Acts Of Worship In Winter Season

Winter is the blessing of Allah Almighty which helps a person to perform more virtuous deeds in a short period of time. Our pious predecessors رَحِمَهُمُ اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی would feel happy when winter would arrive. They would declare it to be the season in which their acts of worship would increase. (Musnad-ul-Firdaus, vol. 2, pp. 349, Hadees 6808)

Angels feel happy

When winter comes, even angels feel happy. Sayyiduna Qatadah رَحْمَةُ اللّٰہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه has said: Undoubtedly! Angels feel happy for believers when winter begins because a believer observes Sawm (fast) during the day due to its days being short and worships in the night due to its nights being long. (Al-Zuhd li Ahmad Bin Hanbal, pp. 240, Raqm 1251)

Keep Nafl Siyam

Winter’s days are short; the weather remains cold due to which one feels less hungry and thirsty. So taking advantage of these things keep Nafl (supererogatory) Sawm during the day. Our Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has said, ‘Winter’s Siyam are cold blessing.’ (Sunan-ut-Tirmizi, vol. 2, pp. 210, Hadees 797)

At another place he صَلَّى اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has said, ‘The one who keeps one Nafl Sawm, Allah Almighty will plant one tree for him in Paradise the fruit of which will be smaller than pomegranate and bigger than an apple; it will be as sweet and tasty as honey. On the Judgement Day, Allah Almighty will make the Sawm-keeping person eat the fruit of this tree.’ (Al-Mu’jam-ul-Kabeer, vol. 18, pp. 366, Hadees 935)

Seek protection from Hell

In Hell, not only will there be the torment of heat, but there will also be the torment of cold, so when it is very cold, make Du’a (to Allah Almighty) to stay safe from the cold of Hell. The Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has said: In a hard winter, a bondman says: ‘لَا اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللّٰہُ’ how cold it is today! ‘اَللّٰھُمَّ اَجِرْنِیْ مِنْ زَمْھَرِیْرِ جَھَنَّم’ i.e. O Allah Almighty! Protect me from the Zamhareer of Hell. Allah Almighty says to Hell, ‘My bondman is seeking My protection from your Zamhareer and I give him protection from your Zamhareer.’ Blessed companions رَضِىَ اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُم humbly asked, ‘What is the Zamhareer of Hell?’ The Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم replied, ‘It is an abyss in which a disbeliever will be thrown, so his body will break into pieces due to the freezing cold.’ (Al-Budoor-us-Saafirah, pp. 418, Hadees 1395)

Help the poor

In winter, many people cannot afford to buy warm clothes, etc., for their family members to protect them from the cold due to their poverty. In this regard, if we help them, we will get reward. In a city of Syria, someone had a dream in which he saw Sayyiduna Safwan Bin Sulaym رَحْمَةُ اللّٰہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه, a famous Taabi’i pious person, in Paradise. That person came to meet him and related his dream to him. After relating the dream he asked him about the deed due to which he was privileged to enter Paradise. He رَحْمَةُ اللّٰہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه replied, ‘The reason for it is a Qamees which I made a person wear.’ When people asked about the event, he رَحْمَةُ اللّٰہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه said, ‘On a winter’s night, when I came out of the Masjid, I saw a person who did not have anything to protect himself from the cold. I took my Qamees off and made him wear.’ (Sift-us-Safwah, Juz: 1, vol. 1, pp. 106)

If dry fruits and useful foods are available, use them yourself and also offer other Islamic brothers as it was the blessed habit of Sayyiduna Lays [لَیْث] Bin Sa’d رَحْمَةُ اللّٰہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه that he would serve people with the halvah prepared with the ghee made from the cow’s milk and honey. (Siyar A’laam-un-Nubala, vol. 7, pp. 448)

Benefit of drinking one glass of lukewarm water

I had a lot of work at the office today which caused me to finish it at 12:00 o’clock at night. I came out of the office exhausted; started my car and drove quickly to home. Soon afterward, I remembered that my wife had asked me to bring groceries. Though I was dead tired and it was not easy to find any shop open at this time, I kept searching courageously. Eventually, I found a shop open at some distant place, I approached there and saw the shutter of the shop was half closed. The shop owner was busy working on the calculator and writing something in his diary. I said Salam and asked him about grocery items. He said, ‘Brother, shop is closed and I was just leaving after some closing calculation’. I asked him about the closing calculation. He said that he used to note the daily sales, which item ran out of stock and what was the amount of credit sales, in his diary so that he could not forget the monetary dealings. I came out making an apology to him and thought to buy groceries tomorrow in the morning before going to the office.

When I sat back in my car, I was thinking repeatedly that how much could be the account of a small shop but this shopkeeper was still noting it down to maintain his balance on daily basis.

O devotees of Rasool! Though it is a fictitious parable, it possesses many Madani pearls of advice. Our life is also like a trade as ‘Allamah Isma’eel Haqqi رَحْمَۃُ اللہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ said, ‘A human is a trader in the way of Hereafter, his age is his goods; his ‘acts of worship’ and ‘virtuous deeds’ are his profit; his ‘sins’ and ‘spending life in disobedience’ are his loss, and his Nafs is his partner in this trade.’ (Ruh-ul-Bayan, part 7, Surah Al-An’aam, Taht-al-Ayah 62, vol. 3, pp. 46)

Do we also make accountability of our daily trade (deeds) as to what we have gained and what we have lost? It is stated in a narration, ‘There should be four brief spans of time for a wise person in which he should fix one span of time for the accountability of his Nafs. (Shu’ab-ul-Iman lil-Bayhaqi, vol. 4, pp. 164, Hadees 4677)

Even in this troubling time, Ameer-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat دَامَتْ بَرَكَاتُـهُمُ الْعَالِيَـه, a man with Madani mindset of Fikr-e-Aakhirat (pondering over Hereafter), has bestowed upon Muslim Ummah a great gift namely, ‘Madani In’amaat’ for improvement of their Hereafter. In Madani In’aam 15, it is stated about the same very Fikr-e-Aakhirat and making accountability of one’s life in this way: ‘Did you check off the boxes with utmost concentration for the Madani In’amaat which you acted upon today, whilst practising Fikr-e-Madinah (pondering over your deeds) for at least 12 minutes?’

Dear Islamic brothers! Amongst us someone would be employee or boss, teacher or student; someone would be educated or uneducated, elder or younger; and someone would be father or son; so, we should set a fixed time in 24 hours for making accountability of our daily deeds for example what we have seen, in what needless talking we have used our tongue, what have we heard through our ear etc. We should feel regret if we have less virtuous deeds and make firm determination to refrain from sins in future. If we have abundance of virtuous deeds, we should express gratitude to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and make Du’a for attaining steadfastness.

May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ grant us Taufeeq (ability) to do Fikr-e-Madinah daily.

اٰمِيۡن بِجَاهِ النَّبِيِّ الۡاَمِيۡن صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيۡهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم

‘Amal ka ho jazbah ‘ata Ya Ilahi

Gunahaun say mujh ko bacha Ya Ilahi

صَلُّوا عَلَی الْحَبِیْب!          صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلٰی مُحَمَّد