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Make Up Exam
By Naseeb Khan
Second Chance
Ramadaan is here again. To the believers, it represents a special opportunity. It is a time to make our affairs right with Allah. It is Allah’s way of giving us a second chance. A second chance to do the right thing is what every sincere repentant person wants to have. In school, when we do terrible in our exams and really feel scared at what our final grades will look like, we usually silently wish for a chance to have a make up exam to prove that we can do better and make it right. The teachers who give us such opportunity are our heroes and if we are really serious, nine times out of ten, we tend to study hard and do well in these make up tests. In real life, sometimes in anger or for some other reason, we make mistakes. When we sit afterwards and think about it we regret what we have done and wish for a chance to rectify these errors. Quite often we do not get this privilege.
Sinners
Ramadaan is here to give us a second chance. You see, throughout the year the best of us commit so many mistakes and sins. I have yet to meet someone who did not. Allah himself testifies to this in the Qur’an when He says that “ Verily mankind is surely ungrateful to His Lord”. In a Hadith Qudsi, He says: “O my Servants, you commit sins by day and by night and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness from Me and I will forgive you”.
Thus Allah himself who knows us best tells us that we are sinners and that we mess up so many times.
Despite this Allah wants us to succeed and He has created us to become successful. He also knows that we need His help and thus He has given us this special Month called Ramadaan as a way of helping us out. It is our opportunity at a make up exam. It is a chance to settle our scores with Allah. The Prophet Muhammad (SA) tells us that
“ Whoever fasts in the month of Ramadaan, with Imaan, hoping for the reward of Allah, He(Allah) will forgive them for all their past sins.”
If you think about this Hadith for a moment, you will realize that Allah by allowing us to fast with faith, will wipe out all our past misdeeds and give us a new beginning. What a great incentive for us.
Good Deeds
Not only does Allah forgive our past sins but He also allows us to accelerate our good deeds by making them equivalent in value to seventy and more times their merit. He has even set aside a special night whose worth is almost equal to 83 years in value to Allah. We are given a chance to deposit with Allah extra good deeds that are unlimited in value. This is Allah’s mercy and gift to us. The question we need to ask ourselves as believers is how are we going to make use of this opportunity? What is it that we should do to really benefit from this month called Ramadaan? The answer to this important question lies in recognizing that Ramadaan is here to give us a chance to do two main things. These two things are seeking and changing.
The Seeking
As regards the seeking aspect, Allah has made this easy for us by dividing up the month into three portions. The first third of the month is when Allah extends His Mercy and thus we have to be active in seeking this. There is nothing more critical than the Mercy of Allah. We cannot enter Jannah without Allah’s Mercy. This is because even if our record on this planet was perfect, it would not be enough to qualify us to merit the Jannah. It is Allah’s Mercy that fills the gap. Allah knows how important Mercy is as a quality to possess that He makes us begin every Surah except one with the words “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful”. Thus we are constantly reminded that Allah is Merciful and we need to seek this from Him. The Prophet Muhammad is also called “Rahmatul lil ‘aalameen” (A Mercy to the Worlds). Thus as true believers we must become people who are known for their Mercy. Allah does not show Mercy on those who do not show Mercy to their fellow creation. In Ramadaan, we are given this chance to seek a “present moment” gift i.e. Mercy.
In the second third of Ramadaan, we then get a chance to seek a “past moment” gift i.e. forgiveness for our sins. Allah has extended to us during this period an opportunity to forgive us for our past sins. We must actively seek this from Him during this time of the Month. It is a time to seek redress for those things that we did not do right or erred on. It is a chance to change the impact of our past records by getting them forgiven by Allah.
In the final third of Ramadaan, we are then given a chance to seek a “future moment” gift : an opportunity to be saved from the awful fire of Hell. This is what we must actively seek from Allah during this time.
Of course we also the get the opportunity to seek for the Laylatul Qadr (night of power) : a chance to acquire a lifetime of rewards from Allah.
Thus we see from this saying of the Prophet (SA), that we are really given a chance to make our lives both past, present and future resemble the ideal required by Allah and His Rasool (SA). May Allah accept this seeking from us during this special Month.
The Changing
Ramadaan is also a time for changing. We must be committed to make tremendous changes to our lifestyles during this month. We must see this time as the beginning of a new milestone in our lives. It should represent the death of many of our bad habits and the birth of many new good ones. Ramadaan comes to take away from us the bad behavior that we have become so addicted to and allows us a chance to breathe anew with the fresh pure air of Imaan (faith) and Yakeen (certitude and resolve).
If we allow Ramadaan to leave us in the same condition that it met us, then really we would have failed to benefit from this great and wonderful opportunity. We must try to change ourselves in five major areas.
Physical Changes
Firstly, our physical body should change and become healthy. The fasting already has so many physiological benefits in that it lowers our blood sugar and cholesterol. It gives rest to the body and its various organs. We also burn about 10 calories per raka’ah when we pray. Thus we must not nullify this by eating lavishly when we make and break the fast. This will retard and negate whatever benefits we may get from the fast. We should really be losing instead of gaining weight during this month.
Knowledge Changes
The second area that we must see changes in our lives is in the area of knowledge. We should use this month to really get more acquainted with our Deen (religion) and really, really find out more about Islaam and its various principles and precepts. The best source of all knowledge is the Qur’aan and this is the month in which it was revealed. Thus this is the month of the Qur’aan. It is a time when we must seek to get close to this book and learn what is inside of it. This is the kind of knowledge that we must become familiar with as this is what will guide our paths and allow us to live our lives with purity and purpose. Recite and read your Qur’aan as much as possible. It is an insult to our own sensibilities to practice a religion that began its message with “read” and not be active in seeking knowledge. Knowledge of our Deen will make us not only better Muslims but better people too.
Attachment Changes
The third area that we must see changes taking place in our lives is the state of our relationship with Allah. Many of us do not think much about Allah and how He impacts us at every moment. Allah has told us that the greatest thing in this world is the “remembrance of Allah”. This is because when we remember and are conscious of Allah, we will find it difficult to do the wrong things. We will have an active consciousness that Allah is watching and recording (via His angels) all that we do and say. We will have the realization that we will one day die, leave and have to return to Allah to give an account. This month we must seek to help us to think about Allah more often and seek to please Him in everything we do.
Relationship Changes
The fourth area is changes in relationships. Ramadaan is the time when we see more Muslims than at any other time of the year. This is a moment to connect and establish bonds of brotherhood with our fellow believers. We must also seek to sever the toxic relationships in our lives that are holding us back or leading us astray. We need to really recognize that our lifestyle, behavior and beliefs are greatly influenced by our friends and associates. This is the time to really ponder on these relationships.
Action Changes
The last area that we must make changes is in relation to our actions. We must see a major overhaul in our actions and how we conduct ourselves as Muslims. We must identify those habits and actions that are negative and unIslamic and really try to change them. Our anger, idle actions, our lies, our arrogance, our excessive love of self, our ego, our rudeness, our pride are all aspects of what we need to leave behind after Ramadaan is over. The ‘Eid ul Fitr’ celebration should see us celebrating the birth of a rehabilitated believer who got the message of Ramadaan and benefited from it.
Finally
Let us all use this Ramadaan to actively seek for the things that are important to Allah and us. Also let this month be the moment of decision and change for us. As the ayah of Allah tells us that the purpose of the whole exercise is to become people of taqwa. Taqwa is that elusive quality that allows us to have the knowledge what is wrong and what is right and the discipline to keep away from the wrong and stay on the right path.
This is the month to introspect and think about our lives on this planet. It is a time to reflect and realign ourselves to what is important. It is a moment to take a hard look at our present priorities and see if these are the things we really should be doing or not. It is a chance to get back to purpose and an opportunity to get back to the straight way.
Umar (RA) the second Caliph said that at the beginning of Ramadaan he and his friends used to tell each other goodbye. This is the spirit that we must approach the month with. Umar (RA) and those with him realized that they will become so busy working on their souls that they would not have much time for each other, thus the symbolic goodbyes. This is how we must treat this Ramadaan as it could very well be our last one on this planet.
May Allah make all of us people of Taqwa in this life and people of Jannah in the next
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