Image source: Boston.com

Finishing up the plate of roti kirai, a type of dish made from flour here in Singapore, I began walking to the masjid for my maghrib prayers. To my right and left, I saw many Muslims breaking their fast, slowly taking their time, laughing and swapping stories over piping hot dishes and chilled drinks. The man manning the payment counter was grinning, perhaps thinking about the money he made today charging these people for the buffet iftar.

Later on as the muezzin called out for Isya’ prayers to begin and the saf in the masjid began to form and tighten its ranks, the same group of people just outside were still laughing and chatting, turning a deaf ear to the muezzin’s reminder…

Sisters and brothers, we are almost halfway through the month of Ramadhan and I just thought it will be beneficial to remind myself, and all of us, this nugget of information so that we can at least strive to make the last two weeks of Ramadhan count if we have not been doing so for the time that has escaped our grasp.

I was browsing through facebook the other night and found my brother’s status update to read as such: “There is no use in fasting without prayer for your fast will not be accepted. Thus, please pray…”, and as I looking through the replies on his wall as well as looking at the activities of the general public, I was disheartened to find that many Muslims are actually abstaining from food and drink, without realizing that Allah has no use of their fast.

What do I mean by this? 

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting.)” [Hadith Bukhari]

My beloved sisters and brothers in Islam, please, reflect on the hadith above and strive to understand the meaning of your fasting, and straighten the niyyah of your fast. 

The bare fact, painful as it is to some, is that fasting (sawm) is the third (or fourth, according to other sources) pillar of Islam, while prayer (Salah) is the second pillar. In addition to the countless verses in the Qur’an highlighting the importance of prayer, the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. even goes on to explain that the one who abandons prayer is a kafir, a disbeliever! What use is the fasting of a disbeliever in the eyes of Allah swt?

‘That which differentiates us from the disbelievers and the hypocrites is our performance of Salah. He who abandons it becomes a disbeliever.’ [Hadith At-Tirmidhi]

Too many Muslims battle with the comfort of their mattresses every morning to get up for sahur, too many Muslims clutch their stomach by the afternoon as it groans and whimpers, too many Muslims place their feet on this earth with weariness as evening draws close, tired and exhausted… but too many Muslims too do not actually get around to perform their prayers during the day and during the night, thus making all the above physical sacrifices only to have it in vain.

Didn’t Allah already warn us of this matter?

Say, [O Muhammad], “Shall we [believers] inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.” [Qur’an 18:103-104]

Let us all use the remaining two weeks of Ramadhan to get closer to Allah; afterall, if we are not able to control our nafs in this month, what are the chances that we can do so during other months when our opposition, our nafs, is joined by the shayateen?

Kaab bin Ujra relates,” Prophet Mohammad s.a.w. said, “Come near to the mimbar.”. And we came near to the mimbar. When he ascended the first step of the mimbar he said “Ameen”. When he ascended the second step of the mimbar he said, “Ameen”. When he ascended the third step he said, “Ameen”. When he descended we said , “O Prophet Mohammad s.a.w., we have heard from you today something which we never heard before”.

He said, (When I ascended the first step) Jibreel a.s. appeared before me and said, “Woe to him who found the blessed month of Ramadan and let it pass by without gaining forgiveness” . Upon that I said, “Ameen” . When I ascended the second step, he said, “Woe to him before whom thy name is mentioned and then does not read durood on you” . I replied “Ameen” . When I ascended the third step he said, “Woe unto the person in whose presence both parents or one of them attain old age, and (through failure to serve them) is not allowed to enter Jannah.” I said “Ameen”.

Let us not be amongst the people who fail to reap the uncountable benefits of this Ramadhan - the people whom the Prophet s.a.w. has made du’a for woe to befall on them. Worse, let us no longer leave our prayers without any valid excuse, for in doing so, we are akin to disbelievers… Naudhubillah!

My beloved sisters and brothers, as I remind myself first before all of you, let us move our body to perform the Salah, before someone else has to move our (dead) body to perform Salah for us.

May the coming last two weeks of Ramadhan be beneficial, full of His mercy and forgiveness insyaAllah :)