End of Ramadhan and Solitude

Ramadhan is almost over and Eid Al-Fitr is dawning. The time flies but hopefully what we learnt and gained this Ramadhan stays with us.

I was feeling rather sad that the last ten days draws to a close and the window of opportunity to be in solitude with the Creator and Sustainer within the Night of Power is once again gone. At least till next Ramadhan, if Allah permits me to meet it.

One of the pleasures of Ramadhan that I've discovered or rediscovered recently is the personal communication with Him in the depth of the night. I struggle to wake up for an hour or two before the dawn prayer to eat, pray and read the Quran. The interrupted sleep does get to me but there is a peace that pervades without the cacophony of daily noises that is rewarding in itself. One of the resolve I have (if I can sustain it) is to continue this action at least a few times a week.

As I mentioned, I was feeling rather sad and then saw a friend posting a link to the following article this afternoon.
http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/
It is about how solitude is an essential part of leadership and that being in solitude nurtures the leadership in us. The author defines leadership as:
'the idea that true leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions.'
and so the ability to think forourselves is aided by solitude which he defines as :

1. Concentration - gathering yourself together into a single point rather than letting yourself be dispersed everywhere into a cloud of electronic and social input. That is, not to be distracted by others.
He said:
'I find for myself that my first thought is never my best thought. My first thought is always someone else’s; it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea. By giving my brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, take me by surprise. And often even that idea doesn’t turn out to be very good. I need time to think about it, too, to make mistakes and recognize them, to make false starts and correct them, to outlast my impulses, to defeat my desire to declare the job done and move on to the next thing.'

2. Solitory work - doing something on your own like building something, writing, reading.

3. Introspection

4. Friendship - the deep friendship of intimate conversation. Long, uninterrupted talk with one other person.
He said:
'Introspection means talking to yourself, and one of the best ways of talking to yourself is by talking to another person. One other person you can trust, one other person to whom you can unfold your soul. One other person you feel safe enough with to allow you to acknowledge things—to acknowledge things to yourself—that you otherwise can’t. Doubts you aren’t supposed to have, questions you aren’t supposed to ask. Feelings or opinions that would get you laughed at by the group or reprimanded by the authorities.'


After reading it, I was struck by the following thought:
- Were the tahajud (night) prayers and the activities such as reading the Qur'an in the depth of the nights encouraged during Ramadhan not devised to fulfill those definitions of solitude?
- Who could be a better Friend that we can trust and unfold our souls other than Him?
- As Islam states that everyone is a 'khalifa' (leader/appointed deputy of Allah on Earth), a training regime is necessary to develop the leadership skills, thus the encouragement to wake up part of the night to devote oneself in prayer.
- Similarly, taking time away from the busy lifestyle to pray five times a day allows one to gather oneself 'into a single point' as the author describes it, away from the cacophony of other thoughts, voices, etc.

Thus, I think I gain a new perspective on the dimensions of Salah and night prayer.