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Undilah PAS : MENENTANG KEZALIMAN & MENEGAKKAN KEADILAN
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Ramadan: The road to Taqwa (God Consciousness)
by M M Ally
Once again we are greeting the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting,
the month during which the Qur'an was revealed. For each one of us,
Ramadan is of great significance; it marks a new phase, a new role, a
new challenge. It also implied movement, movement from one stage to
another.
Today when Muslims speak of movement they invariably refer to the
movement which establishes ultimately the sovereignty of Allah
(subhanawatala), in its socio-political sense on this earth; but
Islamic Movement has a deeper and more fundamental meaning at the
psycho-spiritual level - the establishment of the sovereignty and will
of Allah in ourselves. Ramadan represents the preparation for this
journey and like Hijrah represents the migration from what we are to
what we want to be.
During the month of Ramadan all these internalised forms become
manifest, raising our consciousness of Allah and our responsibility
towards Him. It is only natural that fasting should be ordained on the
Muslim community which was commanded to pursue the straight path;
because fasting is an activity whereby a determined and definite
effort is made to bring our will to conform to the divine will. So too
does it serve as an instrument for rising above all the needs of the
body, bearing their pressure and weight - out of preference for
Allah's pleasure and good rewards.
It is taqwa (God-consciousness) which is awakened in the human heart
when the fasting is fulfilled. We know very well the importance of
taqwa in the sight of Allah and its weight on our scales. It is a goal
to which our souls aspire. Fasting is one of the means and paths
leading to taqwa or God consciousness.
There are three evils which clouds the attainment of taqwa. One such
evil and impediment is pride (qibr). This is the antithesis of
humility and is a moral ailment, it is the greatest cancer that can
eat away everything that we are striving to achieve. Our entire
efforts should be continued with great humility because whatever we
achieve is by the Grace of Allah. The ideal before us, the uswa or the
example of the Prophet, is so high that one cannot feel contented
anywhere under it. Because the ideal is high, we are always in a state
of aspiration. We are perpetually in a state of effort, striving and
moving up. Should pride (qibr) arise in this state, it can only be an
act of Satan. Pride comes in very attractive, very concealed, very
deceptive channels and forms.
The second evil which clouds our consciousness of Allah is hypocrisy,
showing off, and pretending to have what one does not have. This is
moral ailment which eats away one's character as a moth eats away
cloth.
Hypocrisy is the negative of sincerity, and sincerity is the most
essential ingredient of Faith and Deeds. The Prophet has condemned it
in the strongest terms.
The third evil is despair, the feeling of hopelessness and of
pessimism. Allah calls despair an act of disbelief and rejection. If
one has failed a hundred times, one's efforts have won incalculable
gains. So the feeling of despair, of disappointment, of pessimism, of
losing heart should never occur.
Fasting is a form of tazkiyah. Tazkiyah means literally the
purification or the cleansing of all those things which are
unwholesome and unwelcome and unwanted. At the same time, it endows
the human being with all those things which are essential for growth
and development for blossoming and flowering. The tazkiyah of a person
through fasting would mean the moulding of his/her character, his/her
thought, his/her behaviour; it would mean developing of his/her entire
flow of actions to free them from those evils, those unwholesome
traits which are obnoxious, undesirable in the eyes of Allah and to
endow them will all those virtues which want to flourish in human life.
Tazkiyah is not a part-time or a piece-meal job, it is not restricted
to the month of Ramadan only. It demands a protracted effort, it is an
unending, unceasing process and there is no short cut to it.
Tazkiyah is an all-embracing process. Islam does not believe in that
type of tasawwuf where we purify our hearts, make it transparent, and
yet we remain neck-deep in political, economic and social corruptions.
Tazkiyah encompasses the entire life, the privacy of our thoughts and
the social manifestations of our life all of them just be in line with
Allah's injunctions.
In the last analysis tazkiyah is a highly personal process. It is only
through our own personal effort our own realisation, our own
determination, our own exertation that can produce the results.
Tazkiyah is a process which unfolds itself step by step. We cannot
expect to change all in one go. This is against the laws of nature.
Even revaluation came only when people were ready to receive it.
During the month of fast, six instruments are available to us for
tazkiya (purification) which will lead to taqwa or God consciousness.
The month of Ramadan trains us to remember Allah (dhikr) The
importance of dhikr lies in the fact that it creates a mental and a
psychological 'climate'. In this climate, we can protect ourselves from
the evil encroachments and inroads of the external environment
wherever we may be. Dhikr is not difficult. While we are travelling,
on the vehicle, we can spend a few minutes remembering 'Allah', and
His mercy and power. All this will give us a different mental climate
from the anti-islamic elements. In every situation, we can preserve the
Islamic ethos by dhikr or remembrance.
Ramadan is a month of repentance, (istighfar or tawbah). Istighfar is
repentance for one's sins, mistakes or aberrations. Tawbah is turning
back to Allah. The month of Ramadan gives us an opportunity to reflect
and contemplate upon our mistakes and sins. Primarily istighfar is a
state of mind and tawbah is a state of resolve. And the greatness of
Islam is that it enables us to raise our conduct from the abyss of
unconsciousness to the heights of consciousness. If one makes a slip,
one should stop, regret it and make a resolve not to commit it again.
Ramadan is also a month of perseverance and patience (sabr). To
cultivate patience means that we must stick to the path of virtue and
come back to it whenever we commit a mistake or any aberration is
made. Patience also means remaining steadfast in the face of the
tempest of adversity, when temptations are besetting one, when threats
are intimidating one.
Ramadan is a month of self-appraisal and self-criticism (ihtisab).
During this month we should spend some time in appraising ourselves
and we should be as honest, frank to ourselves as we can in appraising
ourselves we should be harsh to ourselves and lenient to others. That
should be the cornerstone of policy and if we stick to it, then only
good will result, Insha Allah.
Finally, Ramadan is a month of supplication, (du'a), asking Allah's
help, asking Him for everything that is needed. Du'a is one of the
most important instruments of purification because it is a snapshot of
all our ambitions. One's entire scale of priorities in life can be
reflected in one's supplication. We may be very crude in the way we
make our supplication, but it is much dearer to Allah if we make it
with sincerity.
� harakah
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