Life is an Open Secret -

Ramadan Special
25 Inspirational Stories from Ordinary
Life Experiences

Zabrina A. Bakar
Life Storyteller
Wise Words Publishing
Kuala Lumpur
www.LifeOpenSecret.com
www.WisdomThruWords.blogspot.com
www.LifeStoryteller.ning.com
 “‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr reported that the Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him), said: “The fast and
the Quran are two intercessors for the servant of
Allah on the Day of Resurrection. The fast will
say: ‘O Lord, I prevented him from his food and
desires during the day. Let me intercede for him.’
The Quran will say: ‘I prevented him from sleeping
at night. Let me intercede him.’ And their
intercession will be accepted.”
(Ahmad)
 Secret Ten
Reciting The Noble Quran

I was managing my Facebook that day, you know, the usually stuff:
answering some emails, approving some new friends, accepting
invitations to events, getting into new groups, reading interesting status
updates, commenting and tagging on photos and of course, my favorite
- poking my possibly irritated and annoyed family and friends!

Truly, Facebook has made it possible for one of my closest friends who has
moved across the world to live in the beautiful city of Amsterdam feel like
she is just living next door to me still, Alhamdulillah!

But then, I noticed another friend who resides in another continent of the
world and had her status set as ‘Time Out’.

Huh, time out? I got curious and naturally, I started wondering if she was
all right; so, I inboxed her.
73
 74 Life is an Open Secret - Ramadan Special

‘Oh, I am doing great. I just wanted to spend more time reciting the Quran
as Ramadan is here. That's all!’ She answered me cheerfully.

Subhan Allah, what she said hit me big time. She reminded me of this
particular verse from the noble Quran,

(The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was sent down
as a (pure source of) guidance for mankind. In it are clear teachings
showing the right way and the criterion (for judging truth and
falsehood.)
(Al-Baqarah 2:185)

Subhan Allah!

Look at the verse above. Allah has actually told us the exact month when
He sent down His guidance to us? Isn't that exhilarating?

It reminded me of how I love to watch the history channel, and get amazed
with wonderful great historical facts and happenings; but then I forgot that
this month carries in itself one of the most important and critical history
for mankind- the month when the Words of The One and Only Lord was
first sent down from its sacred place and where it was kept for the longest
time of its descent to guide us, the dwellers of the earth!

Just look at this hadith below,

“The Scriptures of Ibrahim were sent down on the first of the month of
Ramadan. The Tawrah was sent down on the sixth of Ramadan. The
Injeel was sent down on the thirteenth of Ramadan. The Zaboor was
sent down on the eighteenth of Ramadan, and the Qur’an was sent down
on the twenty-fourth of Ramadan.”
(Ahmad)
 Reciting The Noble Quran 75

How great is it that we actually know the exact month of when Allah first
revealed His Words to us and to the ones before us, right?

Isn’t this what the Qur’an really is

about, my brothers and sisters?

It contains the words of Allah, our

Lord. Every single alphabet in the
Quran that makes up the words that we
read as a sentence are really the words
that came from Allah - our Lord, our
Creator, our Maker- literally!

Amazing, isn't it? Subhan Allah... I get goose bumps just thinking about
it…

I asked myself these questions - now that I know the month in which Allah
has sent me His Book of Guidance, don't I want to know the things that He,
the Most Magnificent, has said to me in His Book? Don't I want to know
what my Lord, the Most Glorious, has told me about life? Don't I want to
understand the guidelines He, the Most Loving, has provided me with so
that I can live in this world and Hereafter happily, peacefully and full of
contentment?

In summary, don't I want to know about Life’s Open Secret which He has
revealed to me in His Book using His very Own Words?

Of course, I do, right?

But….

But what, Zabrina? What? You are too lazy? You'd rather read something
else? Or watch the square box? Or fool around with friends on Facebook?
 76 Life is an Open Secret - Ramadan Special

Ouch! Don't say that…

Don't you know how much Allah will reward you for reading His Book?

It was then I remembered this particular hadith of my beloved Prophet

Muhammad (peace be upon him)

"Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah, he will have a

reward. And that reward will be multiplied by ten. I am not
saying that "Alif, Laam, Meem" is a letter, rather I am saying
that "Alif" is a letter, "laam" is a letter and "meem" is a letter."
So increase your recitation of the Quran to gain these merits,
and to gain the following merit as well"
(At-Tirmidhi)

Ya Allah, I felt so ashamed after

remembering this hadith.

To motivate me to read His Words,

Allah has prepared an amazing
incentive and reward, you agree?

Just like a car advertisement I saw recently that says, ‘Buy a Car with No
Down Payment and Receive Cash Back too!” I couldn't believe my eyes
when I saw that advertisement. I was so tempted to actually walk into one
of their stores that day.

And this is what Allah has promised me - read His Book and get His
Guidance, at the same time, He will give me ten rewards for each alphabet
I read.
 Reciting The Noble Quran 77

Each alphabet my friends, each alphabet! And the reward is multiplied by

ten. A big full perfect O -TEN!
Just like if a mother promised to reward her daughter if she can say, spell
the word - MOTHER.
For the letter M - her mother will give her not one piece of candy, but ten.
For the letter O - her mother will give her not one piece of candy, but ten.
Same goes for each one of the letters T-H-E and R.
What do you think this little girl would do? Do you think she is going to
say, ‘Nay…. Sorry mummy, not interested,’ and yawn away?

Or would her eyes shine in delight, and

would she jump in excitement, frantically
looking for her kindergarten book that has
the word MOTHER and start memorising
the letters M-O-T-H-E-R?

What do you think, my friends?

Do I see heads nodding? Yup, I thought so

too…

So, then, even knowing the greatness of the reward, I wonder, why am I
still not eagerly reading His Book every single day?

Is reading the noble Book too difficult and hard for me to do? Perhaps
because my Arabic language is a little bit rusty than I would like it to
be and that has deterred me from reading? Maybe the stammering and
stumbling once a while has put me off?

But I do remember what Lady `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said when
she relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) once said:
 78 Life is an Open Secret - Ramadan Special

"Verily the one who recites the Quran beautifully, smoothly, and
precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient
angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty,
stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have
TWICE that reward."
(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Oh my God! Subhan Allah…

It is a no lose situation for me. Definitely!

If I read His Book beautifully, I will be in the company of the noble and
obedient angels; and if I stammer and stumble, I get twice the reward!

Okay, you know something? I have heard enough of excuses already.

I know that I have to make the change. I know that now is the time for the
Today-Me to be better than the Yesterday-Me.

If I read 10 verses yesterday, can't I be better today by reading 11 verses?

Would reading one additional sentence from my Lord be too much for me
to do?

Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah… forgive me my Lord

for constantly ignoring Your Words, for choosing to spend time reading
gossip columns and news headlines written by your creations about your
other creations instead of reading Your Words, The Creator of everything
that exists in this entire universe….

Ya Allah...
Tell you what, my brothers and sisters. To get us started, let us start now
by doing it together, okay?

… on three… 1, 2, 3...
 Reciting The Noble Quran 79

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (In the name of Allah the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful)

“Alif, Laam, Meem .“

Alif – one reward multiplied by ten

Laam - one reward multiplied by ten
Meem - one reward multipled by ten

Total reward in three seconds – thirty!

Alhamdulillaah.

How great was that?

Beyond words…

Totally!