Types of People after Ramadan

Be conscious of Allah, for Taqwa (consciousness of Allah) is your way to Paradise and protection from the wrath and punishment of Allah Almighty.

People after Ramadan, the season of goodness and blessing, are either of two types.

The first type is the one whom Allah has given success in Ramadan, the month of Quran, kindness and goodness, to worship Him and perform the obligations; And to avoid sins and the evil of his inner self; Such that he perfected his deeds. It is necessary for this type of person to be grateful to His Lord, remember His Lord’s graces upon him and be joyous of His Lord’s bounties upon Him. Allah Almighty said:
An Nahl (16) 53: And whatever you have of favor – it is from Allah.

And he should be steadfast in the obedience of Allah and distance himself from the forbidden. And Allah commanded to be steadfast on the straight path until death. Allah said:
Al Hijr (15) 99: And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty [i.e., death].

Therefore, the believer performs righteous deeds and thinks well of Allah Almighty. And the offender performs bad deeds and wishes to be secure from the punishment of Allah.

The one who;
Was blessed with righteous deeds in the noble month
Who accumulated many hours in his balance of good deeds
Who illuminated his heart with verses of Quran
Who purified his tongue and limbs by reciting his Lord’s Book and performed deeds bringing him closer to His Creator
Who distanced himself from what the Almighty has prohibited
Should not replace an act of obedience with a sin. And should not exchange the illumination of insight with the darkness of vain desires and doubts. And should not replace the purest moments with the turbulence of this worldly life and negligence of the heart. And should not follow the good deeds with bad deeds. For how wonderful is a good deed performed after a good deed. And how ugly is a bad deed performed after a good deed.

Indeed good deeds wipe away sins as Allah said:
Hud 114: Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.

On the other hand, sins performed after the good deeds diminish the reward of the deed and could even cancel the entire righteous deed. Allah said:
Mohammad (47) 28: That is because they followed what angered Allah and disliked [what earns] His pleasure, so He rendered worthless their deeds.

In Ramadan satan was expelled. And the devils were chained so that they could not corrupt the deeds of the Muslims. And after Ramadan they were released from the chains so turn them back away from you disappointed, rejected and disgraced by always seeking refuge in Allah from them, being steadfast upon Islam in every situation, seeking assistance from Allah in obeying Him and refraining from sins and having patience in performing acts of worship and good deeds and in facing difficulties and in controlling vain desires. Allah said:
Maryam (19) 65: Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them – so worship Him and have patience for His worship.

For one should worship, love, have hope in, fear, revere, venerate and think well of the Allah Almighty in all the months and all of the years. It was said to Bishr Al H7aafy that there were a people who only worshipped Allah in Ramadan and left doing so after Ramadan. He said: What a miserable people who only know Allah Almighty during Ramadan.

The believer continues performing righteous deeds at all times and never dares to transgress the boundaries of Allah. He is hopeful of his Lord and fears sinning. And realizes that no one enters the paradise because of their deeds as the Prophet ﷺsaid:
There is no one who enter paradise by virtue of his deeds.” They said: “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “Not even me. Unless Allah encompasses me with His mercy.” [alBukhari 5673 and Muslim 2816]

And if a person knew with certainty what paradise holds of everlasting bliss, joy, happiness, comfort and whatever the souls desire and delights the eyes; they would know that the righteous deeds are not sufficient for admission into paradise. The Almighty Lord, Most benevolent and generous, through His Mercy, admits the believer into the eternal paradise. Indeed, righteous deeds and following the Prophet ﷺ were made a means to attaining the pleasure of Allah and entering paradise.

And if a person knew the intensity of the torment of fire, he would flee from sins like fleeing from a fierce lion. And he would hate the sins as he hates the smell of a stinking corpse. And Allah Almighty made the fire of this world as an example for those who reflect. Can anyone withstand the fire of this world for an hour let alone months and years?

And the Prophet ﷺ said:
This fire of yours is one part from seventy parts of the fire of Hell [alBukhari 3265]

The second type of person is the one who fell short in the past days and was heedless in the past years. This type of person must hasten to sincerely repent to his Lord. And to save himself from the severe torment and fire whose occupants do not die such that they could relax. And they will not have any comforts. Rather they are subjected to different types of torments and punishments. Allah Almighty said:
Al Fajr (89) 23-26: (23) And brought [within view], that Day, is Hell – that Day, man will remember, but how [i.e., what good] to him will be the remembrance? (24) He will say, “Oh, I wish I had sent ahead [some good] for my life.” (25) So on that Day, none will punish [as severely] as His punishment, (26) And none will bind [as severely] as His binding [of the evildoers].

So until when will the heedless be deceived by the extended term, health and wellbeing? Does he think that his term is not fixed and that he will live forever in this world? Rather, if he thought about the number of people between him and Adam (peace be upon him) who have already passed that would have sufficed him as reflection. And to drive him from insisting on disobeying Allah Almighty. The sinner should not despair from the mercy of Allah. For He the Exalted opens the doors of mercy for His servants at all times and promised them with forgiveness if they return and repent . Allah said:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَعْفُو عَنْ السَّيِّئَاتِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ-الشورى: 25

Ash-Shurah (42) 25: And it is He who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons misdeeds, and He knows what you do.

So whoever has squandered in what has passed should ask themselves if they want to meet Allah without repenting or whether they want to turn a new page, repent, and look forward to meeting Allah Almighty.

Oh Muslims:Be grateful for the apparent and hidden favors of Allah. And praise and thank Allah for Iman (faith). Were it not for Iman (faith), man would have been lower than cattle. Not knowing Halal (permitted) or Haram (prohibited). And he would not worship Allah Who created everything. Rather he would worship his whims. Allah said:
Al Anfal 55: Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are those who have disbelieved, and they will not [ever] believe

And praise and be grateful to Allah for the blessing of the fasting and voluntary night prayer. And repeatedly request Allah to accept from you and all Muslims. For Allah accepts from those conscious of Him. And Allah is with those who are conscious of Him. So be grateful to Allah Who has abundantly bestowed upon you His favors, both apparent and hidden. And Allah has promised that being grateful to Him will increase the favors. Allah said:
Ibrahim 7: And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'”

And being grateful constantly for Allah’s favors, both apparent and hidden will preserve the favors and cause them to increase. And showing gratitude is through being steadfast in acts of obedience, leaving the prohibited, enjoining good and forbidding evil, and realizing the servitude to Allah alone and combatting the different forms of shirk (association of others with Allah).

Following a good deed with another deed is an increase in reward. And indeed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has ordained fasting six days from the month of Shawwal. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Whoever fasts during the month of Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal will be (rewarded) as if he had fasted the entire year. [Muslim 1164]

Good deeds are rewarded ten-fold. So fasting Ramadan is equivalent in reward to fasting ten months. And fasting six days is equivalent in reward to fasting two months.

We ask Allah Almighty to make us steadfast in performing good deeds sincerely for His sake and following the Sunnah of His beloved Prophet ﷺ until we meet Him.

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