Some Lessons of Ramadan

Some Lessons of Ramadan

Translated by: Alamgeer Usmani.

(Praise be to Allah, the Forbearing, the Thankful, the Mighty, the Forgiving, I praise my Lord and thank Him, and I repent to Him and seek His forgiveness, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner, the All-Aware of what lies in the heart, and I bear witness that our Prophet and Master Muhammad is His servant and Messenger who invites to every righteous act. Oh, Allah send peace and blessings upon your servant and messenger, Muhammad, and all his family and companions.)

﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ﴾ [الحديد: 28].

O you who believe, fear Allah, and believe in His Messenger, and He will give you two shares (of reward) out of His mercy, and will make for you a light whereby you will walk, and will forgive you, __ And Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.

O worshipers,

Recently, Muslims have graduated from the school of fasting with distinctive marks, and with different results. Surely, there is lesson in passing days and nights. Every day, evening passes, and morning comes. Indeed, the fastness of passing the day and night, asserts the convergence of time which is one of the signs of the Hour about which the Prophet - peace be upon him - told us as it is proven in Bukhari and Muslim. And Allah the Almighty says:

﴿ وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ خِلْفَةً لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَذَّكَّرَ أَوْ أَرَادَ شُكُورًا ﴾ [الفرقان: 62].

“And He is the One who made the day and the night following each other, for the one who wishes to be mindful or wishes to show gratitude”.

Brothers in faith,

Muslims have spent an entire month receiving the gifts of their Lord, keeping themselves busy in supplication and prayer, remembrance of Allah, charity and recitation of the Qur’an. Allah the Almighty spoke the truth when He said:

﴿ أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَاتٍ ﴾ [البقرة: 184].

“For days few in number”.

Indeed, Ramadan, which quickly passed, was a school from which we learned many lessons, the most prominent of which are the following:

First: Achieving servitude to Allah - Glory be to Him - by doing what He commanded. So, a Muslim stops himself from eating for a specific time, and eats on a specific time implementing the command of Allah and worshiping his lord.

The second of the lessons of Ramadan is: Increasing the connection with the Qur’an by listening and reciting, so how much there is the reward in reciting the Holy Qur’an! And how much effective it is when you contemplate the Qura’n! It is necessary for a Muslim after Ramadan to make daily routine to recite the Qur’an as it is narrated in “Sahih al-Bukhari” the prophet - peace be upon him – said to Abdullah bin Amr: "Recite the whole Qur'an in one month's time." I said, "But I have power (to do more than that)." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Then finish the recitation of the Qur'an in seven days, and do not finish it in less than this period".

Listen - may Allah take care of you - when you read two pages of the Holy Quran in each obligatory prayer, you can complete the Qur’an every month.

One of the educational lessons of fasting is to train the soul to be patience. During Ramadan, the three types of patience are combined: patience upon the obedience, patience from disobedience, and patience upon Allah’s predestination.

Among the pleasant effects left by Ramadan is: the addiction of staying in the mosques. The mosques are the houses of Allah. So, how much reward one attains who stays in the mosque for a long time.

Among the important lessons of Ramadan is: that the Muslim gets used to the night prayer, and the Muslim has to train himself. So, whosoever does not pray Witr, perform Witr with one rak’ah, and one who used to pray one rak’ah of Witr before Ramadan, now he should observe three rak’ah, and one who used to pray Witr with three rak’h, now he should perform   five rak’h and so on. The Prophet - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - used to pray Witr eleven raka’h.

In Bukhari and Muslim, it is narrated on the authority of Abdullah bin Omar - may Allah be pleased with them both - he said: In the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ) whosoever saw a dream would narrate it to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). I had a wish of seeing a dream to narrate it to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) I was a grown-up boy and used to sleep in the Mosque in the lifetime of the Prophet. I saw in the dream that two angels caught hold of me and took me to the Fire which was built all round like a built well and had two poles in it and the people in it were known to me. I started saying, "I seek refuge with Allah from the Fire." Then I met another angel who told me not to be afraid. I narrated the dream to Hafsa who told it to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). The Prophet said, "Abdullah is a good man. I wish he prayed Tahajjud." Salim said: After that `Abdullah (i.e., Salim's father) used to sleep but a little at night.

Brothers in Islam,

Indeed, fasting was a school of faith and education. See how the Muslim trained himself to keep his tongue free from obscenity and forbidden things, like the insults, backbiting, lying and other things. More precisely, many people strengthened Ramadan, and showed the unity of Muslims in all parts of the world! People kept fast on one time, and then broke their fast at the same time.

How much Muslims get accustomed in this month to spending and giving charity! How nice it is for a Muslim to allocate a portion of his money to give in charity every month.

﴿ وَمَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ ﴾ [سبأ: 39].

“And whatever thing you spend, He replaces it, and He is the best of the sustainers”.

How often a Muslim used to raise his hands to the sky and supplicate to his Almighty Lord, and to ask Him for forgiveness, and to ask Him for the good of this world and the hereafter!

Yes, dear friends, these are some little lessons from the many great effects of the month of fasting. May Allah benefit me and you with the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and with the verses and wisdom that He mentioned in them. Ask forgiveness from Allah that He is Forgiving.

Second sermon

Praise be to Allah alone, and prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

After that,

Servants of Allah,

it is clear that in Ramadan there is an increase in acts of obedience and good deeds and a decrease in evil, and the sum of all of that is “that you may become righteous” [Al-Baqarah: 183].

Dear friends, when fasting has these various benefits and others, then the Muslim should fast for three days of every month, as the beloved - may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him - recommended to his companions. Because, the fasting is strength for faith, and health for the body. So, seek help from Allah and be determined to do so.

Brothers in Islam,

The wise legislator has recommended to fast for six days of Shawwal, and made this a follow-up to good deeds with good deeds. The Prophet - may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him - said: “He who observed the fast of Ramadan and then followed it with six (fasts) of Shawwal. it would be as if he fasted perpetually”. Narrated by Muslim.

Some scholars have said: The reason of fasting for six days after Ramadan is like fasting for entire year, is that Allah - the Exalted and Most High - made a good deed equal to good deeds of ten times as in His saying:

﴿ مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا ﴾ [الأنعام: 160]

“Whoever comes with a good deed will receive ten times as much”.

Fasting of Ramadan is doubled by the fasting of ten months, and the fasting of six days is doubled by sixty days. Like this, one gets the reward of fasting of whole year. And Allah knows best.

This, then send peace and salutation upon the best and the purest of mankind.