Ramadan: People Deprived of Forgiveness and a Painful Warning
By the Pen ✍🏻 Muhammad Aadil Arriyavi
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Respected readers, what a great misfortune it is that the month of forgiveness arrives, the doors of mercy are open, Paradise is calling, the Almighty Lord is eager to forgive His servants, and yet a person remains empty-handed. Ramadan is no ordinary month; it is a flood of blessings from Allah Almighty. It is a golden opportunity to erase sins and elevate ranks. In this month, even a small good deed becomes a mountain, and a sincere repentance washes away a lifetime of sins. But the question to ponder is, if a person finds such a great month and still cannot obtain forgiveness, what could be a greater deprivation than that? This is not just negligence but indifference to one's afterlife. This is why Hazrat Jibreel Ameen (peace be upon him) made a bad prayer against such unfortunate people, and the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said "Ameen" to it. This is no small matter but a strong warning for us that we should not take Ramadan lightly because the arrival of Ramadan is only for bestowing and granting to people, and the reward for good deeds is also increased so that a person becomes one who accumulates a lot in it and remains one who benefits from the court of God. Therefore, it does not befit a believer in it to spend this month of good deeds in carelessness and laziness, to spend it in ease and indifference, but rather to be engrossed in doing good deeds and gathering righteous deeds as much as possible. If a Muslim remains deprived even in this great month, then what could be a greater deprivation than that? The doors of Allah Almighty's treasures are open, and a herald is announcing, the promises of bestowing and granting are true from the Lord, and a person remains a victim of negligence in it and does not prepare for his salvation and forgiveness, then undoubtedly he will be a very great loser. But what is more dangerous than that is that Jibreel Ameen himself made a bad prayer for such deprived people, and the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said "Ameen" to this bad prayer. Hence, it is a famous tradition that once the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) placed his foot on the first step of the pulpit and said "Ameen," placed his foot on the second and said "Ameen," and similarly placed his foot on the third and said "Ameen." The Companions were very worried that today, contrary to usual, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) placed his foot on the pulpit and said "Ameen." After the sermon, the Companions asked the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that Hazrat Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to me and he made a bad prayer for three people, and I said "Ameen" to it, one of whom is the person who finds the blessed month of Ramadan and still is not forgiven. (Mustadrak Lil Hakim, Hadith Number 7321) A narration from Hazrat Abu Hurairah states that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Humiliated and disgraced is the person before whom my name is mentioned and then he does not send blessings upon me. Humiliated and disgraced is the person who is blessed with the month of Ramadan, and Ramadan passes, but he does not prepare for his forgiveness. And humiliated and disgraced is the person who finds his parents or one of them in old age, but they do not get him into Paradise." (Tirmidhi, Hadith Number 3496)
Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that whoever fasts in Ramadan with faith and with the intention of seeking reward, his past sins will be forgiven, and whoever worships in Ramadan with faith and sincerity, his past sins will be forgiven, and similarly, whoever engages in worship on the Night of Power with faith and accountability, his past sins will also be forgiven. (Bukhari Sharif 255/1 Hadith: 1863)
Ramadan, which is actually the month of the descent of blessings and the attainment of good deeds, every hour of it and every moment of it brings the spring of bestowal and generosity and bestows upon those who worship and serve. Allah Almighty has allocated every hour of Ramadan for people to earn good deeds and accumulate righteous deeds, and the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself valued this month and increased his worship extraordinarily. All these things invite us all to awaken the spirit of action and make Ramadan a means of attaining good deeds. Recognizing the greatness of the blessed moments of Ramadan, we should try to use it correctly and avoid wasting its days and nights in negligence and carelessness. Then, God willing, Ramadan will prove to be a spring season of good deeds for us as well and will help in doing more and more deeds. We should think about performing different kinds of good deeds, and we should take care of recitation, worship, supererogatory prayers, remembrance, charity, and alms, which will undoubtedly increase the reward, and the human taste will again become accustomed to performing obedience and will be eager to do good deeds.
O my Lord, fill our hearts with piety and sincerity, and grant us the ability to remain steadfast on good deeds even after Ramadan.
O my dear Allah, make this Ramadan the best Ramadan of our lives. Ameen, O Lord of the Worlds.