Ramadan And Mike Tyson's Quote
10th April 2022
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” That’s a famous quote from Mike Tyson.
When you start doing some exercise to increase your health and fitness, you initially see gains. If you keep doing the same exercise only, your body adjusts, and you don’t see those same early gains.
That analogy reminds me of the middle of Ramadan. We usually start the month full of excitement, with a plan and raring to go. We map out our day, how many rakahs of taraweeh, how much Qur’an we plan to read and study, time for dua, time for learning, time for dawah.
After the first week, we are now established in our new routine. The fasting days can then become casual and we plateau. Sometimes, we might slack and even regress – doing less than we did at the beginning of the month. Now is the time for the shuffle.
Remember that Ramadan will end
Remember that Allah (swt) grants some rewards only in this blessed month, and none of us is guaranteed another Ramadan. Remember Allah (swt) frees many from the fire in this month.
It was narrated from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (alayhi salam) said: “At every breaking of the fast Allah has people whom He frees (from the Fire), and that happens every night.” [Ibn Majah]
إِنَّ لِلَّهِ عِنْدَ كُلِّ فِطْرٍ عُتَقَاءَ وَذَلِكَ فِي كُلِّ لَيْلَةٍ
Shouldn’t we increase our dua for that? Remember the reward of doing the fard is multiplied so shouldn’t we increase in fulfilling our duties to our families, our communities and calling for the re-establishment of the Khilafah system so the Qur’an’s guidance is implemented in the Muslim world?
Time to do the shuffle
Remember that exercise analogy I started with? As your body got used to you repeating the same exercise, to continue to see gains in your fitness level, you need to change the routine. Add intensity, repetition, variation, whatever. Just do the shuffle.
Same with Ramadan. Vary your daily activity, vary the dua, vary the tafseer you are reading, get involved in some new dawah project. Do the shuffle.
Tyson’s quote reminds us that though we may have a plan before starting an activity, once we start the activity, things can change and we need to modify our plan – if we still want to achieve our goals.
May Allah (swt) enable us to continue to strive in the middle of the month and race towards His Pleasure, Forgiveness, and Mercy when we approach the end of this blessed month.
Please share the newsletter. Thanks.
Love and salams,
Taji
🧔 What have I been up to?
I discussed with Imran Khan and Shabaz Sharif supporters at my local shop as Pakistan prepared for the no confidence vote that removed Imran Khan. We debated the Islamic Khilafah system, democracy and changing political faces in Pakistan. Watch my report.
📖 Ayah and Hadith
بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَىٰٓ
“Nay, you prefer the life of this world; although the Hereafter is far better and more lasting”. [Sura Al-A’la 87:16-17]
Quote of the Week
“Thoughts, in any nation, are the greatest wealth the nation gains in her life if the nation is newly born; and they are the greatest gift that any generation can receive from the preceding generation, provided the nation is deep-rooted in the enlightened thought." [Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, Islamic Economic System]
❤ My Favourite Things
Podcast –When bricks were roubles, an episode from Planet Money.
When countries face tough sanctions and the value of ‘real’ money collapses, what happens? For a brief, strange period after the U.S.S.R. collapsed, "real" money was less valuable than tradeable objects like bricks or towels. This episode looked back at the Russian barter economy and we see the nature of money and value underneath all currency.
The Islamic Khilafah state’s currency must be backed by gold or silver – which have real value.
Read past newsletters at tajimustafa.com