On April 13, 2021, The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan delivered a timely message to the Muslim world as well as non-Muslims during the Ramadan Prayerline.
Click the image below to listen to the full message! Listen, study and share!
By Jabril Muhammad | FinalCall.com
Paul doesn’t ever teach that he received wisdom from God beyond or above that which God revealed to and through Jesus. He does teach, however, that Jesus said and did things, which could not be understood until after he had gone to the Father—God. These things that he taught were laid by God chiefly on him to preach. In some instances, he referred to a major part of what he taught as the mystery of Christ.
The word mystery, in the general sense, means anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown. It is something that is not fully understood or that baffles or eludes the understanding. In the religious or theological sense, it means, any truth unknowable except by divine revelation. Again, it is a truth that is incomprehensible to the reason and knowable only through divine means. In other words only God can reveal or make this kind of information available. There are other, more specific, definitions of this term, used by the Catholic Church, and by others.
Like Jesus, Paul, and the other disciples, had to suffer for the gospel, or the body of wisdom God had revealed. This suffering was due to the difficulty in getting the people to see and accept what they taught. God used their suffering as a means of purifying them so that they were made better vessels in the transmission of His truths.
Let us look on this in terms of the subject of tests and trials. “What is a test? What makes a test a test? What is done with a test once it is either failed or passed? What effect will passing or failing this test have on you? Just in what way does this particular test which involves Jesus, serve Allah’s purpose?
“When you test something, or someone, you use some means to evaluate. Underlying the means or methods used are some kind of rules or principles. You are trying to determine quality(s).
“Any good dictionary will give the following ideas about the word test: examination or trial; any critical examination or decisive trial; means of trial; subjection to conditions that show the real character of a person or thing in particular.”
“A test is something stronger, more specific than a trial. It is a trial under approved and fixed conditions, or a final and decisive trial as a conclusion of past experiments. In a test you determine something. A test settles a controversy. A test is a decisive trial. A test is a way of establishing something or reaching a convincing conclusion. Like the word “trial,” “test” carries something of the idea of the separation of the good from the bad in a person or thing.
The Holy Qur’an teaches that trials purify. How? What is the process by which trials purify? How does that which is so painful; so uncomfortable; so difficult result in the removal of impurities in our make up or character? Is there another way? Are there any circumstances or conditions that one can be in which one can gain purification that does not involve tests and trials?
Remember, this statement, or idea, (of Holy Qur’an 29:2 “trials purify”) is from the mind of the Author of the Holy Quran, Who, almost from the opening of the words of that glorious book, states that He is the Best Knower.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan taught, in a series of study guides, that we should not be afraid to discover our faults; bad qualities. He even urged us to look for them with persistence and to be happy when we find them. So said his teacher before him. Why should we be happy to find faults, or bad traits in ourselves? So we can more easily get rid of them. It is like the removal of rocks in the road on which we are traveling to a good destination.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said to some of us that it would take him 40 years to understand his mission. This means that the first 40 years of his work among us would ripen him into the ultimate understanding of his mission.
We are tested in many ways; by many factors, in this or that aspect of our being every day. Some of the tests seem so good, that we do not regard them as tests; for we usually associate the concept of “test” with that which is painful, distressful, or the like. If you were given a million dollars, right now, you might not regard that as a test. It is, however. Just because a thing may in fact be pleasurable, beneficial, and good, does not mean that it does not in some way constitute a test, or tests, or a trial.
We usually think of a trial or a test as posing some painful problem that we must bear and/or overcome. Now, of all these kinds of tests, especially those that trouble us most, come from what other persons say and/or do respecting us. The most difficult ones are especially in relation to those whom we love. They say something about us that we do not like, for whatever reason. And they do something to us, or regarding us, that we do not like, for whatever reason. We become distressed, or troubled, to one extent or another. The more we love the one(s) whom we perceive, or who did produce for us the test/trial, the more pain we experience.
Allah is acutely aware of all of this, and watches and when He pleases, He acts to help us, if certain conditions are met. Of course, there are times when He acts to generate the condition in which He can serve all involved without our having done that which produces these conditions. It depends. He knows what is best for every living thing, so says the Holy Qur’an. But let us not get ahead of ourselves.
Those whose words and/or deeds trouble us may or may not be aware that they trouble us, or they may be partly aware. These persons whose words and/or deeds test us, are either more good than bad, or more bad than good. Very, very, very, very, very, very, very rarely do we ever find that we are tested by, or even come in contact with, (under ordinary circumstances) perfectly good persons. We do, however, more often than we think, come into contact with totally evil persons.
(The Holy Qur’an teaches in Surah 18 of a group whose deeds are so foul that they won’t even be weighed on the Day of judgment. I can’t get into all of this right now, it would be too much for this article.
The point here is that, yes, some may have done, or did do, us wrong with words or deeds. We of times become so upset as to lose our balance and say and do rash things.
Most every one of us has fulfilled exactly what this word means. Rash means: acting too hastily or without due consideration; made or done with reckless or ill-considered haste.
Many times we either curse God, as if He was to blame or we, at least, think unfunny thoughts about Him; even to asking Him, or someone, why He didn’t stop this or that, which is giving us so much pain. Later we may see that we misperceived God’s purposes in these situations. If we do, in time, we are blessed.
Those who give us pain may be good or bad persons. They may have done what they did intentionally or unintentionally. All of this is important. But what is infinitely more important is the intention of God in permitting the test; in permitting the trial; in permitting the trouble, the distress, and the pain. Let us remember that the “problem” could not be if Almighty God had not allowed it to be.
More next issue, Allah willing.
via Instagram
You are bowing to your emotions rather than developing your power to reason above your emotions. In this hour you’ll be talked to a lot by your own disappointments, by your own anger and frustration over things in your life that you evidently can’t control, and you become bitter. That won’t help you to make it through. #Farrakhan
“The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the Criterion. So whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein…” HQ 2:185
“The fast of Ramadan and the discipline of prayer at prescribed times during the day is the greatest aid in developing personal discipline and regulating our affairs and habits.” – The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
The root meaning of the word Ramadan, is Ramid, which means to be burning with excessive heat, or to be scorched by the Sun.
“Ramadan means to sharpen (a blade) between two stones, and to roast, or burn. A person fasting, by a comparison, sharpens their nature between the two stones of hunger and thirst burning away bad habits, negative character, and improper actions.” – Imam Sultan Rahman Muhammad
What are the locations of these two stones, hunger and thirst?
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan stated in his Self-Improvement Study Guide 18, Rising above Emotions into the Thinking of God.
“Hunger and thirst centers in the hypothalamus track glucose levels in the blood. When supplies of glucose (energy food) are too low, the brain, not the stomach, generates hunger pangs. The sensation of thirst doesn’t originate in the throat, but here in the brain, when receptors indicate the salt level in the blood is too high.”
He continues, “From the hypothalamus arise intense feelings, or emotions. Pleasure and pain, sexual arousal, aggression, rage, as well as hunger and thirst, all emanate from this point.”
The hypothalamus is located in what is called the limbic system; which makes up 20% of the region of the brain, where all emotion lie. The limbic system works with both the cerebrum above and the brainstem below. Its connections with the brainstem help maintain a state of emotional balance and alertness. Therefore, its connections with the cerebrum will allow a person to temper emotion with reason.
A. The goal is for the two processes to work in harmony, but the balance can be easily upset. Have you ever been truly hungry and/or thirsty?
B. The limbic system can become so highly activated that it overwhelms rational thought, making a person speechless with anger or joy.
C. On the other hand, through conscious effort, a person can resist the natural urge to eat or drink, can fight back tears, or suppress sexual desire.
So, Ramadan services as a time of conscious effort for the Muslim Ummah to gain control of the natural urges of self. With being said, The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan expressed to the Muslim Ummah, “This fast of Ramadan is one of the greatest means of inculcating self-discipline.”
Therefore, we read 1/30th of the Qur’an and make our prayers throughout the day and night. By the way, each position and every word of our prayers are having an effect on that portion of our brain.
Allah says in the Qur’an directly to the Believer, “…fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil.” 2:183
The word for guard against evil is Taqwa, to be God-conscious.
Now, we are getting a clearer picture of what Allah’s purpose is for the Believer during the month of Ramadan by abstaining from eating, drinking, and intimacy with your spouse from the Adhan of Fajr to the Adhan of Maghreb.
It is this discipline during Ramadan that allows the Muslims to be appreciative and thankful of his or her own self and the self of their significant other.
Allah says in the Qur’an, “It is made lawful for you to go in to your wives on the night of the fast. They are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them. Allah knows that you acted unjustly to yourselves…” 2:187
How have we been unjust to ourselves?
In this world, inordinate sex containing violence is the order of the day, all day, through radio, TV, internet, social media. Has this wicked world caused us to be unjust to ourselves by shaping and conditioning our natural urges to be outright excessive in our sex drive? Therefore, the Muslim will not feed the hunger of his or her sex drive with their spouse during the daylight hours.
The Minister continues in Study Guide 18:
A. Above the hypothalamus is the amygdala, a mass of nerve cells that is specifically related to feelings of outrage and aggression. The septum, linked to the hypothalamus at the front of the limbic ring, contains a pleasure center.
B. The hypothalamus has connections to the pituitary gland so it has an effect on growth and sexual behavior. It actually orders the pituitary to organize the endocrine glands’ release of hormones into the blood.
What you just read of the inordinacy of this world and the function of the hypothalamus has a direct effect on the everyday practice of the following verse in the Holy Qur’an?
Your wives1 are a tilth2 for you, so go in3 to your tilth when you will4, and send (good) beforehand5 for yourselves. And keep your duty to Allah6, and know that you will meet Him. And give good news to the believers.” HQ 2:223
1. Wives
Comes from nis-wa-tun meaning Women.
2. Haratha
To till & sow, cultivate, study a thing thoroughly, Land prepared for sowing, Produce of field, Garden, Wife, Gain
3. Ata
Come, bring to, meet, join, and does not just apply to sex. The Arabic word literally means to come towards.
4. She-tum
To will (the faculty by which a person decides on and initiates actions), wish, desire.
Faculty- an inherent mental or physical power.
5. Beforehand
you can influence and change what your wife thinks of you.
Enhancing friendship and romance. Creating the mental environment you desire (happiness, and increase enjoyment).
6. Waqaa God-conscious, to guard against evil.
During Ramadan and beyond our attitude towards the practice of surah 2:223 of the Qur’an should be the tweet of the Minister Louis Farrakhan: “I could not be who I am if God didn’t give me a woman to help me be what I am.”
Now, as brothers, are we coming to our wives in harmony with the beautiful language of the above verse? Having the thought in mind to meet Him (Allah)? Or, are we coming to them (our wives) with a damaged hypothalamus? Thus walking in the words of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, “Men of this world do not desire a righteous woman.”
Therefore, Brothers and Sisters our mental empowerment is rooted in these words of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan to us, “True empowerment comes from when we start to look deeply at our beliefs.”
So, what truly is Allah’s purpose of Ramadan for the Muslims?
The Minister tweeted, “Muslims: This fast, if properly followed by you, will lead to your and my ability to put all of our appetites under control.”
We close with the words of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan from the Ramadan Prayer line, May 26, 2017, “Not to drink water, which is the source of life itself, for the hours of the day which will be long in the month of May and June; not to eat food, not to engage in the natural pleasure of each other who are married? This is hard. But to attempt it, to build your will to do it; to say right now, “I am going to do everything in my power to do this fast, no matter how difficult it may be”—set your mind, right now, that: ‘This fast is for Allah, but it is His gift to me, personally, that I may develop the will to guard against evil.’”
May Allah bless us with a beautiful month of Ramadan to continue our growth into the truth.
Your Brother in Islam,
Eric R. Muhammad
Student Assistant Minister of Muhammad Mosque #45 in the City of Houston. He is a published author; and can be reached via Twitter @qudus or email nafsallah@gmail.com
“When a woman of Amran said: My Lord, I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to Thy service), so accept (it) from me; surely Thou, only Thou, art the Hearing, the Knowing. So when she brought it forth, she said: My Lord, I have brought it forth a female – and Allah knew best what she brought forth – and the male is not like the female, and I have named it Mary, and I commend her and her offspring into Thy protection from the accursed devil” (Holy Qur’an 3:34-35).
The woman of Amran, in the above verse is the Mother of Mary, grandmother of Jesus. Most of us probably do not generally reflect on any of Jesus’ family members before Mary and Joseph. Although we do not give it much thought, we naturally understand that if Jesus had a mother, then he certainly had a grandmother and many more great forebears in his divine lineage. It is remarkable and certainly worth studying the mindset and the way of life of those who created the environment that would ultimately give birth to one of the greatest men in the annals of history. In the Holy Qur’an, Allah (God), allows us access into the mind of Jesus’ grandmother. Using just the two aforementioned verses, we gain so much knowledge, wisdom and understanding about the two most essential prerequisites to giving birth to a god – desire and prayer.
Jesus’ grandmother, like so many of the women during her time, desired to be the woman that possessed the womb that Allah (God) would bless to produce the Deliverer. Can you imagine having that honor bestowed on you as a mother? It was indeed a coveted position and one of great honor, respect and adoration among the righteous.
Fudia Muhammad
As mothers, we get excited and want to celebrate and share every wonderful accomplishment or skill that our children manifest – no matter how insignificant it may seem in the eyes of others; we are Proud! Why? Because deep down we hope that it is an indication that our child is on the right path towards one day making a positive contribution to the world. Jesus’ grandmother, did not just want a child that would contribute to the world, she wanted to give birth to that One who would make the most transformative contribution, ever.
Desire. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, desire means, “to long or hope for: to express a wish for: to request: to invite.” Some synonyms of desire are “to crave, to hanker, to yearn, to covet.” This woman of Amran was so desirous of giving birth to the Deliverer, that she was not taking any chances. As soon a she knew that she was blessed with life in her womb, she went right away to Allah (God) in supplication and prayer – vowing to Him that the child she was carrying would be devoted to the service of God. A vow is a binding, sacred and solemn promise. Vows are not to be given lightly for they are in-fact lawful contracts. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said, “When you make a vow – that is not only your desire; that is your will combined with your determination. I vow. I’m determined that what I make – what is in my womb – is to be devoted to YOU.”
Evidently Jesus’ grandmother must have been a righteous and prayerful woman prior to her pregnancy. She had to have experienced having her prayers answered by Allah (God) many times before, because when she gave birth and saw that her child was a female, she was surprised and confused. This confusion arose because she prayed during pregnancy and she not only had faith, but a profound expectation that her prayer would indeed be answered.
This must have been based on the fact that she had been blessed to have had her prayers answered in the past. Her prayers were indeed answered, as she would soon come to understand. But at that moment, she expressed concern (but never disappointment) to Allah (God) that the baby that she had so well-prepared in the womb to be devoted to His service and had begged Him to accept from her was not the expected gender.
Allah (God) comforted her and eased her anxiety. Allah (God) is the Best Knower, so He knew in advance exactly what she would produce. “The male is not like the female.” Allah (God) required a special female first; a pure vessel that would then produce the male Deliverer. Understanding this, Jesus’ grandmother – a woman of Amran – then prayed for both her daughter AND her future grandson. She entrusted both Mary and Jesus into Allah’s (God’s) protection from the accursed devil. Powerful!
As Black women, we must understand that in all of this there are signs and lessons for us. We will never produce great children if we do not first and foremost have a profound desire to do so; long before we are pregnant. This desire then feeds our will to clean up our lives spiritually and physically.
Secondly, the moment that we are aware that life is in our womb, we must pray, pray, pray. Pray to Allah (God) and make our solemn vow. We should devote ourselves to prayer continuously throughout our pregnancy. Our prayer, however; should not stop at the child growing in our womb, but should extend to future generations beyond the one that we are presently producing – never having any doubt or thought in our mind that we will not receive the answer to our prayers.
May Allah (God) bless us to produce gods!
[Sister Fudia Muhammad is a member of Muhammad Mosque No. 64 in Austin, Texas. She is married to Student Minister Robert L. Muhammad and they have been blessed with four children. Sister Fudia holds a Master’s degree in Education – she is a writer, an educator and an advocate for God-centered child-rearing.]
“The fast of Ramadan and the discipline of prayer at prescribed times during the day is the greatest aid in developing personal discipline and regulating our affairs and habits.” -The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; in which, the Qur’an was revealed.
2:185
The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the Criterion. So whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or on a journey, (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days. Allah desires ease for you, and He desires not hardship for you, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for having guided you and that you may give thanks.
What is the meaning of Ramadan?
Ramadan means excessive heat, burning… Ramadan once meant “the hot month.” It comes from the Arabic ramida, which means “to be burnt, scorched; thus, the meaning of the institution of Ramadan, is the burning of sins; if we participate in the fast in the way that Allah prescribes in the Qur’an; then He will forgive all of our sins such as fire burns garbage.
It was narrated by Abu Huraira (R) that our beloved Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards, and then all his past sins will be forgiven.”(Al-Bukhari).
By Eric R. Muhammad
Therefore, in the examination of surah and ayah (chapter and verse) 2:185, we noticed some of the values of the institution/month of Ramadan:
1. The Qur’an was revealed… and within this Qur’an, Allah states its purpose :
A. a guidance to men
B. and clear proofs of the guidance (indisputable evidence)
C. and the Criterion (Distinguishment)
2. So whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein… So what are some values of fasting?
A. Holy Qur’an 2:183, “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil.” “So that you may guard against evil”, comes from the Arabic waqaya, which also means “God-Consciousness”; so, when the Muslims are fasting, they should be guarding against evil and against that which harms and injures, and is regardful of their duty towards others and Allah (God). The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s words bear witness to the Arabic waqaya, used by Allah at the end of 2:183 when he states in How to Eat to Live, Book 2: “FASTING takes away evil desires. Fasting takes from us filthy desires. Fasting takes from us the desire to do evil against self and our brothers and sisters. We are created of the material of goodness. Therefore, good belongs to us…and it should not be hard for us to turn to our own selves in which we were created…good.”
B. The Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan also gives us insight into the value of fasting from the teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, “Fasting, one of the main pillars of Islam, is a principle that must be practiced by every believing Muslim. In fact, fasting has been enjoined in every age by every prophet that has come to reform the conduct of man.”
C. He, Minister Farrakhan, as well opens up for us the Arabic word, “kutiba” translated in this verse as prescription, “Since fasting is given to us as a prescription—and a prescription is given to us by a doctor, telling us to take a certain medicine at and for a specified time, to effect a cure for a certain illness—in this case, Almighty God Allah is The Doctor prescribing for all of humanity. And now we are speaking specifically to the Black people of America, that fasting is to be used as a cure for a sick spiritual, moral, social and physical condition.”
The words of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan, reminds me of a hadith (sayings) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); where, he (PBUH) said, “When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained.” (Imam Bukhari).
The Prophet (PBUH) is not saying anything “spooky”. If we carefully examine/study and practice the words of Allah, The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan, we would see, how the gates of heaven (conditions of life) are opened and the gates of Hell (conditions of life) are closed and the devils (wickedness/evils of self) are chained.
What are your thoughts and feelings before and when Ramadan starts? How many of us make the Ramadan Resolutions (like the New Year’s Resolutions, smile)… “I’m completing my reading of the Holy Qur’an; I’m completing the 30 days of fasting; and I’m making all of my prayers”? So, where is hell and those devils? Those statements sound like Heaven to me!
However, do we unconsciously allow the gates of Hell to open and those devils to creep out; and, thus losing the value of Ramadan and just merely existing in rituals? How does this happen?
Moving Beyond the Rituals
@LouisFarrakhan: “So many of us are bound in rituals that we have lost the truths to which the rituals are pointing us.”
The Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan teaches us from the teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad that the “truth” is the nature of Allah (God). So, we are given rituals which are designed to contain the truth; however, rituals are not the truth; but that which is design to help us to reach the goal; and Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, 53:42 “and surely to your Lord is the goal.” Therefore, when you are bound to rituals, you stop advancing in the truth towards your Lord; and you are only going around in circles of the ritual.
The Minister stated, “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that fasting must be observed by us in order that we could resist the unnatural urge to smoke, drink, and abuse ourselves and others…”. Allah (God) has declared that He will not accept any religion in the Day of Judgment except the religion of Islam. He says in the Qur’an, “Surely the true religion with Allah is Islam.” Many of us have thought that that means a particular way of prayer, a particular time to fast, a particular kind of ritual. Wrong. These rituals, which are principles of action, are to teach us higher lessons. Prayer and the manner of prayer is to teach us a higher lesson. Zakat, fasting, jihad—the struggle against the weakness of self—these principles are eternal, but the manner of expressing these principles have changed as Islam evolved from Prophet Ibrahim to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The true religion with Allah (God) is not a specific way of prayer or time of fasting. The true religion with Allah (God) is entire submission to His Will… then we have to put our will into subjection to His Will and fasting is one of the principles that cause us to submit. Prayer softens the mind and the heart against rebellion to Allah (God).”
Remember, the purpose of fasting is prescribed by Allah to give us the discipline necessary by forsaking the things that are natural: food, water, and, sexual relations with our spouses during the daylight hours.
The Minister stated in one of his study guides, Rising Above Emotions Into the Thinking of God, “Hunger and thirst centers in the hypothalamus track glucose levels in the blood. When supplies of glucose (energy food) are too low, the brain, not the stomach, generates hunger pangs. The sensation of thirst does not originate in the throat, but here in the brain, when receptors indicate the salt level in the blood is too high… The hypothalamus has connections to the pituitary gland so it has an effect on growth and sexual behaviour. It actually orders the pituitary to organize the endocrine glands ‘release of hormones into the blood.”
The Minister’s words from Rising Above Emotions Into the Thinking of God, in context of the this article, The Value of Ramadan: Moving Beyond the Rituals, reminds me of going to the gym and when you look at the machine weights, there is a diagram which shows what muscle that particular machine works. The Minister’s words clearly give us a picture and the function of that portion of the brain; so by practicing the injunctions of Ramadan, we have the ability to master hunger, thirst, and sexual activity until sunset; and even when the month of Ramadan is concluded, and our practice was not ritualistic, then the mastery of self will continue the other eleven months. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, 9:36, “Surely the number of months with Allah is twelve months by Allah’s ordinance, since the day when He created the heavens and the earth…”
So, let us not just go through our day waiting for the sun to set, just to eat. Let us also strive every day to read 1/30th of the Holy Qur’an, make our five daily prayers, and be charitable and generous to others.
May Allah bless us with a beautiful month of Ramadan to continue our growth into the truth.
Your Brother in Islam,
Eric R. Muhammad
nafsallah@gmail.com
Ramadan is coming! We as Muslims are excited every year for this holy month of fasting, prayer, and reflection. However, it can be challenging to complete. A lot of us struggle with certain aspects of Ramadan, such as surviving the fast, or completing the entire reading of the Holy Quran cover to cover. It’s OK, we’ve all been there before. Here are some tips on how to make your Hunger Games a little easier.
1). Fasting
Apple Cider Vinegar
I know that while fasting, we of course tend to get hungry. Some of us get hungry as soon as the sun comes up, for no reason whatsoever. If you’re struggling with the feeling of hunger, try consuming this mixture:
1 tsp Braggs Organic Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
A glass of water
Honey to taste.
By Nzinga Muhammad
Apple cider vinegar is a natural appetite suppressant, which means it helps lower your food consumption and reduces your appetite. I drink this during suhoor, or the pre-dawn meal, and I found that it helps throughout the day with those food cravings.
12 pm Stop
If you are a child, say 8 or even 12, and you’re not allowed to fast with the older folks, or you honestly can’t make the whole day without food/water, you should try fasting until 12 pm. Give yourself a limited time to fast until. If you want, you can add an extra 15 minutes to an hour so that eventually you can be able to go the whole entire day without food/water. This is a good tool to use so that you’re not just thrown into fasting without preparing for it.
2). Reading The Holy Quran
There are a couple of ways you could complete reading the Holy Quran in a time span of 30 days:
One Part A Day
The Holy Quran is divided into 30 “parts”. In the English translations, you find for example: “Part 4” or “Part 30” in the book. I usually read up to the next part a day until I reach the end. Please be mindful though, that some of these parts can be longer than another part, because not all surahs, or chapter, lengths are the same. One part might end in the middle of a chapter, another might start in the beginning of a chapter. After Part 30, you keep going until the end of the book, which is more pages longer than another part.
Read After Prayer
I’ve seen this tip surface on Tumblr before. It says that if you divide the 600 pages of the Quran into 30 days, that’s 20 pages a day. If you divide the 5 prayers a day you read 4 pages after every salah.
3). Prayer Time!
Speaking of prayer, sometimes we have trouble completing them 5 times a day. I know me, I forget when the next one begins. Thanks to technology, we can stay on top of it.
App: Athan Pro for Muslim: Prayer times
This Iphone app was introduced to me by a friend one Ramadan. Athan Pro has scheduled alarms for the next prayer that begins, from Fajr to Isha. It also has Hadiths of The Day and Islamic wallpaper for your phone.
Websites
If you prefer a website to go to instead of an app, you can go to Islamicfinder.org or Irusa.org. They show all of the prayer times; it even includes sunrise and sunset hours.
4). Exercise & Athletes
Light Exercises
Exercise is extremely important in anyone’s daily life, but be cautious. You don’t want to exercise too heavily and become dehydrated afterwards because you couldn’t drink water until 8:53 pm. Don’t ever play yourself. Take it easy. Light, yet efficient exercise is a good balance. During Suhoor, stay hydrated. At night, stay hydrated. Make sure that water becomes your best friend, you’ll miss it, especially when trying to exercise without H20.
For My Sporty Muslims
Salute to you! I know that trying to balance being active in your sport, and a participant in the fast can be very difficult. Here’s some tips for “Ramadaning” as athletes.
Ramadan Mubarak! And may the odds be ever in your favor.
(Follow Nzinga Muhammad on Twitter @QueenNzinga13)
Originally published 10.10.10
Where would we be without prayer?
Prayer is obligatory in Islam and the five daily prayers keep us focused on God and help us to maintain an attitude of gratitude for His unceasing blessings.
The words of Qur’an read “Surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil; and certainly the remembrance of Allah is the greatest (force) and Allah knows what you do.” (Surah 29:45)
When I first became a Muslim, many of my peers questioned why we had to pray five times a day when they firmly believed that one time in the morning was good enough for the entire day.
My response was that we are all sinful and can be easily drawn into the gravitational pull of that which is ungodly, so continuous prayer helps to create a spiritual force field around us.
As often as we sin we must turn to Him in prayer to seek His mercy. Daily we’re being bombarded at work, home, and school with things that cause us to drift back into a state of unrighteousness, making us act other than our true selves. Our flaws master us instead of us mastering them. Our true self is the essence of God Himself so we have the innate ability to reflect Him but this world is contrary to His Ways.
We need prayer for spiritual refreshment. Many eat more meals per day than they pray but God is He who created all of the good foods that we partake of daily.
Isn’t God worthy of worship? You and I did not create all that is in the universe–He did. We are not responsible for the Sun that shines or even the atmosphere for us to breathe. We owe our very lives to Him. What is so important that we’re doing throughout the day that we can’t stop and give praise to the Originator? Are we really that busy?
Prayer unleashes inner powers. Prayer places us in the right state of mind to rise above emotions. Prayer activates our God-given abilities to be great yet reroute all of the praise to Him. Prayer gives us that strength necessary to endure the trials that we face in our lives because we know that God will not place on us a burden beyond our scope.
This is why I ask daily on my Twitter account, “Why pray for a lighter load, when you have an opportunity to develop a stronger back?”
As Believers in God, should we be on our knees pleading with Him to lighten our load? Should we be crying out to Him to not take us through difficulties?
I think not.
Struggle is ordained by Him to make manifest who we are. Trials purify us and give us an internal microscopic look at who we are beyond the fine suits and nice dresses.
The “good news” is that man was created to meet and overcome all obstacles in his path. God wants to help us develop a stronger back and stronger legs in the midst of seemingly hopeless moments.
We really don’t know who we are until we are tried.
One of the greatest examples of this can be found in the near death experience of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in 1999. He was three minutes from death at Howard University hospital. God blessed him and brought him back from that experience.
Interestingly when he returned to his farmland from the hospital, his daughter and nurse, Fatimah Farrakhan, shared with him words that he was uttering on his deathbed while in a state of unconsciousness.
According to Minister Farrakhan, “She said I was thanking God for the excruciating pain that I was under. I was thanking Him for whatever He brought into my life. I was thanking Him for allowing me that time that He gave me to behold the majesty of His creation. I never asked Him to allow me to live. I just thanked Him for giving me life; and if it was my time, I thanked Him for just allowing me the time that He gave me.”
That is a testament to the power of prayer and an intimate relationship with your God.
There is quote that says “Seven days without prayer makes one weak.”
Why do you pray?
(You’re welcome to follow Brother Jesse Muhammad further onTwitter, become a friend onFacebook, or visit his award-winning siteBrother Jesse Blog)
Credits: Malcolm X photo by Richard Saunders; Obama photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Originally published 8.22.09
(Graphics by Jahleel Muhammad)
Ramadan, the annual month of fasting and prayer for the Muslim world, started on Friday, the 21st of August and will continue for 30 days until Saturday, the 19th of September. Ramadan began in North America a day later today the 22nd of August. These dates are based on astronomical calculations and are dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America.For my blog readers who may have heard of Ramadan but never knew the historical context here is some small background information but please Google to learn more and ask questions to your Muslim friends.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, sexual conduct, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from sunrise until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Ramaá¸Än is a time to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual.
During Ramaá¸Än, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur’an. Each day a entire section (which is 1/30 of the Qur’an) is read, therefore the entire Qur’an would be completed at the end of the month.To those who are non-Muslims, we invite you to participate with us. We all have some form of bad habit or urge that we would like to get under control, right? Whether that is food, too much Internet, texting addiction, gossiping, lack of reading, anger or cursing, how about you use the next 30 days to master it? Fasting is powerful and we invite you to join us.
Here is uplifting guidance from Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan from a message titled “Fasting Strengthens Discipline”:
When we deprive ourselves of something so essential to life as water and food, for a period of 15 to 18 hours, during the heat of the day, this discipline imposed on ourselves makes it easy for us to discipline other hungers or desires.
When we can stop eating and drinking, drives which are natural to life itself, how much more easy is it for us to stop lying, stealing and the practice of those sins that destroy the peace and brotherhood of the society? This fast of Ramadan is one of the greatest means of inculcating self discipline.
We have all seen societies that are highly disciplined by authoritarian rule. This is a discipline imposed on others by a superior authority. Authoritarian rule often leads to excesses: Despots, tyrants and dictators.
Certainly the discipline imposed on the members of an authoritarian society does produce some good, but the greatest of all disciplines is that which we impose on ourselves.
Self discipline leads to the restraining of those passions in our own being that can be used by Satan for the destruction of ourselves and things around us. Self-imposed discipline leads to a healthy society, one where the people truly can rule.
Excessive eating leads to obesity which brings with it a myriad of other diseases culminating in heart failure, stroke, stress, etc. Excessive sex leads to promiscuity, fornication, adultery, the breakup of families and the destruction of the basic unit of civilization, as well as the killing of millions of unborn unwanted children.The lust for material things leads to greed, avarice and the over consumption or acquisition of things, and ones glorying in things, that have no feeling, thereby denying the humanity in self and others.
The lust for power, to be recognized, can become so great that it gets out of control, then we see men and women destroying others to get what they want and where they want to go.
Anger is a force within the human being that is so potent, if it is not controlled it will lead to the destruction of the individual and others. You can see that there is a need for personal discipline in our lives.
The fast of Ramadan and the discipline of prayer at prescribed times during the day is the greatest aid in developing personal discipline and regulating our affairs and habits.
To read Minister Farrakhan’s entire message please click: http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3939.shtml
Greeting Blog Readers! Today is the first day of Ramadan for the Muslim World! For those that are unfamiliar with it, here is a little information.
The word Ramadan is derived from the word ramd “to burn”. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The month is spent by Muslims fasting (no food or drink) during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. The name came from the time before the Islamic calendar, when the month of Ramadan fell in the summer. Fasting during this month is often thought to figuratively burn away all sins. Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad during this time and we read one part of the Holy Quran a day for the next 30 days.
If you would like to support your Muslim brothers and sisters, participate with us in our sacred month by abstaining from drinking or eating during the daylight hours. Sounds hard? Nothing is too challenging for someone made in the image of God.(smile)