The Blessed Month Of Ramadan And Reform 5/10

Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim. Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-‘Alamin, wa afdhal as-salawti wa 'tamu at-taslim 'ala Sayyidina wa nabiyyina Muhammad, wa ahlih at-tahirin. When we are talking about self-cleansing and self-reform and self-purification, and all these terms that we usually use for the sake of defining our journey towards Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, it is all because of how we are able to expand in our inner abilities, and also to make the society a better place to live in.

We know for a fact that if I was a better person on the inside, that will reflect and manifest itself on the outside as well. So it is not only a matter of me reciting the Qur'an, it is not only a matter of me fasting or praying. It is something beyond that. It is something more than that.

We have so many traditions from Ahl Al-Bayt alayhum as-salam, that tell us that be careful that when you are doing something, you need to make sure that you fulfill the requirements of making sure that it becomes that complete act. For example, I mentioned in the previous segment, when the Hadith says that your fasting day should not be equal or similar to your non fasting day, it should be different somehow, which means you are going to continue to improve and change and venture into new areas.

Now, what about this Hadith that says, for example, from Imam As-Sadiq, alayhi as-salam, where he says, don't test someone by how much they pray or how much they fast. Test them "bi 'sidqa al-hadith wa ada'u al-amana", test them how truthful they are and how observant they are in fulfilling something entrusted to them. Now, we can take this in the wider area of "sidq al-hadith", it doesn't only mean that you are, for example, honest and truthful in what you say, but honest and truthful in everything that you perform and you conduct, even if it means that it is going to be at your loss. You know that this particular item that you wish to sell, for example, or you wish to put on display or you wish to hand over to your employer is not that which should be given or is not according to the given description. That is not called Sidq. That is not called being honest and truthful.

"Ada'u al-amana", you know that there is someone who has entrusted a secret with you or someone who has told you something and you know they didn't say keep it as a secret, but you know that is not something that he or she would like everyone else to know. That is called Amana. How observant are you when it does come to Amana? There is a Hadith and you know that we are in the month of Ramadan, and one of the most important events in the month of Ramadan is the martyrdom of Imam Ali, alayhi as-salam. One particular Hadith, it says that if Ibn Muljam was to have given me entrusted to me their sword, I would have returned it.

So it is all about being observant of what it is that you are doing. Like a CCTV camera, you are on constant surveillance of yourself. You are remembering that there is something that you need to be doing. And as I said, just imagine how the world would be if we were all observant of such a thing, where we will be achieving two things at once. One, proximity and closeness to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, and two making the society a better place to live in.

And I think that is the best thing that we are able to achieve. And that is pretty much what all of us want in our world today. We will continue to speak about Ramadan and reform in our next episode. Wa al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi al-'Alamin.