The blessed month of Ramadhan is upon us once again. This is a month of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity, and sacrifice observed by Muslims around the world.
According to the hadith, Allah Almighty has divided the Holy month of Ramadan into three Stages that are known as the ‘Ashra’ of Ramadan.
- First part reflects the Mercy of Allah (Rehmah)
- Second part reflects the Forgiveness of Allah (Maghfirah)
- Third part reflects Safety from Hell (Nijat)
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
It (Ramadan) is the month, whose beginning is mercy, its middle, forgiveness and its end, protection from the fire (of hell).
The first stage is the Mercy of Allah, and we should be striving to not only fast, but to keep seeking Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness and striving to do good works to attain that wonderful Mercy and pray hard to call upon that Mercy.
The Holy Qur’an relates in Chapter 23, verse 119:-
“And say, My Lord, forgive and have mercy, and Thou art the Best of those who show mercy.”
The full hadith (saying) is as follows:
The Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, addressed his followers on the last day of Sha’ban and said:
“O people, there has come to you a great month, a blessed month, a month in which there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Allah has made fasting obligatory and spending its nights in prayer a voluntary act.
Whoever draws close (to Allah) during it by doing a good deed will be like one who did an obligatory deed in any other month, and the one who does an obligatory deed in it will be like one who did seventy obligatory deeds in any other month.
It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Paradise.
It is the month of helping others. It is a month in which the believer’s provision is increased. Whoever gives a fasting person food with which to break his fast will have his sins forgiven, and he will be ransomed from the Fire. He will have a reward like the fasting persons’ without it detracting from his reward in the slightest.”
They (companions) said:
Not all of us can find something to give to the fasting person with which to break his fast.
He said:
“Allah will give this reward to the one who gives a fasting person a date or a drink of water or a sip of milk.
It is a month, the beginning of which is mercy, the middle of which is forgiveness, and the end of which is ransom from the Fire.
Allah will forgive the one who reduces the burden for his slave, and He will ransom him from the Fire. So do a lot of four good deeds during it, two with which you will please your Lord and two with which you cannot do without.
As for the two good deeds with which you will please your Lord, they are bearing witness that there is no god except Allah and seeking His forgiveness.
As for those which you cannot do without, they are asking Allah for Paradise and seeking refuge with Him from Hell.
Whoever feeds a fasting person until he is full, Allah will give him to drink from my water container, a drink after which he will not thirst again until he enters Paradise.”
We should take full advantage of this blessed month and strive to win the Mercy of Allah and try to purify ourselves. We should keep away from foul talk and instead spend our time reading the Holy Qur’an, worshiping in the Mosque, spending more time with the family and bringing them for the Prayers.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has informed us:
“Whoso fasts in the month of Ramadhan out of faith and hoping for a reward, all his past minor sins will be forgiven.”
We should always be very thankful to Allah for being so Merciful to us and providing us with this great opportunity and also for providing food and drink to break the fast and helping us to be good Muslims.
The second stage is the Forgiveness of Allah, and we should be striving to not only fast, but to keep seeking Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness and striving to do good works to attain that wonderful Mercy and pray hard to seek Allah’s forgiveness.
The Holy Qur’an, chapter 3, verse 136 relates:
“And those who, when they commit a foul deed or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins – and who can forgive sins except Allah – and do not knowingly persist in what they do.”
We should take full advantage of this blessed month and strive to win the Forgiveness of Allah and try to purify ourselves and keep away from foul talk.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has informed us:
‘When a man truly turns to God after having committed a sin, and sincerely repents of his misdeeds, he is not only forgiven by God, but God leads him to higher stages of spiritual progress and promises him Heaven.’
Therefore, it is clear from this that if we have committed a sin and then repent sincerely, Allah being All-Forgiving and Most Merciful, can forgive us our sins.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has informed us:
“Whoso fasts in the month of Ramadhan out of faith and hoping for a reward, all his past minor sins will be forgiven.”
We should always be very thankful to Allah for being so Forgiving to us. He knows we are weak, we make mistakes, but He is always ready to forgive us, providing we are sincere.
The third stage is safety from Hell, and this is the great beauty of this blessed month that it enables us to get closer to our Maker, purify ourselves and strive to win the abundantly blessings from Allah. Which all brings us closer to Allah and away from the Hell fire. The Holy Qur’an relates in chapter 2, verse 185:
“And whoso performs a good work with willing obedience, it is better for him. And fasting is good for you, if you only knew.”
Allah has informed us that the main purpose of Fasting is to attain righteousness. It is not just giving up food and drink but striving to purify ourselves.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said:
“Allah, the Lord of honour and glory says:
‘All other deeds of man are for himself, but his fasting is purely for Me and I shall reward him for it. The fast is a shield. When any of you is fasting, he should abstain from bad language, nor should he abuse anyone. And if someone abuses him or quarrels with him, he should only say. ‘I am fasting.”
In this way, whatever we are doing, we still should be constantly thinking about Allah, striving to please Him, hoping for that reward from Him. This is the shield that we are holding up to protect us against evil.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has also informed us:
“When a servant of Allah observes the fast for a day for the sake of Allah, He thereby repels the Fire from him a distance of seventy years of journeying.”
Again, we should ponder over this. Even in the Holy Prophet’s time, on his donkey, you can imagine how far he would have been able to travel if he was constantly travelling for 70 years? These days, with the modern transport then that will become a ridiculous huge distance. But we are told in this hadith that through fasting that is the sort of distance away from the Hellfire and so it is a great shield to protect yourself from the hellfire.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has also informed us:
“When Ramadhan arrives the gates of Paradise are opened, and the gates of hell are locked up and satans are put in chains.”
This hadith again explains how the fast becomes a shield for us against evil conduct. So much so that the gates of Paradise are opened for us, due to our fasting. It means that as we are striving to please Allah, Allah loves this and through our fasting and good conduct, we can get closer to Allah.
On the other hand, the gates of hell are locked up and the satans are chained. This means that through fasting, as we are trying to purify ourselves, then the influence of satan, of bad thoughts, of bad actions, will be shielded from us and it is as if the gates of hell are locked up and the satans, the bad influences and chained and cannot have any effect on us. What a wonderful condition, fasting puts us in.
As Allah is constantly showering us with His Mercy, we should therefore be grateful to Allah for His blessings and for giving us this opportunity to win those blessings. We should always strive to win the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah, and in this month, there are plenty of opportunities for Allah to shower us with His Mercy and to attain those blessings and thereby keeping us away from the Hellfire.