Once again, the blessed month of Ramadan is about to arrive. The month of blessings and mercy is about to spread its splendor. The month of good fortune and forgiveness is about to cast its shadow. The spring season of good deeds is about to come for the virtuous. When this great month arrives, it will bring with it the gift of fasting, the offering of Taraweeh prayers, and a special environment for reciting the Quran for Muslims. With the blessing of this month, our sustenance will increase, and the reward for every good deed will be greater than the reward for good deeds on ordinary days. The mosques will become more lively, and the Muslims' enthusiasm for worship will double. The breeze of compassion and sympathy will blow, the duties of servants and attendants will be eased, and the burden on employees and job holders will be reduced. The wind of generosity and munificence will blow fast, and the doors of generosity and charity will be opened wide for the needy, the helpless, and the poor. A sheet of piety, purity, radiance, and spirituality will be spread over the society. The pre-dawn wakefulness of Sehri and the preparations for Iftar will be worth seeing. Every home will be fragrant with delicious and varied dishes.
In this blessed month, the manifestations of divine light and theophanies of the Lord will be seen everywhere, there will be provision for forgiveness for sinful servants, and even the wine-drinking libertines will prostrate themselves before the court of the Eternal after repentance and submission. The gates of Paradise will be opened, and the gates of Hell will be locked. Every night, countless people will receive the glad tidings of deliverance from the fire of Hell. Believers will get a special opportunity for training and reform. Just imagine the greatness of this month that whenever the Creator of the Universe sent down any heavenly gift for the purification of man's soul and the reformation of his spirit, He chose this month for it. Allama Yusuf Banuri (may Allah have mercy on him) writes with reference to Musnad Ahmad: "From the scriptures of Ibrahim to the Holy Quran, all spiritual gifts and wonderful divine decrees and systems of laws are all blessings of this blessed month. It is mentioned in the hadiths that the scriptures of Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) were revealed on the first day of the month of Ramadan, the Torah of Musa (peace be upon him) on the sixth, the Gospel of Isa (peace be upon him) on the thirteenth, the Psalms of Dawood (peace be upon him) on the eighteenth, and the Holy Quran on the twenty-fourth." It is narrated in Ibn Majah that in every night of this month, an announcement is made by Allah Almighty: "Ya baghiyal khairi aqbil wa ya baghiyal sharri aqsir." (O seeker of good! Come forward, and O seeker of evil! Stop).
The specialty of this month is that the sins of the disobedient are forgiven in it, and many servants are forgiven. This secret is also hidden in the meaning of the word "Ramadan," and this is also the reason for its naming. The three-letter root of Ramadan is R, M, Z (raa, meem, zaad). And it means intense heat, land or stone scorched by the intensity of the sun. There are different opinions of the scholars of the Ummah regarding the reason for its naming: The blessed month of Ramadan first came in the season of intense heat in Islam, so Ramadan was named accordingly. Another saying is that in this month, the Forgiving and Merciful Lord scorches the sins of His fasting servants with His special mercy and grants them a certificate of forgiveness; that is why this month is called Ramadan. The scholars have also mentioned several names of this month with reference to the hadith, which are listed below. Shahr al-Sabr (the month of patience), Shahr Mubarak (the blessed month), Shahr al-Mu'asaat (the month of empathy), Shahr Mutahhar (the purified month).
What less is there for the virtue of this month that Allah Almighty decided to reveal the Holy Quran, the most sacred and true book in the world, in this month. Therefore, Allah Almighty says: "Shahr Ramadan alladhi unzila fihil Quranu hudal linnasi wa bayyinatum minal huda wal furqan." (Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse No. 185) (Translation: The month of Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed, which is guidance for mankind and clear proofs of guidance and a distinction between right and wrong). In Ramadan, there is a great obligation like fasting, about which it is mentioned in the hadith that Allah Almighty Himself will reward this deed, while this is not the case about other deeds. It is also among the virtues of this holy month that the gates of Paradise are opened in this month, and the gates of Hell are closed, and Satan is imprisoned, as it is in the hadith: "Iza dakhala Ramadan futihat abwabul jannati wa ghulliqat abwabu jahannama wa sulsilatush shayatin." (Sahih Bukhari: 3277) In this month, the reward for the deeds of the servants is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times, see the hadith: "Qala Allahu Azza wa Jalla kullu amali ibni Adama yuda'afu al-hasanatu bi ashri amthaliha ila sab'i mi'ati zi'fin illa al-sawma, fa innahu li wa ana ajzi bihi yada'u shahwatahu wa ta'amahu min ajli." (Sahih Muslim: 1151) In this month, there is a great, sacred, and blessed night like Laylat al-Qadr, about which there is Quranic testimony that this night is better and more excellent than a thousand months.
Ramadan is about to arrive, so make a pledge on a few things:
We will take care of fasting. We will keep the fast with due regard to all its recommended acts, and we will stay away from anything that is contrary to the fast.
In this month, Allah has revealed the Quran, so it is as if it is the month of the Quran; therefore, we will recite the Quran abundantly. If possible, we will try to read it with translation so that we may know what our Lord is
saying to us? What does He demand from us?
We will avoid sins, we understand that it is only necessary to do good deeds, while it is more important to avoid sins than to do good deeds. By fasting, we abstain from lawful things and lawful deeds, but we do not abstain from unlawful deeds, which is a pity. On ordinary days, eating and drinking is lawful for us, and intimacy with one's wife is lawful. But in Ramadan, we abstain from these things, and it is necessary to abstain because fasting is the name of abandoning these things. But we do not abstain from the things that are forbidden for us even in non-Ramadan, such as lying. Backbiting, swearing, fault-finding, blaming, making fun of others. Talebearing, all these are forbidden even in non-Ramadan, but we do not abstain from these things even in Ramadan. We must remember that by committing these things, the spirit of our fast dies, and sometimes we get nothing but staying hungry.
we get nothing.
Do good deeds. In this month, we should do as many good deeds as possible, take care of voluntary prayers. Do a lot of remembrance and supplication. Help the poor and needy. Pay special attention to maintaining family ties. Lighten the workload of your subordinate employees, servants, and attendants. Give charity. Arrange Iftar and Sehri for those in need. Be regular in night vigils, bow your head before Allah, and ask for a lot with outstretched hands.
If we do not appreciate Ramadan, if we neglect its blessed hours and waste its precious moments in sins, if we lose them in Eid shopping, Iftar activities, and delicious Sehri dishes, then this will be our great misfortune. And we should fear that we may not become victims of the curse "May that person be destroyed who found Ramadan and could not get his forgiveness" which was made by a close angel like Hazrat Jibreel Ameen (peace be upon him) and the beloved of God like Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sealed its acceptance by saying Amen...