RAMADAN: THE MEANS OF SPIRITUAL ELEVATION

Reflections on Ramadan with My Shaykh, Dr. Ismail Memon

by Dr. Kamran Karatela

“Y ou should spend time in Ramadan with us.” I clearly remember him saying this to me in my first conversation with him – a request I heard him make to hundreds of people in the years to come.

“Yeah, maybe, if I get time off,” was my response. It was the year 2000 when I had first arrived in the U.S. for post–graduate medical training, not knowing where I would match for residency. Following the farewell instructions of my Shaykh Hazrat Molana Hakim Akhter, I was to remain in touch with Hazrat Dr. Ismail Memon. My phone conversations would be limited to requests for duas while he would seek to extract some sort of commitment for spending Ramadan with him.

In my mind it was a far-fetched thought until I matched at a residency program that was only a 3-hour drive from Buffalo, NY. Though he knew little about me, I cannot forget the happiness in his voice when I informed him that I would be moving close to Buffalo.

And here I was, a month into the residency training, on a beautiful summer weekend in front of the man who was to become the all-in-one spiritual guide, a devoted mentor, and father figure for me. His radiant face, beaming smile, affectionate eyes, and warm personality instantly captivated me.

Knowing that Hazrat Molana Hakim Akhter had directed me to him, he welcomed me as a special guest, showering upon me worldly and spiritual gifts. Truly, one of the core qualities of Hazrat was his awe for the Ulema and Awliya.

Our weekend long meeting ended up with the same invitation for spending time in Ramadan. I left with a relatively firmer intention of i’tikaf in Ramadan at his place.

No Muslim is oblivious of the importance, virtues and blessings of Ramadan and i‘tikaf and we try to benefit from the tremendous blessings this month rains upon us. Thus, those who do not pray salat during rest of the year show up at the masjids, the Quran that is kept closed through the year on the shelf is opened up, the nights that are confined to comfy beds are spent on prayer rugs and the days that tempt worldly pursuits and sins are filled with self-restraint and patience.

However, this concept of Ramadan being merely a means of attaining rewards and virtues changed since I started to spend Ramadan with Hazrat. And I will tell you

why…

First Impressions

Like many of us, i‘tikaf to me meant nothing more than spending the last ten days of Ramadan in the masjid. As a first-year resident, I did not have the luxury of altering my schedule but was able to get some time off during the last ten days of Ramadan.

This was the year when Masjid Zakariya sustained significant structural damage from an accidental fire that rendered it inhabitable. Thereafter, the i‘tikaf took place in the Darul-Rasheed building, the girls’ seminary branch of Darul Uloom Al Madania.

As I stepped into the makeshift masjid, a great sense of tranquility descended upon me. It was day time and most people were either resting or busy in their worship.

After Asr, there was taleem, and after taleem I was warmly greeted by Hazrat, who asked me to come to his room. As I sat in front of him, he asked me how long I was there for, and my response was a mere three day stay. He smiled and said, “Just three days?”

He told me of mu’takifeen who came for the whole month and how he would go to Saharanpur to spend the whole of Ramadan with Hazrat Shaykh Zakariya.

That was new to me. “No way I could spend a whole month in itikaf. Impossible. I can’t do it.”

Crazy thoughts cluttered my mind.

We broke the fast with dates and the famous falooda drink. After Maghrib salah, my short nawafil ended quickly, but I saw people standing with no signs of ending it any time soon. I feared there would be no dinner. Ravenous, I stood up and quickly completed two more rakats, only to find people still praying.

Finally, there were signs of movement as I saw some people heading in one direction and I followed them to a simple and well-organized dining area.

After Isha and tarawih, taleem was read from Fad’ail-e-Sadaqat , which was mesmerizing. It truly felt like sakeena (tranquility) covered such gatherings as cited in many ahadith.

I went to bed assuming everyone else would do the same. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I found empty beddings. I quickly got up and saw people deeply engrossed in prayers. Young kids in small jamaats were performing qiyam al-layl reciting Quran while others were busy in duas, zikr and muraqaba (meditation). It was an amazingly beautiful sight, the likes of which I had never seen before.

Three days went by very quickly but left a lifetime of impression on my heart. Tears flowed as I departed from that blessed gathering, already yearning for next Ramadan.

In all these years, I finished my residency and fellowship, got married, had kids, and moved to different states, and each subsequent year my number of days in i’tikaf with Hazrat increased until I was able to spend the whole Ramadan in his blessed company. Hazrat used to say eleven months for the world and one month for Allah.

Ramadan: The true meaning

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I may forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

We all know the virtues of Ramadan, can read hundreds of books emphasizing the virtue of this month, and even try our best to get the most out of it in our personal time. However, the true meaning and value can only be learned by being in the company of the Awliya of Allah.

Ramadan is not only meant to bless us with immense virtues, but most importantly, it is meant to help us attain taqwa (piety). It gives us a chance to seclude and free ourselves from this world and build a connection with our Exalted Lord.

Allah states in the Quran, “Oh, you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, so that you may learn piety and righteousness” [2:183].

This is why Hazrat used to leave Medina Munawwara in Ramadan to stay in the company of his Shaykh Hazrat Maulana Zakariya in Saharanpur, foregoing the manifold rewards and virtues of being in the Haram in lieu of purifying his heart and establishing the connection with Allah.

Thus, Ramadan had a special place in Hazrat’s life. He benefitted greatly from his Shaykh and following his footsteps, he established the same format at his place in North America. Giving an account of Hazrat’s Ramadan is a subject matter that is enormous, spanning over the course of many decades, and needs more time and space to elaborate upon in depth. However, I will give a summary of the salient features of Hazrat’s Ramadan below:

A Mirror image of Shaykh al hadith’s Ramadan

One of the most outstanding features of Hazrat’s personality was his ardent love for his Shaykh, which was evident in every single aspect of his life. It was a perfect display of how the Sahabah l loved the Prophet a.

He had imbibed every aspect of his Shaykh’s life to a point that he would imitate him just like Sahaba emulated the Prophet a . He would share accounts of his Ramadan with his Shaykh and has compiled details of Shaykh al hadith’s Ramadan in his book, The Ramadan of Hazrat Shaykh . The layout of program and schedule that he set was a mirror image of Hazrat Shaykh’s Ramadan in Saharanpur. He even made sure the same books of Tasawwuf that were read out in Hazrat Shaykh al-hadith’s i’tikaf were read in his taleem.

Meticulous Organization

I have never seen a person as well-organized as Hazrat in my life. The way Ramadan was organized under his supervision was unparalled. There have been challenges like fire at Masjid Zakariyya, major life-disrupting storms, migration to Canada, and his ow illnesses, but the organization of i’tikaf went uninterrupted. The most amazing thing was that at each new venue, the system would run so smoothly, that it felt as if had been like that forever.

Hospitality: Unbounded.

Those who had the privilege of spending time in i’tikaf can never forget the splendid display of hospitality and love by Hazrat. All were invited and his humble soul would consider everyone as his guest. He would make sure all their needs were met. It was mind-boggling to observe how he would notice any missing person from the hundreds that came to the dining mat [at iftar] and would send someone looking for him.

His Vigilance

Hazrat’s foremost concern was proper utilization of time. At the start of each Ramadan, he would ask me to write down my 24 hour schedule, and would modify where necessary. He would be extremely vigilant on how the time is utilized. Once, he saw me sleeping, and later inquired about how many hours I was sleeping in a day.

Since I was sleeping more than I should have been, he gave me accounts of our elders, as to how they used to spend Ramadan. This was such a sweet and effective way of Hazrat’s manner of teaching. He would never instruct you directly to do this or that, but would always tell us how our elders utilized their time. He would walk around the masjid at different times to see what everyone was doing, keeping a vigilant eye on everyone. Particularly, it was his habit to come to the masjid at tahajjud time and observe more accounts of our elders, as to spend their Ramadan. This effective way of Hazrat’s He would ibada would be prolonged. Hazrat had not missed a single salat with jam‘at with first takbir for decades, always used the Sunnah of miswak even when he was sick in the ICU, and never gave up tahajjud, even when he was traveling. During Ramadan, he would pray long rakats in qiyam al-layl, followed by extensive duas. After resting briefly, he would wake up around 10 am, and would once again engross himself in salat al tasbeeh and nawafil until taleem time. the mu’takifeen (people in i‘tikaf), which was in fact a Sunnah. I gathered later that Rasulullah a used to walk around Masjid al-Nabawi and observe the Sahabah while they prayed tahajjud. His

Noon time was reserved for one-onone meetings with guests who wished to meet him. He would listen to them attentively and advise them according to their situations.

Own Schedule

It is said about the great scholars and pious people of the past that their schedule in Ramadan was not much different from the rest of the year, except that the time they devoted to a particular

After Zuhr, he would oversee the dhikr, and then read. After a brief nap, he would get up for Asr and pray his Sunnah. Asr salah was followed by taleem. He would then engage in du ‘ a just before Maghrib. This routine continued even until his last Ramadan after his health deteriorated significantly and he had become frail. Hazrat indeed was a true legend, one of the most prolific students of Hazrat Shaykh Zakariya who perpetuated his legacy and established the same structured program of i’tikaf in this part of the world, benefitting thousands of Muslims of North America and beyond. Even though he will not be with us this Ramadan, his legacy and his mission of connecting the servants of Allah to Him will continue. May Allah shower His tremendous blessings on Hazrat and place him in the most exalted place in Jannah.