✨Rejoicing in Ramadan

All Praise is due to Allah the Especially Merciful, the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Generous, the Ever-Bestower. Accepting the repentance of those who repent. Opening the gates of righteousness for the doers of good. Giving those who ask and answering the supplicants. We praise Him for the rulings that He ordained. And for the seasons of goodness that He repeated. For he has Great Beneficence, and expansive mercy. He generously gives and is the Giver of forgiveness. He recompenses for a little with a lot. And He forgives grave offenses. And He gives what He wants to whom He wants. For His treasures do not run out. And there is no withholder of His gifts. And no detainer of His graces. There is no adjuster of His decisions. And He is the Magnanimous, the Most Generous. And I bear witness that Mohammad is His servant and messenger. The Prophet of mercy, the guide to goodness and blessings and the warner from sin and punishment. He ﷺ deters people from the fire but they insist on plunging into it.

Be conscious of Allah and obey Him. And repent earnestly, shed your sins, regret your shortcomings, be genuine with your Lord and perform your deeds only for His sake. For soon you will welcome the best and greatest month. It has immeasurable benefits and countless merits. And its goodness and virtue are beyond comprehension. And its blessings are boundless. For the deeds in it are many and the rewards are multiplied. So prepare for it in the required manner. And spend its days and nights by performing the most virtuous deeds. And show Allah goodness from yourselves.

Al Baqarah (2) 183: O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.

The person passes by periods of joy and periods of sorrow. And the greatest joy is rejoicing in and for Allah Almighty. For rejoicing in His Book, His remembrance, His ordainments, His seasons, His Favor and Mercy are not like rejoicing in something from this worldly life regardless of its goodness and quantity. Because rejoicing in Allah Almighty and what connects to Him is a permanent joy that is not cut off. And a joy that remains and does not run out. But rejoicing in this worldly life and its enjoyment is without doubt a passing joy. And no matter what, it will be cut off by death. And the entire worldly life passes away and does not remain.

Indeed most people rejoice over what they have attached to this worldly life and do not rejoice in what is related to the hereafter.

Ar-Ra’d (13) 26: And they rejoice in the worldly life, while the worldly life is not, compared to the Hereafter, except [brief] enjoyment.

And rejoicing in the worldly life could be a cause of torment as Allah Almighty informed about a people that were punished after they rejoiced:
Al Anam 44: So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair.

On the other hand, Allah Almighty commanded to rejoice in His religion:
Yunus (10) 58: Say, “In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy – in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate.”

And rejoicing in the bounty and mercy of Allah Almighty includes rejoicing in His Book, the sunnah of His Prophet and the rest of His religion. And the people who rejoice in this regard in this worldly life will rejoice in the hereafter in their reward as Allah Almighty said:
Al Imran (3) 170: Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty.

And the believers rejoice in the obedience of Allah Almighty and in performing the obligatory and voluntary deeds for his knowledge that it is a means of salvation in the hereafter and attaining the highest ranks in paradise. And he rejoices in the seasons of obedience for what they contain of various acts of obedience, multiplication of reward and orienting the hearts to Allah Almighty. And for this reason, the Prophet ﷺ rejoiced in Ramadan and gave glad tidings to his companions (may Allah be pleased with them). For when he mentioned it, he recounted what it contains of merits- all of it relating to salvation from sin and success through acts of obedience. As was related Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said when he was giving glad tidings to His companions:
There has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month, which Allah has enjoined you to fast. In it the gates of heavens are opened and the doors of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained up. In it Allah has a night which is better than a thousand months; whoever is deprived of its goodness is indeed deprived. [Ahmad 8991]

The Prophet ﷺ gave glad tidings of the barakah (blessings) of Ramadan. Barakah is growth and increase. This indicates that acts of obedience increase in Ramadan just as acquiring good deeds increases. And their multiplication is to an extent only known by Allah Almighty. According to the Hadith Qudsi in which Allah Almighty said:
Fasting is for Me and I shall reward for it. [A man] gives up his desire, his food and his drink for My sake. [al-Bukhari 1904, Muslim 1151]

And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned when he was giving glad tidings of Ramadan the obligation of fasting and this includes rejoicing in it. Because Allah Almighty loves what He obligated as Allah Almighty said in the Hadith Al Qudsi:
And My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him. [alBukhari 6502]

And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned when he was giving glad tidings of Ramadan the opening of the gates of paradise and closing the doors of hell during it. And this indicates the satisfaction of the Most Merciful with His servants. And whom does not rejoice in the satisfaction of the Most Merciful with His servants?!

And when the Prophet ﷺ was giving glad tidings of Ramadan, he mentioned the chaining of the devils. And the devils tempt the children of Adam away from acts of obedience and adorning the forbidden. So in Ramadan, the devils are not able to tempt the believers, who venerate Ramadan, like they tempt in other times. The believers who are conscious of Ramadan’s sanctity and virtue. And therefore the repentance of the disobedient abounds in Ramadan. And repentance is a reason for the rejoicing of the Most Merciful.

And who does not rejoice with something that is a reason for the rejoicing of the Most Merciful. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Allah is more delighted with the repentance of one of you, than one of you is, when finding his lost animal. [Muslim 2675]

And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned when he was giving glad tidings of Ramadan that Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Decree) is better than 1000 months. And it is a reason for the multiplication of rewards many-fold. And the reason for the long life of this ummah (nation) in acts of obedience. And even if it is limited to years. Therefore, great joy is required from this. For whom does not rejoice in a season that has a night in which a person worships in it is better than the worship of more than eighty years ?!

And the value of Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Decree) is not comprehended except by those knowing its virtue and greatness. And only the one who is aware of the virtue of worshipping at night and its place with Allah Almighty, realizes the importance of the rejoicing that is limited to Ramadan and the last ten days. And if the believers praised their Lord all eternity for the blessing of the Night of Decree and its being contained in the ten nights of Ramadan, they would not have offered sufficient gratitude to Allah Almighty.

Oh Muslims: Ramadan is approaching and what it contains of great goodness and much rewards. Therefore, whoever observes it should praise Allah Almighty for that. And spend his time in the obedience of Allah the Exalted. So how many Ramadans have been lost by the multitudes of people who are now in their graves, who expended their lives in sins. They immensely regret their inattentiveness. And wish to return to the worldly life to increase in doing good. But they will not return.

We ask Allah Almighty to make us among those who reach and observe Ramadan. And to fast and observe the night prayers in the best manner. And we ask Allah Almighty to bestow upon us acceptance and reward in it. Indeed He is All Hearing, All Answering.

Ref: