Asalam waliykum Ya Muslimeen!
Subhana Allah! Time has flown by, we are in the last 8/9 days of Ramadan. Only felt like yesterday I had posted about Eating well in Ramadan, here is the link to my last blog post "Welcome Ramadan". Such a scary feeling, that I only remember but a few days, as they have gone by so quickly.
A little late then expected, I work full time and long hours so I find I am unable to blog in the week, and over the weekends had family over and lots of ibbadah. If you guessed from the title this blog post is about the importance of prayer in Ramadan,
Salaht/ Prayer is a very personal act of Worship, yes as parents, husbands we are obliged to encourage those we are responsible for to carry out this Ibbadah. However, it is personal in terms of how it is performed, and with what sincerity and concentration. Doing the physical movements of the Salaht is merely not enough to validate your prayer.
Prayer is seen to be a way of connecting to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'Ala, and communicating with him in a way no other person can. We are all at different levels within our deen, and inSha Allah we are continuing to develop our relationship with Allah. Some may Pray and it may be basically saying ayat they have remembered and mimicking the actions of prayer, without any substance to their prayer. I guess we all started at that level, but we build up the Kushoo/concetration and understanding of what we are doing, what we are saying and who we are doing this for.
If you have looked at the tabs above, I do have a Salaht Section that I have started and yet to complete, and there I go into detail about what prayer is and how often we should pray.
Now I would like to remind everyone that in Ramadan the reward of good deeds, and Ibbadah are increased. Ramadan Itself, Allah holds the rewards and we do not know what each of us will be rewarded with. For some, unfortunately nothing, as all they gain from this month is hunger and sleeplessness. Lets hope this will not apply to any of us.
Alhamdulillah we are able to perform Salahtul Taraweeh in Ramadan, depending on what Madthab you follow it may be Wajib or Sunnah to pray this in the mosque. As the Hadith states that Muhammed Peace be upon him, would often pray at home, said he feared praying every night in the Masjid would make people believe it was Fard.
These extra Prayers help us stay connected with Allah, and control our nafs and keep it in check. It also helps strengthen our faith and devotion to Allah.
There is a difference in how many units a person should pray for Taraweeh, some follow the opinion of 8 Raka, some 11 and some others 20. This is all personal to you and what you have researched and believe to be the right way.
Allah Said:
"is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing (in prayer), fearing the hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his lord, (like one who does not)? Say, "Are those who now equal to those who do not know?" Only they will remember (who are) people of understanding." [Noble Quran 39.9]
The Tahajjud/ Night prayer is also very important in Ramadan, the sunnah is to wake up the last 3rd of the night, usually some time before Fajr and offer these night prayers then. Carried out in 2 units and recitation of the Quran is elongated and each movement if prolonged. Unfortunately due to my working hours I have been unable to participate fully, However, even a few Raka before Fajr is better then none.
The importance of carrying out these extra Sunnah Salaht in Ramadan is that, it is easier to do these extra Ibbadah as Shiytan is locked up, and psychologists say it takes 15-20 days to pick up a habit. So if you implement this knowledge to Ramadan, If we read Quran consistently and Pray our sunnah and Nafl consistently then when Ramadan leaves us we will keep hold of these new good habits and carry on doing this for the rest of the year.
This can be applied to any good deed, for example, Sisters who are not wearing Hijab wear it for Ramadan with good Niya/Intention and Insha Allah you will keep it on after Ramadan finishes.
Ramadan is a time to better ourselves, not just for the month but for the remainder of the year, and with each year we should be aiming higher and expecting to achieve more.
In Sha Allah this post has come as a boost to some of you, especially as some of us start to run low on energy and enthusiasm. But there is still 8/9 days to gain those rewards and perfect our ibbadah. Allah has knowledge of when Laylatal Qader/ Night of Decree is, so there is still time to experience this event.
As always, Jazaka Allah khier for reading.
Wasalam -x-
