Ramadan Articles - Making the Most of Ramadan - I

The days ofRamadanpassby very quickly, as if they were fleeting
moments. We welcomedRamadanlast year and bade it farewell and we are
welcomingRamadanagain after a short while,so we should hasten to do
good deeds in this month and strive to fill it with all the deeds
which Allaah The Almighty is pleased with and with that the actions
which will help us on the Day when we meet Him.
How can we prepare for Ramadan?
We can prepare forRamadanby taking ourselves to account and
recognizing our shortcomings in living upto the testimony that none
has the right to be worshipped but Allaah The Almighty and that
Muhammad is His Messenger.
We should set ourselves straight so that inRamadanwe will have a
higher degree of faith, asfaith increases and decreases. It increases
through obedience to Allaah The Almighty and decreases through
disobedience and sin. The first act of obediencethat a person should
achieve is that of being atrue slave of Allaah The Almighty and
believing that there is none that is rightfully worshipped except
Allaah The Almighty. Thus, a person should direct all acts of worship
to Allaah The Almighty and not associate anyone else in worship with
Him. Each of us should realize that he could not have escaped whatever
has befallen him, and whatever has missed himcould not have befallen
him, and that everything happens by the will and decree of Allaah The
Almighty.
We should avoid everything that could undermine our commitment to the
two testimonies of faith. This means keeping away from innovations and
things that have been introduced into the religion. We should also
follow the principle of observing loyalty and disassociation by taking
the believers as our allies, as well as regarding the disbelievers and
hypocrites as our enemies, so we should rejoice when the Muslimsgain a
victory over their enemies. We must follow the example of the
Prophet,, and his Companions and adhere to theSunnah)tradition( of the
Prophet,, and the way of the rightly-guided successors who came after
him. We must love theSunnahand love those who adhere to it and defend
it, in whatever country they are, and of whatever color or nationality
they are.
We should bring ourselves to account and recognize our shortcomings in
performing acts of worship such as praying in congregation,
remembering Allaah The Almighty, paying attention to the rights of
neighbors, relatives and the Muslims in general, spreading the
greeting ofSalaam, enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil,
urging one another to follow the truth, to be patient, to be steadfast
indoing so, to persist in avoiding evil actions and in doing good
deeds, and accepting the decreeof Allaah The Almighty with patience.
Then we should bring ourselves to account for committing sins and
following desires. We should stop ourselves from persisting in that
state, whether the sin is great or small, whether itis a sin of the
eye, by looking at that which Allaah The Almighty has forbidden, or by
listeningto music, or by walking to things which Allaah The Almighty
does not like, or by using one's hands to strike in a manner with
which Allaah The Almighty is notpleased, or by consumingthings that
Allaah The Almighty has forbidden such as usury and bribes, or any
other means of consuming people's wealth unlawfully.
We should never forget that Allaah The Almighty stretches forth His
hand during the day to accept the repentance of those who sinned at
night, andHe stretches forth His hand at night to accept the
repentance of those who sinned during the day.
Allaah The Almighty Says)what means(:
·}And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the
heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous who spend ]in the cause
of Allaah[ during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who
pardon the people - and Allaah loves the doers of good; And those who,
when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves ]by transgression[,
remember Allaah and seek forgiveness for theirsins - and who can
forgive sins except Allaah? - and ]who[ do not persist in what they
havedone while they know. Those - their reward is forgiveness from
their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow ]in Paradise[,
wherein they will abide eternally; and excellent isthe reward of
the]righteous[ workers.{]Quran3: 133-136[,
·}Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves ]by
sinning[, do not despair of the mercy of Allaah. Indeed, Allaah
forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the forgiving, the
merciful.{]Quran 39:53[
·}And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himselfbut then seeks forgiveness
of Allaah will find Allaah forgiving and merciful{]Quran 4:110[
This is the proper way to welcomeRamadan: by taking ourselves to
account, repenting and seeking forgiveness. As the saying goes,"The
wise man is the one who takes stock of himself and strives to do that
which will benefit him after death, and the helpless one is that who
follows his own desires and engages in wishful thinking, )assuming
that Allaah will forgive him regardless of what he does and that he
does not need to strive to do good deeds(."]Narrated by Shaddaad ibn
Aws[ ]Al-Albaani:Dha'eef[