"Ramadan Spiritual Sustenance"
Hadith of the Day Daily ’Istiftā’ Daily Prayers of the Month The Lamp of Guidance
Hadith of the Day
:رسولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللَّه عليه وآله
علَيكُم بِالصَّومِ؛ فإنّهُ مَحسَمَةٌ للعُرُوقِ ومَذهَبَةٌ للأشَرِ
The Prophet (s) said:
Fasting is incumbent upon you, for verily it severs the roots [of desires] and removes wildness.
Kanz al-ʿUmmāl, no. 23610
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Daily ’Istiftā’
What is the ruling for a person who forgets that they should perform the Qaḍa of the fasts they missed until a few days prior to the next year's month of Ramadan, but then they find that they are not able to perform the Qaḍa of their missed fasts?
They must perform the Qaḍa fasts after the month of Ramadan and in case they had deliberately delayed performing the Qaḍa of their missed fast until the next year's month of Ramadan, they must also give one Mudd of food (each Mudd equals 750gr of wheat) to the poor as kaffāra for each of their remaining missed fasts.
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Daily Prayer of the Month
Ramadan 9th
A Commentary on the Supplicatory Prayer of Ramadan 9th
The supplicatory prayer of Ramadan 9th is as follows:
اللهُمَّ اجْعَلْ لى فيهِ نَصيباً مِنْ رَحْمَتِكَ الْواسِعَةِ، وَاهْدِنى فيهِ لِبَراهينِكَ السَّاطِعَةِ، وَخُذْ بِناصِيَتى الى مَرْضاتِكَ الْجامِعَةِ، بِمَحَبَّتِكَ يا امَلَ الْمُشْتاقينَ
“O’ Lord! Grant me a share of Your All-embracing Grace in this day, and guide me in it with Your brilliant proofs, and take me toward Your full satisfaction by Your Kindness, O’ Ultimate wish of the wishful!”[1]
The main themes of the supplicatory prayer of Ramadan 9th are as follows:
Explaining the Divine Attribute of “Grace”; a glance at the effects of repentance in earning Allah’s mercy; the relationship between guidance and the Divine Grace and the role of praying to Allah in attracting the His Grace; and the relationship between the Islamic lifestyle and becoming worthy of Divine Grace.
* Divine Grace
Divine Grace, which is defined as Allah’s All-embracing kindness, is of such a huge expanse that it even includes the people who have done whatever they could to defy Allah. It is due to this Divine Attribute that Allah sent down His books of guidance one after another in order to guide anyone whose heart was even a little ready to embrace guidance.
In fact, this is exactly what is meant by Allah’s All-embracing Grace: Allah has presented all of His servants, both believers and obstinate disbelievers, with the opportunity and enough knowledge to be guided to the right path.[2]
* Repentance, a Way Back toward Allah’s Mercy and Grace
According to the Islamic teachings, losing hope in Allah and His Grace is the gravest sin that one could commit. The reason behind this is that a person who loses hope in being forgiven by Allah will no longer fear anything and will abstain from no sin. Such a person would justify this saying to themselves that now that they are not to be forgiven by Allah what does it matter if they commit all the sins in the world?![3]
This, however, is a wrong idea; Allah is always ready to forgive all of His servants and He has given them hope in the Quran, telling them that He is always ready to hear their repentance and accept it from them. The following is perhaps the most hope-inspiring verse in the Quran:
قُلْ يا عِبادِيَ الَّذينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَميعاً إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحيمُ [4]
“Tell (My servants): “O’ My servants who have committed excesses against your own souls! Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins [of the sinners], for He is indeed the Ever Forgiving, the Ever Merciful.””[5]
* Guidance and Grace
Guidance is the prerequisite of Allah’s Grace and mercy. Man first needs to find the truth through the guidance they find in the Quran, then they need to become faithful in it and act upon it in their day to day life. Only then will they become worthy of Allah’s All-embracing Grace followed by His endless bounties and blessings.[6]
* Supplication, the Key to the Gates of Divine Grace
Supplication is of great importance to Allah;[7] with regard to the importance of supplication, Imam Ali (‘a) has been quoted as saying:
“Supplication is the key to Allah’s Grace and Mercy and is a brilliant light in the darkness [of this world and the Hereafter].[8]”
* How can the Existence of Divine Grace be justified with the Punishment of the Sinners in the Hereafter?
One thing which should be noted here is that “Divine Grace” cannot override Divine Wisdom. Allah’s Grace and Compassion does not originate from some change of emotions like the compassion of human beings. It is a completely different form of compassion which is always accompanied by wisdom.
Just as Divine Grace and Compassion dictates that those who repent be forgiven, Divine wisdom dictates that the sinners [except for some very limited exceptions] be punished for their lack of regard for the Divinely-legislated laws.[9]
* The Meaning of “Guidance with Clear Proofs of Allah”
What is meant by “guidance” within the context of the Islamic teachings is the clear proofs and pieces of evidence regarding the correct way of living which exist in the teachings of Islam.
Moreover, what is meant by the “Religion of Truth” in the Quran is the kind of religion whose most fundamental principles and peripheral branches both originate from the truth. Furthermore, such a religion needs to have a real history, authentic references, and there must also exist a correct interpretation and impression of its laws.[10]
Nevertheless, for man to be guided mere correct teachings, miraculous and moving divinely-sent verses, and clear proofs are not enough. In addition to all this, the person in question must also be ready and worthy for understanding and accepting the truth. This can be likened to the conditions needed for a single seed to grow into a beautiful flower bush; clearly, the seed itself should be fertile and capable to begin with then the land, atmosphere and other such elements could facilitate its growth in turn.[11]
* Living an Islamic Lifestyle is the Key to becoming Worthy of Divine Grace
Undoubtedly, one’s faith is considered to be effective enough in moving one towards Allah’s Grace only when it has actual realization in one’s day to day life.[12] The kind of life which is lived based on the faith in Allah is what is referred to in the Islamic teachings as a “goodly life” [ḥayātan ṭayyibah].[13]
In order to achieve this kind of life, one needs to constantly ask oneself whether they really like to lead their routine fruitless lifestyle or they are ready to change it in order to find a way toward Allah. The questions that one particularly needs to ask themselves in order to see whether they are progressing or are stagnant are the following: have I helped any fellow human being recently? Have I done anything at all toward earning Allah’s satisfaction?[14]
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The Lamp of Guidance
The Quran has further emphasized this fact as follows: ‘If the God-fearing are instigated by any suggestion of Satan, they instantly become alert [and remember Allah, His reward and His punishment], after which they clearly perceive the right way [in light of His remembrance].’ Satan may attempt to approach such individuals but he will not be able to dominate them. This verse brings a great deal of responsibility with it, for the Shias are not infallible and Satan may attempt to influence them. This means that we must do our best to remove the influence of Satan over the society, the individual, the marketplace, and the entire material and spiritual aspects of our lives.
We must attempt to purify our society both in relation to the spiritual, as well as the material from any satanic influences. It is natural that if one has the ability to stand against Satan, he must help those around him as well. If Satan ends up dominating the society, the entire balance of social and individual life will fall apart and the individuals of that society can no longer be considered to be true Shias.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHIAS- PART 5
Tradition
قَالَ الامامُ الصَّادِقُ (علیه السلام): «إنَّ أحَقَّ النَّاسِ بِالْوَرَعِ آلُ مُحَمَّد(صلی الله علیه وآله) وَ شِیعَتُهُمْ کَی تَقْتَدِی الرَّعِیّةُ بِهِمْ»
Imam al-Ssdiq (‘a) is narrated to have said: ‘The worthiest of people in being abstemious are the Family of the Prophet (s) and their Shias (followers), so that the rest of the people can follow them’.
Commentary
The Prophet (s) and the Imams (‘a) are leaders for the entire humanity and the Shias must also be leaders amongst their own individual communities. This is because a true Shia must possess many positive qualities of an Imam, such as being courageous, patient, affectionate, lacking any desire for worldly ranks and positions, as well as refraining from what is unlawful. Every community requires and looks up to individuals with such characteristics-- in this way, the true Shias, who will necessarily possess such characteristics, will be at the forefront of their communities acting as their leaders.
One of the praiseworthy qualities of a true Shia is Wara’ (being abstemious) which is considered to be superior to piety (taqwā). This quality has four distinct stages which are as follows:
The First Stage- The Wara’ of the Tā’ibīn (the abstemious of the repentant): This is the lowest stage of abstemiousness and is equal with probity. One who possesses it is protected from corruption and evil in the sense that they will repent when they make a mistake.
The Second Stage- The Wara’ of the Ṣāliḥīn (abstemiousness of the righteous): This is a stage where the individual abstains from things of a doubtful nature. This means that when something appears to be permissible, but there is still doubt about it being truly lawful, the individual abstains from partaking in it.
[1] The New Mafātīḥ, p. 814.
[2] A Selection of Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, vol. 4, p. 395.
[3] The Message of Imam Amir al-Mu’minīn (‘a), vol. 12, p. 515.
[4] Al-Zumar, 53.
[5] The Message of Imam Amir al-Mu’minīn (‘a), vol. 12, p. 515.
[6] A Selection of Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, vol. 3, p. 551.
[7] Beautiful Parables of the Quran, vol. 1,. p.275.
[8] Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 90, p. 30.
[9] Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, vol. 7, p. 85.
[10] Ibid, vol. 7, p. 370.
[11] Ibid, vol. 8, p. 299.
[12] The Rays of Guidance: a series of Moral Discussions, p. 104.
[13] Ethics in the Quran, vol. 1, p. 55.
[14] The Rays of Guidance: a series of Moral Discussions, p. 450.
