Will You Break Your Fast a Few Minutes Early?
For many years without fail, I have been giving an example in the month of Ramadan, that at the end of a very hot and long day of Summer, a person is sitting at the Dastarkhan (table cloth), close to the time of Iftar, and waiting patiently to open his fast. There are just 3 minutes left for the setting of the sun when he is told: “Eat! What difference will it make if you break your fast now? What is another 2 or 3 minutes? You have already stayed away from food and drink for almost 15-16 hours.” Even if this happens to be the weakest Muslim in respect to obeying Allah Ta’ala, he will respond: “It is the ruling of the Qur’an and Ahadith that I break my fast after the setting of the sun, and not before that time. It is the command of Allah Ta’ala, and I cannot disobey Him.” The weakest person’s Iman becomes so strong at this stage that he will not break his fast. He will refuse to break his fast, even if the world’s great personalities have to say so. So we should question ourselves and answer truthfully: Is it not the Hukm (command) of that same Allah that we perform our Salah five times a day, and for the men, in the Musjid —in Jamat (congregation) as far as possible? Is it not the Command of that same Allah to correctly discharge our Zakah, perform Haj, treat our parents with love and respect, be faithful to our wives and treat them with compassion and vice versa for the wives, be honest in our business dealings and be kind and just to those under our authority?
Weakness of Faith
Weakness of Faith by Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahmatullah ‘alayh) In dealing with various cases every day, we find something that has become so common, and that is the type of statements people utter when they are in difficulties, hardships, pain and suffering. There is no contemplation, reflection, or thought, just immediate criticism of Allah Ta’ala’s system and ‘government’ —as we will say. Some question Allah Ta’ala’s wisdom and say: ‘What kind of Allah is this that He has done such injustice to me!’ (Na’uzu Billah) People actually use these kinds of words, attributing their difficulties to Allah Ta’ala, accusing Him of injustice (Na’uzu Billah). Yet who can be more just than Allah Ta’ala? “Indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom’s weight….” [Surah Nisaa 4:40] Such people only see the outside. They see what is on the surface. Their ignorance becomes apparent, and sometimes their arrogance becomes evident. In English, there is a proverb: ‘Ignorance is bliss.’ However, this statement is an ill-considered one. It may be bliss in this world, but when the veils of the unseen are lifted, then ‘bliss’ comes to an end. The bliss is then replaced with distress. Ignorance is no bliss for the Muslim if it leads him to sins and if it leads him to such statements, which can even throw him out of Islam and land him in Jahannum. Arrogance is such an evil which leads the person to believe that he is infallible; that nothing can ‘touch’ him. When something does ‘touch him’, then the nafs is provoked, and he makes such statements as if we have some right to question Allah Ta’ala or criticise His Decisions. Why? —Because there is no recognition of Allah Ta’ala and no knowledge and understanding of the system and the wisdom of Allah Ta’ala. By Allah, this worldly life is not to be taken lightly, as if we are here to just while away our days and do as we like – and when things go wrong, we get upset and angry because a storm suddenly hits our boat, which was sailing smoothly. We should remember that many a time, the sins we have committed in our lives – which we do not even remember, let alone consider sins – are probably the cause of the Musibat (difficulty). This is, indeed, a weakness: we easily forget our injustices. We could have done some great injustice to a person. It could have been that we were unjust to someone many years ago. The person may have been under our authority or at our mercy, and we caused great hurt and great grief to the person. It could have been an injustice to one’s parents, wife, employee, student, poor person, or even a non-Muslim —we do not realise that that injustice will catch up at some stage in life. Other sins, Allah Ta’ala forgives. The person makes Taubah from sins, and Allah Ta’ala forgives. However, there are certain sins where justice has to be meted out; unless the person asks those people for forgiveness. If not, Allah Ta’ala punishes in this world. Aakhirat is Aakhirat —but even in this lifetime, punishment descends very swiftly on injustice —whether it was injustice upon a Muslim or non-Muslim. Abu Hurairah (rahiyallahu’ anhu) has narrated that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: There are three types of people whose duas are not rejected: 1) The fasting person -when he breaks fast, 2) The just ruler, 3) And the one who is oppressed. Allah Ta’ala raises the Dua of the oppressed one above the clouds, and the doors of heaven are opened for it, and Allah Ta’ala says, “By My Majesty and Honour! I will help and aid you, even though it may be after a few days.”[1] So sometimes, the difficulty and calamity is the recompense of our own oppression and injustice, and sometimes it is a test. Allah Ta’ala is taking our examination. If every student says: “Great injustice is being done to me in the Matric examination. I have to work so hard; I have to study so much, and I have to burn the midnight oil.” Will we call that injustice? —No! Even the student knows and understands that there will be awards and rewards after he passes his examination for that hard work and sacrifice. Look at the amount of time spent studying when the person wants to become a doctor, engineer, scientist, or whatever else. Can we say that hard work and sacrifice are injustice? Others are sleeping early, or they are enjoying themselves at the clubs, cinemas and theatres. And this student has to work so hard. The student knows that after his studies, he will graduate, and his qualifications will place him in a high bracket of earnings. He knows that once he starts earning, he will be able to afford various material luxuries. Because of what he hopes to earn and what he will be able to afford — whether a beautiful car, home, travelling the world, etc., which he dreams of, he is prepared to work very hard. No one calls that injustice. Allah Ta’ala informs us : “We will definitely test you with some fear, hunger loss in your wealth, health and fruits.” [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:155] Allah Ta’ala tests each one of us – and this is, after all, a world of test – but the test is also within the capacity of the person to bear: “Allah does not obligate anyone beyond his capacity” [Surah Baqarah 2:286] Whatever the test from Allah Ta’ala is, it is definitely within the person’s capacity to bear. Allah Ta’ala’s Ma’iyyat (proximity) is with the person who is being tested. “…Indeed, Allah is with those who are patient.” [Surah Baqarah 2:153] Glad tidings are given to those who patiently persevere and pass such tests : “Give good tidings to those who are patient
Avoiding the Ash Clouds of Sins
A young friend of mine, a pilot, recently flew to Australia. Due to the ash clouds, they were told they could not take off. They were thus delayed a few days. When he returned, I asked him: “There was still a lot of ash; what did you’ll do?” He said: “They gave us a flight path whereby we could bypass the ash clouds. We took this route, and we avoided the ash.” I asked him: “Did you take any lesson from that?” He, in turn, asked: “What lesson?” I explained : “The lesson is this: When there was a lot of ash, there was a danger that the ash cloud would damage the engine of the Boeing you were flying. Your life and the lives of all the passengers were in danger. If you were caught in such an ash cloud, you could have gone, and the passengers could have gone. They gave you a ’round about’ route to avoid the ash clouds and reach your destination. The lesson we take is that when there is a temptation to sin, or some fitnah is approaching, we must avoid it. We must take a ’round about’ route. If that plane had crashed, the lives would have gone. However, here, if there is a crash – i.e. the person falls into sin – the spiritual life — Iman can go. Some of those crashes take the person’s Iman away. Some pretty face takes away the Iman of a person, or some other temptation or invitation to Haram leads to a spiritual crash. The environment of drugs, pornography, fornication and adultery, gambling, music, etc., is like those ash clouds. The Muslim avoids all areas of sins – whether the cinemas, clubs, theatres or other venues of vice. To whatever extent he can avoid, he avoids. He takes a ’round about’ route to reach his destination safely. And the destination of a Muslim is Jannat. If there is a group of young girls dressed indecently and the gaze falls on them accidentally, then try and avoid an encounter with them. Don’t even look again. Think that the ash clouds are approaching. If the person cannot lower his gaze and quickly walk past, he must move in another direction, cross the street, go over to the other side, or take another route, lest he gets caught in the ash cloud of fitnah and loses his Iman and Aakhirah.” I told this pilot friend: “When flying the plane, you avoid the ash clouds. Avoid those clouds of fitnah as well. There will be encounters with the air hostesses and female passengers on the plane. At that time, guard the gaze. You must be an example; You must show others that I am a Muslim and that you don’t behave as the other pilots behave.” The same applies to all of us. We, too, face different ‘ash-clouds’ of fitnah – whether on the plane or train, at work or in the bazaars and marketplaces, and whether at school or college. How do we respond? Do we adopt Taqwa? Do we fear Allah Ta’ala? Do we take the opportunity to prove our sincere and deep love for Allah Ta’ala? Do we subscribe to “Fafirru Ilallah’ – i.e. we flee to Allah Ta’ala? Or do we recklessly ‘fly’ into the ash clouds of sins, unconcerned that we may be meeting our spiritual death? Undoubtedly, the environment around us is hazardous, dangerous and high-risk for our Iman. Despite the scenario, a Muslim must be courageous. We do have the courage. We need only to make use of that courage. Steer the heart and body away from those ash clouds of fitnah if we want to reach the Hereafter safely, and if we want to enter Jannah without delay, and above this, if we want to earn the Pleasure of Allah Ta’ala. How do we build up this spiritual strength, whereby we avoid sins like how the pilot avoids the ash clouds or how we would avoid the plague? We work on developing the quality of Ihsan. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) explained the quality of Ihsan as: “That you worship Allah as if you are seeing him, and if you cannot see him, then (know) that he sees you.” [1] The understanding and knowledge have to be deeply impressed in the heart and mind: “Wherever I am, my Allah is watching.” My Shaykh, Hazrat Maulana Hakim Muhammad Akhtar Saheb (Damat Barakatuhu), says in poetry: “If you hide and commit sins, Someone is watching from above (Allah Ta’ala)….” A Muslim works towards developing the Sifat (attribute) of Ihsan in all aspects of his life. It is not confined to the different forms of Ibadah (worship), like Salah, Fasting, etc.; instead, it is a reality which should be found across the spectrum of our lives. Unfortunately, this quality of Ihsan – this conscious awareness of Allah Ta’ala – is lacking in our lives. As such, we very quickly and easily lose sight of Deen and Shariah; we lose sight of that khauf and Khashiyyat of Allah Ta’ala, or the muhabbat and love of Allah Ta’ala. The moment we are occupied in the mundane activities of life, we incline towards negligence. We forget that Allah Ta’ala is watching. This ‘Ghaflat’ (negligence) is the stepping stone to spoiling the harmony of life. This ‘Ghaflat’ is the hen which lays the eggs of sins. However, if this attribute is cultivated and nurtured in all aspects of life: … “That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, and if you cannot see Him, then He sees you (anyway)”, then this will be the opening of doors of success in both worlds. The person who has developed within himself the beautiful state of “Ihsan” will lead a very balanced life. Temptations will come his way, but he will not fall for those temptations. The quality of Ihsan