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Ramadan Kareem! Ramadan is coming, if Allah (SWT) wills, after two days, and this will be the last episode of 'Life Makers' before Ramadan, but we will resume the program after Ramadan. In this episode we will talk about Ramadan, how to welcome it and what we should aim to achieve in it.

I would like to start by asking these questions, are you ready for Ramadan? Are your preparations this year stronger than last year? Will you do your best this Ramadan to be better and closer to Allah than last year? Which was the most beautiful Ramadan that you have ever encountered since coming back to the right path or rather since you became rational and aware?

Some people would be surprised by the coming of Ramadan. They would look around and not know what to do, or how to get closer to Allah. This is why I wanted this episode to be shown 48 hours before Ramadan, so that we will be totally ready and full of enthusiasm when it begins.

The Prophet (SAWS[1]) said, “When (the month of) Ramadan begins, the gates of paradise are opened, the gates of hell are closed and the devils are chained.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari).

We must feel these meanings, for the Prophet (SAWS) speaks only the truth. We should visualize these images in our minds. We should see with our hearts the gates of paradise opening, hear the creaking of those gates and smell the odors of paradise as they blow towards us from these open gates. We should also hear the sound of the chains that tie the devils. Look, there is your devil chained and restricted! Therefore, if you disobey Allah (SWT) now, the devil will not have caused it, but it will have been caused by your own self that does not want to repent and wants to continue sinning. Without the devils, you will feel free, and with the whole universe changing, the only thing remaining is for you to feel it and react to it.

All creatures except human beings hear this call, but the Prophet (SAWS) told you about it so it should now be as though you heard him. This resembles the ebb and tide. After the tide, when the sea covers the sand of the beach drawing it inwards, the ebb comes to draw the water away from the beach, which regains its space and dryness. Likewise, as our desires have reached our hearts, and we are blinded by the material life's requirements. This month comes to free us from them and to polish our hearts clean from their effect.

Ramadan provides the Islamic nation with their needs for the coming year. Therefore, preserve what Ramadan is providing for you in order to benefit from it in your coming year. Unfortunately, we see Muslims losing everything Allah (SWT) has bestowed upon them in this blessed month on the first day of Eid.

It has been said that paradise gets decorated from one year to another in the month of Ramadan (does paradise lack decoration?) When Ramadan comes, it says, “O Lord, make Your slaves of my residents.” Will we be among those residents? Will you, O listener, become one of paradise's residents from the very first day of Ramadan? When will your faith awaken to tell you, ‘I've had enough of the material life, of loving desires, of staying away from Allah, I've had enough of negligence?’ Wake up; be strong, and live for the love and pleasure of Allah (SWT). Feel your slavery to Him, at least during Ramadan, be a true slave of Allah (SWT) in every second of it.

It is said that he who keeps himself from temptation in Ramadan will have a palace in paradise built for him. A palace made of gold, silver and ruby, and one that if the whole world were gathered in it; it would seem like a mere goat stall of this worldly life.

Having talked about the blessings of Ramadan, let us see what the rewards are for those who observe their fast. I would suggest that you write these Ahadith down and hang them up in your rooms to give you strength throughout Ramadan, so that you can worship your maximum capacity.

A person is forgiven from all his past sins including the grave ones, and those he is ashamed to mention, and bows his head in shame at the thought of them. The Prophet (SAWS) says, “Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeks his reward from Allah, will have his past sins forgiven.” (Authentic Bukhari, 2014). ‘With faith’ meaning he is not fasting to go along with people, or out of habit, but rather seeking to please Allah (SWT). ‘Seeking his reward’ means seeking his reward from Allah (SWT). If this is your intention and you keep it up throughout the whole month, Allah (SWT) will forgive all your sins, the grave ones and the small. If someone cannot continue with his intention for all the days of the month, the Prophet (SAWS) gives him another chance, “Whoever prayed during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeks his reward from Allah, will have his past sins forgiven.” (Authentic Bukhari, 2008). This is easier because fasting lasts for a long time; however praying at night is no more than 4, 8 or even 20 rak’as (units of prayer). If someone loses even this chance and is unable to take it, the Prophet (SAWS) gives him yet another chance, “He who passes the night of al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeks his reward from Allah, will have his past sins forgiven.” (Authentic Bukhari, 1901).

These are great opportunities and chances for forgiveness and mercy that are unparalleled. It is a chance to start afresh with your Lord on a clean new sheet. How Merciful and Loving is our Lord! He gives his servants a new chance every year to start a new page as if they had never sinned before. Why, O Lord, do you reward your slaves with such generosity and forgiveness? It is because we are the slaves who He loves, because He wants to be Merciful to us and because He did not create us to punish us, but instead to have mercy on us and to make us happy.

"Why should Allah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him." (TMQ, 4:147)[2].

After all these chances for repentance, forgiveness and mercy, the Prophet (SAWS) says the following to those who do not grab the chances, and come out empty handed, “Jibril (AS) (Gabriel) told me, ‘The nose of a slave who witnessed Ramadan but was not forgiven will be humbled,’ and I said, ‘Ameen.’” (Al-Albany, the benefit of Salat, 18). It means that as he has lost these great chances, let him put his nose into the dust, for he is wretched and depraved and does not deserve any dignity beyond this.

Allah (SWT) may be generous with you and forgive all your sins, but you may go back to sin after Ramadan and become of the people of hell. However, if you were among those whom Allah has set free during Ramadan, it will be as if you had a chain around your neck, with someone leading you by that chain to hell, and you were heading towards hell with all your deeds and behavior, indicating that you are of the people of hell. Then you fasted Ramadan truly and suddenly you are freed from hell, and your neck is freed from that chain. The Prophet (SAWS) says, “There are in the month of Ramadan in every day and night those to whom Allah grants freedom from hell.” (Authentic al-Albany, 549).

Allah (SWT) would choose the pure and pious of His slaves to free from hell; those who truly fasted, truly prayed at night, and truly obeyed Allah (SWT). If Allah (SWT) frees your neck this year from hell, He will never let you enter hell, because the Generous will never take back that freedom from you; you will never find yourself amongst the sinners again. Even if you commit sins after Ramadan, which as a human you are bound to do, your good deeds will overpower the bad ones, and your obedience will dominate over your disobedience. Thus, you will be freed from all the sins of the past as well as those of the future.

After Allah (SWT) has forgiven your sins, freed you from hell, and protected you for the rest of your life, He will present you with a treasure of rewards from which you can take as much as you like in order to get a higher rank in paradise. “He who gets closer with a good deed, will be like one who has done an obligatory duty in any other month, and he who has done an obligatory duty, it will be worth 70 times more than a duty in other months”

Let us then calculate together the huge rewards. Let us assume that you have prayed the noon prayer. If a good deed is rewarded ten fold, then that is ten good deeds, and if that is increased 70 fold in Ramadan, that will be 700 times, and if you prayed in a congregation, multiply it by 27 and it equals 18,900, and if you multiply that by 5 for the five daily prayers, you will get 945,000 good deeds, equivalent to nearly 100 thousand prayers, or as if you went to Makkah and prayed in the Holy Mosque!

If you read the Qur’an, a letter is worth 10 good deeds. If you multiply it by 70 it equals 700. In one chapter there are about 70 thousand letters, multiply them by 70 it equals 4,900,000 good deeds in just half an hour of reading the Qur’an. If you multiply that by 30 chapters if you read the Qur’an once or by 2 if you read it twice, your calculator then will be incapable of counting the figure for you! This is the reward for prayers and for reading the Qur’an. What about the reward for fasting itself? The Prophet (SAWS) says, “Every servant of Allah who observes fast for a day in the way of Allah, Allah will remove his face away from hell to the extent of 70 years' distance because of that day.” (Authentic Bukhari, 2840). This is for voluntary fasting. What is the reward for the obligatory fasting? It is unknown except to Allah (SWT). One Hadith Qudsi says, “All the deeds of the descendents of Adam are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it, and the unpleasant smell of the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk.” (Authentic Bukhari, 5927). Allah (SWT) has stated the reward for every deed performed by the descendents of Adam. His rewards will be either ten fold or even seventy fold, except for fasting, with its reward being so great; it was kept secret in Allah's knowledge.

The Prophet (SAWS) promised you that your prayer would not go unanswered; rather it will be answered and realized. At the end of the three ayahs on fasting, we find Allah saying what can be translated as, “And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am near (to them by My Knowledge), I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright."(TMQ, 2:186). “Let them obey Me,” means, let them fast truly.

If there is any one who has a problem, or a wish, or is sad for the state of the Muslims, what is he waiting for? Your prayer will be answered, and your Lord has opened for you the gates of paradise, and has closed the gates of hell and chained the devils, and the whole universe is forthcoming towards Allah (SWT). Therefore, supplicate to Him with whatever you want and have full faith that your prayers will be answered. Prepare now your list of prayers just as the Prophet's companions (RA) used to prepare certain supplications for Ramadan, and would insist on them, and by the time the next Ramadan had come, all their prayers would have been answered. The Prophet (SAWS) also told us that the prayer of someone fasting, when he breaks his fast, would definitely be answered. The matter is certain.

Just look how generous Allah (SWT) is to the nation of His Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). Therefore, you should boost your morale and wake your brothers so as to wake up the whole nation. Let us not be selfish and look for our own interests only, we want the whole nation to be revived with us.

It is a night that is better than a thousand months, that is 84 years, so if someone worships Allah (SWT) on that night, it will be equal to 84 years of worship! Can you imagine how heavy your balance will be if you attain that night! It is better than your whole life! If you perform Qiyam (night prayer) with just two raka’as, it will be as if you have done it all your life! Also Sadaqa (charity) on this night is as if you have been giving it all your life! What’s the reason behind all this generosity and blessing towards us? Our Lord is Generous and Merciful. That is Allah (SWT) whom we worship and cherish, praise be to Him for keeping us alive until we have reached Ramadan. How many have died before this sacred month starts? It is a blessing from Allah (SWT) to keep his servant alive until he reaches that month in hope of being released from hellfire.

Allah (SWT) says in Hadith Qudsi, “He leaves his food, drink and desire for my sake. Fasting is for me and it is me who will give reward for it. A good deed is counted as ten.” How magnificent that Allah (SWT) calls your name in the higher assembly taking his angels as witnesses that He has granted you forgiveness! Is there anything more beautiful than the Prophet’s following Hadith, “The unpleasant smell of the mouth of a fasting person is for Allah far better than the fragrance of musk.” (Authentic Bukhary, 5081)

Allah (SWT) prefers the unpleasant smell of the mouth of a fasting person to the fragrance of musk in the same way that the white and simple clothes of Ihram during Hajj (pilgrimage) are far more precious to Allah (SWT) than smart and expensive clothes! He is the Lord of all, He commands his creatures as he wills and does whatever he intends.

How can we know all this and still not rush to do good deeds nor compete in all that is good? Why not even arouse the whole Ummah (Islamic nation) around us? I wonder who will get all this great reward. Does it concern all the fasting people? No, it actually concerns those who perform the true fasting. Many people fast in Ramadan but their lives do not undergo any change. They are just the same after Ramadan as before it. The aim of fasting is to be pious. Allah says what can be translated as, “O you who believe! Observing as-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Muttaqun (pious)” (TMQ, 2:183). If someone becomes more pious after Ramadan and gets closer to Allah (SWT), it implies that he performed it in the right way. On the other hand, if someone remains the same after Ramadan, or becomes worse, he cannot have profited from his fasting and he must have missed the opportunity offered by Ramadan.

Allah's Messenger (SAWS) said, “In paradise there is a gate which is called ar-Raiyan through which only the observers of (the true) fast will enter on the Day of Judgment. No one else will enter along with them. It will be proclaimed, ‘Where are the observers of (the true) fast?’ They will then enter through that gate, and when the last of them has entered, it will be closed and no one else will be admitted from that gate.” (Authentic Bukhari, 1896) These are the people who perform fasting correctly.

It is limited to not eating or drinking during the day. The person who performs such a fast does not get any reward. He has merely fulfilled the obligation of fasting but has missed a huge amount of good deeds and the opportunity for release from hellfire. The Prophet (SAWS) describes this type of person using painful words, “Some of those who perform Qiyam get nothing out of it but staying up all night and some of those who fast get nothing out of it but hunger and thirst.” (Authentic Bukhari, 1083) He also said, “Whoever does not give up false statements (i.e. telling lies), and evil deeds, and speaking bad words to others, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink.” (Authentic Bukhari, 1903).

Telling false testimony here does not mean witnessing in the court only, but it also implies going astray from the path of Allah (SWT). The one who does not become righteous in Ramadan will not gain any reward. Beware, do not be like these people or like others who feel enthusiastic at the beginning of Ramadan but die down after a few days, then go back to stomach fasting. Ramadan is a sort of training round that lasts one month, so the one who completes it becomes a new person.

Notice that fasting was made obligatory in the same year when jihad was made obligatory, exactly before the Battle of Badr. It is as if Allah (SWT) wanted to tell us that fasting would help us achieve victory and sovereignty. Most of the Muslim victories took place in Ramadan: the Battle of Badr, the Conquest of Makkah, Ain-Jalut (the Spring of Goliath), the 6^th October war, the conquest of al-Andalus (Andalusia). Beware of accepting the fasting of the stomach, not even for a single day.

The eye fasts from all that which is forbidden to look at, whether it is outside, on television or on the internet. One needs to lower his gaze so that the eye will not break the fast. If the stomach breaks the fast at sunset, the eye should go on fasting the whole month. The hand is fasting, too, so it cannot hold a cigarette even after sunset. It is a sin that you cannot commit during the whole month. Also, you should not aggress anyone with your hands or tongue. The feet are fasting too; you should not go to places where sins are committed. The ears are fasting, so you should not listen to backbiting and tale bearing. All the reward we mentioned beforehand is linked to this category of fasting.

3- The third category: fasting of the heart: fasting from thinking of anything or anyone but Allah (SWT)

Who among us can observe such a fast this year? What if we make it our slogan this Ramadan? Last Ramadan’s slogan was ‘to worship Allah (SWT) as we never did,’ so let our slogan this year be, ‘I see and think only of Allah’s satisfaction.’ Therefore, I will maintain the ties of kinship for the sake Allah (SWT), and if I feel humble and cry in prayer, I will not fear insincerity because I see no one but you, Allah (SWT). The Prophet (SAWS) said, “Seven are (the persons) who Allah will give protection with His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade but His (i.e. on the Day of Judgment) … and a person who remembered Allah in privacy and his eyes shed tears.” (Authentic Bukhari, 1423). Even if he is among a thousand people, he feels that he is in privacy because he does not see nor feel the presence of anyone but Allah (SWT).

Al-Junaid was asked this question, “Who is the best fasting person in Ramadan?” He answered, “A servant who is absent-minded, bound to Allah. If he talks, it is about Allah. If he utters a word, it is for the sake of Allah, and if he keeps silent, he is with Allah.” If only we could fast in such a way at least for some days or even for a single day, we would be released from hellfire. We would be free and go forward and our Ummah would also advance, for I am not talking only on an individual level, I am talking about Sunaa’ al-Hayah (Life Makers) and the rising of the Ummah as a whole.

We would leave Ramadan feeling lightness, gracefulness and vitality, as we will when we have freed ourselves from the weight of sins. Beware of the fasting of the first category and try to reach the third one. If not, at least keep at the second one; this will erase your sins, release you from hellfire, enable you to gather good deeds and make you attain Lailat al-Qadr.

Each of you has to make a personal plan for Ramadan, but I will give you of the six most important points we all have to take into account so that we will be winners in this sacred month (if Allah (SWT) wills):

What will be your performance this month as far as the Qur’an is concerned? Will you recite the whole Qur’an once or twice or will you do it once during Taraweeh (night prayer in Ramadan), a second time in Qiyam and a third time in recitation? Beware of doing it less than once.

Aisha (RA) used to recite Qur’an from fajr time (pre-dawn prayer) to daybreak and from Isha prayer (the fifth prayer of the day) to suhur (meal taken before fajr in Ramadan). Imam ash-Shafi’i used to say, “I set aside the worldly life in Ramadan except for Qur’an and feeding the poor.” Imam Ibn-Hanbal used to say, “When Ramadan comes, I have nothing in this worldly life but the Qur’an.”

Imagine the amount of good deeds once multiplied by 70! Do not forget that Ramadan was honoured only because it is the month when Qur’an was revealed. Unfortunately we give importance to Ramadan and forget the Qur’an.

Write down the amount of money you are intending to donate apart from zakat (alms). Ibn-Abbas (RA) reported, “Allah's Messenger was the most generous of people in charity, but he was most generous in the month of Ramadan. Jibril used to meet him every year during the month of Ramadan until it ended, and Allah's Messenger recited to him the Qur'an; and when Jibril met him, Allah's Messenger was more generous in giving charity than the blowing wind.” (Authentic Bukhari, 3554). The Prophet (SAWS) was very generous; his generosity used to be even greater in Ramadan until he became like the blowing wind that brings welfare wherever it blows. He used to leave nothing for himself!

What are you going to donate? Clothes? Food? Money? “The one who feeds a fasting person in Ramadan will get the same reward as the fasting person without decreasing the latter’s reward.” (Authentic al-Albany, 1417).

Write down the names of your kin, start with those who severed you and ask about them on the first day to get Allah’s mercy. The Prophet (SAWS) said, “Those who sever the bond of kinship will not enter paradise.” (Authentic Muslim, 2556)

Choose the most important supplications. Focus on them during the whole month of Ramadan. Do not forget to ask Allah (SWT) for pardon, repentance and victory for Islam!

Will you pray Taraweeh with a whole juz’ (chapter) of the Qur’an or will you just perform a light prayer? What if you look for a mosque where they pray Taraweeh with a complete juz’ so that you can complete the Qur’an by the end of Ramadan? What if you also perform Qiyam every night and complete recitation of the Qur’an twice?

Can you commit yourself to performing the five prayers in the mosque during the whole month, at the beginning of prayer time and in the first row? Ladies, try to pray together with your husbands, daughters or maids at the beginning of prayer time. Beware of wasting these valuable moments in the kitchen, preparing different recipes.

Why have we chosen these six points for our plan this year? Because these were the points that the Prophet (SAWS) focused on in Ramadan. They are like a medical composition that will cure the diseases of our hearts. We will achieve complete recovery, get pardon and release ourselves from hellfire.

We should not forget to be sincere in our intentions for the sake of Allah (SWT). We will try to make our hearts, brains and souls fast from everything but Allah (SWT). O people, Ramadan comes back every year, and every time it goes away, it takes a piece of our lives with it until we die and find ourselves in tombs. Then, Ramadan will either welcome us or disavow us! That is why we need to agree on two projects and we will try to execute them together:

Each of us will agree with two of his friends to wake them up for fajr prayer. They, in turn, will agree with two others and so on until we cover a great number of people.

The bag should be full of sugar, tea, oil and many other ingredients that cover the needs of poor people for the whole month or at least for two weeks. This idea was performed with great enthusiasm by Sunaa’ al-Hayah in Jordan, Yemen and in all Egyptian clubs. Their intention was, “The one who feeds a fasting person in Ramadan will get the same reward as the fasting person without decreasing the latter’s reward.” (Authentic al-Albany, 1417). Let us then bring into action these two projects and spread them everywhere. Let us start Ramadan with a new achievement and feed the poor across the Muslim world.

If Allah wills, I will be presenting a live program on Konuz (Treasures) at midnight Makkah time (11:00 pm Cairo time) about the stories of the Prophets. The program Khawater Qur’ania (Qur’anic thoughts) will be broadcast again everyday at 5:30 pm Makkah time (4:30 pm Cairo time). It talks about the purpose of the Qur’anic surahs and their general meaning. We will tackle a whole juz’ everyday so that people learn the meaning of the part they are supposed to be reading on that day.

[1] Sala-llahu Alahi Wa Salam = All Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him.

[2] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

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