Fiqh of Ramadan

This post is for myself just as much as anybody else. Probably more so. I just wanted to make a bit of a point about getting our priorities right for this month. Inevitabley, the same issues will arise this year as did last year, and the year before, and the many years before that. Before we all start our Moonsighting Wars, our intense 8 rak'ah vs. 20 rak'ah debates, and the obligation of praying jumu'a on 'eid, we need to take a moment to really think about how we spend our time this month. This isn't a month of fiqh. This is the month of the Qur'an. The month of 'ibadah. The month of drawing closer and seeking the forgiveness of Allahu subhanahu wa ta'ala. In Mishkat al-Masabih (a popular collection of hadith in the subcontinent, original compiled by the Persian Shafi'i scholar al-Baghawi and then revised and improved by at-Tabrizi), a hadith is recorded that states "and it (Ramadan) is such a month, the first ten days are the days of mercy, the middle ten days are the days of forgiveness, and the last ten days are the days in which many are emancipated from the fire of Jahannam". I say all this (once again, primarily to myself) so that we don't get distracted from seeking the bounty and favours of Allah 'azza wa jal by discussing and arguing about these matters, which although may be relevant, are not the purpose of this month. Rather than wasting our time worrying about how others are incorrectly performing their acts of worship, I'm gonna be a bit selfish here and say to instead focus on how we perform our acts of worship. Wouldn't our time be better utilised by learning the meanings of the ayaat of the Qur'an, so that we can concentrate and focus better in our salah? These are all important matters, but we can leave them for the other 11 months of the year that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us with, and just try to utilise this gift from Allah wa ta'ala in the way that it was intended. And besides, these matters of fiqh are not for us laymen to argue over. These are matters to be left to the fuqaha and the mujtahidoon. Let our shuyookh worry about these matters, for we are not obliged to debate about them. Let us instead worry about asking Allah 'azza wa jal for forgiveness from our sins, the sins of our family, and the sins of every believer that has lived, that lives, and that will live until Yawm al-Qiyamah.

I just want to reiterate one final time that this post is for myself before anybody else, because I am definitely guilty of indulging in some of the acts that I have mentioned above before.

(P.S. Considering all of the readers that I know about of my blog are girls, I don't know how much this post will appeal to you. I've noticed that it's mainly guys that love getting embroiled in such issues. Forgive me if it was a waste of your time).

(P.S.S. The title was meant to be funny, considering my No-Fiqh rule from the last post. Maybe I should stop assuming that my readers don't get my jokes...).