As Muslims around the world eagerly prepare for Ramadan 2024, we often forget to stop and remember what makes this month so special for our community.
While the rush of praying, fasting and reading Quran together foster and deepen our bonds with each other, we should also remember just how much the Prophet Muhammad (on him be peace) valued this month.
Here are 5 moving hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad, on him be peace) about the virtues of Ramadan:
A Blessed Month
“There has come to you the blessed month of Ramadan, in which God, the Mighty and Sublime, has enjoined you to fast. In it, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed, and every single devil is chained. In it, God has made a night whose value is greater than a thousand months, and whoever is deprived of its goodness will indeed have lost” [An-Nasa’i].
The Value of Fasting
“Every action a son or daughter of Adam performs shall be multiplied—a good action by ten times its value, and increasing up to 700 times. God has said: ‘ (This is true) with the exception of fasting, which belongs to Me, and I reward it accordingly, as one is abandoning their desires and food for My sake.’ There are two occasions of joy for a fasting person: once when they break their fast, and the other when they meet their Lord, and the (bad) breath (of a fasting person) is better in God’s sight than the fragrance of musk” [Bukhari].
An Expiation for Sins
“The five daily prayers, and from one Friday prayer to the next, and from one Ramadan to another, are an expiation for sins committed in between them, provided that one avoids the major sins” [Bukhari].
The Night of Power
“Whoever spends the night of Laylatul Qadr (The Night of Power) in prayer, out of (pure) faith and in the hope of (heavenly) reward, will have their previous sins forgiven” [An-Nasa’i].
Continuing Fasting into Shawwal
“Whoever fasts the entirety of Ramadan and then follows it with six (days of fasting) from (the next month of) Shawwal, that will be (equal in reward) to fasting every day (for a year)” [Tirmidhi].
May this Ramadan 2024 be a blessed one for you and your family, filled with prayer, charity and good deeds!