Things you need to Know before Ramadan starts
My advice would be that every Muslim, he or she should make it a point that they should make a resolution, that they should fast each and every day of this blessed month of Ramadan and we should try and acquire all the benefits of this month and we should not waste a single minute in this blessed month on things which are trivial and try and concentrate as much as possible in remembering Allah (SWT). We should try to look for his Mercy, we have to try and ask for forgiveness, we have to try and seek for his love and we have to try in increasing our piety, our righteousness and our patience and our beloved prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) said in sahih bukhari, volume number 3, in the book of fasting, hadith number 1903, our beloved prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) said: “ Anyone who does not leave the false action and false speech, Allah (SWT) does not care if he leaves his eating and drinking. “.
That means if a person does not abstain from false action and false speech, Allah (SWT) does not care if he abstain from food and drinking. That means your fasting will not be accepted unless you stay away from false action and false speech, and our beloved prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) he also said: its mentioned in sahih hadith which is written in musnad Ahmed, Vol. number 2, page 230, hadith number 7148 and it also appears in Sunan An Nasa’l, chapter number 5, hadith 2106 where our beloved prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) said: “ O people, the blessed month of Ramadan is approaching and Allah has ordained for you that you fast in this month and the gates of heaven will be opened in this month and the gates of hell will be closed and the devils, they’ll be chained, in this month is a night which is better than a thousand month, and If a person is deprived of the blessings in this month he is truly a deprived person. “ so we have to make it a point that we can gain the benefits of this blessed month, our beloved prophet Muhammed ( S.A.W ) said, this mentioned in sahih bukhari, volume number 3, in the book of fasting, hadith number 1901, our beloved prophet Muhammed said: “ That anyone who fasts in this month with faith seeking the reward for Allah (SWT) all his past sins will be forgiven. “.
That means if you truly with sincerity fast in this month and seeks the reward of Allah (SWT) all of your past sins will be forgiven, Imagine!.
It is just such an easy way to have our sins forgiven of the past. And our beloved prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) also said, its mentioned in sahih bukhari, volume number 3, in the book of fasting, hadith number 1904, this is a very long hadith which has basically 4 points, our beloved prophet (S.A.W) said: “ That all the children of Adam, all the deeds that they do are for themselves, except for fasting, fasting is for me and I will reward him. “.
And he further said: “ that fasting is a shield, it prevents you from sin and the person who observes the fast, he should abstain from obscenity, from yelling and from ignorance and if someone yells at him or abuses him, he should say: ” I am fasting, I am fasting “.
And the 3rd point our beloved prophet said in this hadith is that: “ I swear by Allah, in who’s hand is the soul of Muhammed (S.A.W) that the breath of a faster, the person who fasts is sweater to Allah (SWT) than the scent of musk. “. And he finally said in this hadith: “ That there are 2 things when a faster is Happy and looks forward to it, this first when he breaks the fast and the second is when he meets the lord, Allah (SWT). “.
And further its mentioned in the Qur’an in surah An-Noor, chapter number 24, verse number 31, it says: “ O you who believe, truly have faith in Allah (SWT) and seek the bless “ that means try to enter Jannah, its mentioned in surah Al-Kahf, chapter 46, verse number 13-14, “ That those are the people who worship none but Allah (SWT) and they are steadfast in faith. “. The word is istikham… “ They are steadfast in faith, that there’s only one Allah and no one else and they shall not have any fear, nor should they grieve.
These are the people who are the people of paradise and they shall be rewarded for all the goods they have done. “. So this is the advice for the people that they should take the best of this month and should not spend time on trivial things and spend their time in the worship of Allah and remembering Allah (SWT) and asking for forgiveness.
Further more in this blessed month we should be careful and we should avoid all things which are prohibited, which are haram and all things which are which are makhruh and this is the best opportunity where a person, if he has certain activities which are against the shariah, whether it’s doing haram activities or makhruh activities, this is the best time he can abstain from it and that will be a good habit which, InshAllah, he may abstain maybe throughout his whole life. For example: If a person is a habitual to drinking alcohol, if he can abstain from having alcohol from the break of dawn to sunset, he can abstain from it from the cradle to the grieve. Similarly we should take care that we should abstain from things that are makhruh, for example: it is makhruh to stand and drink water and if your habitual is to do that, so see to it in the month of Ramadan when having water we should sit down.
This is the Sunnah of the prophet, so it’s a good month which you can abstain from haram activities which you have been doing, maybe some of them or the makhruh activities. This is a very good month where you should see to it that you should offer the Salah, not only the 5 time Salah, which are fardh, even try and offer as many nawafil and Sunnah. And if you’re not habituated to reading in congregation, see to it that you’re in a congregation and as fast as possible go to the mosque for the Salah. In this month you should be particular that you do not miss the Taraweeh, many people think, and it is a fact that it is a Sunnah but many people think that because it is a Sunnah we can miss Taraweeh, Taraweeh is a very important Sunnah.
Through its not a fardh but every Muslim should make it a point that as far as possible they should attend Taraweeh because of the blessings that it has. So Taraweeh is very important which Muslims should never miss and when we offer Taraweeh, many of us, we rush though Taraweeh because we want to complete the Qur’an and many of them read the Taraweeh 100 miles per para, we should read the Taraweeh with patience, at a moderate pace so that people can understand what is the command of Allah and that if time permits and if possible, we should try and do itikaf in the last 10 days and while doing itikaf, make it a point that you don’t socialize. Many people make a mistake of socializing during itikaf, the whole purpose of itikaf is defeated.
Further more we should do more dua’s in this month, we should do more supplication, this is the month of dua and we should do more zhikar. Spend time in remembering Allah (SWT) and also worshipping him, this is the month in which we should try and read as much as Qur’an as possible. Besides reciting the Qur’an in Arabic, if you know Arabic as a language then there’s no problem, but if you don’t know then also read the translation of the Qur’an in the language we understand the best, if you understand English, read it in English, if you understand Urudh, read it in urduh, read it in the language you understand the best.
But while reciting the Qur’an, for which you get a sawab, also read the translation of the Qur’an so that you can implement on the guidance of Allah (SWT).
If possible, read the Qur’an once in every 7 days or at least read 1 juz every day, so that you complete the Qur’an at least once in the full month of Ramadan.
In this month try and read as much as hadith as possible but see to it that you read the authentic hadith and the best book on hadith is the book of sahih bukhari, then sahih Muslim, you can read the other hadith also but read the authentic books of hadith, read books on the lifestyle and the seerah of the prophet (S).
See to it that if you have not given the zakat, please give the zakat which is an obligatory charity and this Ramadan is the month of generosity, it’s a month of sadaqah and you get 10 times more rewards for your good deeds, so this a month where you should maximize your charity, and besides that we should make it a point that during this month we should be cheerful, many of the Muslims they look dull, they look gloomy, we should be cheerful and happy and we should give more time to our family, many of times we neglect our family, we should see to it that we give more time to our family and do all these activities collectively.
We should also have Husn E Sulook to the people around you, that means we should deal with the other human beings with mercy, with love, with care.
If they’ve done some mistakes, forgive them, this is a month of forgiveness, if you have done something wrong go to them and ask for forgiveness. Live with the people around you with love, care and with affection.
We should do Tafakkul, that means ponder on the things, see to it that you plan your month of Ramadan, plan it properly and see to it that you do not waste not even a minute, not even a second, this is a month of cleaning and this month is the best month for self-improvement also and besides that you should also make it a point to do Islah, which are the Muslim brothers and sisters, it’s also the best month to do Dawah. This is to convey the message of Islam to the non-Muslims.
So, my request to brothers and sisters that plan your month efficiently and see to it that utilize every second of the blessed month.
Ramadan Mubarak Wishes Images
