In This Most Blessed Month of Ramadan,
Shaitan Maybe Out, 
But How Robust Is Our Own Nafs?

In This Most Blessed Month of Ramadan,
Shaitan Maybe Out, 
But How Robust Is Our Own Nafs?

Dr. Firdaus Kamalodeen

{Dr. Kamalodeen wrote his thoughts at the beginning of Ramadan, but, regretfully, we were unable to get to this article till now.

Editors, www.IslamicSolutions.Com}

Truth be told, and what else can we tell as Muslims, I have seen in the past, every time you venture to move one of our projects forward, it seems that Shaitan will escalate his plot and the distractions become greater. 

But he is chained up this month, so we should be free to try and move things along while he is in chains. 

And then this morning I read the Aayat Karimah: 

Inna kaida ash-shaitaani kaana daeefaa. 

Meaning:

"Shaitan's machinations and plots are weak and flimsy."

The flip side, as it were, of this is that Shaitan seems to be quite successful even with weak plots and flimsy schemes. 

And that means, when Shaitan finds no resistance, and finds the Enemy sleeping, all he has to do is just keep marching and continue to score victories.

And who do you think Shaitan's "Enemy" is? You and I, and all the children of Adam, Alaihis Salam, of course, who else?

So, the thing to do -- during Ramadan and after Ramadan and always -- is to double and redouble our efforts with various activities related to Ramadan; related to Islam; and related to life in general, albeit modified by pandemic restrictions these days.

For, science is Islam, if it is done right. 

And to knowingly and willfully violate Pandemic Requirements and Protocols of Vaccination, Mask, Distance and Open Air is to violate the basic canons, tenets and culture of Islam.

And, all the time, I am sure that your time, energy, money and resources would be targeted by others as they seek to “maximize” their resource and capital inflows at a time when Muslims are most open and “vulnerable.” Every excuse, cause and argument will be used to go after Muslim Money.

So, even as you let your hard-earned money flow like water in the path of Allah during Ramadan, and thereafter, be wary of all attempts, direct and indirect, to fleece Muslims and take advantage of their vulnerabilities and generosity.

That is the nature of Islam from Day One: Vulnerability.

That is why, as Dr. Pasha has repeatedly shown in the Qur'an, Ilm (Knowlege) and Fikr (Thinking and Reflection) and Amal (Action) were all made a requirement of all people, by Allah, so as to guide them and help them out of their difficulties.

And you know well what Shaitan did with those, before he was locked up for Ramadan? And what he is likely to do after he is let out of his chains.

That is why to me Ramadan is about the Qur’an! 

Allah's mandate is clear: 

Fa man shahida minkumu ash-shahra falyasumhu.

"If the month of Ramadan overtakes you as you are around,
you must fast!"

So this month as we fast, and thereafter forever, perhaps we should try to focus and refocus our energies and resources towards our campaign of “Taking the Qur’an to every home and heart that needs it.”

But it seems to me, in many ways, Muslims made Fasting the central focus of their efforts during Ramadan, and not so much the Qur'an, which is the real foundation of Islam, including Fasting. 

In the circumstances of the COVID-19 Pandemic, where our social interactions are constrained and limited to virtual meetings, it would seem that our use of the Internet and Telephone may yet be our best option at this time. 

Dr. Pasha has clearly suggested that the Internet is perhaps a great blessing from Allah in these days of the Pandemic, as we are locked up in our homes due to the fear of catching the virus.

Keeping this in mind, I would think that some of the things we can do using the telephone, emails and the social media may include the following:

1. Reach out to our Muslim contacts and encourage them to read the Qur’an, even if it’s one Ayah a day.

   And ask them also to read the translation -- any translation they could find -- and think and reflect about it. If people are unable to read the Qur’an, we can encourage them to learn to read, and we can volunteer to teach them. 

   For this we can use the book Qur’an Reading Made Easy by Dr. Pasha, which is available on our website www.IslamicSolutions.com. 

2. We can also try to popularize the use of the Qur'an Scale that was designed by Dr. Pasha a long time ago.

3. We can reach out to our non-Muslim contacts and ask them to read a translation of the Qur’an.

   We can arrange to send them a printed copy by mail. 

   At the moment, we do not have a translation available on our website www.IslamicSolutions.Com and maybe we can consider looking into this. 

   Reaching out to Non-Muslims was what Islam was all about before Muslims turned it into a tribal thing. And most Sahaabah Kiram used to be non-Muslims before what they became.

4. Direct your contacts - Muslims and non-Muslims to and share with them www.IslamicSolutions.com and ask them to read specific articles such as the booklets and the books and arrange to discuss with them on how they may have benefitted, what they may have learnt and then proceed to another article. 

5. Share our postings on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with your contacts.

6. Share an Ayah or more with your contacts and ask them to read it and think about it and share it. 

7. Promote our World Day of Fasting with your contacts, asking them to do the same and participate in it. Maybe we can consider an ad in this regard as well. 

8. Alhamdulillah, we currently have a Daily Khatm ongoing during the month of Ramadan. It’s not too late to join-in and ask others to do the same. Alternatively, you could also get a similar Daily Khatm organized in your local community, wherever you may happen to be.

9. Corona camped out among us for so long. Everybody talked about everything in relation to it. But, to my knowledge, not one Muslim voice called out to Non-Muslims to join us in raising our hands collectively to God Almighty in this time of distress.

   Dr. Pasha wrote an article on the subject that was posted on www.IslamicSolutions.Com. But what came of this call, no one knows.

   What a great so-called Da'wah this would have been! Just to alert the Non-Muslims to the fact that there is a God we all can turn to ask for help in the terrible ordeal we are all facing together.

I hope during this Ramadan we will not only deny food to our bodies, but will also do everything in our power to starve our Nafs.

END