Refresh yourself

We're approaching the nitty gritty part of Ramadan. Only 2 weeks to go and each day becomes more important. This coming weekend Shia's across the world commemorate the martyrdom of our first Imam. Imam Ali was martyred in Kufa, Iraq, and his tomb lies in the city of Najaf - one of the many cities currently being destroyed due to the American-British (and associated allies) occupation of the country. Imam Ali was the appointed successor of the Holy Prophet, a fact denied by the Sunni's leading to many disagreements between the two schools of thought. Not enough people read this blog to start a debate, but needless to say, it is a very contentious issue.

After the weekend, we approach the holiest days of the Islamic calendar. From the 21st of Ramadan onwards, each odd night (i.e. 21st, 23rd, 25th and 27th), are called Lailatul-Qadr (the Nights of Power). On one of these nights the Holy Quran was first revealed, (infact in Ramadan, all the books of God were revealed to their respective Prophets). In each of these nights, muslims (Shia & Sunni) across the world spend the night in prayer and supplication to God. It is a night when we have the opportunity to start afresh, to ask for forgiveness and to reset ourselves for the coming year. Kind of like New Year resolutions, but with meaning and purpose.

God has stated that in these nights, our sins will be forgiven and our requests and hopes answered. Putting my cynical hat on (as I often like to do), I used to believe this was a great "Get Out of Jail Free" card. Do whatever you want throughout the year and then spend the night in prayer and get forgiven! I'd become Christian - the only difference being that instead of Confession, I was asking for forgiveness in one holy night and everything was fine again! How stupid! The opportunity for redemption and forgiveness is only there if one has been a true muslim throughout the year. God is all merciful, but he is also just and therefore he is not going to forgive everyone who asks, he will forgive only those who deserve his forgiveness. These nights are a big opportunity to succeed with obtaining forgiveness depending on how each muslim has behaved throughout the preceding year.

God, in his infinite wisdom, has not revealed the exact date of the revelation of the Holy Quran. This enables us to engage in supplication for longer over the course of the 4 nights. I personally, along with my family, focus on the 23rd night, as most scholars seem to think this is the likeliest of nights for when the Quran was revealed, but I also do some prayers on the other nights as well.

Once these nights pass and it is the home straight and we can then celebrate Eid. Yet again due to the moon sighting controversy (read my "Have you seen the moon lately?" blog for more information) the day of Eid will be different for different muslims. No doubt the Shia's will be celebrating Eid a day after the Sunni's although there's only one moon and one day when it is a New Moon! Ridiculous, but I'm not going to go into it all again!

And so, Ramadan will finish and like all Ramadan's, I hope to leave it having become a better person, a better muslim and hopefully will use that to improve as the year goes on until it comes round again. Islam provides us with constant refresher courses. After Ramadan, the month of Zilhajj will not be far away, when millions of muslims across the globe will congregate in the Holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. For the millions fortunate enough to go this year, it will serve as another opportunity to reset themselves, become better people and seek further forgiveness from God.

The actual trip typically takes 2-3weeks, but the Hajj itself lasts only a few days. Those few days are the most spiritual days in the Islamic calendar. It is the closest we'll get to God. We are all annually invited to the House of God and able to talk to him about our errors and mistakes, and also our hopes and desires. Unfortunately, I have not yet been, but inshallah hope to do so in 2yrs time, if all things go as planned.

After Hajj, Shia muslims get another opportunity to refresh ourselves and grow closer to God in the month of Muharrum. Ever wondered why muslims don't celebrate a new year? The month of Muharrum is the first of the Islamic calendar, and it is the month when Shia's (and a lot of Sunnis as well) commemorate the brutal martyrdom of the 3rd Imam, Imam Hussain, grandson of the Holy Prophet.

It was on the 10th of Muharrum when Imam Hussain and his family and friends (numbering upto only 72) were killed on the planes of Karbala, Iraq, by the so-called Islamic ruler of that time - Yazid. Without going into too much history, it was a tragic loss, but served to save the religion of Islam as we know it today. This ultimate sacrifice is remembered with a series of lectures and speeches by respected scholars and knowledgeable muslims (including a friend of mine) across the world and provides a great opportunity to bring the muslim community together and learn from the events of Karbala.

A lot of people are trying hard to belittle the event and claim that it shouldn't be commemorated with such force and strength as it is today. These people (including certain family members) miss the point entirely. I see it as a brilliant chance to learn more and more about my religion. For someone to actually sacrifice himself and his family & friends for the cause of Islam and God, must mean something about it is right. Surely we can only learn from that. No other religion has such a story and infact it is an event that was forecast in the Bible as well as the Holy Quran, such was its magnitude. People, who belittle the event, don't understand its meaning. It serves as a wake-up call, an eye-opener about my religion.

After Muharrum, Ramadan is not far around the corner and so the circle continues. These three months provide us all with constant opportunities to learn about the religion, to improve ourselves for ourselves, our community and for God. It gives us a change to ask for forgiveness and to benefit from the blessings of God.

These opportunities for refreshment all present themselves on a daily basis. As muslims we all must pray 5 times a day. These prayers act a perfect opportunity to reset ourselves each day. Each day we must stop what we're doing and pray to God as prescribed by him. Not when we feel like it, like other religions advocate, but actual prayers in a set fashion. These prayers also allow us to talk to God on a daily basis and give us a chance to get close to him and improve ourselves.

Reading this all, the blog does seem to be a bit preachy! This was not my intention, and I apologies for it to turn out that way. I wanted to speak about the constant chances we have on a day-to-day basis and on a year-by-year basis to get closer to God and improve as muslims in a variety of aspects. I hope you've been able to get through this and not get bored, but it was important to highlight the occasions we have as muslims to better ourselves. And lastly, I'm glad is has a religious flavour because it is Ramadan and it was my original intention!

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?