O people, there comes upon you a great month, a most blessed month, in which lies a night greater in worth than one thousand months. Allah has made compulsory fasting in this month and has decreed wakefulness at night (i. e. Salat al tarāweeh) sunnah. Whosoever tries drawing nearer to Allah by performing any nafl (optional) deed in this month, for him shall be such reward as if he had performed a fardh in any other time of the year. And whoever performs a fardh, for him shall be the reward of seventy fardh in any other time of the year. This is indeed the month of patience, and the reward for true patience is Jannah; it is the month of sympathy with one’s fellow men; it is the month wherein a true Believer’s rizq (provision) is increased. (Ibne Khuzaymah).
In this holiest month Allah SWT turns towards you and sends down to you His special Mercy, forgives your faults, accept prayers, observes your competition for doing good deeds and boasts to the angels about you. So show to Allah your righteousness; for verily, the most pitiable and unfortunate one is he who is deprived of Allah’s SWT Mercy in this month. (Tabrāni) The doors of Jannah are opened on the first night of Ramadan. Not a single door is closed until the last night of Ramadan (Bayhaqi) and in this month, four things you should endeavor to perform in great number; two of which shall be to please your Lord, while the other two shall be those without which you cannot make do. Those which shall be to please your Lord, are that you should in great quantity recite the Kalimah Tayyibah: Lā ilāha illallāhu Muhammed ur Rasoollah, and make much ‘Istighfār’ (beg Allah’s SWT Forgiveness). And as for those without which you cannot make do, you should beg Allah SWT for entry into Jannah (Heaven) and seek refuge with Him from the fire of Jahannam (Hell). (Ibne Khuzaymah).
