All praise belongs to Allah

Ramadan has finally arrived! Alhamdulillah we are now in the midst of it, yet it will soon end and therefore we need to grasp that we have just a few days in hand so, let’s try to take full advantage of it.

My dear brothers and sisters, I implore you to realize the importance of this blessed month. It comes once in a year. We have to wait for eleven months, approximately 335 days for it to come again! Unfortunately nowadays, all that we can think about is “so what should I make for the iftar today, everyone must be bored of samosas and spring rolls, I need to try something new, perhaps I should switch to chicken shawarma and nandoos.” Seriously! Is this blessed month the only time to try out new recipes and cuisines? And oh! The other thing that bothers us is, “Eid is approaching and I still have not bought my bangles and shoes to match my Eid dress”. Ya ukhti what were you doing before Ramadan? We need to take this on a serious note. We had so much time to shop before Ramadan but now do we want to waste these treasured days and sanctimonious last ten nights in shopping? If that were the case, one would only be able to articulate that this ummah now days is truly amazing!!!
My dear friends, it is vital that we learn wisdom from our pious predecessor’s, those who have succeeded and are among the muqarribun. Amongst this pious circle and among the forerunners of Islam is our beautiful and elegant Mother of the believers, Juwayriyyah (May Allah be pleased with her). These pious people were immersed in ibadah and gaining Allah’s qurb (nearness). We can see this in the following narration;
Juwayriyyah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) left her apartment in the morning as she was busy observing her dawn prayers in her place of worship. He came back in the forenoon and she was still sitting there. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “You have been in the same place since I left you?”   She said, “Yes”. Thereupon the Prophet  ( peace and blessings be upon him )  said: “I recited four words three times after I left you and if these were to be weighed against what you have recited since morning these would outweigh them, and these words are:

“Subhanaallahi wa bihamdihi: ‘Adada khalqihi, wa ridhaa nafsihi, wa zinata ‘arshihi wa midaada kalimatihi”
Glory be to Allah and praise is due to Him by the multitude of His creation, by His Pleasure and by the weight of His Throne and by the extent of His Words.”
My dear friends imagine the importance of this supplication, indeed how outstanding it is. In it we claim that our Rabb, Allah is free from all imperfections, glory is to Him alone. By “bihamdihi” we say that we praise and thank Him. And then my friends how much do we praise Him?
1. Adada khalqihi -We praise Him by the multitude of His Creation, and indeed Allah is the Creator of everything. This phrase encompasses all of His Creation, all the human beings, all the Jinns, all the drops of water, all the clouds, all the fish, all the ants and indeed every creation within and beyond our imagination. That many times we praise Him and thank Him!
2. wa ridhaa nafsihi- By this we say that, until Allah is not pleased Himself, we go on praising and thanking Him.
3. wa zinata ‘arshihi- By the weight of His throne and indeed whose throne could be more magnificent than His the Almighty
4. Wa midaada kalimatihi- And we thank Allah and glorify Him to the extent of His Words, and how many are the words of Allah? “Say: if the sea were ink for writing the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted, before the words of my Lord were exhausted even if We brought the like of it as a supplement.” (Surah Kahf 18:109)

Moreover, the above narration also gives us an insight as to how much ibadah our Mother of the Believer did. Imagine spending the whole morning in prayers and worship. I urge you my brothers and sisters in Islam to hasten towards good deeds, learn this beautiful supplication and pray to Allah to accept it from us.
May Allah gather us all in Jannatul Firdous
Ameen Ya Rabbil Alameen
Bint Hasan