The month of Sha'ban
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to fast 2 months in a row {Sha'ban and Ramadan} except for a few days in Sha'ban.
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, 'Sha'ban is my month. Ramadan is the month of my Ummah.'
Sha'ban is the time when you get what you reap in preparation for Ramadan. You plant the seeds for Ramadan in Sha'ban.
If Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, sees that someone is purified, He will give to that person.
{Sawm} Fasting
Linguistically sawm means to restrain, to abstain from something.
The shar'i meaning {i.e. in the Islamic Shari'ah} is to abstain from that which breaks the fast.
Imam al-Ghazali's advice on fasting:
When you break the fast, you should make sure you're still hungry, then you will have openings.
Allah, the Exalted, comes down to the lowest heaven in Sha'ban and forgives many people.
Du'a is accepted on 5 nights one of which is the 15th of Sha'ban.
Fasting is a key
We work on our strong sides without neglecting our weak ones.
Imam al-Qurtubi on fasting:
Sawm means that you don't move from one spiritual state to another.
For example if someone insults you while you are fasting and you get angry and insult them back. You should just leave the person alone and ignore the insult. Because in the state of fasting you're close to Allah and you come move from that state if you insult someone. This is difficult for the nafs as well because the nafs wants revenge. So you discipline and break the nafs by not insulting the other person back.
The rules of qisas {retaliation} came to regulate and restrain anger and revenge.
"The love of the dunya' {the lower world} is the root of all evil"
{Hadith Sharif}
The word hubb {love} when you pronounce it {in Arabic} the letter ba' comes from the lips and the letter ha' comes from the throat which is the lowest part from the lip.
In this is a sign that love will consume all of you. A person in love is consumed by his love. He is lost to all else.
The dunya' is everything that takes you away from Allah. Not things like being with your family and friends etc. Only things that take you away from Allah such as being in love to the point that you loose your will and forget about Allah and everything other than the person you're in love with. That is the closest you get to insanity.
A person who is a manic depressive for example is constantly changing from one state to another. This is contrasted with fasting. In fasting you're in one state.
Constriction vs. Expansion
In constriction you feel far away from Allah. You become depressed due to disappointment in yourself not in Allah.
In expansion you feel close to Allah.
The metaphor of Majnun and Layla is parallel to the love of a servant to Allah.
Love changes people. This kind of love for human beings will destroy you, or Allah will destroy you in some way.
In the hikam of Ibn 'Ata'illah it says: 'You have not loved anything except that you became its slave.'
In the Qur'an it says: People who take other deities and love them as they should love Allah.
The commentators say it is a kind of shirk because you're showing devotion and love for someone or something else that should be shown to Allah.
By fasting everything else dies out. Other than Allah.
'Shaitan circulates inside Bani Adam just as blood does. So make sure you make his passage narrow. You make his passage narrow with hunger.'
{Hadith Sharif}
Allah, the Exalted, raised the rank of His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, by not giving him and his family food sometimes for months.
One of the scholars said, 'my nafs never asked me for anything or complained except for once when I was on my way to Hajj and got lost in the desert and my nafs asked me for bread and fish.' The scholar ended up in a camp where they caught him and beat him up because they mistook him for a thief. Until someone came along who recognized him and apologized to him. The scholar said, 'It's ok. My nafs got what it deserved.' Then he got invited to dinner and was served fish and bread. And so he said to his nafs, 'next time you want fish and bread just let me know, but it will cost you 200 beatings!'
The sins of the awliya' are the good deeds of the ordinary people.
If you let your nafs live on the borders of shubahat {doubtful things} one day it will fall into haram.
The nafs is trying to destroy you. The nafs only wants pleasure - whether haram or halal. But you have to force it into 'ibadah {worshipful devotion} until it becomes pleasurable, then the nafs will love to do 'ibadah.
Alchemy
Transforming the dirty cheap nafs into gold. Meaning to purify it from impurities and diseases.
There has to be tribulations and trials for it to change.
The salaf {the first three generations of righteous Muslims} loved to go against their desires.
Purifying yourself means going against yourself.
One of the scholars of Tarim said:
"Whatever good crosses your mind, just do it."
The one who prepares will benefit.
Unfortunately a lot of Muslim women spend many hours during Ramadan cooking.
Imam al-Ghazali says in Ihya 'Ulum al-Din, 'There's no point in fasting all day and then eating more than you normally do when breaking your fast.'
The nafs becomes much stronger when breaking the fast if you feed it too much.
Eating soup when breaking the fast and then doing some activity for 30 min. then you will feel tired.
The sunnah is to break the fast, then pray. In Tarim they break the fast with dates and a sambosa then they get up to pray salat al-maghrib, sunnah prayers and salat al-tasbih, which takes about 20-25 minutes.
One of the main tribulations in Ramadan is overeating.
Things that destroy the rewards of fasting
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to fast 2 months in a row {Sha'ban and Ramadan} except for a few days in Sha'ban.
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, 'Sha'ban is my month. Ramadan is the month of my Ummah.'
Sha'ban is the time when you get what you reap in preparation for Ramadan. You plant the seeds for Ramadan in Sha'ban.
If Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, sees that someone is purified, He will give to that person.
{Sawm} Fasting
Linguistically sawm means to restrain, to abstain from something.
The shar'i meaning {i.e. in the Islamic Shari'ah} is to abstain from that which breaks the fast.
Imam al-Ghazali's advice on fasting:
When you break the fast, you should make sure you're still hungry, then you will have openings.
Allah, the Exalted, comes down to the lowest heaven in Sha'ban and forgives many people.
Du'a is accepted on 5 nights one of which is the 15th of Sha'ban.
Fasting is a key
We work on our strong sides without neglecting our weak ones.
Imam al-Qurtubi on fasting:
Sawm means that you don't move from one spiritual state to another.
For example if someone insults you while you are fasting and you get angry and insult them back. You should just leave the person alone and ignore the insult. Because in the state of fasting you're close to Allah and you come move from that state if you insult someone. This is difficult for the nafs as well because the nafs wants revenge. So you discipline and break the nafs by not insulting the other person back.
The rules of qisas {retaliation} came to regulate and restrain anger and revenge.
"The love of the dunya' {the lower world} is the root of all evil"
{Hadith Sharif}
The word hubb {love} when you pronounce it {in Arabic} the letter ba' comes from the lips and the letter ha' comes from the throat which is the lowest part from the lip.
In this is a sign that love will consume all of you. A person in love is consumed by his love. He is lost to all else.
The dunya' is everything that takes you away from Allah. Not things like being with your family and friends etc. Only things that take you away from Allah such as being in love to the point that you loose your will and forget about Allah and everything other than the person you're in love with. That is the closest you get to insanity.
A person who is a manic depressive for example is constantly changing from one state to another. This is contrasted with fasting. In fasting you're in one state.
Constriction vs. Expansion
In constriction you feel far away from Allah. You become depressed due to disappointment in yourself not in Allah.
In expansion you feel close to Allah.
The metaphor of Majnun and Layla is parallel to the love of a servant to Allah.
Love changes people. This kind of love for human beings will destroy you, or Allah will destroy you in some way.
In the hikam of Ibn 'Ata'illah it says: 'You have not loved anything except that you became its slave.'
In the Qur'an it says: People who take other deities and love them as they should love Allah.
The commentators say it is a kind of shirk because you're showing devotion and love for someone or something else that should be shown to Allah.
By fasting everything else dies out. Other than Allah.
'Shaitan circulates inside Bani Adam just as blood does. So make sure you make his passage narrow. You make his passage narrow with hunger.'
{Hadith Sharif}
Allah, the Exalted, raised the rank of His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, by not giving him and his family food sometimes for months.
One of the scholars said, 'my nafs never asked me for anything or complained except for once when I was on my way to Hajj and got lost in the desert and my nafs asked me for bread and fish.' The scholar ended up in a camp where they caught him and beat him up because they mistook him for a thief. Until someone came along who recognized him and apologized to him. The scholar said, 'It's ok. My nafs got what it deserved.' Then he got invited to dinner and was served fish and bread. And so he said to his nafs, 'next time you want fish and bread just let me know, but it will cost you 200 beatings!'
The sins of the awliya' are the good deeds of the ordinary people.
If you let your nafs live on the borders of shubahat {doubtful things} one day it will fall into haram.
The nafs is trying to destroy you. The nafs only wants pleasure - whether haram or halal. But you have to force it into 'ibadah {worshipful devotion} until it becomes pleasurable, then the nafs will love to do 'ibadah.
Alchemy
Transforming the dirty cheap nafs into gold. Meaning to purify it from impurities and diseases.
There has to be tribulations and trials for it to change.
The salaf {the first three generations of righteous Muslims} loved to go against their desires.
Purifying yourself means going against yourself.
One of the scholars of Tarim said:
"Whatever good crosses your mind, just do it."
The one who prepares will benefit.
Unfortunately a lot of Muslim women spend many hours during Ramadan cooking.
Imam al-Ghazali says in Ihya 'Ulum al-Din, 'There's no point in fasting all day and then eating more than you normally do when breaking your fast.'
The nafs becomes much stronger when breaking the fast if you feed it too much.
Eating soup when breaking the fast and then doing some activity for 30 min. then you will feel tired.
The sunnah is to break the fast, then pray. In Tarim they break the fast with dates and a sambosa then they get up to pray salat al-maghrib, sunnah prayers and salat al-tasbih, which takes about 20-25 minutes.
One of the main tribulations in Ramadan is overeating.
Things that destroy the rewards of fasting
- ghiba {backbiting}
- spreading rumours about people
- lying
- shahwa {to look at someone with lust}
3 categories of fasting
- sawm al-'awamm {fasting of the ordinary people}
- avoiding everything that is haram. During Ramadan haram things are even more haram.
- not breaking the fast whilst thinking about anything other than Allah.
Punishment for sins are more severe during Ramadan, because there are no shayatin.
Allah will not look at 3 people on yawm al-qiyama
- an old man committing fornication
- a king who lies
- a sinner during Ramadan
If you plan to travel it's good to plan it during Ramadan if it's in order to be in a mosque and other holy places especially during the last 10 days.
The Sunnah is to plan as if you are to die tomorrow.
The sign that you worship your 'ibadah is that when your pleasure in worshipful devotion disappears you abondon your 'ibadah.
The sign that you're worshipping Allah and not your 'ibadah is that you continue your 'ibadah whether or not you find pleasure in it.
The nafs wants change immediately. Haste in doing good deeds is either from Shaytan or the nafs. Otherwise you should have sabr in doing good deeds and long-term results.
Noter fra undervisning med Shaykh 'Abdul Wahid Shakir Morrone, Al Ghazali-institutet
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