His Holiness Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) spoke in the mosque of Madinah about the virtues of Ramadan in the final days of Shaban. In the midst of this, Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him), who was sitting at the end of the mosque, asked him a question.
The Best Deeds in Ramadan
Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) asked the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family):
“What are the best deeds in this month?”
He replied:
“O Abu al-Hasan, the best deeds in this month are piety and abstaining from sins and divine prohibitions.” One should avoid what God has forbidden and be abstinent. [1]
The Month of Mercy and Forgiveness
Imam al-Ridha (peace be upon him) narrated from Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) regarding the sermon of the Seal of the Prophets about the month of Ramadan:
“One day, the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family) delivered a sermon to us and said: O people! The month of God has come to you, accompanied by blessing, mercy, and divine forgiveness. It is the best month in the sight of God, its days are the best days, its nights are the best nights, and its hours are the most noble hours.”
Duties of the True Faster
Then he enumerated the duties of a true faster and said:
“This is a month in which you have been invited to the feast of God and placed among those who are honored by divine grace. In this month, your breaths are glorification, your sleep is worship, your deeds are accepted, and your prayers are answered. So, with sincere intentions and pure hearts, ask your God for success in fasting this month and reciting the Quran; for the wretched is one who is deprived of God’s forgiveness in this great month. Remember the thirst and hunger of the Day of Resurrection with your own thirst and hunger in this month, give charity to the poor and needy, honor the elders, show compassion to children, be kind and benevolent to relatives, guard your tongues from what should not be said, cover your eyes from what is not permissible to look at, keep your ears from forbidden sounds, show affection to orphans so that others may treat your orphans likewise after you, and repent to God from sins.”
The Importance of Prayer and Supplication
Continuing, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said about the importance of worship and prayer in this blessed month:
“At the times of prayer, raise your hands in supplication toward the sky, for prayer times are the best times, and during those hours, the Exalted God looks upon His servants with eyes of mercy, responds to their invocations, answers their calls, and accepts their prayers. O people! Your souls are held hostage by your deeds, so free them by seeking forgiveness. Your backs are heavy with the burden of your sins, so lighten them with prolonged prostrations. The Bountiful Lord has sworn by His glory not to punish those who pray and prostrate, nor to terrify them with the Fire of Hell on the Day of Resurrection.”
The Reward for Providing Iftar
Then the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family, regarding the virtue of providing iftar,stated:
“O people! Whoever provides iftar for a faster in this month will have the reward of freeing a slave, and their past sins will be forgiven. Some of the companions said: O Prophet of God! Not all of us have the ability to do this! The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: Hold yourselves back from the Fire of Hell by providing iftar to fasters, even if it is with a single date or a sip of water.”
Hereafter and Worldly Rewards
The Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family) told the people about the hereafter effects of deeds in Ramadan:
“O people! Whoever improves their manners in this month will easily cross the Sirat on the day feet slip thereon, and whoever is lenient with their male and female servants in this month, God will make their reckoning easy on the Day of Resurrection, and whoever restrains their evil from people in this month, God will restrain His wrath from them on the Day of Resurrection.
Whoever honors an orphan in this month, God will honor them on the Day of Resurrection; whoever maintains ties and kindness with relatives in this month, God will encompass them with His mercy; and whoever cuts off ties with relatives in this month, God will withhold His mercy from them on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever performs a supererogatory prayer in this month will have protection from the Fire written for them, and whoever fulfills an obligatory prayer in this month, God will grant them the reward of seventy prayers in other months. Whoever sends abundant blessings upon me in this month, God will make the scale of their deeds heavy on the day when scales are light. Whoever recites a verse from the Quran in this month, God will grant them the reward of completing the entire Quran in other months.”
Divine Mercy in Ramadan
He continued:
“O people! The gates of Paradise are open in this month, so ask God not to close them to you; the gates of Hell are locked in this month, so ask God not to open them to you; the devils are chained in this month, so ask God not to let them dominate you.”
Prophecy of the Martyrdom of Amir al-Muminin
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) wept. I asked:
“O Prophet of God! What is the reason for your weeping?”
He said:
“O Ali! I weep because they will violate your sanctity in this month. It is as if I see you praying to your Lord, and the most wretched of the first and the last—the killer of the she-camel of Thamud—rises and strikes a blow on your head, dyeing your beard with the blood from your head.”
I asked:
“O Messenger of God! Will my faith be intact at that time?”
He said:
“Your faith will be intact.”
Then he said:
“O Ali! Whoever kills you has killed me; whoever holds enmity toward you has held enmity toward me; whoever insults you has insulted me; for you are from me like my own soul. Your spirit is from my spirit, and your nature is from my nature. God Almighty created me and you and chose us both; He chose me for prophethood and you for Imamate. Whoever denies your Imamate has denied my Prophethood. O Ali! You are my successor, the father of my children, the husband of my daughter, and my successor over my nation during my life and after my death. Your command is my command, and your prohibition is my prohibition. By the God who raised me to Prophethood and made me the best of creation, you are the proof of the Lord over His creation, His trustee in His secrets, and His successor among His servants.” [2]
References
[1] Amali, Ibn Babuyah, p. 95.
[2] Fadha’il Ashhur al-Thalatha, p. 77, Hadith 61, from Al-Hasan bin Ali bin Faddal, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 96, p. 356, Hadith 25.
