Ramadan Reflections - Juz 16-18
Ramadan 2022 - Juz 16
ذِكْرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُۥ زَكَرِيَّآ
إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥ نِدَآءً خَفِيًّۭا
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى وَهَنَ ٱلْعَظْمُ مِنِّى وَٱشْتَعَلَ ٱلرَّأْسُ شَيْبًۭا وَلَمْ أَكُنۢ بِدُعَآئِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّۭا
وَإِنِّى خِفْتُ ٱلْمَوَٰلِىَ مِن وَرَآءِى وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًۭا فَهَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّۭا
يَرِثُنِى وَيَرِثُ مِنْ ءَالِ يَعْقُوبَ ۖ وَٱجْعَلْهُ رَبِّ رَضِيًّۭا
يَـٰزَكَرِيَّآ إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَـٰمٍ ٱسْمُهُۥ يَحْيَىٰ لَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ مِن قَبْلُ سَمِيًّۭا
قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى غُلَـٰمٌۭ وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًۭا وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ ٱلْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّۭا
قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَىَّ هَيِّنٌۭ وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْـًۭٔا
˹This is˺ a reminder of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah, when he cried out to his Lord privately, saying:
“My Lord! Surely my bones have become brittle, and grey hair has spread across my head, but I have never been disappointed in my prayer to You, my Lord! I am concerned about ˹the faith of˺ my relatives after me, since my wife is barren. So grant me, by Your grace, an heir,
who will inherit ˹prophethood˺ from me and the family of Jacob, and make him, O Lord, pleasing ˹to You˺!”
˹The angels announced,˺ “O Zachariah! Indeed, We give you the good news of ˹the birth of˺ a son, whose name will be John—a name We have not given to anyone before.”
He wondered, “My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren, and I have become extremely old?”
An angel replied, “So will it be! Your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me, just as I created you before, when you were nothing!’”
— Qur’an 19:2-9
Zachariah prays for a child, even though he knows the seeming impossibility of it. He is in old age and his wife is passed child-bearing age. He knows his prayer feels “impossible” but with more certainty he knows that Allah will never let him down.
He prays for good and righteousness, praying only for what would be pleasing to Allah. He prays for an heir to pass on his legacy and to spread goodness after he has passed. Not out of selfishness or self-interest, but only to serve Allah.
We see here the power and etiquette of Dua. A conversation between God and one of His servants. Open hearted and honest, seeking only good.
As a result of the sincere prayer an angel tells Zacahriyah the good news and the ease with which Allah can provide.
Similarly in our own lives, we should never lose hope and stop praying when something “seems impossible”. It is often the case that things may seem to be at an end, but God will open avenues which we could not have imagined.
The world is vast, and opportunities are endless, it’s only our perspective that is limited, while God’s power is unending.
هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَٱدْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ ۗ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٦٥
“He is the Ever-Living. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. So call upon Him with sincere devotion, ˹saying,˺ “All praise is for Allah—Lord of all worlds.”” — Quran 40:65
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى يُحْىِۦ وَيُمِيتُ ۖ فَإِذَا قَضَىٰٓ أَمْرًۭا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ ٦٨
“He is the One Who gives life and causes death. When He decrees a matter, He simply tells it, “Be!” And it is!” — Quran 40:68
Ramadan 2022 - Juz 17
خُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مِنْ عَجَلٍۢ ۚ سَأُو۟رِيكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِى فَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلُونِ ٣٧
“Humankind is made of haste. I will soon show you My signs, so do not ask Me to hasten them.” — Quran 21:37
There will come a day for all of us when we will look back on the past and we will wish that we could just have one more day to experience everything again.
This happens to some of us at many junctures throughout our journey. We don’t realise what we have until it is gone. Be that wealth, friends, family or time.
If we find ourselves in tough times financially, we may look back and wish that we hadn’t wasted so much in the past. If we find ourselves exceptionally busy with work and family, we will look back on times when we were more free and we will wish we had better spent the time. When friends or family move on we look back on our time with them and wish we had invested it better.
Similarly a day will come when we are raised to Allah and we will look back on our lives and wish we had spent the time better. The day of regret.
وَأَنذِرْهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْحَسْرَةِ إِذْ قُضِىَ ٱلْأَمْرُ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍۢ وَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ٣٩
“And warn them ˹O Prophet˺ of the Day of Regret, when all matters will be settled, while they are ˹engrossed˺ in heedlessness and disbelief.” — Quran 19:39
The day of Judgement is called the day of regret because everyone will have some form of regrets. Be that regret of good or evil. Even the most righteous of people will regret something. They will wish they had invested their time more prudently and done more good.
With our worldly lives and the afterlife it is important for us to take stock of things early. We should evaluate our lives and what we’re grateful for each day. We should make sure to thank Allah for everything and to make the most of what we have before it’s gone.
There are so many things we mostly take for granted on a daily basis, our faculties, our family, friends, even things we may consider basic amenities like food, running water and clean air.
وَءَاتَىٰكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَإِن تَعُدُّوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَظَلُومٌۭ كَفَّارٌۭ ٣٤
“He has granted you all that you asked Him for. If you tried to count Allah’s blessings, you would never be able to number them. Indeed humankind is truly unfair, ˹totally˺ ungrateful.” — Quran 14:34
It is important we take a minute to think, what would we miss if we woke up tomorrow and it was gone. How much were we grateful for today? Imagine we woke up tomorrow with only the things we had been thankful for today?
Similarly on a larger scale, when we look at our lives, there are so many things that we will look back on after we die. We will wish we could return for just one day and rectify all our wrongs. We will wish for one day to get in as many good deeds as possible.
Even the best of people will wish for one extra day, not just to do good, but to be excellent.
Let us not wait until we’re filled with regret. Let us seize the day, strive to live our best life, and make today that one excellent day.
Ramadan 2022 - Juz 18
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ١
ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى صَلَاتِهِمْ خَـٰشِعُونَ ٢
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ ٱللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ ٣
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَوٰةِ فَـٰعِلُونَ ٤
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَـٰفِظُونَ ٥
إِلَّا عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ ٦
فَمَنِ ٱبْتَغَىٰ وَرَآءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْعَادُونَ ٧
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَـٰنَـٰتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَٰعُونَ ٨
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَوَٰتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ ٩
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْوَٰرِثُونَ ١٠
ٱلَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ ٱلْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ ١١
“Successful indeed are the believers: those who humble themselves in prayer; those who avoid idle talk; those who pay alms-tax;
those who guard their chastity except with their wives or those ˹bondwomen˺ in their possession, for then they are free from blame,
but whoever seeks beyond that are the transgressors.
˹The believers are also˺ those who are true to their trusts and covenants; and those who are ˹properly˺ observant of their prayers.
These are the ones who will be awarded Paradise as their own. They will be there forever.”— Quran 23:1-11
Allah lays out a blueprint for us in the Qur’an. How to live a good life pleasing to Allah and in line with the actions and practices of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). The best life.
The actions of faith, enrich our actions and bring some semblance of nobility to our lives. Through actions of goodness - seeking to please Allah and follow the noble example of our messenger Muhammad (ﷺ), we can live the most wholesome, peaceful and enriched of lives.
Even when we slip in this path it’s important to remember that the path back to God is simple. Repentance and seeking forgiveness is the key step, as well as not allowing guilt to overwhelm us. It’s natural to slip, what’s important is our response and our continued efforts to improve:
إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ لَفِی خُسۡرٍ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوۡا۟ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوۡا۟ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ
“Surely humanity is in ˹grave˺ loss,
except those who have faith and do good deeds
and urge each other to the truth, and urge each other to perseverance.”
— Qur’an Al-Asr 103:2-3
وَمَن تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحࣰا فَإِنَّهُۥ یَتُوبُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَتَابࣰا
“And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to Allah properly.’’ —Quran Al-Furqan 25:71