In the previous post we mentioned some of the effects of reciting the holy Quran. Now we want to continue that.

The holy Quran is a very good companion. Imam Sajjad peace be upon him said:

If all the people between east and west ( meaning: all the people of the world) die, and just the holy Quran is with me, I do not feel frightened.

If we do not consider the Quran as a companion and leave it alone, as the holy Quran said, the holy Prophet of Islam will complain from us on the day of Judgment.

It is interesting that even looking at the verses of the Quran or listening to the recitation of the Quran without reciting it, is considered as a worship and has rewards.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said: Reciting the holy Quran with looking at the verses, enlightens the eyes and decreases the punishment of the reciter’s parents even though they both were infidels.

Nowadays a good custom is prevalent especially in the Islamic countries and that is the memorization of the holy Quran. The holy Prophet of Islam is narrated to have said:

Allah does not punish the heart that includes the Quran.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said: When a young believer recites the holy Quran, the Quran gets mixed with the meat and blood of him/her and Allah will make him/her to be accompanied by the great honorable angels who are the writers and carriers of the Quran and the Quran will be his/her guardian on the Day of Judgment.

The holy Quran is a book which enlightens us. According to Imam Ali peace be upon him, the companion of the Quran when he/she wants to go away(after reciting it) is effected by the Quran increasingly or decreasingly, the guidance got increased or the blindness (of the heart) got decreased.

According to the Narrations, one of the responsibilities of the father for his child is to teach him/her the holy Quran.

 Sometime our hearts get rusted, the holy Prophet of Islam said: The hearts get rusted just like the iron gets rusted, the thing that polishes them is the recitation of the Quran.

There are some recommendations from the infallibles which show that every individual chapter of the holy Quran has specific results and effects. For more information refer to the books of the exegesis of the holy Quran in the beginning part of every chapter’s description.

But it is important to be noted that it is true that reciting the holy Quran it so good even when it is done without pondering, but definitely the complete effects of them are achieved when it is done with pondering upon its verses and at the same time being away from committing the sins which is a great barrier for the complete Quranic effects.

There is a Narration from Imam Sadiq peace be upon him in this regard, he said: There are many reciters of the Quran that they are cursed by it. When he was asked about these people, the Imam replied:

Those who recite the Quran but they do not act according to that. (They do not implement the Quran in their lives).

It is like some of the companions of the Prophet of Islam that they were with him for some years but they did not act according to what they have learned from him.

The holy Quran is a cure for our spiritual diseases. The holy Quran said in chapter yunos verse 57:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءتْكُم مَّوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَشِفَاء لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“People, an admonition has now come to you from your lord, and a healing for what is in the chests, a guide and a mercy to believers.”

Imam Ali peace be upon him in one of his sermons in the book of Nahj-Albalaghah, called Khutbah Al-Hammah, sermon number 184 or 192 (due to difference in the version of the narrations of this book) mentioned the features of the pious and it is so interesting and I recommend our dear brothers and sisters to read this very beautiful sermon and try to implement these features little by little in their lives. One of the features of the pious is that in night they recite the verses of the holy Quran and they try to cure their (spiritual) diseases according to the Quran. When they reach to the hopeful verses, they become hopeful in a way that it is as they are seeing by their eyes the blessings mentioned in the verse and when they reach to the verses in which there is fear, they listen to it carefully in a way as the whimper of the Hell is heard by them.

The recitation of holy Quran enlightens the house. The holy Prophet of Islam said:

Enlighten your house with the recitation of the Quran and do not make your houses as cemeteries just like the people of Christianity and Judaism did so, they pray in the churches and synagogues and they make their houses off from it. The blessings get increased in the house in which the Quran is recited so much and the inhabitants of that house get in the vastness (of sustenance).

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Source: howzah.net

The holy Prophet of Islam delivered a sermon before the starting of the month of Ramadan in which he mentioned very important features of this month. Imam Ali peace be upon him ask a very essential question, he asked the Prophet: “What is the best deed in this month?” And the holy Prophet answered: “Wara and avoidance from the prohibitions of Allah.”

We sometimes lose the main point. We perform many recommended deeds and worships, but we are negligent of the most important thing and that is Taqwa or God-fearing.

The great Iranian poet Molavi composed a very interesting poem which in brief is as following:

We try and do our best in order to gather wheat in the store, but we are negligent of the mice in it that they eat the wheat.

In the above mentioned poet, committing sins is likened to the mice and recommended acts are likened to the wheat. We must firstly remove and eradicate the mice from the store and then try to gather the wheat; otherwise we cannot take benefits from gathering the wheat.

Wara is defined in the words of Imam Ali peace be upon him as this:

Wara means to stop at the time of doubts.

The author of the Tafsir Bayan Almaani mentions the difference between Taqwa(God-fearing) and Wara. He said: Taqwa means to avoid from what Allah has prohibited, and Wara means to avoid from the doubtful situations and even sometimes avoid from Halal and allowed things in order not to be trapped in committing the prohibited and Haram things, and the position of Wara is greater than the position of Taqwa.

Let me mention some of the benefits of Taqwa and Wara according to the verses of the holy Quran and Narrations of the infallibles in brief:

-Recognition of the right from wrong.

Allah said in chapter Anfal verse 29:

يِا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ إَن تَتَّقُواْ اللّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ

“Believers, if you fear Allah, He will give you a criteria and cleanse you of your sins and forgive you. Allah is the owner of great bounty.”

Imam Ali peace be upon him said:

The intellect gets destroyed by the lust and the wishes of soul.

-Being benefited from the divine teachings.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said:

(the real) knowledge is not through learning so much, but rather it is a light that Allah puts in every heart that he wishes to guide him/her.

Throughout the history the great Islamic scholars were recommending their students the purification of the soul and avoiding from committing sins as a necessary factor for achieving to knowledge.

-Being benefited from the blessings of the heaven and the earth.

The holy Quran mentions this factor in chapter Talaq verses 2- 3:

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا   وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ

“Whosoever fears Allah, He will appoint for him a way out,

and provide for him from where he does not expect”

or in verse 96 chapter Araf Allah said:

وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْقُرَى آمَنُواْ وَاتَّقَواْ لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَرَكَاتٍ مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ

“Had the people of the villages believed and been cautious, we would have opened upon them the blessings from heaven and earth.”

-Being a cause for our deeds to be accepted by Allah.

Allah said in chapter Maedah verse 27:

إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ

“Allah accepts only from the righteous”

-Being rescued from the hardships

Alalh said in chapter Talaq verse 4:

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ يُسْرًا

“Allah will ease (matters) by his order for whosoever fears Him”

-Being profited from the guidance of the Quran.

Allah said in chapter Baghare verse 2:

ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

“That is the (holy) book, where there is no doubt. It is guidance for the cautious (of evil and hell)”

-Being forgiven by Allah.

Allah said in chapter Talaq verse 5:

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يُكَفِّرْ عَنْهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِ وَيُعْظِمْ لَهُ أَجْرًا

“Whosoever fears Allah, shall be relieved of his sins and given a mighty wage”

-Being a cause for entering the Paradise.

In some verses of the holy Quran Allah talks about the hereafter and the position of the pious there, like chapter Maryam verse 85:

يَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ الْمُتَّقِينَ إِلَى الرَّحْمَنِ وَفْدًا

“On the day when we will ceremonially gather the righteous to the merciful”

Or this verse in chapter Shoara verse 90:

أُزْلِفَتِ الْجَنَّةُ لِلْمُتَّقِینَ

“And Paradise shall be brought forward to the cautious”

So this holy month is a great opportunity that we can practice Taqwa and piety in order to have this great state in the other months of the year too.

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Source: Howzeh.net

In short, the fast involves abstention from all food, drink, vain talk, and sexual intercourse for married couples from the time before dawn when the sky becomes light enough to distinguish a black thread from the white thread of the horizon, until after sunset when redness leaves the Eastern half of the sky. Some people are not to able to fast due to age, health, child-bearing conditions, etc., and instead give charity, and/or make up the days of fast they missed at a later time.

However, the true spirit of the fast of the month of Ramadan is more than just abstention from a few things. It is a time of sustained, amplified effort toward spiritual perfection.

“Thirst and hunger you undergo, feel and live through, here and now, to bring to your mind the severity and sharpness of the drought and starvation that will be the order of the day on the Day of Judgment.

• Give alms to the poor and destitute.
• Treat your parents and elders with respect.
• Be kind and loving to your children and juniors.
• Take care of and look after your relatives.
• Keep from giving tongue to that which should not even be whispered.
• Shut your eyes to that which is indecent to have an eye for.
• Turn a deaf ear to that which is too slanderous to be all ears to.
• Be compassionate, gentle and benign unto orphans so that after you, your children, if need be, receive the same treatment from others.
• Turn repentant to God and seek His nearness.”

In addition to fasting and aiming for excellent moral character, Muslims devote as much time and energy as possible in the month of Ramadan toward prayer and supplication to the One and Only God. During some of the nights of this month, Muslims will remain awake the whole night in worship.

After the last day of the month of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid ul Fitr to commemorate the completion of the fast. They get together for prayer, food, and modest gift exchange (particularly for children). However, it is a day of mixed feelings, because the most blessed month of Ramadan with all of its opportunities for forgiveness and reward are gone for another year.

“I take refuge with Thy kindest disposition, O Lord, lest the dawn of this night breaks forth, or the month of Ramadan comes to an end, and I still stand as an accused (unforgiven) sinner, liable to be punished, on the Day I am presented before Thee.”

[From a prayer of the last night of the month of Ramadan, taught by Imam Jafar as-Sadiq, peace be upon him]

Reading lots of Quran.

Avoiding bad deeds.

Making good food.

Aiming to be a better Muslim.

Donating money to the poor.

Having fun on ‘Eid.

Always be honest.

Never forget the Almighty Allah.

 

Written by Askari Hussain
a student in the 2nd grade of an Islamic School.

The general fast is the fast that is obligatory on every one who meets the conditions of fasting.  Basically it is to refrain from eating, drinking, copulation, and all those things mentioned by the esteemed jurists in their books of Divine law.  To abstain from some of the basic necessities is really a challenge, but its result is so rewarding that it can determine the eternal salvation of the human being.  There is a universal law Almighty Allāh mentions in the Qur’ān which despite its brevity reveals a world of meaning.  After excusing the traveler and ailing one from fasting in this holy month and allowing them to fast after the holy month, He says:

يُرِيدُ اللٌّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلاَ يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ

“…God desires ease for you, and He does not desire hardship for you…”

Although this clause is brought after a particular case, it should be known that it applies in every dimension of human life.  The ambiguity that remains however is that ‘what is the definition of ‘yusr’ (ease), and whether ‘one who is healthy’ does not feel the pangs of hunger and thirst.  To respond to this query, we should look at the following verse:

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا. إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

“For indeed ease accompanies hardship; Indeed ease accompanies hardship.”

Most commentators, appreciating the lexical intricacy involved in the verse say that ‘difficulty’ is interlinked with two kinds of ease- ease in this world and ease in the Hereafter.  Or, more accurately, ease in this world, and ease in the realm beyond; the latter, due to our limited comprehension cannot be fathomed, save by one who is endowed with the penetrating sight mentioned in the following verse of Sūrat Qāf:

لَقَدْ كُنْتَ فِي غَفْلَةٍ مِنْ هٌذَا فَكَشَـفْنَا عَنْكَ غِطَاءَكَ فَبَصَرُكَ الْيَوْمَ حَدِيدٌ

“You were certainly oblivious of this.  We have removed your veil from you, and so your sight is acute today.”

Some traditions clearly state that Paradise can be achieved (only) through the pains and difficulties of worship in this world.  The Holy Prophet (s) is reported to have said:

حُفَّتِ الْجَنَّةُ بِالْمَكَارِهِ، وَحُفَّتِ النَّارُ بِالشَّهَوَات.

“Paradise is enveloped by difficulties and Hell Fire is enveloped by desires.”

Imām ‘Alī (‘a) is reported to have said in a lengthy tradition:

…وَاللٌّهِ إِنَّ صَائِمَكُمْ لَيَرْتَعْ فِي رِيَاضِ الْجَنَّةِ، تَدْعُو لَهُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ بِالْفَوْزِ حَتّى يُفْطِرَ.

“I swear by Allāh, surely the fasting one among you enjoys in the gardens of Paradise, and the Angels pray for his success until he breaks his fast.”

Observe the tone of the tradition: Imām ‘Alī (‘a) swears when he informs his true followers about their state when they fast.  Many of those who sincerely fast do enjoy these stations in Paradise while they fast, but the curtains that veil them from perceiving the higher realms of existence do not allow them to appreciate this reality.  If the curtains were lifted they would witness their exalted state while they still reside in this mortal world.

In the introduction to his anthology ‘Shahrullāh fī al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah’, when explaining the kind of Divine Banquet that believers should anticipate in the holy month of Ramadān, Hujjat al-Islam Muhammadī Ray Shahrī quotes al-Risālah al-Majdiyyah of Shaykh Ridā al-Isfahānī, where the latter explains the kind of Divine Repast that the believers are invited to.  At one point he says:

Indeed I have heard several times and repeatedly from one who is closest to me in terms of relationship and kinship6 saying: ‘ I was busy reciting the well-known Ziyārat Amīn Allāh’ in the holy sanctuary in Najaf, and when I reached the verse ‘wa māwā’id al-mustat‘īmīna mu’addah” (and the banquets of those who seek sustenance are ready) and reflected over its meaning and thought about it, I was suddenly made to see a banquet on which lay different kinds of food and drinks, which I had never thought of, and I was eating from them, and in the course of that state I was contemplating about an Islamic ruling.  Surely it is an amazing state which renders one perplexed! The truth is that this is the reality of [Paradisal] food, which does not break the fast…’

Al-Isfahāni later continues saying:

ولا تظنن أنّ تعبيرات هذا العبد هي من قبيل خيالات الشعراء وأوهامهم، أو من شطحيات غلاة المتصوفة، فحاشى أن أتجاوز لسان الكتاب والسنة، أو اتخطى في معتقدي غير ما جاء به الله والنبي وأمر به، وإنما المقصود هو قول الله نفسه في سورة “هل أتى” حيث يقول سبحانه: وَسَقٌهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ شَرَابــاً طَهُوراً

 “Do not think that the expressions of this servant resembles the imaginations of the poets and their vain ideas or the theopathetic utterances (shatahiyyāt) of the extremist so-called sūfīs (mutasawwifah).  I dare not transcend the bounds of the speech of the Book of God and the Sunnah, or adopt a course in my belief that is other than what Allāh and His Messenger brought and ordered [us to follow].  What I only mean here is the word of Allāh in chapter ‘Hal Atā’ where Allāh says:

وَسَقَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ شَرَابًا طَهُورًا

“…and their Lord made them drink a pure drink.”

Therefore despite the apparent hardship of fasting, ‘the ease that it accompanies’ is inexpressible.  Those endowed with deep insight also term hunger as the ‘the clouds from which rains of wisdom heavily fall’.  In his poetic masterpiece of Islamic laws & their secrets called Nibrās al-Hudā, Mullā Hādī Sabzawāri says:

وَالْجُوْعُ لِلْحِكْمَةِ مُزْنٌ مَاطِرٌ.

“And hunger is a rainy cloud of wisdom.”

Source: A Short Treatise on The Divine Invitation; wriiten by Muhammad M. Khalfan