Doing our Best in Connecting to Allah - Ramadhan Reflections 2019 [Day 26]
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For the present Allah has lightened your burden, for He knows that there is yet some weakness in you, thus, if there be of you one hundred persevering and steadfast persons they shall (still) overcome (at least) two hundred and if there be a thousand of you they shall overcome two thousand by the leave of Allah. And Allah is with the steadfast. (8:66) Commentary NUMBER 2,000: We reviewed this same verse when we looked at the number 200, and once again, we look back into it, albeit in another light. In this verse, as we saw, there are multiple numbers mentioned – and this time, we focus on the number 2,000 and another lesson which we can take from the guidance of Allah. One of the prime factors for the victories and defeats in the history of the Prophets and their followers is their level of faith and conviction in Allah and their Prophet. In fact, in many verses of the Quran, Allah shows us that faith (īmān) is not something which can remain stagnant, it must always be evolving and expanding. Faith is not like some of the acts of worship, such as the ḥajj that once it is “done” there is no need to revisit it; rather, faith is like the ṣalāt that it continues on a daily basis until death. This verse under review shows us that sometimes amongst the Muslims, there are those who are weak in faith – due to numerous factors – and that they need to be given that boost to revitalize their conviction. This rejuvenation of īmān can be carried out in many ways – such as ḥajj, ʿumrah, and ziyārāt. However these are merely strong boosters, what happens after is much more important because if we do not keep the spirit of submission alive on a regular basis, then over time, just as the battery in our cell phone can die after excessive usage, so too do our spiritual batteries drain out, leaving us looking for another powerful charge. Keeping our spiritual energies constantly charged can be done even though we do not live in an Islamic environment – however we need to make changes in our lives to ensure that we are constantly being fed with the religious vibes to keep us from going astray. Simple things such as beginning the day with our morning prayer, listening to the Quran or Duʿa al-Ṣabāḥ as we have our morning breakfast; listening to short daily talks on our commute to work or school; making our best effort to pray on time every prayer; and dedicating ourselves to Allah during the blessed months of Rajab, Shaʿbān and of course the Blessed Month of Ramaḍhān. All of these little changes in our lives can help us to slowly charge our spiritual batteries and to keep us in constant connection with the highest of all powers in the world and beyond – Allah. Point of Reflection Allah realizes that we are weak and that sometimes, our faith will have ebbs and flows, and so He is easy with us – He does not expect us to spend our entire day and night in prayer – He expects very little from us – but at the same time, out of His intense mercy, He gives us several opportunities throughout the year, like the Month of Ramaḍān to get a quicker charge to help us out.