacceptable to reason. Fasting is nothing compared to this
total obedience to Allah. It is unlike Iblīs who disobeyed Allah and argued
that he should not bow and show respect to Adam who was created from clay while
he was created from fire.
In
these two festivals Muslims all over the world get together, greet each other,
embrace and hug each other, saying, ‘Īd Mubārak ([I wish you] a Blessing
Festival Day), Kull Sanah wa Anta Ṭayyib ([I wish you are] in good
condition every year), Min al-‘Ᾱ’idīn wa l-Fā’izīn ([I wish you are]
among those who celebrate and those who are successful). To those who are far
away from us we contact them through telephone, internet and greeting cards. All
of them contain greetings and praying for each other’s well-beings and success.
But they miss the most important thing, namely, asking each other’s
forgiveness. Malay speaking Indonesian, Malaysian, and Bruneian Muslims do not
forget this. They say Mohon Ma’af Lahir-Batin (Please Forgive [me for
mistakes I have done to you] obviously (i.e., intentionally] or secretly
(i.e., unintentionally). To make it short they say Ma’af Lahir-Batin,
and even they just say Lahir-Batin. They say it and they write it in
their greeting cards. These two festival days should be the happiest days for
us: Allah and our fellow Muslims forgive us. There will be no longer
ill-feeling towards each other. (CIVIC, 02.08.13)
Bibliography:
Al-Maktabah al-Shāmilah
Tafsīfr ibn Kathīr
Dr.
Shauqi Abu Khalil (Comp.), Atlas of the Qur’an
http://islamiceducenter.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/the-month-of-ramadan-is-not-merely-holy.html
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/religion-and-scripture/513545-important-historical-events-which-took-place-in-ramadan.html
