Getting Ready For Ramadan

Ramadan is indeed a special time; a test for patience, a reminder of mercy, a push to increase in self dicipline.

The bounties are great as are the tests of hunger, thirst, heat and lethargy made yet more testing during rush hour on the London underground.

I wanted to read what the Prophet (pbuh) himself said of this blessed month: I found a translation online of his khutbah on the eve of ramadan. Heres an excerp:

“O you people! A great and a blessed month has arrived for you. A month therein a night which is better than one thousand months. The fasting during this month is an obligation (Fareedah), and the extra prayers during its nights are voluntary. Anyone who comes closer to Allah through a good deed during this month is as if he performed an obligatory duty (Fareedah) during times other than Ramadan, and he who fulfils an obligatory duty in it will be like one who fulfils seventy obligatory duties in another month. It is the month of patience, and, the reward of patience is Paradise. It is the month of visiting the poor, the sick and the needy so as to share their sorrows. It is the month where the nourishment, the sustenance and the income of the believing Muslim increase and they are blessed.” 

“Anyone who invites others to break their fast at Iftar will be provided with forgiveness of his sins and be saved from hell, and will receive reward equal to the fasting person without reducing his own reward in any respect.”

click here for more information

The site also offers great resources on things to do in Ramadan. My particular favourite is Zakys Learning Club, although for children I think Zaky could teach us all a thing or two.

For more on Zaky, click here.