Getting Full Benefits of Ramadhan

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

As we wait in eager anticipation of the noble guest that is approaching, the blessed month of Ramadhan, we undoubtedly are making physical and spiritual preparations therefore.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣

O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous - (183)

[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:183]

... شَهْرُ‌ رَ‌مَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْ‌ءَانُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْ‌قَانِ ۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهْرَ‌ فَلْيَصُمْهُ

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion...

[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:185]

Ramadhan is a time to fast, recite and listen to Qur'an during taraweeh prayers and at other times. This is the time when we leave many of the things we normally do and spend most of our time with the Qur'an to develop that actual relationship with our Lord. This is not the time for extensive sahur and iftar, TV, idle chats, social media, travel, leisure, or working overtime or nights (if you can avoid it).

Beginning right now, make an intention that this Ramadhan will be a time of great spiritual effort and sincerity. To help turn that intention into reality, make checklists of both daily goals for Ramadhan (read a part (juz) of Qur'an, study the tafsir of a juz of the Quran with family, listen to a beneficial lecture, give charity, etc.) and goals for the overall month (spend iftar with parents, visit a home for the elderly, help at the local charity, invite two non-Muslim friends for a chance to experience iftar, etc.)

Ramadhan is our training ground to develop ourselves to be better people and better slaves of Allah.

Each day improve on your prayers (quantity and quality), Qur'an recitation, fast and du'as. Pick one or two or three of your bad character traits and strive to remove them this Ramadhan. We must learn to fast with all the limbs, from all that harms the heart. Avoid certain television shows to keep the eyes from seeing nudity, leave particular conversations to keep the ears from hearing foul language, and control the ego to keep the tongue from argument or backbiting. The inner fast is among the most important aspects of fasting Ramadan and is often more difficult than the physical fast from food, water and sexual relations, so the earlier you begin to practice this, the better.

Strive to optimize our good deeds.

Organize our lives to minimize waste and over consumption. With a little bit of extra organization and commitment, community iftars are served on borrowed crockery and silverware (from friends, neighbors or a local Muslim restaurant) instead of their disposable variation. Washable hand cloths are used instead of paper towels. The amount of trash saved by these actions – especially over the course of the month – is enormous, and embodies the Prophetic example of being, as the Qur'an describes, “a mercy to all the worlds.”

Some people may think Ramadhan is a joke or some kind of game until they arrive before Allah Almighty in the Day of Judgment. No one will escape this Day. No one can say "I am busy, I'll join later!" or "I am tired!" or "I need to take break!" No such thing in the Day of Judgment.

On the Day of Judgement, when people will reach the position of misery, and some will be saddened and give up hope in some ways, and when all will cry 'nafsi, nafsi' (‘myself, myself’), including all the prophets from Adam to Isa (peace be upon them), only Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) will say ‘ummati, ummati’ (‘my people, my people’).

We are not prophets of Allah and we need the intercession to save us from the terror of the Day of Judgment and get into Paradise. We need our fasting and Qur'an -- they will intercede for us by Allah's permission.

'Abdullah Ibn 'Amr (radiAllaahu anhu) reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: "The fast and the Qur'an will intercede for the servant on the Day of Judgement. The fast will say: 'My Lord, I restricted him from food and drink, so allow me to intercede for him.' And the Qur'an will say: 'I prevented him from sleeping at night, so allow me to intercede for him.' So they will be allowed to intercede." [Muslim]

It is reported that Jibreel used to meet with the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) during each night of Ramadhan and they would study the Qur'an together. [Bukhari, Muslim] So if making dhikr (remembrance of Allah) were better than the Qur'an or equal to it (on these nights), they would have done that all the time or at certain times along with constantly gathering for that occasion.

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), who said:

The believers will gather together on the Day of Resurrection and will say: Should we not ask [someone] to intercede for us with our Lord?

So they will come to Adam and will say: You are the Father of mankind; Allah created you with His hand He made His angels bow down to you and He taught you the names of everything, so intercede for us with your Lord so that He may give us relief form this place where we are. And he will say: I am not in a position [to do that] – and he will mention his wrongdoing and will feel ashamed and will say: Go to Nuh, for he is the first messenger that Allah sent to the inhabitants of the earth.

So they will come to him and he will say: I am not in a position [to do that] – and he will mention his having requested something of his Lord about which he had no [proper] knowledge (Qur'an Chapter 11 Verses 45-46), and he will feel ashamed and will say: Go to the Friend of the Merciful (Ibrahim).

So they will come to him and he will say: I am not in a position [to do that]. Go to Musa, a servant to whom Allah talked and to whom He gave the Torah (Taurat). So they will come to him and he will say: I am not in a position [to do that] – and he will mention the taking of a life other that for a life (Qur'an Chapter 28 Verses 15-16), and he will fell ashamed in the sight of his Lord and will say: Go to Isa, Allah’s servant and messenger, Allah’s word and spirit.

So they will come to him and he will say: I am not in a position [to do that]. Go to Muhammad (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), a servant to whom Allah has forgiven all his wrongdoing, past and future.

So they will come to me and I shall set forth to ask permission to come to my Lord, and permission will be given, and when I shall see my Lord I shall prostrate myself. He will leave me thus for such time as it pleases Him, and then it will be said [to me]: Raise your head. Ask and it will be granted. Speak and it will be heard. Intercede and your intercession will be accepted. So I shall raise my head and praise Him with a form of praise that He will teach me. Then I shall intercede and He will set me a limit [as to the number of people], so I shall admit them into Paradise. Then I shall return to Him, and when I shall see my Lord [I shall bow down] as before. Then I shall intercede and He will set me a limit [as to the number of people]. So I shall admit them into Paradise. Then I shall return for a third time, then a fourth, and I shall say: There remains in Hell-fire only those whom the Qur'an has confined and who must be there for eternity. There shall come out of Hell-fire he who has said: There is no god but Allah and who has in his heart goodness weighing a barley-corn; then there shall come out of Hell-fire he who has said: There is no god but Allah and who has in his heart goodness weighing a grain of wheat; then there shall come out of Hell-fire he who has said: There is no god but Allah and who has in his heart goodness weighing an atom.

[It was related by al-Bukhari (also by Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah)]

Abu Hurayrah (radiAllaahu anhu) said: The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: There is for every prophet a prayer which is granted, but every prophet showed haste in his prayer. I have, however, reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection, and it would be granted, if Allah so willed, in case of everyone amongst my Ummah provided he dies without associating anything with Allah. [Muslim]

So every time you think of going against a Sunnah this Ramadhan (e.g. taraweeh, spiritual retreat, etc), remember the Prophet's intercession, (Ummati, Ummati, Ummati - My People, my people, my people).

May Allah enable us to reach Ramadhan and complete it with excellence. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.

And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.

Wassalaam