The Ten Commandments for Ramadan Preparation: A Comprehensive Guide to Seizing Opportunities and Avoiding Pitfalls.

Introduction:

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Allah the Almighty said: {O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous} [Al-Baqarah: 183].
The Prophetic Hadith:
Fasting the month of Ramadan is one of the obligations ordained by Allah the Almighty, and it is one of the pillars of Islam, as mentioned in the agreed-upon hadith narrated by Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them):
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Islam is built on five pillars: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing prayer, paying zakat, performing Hajj, and fasting Ramadan”
(Reported by Al-Tirmidhi, No. [2609]).

Preparing for Ramadan:

While people of entertainment prepare riddles and movies, and the luxuries-obsessed stockpile varieties of food, what is the preparation of those who aspire to dwell in Paradise with the best of creation?

O righteous soul, the first step is to accept the foremost commandment: sincere repentance—deep remorse for past sins and transgressions.

The Weight of Sin:

• Have you ever felt the world closing in on you, leaving you anxious, sorrowful, helpless, and lethargic, with nowhere to escape?
• Have your relationships with family, friends, and neighbors deteriorated?
• Do you sense a lack of blessings in your life, wealth, time, or sustenance?
• Do you witness the calamities, disasters, plagues, earthquakes, floods, and trials afflicting humanity today?

These are but traces of sins and transgressions. Sins constrict the chest, harden the heart, magnify worries, deepen sorrows, and multiply confusion—until one wishes for death to escape worldly torment. What then of the torment of the Hereafter?

Beware! Sins strip blessings, invite divine wrath, darken the face, blacken the heart, weaken the body, and diminish sustenance.

The Call to Repentance:
O burdened soul!

• The murderer repented!
• The drunkard repented!
• Even the worst sinners repented!
  Do you despair of your Lord’s mercy?
  Allah says:
  {Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves: Despair not of Allah’s mercy, for Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful”} [Az-Zumar: 53].

Between you and repentance lies abandoning sin. Why choose the Fire?

Ramadan: A Gateway to Forgiveness:

Ramadan approaches, its gates of mercy wide open!

• Here, the necks of sinners are stretched forth to repent.
• Here, the seasons of obedience are unveiled.

If sins have exhausted you and transgressions burdened you, know you have a Lord who desires your return:
{Whoever commits evil or wrongs themselves, then seeks Allah’s forgiveness, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful} [An-Nisa: 110].

In a hadith:
“O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly filling the earth, I would meet you with forgiveness as vast as it” (Sahih al-Jami’ [4338]).

A Final Plea:
O disobedient one!

• How dare you defy Him while breathing His air, eating His provisions, and using the limbs He granted you?
• Can you bear betraying the One who raised you, blessed you, and delayed your death to grant you time to repent?

Seize this moment!

• Admit your guilt!
• Turn to your Lord with a broken heart!
• Let tears flow as you recall your sins against the Most Merciful!

Purify your heart from the filth of sin and desires, that it may become worthy of divine mercy.

Second Commandment: Gratitude for the Blessing of Reaching Ramadan

You must thank Allah for the immense grace He has bestowed upon you by prolonging your life to witness Ramadan—a month brimming with opportunities for obedience and diverse acts of worship.

• Reflect: How many hearts yearned to meet Ramadan but now lie beneath the earth?
• Remember: How many sick and imprisoned souls, confined to their beds, are unable to fast or pray?
• Praise Allah for the blessings of life, health, and safety. If a servant recognizes this favor and expresses gratitude, Allah safeguards it.

As a righteous predecessor said:
“Secure Allah’s blessings through gratitude.”

• If Allah grants a blessing and the servant uses it in obedience and gratitude, Allah preserves and multiplies it.
• If the servant is ungrateful or uses it in disobedience, Allah strips it away and replaces it with wrath and punishment.

Third Commandment: Learning the Rulings of Ramadan

At the onset of the month, educate yourself on the essential rulings of fasting, its etiquettes, and the acts of worship specific to Ramadan, such as:

• I’tikaaf (spiritual retreat).
• Umrah (minor pilgrimage).
• Zakat al-Fitr (obligatory charity).

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim” (Sahih al-Jami’ [3914]).

Fourth Commandment: Resolve and Zeal  of Ramadan

Hold firm to sincere intention and unwavering determination to excel in righteous words, deeds, and diligence in worship and remembrance. Rebuild your Ramadan with acts of goodness, and fulfill the rights of fasting.

Allah the Almighty says:
{If they had upheld the Torah, the Gospel, and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they would have been nourished from above and from beneath} [Al-Muhammad: 21].

• Reflect: If a servant sincerely intends to obey Allah but is prevented by circumstance, they still attain the reward of their intention.
• Ponder: How many passed away before witnessing Ramadan? Yet congratulations await those who began the month with sincere resolve to obey!

Be truthful with Allah in worship and intention—for you know not when death will come. Allah rewards His servants according to their sincerity and resolve.

Fifth Commandment: Seizing the Fleeting Days

Ramadan, as described by Allah, is “a few numbered days”—a fleeting season of virtue that passes swiftly.

• The hardship of striving in worship fades, but its reward remains eternal.
• Regret lingers for those who wasted hours in heedlessness, while the wise rejoice in their gains.

Soon, by Allah’s will, Eid will arrive, and Ramadan will vanish like lightning. Victory belongs to those who seized its blessings; loss to those who neglected them!

Sixth: Drawing Inspiration from the Lessons of Ramadan

Remember the thirst of the fasting person on the Day of Judgment and the joy of breaking the fast in this world and the Hereafter. How beautiful is the moment of breaking the fast, and even greater is the joy of meeting the Lord!
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“The fasting person has two joys: one at the time of breaking his fast, and another when he meets his Lord.” (Sahih al-Tirmidhi [766])

 Should we make our lives a fast from sins and desires, and break our fast with Allah on the Day of Judgment?

🔹 Train yourself in Ramadan to be patient, strive in worship, and abstain from permissible things so that you can later learn to abstain from what is forbidden.

🔹 Learn sincerity: Fasting is a secret between the servant and his Lord. Do not abandon sincerity in all your actions and movements. When you go out for night prayers, let it be for the sake of Allah alone, with no one else in your heart.

🔹 Remember your impoverished brothers who fast in extreme poverty, and let your heart be moved toward generosity and giving.

Seventh: The Diligence of Those Who Stand in Worship

 Do not get weary of long night prayers; their hours are short, and Ramadan will soon pass. Some will succeed, and others will fail!

🔹 How many times have you prayed behind an imam who rushed the prayer, making him a barrier between you and Paradise? Do not deprive yourself of goodness; this is a sign of deprivation.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever stands (in prayer) during Ramadan with faith and seeking reward will have his past sins forgiven.” (Sahih al-Nasa’i [2205])

🔹 Abu Dharr said:
“We stood in prayer with the Prophet ﷺ until we feared missing success (i.e., Fajr prayer).”

Eighth: Reciting the Quran in the Month of the Quran

📖 Do not part with the Mushaf if you can. Fasting and the Quran will intercede for the servant on the Day of Judgment.

🔹 The Righteous Predecessors:

• Some of them completed the Quran every three nights in Ramadan.
• Some completed it every seven or ten nights.
• Imam al-Shafi’i used to complete it sixty times in Ramadan!
• Sufyan al-Thawri and Ibn al-Sawda’ used to complete it every two nights.

Ninth: I’tikaf and Laylat al-Qadr

🌙 Strive in i’tikaf during the last ten nights to attain Laylat al-Qadr.
Imam al-Zuhri said:
“How astonishing that Muslims abandoned i’tikaf, while the Prophet ﷺ never abandoned it from the time he arrived in Madinah until Allah took his soul!”

Tenth: Remembrance and Supplications

Memorize both general and specific remembrances, especially those related to Ramadan.

🔹 Take advantage of times when supplications are answered, and say:
“O Allah, I ask You for Your remembrance, gratitude, and good worship of You.”

Established Remembrances for Ramadan:

Upon seeing the new moon:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“O Allah, let it appear over us with security and faith, peace and Islam. My Lord and your Lord is Allah.” (Musnad Ahmad [2/366])

Upon seeing the full moon:
The Prophet ﷺ instructed Aisha :
“Seek refuge in Allah from the evil of this.” (Silsilah al-Sahihah [372])

At the time of breaking the fast:
The Prophet ﷺ would say:
“The thirst has gone, the veins have been moistened, and the reward is confirmed, if Allah wills.” (Sunan Abi Dawood [2357])

🔹 Ibn Umar’s supplication at breaking the fast:
“O Allah, I ask You by Your mercy, which encompasses all things, to forgive me.”

O Allah, make us among those accepted in Ramadan, grant us diligence and sincerity, and bless us with Laylat al-Qadr .

The Eleventh Commandment: Beware of Sins

Beware—myself and you—of minor sins in Ramadan, for disobedience in this sacred month is graver than in other months due to its sanctity and status! How can you draw near to Allah by abstaining from the lawful, only to indulge in the forbidden—gazing, speaking, or listening to it?!

The Greatest Sins in Ramadan:

• Deliberately Breaking the Fast

1. • Hadith:
     “Two men seized me, took me to a rugged mountain, and said, ‘Climb.’ I said, ‘I cannot.’ They said, ‘We will make it easy.’ I climbed until I reached darkness with loud screams. They said, ‘These are the screams of Hell’s people.’ Then I saw people hanging with slit throats and flowing blood. They said, ‘These are those who broke their fast before its time’” (Sahih al-Targheeb [2393]).
   • Ibn Taymiyah said: “Deliberately breaking the fast without an excuse is a major sin.”
   • Al-Dhahabi said: “Those who abandon Ramadan fasting are worse than adulterers and drunkards; some even doubt their Islam.”

• Abandoning Prayer

1. • Quran: {What has brought you into Hell? They will say, ‘We were not of those who prayed’} [Al-Muddaththir: 42-43].
   • Hadith:
     “The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever abandons it has disbelieved” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi [2621]).
     “Between a man and disbelief is abandoning prayer” (Sahih Muslim [82]).
   • Ibn Hazm: “No sin is greater after shirk (polytheism) than abandoning prayer.”
   • Ibn al-Qayyim: “Muslims unanimously agree that abandoning prayer is among the gravest sins, worse than murder or adultery.”

• Women’s Adornment and Immodesty

1. • Hadith:
     “At the end of time, there will be women dressed yet naked, cursed by angels. Avoid them!” (Al-Mu’jam al-Awsat [9/131]).
     “The best women are pious; the worst are hypocrites who parade like crows in Hell” (Al-Silsilah al-Sahihah [1849]).
   • Warning: Makeup, revealing clothes, and perfumes in public are paths to Hell.

• Media and Art Promoting Corruption

1. • Quran:
     {Those who love to spread immorality among believers will face painful punishment} [An-Nur: 19].
     {Do not obey those who neglect Our remembrance and follow their desires} [Al-Kahf: 28].
   • Call to Media Workers: Use Ramadan to spread good, not obscenity. “How dare you war on religion in Allah’s holy month?!”

• Cafés and Video Shops

1. • Hadith:
     “If you sit near roads, fulfill their rights: lower your gaze, avoid harm, return greetings, enjoin good, and forbid evil” (Sahih al-Jami’ [2675]).
   • Warning: Cafés distract from worship; video shops spread immorality. “You ignite lusts and enable crimes for haram wealth!”

Daily Schedule in Ramadan

My Beloved Brother: Follow this schedule to maximize good deeds:

1. Minimize idle talk; focus on Quran and remembrance.
2. Stay in the mosque as long as possible.
3. Increase charity—the best charity is in Ramadan.
4. Eat lightly at Iftar to pray Taraweeh comfortably. Avoid daytime exhaustion.
5. Avoid oversleeping—Ramadan is fleeting. “Your worldly comfort is brief; the grave’s stay is long.”

Final Exhortation

• Motivate yourself in worship, piety, night prayers, Quran, and supplication.
• Imam Ahmad said: “When does one find comfort? Only after striving for Allah!”
• Wise Counsel: “Choose temporary effort for eternal rest. Paradise demands patience!”

O Servants of Allah!

• Hearts of the pious, rise!
• Eyes of the night worshippers, stay awake!
• Feet of the repentant, bow to your Lord!
• Beware Satan’s whispers!

“Blessed are those who answer Allah’s call; wretched are those rejected at His door.”

Conclusion:

All praise is to Allah, who has allowed us to reach Ramadan and made us among its people. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad, the trustworthy Prophet.

My beloved brother:
Now that you know the path to preparing for this month of mercy and have learned the guidelines to illuminate your journey in this noble season, strive to be among the victorious who seize its nights and days—not among the heedless who count down the hours, awaiting the month’s end!

• Remember:
  • Ramadan is a golden opportunity that passes like lightning. Seize it to attain eternal happiness, or lose it to eternal regret.
  • Every effort in fasting and night prayers is an investment in a Paradise as vast as the heavens and earth.
  • The sins you avoid in Ramadan are poisoned arrows that waste your rewards and darken your heart.

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كيف نستقبل رمضان؟ – طريق الإسلام