Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzaan حفظه الله
** (Edited for the blog)
All praise be to Allaah for His
blessings and generosity. He has blessed us by allowing us to reach the month
of Ramadhan and enabling us to do good deeds by which we can draw nearer to
Him. And may the peace and blessings be on our Prophet Muhammad – who was the
first to hasten to do good deeds – as well as upon his family and Companions –
those who believed in him, supported him and followed the light that was
revealed to him. They are the successful ones.
As for what follows, then:
I advise you and myself to fear
Allaah during this blessed month as well as in any other month. However, this
month has a special merit by which Allaahسبحانه و تعالى
has distinguished it, since it is a unique occasion for performing good
deeds.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) would also give his Companions the
glad tidings of its arrival and explain to them its many virtues, saying to
them:
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) would encourage his Companions to
strive hard in performing good deeds during this month, both the obligatory and
recommended ones, such as prayer, charity, showing goodness and kindness, being
patient while obeying Allaah, spending one’s day with fasting, one’s night with
praying and one’s hours with recitation of the Qur’aan and remembering Allaah.
So do not waste time by being
heedless and refusing, as is the case with the wretched ones who have forgotten
Allaah and so He has caused them to forget themselves. Such people do not
extract benefit from the passing of occasions for doing good, nor do they
realize their sanctity or know their worth.
Many people don’t know this month
except as a month for various types of foods and beverages. So they go to great
extents in giving their souls what they desire. And they exceed in buying fancy
types of foods and drinks.
It is well known that the intake of
too much food and drink causes one to be lazy with acts of worship. What is required
for the Muslim is that he decrease in his intake of food and drink such that he
is energetic when it comes to acts of worship.
Some people don’t know the month of
Ramadhan except as a month in which one sleeps during the day and stays up all
night doing things that have no benefit or things that cause harm. So these
people stay awake most of the night or all of it then sleep in the daytime even
over the times of the obligatory prayers. So they don’t pray with the
congregation or in the prescribed times of prayer.
Another group of people sit at the
dinner table when it’s time to break fast and abandon performing the Maghrib
prayer in congregation.
These types of people do not know the
value of the month of Ramadhan nor do they refrain from violating its sanctity
by committing the forbidden type of sleeplessness (i.e. all night), abandoning
the obligations and doing the prohibited.
Next to these people are those
individuals who don’t view the month of Ramadhan except as an opportunity for
doing business, displaying their products and chasing after the worldly life,
which is temporary. So they are active in buying and selling, thus spending all
their time in the marketplaces and abandoning the masaajid. And if they do go
to the masaajid, then they are in haste and anguish. They do not relax while in
the masaajid since their joy and comfort lies in the market areas.
And there is another type of people
that do not know the month of Ramadhan except as a time for begging in the
masaajid and in the streets. So they spend most of their time going back and
forth from here and there and traveling from one country to another in order to
collect money through begging and by presenting themselves as being needy when
they are in fact wealthy, and as injured when they are in fact healthy! Such
people are denying Allaah’s blessing on them and taking the people’s wealth
unjustly. And they are wasting their precious time in things that are harmful
to them. So, there are no special merits that can be found in Ramadhan for
these types of people.
O' Servants of Allaah! The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) would strive hard during this month
more than he would in any other month. Even though the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was strong in performing worship at
all times, he would free himself up during this month from many of the duties,
which in reality were acts of worship, leaving off these righteous deeds for
deeds that were better than those. The Salaf would follow his example in this
regard and so they would particularize this month with higher ambitions, thus
keeping themselves unoccupied in it so that they could perform good deeds. They
would spend their night in Tahajjud prayer and their day in fasting,
remembrance of Allaah and recitation of the Qur’aan, thus frequenting the
masaajid for that purpose. So we should compare our conditions to their
conditions and see what the extent of our abilities is in this month.
And we should know that just as the
good deeds are multiplied during this month, then likewise, evil acts are worse
and their punishment is greater. So we should fear Allaah and magnify the
sanctity of this month.
"And whoever magnifies the
sacred things of Allaah, this is better for him in the sight of his Lord."
[Surah Al-Hajj]
May Allaah grant us all the ability
to have righteous statements and actions.
And may the peace and blessings be on
our prophet Muhammad, as well as all of his family and Companions.
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