The Muslimah and Ramadhan

**The Muslimah and Ramadhan**

Ramadhan, the month of mercy, turning to Allah, and perseverance in worship. It is the month in which the Noble Qur'an was first revealed to mankind as a guide for those who seek guidance. It is the month of immense ibadah by which the servant engages in to get closer to his or her Lord.

Ramadhan is not just the month of worship for the Muslim man but also the same if not more for the Muslimah,  Unfortunately it has become the norm in many muslim homes that the Muslim women cook and waste much of their time during the days of fasting in Ramadhan.  Ramadhan has become a month in which the individual avoids eating and drinking for a few hours, sleeps in during the day, eat a load of food during the night, and go for taraweeh some nights of Ramadhan if not the entire month. Ramadhan has become a culture of the Muslim and less of a serious opportunity to get to know one's creator.  We have been informed that  before Ramadhan would approach, our righteous Salaf would ask Allah to allow them to reach it and when it had arrived they would ask Allah to assist them in performing righteous acts of worship, and when it had left they would ask Allah to accept their good deeds from them for that beautiful month.

My dear sister, know and realize that you are no different than any other servant of Allah in this month. It is upon you to realize that Ramadhan is not just taking a break from eating, drinking, marital relations, backbiting, lying and sinning. Ramadhan is also a great time to turn to Allah and raise your ranks among the righteous women. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose Maryam the daughter of Emraan as the the best woman on the face of the Earth. Why? Did she sit around and just earn this status or did she just earn this status due to her noble prophetic lineage? Far from it! Maryam (May Allah be pleased with her ) was a great worshipper of Allah. Her acts of worship and sincere faith definitely played a major role in earning her this mighty rank which every woman and human should envy.

My sisters, do not be among the losers of Ramadan. They are those who gain nothing from this blessed time except hunger and thirst. They are those who waste their hours in sleep, music, and video games during the day and movies and wasting their blessed time during the nights. How can someone spend this blessed month this way when Allah (SWT) promised to forgive our past sins if we fast and pray with sincere belief and hoping for His reward? How can someone not read the Quran during this month when the Messenger of Allah read the most Quran during this month?

This Ramadan my dear sisters, make sure to strive in perfecting your belief and creed. Knowledge of tawheed (the oneness of Allah) is extremely important.  If we do not know our Creator, what He requires from us, and what we should avoid then what good is our prayer and fasting? It is better to meet Allah with a mountain full of sins than to meet Him with a corrupt aqeedah (belief).  There are many beneficial books of belief the Muslimah can benefit from and go back to gain knowledge of Her Sustainer (Ar-Razzaaq) and Creator (Al Khaaliq):

- Kitaab at-Tawheed by Shaykh al Islaam Muhammad ibn AbdulWahhab (rahimahullah)
- Thalatha Usool (The 3 Fundamentals) by the same author
- Al Waajibat al Mutahatimaat also by Ibn AbdulWahhab
- Khud Aqeedatak (meaning "Take Your Aqeedah") by Muhammad ibn Jameel Zeno (rahimahullah)

and many other books.

After Aqeedah, it is important and necessary that you my sister gain knowledge of the basic fiqh of taharah and worship. The Messenger of Allah (sws) said that Allah does not accept the prayer without purity (taharah). (Sunan Ibn Majah and others). The Muslimah is in dire need of obtaining knowledge of these important and obligatory matters. Many sisters take the issue of learning the fiqh of taharah very lightly and end up in bad situations. Fiqh of Taharah entails knowledge of ghusl. The Muslimah should know what requires ghusl (bath) and what difference between the state of the junub and haa'idh is. The sister should know the differences between the different bloods of nifaas, haydh, and istihaadhah.  Alhamdulilah, the scholars have written tons of books on these issues and the Muslimah should benefit from these books because as mentioned before, this is obligatory/required knowledge.

Some basic books on some important knowledge of the fiqh of worship:

-Fiqh Made Easy by Shaykh Saalih Sadlan

http://www.islamhouse.com/207459/en/en/books/Fiqh_Made_Easy

-Fiqh as-Sunnah by Sayyid Saabiq

http://www.islamhouse.com/51828/en/en/books/Fiqh_us-Sunnah

Learning these things are all a form of worship and one of the means of getting closer to Allah swt with. Ramadhan is a month of worshipping Allah swt extra more and being involved in more good deeds than usual. So my sister, make this blessed month a means of getting closer to Allah whether its through extra prayers,  recitation of the Quran, seeking knowledge of the important matters mentioned previously, and in general, getting to know your Creator. Allah swt stated that the main objective of fasting during Ramadhan is to gain one main thing: Taqwaa (Being conscious and aware of Allah swt). If we can not gain taqwaa in this blessed month then something is seriously wrong and we are incomplete.  If are engaging in sins during Ramadhan and yet fasting, then there is a really great need to go back to Islaam and we should ask ourselves, "Are we true submitting to Allah?"

May Allah accept our fasting and other worship from us and make us from the successors!