O servants of Allah! The Muslim community (ummah) is on the eve of a great day, awaiting the arrival of a great, noble guest in the west of the earth and its east. This guest we are eagerly awaiting is the blessed month of Ramadan, about which Allah (high and exalted is He) said in the Quran:
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَان
Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and decisive authority.
O servants of Allah! The named month is full of mercies and grace. This is the month of fasting, this is the month of prayer, this is the month of night standing and night prayers, this is the month of reading the Quran, this is the month of remembrance of Allah, this is the month of repentance, this is the month of turning to Allah with fervent requests for forgiveness, this is the month when a person should be especially generous, this is the month of alms, the month of feeding the poor, this is the month of charity – there are countless benefits, grace and mercy in this month, an endless number of opportunities for a person to make a big profit.
Therefore, a Muslim needs to prepare for the month of Ramadan in order to spend this month in the best worship of Allah. Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “When Ramadan comes, it is the month of the Quran and the month of feeding (the fasting and the poor).” This is only the month of the Quran and only the month of feeding those who fast. A person’s heart must completely strive towards Allah, moving away from everything else. When this great, blessed month came, the Prophet ﷺ informed his companions about this and congratulated them:
“The month of Ramadan has come to you, a month of grace. Allah has ordered you to fast this month, to spend it in fasting. In this month, the doors of Heaven are opened and the doors of Hell are closed, and the devils are shackled.”
Strive to take advantage of this month, because it is a month of grace (mubarak), the grace (barakah) is in everything: in time, in all good deeds.
Think about it, O servants of Allah! In this message, the Prophet ﷺ congratulates his companions and says: “The month of Ramadan has come,” which means gather all your strength to spend it in the best worship of Allah. There are so many gifts this month! And the Prophet ﷺ speaks about this in another hadith:
“When the first night of Ramadan arrives, the devils and rebellious jinn are chained, the doors of fire are closed and none of them opens. And, conversely, all the doors of Paradise open and not one of them closes. And the herald calls: “O you who want to do good, rush forward! O those who wish to do evil, turn away from your intentions!” Allah has those in Ramadan whom He frees from Hellfire.”
Glory be to Allah (subhanAllah)! Look how many blessings, mercies, how many gifts from Allah with which He honored this blessed month of fasting, the month of standing prayers. It is said: “The doors of Paradise are opening.” What does it mean? And this is an indication to us that it is necessary, sincerely, to perform godly deeds, to take advantage of them, to repent of sins, to leave sins and disobedience to Allah (pure and exalted is He). This is an opportunity to reach out to Allah with what He loves. We need to act! O servant of Allah, who wants good, act! Because if you don’t act now, when there are all such conditions from Allah, when do you intend to act?! When are you going to repent to Allah, if not now?!
Therefore the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Let the person who found Ramadan, and when Ramadan passed, he did not receive forgiveness for his sins, be humiliated.”
Allah gives you a chance to repent before Him and receive forgiveness, but you continue to live, mired in your delusions, omissions, and some kind of fun. Where are the living hearts?! Where are the hearts that are directed towards Allah?! We must know and understand the price of this month, which Allah allowed us to live to see.
O servants of Allah, Allah’s mercies are many, and one of the greatest mercies, which few of us think about, is that he will allow (we hope so) to live until Ramadan. You can’t imagine what a great mercy this is, because how many people have not lived to see this from the last Ramadan, they no longer have this opportunity.
Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ says: “The best of you is the one who had a long life and good deeds.”
If Allah has extended your life for another year and given you a chance, thank Him (pure and exalted is He).
In a hadith, the Prophet ﷺ reported that every night a herald (from heaven) speaks. Yes, we don’t hear him, but it is so, we must believe in it. “O one who wants good (who strives for good), act!” – this is a time for fasting, a time for prayers (namaz), for repentance before Allah. “O one who wants evil (bad), refrain!” – abstain from everything bad, renounce your sins and strive to worship Allah.
O man who has a living heart, hear what the Prophet ﷺ says: “Allah has those every night this month whom He frees from the Fire of Hell.” SubhanAllah! Think about what a mercy: every night Allah frees some part of the people from Hellfire. If you are told that you have some kind of terrible disease, or given some terrible diagnosis, and doctors tell you: “It turns out, no, you are healthy,” what great joy will you feel! This is just an earthly disease. If a person is sentenced to death and then pardoned, what will be the state of the person, what indescribable joy will there be! Think about what this hadith says! Allah frees your neck from Hell! O servant of Allah, believe me, you are not able to withstand this Fire. Your skin, O servant of Allah, will not withstand this Fire. Therefore, ask Allah fervently, with tears in your eyes, to make you one of the liberated, to whom this sentence of liberation from Hellfire has been signed, because this happens every night.
Regarding the other virtues of this month, the Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
“He who fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from God will have his past sins forgiven”
Imagine what it would be like to receive forgiveness from Allah; i.e. Allah will not punish you for these sins, He will cover these sins if you fast for His sake.
And another hadith says:
مَنْ قَامَ رَمَضَانَ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
‘Whoever spends the nights of Ramadan in prayer (Taraweeh) out of faith and in the hope of reward, he will be forgiven his previous sins”
In addition, one of the advantages of this month is fasting. Fasting (syyam) is not an ordinary, it is a special worship from Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said about this:
“Allah says: “Every (good) deed that the son of Adam does is for himself, except fasting, it is for Me (it belongs to Me), and I will reward a person for it.”
And then the Prophet ﷺ says:
“Fasting is a shield, and on the day when any of you fasts, let him avoid everything indecent and not raise his voice. If someone scolds him or (attempts) to start a quarrel with him, let him say (to him): “Truly, I am (a person) observing fasting!” I swear by Him in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, the smell from the mouth of a fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the fragrance of musk, and the fasting person will experience two joys: he will rejoice in breaking his fast, when he begins to break his fast, and when he meets his Lord, he will rejoice (for the fact that fasted).”
In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ reported that for every deed that a person commits, Allah increases the reward ten times and up to seven hundred times, except for fasting, and Allah says:
“In addition to fasting, it is for Me, and I reward for it. He (My servant) gives up his desires and refuses food for My sake.”
Allah is Grateful, therefore He gives rewards for fasting without counting.
One companion reports: “I heard the Prophet ﷺ say:
مَنْ صَامَ يَوْماً فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بَعَّدَ اللَّهُ وَجْهَهُ عَنْ النَّارِ سَبْعِينَ خَرِيفاً
“If anyone fasts for a day while engaged in jihad, God will remove his face from hell for seventy years”
For one day of fasting, Allah Almighty removes a person from Hellfire by seventy years!
O servants of Allah! For a person who breaks fasting or neglects fasting, there is a severe punishment from Allah. How could it be otherwise, after all, this is one of the pillars of religion! Abu Umama says that he heard the following from the Prophet ﷺ:
“Once, when I was sleeping (and the dreams of the prophets are a revelation from Allah), two people came, took me by the arms and led me. Then we came to people who were suspended by their hamstrings. The corners of their mouths were torn and blood was flowing from the corners of their mouths.”
After this, the Prophet ﷺ asked about these people: “Who are these people?”
Then the angels answered him: “These are the ones who break their fast before the time of Iftar comes during the fast.”
Great is Allah! This is a punishment for people who were still fasting, but broke their fast ahead of time. What then can we say about people who do not fast at all and neglect this worship of Allah?!
Therefore, O servants of Allah, we must all prepare for this fast, for this month of Ramadan, which Allah has allowed us to live to see. First, we must observe the fast properly; secondly, fasting should be decorated and supplemented, brought to perfection by remembrances of Allah (dhikr). Remember Allah more abundantly this month, because the Prophet ﷺ was asked:
أَيُّ الصَّائِمِينَ أَعْظَمُ أَجْرًا
Who from those who fasts will receive the biggest reward?
أَكْثَرُهُمْ لِلَّهِ ذِكْرًا
He ﷺ replied: “These are those who remember Allah more than others.”
Remember Allah more by decorating your fast! Be sure to pay special attention to prayer during this month! First of all, these are your obligatory prayers (fards). Perform prayers from the heart for the sake of Allah, so that these are not empty prayers, when a person enters prayer and his thoughts “fly away” to an unknown destination. Then pay attention to performing those sunnahs (rawatib) that are before and after the obligatory prayers. And, of course, these are night prayers (taraweeh): perform them in a group (jama’at), do not neglect them. You shouldn’t say: “Then, when the last ten days come, then I will do it.” No, do it from day one.
And in general, try to create a program for yourself this month to cover all types of worship that exist during the month of Ramadan: fasting, dhikr, and requests for forgiveness to Allah (istighfar), and prayers (du’a) to Allah (because it is the month of Du’a), and reading the Quran (since it is the month of the Quran). Include in your program daily reading of the Koran, a special pious attitude towards parents (this month is special), feeding the fasting, the poor, and giving alms (sadaqa). May your worship this month be expansive.
Pay special attention, O servants of Allah, so that your fast is not spoiled by some sinful words or deeds, or by some ignorant behavior, because the purpose of fasting… What is the purpose of fasting? Do you think the purpose of fasting is simply not to eat or drink? Allah said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُون
Fasting is prescribed for you—as it was for those before you1—so perhaps you will become mindful ˹of Allah˺.
The purpose of fasting is not just not to eat or drink, but to gain and strengthen this fear of God, to manifest it. After all, we are giving up these carnal desires, passions for the sake of Allah for this time in order to rise spiritually, so that our heart soars to heaven, so that it rushes upward, acquires purity and remembers Allah, becoming like the angels of Allah. How can this be combined with ignorant behavior? Someone fasts, and at the same time he swears, utters some bad words, behaves ignorantly, shouts, engages in gossip or slander. And the Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ للهِ حَاجَةٌ في أنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ
“If one does not abandon falsehood and action in accordance with it, God had no need that he should abandon his food and his drink.”
Allah does not need your hunger and your thirst if at the same time you sin.
Therefore, O servants of Allah, it is necessary to enter this month already prepared. Preparing for Ramadan does not mean purchasing special products, asking for special recipes for dishes for Ramadan, developing a program for who we are going to and on what day, organizing some special feasts, entertainment and amusements. No, this is not preparing believers for Ramadan, as some people think. The preparation of truthful believers for Ramadan is that they prepare their hearts so that from the first minute this month enters, they immediately begin to especially approach Allah and rush towards Him.
We ask Allah through His most beautiful Names to allow us to live until this month and spend it in the best worship and service to our Creator. And remember that you were created to worship Allah, He created you for this purpose.
Your worship will not be true worship if you do not have patience, since patience (sabr) is like the head for faith (iman). As we know, patience has three types:
- Patience in doing what Allah commands.
- Patience in giving up what Allah has forbidden.
- Patience with what Allah has decreed.
Fasting in Ramadan includes all three types of patience. Are you doing what Allah commanded this month? Yes. Are you giving up what is forbidden? Yes, moreover, you must also give up what is permissible in ordinary times. Do you have to endure thirst and hunger? Yes, especially if these are long summer days. Yes, that’s why all three types of patience. Do you know what the Prophet ﷺ called the month of Ramadan? He ﷺ called it the month of patience (shahroo s-sabr). This is the school of patience. Let us first call ourselves to patience, and then let us call our households, our wives, our children to patiently spend this month in worship. Even the small children of the Companions fasted during this month. Parents were distracting them with some toys, thus teaching them to patiently spend this month in worshiping Allah and fasting. That is why there is such an incalculable reward for fasting, since it is a month of fasting, a month of patience, and Allah (pure and exalted is He) says:
إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَاب
Only those who endure patiently will be given their reward without limit.
