Ramadan Resolutions.....

Whoever wants to know what Allah has prepared for him, should look to what he has prepared for Allah.

What a beautiful, simple formula to calculate our future with!  We can match our life against the Qur'an and the Sunnah to know who we are, and to look at what we have set aside for Allah (Subhana wa Ta’ala), and to know what Allah the Almighty and Majestic has prepared for us.

It is imperative that we take our soul to account and treat its deficiencies. Umar (radi Allahu anhu) said, "Take account of yourselves before you are taken to account, weigh your deeds before they are weighed."

Hasan al Basri (rahimahu Allah) said "A believer will always be critical of himself in his food, his drink and his speech. A sinner will not criticize himself." He also said "A believer is a guardian over himself: he takes account of himself for Allah. Those who take account of themselves in this world will be audited lightly in the Hereafter. Those who take this issue lightly will find their auditing very difficult."

When a Muslim takes account of his actions, he is able to realize the right of Allah (Subhana wa Ta’ala) over him. Ibn al-Qayyim said, "A benefit of understanding Allah's right over the servant is that it breeds condemnation of oneself and delivers one from showing off and vanity. It also opens the door of humbleness in front of Allah and closes the doors of conceit. It allows one to realize that salvation is only through Allah's grace and mercy."

It is Allah's right that He should be obeyed and not disobeyed; that He should be remembered and not forgotten; and that He should be shown gratitude and not shown ingratitude. Whoever thinks over these things will know with certainty that he cannot fulfill these conditions and, thus, has to resort to Allah's mercy. Such a person will be convinced that he cannot rely on his actions, lest he be destroyed.

We think about our rights over Allah and not about His rights over us. This is how we are detached from Allah and deprived of the desire to meet Him. This is the epitome of our ignorance of our Lord and of ourselves.

If we can make our Ramadan resolution this year to follow all the above mentioned advice -- this will be the best possible Ramadan so far, inshaAllah.

Three things of life once gone never come back -- time, words, and opportunity. Let us also make the resolution to not waste them.

With Allah's help nothing is difficult, without His help nothing is easy!