FOLLOW US
Think Tank 2022
The Significance of the Month of Ramadan
Friday, July 20, 2012
The Month of Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar and begins with all its social, moral and spiritual blessing. The following quotation from a du'a points out some of these blessings:
"O Allah this is the month of Ramadan in which You sent the Qur'an as a guide for people and as a clear sign to differentiate between right and wrong; and it is the month of fasting, month of prayers, month of returning to You (Tawbah) and month of repentance; it is the month of forgiveness and mercy....; the month in which is the 'Night of Qadr' which is better than a thousand months....; O Allah, bless Mohammed and his progeny.... and keep me free for Your worship and for reciting the Book."
It appears from the above sentences that amongst the blessings of this month are Qur'an, the 'Night of Qadr', the repentance from sins and mutual understanding and forgiveness.
According to Islamic belief, every action, whether good or bad, carries more weight in this month. Thus, charity is a virtue at all times, but is more virtuous in this month; and injustice is an evil at all times, but is more evil in this month. Reciting the Qur'an is a commendable deed the whole year round, but during the month of Ramadan it assumes a far greater significance.
The Holy Prophet (S) has said, "Everything has its own spring season, and the spring of Qur'an is the Month of Ramadan."
In Me'raj, the Prophet (S) asked Allah what the gift of fasting was; and Allah replied:
"Fasting leads to wisdom, and wisdom enables you to understand My signs and ways; that will raise you to the stage of certitude. And when a person has reached the level of certitude, he or she cares not whether the days pass in plenty or scarcity." (Bihar-ul-Anwar V 77)
And as the month of Ramadan entered, Imam Zainul Abideen (A) would pray: "O Allah, help us fast in this month, by preventing our limbs from doing anything that displeases You, and by engaging them in acts which gain your pleasure.....so that we may not lend our ears to things futile and our eyes may not see that which leads to forgetting You. Our hands may not commit that You have prohibited, and our feet may not advance towards the forbidden....." (Saheefa-e-Kamilah)
Our Holy Prophet (S) told Jabir bin Abdillah:
"O Jabir, this is holy Ramadan, whoever fasts in it during the day, and stands to remember Allah during the night, controls his hunger, lust and speech, he shall pass cleansed from his sins the way the holy month passes." Jabir said: "O Messenger of Allah, what a beautiful advice this is!" The Holy Prophet (S) answered: "And how important the conditions!" (Furoo' Al-Kafi Vol. 4)
To read the Prophet Mohammed's sermon on the reception of the month of Ramadan, click here.