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Ramadan is the month when every Muslim should ask himself, ‘Do I know where I am going’?
A companion of the Prophet (Pbuh), said: “Let it not be that the day that you fast and the day that you break fast be equal.” This means one’s behaviour, attitude and outlook are the same whether one fasts or not, i.e. fasting has no effect upon that person. This is why we need to reflect on some of these lessons.
Ramadan is the month when every Muslim should ask himself, ‘Do I know where I am going?’ Self is who you are. Self awareness is when you can see yourself from an outward perspective. Self awareness is the realisation that you exist, not merely that things around you exist. Self awareness is the beginning of enlightenment.
The best medium to achieve self awareness and personal and professional excellence is I’tikaaf during Ramadan. In Islam, God should be the goal of the human heart.
Solitude during I’tikaaf is a state of being alone without being lonely and can lead to self-awareness. As the world spins faster and faster, or maybe it just seems that way when an email can travel around the world in fractions of a second, we mortals need a variety of ways to cope with the resulting pressures. We need to maintain some semblance of balance and some sense that we are steering the ship of our life.
Solitude during I’tikaaf is a time that can be used for reflection, inner searching or growth or enjoyment of some kind. Deep reading requires solitude, so does experiencing the beauty of nature. Thinking and creativity usually do too.
Solitude during I’tikaaf suggests peacefulness stemming from a state of inner richness. It is a means of enjoying the quiet and whatever it brings. That is satisfying and from which we draw sustenance. It is something we cultivate. When Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) was nearly 40, he would spend long hours in retirement meditating and speculating over all aspects of creation around him.
He used to devote most of his time, and Ramadan in particular, to worship and meditation on the universe around him. His heart was restless about the moral evils and idolatry that were rampant among his people; he was as yet helpless because no definite course or specific approach had been available for him to follow and rectify the ill practices around him. This solitude attended with this sort of contemplative approach must be understood in its divine perspective. It was a preliminary stage to the period of grave responsibilities that he was to shoulder very soon.
Privacy and detachment from the impurities of life were two indispensable prerequisites for the Prophet’s soul to come into close communion with the Unseen Power that lies behind all aspects of existence in this infinite universe.
This meditative temperament helped to widen the mental gap between him and his compatriots. He used to carry simple food and water and then directly head for a cave named Hira’, in the Mount An-Nur. It was only 2 miles from Makkah, a small cave 4 yards long and 1.75 yard wide. He would always go there and invite wayfarers to share his modest provision. Solitude is refreshing; an opportunity to renew ourselves. In other words, it replenishes us.
Another important benefit of Itikaaf is that one can practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a technique in which a person becomes intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally. The practice of mindfulness is necessary because most of our behaviour and thoughts are automatic.
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