Ramadan is a worship of solitude
This time in Ramadan, I also had to perform the service of translation and brief commentary of the Holy Quran after Taraweeh (Night Prayers). My own inclination regarding Ramadan Mubarak is that in this month one should focus more on solitary worship. But these days, the challenge is that people who stay away from mosques and worship throughout the year, organize them only in this month. Hence, Ramadan presents a means of conveying the message of the Holy Qur’an to the people. This is why, in addition to Taraweeh and other prayers, a large number of Quran and Hadith sessions are arranged in the society. But I personally always avoid public speeches during Ramadan. However, this time due to the absence of the main speaker in Taraweeh organized by some friends, I had to take this heavy responsibility in Ramadan Kareem on the insistence of these friends and elders.
However, I always draw the attention of people and especially scholars to the fact that the month of Ramadan is not a month of giving speeches, it is actually a month of praying to our Lord in solitude. This is not the month of giving anything to people, but receiving from the Lord Himself. This is the real lesson from Sirat e Tayyaba (The Pure Character). And this is why the worship of Itikaf (Ritual Retreat) was established in this holy month, which cuts one off from the whole world to connect with God. Therefore, whoever can, should cut off from the world in this month and connect with the Lord.
The miracle of the microphone
About a month before Ramadan, I encountered a problem that created a painful situation for me throughout Ramadan. That is, due to some problems with my throat and speech related system, it became very difficult for me to speak. I consulted several specialists. Even an endoscopy was done. But there was no improvement, even though I took about a dozen pills daily to get relief from this pain.
Well, Ramadan started while I was in this situation. It was impossible for me to even speak, let alone an hour of speech every day. I thought I might be able to manage the sermon for a day or two, but continuing after that would not be possible. Despite this apprehension, I started this work in the name of Allah and, by His grace, it became possible to present the translation and summary of the Holy Quran in front of people throughout Ramadan. The resource that Allah chose to make this impossible, possible, was the microphone system. There was a high quality, new model system in use. This made it possible for the stand mic to be close to my mouth and for me to speak in barely a whisper. This whisper was so soft that even the person sitting next to me could not hear it. But the microphone system amplified this whisper into a full and powerful voice reaching the audience. Thus people could listen to me comfortably. Though this whispering made my throat problem much worse, such that during the speech, ninety percent of my strength and energy went into getting the voice out of my throat and barely ten percent of my energy and attention was focused on summarizing, translating, correct delivery of words and sentences, and continuity of ideas. Yet, it is a special grace of Allah Almighty on his humble servant that according to the feedback of the audience, I was somehow successful in conveying the real message of Allah’s words despite the difficulty. The cost that I had to bear was that, apart from this speech, I used to remain silent, communicating with my family in signs and gestures. By the grace of God, however, I was able to fulfill the responsibility that was assigned to me.
Age of Miracles
As I stated earlier, I was sure that I would not be able to do the job and would have to beg pardon from the audience and the organizers in the beginning days. But as we reached the last 10 days, I realized that now it has become possible, I was immensely grateful to the Lord Almighty. But at the same time, my heart was filled with a sense of gratitude for humanity. As our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has taught us that a person who is not grateful to people cannot be grateful to the Lord. Feelings of gratitude filled my heart for all those who have given humanity not only the microphone but many similar useful resources.
As I pondered further, it occurred to me that this is an age of miracles. In all spheres of life, Man has progressed beyond the imagination of the ancient man. Let me illustrate my point with a few examples. The journey from Islamabad to Karachi is about 1200 kilometers which can be covered by plane in less than two hours. This journey was a journey of weeks or perhaps months for the ancient man. Similarly, the 7,000 km journey to America or Canada now takes less than a day. Take another example beyond travel. In today’s era, through phone, internet and TV etc., people thousands of miles apart can communicate with each other as if they were sitting face to face. Besides travel, consider the topic of health & treatment. Due to the progress in this field, the treatment of the most complex human diseases has now been discovered. Major operations are now routine procedures. As a result, not only has the average human age greatly increased, but the human population has grown to over six billion.
Details of the modern conveniences and comforts can span thousands of pages. The point I am drawing attention to is that as a result of these facilities, human life has become extremely easy, comfortable, safe and enjoyable, and the common man today has access to what even the ancient kings did not.
Humanity, Us and God’s Law
But the most painful realization was that the Muslims of today have no contribution to this progress of humanity. Today’s Muslim is ignorantly making use of all of these comforts. But today’s Muslims have absolutely no role in its creation or any contribution to the ease, benefit or betterment of humanity. There are countless modern objects around us. Cars, buses, electricity, computers, air-conditioners, mobiles, TVs, telephones and countless other home and office appliances. If you look at each one of them, none of them can be credited to the Muslim of today. It was very painful for me to realize that we have given nothing to humanity. We have no stake in the present progress, well-being and benefit of humanity.
At this point, I am reminded of the law of the Lord Almighty regarding giving profit, which is described in the Holy Qur’an. In Chapter Ra’ad, Allah says:
He sends down water from the sky that fills riverbeds to overflowing, each according to its measure. The torrent carries along swelling foam, akin to what rises from smelted ore from which man makes ornaments and tools. God thus depicts truth and falsehood. The scum is cast away, but whatever is of use to man remains behind. God thus speaks in parables. (Quran 13:17)
According to this verse, foam, which is useless, does not remain in the world, while water, which is a basic need of man, remains. The same is the case with humans. The person, group or nation that proves itself beneficial to humanity through its actions, that nation can make its place on earth. While unprofitable individuals and nations are as useless as foam. And useless objects have the same fate as foam.
My Father Was King
Unfortunately, Muslims today are fed either hatred or pride by most of their leaders. They tell them that the whole world is their enemy and the main obstacle to their progress is the conspiracies of others. They do not tell them that today’s Muslims have lost the ability to be beneficial. They have given nothing to humanity. When nothing is given, according to God’s law, Muslims today are not entitled to any progress and success either.
Besides the poison of hatred, these people are equally active in building palaces of wishful thinking. They tell Muslims the stories of the greatness of their ancestors and believe that it is possible to build the present from these stories of the past. In our curriculum, by teaching children about the scientific achievements of Muslims, it is believed that Muslims will excel in science. A person’s claim that his father was a king cannot change his situation. Situations change through the right mindsets. It changes by admitting the facts. It changes by directing actions towards the right path. It changes by walking the path of reasonability, peace and love not through emotional slogans and hate speech. Nothing happens in this world by claiming ‘My Father Was a King’.
The Path of Preaching
The reason Muslims are in this situation today is not the fault of someone else but the fault of the Muslim’s own mindsets. Whatever goodness and wellbeing they have today is the favor and kindness of Allah. In many of my writings, I have been explaining in detail that all the blessings that Muslims receive today are from Allah Almighty, the only purpose of which is that Muslims convey the message of truth to humanity. Muslims are custodians of the truth. They have the greatest treasure of the world in the form of the Holy Quran. If they decide to convey this great blessing and its message to humanity, not only will their value and worth increase in the eyes of God, but humanity will also hold them in the highest regard.
Guidance is the right of humanity. God will surely give this right to humanity. Whether they accept the message or not, it is up to them. But guidance is destined to reach them. This work may take some time, but it cannot stop. This is the decision of time.
Wherever you live, be a source of blessing and not a source of pain for people. Until next time, May Allah be with you
Translated by Ali Zafar