The Garden of Knowledge

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

27 Ramadan 1446/28 March 2025

All praise is due to Allah ﷻ, the Cherisher, Sustainer, Nourisher and Provider of the entire creation. May peace, blessings and salutations be upon our Beloved Prophet Muhammed ﷺ.

Alhamdulilah we have reached the end of the month of Ramadan and soon entering the blessed month of Shawwal. One of the main goals of the month of Ramadan is to bring about beneficial change in our lives by removing bad habits and adopting new positive behavioural patterns.

It is important for us to ensure quality over quantity as per the Hadith of Nabi ﷺ narrated by Aisha (R.A):

‏ “‏ سَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا، وَاعْلَمُوا أَنْ لَنْ يُدْخِلَ أَحَدَكُمْ عَمَلُهُ الْجَنَّةَ، وَأَنَّ أَحَبَّ الأَعْمَالِ أَدْوَمُهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ، وَإِنْ قَلَّ

“Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately and know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if it were little.” ~ Sahih al-Bukhari 6464

The reality of the month of Ramadan is that it is an indication of what we are able to achieve out of the month of Ramadan. All those small beneficial changes we made this Ramadan, are changes that should not only be made for the month of Ramadan and as soon as the moon for Shawwal is sighted we revert back to our old ways however they are changes we should carry with us till the end of time.

According to some scholars, it usually takes 30-40 days for something to become routine hence the month of Ramadan is the perfect time to bring this change in our lives.

The question after Ramadan is usually what next ? The next step is to keep and preserve the changes till the next Ramadan and beyond. Frequent the Masaajid, ensure recitation of the Quran on a daily basis and keep good company. In this manner we will find it easy to grow closer Allah ‎ﷻ and His Beloved ﷺ.

Shaykh Muhammed bin Yahya Al Ninowy emphasized on the importance on muhasabah, reflection on our spiritual-self by asking ourselves the following everyday, “How is my heart with Allah ﷻ today ? Do I feel closer to Allah ﷻ today than I did yesterday ? Do I feel closer to Allah ‎ﷻ today than I did last week or last month?” This will allow us to identify and gauge our relationship with Allah ﷻ thereafter bringing about corrective actions if we may have slipped or feel more distant from Allah ‎ﷻ.

In order to get off to a good start we have a great opportunity.

The opportunity we have is to observe 6 nafl fasts in the month of Shawwal. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (R.A) reported Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said :

‏ “‏ مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَهُ سِتًّا مِنْ شَوَّالٍ كَانَ كَصِيَامِ الدَّهْرِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

“He who observed the fast of Ramadan and then followed it with six fasts of Shawwal, it would be as if he fasted perpetually for a whole year.” ~ Sahih Muslim 1164

We can take advantage of this by using it as a stepping stone to continue fasting out of the month of Ramadan when we can. Beyond this we can try our best to keep up with our efforts made in Ramadan such as extra Nafl, dhikr and Quran recitation.

We ask Allah ﷻ to accept all our efforts and allow us to gain closeness to Allah ‎ﷻ and His Beloved Nabi ﷺ.