In the name of Allāh the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful
All praise is due to Allāh, Lord of all that exists.
And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allāh alone without any partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger (ﷺ) and upon his family and all his companions.
O Allāh, teach us that which will benefit us, and benefit us with what You have taught us, and increase us in knowledge, and rectify all of our affairs, and don’t leave us to our own for even a blink of an eye.
As to what proceeds… Noble brothers, we are on the threshold of a blessed month, and a tremendous season. Its days are getting close and its approach is near, in what this month brings from tremendous virtues and abundant blessings, and in what it includes from forgiveness of sins and expiation of evil deeds and emancipation from the Fire.
So it’s befitting for every Muslim to be well prepared for this month and to be ready with a righteous intention, a good plan, lofty ambitions, high determination, seriousness, effort and diligence on seizing the time of this month, its night and its days.
And SubḥānAllāh! The Muslims aren’t rejoicing with each other in its arrival except for that it’s for a few moments and then they're bidding farewell to this tremendous season. It leaves as quickly as it comes.
We performed the previous Ramadhān with elders, youth, men, and women, however death came between them and this month and it stopped them from reaching it.
Due to this it’s considered a tremendous achievement that the slave reaches the month of goodness and this tremendous season.
Our Prophet (ﷺ) used to bring the good news to his companions with its arrival due to its tremendous significance and lofty status and its elevated station. “This is Ramadhān. It has come to you.” This is what the Prophet (ﷺ) would say. “This is Ramadhān. It has come to you. The doors of Paradise are open. The gates of the Fire are locked. And the Shayāṭīn are chained.” “And a caller announces every night, ‘O seeker of good come forward, and O seeker of evil withhold, and there are many whom Allah frees from the Fire - and that is every night.’” These tremendous virtues that this blessed month is distinguished by excites the hearts with desire to reach it and to be from its people and to be successful in attaining its goodness and its blessings.
And the preparation for this month is, what was mentioned, with a righteous intention and certain determination to perform righteous deeds and righteous acts of worship and gaining closeness to Allāh (ﷻ) and the striving of the soul upon that.
So it’s a must to know that the enemies of this religion realize the virtue of this month and its tremendous station and due to this before its arrival they plot and plan on how to deprive the Muslim youth and their children from the virtues of this month.
Due to this, the amount of entertainment, films, amusement increases in a way that you don’t find in other than Ramadhān, to the extent that it is thought that in some places the people have entered a season of entertainment and games. And so the attention of many of the youth have been diverted to these means of entertainment and games and the watching of films that have been prepared several months before Ramadhān so that the youth will miss out on attaining the tremendous virtues of this tremendous month.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Whoever stands in the night prayer during Ramadan out of faith and seeking his reward, then all of his previous sins will be forgiven.”
And the enemies of the religion don’t want the children of the Muslims to attain this forgiveness. They even want them to miss Laylat al-Qadr. And it is a night Allāh emphatically proclaimed its affair and it’s greatness.
“And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is? The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months (i.e. worshipping Allah in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months, i.e. 83 years and 4 months).” (97:2,3)
A thousand months, in other words, more than eighty years. Laylat- al Qadr is better than eighty years.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The lifespan of my Ummah is between sixty to seventy.”
Meaning; one night is better than an average lifespan of the Ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ).
And despite that you find some of the Muslims pass by the nights of Ramadhān, rather they pass by the nights that are assumed to be Laylat al-Qadr, and they don’t realize it’s significance and they don’t understand it has a position and they don’t feel anything from its importance. And so they spend it like any other night.
And this, by Allāh, is a tremendous calamity; rather it’s a great deprivation.
It comes from our noble Prophet (ﷺ) that he said, “ Deprived is a man who enters the month of Ramadhān, then it ends before he is forgiven.”
In other words, an individual reaches Ramadhān, he reaches this virtuous and tremendous month that excites the souls to repentance and returning (to Allāh) and turning to the obedience of Allāh (ﷻ). It energizes the soul towards goodness and competition in worship and hastening to the acts of obedience.
All the while the individual goes on upon his heedlessness and his entertainment and his turning away and his rejection. So verily this month comes and goes while he is in his state of heedlessness and loss.
So it is obligatory upon the Muslim to firstly be aware of the significance of this month and its tremendous station and that he has entered a tremendous season for profit and gain.
Look at it through the perspective of the traders of the Dunyā; exerting their efforts in acquiring wealth how they attach importance to the profitable trading seasons. If the affair requires from them to travel to distant lands, they travel in order to acquire a large profit and a greater gain.
And this is the blessed season of the tremendous month of Ramadhān. It is from the greatest of seasons for trading for the Hereafter, from the greatest seasons to make a profitable trade, the trade of the Hereafter.
So it’s obligatory upon the Muslim to prepare himself for this month so that he seizes it and places for himself a good, beneficial plan, so if he puts for himself a plan he’ll commit himself to it.
Look at an example of a plan of one of the Salaf when Ramadhān came. He said, “It is only feeding the people food and reading the Qur'ān.” He placed this plan for himself in the month of Ramadhān. So when Ramadhān enters, what will you do?
Specify your goals and deeds. Organize your time. Don’t miss the Tarāwīh prayer and the Qiyām al-Layl. Don’t miss out on remembering Allāh abundantly during the time of fasting. The greatest of those fasting in regards to rewards with Allāh, most of them during their fasting are in the remembrance of Allāh.
Whoever fasts during the day from food and drink and the rest of the things that nullify the fast, however, for example, he sleeps from Fajr to Ẓuhr, is he the same as the one who spends his fast reading the Qur'ān? Is their fasting the same? Is both of their fasting equal? No, by Allāh.
Yes, this fasting person is fulfilling the obligation and the other is as well, however the both are not equal.
A principle with the people of knowledge is that the greatest people in regards to rewards for every act of obedience, are those that are in the remembrance of Allah (while doing the act of obedience).
The greatest of those fasting in regards to rewards, are those most in the remembrance of Allah. The greatest of those performing ‘Umrah in regards to rewards, are the ones most in the remembrance of Allah. The greatest of those performing Hajj in regards to rewards, are the ones most in the remembrance of Allah.
And likewise is the case for every act of obedience, because the remembrance of Allāh is the essence of obedience and the soul of the acts of worship. Fasting, Hajj, Ṣalāt and the other acts of worship have only been legislated to establish the remembrance of Allāh (ﷻ). So if an individual prepares a plan for himself for this tremendous month and blessed season and places for himself a plan, then he will be diligent upon committing himself in what he has organized for himself in regards to planning for this month.
And the soul alongside striving in it’s cause and seeking assistance with the Lord (ﷻ) will attain a lot of good as the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Be diligent upon what benefits you and seek the assistance of Allāh and don’t tire.”
A treatise of mine was printed under the title “ And the Month of Ramadhān has come” I elaborated some things in it related to the preparation of this blessed month. Perhaps in reading it and looking over it is an assistance by the permission of Allāh (ﷻ) to be well prepared for this tremendous and blessed season.
I ask Allāh the Magnificent, Lord of the magnificent Throne, by His beautiful Names and Loft Attributes to make us reach Ramadhān and to give us success in attaining the bounties of its days and its nights and to aid us in it upon His remembrance and being grateful to Him and perfecting our worship to Him and to rectify all of our affairs, and to not leave us to our own for even a blink of an eye.
I ask Allāh (ﷻ) to make this season an advance for us to goodness and virtues and nearness and to grant us its good and its blessings and to make us all in this tremendous season from those who are freed from the fire and to rectify all of our affairs, verily He (ﷻ) is The All-Hearer and the Most Near.
O Allāh, set aright for us our religion that is the safeguard of our affairs and set aright for us the affairs of our world wherein is our living. And set aright for us our Hereafter on which depends our after-life. And make the life for us a source of abundance for every good and make our death a source of comfort for us protecting us against every evil.
O Allāh, grant our souls its uprightness, and purify it, You are the best of those who purify. You are its guardian and master. O Allāh, accept our repentance, and wash our sins, and make our evidence firm, and guide our hearts, and make our tongues upright, and remove the rancor from our chests.
O Allāh, apportion for us such fear that should serve as a barrier between us and acts of disobedience; and such obedience that will take us to Your Paradise; and such certainty that will make easy for us to bear in the calamities of this world.
O Allāh! let us enjoy our hearing, our sight and our power as long as You keep us alive and make our heirs from our own offspring, and make our revenge restricted to those who oppress us, and support us against those who are hostile to us let no tribulation afflict our Religion; let not worldly affairs be our main concern, or the limit of our knowledge, and let not those rule over us who do not show mercy to us! O Allāh, You are free from every imperfection and praise be to You. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshiped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance. O Allāh send Ṣalāt and Salām upon your slave and messenger, our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.