*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* { Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net } { Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] } { Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] } *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* Undilah PAS : MENENTANG KEZALIMAN & MENEGAKKAN KEADILAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ramadan: The road to Taqwa (God Consciousness) by M M Ally Once again we are greeting the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, the month during which the Qur'an was revealed. For each one of us, Ramadan is of great significance; it marks a new phase, a new role, a new challenge. It also implied movement, movement from one stage to another. Today when Muslims speak of movement they invariably refer to the movement which establishes ultimately the sovereignty of Allah (subhanawatala), in its socio-political sense on this earth; but Islamic Movement has a deeper and more fundamental meaning at the psycho-spiritual level - the establishment of the sovereignty and will of Allah in ourselves. Ramadan represents the preparation for this journey and like Hijrah represents the migration from what we are to what we want to be. During the month of Ramadan all these internalised forms become manifest, raising our consciousness of Allah and our responsibility towards Him. It is only natural that fasting should be ordained on the Muslim community which was commanded to pursue the straight path; because fasting is an activity whereby a determined and definite effort is made to bring our will to conform to the divine will. So too does it serve as an instrument for rising above all the needs of the body, bearing their pressure and weight - out of preference for Allah's pleasure and good rewards. It is taqwa (God-consciousness) which is awakened in the human heart when the fasting is fulfilled. We know very well the importance of taqwa in the sight of Allah and its weight on our scales. It is a goal to which our souls aspire. Fasting is one of the means and paths leading to taqwa or God consciousness. There are three evils which clouds the attainment of taqwa. One such evil and impediment is pride (qibr). This is the antithesis of humility and is a moral ailment, it is the greatest cancer that can eat away everything that we are striving to achieve. Our entire efforts should be continued with great humility because whatever we achieve is by the Grace of Allah. The ideal before us, the uswa or the example of the Prophet, is so high that one cannot feel contented anywhere under it. Because the ideal is high, we are always in a state of aspiration. We are perpetually in a state of effort, striving and moving up. Should pride (qibr) arise in this state, it can only be an act of Satan. Pride comes in very attractive, very concealed, very deceptive channels and forms. The second evil which clouds our consciousness of Allah is hypocrisy, showing off, and pretending to have what one does not have. This is moral ailment which eats away one's character as a moth eats away cloth. Hypocrisy is the negative of sincerity, and sincerity is the most essential ingredient of Faith and Deeds. The Prophet has condemned it in the strongest terms. The third evil is despair, the feeling of hopelessness and of pessimism. Allah calls despair an act of disbelief and rejection. If one has failed a hundred times, one's efforts have won incalculable gains. So the feeling of despair, of disappointment, of pessimism, of losing heart should never occur. Fasting is a form of tazkiyah. Tazkiyah means literally the purification or the cleansing of all those things which are unwholesome and unwelcome and unwanted. At the same time, it endows the human being with all those things which are essential for growth and development for blossoming and flowering. The tazkiyah of a person through fasting would mean the moulding of his/her character, his/her thought, his/her behaviour; it would mean developing of his/her entire flow of actions to free them from those evils, those unwholesome traits which are obnoxious, undesirable in the eyes of Allah and to endow them will all those virtues which want to flourish in human life. Tazkiyah is not a part-time or a piece-meal job, it is not restricted to the month of Ramadan only. It demands a protracted effort, it is an unending, unceasing process and there is no short cut to it. Tazkiyah is an all-embracing process. Islam does not believe in that type of tasawwuf where we purify our hearts, make it transparent, and yet we remain neck-deep in political, economic and social corruptions. Tazkiyah encompasses the entire life, the privacy of our thoughts and the social manifestations of our life all of them just be in line with Allah's injunctions. In the last analysis tazkiyah is a highly personal process. It is only through our own personal effort our own realisation, our own determination, our own exertation that can produce the results. Tazkiyah is a process which unfolds itself step by step. We cannot expect to change all in one go. This is against the laws of nature. Even revaluation came only when people were ready to receive it. During the month of fast, six instruments are available to us for tazkiya (purification) which will lead to taqwa or God consciousness. The month of Ramadan trains us to remember Allah (dhikr) The importance of dhikr lies in the fact that it creates a mental and a psychological 'climate'. In this climate, we can protect ourselves from the evil encroachments and inroads of the external environment wherever we may be. Dhikr is not difficult. While we are travelling, on the vehicle, we can spend a few minutes remembering 'Allah', and His mercy and power. All this will give us a different mental climate from the anti-islamic elements. In every situation, we can preserve the Islamic ethos by dhikr or remembrance. Ramadan is a month of repentance, (istighfar or tawbah). Istighfar is repentance for one's sins, mistakes or aberrations. Tawbah is turning back to Allah. The month of Ramadan gives us an opportunity to reflect and contemplate upon our mistakes and sins. Primarily istighfar is a state of mind and tawbah is a state of resolve. And the greatness of Islam is that it enables us to raise our conduct from the abyss of unconsciousness to the heights of consciousness. If one makes a slip, one should stop, regret it and make a resolve not to commit it again. Ramadan is also a month of perseverance and patience (sabr). To cultivate patience means that we must stick to the path of virtue and come back to it whenever we commit a mistake or any aberration is made. Patience also means remaining steadfast in the face of the tempest of adversity, when temptations are besetting one, when threats are intimidating one. Ramadan is a month of self-appraisal and self-criticism (ihtisab). During this month we should spend some time in appraising ourselves and we should be as honest, frank to ourselves as we can in appraising ourselves we should be harsh to ourselves and lenient to others. That should be the cornerstone of policy and if we stick to it, then only good will result, Insha Allah. Finally, Ramadan is a month of supplication, (du'a), asking Allah's help, asking Him for everything that is needed. Du'a is one of the most important instruments of purification because it is a snapshot of all our ambitions. One's entire scale of priorities in life can be reflected in one's supplication. We may be very crude in the way we make our supplication, but it is much dearer to Allah if we make it with sincerity. © harakah To Main Page ---------------------------------------------------------------- Get your free email from AltaVista at http://altavista.iname.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan ) ( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net ) ( Bermasalah? 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