Ramadhan, Qur’an, and Piety
Your Share
This month is undoubtedly great and blessed, but not everyone who happens to
live it is automatically entitled to get the blessings it brings.
When it rains, different
ponds and pools, canals and rivers receive their share according to their own depth
and size.
Also, different parts of the land yield crops according to their varied
capabilities.
The rain is the same for all, but a small pit cannot receive as much of it
as can a big pond.
Then, the downpour on a rock does not benefit it much; it
remains on the surface and flows out from there.
But if the downpour is on a
fertile land, it enlivens it.
The same is true of men, their nature and their destiny.
What is going to be your share from the treasures of Ramadhan?
Like the fertile soil, you may become soft-hearted and moist-eyed, sow the seed of belief
and determination inside yourself, and add to your capabilities.
Thus, a seed will grow into a sapling, and a sapling into a tree.
The tree will be laden with the fruits of good deeds, and you will reap the fruit – the fruit of eternal bliss.
Just like the farmer, as you sow so shall you reap; and the more you toil, the more you shall get.
But if you remain hard-hearted, like the farmer who slept when it was time to wake up and work,
then the blessings and goodness of Ramadhan and Tarawih (night prayers during the holy month) will pass without benefiting you,
just like the downpour that does not benefit the rock.
Nothing is gained without Allah’s Will.
But Allah’s Will favours only those who strive hard in the way of Allah.
Listen to what Allah says.
He says that if you walk to Him a foot, He will walk to you two feet; if you move towards Him walking, He will come to you running.7
But if you stand still, impervious and oblivious, then Allah’s Will cannot be in your favour.
So, be careful lest the whole blessed month of Ramadhan passes, with its downpour of blessings and goodness, and you remain empty-handed.
Make a resolve to get your share of Ramadhan’s blessings by keeping in view quite a stern warning of the Holy Prophet:
There are many who observe fast, but they get nothing except hunger and thirst.
There are many who pray in the night, but they gain nothing except sleepless nights.8
It all depends on you! Get yourself ready to welcome Ramadhan most befittingly, and try to make most of it.
Before the advent of Ramadhan, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) used to tell his Companions about its greatness and exhort that they should spare no efforts to get maximum benefit from it.
This is what I intend to do here,
i.e. discover the secret of the greatness of Ramadhan, understand the importance of preparations and resolve to welcome it,
use the opportunity it provides to get optimum benefit, appreciate the points that merit our attention and focus,
recommend ways and means that make the journey to the destination easy
and more rewarding, and avoid the path and approach that may frustrate the whole purpose and lead to failure and destruction.
7 Al-Muslim, narrated by the Prophet’s Companion Abu Dhar
8 Al-Darimi, narrated by Abu Hurairah