As We Say Goodbye . . ‪.‬ Loving and Living the Quran

As We Wrap Up The Blessed Month Of Ramadan, We May Be Feeling A Mix Of Emotions: A Tinge Of Sadness At The Ending Of The Month Of Blessings, Mercy And Forgiveness, A Sense Of Relief That We Were Able To Fast And Pray [And That We Can Eat Again!] And Maybe Some Regret That We Did Not Or Could Not Do More During The Blessed Minutes And Hours Of This Sacred Month Of Allah [Swt] When We Were His Guests. Many of us have been deeply impacted by the news from Palestine and our sense of helplessness to stop the atrocities. Please let us remind ourselves that we have the huge weapon of Dua at our disposal. And though the month of Ramadan may be coming to an end and our eyes may not water quite so much at every Sahoor and Iftar, thinking of our brothers and sisters starving while we are blessed with an abundance of food and drink at our tables, we cannot and must not forget that we have an ongoing duty to do what little we can which includes turning to Him in prayer to ease their plight and to grant them peace and freedom Ameen.  No matter what level of closeness and spirituality we attained during this month, we may be wondering of how to make it stay with us a little bit longer. For many of us, this is the only time in the year when we change the focus of our attention from worldly matters and at least cast a glance at matters of the spirit. During the rest of the year, although we may profess love and belief in Allah, we may think of Him or call on Him only in times of distress and rarely find time to turn to Him in extra prayer or gratitude.  During this awesome month, however, we have tasted of the Divine Banquet of Mercy, we have developed some good habits and feel a bit forlorn that we will lose this sense of spirituality again until next year. As we approach Eid, it is a good idea to reflect on some tiny steps that we can take to maintain the spirit of Ramadan alive so that the spiritual gains that we have achieved are not lost. So that we may start next Ramadan inshallah at a slightly higher plane of spirituality than we did this year.  Just as gains in health are only maintained if one continues with some good habits after time at a health spa, the spiritual gains achieved during this Spiritual Spa time can be maintained with some simple baby steps. Here are some actions that we took during this month which helped us nurture our spiritual bond to Him, and some ways that we can continue these practices: 1.    Establishing Salaat Ramadan is a time when we are most conscious of Salaat and its’ timings, especially the fajr and maghrib prayer. Regular and timely prayer is the most basic and vital way to maintain our connection to Him. Salaat is designed by the Almighty to be an intentional and consistent detachment from the world and an invitation to turn inwards, to connect to the Source at regular intervals to fuel our spirit. We are invited in the Quran to establish Salaat, not just to pray the occasional Salaat. This means that this act of worship has to be a pillar of our life, a structure of our existence. Baby steps: Make a commitment to start praying at least one Salaat exactly on time, every day. “Adorn” the Salaat by adding recommended actions to the basic prayer. Start with something small and do it consistently before adding the next piece. 2.    Reading the Quran To succeed in any area of life, the first step is knowledge about the rules that govern that area. We do not expect to excel at academics or in the workplace without reading the texts that govern the particular field. Similarly we cannot expect to succeed in this world, get to know the system of cause and effect, to know ourselves or figure out how to achieve ultimate success in the hereafter without looking at the manual gifted to us by the Creator of the system. Although we may have spent much time in recitation during the month of Ramadan, an ongoing relationship with the Quran necessitates understanding, contemplation and action. Only