Ramadan-A spring season of virtues

Ramadan ul mubarak is the ninth month of the Hijri calender[Islamic calender] & is regarded as the most highly esteemed & hallowed month of the same calender.It is the only month whose eminence & excellence is directly mentioned in the holy Quran by name, identically no other month of the same calender is mentioned in the Quran by name nor such virtues of any other month are described.The first ten days of this month are mercy, the middle ten days are forgiveness & its last ten days are freedom from the fire of hell(Alhadith).During this whole month muslims across the globe adhere to fasting daily from dawn to sundown by abstaining themselves from food, drink, desires etc. Since, the Islam is considered to be built on the five pillars, fasting in the month of Ramadhan is the 4th among them. Fasting in this month is an obligatory(farz) act for all adult, physically fit & sane muslims. As allah(twt) says in the holy Quran”O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you,as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become Allah-fearing[01:183].Except those who are unable to fast owing to some genuine reasons like the sick, the traveller, the preganant etc. As the holy Quran clearly remarks in the next verse” but who so among you is sick or in a journey shall fast same number of days later [01:185].This indicates Allah has kept the door of compensation open during other months of the year so that they are not deprived of this blessing. Surely, Ramadhan ul Mubarak is such a blessed month in which rain of mercies, bounties & blessings shower upon the believers of Allah Almighty.Its every moment is full of mercy & benison. Books of Ahdith[Corpus of sayings of the prophet(pbuh)] are full of virtues,merits & rewards of Ramadhan,showing how monumental cum glorified this month is.It is the springtime of the Islamic year. just as the earth comes into bloom in spring, so the spiritual side of our nature is renewed and refreshed in Ramadan. “When it is the first night of the month of Ramadhan the evil devils are chained.The gates of hellfire are closed-not a single gate is opened,& the gates of paradise are opened-not a single gate is closed,and a caller calls out:O seeker of good come forward, and O seeker of evil withhold,and there are many whome Allah frees from the fire and the same ensues during every night of the Ramadhan”[Tirmidhi:682]. The Prophet[pbuh] said”If you perform a good deed in this month,it will be equivalent to carrying out an obligatory[farz] act in other month & if you perform an obligatory act in this month it will be equivalent to carrying out 70 obligatory acts in other month”[sahi,ibn khuzymah].Likewise “the Umrah pilgrimage performed during this month is equal to performing Hajj”[Bukhari:1782]. In other narration the Prophet[pbuh] said”whoever fasts in the month of Ramadhan with sincere faith & with the intention of achieving the reward of Allah,all his previous sins are forgiven”[sahi bukhari: 1901].He [pbuh] further stated that” Fasting is a shield(from the hellfire and committing sins). So, the person observing fasting should avoid sexual relation with his wife and should not behave foolishly and impudently, and if somebody fights with him or abuses him, he should tell him twice, ‘I am fasting.” The Prophet added, “By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), ‘He has left his food, drink and desires for my sake,I shall reward for it.There are two pleasures for the fasting person: one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be delighted because of (reward he attained for) his fasting.”[sahih bukhari:1904].It clearly implies fasting is not about abstaining from food & drinks only rather abstaining from all felonious acts like slandering people,false speeches,mis-deeds,controlling desires etc.Because the Prophet(pbuh) in other narration said,”one who doesn’t avoid lies & false conduct while fasting,Allah has no need of his leaving food & drink[bukhari:6057].
Supplications (specially at the time of sehri & iftaar)in this month are answered.”There are 3 people whose supplications are not denied.one among them is the fasting person when he breaks his fast”[Tirmidhi:3598].There are special prayers at night called tarawih,the prophet(pbuh) said”whoever prayed at night in it[Ramadhan] out of sincere faith & hoping for a reward from Allah,then all his previous sins will be forgiven”[Bukhari: 2009]. Most of all,there is a night called Lailatul Qadr(the night of decree)in this month and as regards its excellence is better than a thousand months.The most prime night of the whole year,said to occur during the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan. As Aisha(ra) reported that:Allah’s messenger (pbuh) said ”Seek out Lailatul Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadhan “(Bukhari & Muslim).It was during this blessed night,Allah Almighty proffered us with the great gift of Quran,a comprehensive guide for people to know the way that leads to Allah’s pleasure and a cure for the believers.Allah the most high said “The month of Ramadhan is that in which the Quran was revealed as a guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance & discrimination(between right & wrong)”[2:186].In the another chapter of the holy Quran,Allah(twt) says, “Surely we sent it down in Lailatul qadr. The lailatul qadr is better than a thousand months”[97:1&3].Hence the Ramadhan & the Quran are linked together. In fact, fasting during the month of the revelation of the Quran is the most suitable condition to express our thankfulness to Allah for giving us this blessing of Quran. To conclude, we should avail ourselves of this unique opportunity and engage in sincere and committed acts of worship, fulfilling both the rights of Allah and of our fellow human beings. This will cultivate self-discipline and generosity, and empathy with the suffering of the poor. Not only is the reward of such a believer increased in the Hereafter but his livelihood is also increased in this world. It is difficult to exaggerate the bounties of this month but suffice it to say that of the three persons that the Prophet cursed, one is the unfortunate Muslim who finds Ramadan in good health but does not use the opportunity to seek Allah’s mercy.
(The author is a student at PG Department Of Economics at Kashmir University. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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