Truly benefitting from the experience
As is well known, the ninth month of the traditional Muslim calendar, known as Ramadan, is observed through fasting, with more emphasis on prayer, charity, scripture recitation and reflections. It is also widely seen in Muslim culture to be a time of great family and communal meals, gifts (towards the end of the month) and socialization, the specific details of which varying from place to place.
The scripture itself(Q 2:185) describes Ramadan as the month in which the Quranic revelation was initiated to the Prophet Muhammad, Sall Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam. This seems to provide us a clue that the period itself can be transformative(ft.1).
Indeed, the practice of scripture reading, extra prayers (often in which the entirety of the Qur'an is recited in roughly even portions on a nightly basis) and abstinence helps us in looking inward, in building up our spiritual health and character.
God as the one who erases and displays generosity.
The last ten night of the blessed month has certain traditional practices, and while I don't intend to address all of them here (ft.2), one of those practices, which emerges from the Prophet himself, is that of a particular supplication (du'aa), to be made in particular when seeking out the Laylatul Qadr (ft.3).
The Arabic text (as well as a Melayu translation) is in the image below.
The usual English translation is "O Allah, Indeed, you are the forgiver, generous, you love to forgive, so do forgive us." However, there is a nuance missing in this rendering. The term
'Afuww in the text actually carries the meaning of eliminating or erasing. In other words, in this
du'aa, we are asking God Almighty to make for us a new start, to wipe the slate clean and move forward in life.
The text also has the term Karim (generous)(ft.4 & 5). I think this is very appropriate. The superlative form (i.e. Al Akram the most generous Q 96:3) was among the first words given to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the initial revelation.
We are eagerly waiting for Allah to display for us a wiping of clean slate and generosity in His dealings with us. That wish forms a deep part of the spiritual life.
If that is the case with God, then shouldn't we, as human beings, have those same qualities insofar as our dealings with each other? The Prophet Muhammad certainly had those qualities, he is described as forgiving and generous by his companions.
More importantly, should we not also have generosity with our own souls? Should we not engage in self-forgiveness, and not become slaves to the past? Many of us, as human beings, become so entangled with past situations, much of which no longer have relevance, that we cannot move on.
Life is more than a CV or a biography on LinkedIn. There are always good and bad points, successes and failures. The religion of Islam gives us, in both a ritualistic and a philosophical sense, numerous Oppurtunites not only to address the past, but to overcome the burdens of the past, to a road of stability and happiness, in this world and the next.
Those opportunities are not only in the presence of God, because as believers, we already accept that Allah is the one who forgives, has mercy and understanding. Those opportunities are insofar as humans dealing with one another and, arguably most importantly, in how a person sees their own self.
Self-worth should not be viewed insofar as a bank balance or in past failures. That is what Islam teaches us generally and should likewise be emphasized through the Ramadan experience.
May Allah accept all of our fasting, prayers and good actions, and may we gain from this month the beautiful aspects pointed to above.
Footnotes
(1) The same text goes on to describe the Qur'an as "guidance" (hudaan). This implies that guidance was (largely) absent before its introduction via the revelation, thus, giving another indication of its transformative mission.
(3) In the following link, we have made the argument that there is more than simply spirituality sought after in Laylatul Qadr.
Laylat Al Qadr, an alternative perspective(4) There is some discussion among the muhaditheen regarding the presence of the term "Karimun" ("generous") in this text. In fact, some renderings omit this term all together. Nonetheless, it is my view that even if the term does not belong to the original hadeeth, it is still appropriate, after all, God is certainly generous, we are invoking him with that reality in mind. Moreover, du'aa is worship and invoking of God with very few (if any) rules, contrasting with the ritual of Salaah.
(5) A related question is the possibility of making this du'aa outside of Ramadan. I don't see this as problematic, especially considering that du'aa has very few rules (as stated in footnote 4). Moreover, the operative term 'afuw (explained by us as erasing) appears in Quranic du'aa as well. See Q 2:286, the line wa'fu 'anna, waghfir lanaa war hamnaa "and erase for us, bestow forgiveness and mercy to us."
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