As we prepare for Ramadan
Yes, the challenges of insurgency, abduction, armed robbery, rape, disease, poverty, deprivation, bigotry, corruption, mischief, and other forms of evils that bedevil us as a nation today are altogether a consequence of what our hands have earned for us in our disobedience to Allah’s injunctions. Allah’s creation was from the onset pure and good in […]
Yes, the challenges of insurgency, abduction, armed robbery, rape, disease, poverty, deprivation, bigotry, corruption, mischief, and other forms of evils that bedevil us as a nation today are altogether a consequence of what our hands have earned for us in our disobedience to Allah’s injunctions. Allah’s creation was from the onset pure and good in itself. But when man sinfully decided to be arrogant and selfish, the consequence of evil must be evil; to serve as a warning and deterrent for others as well as an invitation to the door of repentance.
Let us individually and collectively therefore take advantage of this holy month to change for the better. And unless we remain sincere in our repentance, we may never have seen the worst of crises. While the beginning of Ramadan signifies mercy (rahmah), its midpoint is full of forgiveness (maghfirah). The last part of it is full of elevation for believers. The entire period of Ramadan is thus a season of spiritual amnesty.
Ramadan is a period when believers persevere in worship, the reward of which is a Garden of Bliss (Al-Jannah). The mind, the body and the soul of a believer during Ramadan each passes through various levels of perseverance by means of physical denial; in the service and total submission to the will of Allah (SWT). It is in recognition of the worth of Ramadan fast as a unique and virtuous act of worship (ibadah) that Allah (SWT) says every good deed by man is for himself except Ramadan fast, which is exclusively for Allah (SWT) and He alone rewards it. Allah (SWT) forgives a believer of all his sins committed between the last and the current Ramadan as long as the Ramadan fast is observed faithfully and in accordance with laid down rules and regulations. Abu Hurayrah further reports that the prophet (SAW) said, “When Ramadan comes, the gates of the Garden (of Bliss) are opened, and the gates of the Fire are closed, and the devils (shayatin) are chained”.
The six authentic compilers of hadith all relate on the authority of Abu Hurayrah who reports that the Prophet (SAW) said, “Fasting is a protection for you. Therefore when you are fast, do not behave obscenely or foolishly. And if anyone argues with you or abuses you; say, ‘I am fasting, I am fasting”.
Prophetic traditions encourage believers to pre-occupy themselves with diverse acts of worship during Ramadan. These include recitation of the holy Qur’an, observing supererogatory (nafilat) prayers called Tarawih, attending Tafsir sessions and feeding the indigent.
This column wishes to inform readers that it would, during this year’s Ramadan season, devote its weekly space to stories of some selected Prophets of Allah; identifying specific virtuous lessons that are there to be learnt from the life, teachings and ideals of these pious men of God. Ramadan Kareem in advance!
Well done Princess Adejoke Adefulire!
Apart from being a Qur’anic injunction for women to dress decently, it is one practical means stronger than any other by which a woman, lady, madam, hajiya, or ustazah earns much respect from others; especially men. Unfortunately, the brazen manner in which the women-folk of today (married and unmarried) make dazzling display of their beauty cannot be more shameless than that of the former times of jahiliyyah (ignorance); lowering their pride and honor as well as ridiculing the natural dignity of womanhood.
The Deputy Governor of Lagos State Princess Adejoke Adefulire recently read a riot act for women in the state against indecent dressing; warning that anyone found henceforth exposing parts of the body which should rather be covered will be arrested. She further advocated life sentence without an option of fine for rapists; lamenting that rape cases are on the increase. Speaking at an event to mark the 2014 International Day of the African Child, Adefulire condemned single and married women who dress indecently saying that such has contributed to the current high rate of rape cases.
Most often, women as puppets in the wicked and destructive grab of the Shaytan, are made to erroneously believe that exposing parts of their body which should ordinarily be covered ‘adds’ to their beauty. This at best can only be a false imagination that is far from what every modest woman would confess to in the aesthetic world of beauty. Beauty does not lie in and can never be defined by the nakedness, no matter how insignificantly exposed, of a woman.
Allah (SWT) commands in Qur’an 24:31 “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms…and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. O ye Believers! Turn ye all towards Allah, that ye may attain bliss” Those things that this verse specifically warns against are what today’s modernized women find pleasure and pride in perpetrating.
Many of such westernized women dress in hip-tight clothes and bosom-revealing blouses; walking and picking their steps like ‘break-dancers’. If a woman decides to expose that which should be hidden; what again, I wonder, is left to be respected and appreciated in her? I also sometimes wonder if men as husbands or fathers actually saw their wives or daughters leaving their homes in enticing attires. I find it more disturbing when I see women who are mothers to young boys and girls improperly dressed. This, sadly, is the scene you regularly come across today at wedding and naming ceremonies in many Muslim communities across the country. May Allah (SWT) save us from the evils of the sneaking whisperer who mutters vice in to hearts of believers; blindfolding them against seeing the path of guidance, amin.