The Blessings of Ramadan: Insights from the Foundation for Sacred Sciences
Ramadan is a blessed month in which God the Almighty reveals his greatest Book to the greatest of his creation. Hence, He determined this month to require an annual form of worship, fasting, from us. The word Ramadan is derived from the word al-Ramda, a type of hot rock. It is said that this name was attributed to the month of Ramaḍān because when the Arabs convened to name the months, Ramadan coincided with a time of intense heat. It is also said that this name reflects that, like hot rocks, it burns. Instead, in this case, it is sins that are burned.
It is reported on the authority of Salman b. al-Farisi (RA) said, ‘The Messenger of God (PBUH) spoke to us on the last day of Sha’ban saying: ‘O people, a great and blessed month has emerged upon you. There is a night that is superior to a thousand months in it. A month in which God has made its fast obligatory and its night vigil voluntary. Who strives to come close [to God] in it through doing a type of good [deed], it is as though he performed an obligatory act outside [of Ramadan]. And whoever performs an obligatory act in it is as though he performed seventy obligatory acts outside of [Ramadan]. It is the month of patience, and the reward for patience is Paradise. It is a month of kindness to others, and the provision of the believer is increased. Who breaks the fast of a believer in it, he is forgiven for his sins and freed from the Hellfire, and to him is a similar reward without diminishing the reward [of the fasting person] in any way. God grants this reward to one who breaks the fast of another person with a bit of milk or a sip of water. And who feeds a fasting person to his fill will be granted drink from my pure spring, after which one will never thirst until he enters Paradise. It is a month whose beginning is mercy (rahma), whose middle is forgiveness (maghfira), and whose end is salvation from the Hellfire (‘itq min al-nar).’’
Some of the Blessings of the Month of Ramadan from the Foundation for Sacred Sciences
