Praise be to Allaah.
Allaah says (interpretationof the meaning):
"The month of Ramadan in which was revealed theQur'aan, a guidance for
mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between
right and wrong). So whoever of you sights (the crescenton the first
night of) the month (of Ramadan i.e. is present at his home), he must
observe Sawm (fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey,
the same number[of days which one did not observe Sawm (fasts) must be
made up] from other days. Allaah intends for you ease, and He does not
want to make things difficult for you. (He wantsthat you) must
complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allaah
[i.e. to say Takbeer (Allaahu Akbar: Allaah is the Most Great)] for
having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him."
[al-Baqarah 2:185]
This blessed month is a great opportunity for goodness, barakah
(blessing), worship and obedience towards Allaah.
It is a great month, a noble season, a month in which hasanaat
(rewards for good deeds) are multiplied and in which committing
sayi'aat (bad deeds) is more serious than at other times. The gates of
Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are shut, and the sinners'
repentance to Allaah is accepted. It is a month whose beginning is
mercy, its middle is forgiveness and its end is redemption from the
Fire.
So give thanks to Him for the season of goodness and blessing that He
has bestowed upon you, and for the means of bounty and various kinds
of greatblessings for which He hassingled you out. Make themost of
this blessed time by filling it with acts of worship and forsaking
haraam things, so that you may attain a good lifein this world and
happiness after death.
For the sincere believer, every month is an occasion for worship and
his whole life is spent in obeying Allaah, but in the month of
Ramadaan he has even more motives todo good and his heart is even more
focused on worship, and he turns even more to his Lord. By His grace,
our generous Lord bestows His bounty upon the fasting believersand
multiplies the rewardfor them on this blessed occasion, so He gives
abundantly and rewards generously for righteous deeds. Time passes
quickly
Days pass so quickly, as if they were mere moments. We welcomed
Ramadaan, then we bade it farewell, and only a short period of time
passed and we are welcoming Ramadaan again. So we should hasten to do
good deeds in this month and strive to fill it with that which Allaah
is pleased with andwith that which will help us on the Day when we
meet Him.
How can we prepare for Ramadaan?
We can prepare for Ramadaan by taking stockof ourselves and
recognizing our shortcomings in living up to the Shahaadatayn, or our
shortcoming in fulfilling our duties, or ourshortcomings in not
keeping away from the desires and doubts that we may have fallen into…
We should set ourselves straight so that in Ramadaan we will have a
higher degree of faith. Forfaith increases and decreases. It increases
through obedience to Allaah and it decreases through disobedience
andsin. The first act of obedience that a person should achieve is
that of being a true slave of Allaah and believing that there is none
that is rightfully worshipped except Allaah, so he directs all kinds
of worship to Allaah and does not associate anyoneelse in worship with
Him. Each of us should realize that whatever has befallen him could
not have missed him, and whatever missed him could not have befallen
him, and that everything happens by the will and decree of Allaah.
We should avoid everything that could undermine our commitment to the
Shahaadatayn. This meanskeeping away from bid'ah(innovations) and
things that have been introduced into the religion. We should also
follow the principle of al-walaa' wa'l-bara' (loyalty and friendship
vs. disavowal and enmity), bytaking the believers as our friends and
by regarding the kaafirs and hypocrites as enemies, and we should
rejoice when the Muslims gain a victory over their enemies. We should
follow the example of theProphet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and his companions and adhere to the Sunnah of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the way ofthe
Rightly-Guided Khulafa' who came after him. We should love the Sunnah
and love those who adhere to it and defend it, in whatever country
they are and whatever colour or nationality they are.
After that we should take stock of ourselves and recognize our
shortcomings in doing acts of worship such as praying in congregation,
remembering Allaah (dhikr), paying attention to the rights of
neighbours, relatives and the Muslims .....
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