Monday, October 16, 2006


'Yay~! Raya is coming!'

Assalamualaikum wrh. wbt.

First of all, allow me to weep.

Time does fly so, doesn't it? And it seems that the first 2/3 of Ramadhan has just slipped through our fingers, hasn't it?

It sure does feel like it.

And now, people on my Yahoo! Messenger list (people who do MSN, I do not have ANY of your contact deets) are starting to rejoice over the end of Ramadhan, and the start of Syawal.

And I'm thinking, "Well, yeah, Eid-ul-Fitr is coming. But lemme get this straight: You're rejoicing over the fact that in about a week from now, Iblis and his mafioso (The Syaitan Co.) are going to be let loose on the earth, and continue their pursuit on dragging us all to Hell (quite literally)?"

Get outta here.

Maybe my lack of feeling for Eid is due to the fact that I don't fancy being harangued by the Devil again. My fight with my nafs is hard enough, without having a multitude of other whispers ('was-was' = whispers of the Devil) in my heart, trying to pull me in the wrong direction.

But enough about that.
Let's talk about the Night of Nights.
The Big One.

And no. I do not mean the open house some people are thinking of holding on the first weekend of Syawal.

I'm talking about the Night of Decree, or Lailatul-Qadr.

What does the Qur'an say about Lailatul-Qadr?
Lemme check:

'Indeed, We sent it [i.e. the Qur'an] down during the Night of Decree.

And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree?

The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months.

The Angels and the Spirit [i.e. Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter*.

Peace it is** until the emergence of Dawn.'

{Suratul-Qadr, 97: 1-5}

*they bring down the decree for everything destined to occur in the coming year.
**Upon the believers.

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

The Night of Decree.

And when is this Night of Decree going to occur?

Allah Ta'ala has promised those who search for it, with the purest of intention, in the last ten nights of Ramadhan. The Prophet [pbuh] himself said (and let me paraphrase this), "Search for it in the odd nights of the last ten nights of Ramadhan".

And the jumhur ulama', no matter which school of thought you belong to, agree that what is meant by 'searching for it' is by actually waking up for a vigil in the middle of the night - preferably the last 1/3 of the night, because this is when Allah descends into this realm - and doing ibadah i.e. solat sunnah such as the tahajjud and the witr, reciting the Qur'an and the sahur, purely for Allah.

As a sidenote, the Masjid known as the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) has started their i'tiqaf activities. People (men, especially) are welcome to do their tarawih from 2am onwards, until Subuh. Harap maklum.

It's also amazing, how much more keen Australians are on making the most of Ramadhan, especially while they're in a non-Muslim country, and back in LITW, the 'Bazaar Ramadhan' gig heats up in the last ten days, instead.

And LITW is one of them 'Islamic nations'!
Indeed.

There was this hadith qudsi (relayed to the ummah via the Prophet, but describing Allah's exact Words) that mentioned about how proud Allah is of the believers who spend the last part of the night in supplication to Him, and that He mentions their name before the Angels. 'They have left their comfortable beds for Me'.

I want so much to make Allah proud.

Take note, ya ukhti fil Melbourne: Wake me up, especially for the odd nights!!

So.
It really never ceases to amaze me, how people can be so keen on Ramadhan ending.
Especially when it is the best of months.
Especially when Allah blesses us all with this best of months - and we're keen on it going away.

And especially when this is the 'training ground' for the believers.

Some people say that the reason for the saum i.e. the fast is for us to:

Well. I'd say that they're all somewhat right, but neither of the above is the main point of fasting.

Let's open the Qur'an, now, shall we (oh, how I love this part!)?

Chapter 2, verse 183 states:

'O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may acquire taqwa (piety).'

Wow.

Piety.

I want that.

Piety sounds pretty cool to me. Doesn't it?

And piety essentially means to fear Allah. Doing everything as if you could feel God's gaze on you. Doing everything for Him, and for Him only.

To Love Allah in the only way you know how, the only way you were taught how. Because no matter how much you love Allah back, it can never compare to His Love for us all.

Just a reminder for myself that I'd like to share with my blogging audience.

Ramadhan Mubarak, y'all. Here's to making the best of what is left.

And may we be blessed with meeting it again someday. InsyaAllah.

Any limitations are from my part, but they ultimately come from Allah, and surely, it has some meaning behind it.

Verifications on any hadith (sound, unsound?) are very much welcome. Share the knowledge, spread it around.

Wassalamualaikum.

P.S:- Sorry if you find my narrative voice this time around a little hard to swallow. I'm just influenced by Preacher Moss from the 'Allah Made Me Funny' comedy tour, hitting OZ and NZ this summer, the promo vid available for viewing here.

'Takbir, brother!'

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this has been a rant by Syazwina Saw at 2:21 pm

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