Abu Huraira reported Allah’s messenger as saying, “When the first night of Ramadan comes the devils and the rebellious jinn are chained, the gates of hell are locked and not one of them is opened; the gates of paradise are opened and not one of them is locked, and a crier calls, ‘You who desire what is good, come forward, and you who desire evil refrain.’ Some are freed from hell by God, and that happens every night.” Reaching the month of Ramadan is a great gift from Allah that any one should sense it, especially the believers whose hearts and minds are filled with love and fear of Allah. For this reason, the righteous predecessors used to make Dua for six months that may Allah reach them to Ramadan for its great virtues. If Allah bestows upon you and you witnessed this month, it is imperative that you sense this gift and seize this opportunity. It is a dead loss that you miss this Ramadan, and you miss all the ways which lead to Mercy of Allah, the prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said ”May a man upon whom Ramadan enters and then passes, before he is forgiven, be humiliated.” Generally, people differ in in the ways of receiving the orders of Allah, among them is he who wrongs himself, and among them is he who is moderate, and among them is he who is foremost in good deeds by permission of Allah. Based on this general concept, how people differ in their responding to Ramadan?
Scholars divided the fasting of people in Ramadan into three types:
First Type: It is a type of Muslims who only abandon eating and drinking from dawn to sunset, but he afflicted with the sins of tongue and limbs. For example, he abandons food, drink, and sexual intercourse, but his tongue commits backbiting or gossip. Abu Hurairah (BAA) narrated that The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions and does not abandon foolishness, Allah is not in need of his leaving food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his FASTING).” His heart is corrupted by sins and villainy. This type of people of fasting Ramadan may abandon sexual intercourse but his eyes still follow inappropriate contents that Allah ordered Muslims to abandon, ”Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts”, and Allah commanded women with the same rule. It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There are people who fast and get nothing from their fast except hunger, and there are those who pray and get nothing from their prayer but a sleepless night.” This type is the one who share the biggest part of loss, may Allah not gather us with them.
Second Type: It is a type of Muslims who abandon invalidators of fasting, then he preserved his tongue and limbs against sins and mistakes. It is the type who refrained from lying, gossips, backbiting, and false testimony. He refrained from listening to Haram (forbidden contents), at the same time, he saved his whole body from committing any forbidden acts. Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu’z Zinad from al-A’raj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Fasting is a protection for you, so when you are fasting, do not behave obscenely or foolishly, and if any one argues with you or abuses you, say, ‘I am fasting. I am fasting.’ This type of people would really benefit from the innumerable blessings of Ramadan, that would reflect on the way the live. Their hearts sway between the love and fear of Allah. They understand the meanings of Allah’s commands for the month of Allah, He says ” O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ), Surah AlBaqarah:183.
Third Type: Those are the crème of the crop, this type followed all the orders of Allah for Ramadan, and they went beyond its boundaries. Their hearts refrained from the evil feelings, their minds refrained from the evil thoughts, their hearts achieved the reality of fear of Allah. In addition to, they try to do many good deeds in the month of Ramadan. Their days are filled with all sorts of acts of following Allah, such as doing night prayers, reading Quran, and doing charity. They make dua to Allah asking them to grant them power to follow His orders and act upon His boundaries.
