As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

.: Ramadan Reflections :.

Day 6/Juz 6:-

“Two men who feared (Allah and) upon whom Allah had bestowed favor said, “Enter upon them through the gate, for when you have entered it, victory will be yours. And put your trust in Allah if you are truly believers.””
[al-Ma’idah: 23]

This verse follows a list of verses where Musa (AS) speaks to his people. He firstly reminds them of the favours of Allah upon them, how He made them into Prophets and into kings. How He gave them pleasures of this world that no-one else was given etc. Then after this, Musa commands them to go into battle and enter the Holy land which they were promised. What was the answer that the people returned?

“O Musa, indeed within it are people of tyrannical strength, and indeed we will never enter it until they leave it; but if they leave it, then we will enter.”… “Go, you and your Lord, and fight. Indeed, we are remaining right here.”

Despite all the ni’am (blessings) they were given, despite all the favours, and despite all the reminders, the people refused to enter because of fear which overtook them. They were scared and cowardly, and chose this over the command of Allah. However, from that large crowd, there were 2 people whose Iman (faith) rose with them to higher levels, and this is the verse I quoted on top:

“Two men who feared (Allah and) upon whom Allah had bestowed favor said, “Enter upon them through the gate, for when you have entered it, victory will be yours. And put your trust in Allah if you are truly believers.””

These 2 blessed men came forward, and in the verse, Allah actually describes them as having *fear*. You see, everyone was overtaken by fear that day, however while most of Musa’s people feared the men of tyrannical strength within the city, these 2 men feared Allah alone, and they feared disobeying His Messenger. Subhan’Allah, see how one type of fear led to inaction, whilst the other type of fear led to great action?

And this is the crux of the matter. We will all have fear in our hearts at some point or another, but while most fears are completely debilitating, the fear of Allah always puts the mind, body, and soul into action, and brings it alive. These 2 men are also described as having the favour of Allah bestowed upon them. This is interesting because Musa already told his people how they have been blessed, but Allah mentions it specifically for these two, because blessings only benefit a person when they lead to obedience, and they are actually a hujjah (proof) against an individual when they lead him to disobedience.

Lastly, as is the Sunnah of Allah with regards to His slaves, the names of these 2 men are not mentioned in the verse or anywhere in the Qur’an. To teach us a deep lesson in life: it’s not names that are important, but it’s actions that truly count in the end.

Day 7/Juz 7

“On the Day when Allah will gather the Messengers together and say to them: “What was the response you received? They will say: “We have no knowledge, verily, only You are the All-Knower of all that is hidden.”
[al-Ma’idah: 109]

This verse fascinates me every time I come across it. Here we have Messengers and Prophets who taught men, led nations, and built societies. Some of them were denied & belied, some were persecuted and forced from lands. Some only had a handful of followers, some succeeded in their towns, but some were completely ignored. A large number were even killed.

But yet in the Court of all courts, in front of Allah `azza wa jall, when they are asked how was the response to their Call, they will simply reply: ‘We do not know.’ This is despite them living and dealing with the response of their people! But subhan’Allah their answer is such; filled with humility, servitude, and awe of their Creator. The secret of this verse lies within the response of these great Messengers… They are answering to One Who Knows it all.

When you are asked by ‘Allam al-Ghuyub, the Knower of the Unseen, you can’t help but be humbled. You realise that even if you are certain of something, still He knows far more, and He knows the hidden affairs. So when you are calling someone to the way of Allah, realise that no matter what response you receive from the people, there is always more to that person and their response, more than you can know. And this should cool the frustrated heart just as it uplifts the downtrodden one. You have the Knower of the Unseen on your side, and you have the Messengers as your examples, so worry not about the responses of people…

Day 8/Juz 8

“And is one who was dead and We gave him life and made for him light by which he can walk amongst men, like one who is in darkness, from which he can never come out? Thus it has been made pleasing to the disbelievers that which they were doing.”
[al-An’am: 122]

Many times, the Qur’an equates the lack of Iman (faith) to being dead and lifeless. This is despite a person being very much alive in a physical sense. But if you think about it, even though his physical body is alive, he has actually deprived his ruh (soul) until it died, or it is in a state of lifelessness. As someone once said, ‘We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.’ And this is very true because the human is made up of primarily a ruh (soul), a ‘aql (intelligence), and a badan (body). How sad that society neglects two thirds of who we really are, and just focuses on one part. No wonder people feel lost!

But when Allah enters faith into the heart of a person, he wakes up and opens his eyes for the first time. He becomes alive. He sees, hears, and understands differently. He acknowledges what he could not acknowledge before. He sees the Signs of Allah all around him. And when he grabs hold of the Book, he begins to walk with light in a world that’s engulfed by darkness.

Is such a person the same as someone whose soul is still lifeless, and whose body continues to roam such a dark world? Not at all. But Man continues to be happy with his false sense of security, and false outlook on the life of this world…

Day 9/Juz 9:-

“And We did not find for most of them any covenant; but indeed, We found most of them defiantly disobedient.”
[al-A’raf: 102]

The fasiq (disobedient) is not someone who is always true to their promises. How can they prove loyal to you when they have broken their loyalty and obedience to their Creator? So save yourself the heartache, the headache, and the disappointment, and keep close with the obedient and righteous amongst people. Their ‘ahd (covenant) is intact with their Lord, and their promises to you will be fulfilled because that is part of their ‘ahd with their Lord in the first place.

If you find yourself unable to keep promises, or you keep breaking trusts, then check your relationship with Allah because there just might be something broken there from aforetime.

Day 10/Juz 10:-

“And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah , [saying], “If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous.” But when he gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away, averse. So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him – because they failed Allah in what they promised Him and because they [habitually] used to lie.”
[al-Tawbah: 75-77]

How often do people make promises to Allah, but the moment they get what they want, they turn away? How often do people cry and plead with Allah, beg Him in their du’as, and earnestly ask for His Favours, but the moment they attain the pleasures of this world, they relapse and it’s as if they had never entered such a state of iftiqar (dire need) or called upon Him with such yearning?

This is the example given above, where Man lies to Allah and lies to himself, saying ‘If You give me this, then I shall do that.’ But Man does not live up to his side of the promise, especially if he is rebellious or disobedient (as mentioned in the last reflection of Juz 9), so punishment follows him.

The verse is interesting because Allah `azza wa jall says that He punishes such a person with ‘hypocrisy in their hearts‘, because nifaq and being two-faced is actually a punishment (in this life and the Next). It torments the person and creates such internal instability and turmoil that a person can’t even live with himself let alone be at peace with himself. Allah says a’qabahum‘ meaning to punish them’, but the word is also from the root ‘aqaba‘ which means something that comes in the end or follows a certain deed, and this highlights 2 things:

1 – That the evil of something is not always seen straight away, but it’s an end-result which can come upon a person especially when they think they’re safe from their misdeed.

2 – The punishment is not hastened upon a person and this gives them time to repent and mend their ways, as punishments are always a last resort after someone has persisted in their evil, wallahu a’lam.

May Allah protect us from false oaths, from committing lies against Him, from hypocrisy, and from all evils of the heart, ameen.