VIRTUES OF THE MONTH OF RAMADAN
RAMADAN IN THE NOBLE QUR’AN
“The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’an was revealed.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:185)
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم received the first revelation of Surah ‘Alaq in the month of Ramadan. The Noble Qur’an was first written by Allah Ta’ala in the Lawh Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet). It was then brought down from there to the lowest heaven in the Laylatu ‘l-Qadr, the special night found in the month of Ramadan. This shows that the Noble Qur’an was revealed by Allah Ta’ala in the month of Ramadan in two ways. Allah Ta’ala chose this blessed month to reveal His Noble Book, showing how important this month must be.
RAMADAN IN THE HADITH
HADITH 1
When Ramadan comes, the doors of heaven are opened up, the doors of hell are closed, and the Shayatin are chained up. (Muslim)
When the month of Ramadan enters, it becomes easier to enter heaven and more difficult to enter hell, as Allah Ta’ala makes it easier to perform good deeds and more difficult to do sins. One reason is because the Shayatin, who usually encourage us to do sins by putting thoughts in our hearts, are chained up and can no longer influence us. This raises a question: Why do some people still sin in Ramadan? Scholars explain that it could be because not all Shayatin are locked up: only the worst ones are(as another Hadith explains). Or it could be that we become so used to sins throughout the year that it becomes a habit and an addiction, and we find it hard to leave it, even though there aren’t any Shayatin to instigate us.
HADITH 2
The Hadith of ibn Khuzaima
O’ people, a great month has come to you, a blessed month, a month in which there’s a night better than a thousand months.
Just having the Laylatu ‘l-Qadr in Ramadan is a big enough reason to realise that the month of Ramadan itself must be virtuous and full of blessings.
Allah has made its fasting compulsory and its nightly prayer voluntary.
It’s the only month in which Allah Ta’ala makes fasting compulsory, as He knows the
benefit fasting has and how it can allow us to make the most of this blessed month.
The nightly prayer refers to the Taraweeh prayer, which is not obligatory, but is
important for everyone to pray.
Whoever performs a good deed in it, it will be as though he has performed a Fard act
in another month.
In a Hadith, Allah Ta’ala says that no act is more beloved to Him than when we perform Fard actions, showing how immense their rewards must be. In Ramadan, every good deed gets that huge amount of reward.
Whoever performs a Fard act in it, it will be as though he has performed seventy Fard
acts in another month.
The reward of every Fard action we do gets multiplied by seventy times. This means the reward of praying one Fajr is the same as praying Fajr for seventy days!
It is a month of patience, and the reward of patience is heaven.
Ramadan is a month in which we have to show a lot of patience: we get thirsty and hungry, cranky and tired, but we have to restrain ourselves, do good deeds and avoid sins. This is what makes people go to heaven so easily because of Ramadan.
It is a month of caring for one another, and a month in which a believer’s sustenance increases.
However, alongside improving ourselves, we shouldn’t forget about others, whether it’s feeding families and friends, keeping close ties, or helping others such as the poor around the world. We should make a point of helping as many people as we can.
It’s also a month in which Allah Ta’ala gives us more sustenance, so we shouldn’t be stingy and hold back; rather, we should spend as much as possible.
Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break their fast in it, it will be a source of forgiveness for him for his sins, and a source of his neck being freed from the fire, and he will have the same reward (as the one who fasted) without any reward being reduced at all.
By giving someone the food to break their fast, we get the same reward they had for keeping the fast. We should make a point of giving money in charity and Masajid to buy Iftar food so that we don’t miss out on this reward.
Allah gives this reward to anyone who feeds a fasting person with even a date, a sip of water or (even) diluted milk.
Even if it means we give something as simple and cheap as water, we can still get the full reward. The Hadith even says we can give watered down milk, which may not taste as well as full undiluted milk, yet Allah Ta’ala will appreciate it from us.
It is a month, whose beginning is mercy, its middle is forgiveness, and its ending is freedom from the fire of hell.
Scholars explain this part of the Hadith in several ways.
It could be that in the beginning, we all receive the mercy of Allah Ta’ala and find it easy to leave sins and do good, and by the middle of the month, we have been forgiven for our previous sins, and by the end, we will have done enough good deeds to save ourselves from hell regardless of our sins.
Or it could mean that for those who are fully ready for the month before, they will experience its mercy from day one, and will achieve the most reward. However, those who haven’t fully changed in the beginning ten days but decide halfway through will at least be forgiven for their sins, though they will miss out on the mercy and complete reward. As for those who don’t make the most of the first two thirds and have wasted them away, at least they should make the most of the last ten days to save themselves from the fire of hell.
Whoever makes things easier for his slave, Allah will forgive him and free him from the fire of hell.
This part of the Hadith tells us that whoever has people working under them in this tough month, especially if their workers are fasting, and therefore thirsty, hungry and tired, then the owner and boss should try to make things easier for them.
A company boss should make things easier for their employees, and schools and Madaris should make things easier for their students. Parents should also make things easier for their children.
In the same way, we should be forgiving towards others and excuse them for anything they do, as the fast brings out the worst of them due to their hunger!
Try to do four things as much as possible: two of them which please your Lord, and the other two you can’t do without. As for those that please your Lord, they are testifying “La ilaha illa’ Llah” and asking for forgiveness. As for those which you can’t do without, they are asking for heaven from Allah and seeking His protection from hell.
We should try to do as much Dhikr and Duas as possible, especially in the above four ways. One useful way is by merging all of the above phrases into one phrase that we can repeatedly say on the go:
Whoever fills a fasting person in this month, Allah will give him water to drink from my pool (of Kawthar), and he will not feel thirsty all the way to his entering heaven.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم ends the Hadith by once again emphasising feeding the poor, showing its importance in Ramadan.
He tells us that the one who feeds the poor will be given water from the pool of Kawthar to drink on the Day of Judgement, when everyone will be thirsty and sweating due to the intense heat. Whoever drinks from this pool will not face the effects of that day, and we can guarantee ourselves that drink if we feed poor people this Ramadan.
BY HUDA PRESS
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