Life beyond Ramadan

This year’s Ramadan has come to an end. As usual, Muslims engage in various religious obligations, such as night prayers, giving out charity to the needy, recitation of the Holy Qur’an, visitations and other activities in order to be forgiven, get rewards and as well, draw themselves closer to Almighty Allah.

One of the religious activities that the believers do, which they don’t normally do outside Ramadan, is night prayers (Salat al-Layl) especially in the last ten days of the sacred month.

There are several verses in the Holy Qur’an that give great credit to the night prayer. Those verses describe the Night Prayer to be an act of worship performed by the pious and address it to be a great means of gaining closeness to Allah.

Also in Ramadan, people give Sadaqah to the needy in order to benefit from the bounties attached to it. Philanthropists and politicians distribute food items to the less privileged.

Mosques in the month of Ramadan are also filled to capacity, because worshippers turn out in numbers, unlike in the other months, where some of the believers don’t bother to go to the mosques.

On radio and television, politicians and philanthropists sponsor Tafseers and other religious programmes to enlighten the public on Ramadan and other religious activities, while most of the broadcast media especially in the Muslimdominated areas, suspend most of their entertainment programmes in the spirit of the months.

The way the faithful devote their time to the recitation of the Holy Qur’an in the month is encouraging. Many, who don’t normally take time to read the holy book, do that.

How I wish all these good deeds would be maintained even after the Ramadan. Sadly, people stop most of these good things immediately after the month. The night prayer, which God and His prophets encourage the followers to do in view of its importance, is one of the first things that people stop because they don’t want to wake up in the nights. Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Sadaqah wipes out sins like water extinguishes fire.” Despite this bounty attached to Sadaqah, many also stop doing it after Ramadan. You will see the vulnerable and orphans, but nobody cares to come to their aid, as it is being done in the Ramadan.

There is the need for the faithful to continue with the good deeds they have done during Ramadan, even after the month for Allah’s blessings. In Ramadan or outside it, Allah rewards you for doing the right things. So, why do some of us do the right things only in Ramadan? We need to change and do the needful.

Equally, the Muslims ummah should intensify the night prayers and other good deeds for Allah to help us address most of the security and economic challenges confronting the country.

Abubakar Iliya, Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri