Our Faults in Ramadhaan
At this point we should ponder over our i'baadah. How much importance
do we attach to it in Ramadhaan? How many nafl do we perform? As
for fardh deeds, we observe how numerous people who after having
eaten sah'ri get back into bed with the result that the Fajr 'salaah
is neglected. Many perform it, but not with Jamaa'ah. It gives the
impression that we give thanks to Allah for the food we had eaten
for sah'ri by not performing the most important fardh or by not
performing it with Jamaa'ah. Such a 'salaah has been termed defective.
Rasulullah (SAW) said that, "There is no 'salaah for those
near the musjid except in the musjid".
In the kitaab 'Mazhaahire Haq' we find that there is no reward
for the 'salaah for persons who do not perform 'salaah with Jamaa'ah
without any valid reason or excuse.
Similarly, in numerous cases at the time of if'taar (boeka) Maghrib
'salaah is missed, and many who do not come to the musjid miss the
Takbeer at the beginning or miss the first raka'ah. Many people
hasten to get over the Taraaweeh 'salaah early and even perform
the 'ishaa' 'salaah before the time of 'Ishaa' commences. (Some
do not pay any attention to 'salaah even in Ramadhaan.)
That is the way we look after our very important fardh 'salaah
in Ramadhaan. Sometimes in the process of performing one fardh,
three others are destroyed. How often do we see even the time of
Zhuh-r 'salaah going by because we are asleep, while time of A'sr
goes by because we are too busy buying, selling or cooking to prepare
for if'taar.
If such is the case with the faraa'idh, then we can imagine how
much less importance is given to the nafl actions. One finds that
because of sleep, the time of 'salaatul Ishraaq (after sunrise)
and 'salaatul Dhuhaa (before noon) go by.
Then what about 'salaat Awwaabeen (just after Maghrib)? Here we
find ourselves busy with If'taar and when thinking about Taraaweeh
after about an hour this 'salaah too is wasted. Further we find
that for 'salaatul Ta-hajjud the time is the same as that for sah'ri
with the result that this too goes by. One may make a thousand excuses
for not finding time for these nawaafil. These are all excuses for
not performing these 'salaah.
We see that there are many who do find the time to do all these
'ibaadahs during these precious moments. I personally had observed
my ustaaz Maulana Khalil Ahmad during many a Ramadhaan. He was a
weak sickly person and of advanced age but in spite of these drawbacks
he used to read one and a quarter juz of the Qur'an in nafl namaaz
after Maghrib. Thereafter he used to have meals for about half an
hour. After performing all other necessities in preparation for
Taraaweeh 'salaah he used to stand in Taraaweeh for about two and
a half hours when he was in India, and when he was in Madinah Munawwarah
the duration was three hours.
Thereafter he used to sleep about two or three hours (according
to the season). Then he used to again recite the Qur'aan in Tahajjud
'salaah until about half an hour before Fajr. Then he ate sah'ri.
From that time until Fajr he remained busy with reading the Qur'aan
or reciting of wazifas. With the greyness of dawn he performed Fajr
'salaah, thereafter he remained in meditation (muraa-qabah) until
Ishraaq. Having performed Ishraaq he used to write his famous kitaab,
'Baziul Majhood', commentary on Abu Dawood. Then he normally attend
to letters and dictating replies up to mid-day. Then he used to
rest up to Zhuh-r 'salaah. Between Zhuh-r and A'sr he used to recite
the Qur'aan.
From A'sr Namaaz until Maghrib he used to be busy with tasbeeh
and answering the queries of those who visited him. When he completed
'Baziul Majhood' then part of the morning used to be spent in tilaawah
and studying some monumental religious works, especially Baziul
Majhood and Wafa al Wafa. This was his daily programme for nafl
'ibaadah throughout the year.
In Ramadhaan however, he used to spend a bit more time in his i’baadah,
making the rak'aats longer. For the ordinary person to observe the
special programmes the other pious elders had for Ramadhaan would
be difficult. Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmoo-dul Hasan (Rahmatullah
alaihi) used to remain in nafl 'salaah from after Taraaweeh until
Fajr, while also listening to the Qur'aan recited by various huffaazh
one after the other.
Maulana Shah Abdurraheem Raipuri (d 1963) remained busy with tilaawah
(recitation) of the Qur'aan day and night through Ramadhaan. There
used to be no time for attending to correspondence or meeting visitors.
Only his special ones were allowed to wait on him after Taraaweeh
for a short period while he drank a cup of tea.
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