All Praises and gratitude belong to the Almighty Who has counted us among His beloved servants that would witness, participate and conclude this year's Ramadhan. May He accept all our supplications and the fasts themselves from us as acts of worship. May He, out of His Limitless mercy purify our fasts and strives during the Blessed month from all forms of mistakes and deliberate misdeeds we might have committed while fasting. Ameen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I say, Assalaamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu. I'm terribly sorry that I wasn't there all through the Ramadhan period. Please forgive me. It was due to situations that were way beyond my control. But, not to worry, I've started taking measures to bring the situation under control. Insha Allah, Next year's Ramadhan would be a much better as I would do all I can to find enough time to come online for you guys. I wanna say Barka De Sallah. May we live to experience a lot more of this wonderful month of Ramadhan. ameen.
Ramadhan Have Come and Gone, What Next???
Well, as you can see from the subject matter of this post, we are here discuss what should be our next point of action after Ramadhan for we Muslims. The Answer is plain and simple - Sittu - shawwal is next!
Apart from our sisters that are still sexually active who might have missed a couple days in Ramadhan, the next point of call for all of us is Sittu - Shawwal. There's a hadith of the Prophet in which the Prophet was reported to have said that whoever fasted throughout Ramadhan and was able to fast for another 6 days in the month of Shawwal that is after Ramadhan, shall have the reward of a person that fasted for a whole year!
It Doesn't Have To Be Consecutively
You see, I see this period of the year as a 'Blessing Overload' period. Check it out yourself! The Devil and his boys are arrested and detained throughout the Ramadhan period so that you may be able to play and actually catch up with them. You even stand the chance, during Ramadhan to go beyond them coz they have been put out of business for a whole month just to give you a chance!
On top of that, the Almighty Decided to Multiply whatever you do during Ramadhan several folds over. What that means is that should you get a single reward for a particular good deed outside Ramadhan, you'll get like that reward multiplied by 10 or more during Ramadhan. This is not to mention the Night of Majesty!
According to Suratul Qadr, chapter 97n of the Holy Quran, The Night of Majesty (Lailatul Qadr) is better than a 1 000 months (that's over 83 years of worship)! Unfortunately, I can't go into the juicy details but what this means to us is that should I recite Suratul Fatiha just once in that night, it would be recorded as though I recited the Chapter everyday for 83 years and a few months!
Now, on top of all of that comes this one called Sittu - Shawwal ( literally means 6 of shawwal). The cool thing about this fasting is that unlike during Ramadhan that you are fasting consecutively for a month, this 6 days of fasting is not like that. You can decide to space them. So long you complete the 6 fasts during the month of Shawwal, it shall be accepted! Can you now see why I said it's a 'Blessing Overload' Period???
I Strongly Recommend You Make It Consecutive
Let me tell you a little secret. I don't like going hungry, I like good food, so I don't like fasting that much despite all the rewards attached. But when it comes to Sittu - Shawwal, I have made it mandatory for myself to fast. After that, I do the 'Arafa fast and that's all...no more fasting for me for the rest of the year! Don't laugh at me, no be fault o!
So, when I recommend that you make it really snappy, you should understand where I am coming from. This year, I shall begin this coming Sunday and won't break until Friday, Insha Allah.The reason is not far fetched.
My body is still in the fasting mode so, I have better stolen the initiative and take up the 6 day fasting before it's too late. This is same with you if you had fasted like us. Your body have adapted to taking very little nourishment for a long period of time, before it changes again to taking more food, do the needful and get the reward of fasting for the whole year.
For the sake of emphasis, I'll implore you to pay back what you missed from Ramadhan before you do Sittu Shawwal. The earlier you begin, the better! Don't forget the Monday and Friday weekly fasting of the Prophet. It has both Spiritual and health gratifications!
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