✨After Ramadan

Be conscious of Allah as long as you still have the chance, for time passes quickly. And do not let this fleeting worldly life distract you from the everlasting hereafter. For whatever you have will go away, and whatever is with Allah of good deeds will remain. And the best outcome is for the Allah-conscious.

Allah Almighty said:
Yunus (10) 24: The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb – [those] from which men and livestock eat – until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought.

Sinning is ugly and it is even more ugly and hideous after performing a good deed. While good deeds wipe away bad deeds, resuming bad deeds cloud and crowd out good deeds. Our Prophet ﷺ sought refuge from loss after gains. And Allah Almighty said:
An Nahl (16) 92: And do not be like she who untwisted her spun thread after it was strong

Therefore, whoever falls into negligence after diligence, or returns to sins after leaving them, spoils their triumph of obedience to Allah Almighty. This is the case even if someone deceives themselves with a few seasonal acts of worship, let alone if they were performed absent-mindedly. Such a person is deprived the pleasure of calling upon Allah and the sweetness of worshipping, due to their insistence in returning to how they were before the acts of obedience. So, those of you who tasted the sweetness of worship in the month of Ramadan, do not spoil that taste. The point is not quantity but rather quality. For Allah Almighty said:
Al Mulk (67) 2: To test you [as to] which of you is best in deed

Allah Almighty did not say the most in deeds. For continuity upon a little protects against inactivity after activity. The Prophet ﷺ said:
You should do what you are able, for by Allah, Allah never gets tired (of giving reward) until you get tired. And the most beloved of religious actions to Him is that in which a person persists. [Muslim 785b]

The general rule after seasons of obedience such as Ramadan is to maintain the obligatory and to do more of the recommended. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that Allah Almighty said:
Whoever is hostile to a friend of Mine, I have declared war upon him. My servant does not grow closer to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have mandated upon him. My servant continues to grow closer to Me with extra good deeds (beyond the prescribed) until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. And if he asks Me, I will give him. And if he seeks My protection, I will protect him. [Al Bukhari 6502]

And the greatest obligation is the five prayers in the masjed. For the sign of the people of faith is their care for praying in the masjed, then increasing in the voluntary according to their ability and capacity. It is better for the Muslim to start with less and not to make it difficult for themselves to be able to maintain it and not leave it. Because the most beloved deeds to Allah are the regularly done even if they are few. For the deeds of the Prophet ﷺ were continuous and uninterrupted.

And the bare minimum is that we should not leave the Duha (forenoon) and Witr (last voluntary prayer of the night) prayers, and fasting three days each month, and reading one juza (1/30th) of the Quran each day, and maintaining the daily remembrances such as after the prayer and the remembrances of the morning and evening and the remembrances of sleeping and the remembrances of entering and exiting.

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that my dear friend ﷺinstructed me with three matters:
Fasting three days during every month, two rak’ahs of the Duha prayer (forenoon prayer), and performing Witr prayer before I go to bed. [Bukhari 1981, Muslim 721a]

And AbdAllah bin Amr bin Al As, may Allah be pleased with them, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Recite the entire Quran within a month. I (AbdAllah) said, Indeed I have strength (to do more). Until he ﷺ said, then recite it within seven days and do not recite it in less than that period. [Bukhari 5054]

As far as the remembrances, there is a beneficial and brief booklet called Hisn Al Muslim that contains the remembrances that the Muslim needs.

And from the remembrances of the prayer are; seeking forgiveness three times after completing the prayer then saying:
O Allah, You are Peace and from You comes peace. Blessed are You, O Owner of majesty and honor. [Muslim 592a]

And from the remembrances after prayer is to say:
Glory is to Allah, and praise is to Allah, and Allah is the Most Great, thirty-three times each.

Then conclude it with:
None has the right to be worshiped but Allah alone, He has no partner, His is the dominion and His is the praise and He is Able to do all things. [Muslim 1/418]

And reciting Ayat Al Kursi and Surahs Al Ikhlas, Al Falaq and An-Nas as was mentioned in the Sunnah.

And from the remembrances of the morning and evening is to say: Lā ilāha illallāh, wahdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, yuhyī wa yumītu, wa huwa `alā kulli shay’in qadīr and Subhānallāhi wa bihamdihi 100 times each

Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
Whoever says: Lā ilāha illallāh, wahdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu, yuhyī wa yumītu, wa huwa `alā kulli shay’in qadīr (There is none worthy of worship except Allah, Alone, without partner, to Him belongs all that exists and to Him belongs the praise, He gives life and causes death, and He is Powerful over all things) a hundred times in a day, it will be for him the equivalent of freeing ten bondsmen, and there shall be written for him a hundred good deeds, and a hundred bad deeds shall be wiped out for him, and it will be a protection for him from Shaytan on that day, until he reaches the evening. And none has brought better than it, except for one who has done more than that. And whoever says Subhānallāhi wa bihamdihi (Glorified is Allah and praised is He) one hundred times a day, will have his sins forgiven even if they are like the foam of the sea. [Muslim 2691]

And from the remembrances of sleeping are reciting Surahs Al Ikhlas, Al Falaq and An-Nas every night. For Aishah, may Allah be pleased be her, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
Every night, when the Prophet ﷺ would go to bed, he would join his hands, then blow in them, as he recited in them: “Say: He is Allah, the One.” And “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of Al-Falaq” and “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind.” Then he would wipe as much as he was able from his body with them, beginning with his head and face, and the front of his body. He would do this three times. [Bukhari 5017]

And reciting Ayat Al Kursi (Verse 255 of Surah Al Baqarah) before going to bed protects one from the devils by the permission of Allah until the morning. Likewise, it is recommended to recite it after each prescribed prayer. For Abu Umaamah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi at the end of every obligatory prayer, nothing but death will prevent him from entering Paradise. [Bulugh Al Maram 97, Al Nisai 9928, Grade: Sahih]

Oh Muslims: Know that whoever used to worship Ramadan, that Ramadan has gone and left, and whoever worships Allah, worships the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining. So the wise are those who call themselves to account and do noble deeds to benefit them after death and the foolish are those who submit to their whims then seek from Allah the fulfillment of their vain desires.

And Shawwal is the first of the months of Hajj. And the Prophet ﷺ urged us to fast six days from Shawwal. And it is as if it is training and continuity in fasting and performing righteous deeds. Abu Ayoob Al Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Allah’s messenger said:
Whoever fasts Ramadan then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasted for a lifetime. [1164a]

So regularly and consistently perform acts of obedience and be steadfast in and patient upon seeking the pleasure of Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty said:
Az Zumar (39) 10: Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account [i.e., limit].

So, as long as you have the opportunity, do not be negligent in making the best use of your time in a manner that pleases Allah. And do not let not your wealth and your children divert you from the obedience of your Lord. For the end of the life is sudden and comes without warning and the accounting is difficult and the regret is great and too late. Allah Almighty said:
Al Munafiqoon (63) 9-11: (9) O you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allāh. And whoever does that – then those are the losers. (10) And spend [in the way of Allāh] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, “My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be of the righteous.” (11) But never will Allāh delay a soul when its time has come. And Allāh is Aware of what you do.

We ask Allah Almighty to guide us and help us in consistently making the best use of our time in what pleases Him. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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