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| Ramadan in History Muslims should not semi-hibernate during Ramadan Shaikh Abdullah Hakim Quick All praises to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
He who revealed in His Glorious Qur'an, "Oh you who believe, fasting
is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those who came before you
that you may keep your duty to your Lord (having taqwa)," 2:185. And
may blessings and peace of Allah be upon His last Messenger Muhammad ibn
Abdullah, forever. Oh you who believe, Ramadan is a sacred
month wherein Almighty Allah is constantly testing His creation and giving
humanity the opportunity to achieve infinite, endless Bliss. Fasting is a
complete purification and a means to developing the consciousness of
Allah's presence. The consciousness of Allah (Taqwa) is a protection
against the schemes of Shaitan, and the suffering of this world. Allah has
informed us that, "Whoever keeps his duty to Allah (has taqwa), He
ordains a way out for him and gives him sustenance from where he imagines
not. And whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him. Surely Allah
attains His purpose. Allah has appointed a measure for everything."
(65:2) Many Muslims today have a misconception
about fasting and the activities of a fasting person. They go into a state
of semi-hibernation, spending most of their daylight hours in bed. If they
fear Allah, they wake up for prayer, but then return to sleep immediately.
This unnatural sleep makes them become lazy, dull-witted and often cranky. Ramadan is actually a time of increased
activity wherein the believer, now lightened of the burdens of constant
eating and drinking, should be more willing to strive and struggle for
Allah. The Prophet (pbuh) passes through approximately nine Ramadans after
the Hijrah. They were filled with decisive events and left us a shining
example of sacrifice and submission to Allah. In the first year after the Hijrah, the
Prophet (pbuh) sent Hamza ibn Abdul Mattalib with thirty Muslim riders to
Saif al Bahr to investigate three hundred riders from Quraish who had
camped suspiciously in that area. The Muslims were about to engage the
disbelievers, but they were separated by Majdy ibn Umar al-Juhany. The
Hypocrites of Al-Madinah, hoping to oppose the unity of the Muslims, built
their own masjid (called Masjid al-Dirar). The Prophet (pbuh) ordered this
masjid to be destroyed in Ramadan. On the seventeenth of Ramadan, 3 A.H.,
Almighty Allah separated truth from falsehood at the Great Battle of Badr.
The Prophet (pbuh) and 313 of his companions set out to intercept a
caravan of their own goods that had been left in Makkah. It was led by Abu
Sufyan, himself, and estimated at 50,000 dinars. They were met, instead,
by a well-equipped army of the nobility of Quraish, intent on putting out
the light of Islam. Despite being outnumbered three to one and appearing
weak and unseasoned, the Muslims defended their faith with a burning
desire to protect the meet their Lord through martyrdom. Allah gave them a
decisive victory on this day of Ramadan, that would never to be forgotten. In 6 A.H., Zaid ibn Haritha was sent to
Wadi al-Qura at the head of a detachment to confront Fatimah bint Rabiah,
the queen of that area. Fatimah had previously attacked a caravan led by
Zaid and had succeeded in plundering its wealth. She was known to be the
most protected woman in Arabia, as she hung fifty swords of her close
relatives in her home. Fatimah was equally renowned for showing open
hostility to Islam. She was killed in a battle against these Muslims in
the month of Ramadan. By Ramadan of 8 A.H., the treaty of
Hudaibiyya had been broken and the Muslim armies had engaged the
Byzantines in the North, Muhammad (pbuh) felt the need to strike a fatal
blow to disbelief in the Arabian Peninsula and conquer the city of Mecca.
Allah had declared His Sanctuary a place of peace, security and religious
sanctity. Now the time had come to purify the Kaabah of nakedness and
abomination. The Prophet (pbuh) set out with an army having more armed men
than Al-Madinah had ever seen before. People were swelling the army's
ranks as it moved toward Makkah. The determination of the believers,
guided by the Will of Allah, became so awesome that the city of Makkah was
conquered without a battle, on 20 Ramadan. This was one of the most
important dates in Islamic history for after it, Islam was firmly
entrenched in the Arabian Peninsula. During the same month and year, after
smashing the idols of Makkah, detachments were sent to the other major
centers of polytheism and al-Lat, Manat and Suwa, some of the greatest
idols of Arabia, were destroyed. Such was the month of Ramadan in the time
of the Prophet (pbuh). It was a time of purification, enjoining the good,
forbidding evil, and striving hard with one's life and wealth. After the
death of the Prophet (pbuh), Muslims carried on this tradition and Allah
used the true believers to affect the course of history. Ramadan continued
to be a time of great trials and crucial events. Ninety-two years after the Hijrah, Islam
had spread across North Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. Spain
was under the tyrannical rule of King Roderic of the Visigoths. Roderic
had forced his six million serfs and persecuted Jews to seek the aid of
the Muslims of North Africa in order to be delivered. Musa ibn Husair, the
Umayyad governor of North Africa, responded by sending his courageous
general Tariq ibn Ziyad at the head of 12,000 Berber and Arab troops. In
Ramadan of that year, they were confronted with a combined Visigoth army
of 90,000 Christians led by Roderic, himself, who was seated on a throne
of ivory, silver, and precious gems and drawn by white mules. After
burning his boats, Tariq preached to the Muslims warning them that victory
and Paradise lay ahead of them and defeat
and the sea lay to the rear. They burst forth with great enthusiasm
and Allah manifested a clear victory over the forces of disbelief.
Not only was Roderic killed and his forces completely annihilated, but
Tariq and Musa succeeded in liberating the whole of Spain, Sicily and
parts of France. This was the beginning of the Golden Age of Al-Andalus
where Muslims ruled for over 7000 years. In the year 582 A.H., Salahuddin
al-Ayyubi, after battling with the Crusaders for years, finally drove them
out of Syria and the whole of their occupied lands in the month of
Ramadan. The Muslim world was then destined to meet one of its most
frightening challenges. In the seventh century A.H. the Mongols
were sweeping across Asia destroying everything that lay in their path.
Genghis Khan called himself "the scourge of God sent to punish
humanity for their sins. "In 617 A.H. Samarkand, Ray, and Hamdan were
put to the sword causing more than 700,000 people to be killed or made
captive. In 656 A.H. Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, continued this
destruction. Even Baghdad, the leading city of the Muslim world, was
sacked. Some estimates say that as many as 1,800,000 Muslims were killed
in this awesome carnage. The Christians were asked to eat pork and drink
wine openly while the surviving Muslims were forced to participate in
drinking bouts. Wine was sprinkled in the masjids and no Azan (call to
prayer) was allowed. In the wake of such a horrible
disaster and with the threat of the whole Muslim world and then Europe
being subjected to the same fate, Allah raised up from the Mamluks of
Egypt, Saifuddin Qutz, who, united the Muslim army and met the Mongols at
Ain Jalut on 25th Ramadan, 458 A.H. Although they were under great
pressure, the Muslims with the help of Allah, cunning strategy and
unflinching bravery, crushed the Mongol army and reversed this tidal wave
of horror. The whole of the civilized world sighed in relief and stood in
awe at the remarkable achievement of these noble sons of Islam. This was the spirit of Ramadan that enabled
our righteous forefathers to face seemingly impossible challenges. It was
a time of intense activity, spending the day in the saddle and the night
in prayer while calling upon Allah for His mercy and forgiveness. Today, the Muslim world is faced with
drought, military aggression, wide-spread corruption and tempting
materialism. Surely we are in need of believers who can walk in the
footsteps of our beloved Prophet (pbuh), the illustrious Sahabah, Tariq
ibn Ziyad, Qutuz, Salahuddin and the countless heroes of Islam. Surely we
are in need of believers who are unafraid of the threats of the
disbelievers, yet kind and humble to the believing people; Muslims whose
fast is compete and not just a source of hunger and thirst. May Allah raise up a generation of Muslims who can carry Islam to all corners of the globe in a manner that befits our age, and may He give us the strength and the success to lay the proper foundations for them. May Allah make us of those who carry out our Islam during Ramadan and after it, and may He not make us of those who say what they do not do. Surely Allah and His Angels invoke blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad. Oh you who believe send blessings and peace to him forever. Source:
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