TYPES OF SIYAM

TYPES OF SIYAM

The first type of Siyam is the Siyam of common people; it is the Siyam of the mouth (refraining from eating and drinking), the second type is the Siyam of the believers; it is the Siyam of the limbs (abstaining from committing sins) and the third type is the Siyam of the Muttaqeen; it is leaving everything and turning to Allah only.

In order to know if you are one of those who perform the third type of Siyam, run the following test: if you spend 12 hours thinking about nothing but the Almighty Allah, then you are one of them, because what occupies your mind is Allah only. Allah says:

((O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance.))

efore other people, but you think about million of things saying, "I will do this, I will do that, I will buy a house and I will get married" and so on. Thus, watch yourself and pay attention to what is going on in your mind while you are in Damascus going from one place to another by bus, for instance.. You will realize that your head is saturated with millions of stories. In the evening do a review to all these stories, and if you find out that they are all related to the worldly life, then you are in trouble.

((Whoever's concern was for worldly life, Allah will make his poverty between his eyes disunite him and he will not get anything from this worldly life except what has been written for him, and whoever's concern was the afterlife, Allah makes his richness between his eyes, rather his inner self, and the worldly life will come to him with compliance.))

Hence, watch yourself, do you think about things related to the Hereafter? Are you afraid that you won't be amongst those who will succeed in it? Are you worried about your faith? Are you worried about your uprightness? Are you worried about your prayers (Salah)? Do you see yourself not good enough? Are you afraid of having little of hypocrisy in your manner?

Do you shed tears whenever you hear a story about the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him? Are you impressed whenever you recite the Quran? Do you interact with the Ayaht in it? Have you ever thought about your position in the Sight of Allah? If your thoughts are of this kind, congratulation! In fact this is the Siyam of the heart from everything but the Almighty Allah.

 Again, the Siyam of common people is the Siyam of the mouth and the person who performs this kind of Siyam is like the camel which doesn't know why it was leashed or why it was unleashed. Those people happily say to you,

"They declared that today is Ramadan, Kul Aam Wa Antum Bikhair ([May] you be well every year)." They also are happy with Eid, but where do they spend Eid? They head to Lattakia in order to spend it on its shores taking their Stereos with them to listen to music. Let me repeat: The hypocrite man is like a camel which doesn't know why it was leashed or why it was unleashed Hence, this kind of Siyam is the Siyam of the benighted common people, so we seek refuge with Allah from being one of them.

Mind and its virtue:

 Let us move now to some quotes chosen from the book Ihya' Ulum-ud-Din by Imam Al-Ghazali. We tackled Al-Ilm (knowledge) topic in this book, the virtue of Al-Ilm, the virtue of seeking Al-Ilm, the virtue of teaching Al-Ilm and the characteristics of the sincere devoted Ulama' (people of knowledge). We finished with twelve characteristics during three months; we tackled one characteristic every week.

 Now we move on to an important chapter in this book: "The Virtue, the Honor, the Truth and the Sections of mind". Imam Al-Ghazali said, "Knowledge is like the fruit of a tree and it flows from intellect, or like the light of the sun or like the vision of the eye. Why should it not be honored since it is the cause of fortune in this world and the  next?"

 Allah calls the mind "light", Allah says:

((Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east (i.e. neither it gets sun-rays only in the morning) nor of the west (i.e. nor it gets sun-rays only in the afternoon, but it is exposed to the sun all day long), whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of everything.))

 Allah calls the mind "Ruhan" (an Inspiration, and a Mercy) as well, Allah says:

((And thus We have sent to you (O Muhammad, peace be upon him) Ruhan (an Inspiration, and a Mercy) of Our Command. You knew not what is the Book, nor what is Faith? But We have made it (this Qur'an) a light wherewith We guide whosoever of Our slaves We will. And verily, you (O Muhammad, peace be upon him) are indeed guiding (mankind) to the Straight Path (i.e. Allah's religion of Islamic Monotheism).))

 Notice how beautiful these descriptions are! Light, Ruhan, and life, Allah says:

((Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east (i.e. neither it gets sun-rays only in the morning) nor of the west (i.e. nor it gets sun-rays only in the afternoon, but it is exposed to the sun all day long), whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of everything.))

 Also the Almighty Allah says:

((Allah is the Wali (Protector or Guardian) of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their Auliya (supporters and helpers) are Taghut [false deities and false leaders, etc.], they bring them out from light into darkness. Those are the dwellers of the Fire, and they will abide therein forever.))

[Al-Baqarah, 257]

Who is the prudent person?

 The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((Know the prudent amongst you is the one who obeys Allah))

[Zail Tareekh Baghdad, by Ibn An-Najar by Abu Hurairah]

 A man who doesn't pray, who drinks wine and who has Haram affairs with women will be considered benighted even though he might have the highest scientific degree in the world, because the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((The prudent amongst you is the one who obeys Allah even if he is ugly, weak, low class and wretched))

 If you enter the office of a prominent employee and see the employee who is responsible for cleaning this office, and you notice his wretched clothes (they are not dirty but cheap) his ugly appearance, his weakness and the low class which he belongs to. Yet, he obeys Allah and follows the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, this person is considered prudent in the Sight of Allah.

This man is just an orderly on the door of a very important employee who is elegantly dressed, who has a doctorate certification, whose room is very luxurious, who uses to philosophize things, who is pedantic and who is argumentative. If this later doesn't offer Salah, he disobeys Allah and he doesn't follow the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, he is not considered prudent in the Sight of Allah. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((The prudent amongst you is the one who obeys Allah even if he is ugly, low class and wretched, whereas the ignorant is the one who disobeys Allah even if he is handsome, powerful, from the class of nobles, well-dressed, eloquent and fluent.))

 Therefore, all these characteristics which one may have are considered nothing as long as they are accompanied with disobedience towards Allah, and so they equal benightedness, but they are considered knowledge when they are accompanied with obedience towards Allah.