Sheikh Mokhtar Maghraoui

Notes from his lecture on Inner Dimensions of Ramadhan @ SUNY Albany
(tapi sampai lambat :))
25 Sha’ban 1424

if we only had a heart, a qalb, then there would be no wrong choices that we would make in life.
“like a heart, like an angel� there would be no wrong choices to make because we would only be acting with the will of Allah. BUT, Allah didn’t make us to as angels, for He didn’t want us to be angels, and as a test for us.. (but sometimes we just wish we’re angels.. kan lebih mudah begitu :) subhanAllah – ‘ajibtu : Allah gave us something but we wish for something else)
So the existence of the ‘self’ yang membuatkan perlunya kita melalui bukit bukit melawan nafs.

The first thing that forms in human beings, sewaktu masih zigot adalah hati… so once upon a time we were all just hearts.. kata Imam Mokhtar lepas tu “ Our essence is a full spirited heart� this is who we want to be and discover.

Back to Ramadhan and fasting :) -- responding to the divine command of fasting is the intellectual battle. This intellectual battle is the start of the battle against hawa and nafs.
Remember? Ilmu yang feed into our battle – mujahadah against the nafs (dlm cycle yang imam Mokhtar selalu lukiskan waktu retreat :)
We need to face the intellectual hill first before going through the hill of hunger.

First hand experience of being hungry
- baru dapat rasakan dengan sebenar perasaan orang lain yang kurang upaya dan kurang kemampuan dalam dunia, the homeless, the war torn, the poor, the orphan …
- we have the kemampuan utk break our fast with in the warmth of our homes, the physical warmth of the heater, and the warmth of family and friends – sdgkan some people don’t feel that comfort and don’t get to break their fast at all – puasa berterusan shj kerana terpaksa.
- when breaking the fast, don’t “Eat with a vengeance�. The spirit of Ramadhan is “celebrating the absence of food� dan bukan sebaliknya.

Ramadhan teaches us that there is more happiness, beyond the happiness of nafsani: eating, drinking… and then we discover how much we’ve lost all this while in our empty toils of the world. And when Ramadhan leaves… kita rindukan utk bertemu bulan itu lagi, “oh, Ramadhan, janganlah pergi lagi!�

Shaitan – what do we learn thru his absence?
Using the Simple Mathematical Elimination Process

Since we know that there are basically 2 main elements that go against us dalam membuat kebaikan:
1. our own nafs
2. shaitan (which also attacks thru the nafs, watching bila nafs menjadi lemah)
jadi sekiranya element kedua sudah dinyahkan, maka ada dua conclusion yang dapat dibuat

1. kerana hanya tinggal nafs sahaja, the worst among us, becomes better. Ramadhan becomes a time for change, a time for becoming better. Kalau ada yang tidak dapat tinggalkan rokok, waktu ini, siang boleh hidup tanpa rokok.
2. tanpa shaitan, we get to know “who we really are�. Compare what we have been doing outside of Ramadhan, especially benda benda yang tak elok, if we are still doing it in Ramadhan, then we know that we are doing those wrong deeds not because of shaitan, but because of kekurangan diri sendiri yang perlu dibaiki.

One poet of old remarked in his poem that Ramadhan is like prophet Yusuf a.s. Nabi Yusuf had 11 brothers who in the beginning of surah Yusuf were transgressors, but in the end of the surah, N Yusuf forgives his 11 brothers, and turns to ask Allah to forgive them as well.
Dalam 11 bulan yang kita lalui, lakukan banyak banyak banyak kesilapan, if in our Ramadhan, this Ramadhan, we make it as our “Yusuf� dalaman dan luaran, then maybe it will act as our Yusuf to forgive us, and ask forgiveness for us, for those 11 other months in the year.

It is always painful to watch a good friend leave.. bila tibanya malam 29 atau 30 Ramadhan.. ia pun melambaikan tangannya.. “selamat tinggal.. I promise to come back inshaAllah, but be good :)�
(that was Ammu Mokhtar’s ending for the talk)

Dalam waktu soal jawab, sis Huma bertanya : sometimes in Ramadhan we do so much good deeds, but after Ramadhan semakin merosot. Jadi is it better to just do that which we know we can still do outside of Ramadhan, or should we do as much as we can in Ramadhan and just see how much we can still do outside of Ramadhan?

Answer:
1. focus on learning essence of Ramadhan
2. release that restrained voice inside of us by asking for His forgiveness
3. oblige yourself with the internal rules of fasting, consciously make the choice of being in the fast, the true fast, pada both levels of shahwa dan hawa.
Kenapa begitu? Because we need to build potential energy dulu, dan kemudian baru bekerja on the other stuff. Kerana tanpa UE (tu symbol potential energy kan? :) ehe tak ingat dah!) momentum takkan dapat dijaga dan tak akan berterusan hingga lepas Ramadhan. Jadi, lakukanlah apa yang wajib dan perlu dilakukan terlebih dahulu, kemudian add gradually from that which is extra until the barakah helps us increase in other deeds.

Alhamdulillah :)