by Fateen Seifullah
As salaam alaykum
It has been a while since I have written, so forgive me for presenting some of
the ideas from last week’s khutbah. The title, “Preparing for Ramadan”,
speaks for itself. Our prophet (PBUH) said: “Rajab is the month of
Allah, Sha'ban is the month of the Messenger and Ramadan is the month of the
Quran”. And some of the salaf use to pray, “O Allah bless us in Rajab
and Sha'ban and we hope we will meet Ramadan”. This should also be what
we pray because this year many of us have either lost a friend, family member,
or know someone who has. This year, our Muslim community has
performed more than thirty Janazahs.
The month that is approaching is full of so many blessings and benefits;
there are too many to count. Because of this we should not approach the month
ill-prepared. There is an expression in the west, “chance favors the
prepared mind”, more simply put it means, that the best opportunities are
seized by the one who is prepared. This month comes as no surprise,
It is not a trick date; nor is it a date that catches one off guard. We
know that when Rajab comes we are slowly getting closer to Ramadan. When
Sha'ban comes we should begin preparing for Ramadan we should discipline
ourselves, our eating habits should change, and we should reduce our intake of
food. All of this is in preparation for a month that provides us
with a peek into the lives of those who are less fortunate than us. Our
prophet (SAW) fasted more and gave more in charity during this month, than any
other. He was teaching us, preparing us for both the spiritual and
physical challenges that we will face during Ramadan. He
(pbuh) said: Sha’ban is a month between Rajab and Ramadan much neglected
by the people. In it the actions of all servants are raised to
the Lord of the Worlds. I love for my actions to be presented
when I am fasting. And in another hadith as Aisha reported, she
asked Messenger of Allah, “Is Sha'ban your favorite month for fasting?” He
said (pbuh) In this month Allah prescribes the list of the people dying this
year, therefore I like that my death comes when I am in a state of fasting.
This month Sha'ban is the month for preparing. Planning and
preparing are no foreign arts. We do it at work, if we hope for a promotion, or
if our annual review is close, we make preparation. In school, as
students, we improve our study habits when the semester report cards draw near;
we pay closer attention to our instructors. When graduation, proficiency
tests, SAT’s, or anything else approaches, we prepare, we make effort to give
it our all. Athletes prepare for a new season or a big game, fighters
prepare for a title match by intensifying there training, they take it
seriously. How much more serious should we be, when approaching a month
that has in it a single night which is worth a thousand months? Can you
imagine? It’s like been guaranteed bonuses for the touchdowns we make or for
the amount of points we score. And nothing compares to the reward
that Allah will give for an accepted Ramadan. For this reason and others
it should come as no surprise that the salaf use to say: “Rajab is the
month of planting seeds, Sha'ban is the month of watering and Ramadan is the
month of Harvesting”.
But you cannot harvest if you have not watered or planted any seeds. Start
preparing now. It is not too late to make the next two weeks a time of
seeding and watering, and to do as much as you can. Don't miss this
opportunity; for we may not get another Ramadan, we are blessed to witness
this one.
Fateen Seifullah is the Imam of Masjid as-Sabur, he can be reached at VegasMasjid@aol.com
Edited by Aiza Malik
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