Prophet's (s.a.w) Sermon on Ramadan

Understanding the Quran During Taraweeh

Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w) Sermon on Ramadan

"O People! The month of Ramadan has come with its mercies, blessings and forgiveness. Allah has decreed this month the best of all months. Its days are the best among the days, its nights the best among the nights and the hours the best among the hours.

This is a month in which you have been invited by Him to fast and pray. Allah has honored you in it. Every breath you take is a reward from Allah. Your sleep is worship, your good deeds are accepted, and your invocations answered.

Therefore, invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts free from sin and evil, and pray that Allah may help you fast, and to recite the Holy Quran. Indeed, the most unfortunate is the one who is deprived of Allah's forgiveness in this great month.

While fasting, remember the hunger and thirst on the Day of Judgement. Give alms to the poor and the needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsfolk. Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing, and your ears from sounds that should not be heard. Be kind to orphans so that if your children were to become orphans, they would also be treated with kindness.

Repent to Allah for your sins and supplicate with raised hands at the times of prayer, as these are the best times during which Allah Almighty looks at His servants with mercy. Allah answers if they supplicate, responds if they call, grants if He is asked, and accepts if they entreat.

O people! You have made your conscience the slave of your desires. Make it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break from the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah for long intervals, and make this load lighter. Understand fully that Allah has promised in His Honor and Majesty that people who perform Salat and Sajda will be guarded against hellfire on the Day of Judgement.

O people! If anyone among you arranges for Iftar for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a human being and Allah will forgive him his sins. (A companion asked: 'But not all of us have the means to do so,' to which the Prophet (s.a.w) replied: Feed them even if it consists of half a date or some water if you have nothing else.')

O people! Anyone who cultivates good manners during this month will walk over the Sirat (bridge to Jannatul Firdous) on the day when feet will tend to slip. For anyone who during this month eases the workload of his servants, Allah will make easy his accounting, and for anyone who doesn't hurt others during this month, Allah will safeguard him from His Wrath on the Day of Judgement. Anyone who respects and treats an orphan with kindness during this month, Allah will look at him with kindness on that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsfolk well during this month, Allah will bestow His Mercy on him on that Day, while anyone who mistreats his kinsfolk during this month, Allah will keep him away from His Mercy.

Whoever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from Hell, and whoever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other months. Whoever repeatedly invokes Allah's blessings on me, Allah will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while the scales of others will tend toward lightness. Whoever recites during this month a single verse of the Quran will get the reward of reciting the whole Quran in other months.

O people! The gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord that they may not be closed for you. The gates of Hell are closed. Pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Shaitan has been chained. Invoke your Lord not to let him dominate you.
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We want Ramadan to transform us into better human beings. As goals in this sacred month, we should strive to improve the five attributes of a believer described in the following hadith: 

1. Keep away from prohibited things and you will be the best of worshipers. (Doing good is one-half of the equation. The other half, equally important, is abstaining from sins, particularly when one is alone or hidden from public view. Accumulating good deeds while also committing sins can reduce mountains of good deeds to scattered dust.)
2. Be content with what Allah has given you, and you will be the richest of people.
   (Contentment is not in conflict with ambition. When a believer aspires to higher stations in life for the pleasure of Allah alone, ambition and contentment converge.)
3. Be good to your neighbor and you will be a true believer.
4. Love for other people what you love for yourself and you will be a good Muslim.
5. Do not laugh too much, for excessive laughter deadens the heart.

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One of the many Duas the Prophet (s.a.w) encouraged believers to frequently recite during Ramadan is the following:

Allahummaf tah lana abwaba Rahmatik, wa sahhil lana abwaba Rizqik.
O Allah! open for us the doors of your mercy and make easy for us the doors of your sustenance.
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(Insha Allah, every morning during the month of Ramadan, a summary of the Quranic verses that will be recited during the Taraweeh prayers at the Evergreen Islamic Center (EIC) that night will be emailed to members. This will continue until the 27th of Ramadan when the recitation of the Quran is expected to be completed at EIC.

Also, every night at EIC during Ramadan and 30 minutes before the Isha prayer, Hafiz Khan will summarize the Quranic verses to be recited during that nights Taraweeh prayers. Please arrive early to benefit from his summary. 
A dedicated Islamic scholar, Hafiz Khan created the excellent website http://www.quranpda.com/, visited by people from around the world to deepen their knowledge of the Quran.)

   --- Hasan Zillur Rahim, Director of Outreach, Evergreen Islamic Center, San Jose, CA.