… Continued

He pleases his evil-enjoining self by giving free rein to his eyes by watching movies and serials, besides surfing channels that broadcast filth, which is well known to everybody. If he has no work, you will find him turning his day into night by sleeping all day and missing all the daytime prayers. If he is a student, he drags his feet to school with the intention of sleeping at his desk. If he is an employee, he goes to work lazy and irritable, giving his work little attention with the excuse that he is exhausted from fasting. He forgets that Ramadan is the month of performing actions; rather, it is the month of Jihaad (striving in the cause of Allah) for the sake of Allah The Almighty. Our righteous predecessors, with Muhammad at the forefront, were more eager to fight for the sake of Allah The Almighty during Ramadan. Have you forgotten the Battle of Badr about which Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And already had Allah given you victory at [the battle of] Badr while you were few in number. Then fear Allah; perhaps you will be grateful} [Quran 2:123] Do they not remember the conquest of Makkah, while Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest,} [Quran 110:1]? Has the Battle of ‘Ayn Jaloot been obliterated by our present state of affliction and weakness? Has the Conquest of Andalusia been stored in the archives of oblivion? These, in addition to many other battles, took place in the blessed month of Ramadan. Think of the heads that flew, the blood that was shed to propagate this religion; was fasting an obstacle to those heroes from achieving victory? Remember the words of one of those sincere men: "It would be a long life if I lived enough time to eat these few dates!" He said those words while you sleep when you are sitting and become restless when you are standing, and you do not do the work you are entrusted to do. How strange is such meaningless logic! Hard work in Ramadan is a means to gain reward and win the pleasure of Allah The Almighty.

All those who come under this category of people, or are heading towards them, should hasten to mend their ways before it is too late. Do not waste the beginning of the month indulging in food, and its middle in staying up late for entertainment and chatting, and its end in moving between markets to buy clothes and furniture. Ramadan will depart with its blessings while you will have deprived yourself of the generosity and compassion of the most Merciful, and lost the chance to draw closer to the most compassionate Lord.

The one who follows the example of the righteous predecessors beseeches his Lord for six months to enable him to reach Ramadan and yearns to attain the promise of forgiveness by praying its nights, fasting its days, reciting the Quran and contemplating its verses. The soul that is attached to its Lord remembers Him night and day and invests its time to draw closer to its Lord, therefore it remains grateful at all times. What a blessed soul that is!

You should bring yourself to account before it will be held accountable before Allah The Allah, and before the doors of repentance will be closed, if you are among the people of understanding.

Warning against the devil: Beware of the devil; he may make you waste your time in deeds that divert you away from pleasing your Lord, and beware of what some people do, such as going to different mosques looking for the reciters with the best voices. They pray ‘Ishaa’ at one mosque, then pray Taraaweeh (voluntary night prayer) in another one. Sometimes you may miss an obligatory act to perform a voluntary one. You may miss praying the compulsory prayer in congregation because you are searching for a faraway mosque so you miss the pleasure of waiting for the prayer in your neighborhood mosque. Your vehicle may break down so that you miss the obligatory or the voluntary prayer with the Muslim community. You may not find a place except in the last row, so you will be one of those about whom the Prophet said: “People will continue to keep back till Allah puts them at the back.”

Ramadan Opens the Gates of Paradise - I

Ramadan Opens the Gates of Paradise - II