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Ramadhan Challenges in History
All praises to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
He who revealed in His Glorious Quran, "Oh you who believe, fasting
is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those who came before
you that you may keep your duty to your Lord (having taqwa)," 2:185.
And may blessings and-peace of Allah be upon His last Messenger
Muhammad ibn Abdullah, forever.
Oh you who believe, Ramadan is a sacred month wherein Almighty Allah
is constantly testing His creation and giving humanity the
opportunity to achieve infinite, endless Bliss. Fasting is a
complete purification and a means to developing the consciousness of
Allah's presence. The consciousness of Allah, Taqwa, is a protection
against the schemes of Shaitan, and the suffering of this world.
Allah has informed us that, "Whoever keeps his duty to Allah (has
taqwa), He ordains a way out for him and gives him sustenance from
where he imagines not. And whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient
for him. Surely Allah attains His purpose. Allah has appointed a
measure for everything." (65:2)
Many Muslims today have a misconception about fasting and the
activities of a fasting person. They go into a state of
semi-hibernation, spending most of their daylight hours in bed. If
they fear Allah, they wake up for prayer, but then return to sleep
immediately. This unnatural sleep makes them become lazy, dull
witted and often cranky.
Ramadan is actually a time of increased activity wherein the
believer, now lightened of the burdens of constant eating and
drinking, should be more willing to strive and struggle for Allah.
The Prophet passes through approximately nine Ramadan's after the
Hijrah. They were filled with decisive events and left us a shining
example of sacrifice and submission to Allah.
In the first year after the Hijrah, the Prophet sent Hamza ibn Abdul
Muttalib with thirty Muslim riders to Saif al Bahr to investigate
three hundred riders from Quraish who had camped auspiciously in
that area. The Muslims were about to engage the disbelievers, but
they were separated by Majdy ibn Umar al-Juhany. The Hypocrites of
Al-Madinah, hoping to oppose the unity of the Muslims, built their
own masjid (called Masjid al-Direr). The Prophet ordered this masjid
to be destroyed in Ramadan.
On the seventeenth of Ramadan, 3 A.H., Almighty Allah separated
truth from falsehood at the Great Battle of Badr. The Prophet and
313 of his companions set out to intercept a caravan of their own
goods that had been left in Makkah. It was led by Abu Sufyan,
himself, and estimated at 60,000 dinars. They were met, instead, by
a well equipped army of the nobility of Quraish, intent on putting
out the light of Islam. Despite being outnumbered three to one and
appearing weak and unseasoned, the Muslims defended their faith with
a burning desire to protected the Prophet and meet their Lord
through martyrdom. Allah gave them a decisive victory on this day of
Ramadan, that would never to be forgotten.
In 6 A.H., Zaid ibn Haritha was sent to Wadi al-Qura at the head of
a detachment to confront Fatimah bint Rabiah, the queen of that
area. Fatimah had previously attacked a caravan led by Zaid and had
succeeded in plundering its wealth. She was known to be the most
protected woman in Arabia, as she hung fifty swords of her close
relatives in her home. Fatimah was equally renowned for showing open
hostility to Islam. She was killed in a battle against these Muslims
in the month of Ramadan.
By Ramadan of 8 A H., the treaty of Hudaibiyya had been broken and
the Muslim armies had engaged the Byzantines in the North. Muhammad
felt the need to strike a fatal blow to disbelief in the Arabian
Peninsula and conquer the city of Mecca. Allah had declared His
Sanctuary a place of peace, security and religious sanctity. Now the
time had come to purify the Kaabah of nakedness and abomination. The
Prophet set out with an army having more armed men than Al-Madinah
had ever seen before. People were swelling the army's ranks as it
moved toward Makkah. The determination of the believers, guided by
the Will of Allah, became so awesome that the city of Makkah was
conquered without a battle, on - 20 Ramadan. This was one of the
most important dates in Islamic history for after it, Islam was
firmly entrenched in the Arabian Peninsula. During the same month
and year, after smashing the idols of Makkah, detachments were sent
to the major centers of polytheism and al-Lat, Manat and Suwa, some
of the greatest idols of Arabia, were destroyed.
Such was the month of Ramadan in the time of the Prophet. It was a
time of purification, enjoining the good, forbidding evil, and
striving hard with one's life and wealth. After the death of the
Prophet, Muslims carried on this tradition and Allah used the true
believers to affect the course of history. Ramadan continued to be a
time of great trials and crucial events.
Ninety-two years after the Hujrah, Islam had spread across North
Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria. Spain was under the
tyrannical rule of King Roderic of the Visigoths. Roderic had forced
his six million serfs and persecuted Jews to seek the aid of the
Muslims of North Africa in order to be delivered. Musa ibn Husair,
the Umayyad governor of North Africa, responded by sending his
courageous general Tariq ibn Ziyad at the head of 12,000 Berber and
Arab troops. In Ramadan of that year, they were confronted with a
combined Visigoth army of 90,000 Christians led by Roderic, himself,
who was seated on a throne of ivory silver, and precious gems and
drawn by white mules. After burning his boats, Tariq preached to the
Muslims warning them that and Paradise lay ahead of them and defeat
and the sea to the rear. They burst with great enthusiasm and Allah
manifested a clear victory over the forces of disbelief. Not only
was Roderic and his forces completely annihilated, but Tariq and
Musa succeeded in liberating whole of Spain, Sicily and of France.
This was the beginning of the Golden Age of Al-Andalus where Muslims
ruled for over 700 years.
In the year 682 A.H., Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, after battling with the
Crusaders for years, finally drove them out of Syria and the whole
of their occupied lands in the month of Ramadan. The Muslim world
was then destined to meet one of its most frightening challenges.
In the seventh century A.H., the Mongols were sweeping across Asia
destroying everything that lay in their path Genghis Khan called
himself "the scourge of God sent to punish humanity for their sins."
In 617 A.H. Samarkand, Ray, and Hamdan were put to the sword causing
more than 700,000 people to be killed or made captive. In 656 A.H.
Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, continued this destruction.
Even Baghdad, the leading city of the Muslim world, was sacked. Some
estimates say that as many as 1,800,000 Muslims were killed in this
awesome carnage. The Christians were asked to eat pork and drink
wine openly while the surviving Muslims were forced to participate
in drinking bouts. Wine was sprinkled in the masjids and no Azan
(call to prayer) was allowed. In the wake of such a horrible
disaster and with the threat of the whole Muslim world; and then
Europe being subjected to the same fate, Allah raised up from the
Mamluks of Egypt, Saifuddin Qutz, who, united the Muslim army and
met the Mongols at Ain Jalut on 26th Ramadan, 468 A.H. Although they
were under great pressure, the Muslims with the help of Allah,
cunning strategy and unflinching bravery, crushed the Mongol army
and reversed this tidal wave of horror. The whole of the civilized
world sighed in relief and stood in awe at the remarkable
achievement of these noble sons of Islam.
This was the spirit of Ramadan that enabled our righteous
forefathers to face seemingly impossible challenges. It was a time
of intense activity, spending the day in the saddle and the night in
prayer while calling upon Allah for His mercy and forgiveness.
Today, the Muslim world is faced with drought, military aggression,
widespread corruption and tempting materialism. Surely we are in
need of believers who can walk in the footsteps of our beloved
Prophet, the illustrious Sahabah, Tariq ibn Ziyad, Qutuz, Salahuddin
and the countless heroes of Islam. Surely we are in need of
believers who are unafraid of the threats of the disbelievers, yet
kind and humble to the believing people; Muslims whose fast is
complete and not just a source of hunger and thirst.
May Allah raise up a generation of Muslims who can carry Islam to
all corners of the globe in a manner that befits our age, and may He
give us the strength and the success to lay the proper foundations
for them. May Allah make us of those who carry out our Islam during
Ramadan and after it, and may He not make us of those who say what
they do not do. Surely Allah and His Angels invoke blessings and
peace upon our Prophet Muhammad. Oh you who believe send blessings
and peace to him forever.
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Ramadhan
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