It is as if the fragrance of Ramadan is near. The night descends with its habitual calmness and tranquility, while the voice of the imams reverberate throughout the city, the voices sweet and endearing to us.

Oh, what a beautiful sight, that I am envisioning. Imagine: the iftar laden down with delectable dishes, the devils locked up, people scurrying towards the masjid, hastening towards good deeds and indeed why not, since the rewards are going to multiply and multiply. It is as if a beautiful period of peacefulness and tranquility is descending upon us.

Islam is in the air, it is as if we can feel it, see it, and breathe it. People hurrying up, giving iftar to the poor, sending iftar to the masjid, standing for the taraweeh and then the standing in the night prayer (qiyam ul layl)…the time for Ramadaan is coming!

A paragon of generosity and righteousness is our Mother of the believers, Zainab bint Jahsh (May Allah be pleased with her).

Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) narrated; “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his wives: ‘One who has the longest hands amongst you would come after me’. She further said: ‘after his death, we would stretch our hands on the wall to measure their length. We never ceased doing that until Zainab died and she was a small woman so she could not have been the one with the longest hand. It is at that point we realised that what he meant (by the longest hand) was charity. She used to work with her hand, she used to tan (leather) and pierce leather and she would spend (that income) on charity”.

And once again,

Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her ) said, “I have never seen a woman who was better in her religion, who feared Allah more, who was more truthful in speech, who strengthened the ties of kinship more and was more benevolent in charity than Zainab. May Allah be pleased with her.”

Why don’t we learn from this paradigm of a lady and increase in our ibadah and good deeds. She stands as an outshining example throughout the sands of times, up to the very present and will continue to inspire in the upcoming future till the very end of time.

Friends, what a great incentive for us and what better time than the approaching of Ramadan, which we know is the month of sale to proliferate our rewards. Why not avail this opportunity and spend our time performing enormously good deeds.

A greater motivation still is,

Ibn Abbas narrates, “the prophet (saw) was the most generous person and he would be at his most generous in Ramadan because jibril would come to him every night and he would study the Quran with him. Truly when Allah’s messenger would meet jibril he would be more generous than a fleeting wind.” Agreed upon.

So my dear friends roll your sleeves, tie your waist bands and get ready to take complete advantage of this blessed month. It is soon here; it’s fragrance is in the air.

Bint Hasan
Writer, AAT