Reflections In Ramadan ... By Jafar Alam ...

Last night's taraweeh prayers took me to another place. I have never experienced such a feeling before. Standing in qiyam amongst men, women and children, all intoxicated with a deep yearning to come closer to their Lord. Grown men crying to my left and my right, from the front and back. The imam recited Fatiha ( The Opening ) in the most beautiful recitation I have ever heard. He went from reciting in his beautiful melodious tone, to reciting and trying to keep his composure, to crying uncontrollably through the last eight rakaat's. Once again, he had managed to move me to tears. Rumi's famous poem came to mind at that moment : "What Allah said to the rose and caused it to laugh in full blown beauty, He said to my heart and made it a hundred times more beautiful" ... Praying at home lets us see how our family's doing. Praying in jamah lets us see how the community's doing. And hajj lets us see how the ummah's doing. Lastnight's taraweeh made me solely evaluate myself. It made me realize how much poorer I am spiritually this year, then I was last year ... What a difference a year makes ... I felt like a hypocrite, who fasts only with the stomach and a few dhikrs by day, and had minor spiritual highs during taraweeh ... only to go back to the same routine for the next day. I'm ashamed to say, that with a third of Ramadan over, I've opened the Qur'an only twice, missed 3 fasts, and performed the five daily prayers on time only once. I've given into the dunya again ... Temporary pleasures ... My brother Ahmed Hussain ( May Allah have mercy on his soul ) said it best: "This world is a prison, and it's upto you to free yourself from it" ... and "This world is like a beautiful whore, it makes you feel special, but it doesn't care about you" ... Now I see the world for what it really is ... an illusion ... Anything that comes to an end, cannot be real. Allah says in surah Ar-Rahman "All forms of life will come to an end, and the Face of your Lord will remain" ... Now I'll try harder to not chase after the shadow, but to chase after the Real ... How can I go to the world for help, when the world itself is in need of something Greater?



Imam Al Ghazali said : 

"Love whoever and whatever you want, for verily you shall taste its seperation" 


Wa anna ila Rabbika muntaha (And to Allah is your return)



May Allah increase us all in our iman, ibaada,ihsaan and islam ... 
May He increase us in taqwa and muhabba ...
And may He remove the love of the dunya from our hearts ... 
InshaaAllah ameen ... 




Peace & Blessings,

Jafar Alam