Brethren, once again the month of Ramadan is now less than four weeks from today. Going by the calendar at my disposal, today is the sixth day of Sha’aban, 1445 A.H. Traditionally, the month of Sha’aban is deemed a holy month because it precedes the holy month of fasting, Ramadan. While it is good to fast some days in this month, it should be borne in mind that such an exercise is essentially for those who are able and capable.
Therefore, if one fears that after fasting in Sha’aban they will lose strength or freshness for the fast of Ramadan, then abstention from fasting during this month becomes obligatory. This is because fasting in Ramadan is obligatory, while fasting on other days of the lunar calendar is optional.
Our leader, may the peace and blessings of Allah be on his soul, in a Hadith reported by Abu Hurayrah, says: “Do not fast after the first half of the month of Sha’aban is gone.” In another tradition, he is reported to have said: “Do not precede the month of Ramadan with one or two fasts.”
Brethren, if it is consensual that today is the sixth day of the month of Sha’aban, 1445 years after the migration of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, from Makkah to Madinah, it means, therefore, that the month of Ramadan will begin in about 24 days from today; depending on the sighting of the moon and the location of each Muslim community across the world. Since the month of Ramadan is not an ordinary one, we must prepare adequately for it.
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But exactly what may constitute the wrong way to prepare for Ramadan? One of such is for a believer to have an obligation to the Almighty or their fellow creature since last Ramadan without discharging it. For example, a sister of mine who missed some days during the month of Ramadan last year due to the onset of her menstrual cycle; a brother who fell sick during the month of Ramadan last year; a servant of the Almighty who could not fast last year because he was on a journey; all these individuals are expected to have either done fidyah during the month or pay back the number of days they missed before the fasting season begins afresh this year. A deliberate refusal to do so will mean such a Muslim is committing a deliberate infraction of the will of the Almighty. Such Muslims would be deemed to be sinners in the sight of their creator; they would be deemed to be oppressors of their souls.
Thus, brethren, let us discharge all our obligations before this year’s Ramadan begins in three weeks.
Another wrong way to prepare for Ramadan is to have unresolved disputes with your fellow brethren. Since Ramadan is first of all a spiritual exercise and since the locale of the spiritual is the human soul, the heart, and since anger, animosity, envy, hatred and all ill feelings are diseases which assail the heart, corrupt it and render it unsuitable for spiritual re-awakening, it then becomes highly important that we empty our hearts of all these “spiritual viruses” before Ramadan begins. Let us settle all disputes and resolve all issues with our brethren, friends and colleagues before the month of fasting sets in. Remember that you cannot supplicate to the Almighty during the month of Ramadan and expect your supplications to be granted while you unjustly appropriate the rights of your neighbour, your subordinates in the office, your wife, your husband, and even your children. “Return the trusts to their owners…” (Quran 4: 58). That is the injunction in the Qur’an. Not to do this is to prepare wrongly for Ramadan.
One other way by which a Muslim can prepare inappropriately for Ramadan is to leave a threat to his health unattended. Since Ramadan, like hajj, is a month of spiritual-communal exercise; it is incumbent on every mature Muslim who knows and believes that fasting is obligatory to seek every lawful means by which they would be in the best state of health before the month begins. A Muslim who knows he/she is at risk of contracting an ulcer would be making wrong preparations for Ramadan by engaging in supererogatory fasting before Ramadan.
Let us prepare for the month by asking the Almighty Allah to forgive us and to forgive our leaders in this country. Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said: “Whoever seeks forgiveness for believing men and believing women, the Almighty will write for him a good deed for each believing man and believing woman.”
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