07 Ramadan 1430h - Nafilah: a pathway for lovers

This year 1430h is my fourth Ramadan. Alhamdulillah!

Venue Ramadan1430: Manchester, United Kingdom

Suhor 06Ramadan1430: Biscuits, dates and water
Suhor 07Ramadan1430: Oats in milk with raisins and banana
Iftaar 07Ramadan1430: Orange juice, dates and pitta with kidney bean curry...yummy!

This year my Ramadan started on the 6th day. The holy month came easily, I found myself longing for the times back in Malaysia where the spirit of Ramadan is infused in the very air that I breath. God is Great. The vast difference of both worlds made me appreciate more the meaning of Ramadan and the blessings that comes with it.

Recently I found a couple of articles from the Masjid at North Campus, it was provided by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, simply called WAMY (though their website in English is not complete their arabic website is available).

I read about the women in Islam; beyond stereotypes and Jesus; an Islam perspective. Both are indeniably true in the sense where the issues discussed and raised about Christianity and the evolution of the church through times where the turning point came from the council of Nicea in the year 325. That was where the concept of the trinity was born and the point when the solidarity of one church crumbled. That year birthed the roman catholics thanks to king constantine. That year destroyed the first and foremost believe in one God and there being no others associated with Him.

So much for history. Also, due to Allah's bountiful grace, I found this website called IslamOnline.net. It was an amazing find. They have all the things and issues discussed by every Muslim and a dedicated webpage/site for this holy Ramadan 1430h (and for the pass few years too!). Even live telecast of the terawih prayed from Masjidil-al-haram every night. I am truly thankful.

I was reading the articles on IslamOnline.net and today the article Nafilah: a pathway for lovers caught my attention. I must confess, I initially thought it had got to do with the relationship of a man and woman but beautifully it covers the relationship of man and Allah. More critically zooming in on man's relationship with his God through his daily 5 fard salah (solat/namaz/salat) and the additional nafl prayers which has been largely overlooked these days.

A quote caught my attention:

"If my servant comes closer to Me a hand span, I come closer to him or her an arms-length; and if he or she comes to Me walking, I come to him or her running." (Al-Bukhari)

this alone reminded me how much Allah subhanuwataallah loves each and every one of us, even more than we love Him, even more than how much we love ourselves. A tinge of embarassment hit me. So does Allah not deserve much more than what is prescribed to us in the daily 5 fard prayers? I was thinking about the nafilah prayers preceeding/succeeding the fard prayers. I asked myself should I now not do it out of love for my God who loves me much more than I love myself? All the more reason to do it especially when it strengthens the fard prayers and draws us closer to Him.

"The first thing people will be accountable for on the Day of Judgment is Prayer. Almighty Allah will say to His angels (even though He already knows), "Look at My servants' Prayers. Were they complete or not?"

If they are complete, they will be written as complete. If they are not complete, Almighty Allah will say, "See if My servant has voluntary Prayers." If he or she has them, Almighty Allah will say, "Complete his obligatory-Prayer shortage with his or her voluntary Prayers."

Then the rest of his or her deeds will be dealt with in the same manner." (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and An-Nasa'i)

So this was my 7th day of Ramadan 1430h. Repairing my prayers.