Congratulations on almost completing your first week of Ramadan! May this message reach you in the best of health and may Allah (swt) bless you on this beautiful day of Jummah. One of our goals at Minder this Ramadan is to help provide you with ways to better your Ramadan experience and help you get closer to Allah (swt). With that being said, today is Friday, and if you did not know there is a great reward in reading Surah Al -Kahf [18] on Fridays. But why do so many scholars recommend reading this chapter on Fridays?
If you have not read Surah Al-Kahf before then this is the perfect time to start. It is composed of several stories that are filled with beautiful reminders that we may use in our everyday life. From a story about youth who put their trust in Allah (swt), to a story about a man who denied the blessings of God in regards to his beautiful garden, all the way to the story of Prophet Musa (pbuh) and Khidr which is about the importance of understanding Allah’s wisdom. This chapter covers it all.
In a narration from the Prophet Muhammad pbuh it is stated that the one who reads Surah Al-Kahf on Fridays will find his entire week enlightened until the next Friday (al-Jaami). In addition to this, the one who recites Surah Al-Kahf and memorizes it will be safe from the Dajjal and will have his sins forgiven from one Friday to the next (al-Mundhiri). One can see just from these narrations the importance of reading Surah Al-Kahf.
However, I want us to take a closer look at one of the stories in Surah Al Kahf so that we may leave this article with a piece of wisdom we can apply to our life. And that is the story of the man who had two beautiful gardens. This man was very wealthy and successful. He not only owned fields of grapes but those fields of grapes were protected by date trees. At that time, dates and grapes were some of the most valued commodities one could have. Not only did he have these beautiful gardens, but Allah swt had put rivers within the gardens so he did not need to depend on rain. In addition, this man not only had these two fields with rivers flowing but he had horses and carriages, he had children and wealth from other businesses. You could not ask for a better set up. But what did all this wealth do to him?
One day, he was conversing with a friend. And he tells his friend that he has built all of this. He had accumulated all this. He had more money than his friend and he had more children than his friend. The man completely forgot that Allah swt had provided him with all of what he had and he began attributing his success to himself. He becomes boastful and prideful. And we know in Islam that arrogance is one of the worst sins. He then says I do not think that these gardens and my palace will ever perish. He became so engulfed in his wealth and success that he even ends up doubting the Day of Judgement. And what does Allah do?
Allah swt sends down a punishment that destroys the man’s garden. And this happened instantly right after he was boasting to his friend. And the man goes from having one of the most beautiful gardens to nothing. And the man regretted his arrogance, however, it was too late. So what can we learn from this?
As we accomplish things in this life, we must always attribute our success to Allah. We must always be grateful to Allah and know that our success, wealth and knowledge comes from Allah. And we must stay humble and grateful. Humility and gratefulness is always key.
