Ramadan | Faith | Women
Honouring a Special Guest
Faith during hardship
Jasmine sat alone in the dimly lit dining room of her two-bedroom apartment. Her husband’s unexpected announcement of divorce left her speechless. A myriad thoughts raced through her mind. Her head throbbed, her eyes glistened.
The next few days were particularly challenging. Warm plates of home-cooked rice and fish curry filled her stomach, but her soul was famished. Mineral water hydrated her body, but her heart was perpetually thirsty for affection.
A month later, Jasmine’s guest arrived at her doorstep with the gifts of siyam and qiyam. Jasmine capitalized on her guest’s month-long visit. With the help of YouTube videos of ten-minute meal recipes, she hoped to devote more time during the day for extra worship.
Jasmine prepared freezer bags of pre-cooked meals so she could serve iftar on time.
Sahl ibn Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The people will continue to be on the right path as long as they hasten to break the fast.”
~ Bukhari and Muslim
She also stocked her pantry with the spices, condiments, lentils and grains she would need to prepare sahoor for her family.
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Take a meal (just) before dawn for there is a blessing in sahoor (taking a meal) at that time.” ~ Bukhari and Muslim
Troubled by marital rifts, Jasmine found solace in the Quran. Reciting each letter of Allah’s Book, which carries a tenfold reward, soothed her heart.
Ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed and each good deed gets a tenfold reward …”
~ Tirmidhi
The carpet of the mosque soaked up her silent tears during taraweeh prayers. A strange tranquility engulfed her with every bowing and prostration performed behind the imam. With the expectation of reward equivalent to standing the whole night in prayer, joy did not elude her anymore.
Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “He who prays during the night in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven.”
~ Bukhari and Muslim
At dusk every day, Allah’s greatness was proclaimed from the minaret. Dates sweetened Jasmine’s palate followed by earnest supplications with the certainty of acceptance at iftar time. Fasting was difficult for a mother struggling with gastritis. But, the promise of salvation from the fire made it worthwhile.
Abu Saeed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No slave (of Allah) will fast for a day … without Allah removing the Hellfire a distance of 70 years from his face for that day.”
~ Bukhari and Muslim
Every heaped spoonful of porridge at sahoor fed her determination to engage in more voluntary acts of worship throughout the day. Each optional prayer would hold the same rank as a compulsory prayer and each compulsory prayer offered would be rewarded seventy-fold. With such grand prizes waiting to be claimed, Jasmine realized it would be foolish not to prioritize carefully.
The prospect of earning a seventy-fold return in the afterlife for every penny spent charitably prompted Jasmine’s decision to donate two-fifths of her personal savings. Her husband’s stinginess did not curtail her generosity towards the part-time maid. She prepared a bag of rice, lentils, and fruit which the maid took home for her malnourished children thrice a week.
Hakim Ibn Hizam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand. Start giving charity to your dependents first …”
~ Bukhari and Muslim
Generous portions of meat stew, flatbread and rice pudding endeared Jasmine to her neighbors, whom she saw once in a blue moon. What she truly wanted from her neighborliness was Allah’s pleasure.
Zaid bin Khalid al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “He who provides a fasting person something with which to break his fast will earn the same reward as the one who was observing the fast without diminishing in any way the reward of the latter.”
~ Tirmidhi
Huge volumes of tafseer books adorned Jasmine’s mahogany bookcase in the living room where she spent a couple of hours each day drawing inspiration from Prophet Muhammad’s life. His biography was to her like nectar is to the bee. The stories of his personal misfortune eclipsed her own unhappiness.
The time came for Jasmine’s guest to depart. Jasmine occupied herself during the last few days with a multiplicity of virtues anticipating the reward of a thousand months of worship.
“The night of qadr (decree) is better than a thousand months (i.e. worshiping Allah on that night is better than worshiping Him for a thousand months).”
~ Verse 3, Chapter 97, Al-Quran
On completing her iddah a week after Eid al-Fitr, Jasmine moved to her parents’ home with a renewed sense of dignity and self-confidence. Alhamdulillah for Ramadan!
siyam: fasting
qiyam: praying in the last part of the night
iftar: meal for breaking the fast
sahoor: meal eaten before dawn
Quran: the holy book of the Muslims
taraweeh: night prayer during Ramadan
tafseer: explanation of the verses of Quran
iddah: a waiting period for women who are divorced
Eid al-Fitr: one of the two annual festivals celebrated by Muslims
alhamdulillah: praise be to Allah
