Allah Ta‘ala says in the Quraan Majeed, “Do not be like the woman who had broken her yarn into pieces after spinning it firmly…” (Surah Nahl v92)
Some commentators have mentioned that this verse was revealed in regard to a specific woman who lived in Makkah Mukarramah, by the name of Raytah. She was extremely silly and foolish. Hence, every morning, she and her daughters would commence spinning yarn. They would continue to spin yarn throughout the morning, but when the time of noon would arrive, she would undo all the yarn that she had spun by untwisting and opening it, and would instruct her daughters to do the same. In this manner, the entire morning’s work and effort would be undone and lost. (Ma‘aariful Quraan – Kaandhelwi vol. 4, pg. 399)
Other commentators mentioned that this verse was not revealed in regard to any specific woman. Rather, the verse explains the parable of a woman who after toiling for many hours, destroys all the fruit of her labours. In this, there is a lesson for the believers that they should not break their oaths after taking them. (Tafseer Ibni Katheer vol. 4, pg. 708)
Nevertheless, though this verse was revealed in regard to breaking oaths, the broader lesson understood from this verse is general – a believer should not be so foolish as to cause all his efforts to go to waste.
The month of Ramadhaan has just passed, and during this month, every person strove to please Allah Ta‘ala. Be it our fasting, Taraaweeh Salaah, recitation of the Quraan Majeed, charitable works, zikr or any other form of ‘ibaadah that we carried out during this month – we all hoped to please Allah Ta‘ala and acquire immense rewards from Him.
However, after one carries out righteous actions and gains the pleasure of Allah Ta‘ala and reward from Him, then the next effort is for one to ensure that he does not lose the pleasure of Allah Ta‘ala or lose the rewards that he has earned.
One of the causes for a person to lose the rewards that he has earned is through him oppressing people in whichever form it may be. The hadeeth explains that on the Day of Qiyaamah, all those whom one had oppressed in the world will come before Allah Ta‘ala and make their case against him. Some people will complain of the money that he had usurped, others of the physical pain that he had caused, while yet others will complain of the verbal abuse that he had subjected them to. On that crucial day, Allah Ta‘ala will instruct all these plaintiffs and complainants to take from his good deeds to the extent which they were oppressed. Thus, before his very eyes, the reward of his salaah, charity, fasting and other ‘ibaadaat will be taken away by others. (Saheeh Muslim #2581)
Hence, in order to safeguard our rewards, it is vital for us to ensure that we fulfil all people’s rights and refrain from oppressing any person in any way.
Committing sins is another cause which makes a person lose that which he acquired in Ramadhaan. By indulging in sins, one loses the special noor and radiance of the heart which he may have worked hard to acquire. Thereafter, when this noor is lost, one feels disinclined towards goodness and attracted towards evil. As a result, one begins to retrogress very swiftly and rapidly, so much so that after just a few days of sinning, one will perceive darkness in his heart, and will realise that his condition is now back to where it was before Ramadhaan – if not even worse than before.
When a person is driving a car, then in order to keep the car moving, some degree of constant acceleration is required. If the foot is taken of the accelerator pedal, then the car will continue to coast for a little while, propelled by momentum. However, inertia ultimately overcomes this momentum, causing the car to come to a dead stop.
This world is not a straight, level road. Rather, due to the severe fitnahs and Deeni challenges we constantly face, it is an uphill road all the way to Jannah. Hence, in this case, not applying the accelerator will not result in the car coming to a standstill. Rather, it will result in the car rolling backwards and retrogressing. Therefore, if we are not moving forwards, then we are moving backwards, and the only way to keep moving forward is to continue accelerating.
In other words, now that Ramadhaan is over, we cannot become lax and complacent. Rather, we must maintain some momentum through continuing the good works and good deeds we were carrying out in Ramadhaan. Though we may not be able to exert ourselves as much as we did in Ramadhaan, it does not mean that we should not make any effort at all. Even if we do a little, but we do it with constancy and punctuality, it will be pleasing to Allah Ta‘ala and will cause us to continue progressing.
May Allah Ta‘ala safeguard our rewards and bless us with Deeni progress, aameen.