One of the first things that I would like to point out to all of you is in what the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) in one incredible narration, about the reality of the coming of the month of Ramadan, and what it means to the believer, or maybe I should say – for the believer. In it, he said, “When the month of Ramadan begins, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of the fire are closed, and the devils are chained” [Reported by Imam al Bukhari].
Think about it my brothers and sisters. Ponder over what the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) informed us about, in terms of what we have to look forward to in the near future. Many of us all year around get distracted by everything around us, and lose focus on the real goal. Some of you may be confused as to which goal I am talking about, so for the sake of making sure we are all on the same page, I will mention the goal here for you.
The goal that we should all be chasing is trying to obtain Allah’s pleasure and mercy. If we gain this on that oh so important day, we have a chance of entering into Allah’s paradise and being moved far away from His punishment (the hellfire). We were told that this upcoming month (Ramadan) is when the doors of Allah’s reward are open and the doors of His punishment are closed for the believers.
The opportunities for us to gain Allah’s pleasure are so abundant during the course of that blessed month. The reward for our deeds are multiplied, Allah willing. There are so many people around us working toward the same goal, and this worship that is done by the whole of the community gives us the strength that we ordinarily may not find, to carry on. As well the ways and reasons for gaining forgiveness for our shortcomings are so many, that everywhere we turn we generally find some staring us in the face. This is extremely important, because many of us, during the course of the year, are rather negligent in seeking forgiveness and repentance. So these opportunities that are everywhere, while everyone are racing with us to get as much of it as possible, makes it just that much easier for us to go stronger and stronger, if we keep the goal in mind.
So do you see now why we should be working hard to prepare ourselves to go into the month strong, and not be from those people that look at this month as though it is a burden. There are those people, and some of us may be from them, that can’t wait for the month of Ramadan to end, even before it starts. These people need to take another look at what is in front of us. It is a huge blessing, and in no way a burden or hardship.
In the next post, we will be discussing another benefit from this hadeeth that is not often discussed. Therefore, make sure to stay with us, so as not to miss it, in sha Allah.
