The Month of Mercy

"Ramadan is a month whose beginning is Mercy, whose middle is
Forgiveness and whose end is freedom from the fire."
-Hadith of the Prophet (pbuh)
Mercy > Forgiveness > Freedom from Fire
Ponder on the inherent logical sequence ( subhanAllah ) of the above!
We cannot be exempt from fire withoutfirst being forgiven. And to be
forgiven, we must be graced by Allah's mercy.
The first one third of Ramadan (10days ) is MERCY from Allah
1. Can we expect to receive mercy if we only deprive our bodies of
food and drink? Of course not. Because Ramadan is meant for SPIRITUAL
development through fasting. Physiologically, by fastingthe body
eliminates toxins efficiently and the mind becomes clear for"power
thinking" so that one may ponder on the meaning of the Qur'an, Hadith
and the necessity of Zhikr. One must also do some self-analysis to
monitor and correct one's behaviour if necessary. With meditation the
mind becomes quiet and so should our tongues!
2. Allah is looking for a sincere commitment fromus and not just
physical starvation till sunset and then returning to the status quo.
Ramadan does not end at every iftar. It ends only on sighting the
hilal of Shawwal. So the hard spiritual work must carry on for the
whole of the month.
3. One must plead for mercy and sincerely cry to receive it because
without it, we are stuck at stage one and our prospects of "freedom
from fire" will be bleak.
4. Therefore this stage one is for sincere confession to Allah that we
are weak and sinful and that we desperately need His mercy. We have
only about 10 days to qualify to stage two.
The second one third of Ramadan is ----- FORGIVENESS
1. We must now beg for Allah's forgiveness because we have broken so
many of His rules and covenants and disobeyedHis commands during
theyear, both knowingly and unknowingly. We must say istighfaar day
and night and ask in every sajda for forgiveness. We must be afraid
that if Allah does not forgive, we will surely be among the losers.
Here again, Allah will be assessing the degree of sincerity in
ourrepentance. He looks not for lip service but for soulservice!
2. We must also be forgiving to other people's mistakes and tempers.
The last one third of Ramadan is ......... FREEDOM FROM FIRE
These are our last ten days or so. Instead of justfocusing on Laylat
Al-Qadar (the night of power) one should intensify supplications for
the whole last third ofRamadan. If possible and affordable then do go
forUmrah ... it will be probably the most spiritually fulfilling
experience you will have,aside from Hajj. And Umrah in Ramadan is
equivalent to having done a Hajj with our Rasool pbuh! At the
completion of the last fast, be optimistically hopeful that you will
be alive to give similar piousworship during the forthcoming Ramadans.
And if you remain guidedin your life then you'll be will be admitted
to Paradise, insha'Allah, by the Ryan gate of Paradise! Indeed Allah
swt does not break His promise to his slaves.
NOTE:
The month after Ramadan isShaw'wal.
Those who fast just 6 days of this month, get the reward of fasting
the WHOLE of the year! So if one has missed fasting for 12 yrs of
his/her life, just 6 days ( in any order)of Shaw'wal fasting givesone
an opportunity to make up for our past deficiency of fasting days.
SubhanAllah , isn't Allah swt indeedSUPER-MERCIFUL?