There are two types of people when it comes to joy in Ramadhan. The one who is joyful for Ramadhan and the one who isn't joyful for Ramadhan.
1. People who feel Joy at the arrival of Ramadhan: are the sincere believers who thirst to make best use of every opportunity to please Allah. There are two moments of joy for this sort of people.
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah SA said, “The fasting person has two moments of relief he enjoys: when he breaks his fast he is joyful, and when he meets his Lord he is joyful for his fasting.”
(Saheeh Bukhari 1795, Saheeh Muslim 1151)
The true believer is happy for the opportunity to fast and obey Allah, as well as joyful to meet His Lord and receive the reward that Allah has prepared for Him.
2. The people who do not feel Joy at the arrival of Ramadhan: are those who are content with the world while not hoping to meet Allah.
Allah says,
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَرۡجُونَ لِقَآءَنَا وَرَضُواْ بِٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَٱطۡمَأَنُّواْ بِهَا وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمۡ عَنۡ ءَايَٰتِنَا غَٰفِلُونَ
Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs.
-Surah Yunus, Ayah 7
There are three characteristics we notice here-
• Do not hope to meet Allah
• Satisfied with the life of this world
• Heedless of Allah's signs
Hence, its imperative that we carry out two tests on ourselves.
a. Do we feel sorrowful when we miss an opportunity for reward in Aakhira?
Ex. If you missed reading Qur'an today, does regret burn your heart over, "Why did I miss today!" or do you shrug it off with a passing thought of, "I'll do it tomorrow."
b. Do we feel sorrowful when we miss an opportunity of Dunya?
Ex. If you miss a promotion or a salary raise, do you feel angry over it or do you whiff it off saying, "It's ok. If not now, some other time."
You see, the reality is-- dunya is fleeting. It comes and goes. Although we missed it today, due to dua or Qadr, we might receive it later. However, Aakhira doesn't roll that way. Once the opportunity slips, its gone for good. We're never going to get it back, no matter how hard we try. That time has passed.
So, now that Allah has given us this excellent opportunity of Ramadhan, let us be of those people who are joyful for its arrival.
May Allah enable us to receive Ramadhan with joy! Aameen.
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