Ramadan Articles - A program for the Blessed Month of Ramadan

Question:
In the Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Ever Merciful
Praise be to Allaah and may His blessings and peace be upon His Messenger.
Dear brothers, I greet youwith the greeting of Islam: Assalaamu Alaykum,
Allaah The Almighty Says)what means(: }The month of Ramadan ]is that[
in which was revealed the Quran, a guidance for the people and clear
proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights ]the new moon of[
the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on ajourney - then
an equal number of other days. Allaah Intends for you ease and does
not intendfor you hardship and]wants[ for you to complete the period
and to glorify Allaah for that]to[ which He has guided you; and
perhaps you will be grateful.{ ]Quran 2: 185[
I am a member of a Da'wah committee at a Masjid. I have been entrusted
with setting a program for how to spend the last ten nights of Ramadan
in worship. The night starts from 11:00 pm to 4:00 am. I want my
Muslim brothersto benefit me with their suggestions and thus I
consulted this blessed website. I ask Allaah The Almighty to help us
devote all our deeds to His sake and to accept them.
I want to make two tables, one for the even-numbered days: 22,24, 26,
28 and another for the odd-numbered days: 21, 23, 25 and 29.
A question may arise: Why should there be twotables? The answer is
that the efforts in worship during the odd nights should be greater.It
was reported from the Messenger of Allaahthat the Night of Al-Qadr is
sought during the odd nights. Another question may arise: Why is the
27th night of Ramadan not included within the odd-numbered nights? The
answer is that we want a specific program for this night. It was
reported that it is most likely the Night of Al-Qadr.
Please advise and do not deprive yourselves of thisgreat reward,
especially during the blessed month of Ramadan, the month of mercy,
forgiveness, admittance to Paradise, and salvation from Hell.
May Allaah bless and reward you!
Answer:
In the Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Ever Merciful
Dear brother, Assalaamu 'Alaykum,
For the righteous deeds to be accepted by Allaah The Almighty, the
most important two conditions are dedicating these deeds solely for
the sake of Allaah The Almighty and keenness to follow the example and
guidance ofthe Prophet. This means that the accepted righteous deed is
that which is dedicated to Allaah The Almighty and is done according
to the guidance of the Prophet. This is the way the righteous
predecessors understood the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says
)what means(: }]He[ who created death and life to test you ]as to[
which of you is best in deed.{ ]Quran 67: 2[ Allaah The Almighty did
not say, "to test you ]as to[ which of you is more in deed." What
counts here is the quality of deeds. So, little deeds will be enough
for you provided that you offer them with full sincerity to Allaah The
Almighty. The best deed is that which is the most sincereand the
soundest. On the other hand, when one is able to do many righteous
deeds while fulfilling sincerity and compliance with the guidance of
the Prophetthis is actually a great and praiseworthy achievement.
There is no doubt that a person gets more active when he is with
others who are active. Therefore, the wise Sharee'ah )Islamic
legislation( made the religious obligations communal. When these
religious obligations are communal, they are performed easily. Prayer
is performed in congregation, one performs Hajj along with his Muslim
brothers, all the people fast together, one is strengthened by his
brothers when performing Jihaad, etc. Thus, we hope that your benefit
will be great through this congregation. You should focus on teaching
sincerity, being mindful of Allaah The Almighty as well as other
topics on self-purification.
We hope that the program dedicates some moments to seclusion when each
one stays alone in order to reckon himself and renew his repentance.
We also hope that you often repeat the Hadeeth)narration( in which the
Prophetsays:"Intentions are what count in deeds." This Hadeeth is a
criterion for the inner deeds. Also, there is the Hadeeth in which the
Prophetsaid: "Whoever does something )of worship( away from our
matter, it will be rejected." The lastHadeeth is a criterion for
apparent deeds.
We hope that the program includes the following:
1- Lessons and lecturesfor scholars. That is because knowledge
precedes action and one scholar is harder for the devil than a
thousand devoted worshippers.
2- Keenness to perform the obligatory acts of worship and taking
care of that. Allaah The Almighty does not accept the voluntary act of
worship unless the obligatory one is done.
3- Moderation in worship, for Allaah The Almighty never gets
tired)of giving reward( but you will get tired )of excessive worship(.
Thus, the Prophetadvised us: "Perform such acts that you are capable
of doing."
4- Keeping some acts of obedience hidden as asecret between the
slave and his Lord.
5- Intensifying the act of seeking forgiveness, especially after
performing the righteousdeed. This is to avoid self-conceit.
6- Diversifying the actsof obedience: It is not necessary to
spend the whole night in prayer. Rather, these nights are allocated
for different types of righteous deeds.
7- Being acquainted with the degrees of deeds. The best thing
theProphetas well as the former Prophets, may Allaah exalt their
mention, said is: "La Ilaaha Illa Allaah )there is no god worthy of
worship except Allaah(," and the most beloved speech to Allaah
is,"Subaan Allaah wa bihamdih, subhaan Allaah Al-'Atheem)glorified is
Allaah and praise is due to Him, glorified is Allaah The Great(".
8- Keeping away from sins and acts of disobedience as well as
lowering the gaze. Giving up sins is easier than repenting.
I cannot conceal my happiness at your keenness, care, organization and
order and would like to welcome you to our website. We ask Allaah The
Almighty to benefit Islam and Muslims with you. May Allaah accept our
fast and Qiyaam.
May Allaah grant us success.