Author – Muhammad Furqan Falahi
Bismillah Hir Rahman Nir Rahim
In the holy hadith, we find this saying of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: “In the days of Al-Dhar, your Lord has breaths, so offer them to him.” And the winds of blessing blow (so when they blow), submit yourself to them. From this hadith, it is understood that when the special winds of mercy and forgiveness from Allah and His reward and honor blow, then a person should make maximum use of them and make maximum effort to forgive himself. Should do.
If we look at the month of Ramadan in this background, it becomes clear that the month of Ramadan is also a great gift from Allah Almighty to humanity that every person whose heart has been polluted by sins and whose soul is Allah. For those who have been hurt due to their disobedience, in this month, Allah Almighty sends the wind of forgiveness in such a way that if He appreciates them, then his forgiveness is very easy.
One of the main reasons for the ease of this forgiveness is that the devils are imprisoned in this holy month, as mentioned in the hadith Sharif: “When Ramadan came, the doors of Paradise were opened and the doors of the fire were closed, and the doors of the fire were closed.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No: 1080) That when the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are closed, and all the devils are imprisoned.
There is no doubt that there are two great enemies of man: one is his self which keeps misguiding him internally and the other is Satan who tempts and incites him to do evil. If one is captured, it is obvious that it will be easier for a person to fight an enemy and it will not be difficult to conquer him.
Three ashras of Ramadan:
Then, in this blessed month, Allah Ta’ala gave a special reward saying that he has made the three decades of this holy month special with his three separate blessings; Therefore, it is stated in the Holy Hadith: “…. And the first part of the month of Ramadan is the first part of mercy, and the middle is forgiveness, and the last is release from the fire…” (Sahih Ibn Khuzimah, Hadith No: 1778). The second part is forgiveness and the third part is salvation from hell fire.
The first ashra of Ramadan – Mercy:
As if in the first decade of this month, the blessings of Allah are specially directed towards the servants and require every Muslim person to benefit from these blessings of Allah, so let us see that in this first decade of this month. In what forms do the blessings of Allah Ta’ala appear?
The greatest mercy of Allah is manifested in the form that all the gates of Paradise are opened and all the gates of Hell are closed. On the first night of the month of Ramadan, the devils and rebellious jinn are imprisoned, the gates of Hell are closed and the gates of Paradise are opened, and an announcer continues to announce: O lovers of goodness. Those! Go forth and desist, O lovers of evil. (See: Tirmidhi, Hadith No: 682)
The second form of the manifestation of mercy is that in this holy month, when the desire to meet Allah is awakened, the exterior and interior of the cross become bright and radiant with the remembrance of Allah. He ordered us to know the hours as a treasure, so that we do not lose the blessings and blessings of Ramadan; therefore, it is mentioned in the Holy Hadith that the Prophet ﷺ said that the beginning of the month of Ramadan, which is the month of blessings, has begun. I, Allah Almighty, own you Covered in mercy and in which mercy descends, your sins are forgiven and your prayers are accepted, Allah sees your progress towards good deeds and is proud of you in the presence of the angels, so you are Allah. Tell the Almighty about the goodness in you, and very unfortunate is the person who is deprived of the blessings of Allah in this blessed month. (See: Musnad al-Shameen by Al-Tabarani, Hadith No: 2238)
A special mercy of this month is also that all the previous sins of the one who performs the special deeds of this month (such as fasting and Qiyam al-Lail) etc. with sincerity and the intention of reward are forgiven, so it is said in the Holy Hadith: “From the fasting of Ramadan, faith and accountability, God forgives what is committed from sin, and from the night of Lailat-ul-Qadr, faith and accountability, God forgives what is committed from sin” (Bukhari, Hadith No.: 2014) All his past sins are forgiven if he fasts in Ramadan, and whoever worships Laylatul Qadr with faith in the intention of reward, all his past sins are forgiven.
Apart from these, many other issues have been mentioned in the blessed hadiths, which show that in the month of Ramadan, the attribute of mercy of Allah is at its peak, and in order to benefit from this mercy, a person should perform other acts of worship. At the same time, he should make special arrangements for these four acts of worship: fasting, recitation, spending well in the way of Allah, and performing itikaaf in the last ten years.
Second ashra of Ramadan – Forgiveness:
The second decade of the month of Ramadan is for forgiveness. In the Holy Quran, where other attributes of Allah Ta’ala are mentioned, there is also a mention of His being “Al-Ghafoor” and “Al-Ghafar”, in which Allah Ta’ala is very forgiving. It has been indicated to do, so a person should always be sorry for his sins and worry about getting them forgiven. It becomes easier for a person to seek forgiveness.
The importance of this forgiveness can be estimated from the hadith that the Prophet ﷺ said that every human being is a sinner and the best sinners are those who repent (See: Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2499) That is, such servants who realize their sinfulness and immediately seek forgiveness from Allah Ta’ala are praised in this hadith.
Also, in another hadith, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: By the One in Whose Power is my soul! If you people do not sin, then Allah will destroy you and bring a people who will sin and then ask for forgiveness and Allah will also forgive them (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No: 2751), that is, Allah Almighty. The requirement of the attribute of forgiveness is that when a person commits a sin, he should turn to Allah Almighty and seek forgiveness for his sins. There is a demand.
In the same way, if we look at the life of the Prophet ﷺ, we find that despite the fact that Allah Almighty had announced his forgiveness in the Holy Qur’an, still he used to ask Allah for forgiveness hundreds of times every day. (See: Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No.: 3815) Therefore, every person should ask for forgiveness a lot in the month of Ramadan and repent for the sins committed in his life by shedding tears of regret.
Third ashra of Ramadan – Deliverance from Hell:
The last decade of the month of Ramadan is the day of deliverance from the fire of hell. In this decade, Allah Almighty saves many of his servants from the fire of hell. So every night Allah Almighty gives permission to many people to escape from hell (See: Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith No.: 682) But for the description of how to get rid of the fire of hell, there are some special ones in the collection of hadith. Actions are found. For example, in a hadith it is said that the person who makes a fasting person break his fast, his sins are forgiven and he is given freedom from hell. (See: Sahih Ibn Khuzimah, Hadith No: 1778). It shows that breaking the fast to a fasting person is apparently a small act, but in the Hereafter, he will be rewarded in the presence of Allah in the form that his sins will be forgiven and he will be sent to hell. You will be saved from the fire.
Similarly, it has been mentioned in a tradition that whoever recites these words four times in the morning and in the evening, Allah Almighty will protect him from the fire of hell: Khalqak, you are not Allah, there is no god but you, and there is no partner, and Muhammad is a slave and a messenger.” (See: Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith No.: 5069)
Looking for Lailatul Qadr:
In addition to all these, the search for Lailat-ul-Qadr in the last decade of the month of Ramadan has the status of a constant worship, the verses of the Holy Quran for the virtue of Lailat-ul-Qadr: Min al-Shahr” (Surat al-Qadr: 1.3) are enough in which Allah Almighty has explained that We revealed the Holy Qur’an in Lailat-ul-Qadr and that Lailat-ul-Qadr is better than a thousand months.
Many hadiths have been narrated from the Prophet himself regarding the virtues of this night, while there are also many traditions in which his routine regarding this night has been quoted, so Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that he used to say It was said that Lailatul-Qadr should be found in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan (See: Sahih Bukhari, Hadith No. 2017) and special arrangements should be made for worship in this night, as well as frequent supplications in this night.
The supplications that have been mentioned in the hadiths are better if you remember them, otherwise you should make whatever supplications you feel are appropriate according to your situation. Messenger of Allah! If I get Lailatul Qadr, what supplication should I make? So the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that you should make this supplication: “Allah, forgive me, you love forgiveness, and forgive me” (Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3513). Indeed, you are very forgiving and like to forgive, so please forgive me too.
things to do:
Before the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, it is the religious responsibility of every Muslim to start preparing for its reception and to try to be forgiven in this month and to pray to Allah in some way during Ramadan. Let him worship the Almighty so that the effect of this worship remains throughout the year and he feels the light of divine remembrance in his heart, because who knows whether he will be blessed with the blessed hours of Ramadan next year or not!