Ramadhan Preparation #6 - Cultivating Good Character (Akhlaq)

Treading further down the path of striving towards ihsan (excellence) in our acts of worship, we want to try and inculcate something even better: Ihsan at all times.

Jibreel asked the Prophet: “What is Ihsan?”

The Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) replied: “It is, that you worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot (do so), (perform in such a manner that you) know that He sees you” (Narrated in Bukhari & Muslim)

Worship Allah as if you see Him! Think about it: How would you perform at work if you can see your boss monitoring you at all times, from start to finish? Or at least, to work as if you have  CCTV, knowing your boss is monitoring you at all times & evaluating every one of your actions towards your performance appraisal?

You would perform at your peak performance – Ihsan.

And that is what is meant when the Prophet defined Ihsan – he didn’t give a textbook definition of the word; rather, he gave the practical implementation of how to shift our mindset to perform at our best: to at least have clear knowledge, at all times, that there is One, All Seeing, All-Hearing of what you do.


And that’s just not in prayer or our ritual acts of worship – He evaluates at all times, and never fails. It is with this knowledge and muraqabah (Awareness that Allah is Watching) that we have the drive to uphold the best akhlaq.

The Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said: "The most beloved to me amongst you is the one who has the best character and manners." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book #57, Hadith #104)

But good akhlaq isn’t merely a “command” –by the Mercy and the Grace of Allah, it is in fact a highly rewarded act of righteousness.

The Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said, "Nothing is heavier on the Scale of Deeds than one's good manners (i.e. akhlaq)." (Hadith - Bukhari's Book of Manners #271, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ahmad, and Ibn Hibban.)


Surely if good character and manners are the heaviest on the scales then can you imagine how much more heavier they will be if we behave with good character and manners during Ramadan?

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin: The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
“By his good character a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day.” (Sunan of Abu-Dawood – Book 41 Hadith 4780)

“the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day” – since this is basically what we do in Ramadhan anyway, good akhlaq effectively doubles that reward further!

And when we talk about “good akhlaq” we mean akhlaq in a holistic sense: that is our manners with

• Allah – by trying our level best to seek His Pleasure, and avoid His prohibitions
• ourselves – by our patience, our consistency in performing good deeds, by controlling our desires, etc; and
• the others around us – by our speech & actions, our positive interaction

While the aspects of good akhlaq are too vast to be listed here, suffice to say that the best reference is the sunnah of the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi  wasallam).

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad s.a.w.) you have a good example to follow, for him who hopes for (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much” (Al-Ahzab 31:21)

In fact, remind ourselves again, the holistic objective of sending a Prophet/Messenger to humankind is to refine good manners and good akhlaq:

The Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said – “Verily, I have only been sent to perfect the noblest of character and morals” (Narrated in Muwatta’ of Malik).

If we fail to meet this simple objective, we’ve failed the goals of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

So let’s start improving our akhlaq today, and strive to “attain the status of one who prays in the night” by the time the clock ticks Ramadhan!

Ramadhan Preparation #5 - Improve the QUALITY of Your Ibadah (Acts of Worship)

Think about this:

The Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said:

إنما بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق

“Verily, I have only been sent to perfect good character”

(Narrated in Muwatta of Malik)

The strong emphasis in the wordings used by the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) states this fact : the entire purpose of Islamic revelation – the Qur’an and the Sunnah – is for the overall perfection of individual character and mannerisms.

So the question is, why are Muslims today, those in fact who are praying, covering awrah, fasting, and so on, still guilty of so much sins, and evil deeds?

Why are our acts of worship having virtually no effect on the improvement of our character and akhlaq?

After all, hasn’t Allah stated as a FACT, that:

إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ

“Verily, As-Solah (the prayer) prevents from evil and wicked deeds” (Surah Al-Ankabut 29:45)

If we look deep enough into our own acts, we begin to realize, that the reason our acts of worship have virtually no effect into improving our character, because of the lousy quality in our acts of worship – especially our solah.

So let’s first ask ourselves this: What is the QUALITY of our solah?

·         Do we perform them  consistently with discipline, on time every time, knowing that prayer at its early time is the most beloved deed by Allah? (Al-Bukhari) Or do we constantly ‘reschedule’ or ‘delay’ it due to other tasks of lesser importance?

·         Do we – especially the men – pray in congregation, in the enthusiasm to seek the 27x multiple rewards which Allah has promised? (Al-Bukhari) Knowing that it is so important that it made the Prophet feel like burning the houses of those who did not attend the congregational prayer? (Muslim)

·         Do we put our full attention in prayer, knowing that this will be the very first act that will be judged by Allah on the Day of Judgment? (Tirmidzi) And that prayer in khushoo’ is the primary characteristic of the believers (Quran 23:1-2)?

·         Do we put effort to learn how to consciously perform prayer in the correct & proper manner, as taught in the many authentic hadith of the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam), knowing that he instructed us to Pray as you see me pray? (Al-Bukhari)

·         And most importantly, do we even understand what we are saying and what we are asking from Allah in our prayers? When the Prophet said that Allah does NOT answer prayers (du’aa) that comes from a heedless and inattentive heart? (Tirmidzi)

So if we are lacking in this simple aspects of quality prayer, how exactly do we expect our prayers to prevent us from evil and wickedness?

How will we expect our prayers to have an effect on us if we just do it ‘get it over and done with’?

Our fifth act of preparation in Ramadhan is to invest some serious conscious effort into improving the Quality of all our acts of Ibadah (worship) – especially our solah.

Ditch out the minimalist attitude of “at least I’m praying”.

The reality is, we’ll never support minimalist thinking at the workplace – What would you say about a person who comes to work late, spends hours on facebook & youtube, takes long smoke breaks, has no enthusiasm to perform, & is a toxic negative influence to the people around him?

Alah ok lahh… ‘at least he comes to work”?

No, we’d probably penalise him – in more ways that one.

So if that’s the case of a person at a JOB, why are we tolerating a minimalistic attitude the acts that we hope will save us on the Day of Judgment?

The Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said: “Allah has prescribed (that you perform with) Ihsan (excellence) in all things.” (Narrated in Muslim)

Allah in fact tells us that the purpose of our entire existence is in fact, to test which one of us is “best” (i.e. most excellent) in deeds.

الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ

“[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving” (Surah Al-Mulk 67:2)

Pay attention to the wording here – it’s “ahsanu ‘amala” (most excellent in deeds), and not “aktharu ‘amala” (the most quantity of deeds).

So take some time to study all the good deeds you plan to do this Ramadhan, and how can you execute them in the best manner possible - the manner which is most pleasing to Allah is what is in line with the sunnah & teachings of the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam).

Here are some acts of ibadah which we suggest as a priority to improve quality on:

·         Solah

·         Fasting - learn the fiqh issues and all related to them - what is recommended, makruh, etc

·         Recitation of the Qur’an - improve the quality of your tajweed, your memorization, the understanding of it

·         Dzikir - learning and memorizing the most rewarding and most beloved types of dzikir to Allah, in accordance to what was taught by the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam)

And if we see a subconscious improvement in our behaviour and mannerisms, insha Allah that is a sign of Allah accepting our efforts to improve our deeds. Let’s aim for that improvement this Ramadhan.

May Allah make us steadfast and consistent in improving our acts of worship to seek His Pleasure - before, during and after Ramadhan - ameen!

Ramadhan Preparation #4 - Moderation in Eating

Ibrahim al-Nakha’i, one of the teachers of Imam Abu Hanifah, mentioned: “The people before you were ruined by three characteristics:

too much talking,

too much eating,

and too much sleeping.”

Unfortunately for much of the Muslim ummah today, the month of Ramadhan is associated with the month of “Feasting” just as much as it is associated as the month of “Fasting”.

And this easy spirals into major issues such as wastage of food and unproductive down-time due to overeating.

It’ easy to see why: Because of the lack moderation in our eating habits outside of Ramadhan, when the time of Ramadhan comes, many of us fast during Ramadan fast during the day, and after Iftaar make up for all the food we missed throughout the day by binge eating.

Surely this goes against the very purpose of Ramadan which is to be moderate in eating and to remember those who have less than us. How will we remember the unfortunate when we are constantly over eating before and after our fasts?

By controlling what we eat now we will not only benefit our health in the short and long term but moderate eating will make us less heavier and enable us to maximise the amount of worship we do every day during Ramadhan and the rest of our lives.

The Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said: 

"No human ever filled a vessel worse than the stomach. Sufficient for any son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight. But if it must be, then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for his breath."

(Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasaa’I, Ibn Majah )

There is no doubt that excessive eating is not only a cause of many diseases but is also a major factor decreased productivity & in stopping us from maximising our worship to Allah.

Imam Ash-Shafi’I said: I have not filled myself in sixteen years because filling oneself makes the body heavy, removes clear understanding, induces sleep and makes one weak for worship.

In fact, on the other extreme end of the spectrum from our lifestyles today, let us extract the example of the great Shafi’ee scholar, Imam An-Nawawi (Yahya ibn Sharf) – who died 1227 CE (676 After Hijrah) : The highlight of his biography was that he hardly ever ate anything at all, except for some bread & food stuffs his family would send to him out of concern for his health. His reluctance to eat came out of his undying passion to seek and spread knwoledge, and his fear that eating wastes time and results in major manhour efficiency and downtime from sending time in that passion; because eating:

• In itself consumes time
• Makes you sleep more
• Makes you spend time in the toilet

 The result? He lived a short but blessed life of 44 years – in which he would attend more than ten (10) classes on a daily basis, whilst at the same time teaching AND producing many great works of literature – including Riyadus Salihin, 40 Hadith of Imam An-Nawawi, Raudhat at-Talibeen (extensive work on Shafi’ee Fiqh) and the Commentary (Sharh) of Sahih Muslim, works which people don’t even finish studying in a lifetime.

Now, we are definitely not encouraging abstinence of this extent, we can definitely see that deliberately controlling your eating time can result in some major productivity increase.

In fact, we can see practical examples of it happening today = Ramadhan seems to be the only time where ‘lunch time’ is converted to ‘Quran time’. When we don’t eat and chit-chat, we have time for Qur’an.

Of course there are also those amongst us who spend their lunch time in Ramadhan sleeping - that’s because we’re not used to, well, not eating.

So training starts now, before Ramadhan – control your intake & decrease your meal portions.

Less food with barakah (blessings) from Allah is better than more food which makes you miss isha’ and taraweeh.

No worries... you’re not missing out much. We’ll eat and eat as much as we want to when – if – we enter Jannah – without any fears of health-related problems whatsoever. 

insha Allah !

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئًا بِمَا أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِي الْأَيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ

“Eat and drink pleasantly, for what you did beforehand (of your good deeds) in the days gone by!”

(Surah Al-Haqqah 69:24)

ادْخُلُوهَا بِسَلَامٍ ذَٰلِكَ يَوْمُ الْخُلُودِ

“Enter you therein in peace and security; this is a Day of eternal life!”

لَهُم مَّا يَشَاءُونَ فِيهَا وَلَدَيْنَا مَزِيدٌ

There they will have all that they desire, and We have (prepared for them even) more”

(Surah Qaf 50:34-35)