✨With Faith and Anticipation (Ramadan)

All praise is due to Allah in every instance and situation. Expressed verbally and through the heart. To Him alone is the appeal in adversity. And He is the Refuge from catastrophe. The people flee from Him to Him. And there is no escaping from Him except to Him. We praise Him with the praise of the grateful. And repent to Him with the repentance of the sinful. For He Glorified be He is the comfort of the afflicted. And the haven of the repentant. And the companion of those making remembrance. Through remembrance of Him, the hearts of the believers fill with tranquility and the hearts of the hypocrites fill with aversion. And the Muslims are honored through servitude to Him. For the genuine worship has a sweetness only known by those who have tasted it. And it is not tasted except by those who have tasted the sweetness of Iman. And sweetness of Iman is not tasted except by the one who is satisfied with Allah Almighty as Lord. And Islam as religion. And with Mohammad ﷺ as messenger. Hence a person makes alliances for His sake, enmities for His sake, loves for His sake and abhors for His sake. The Prophet ﷺwas the most genuine in his Iman (faith) and most sincere to his Lord Most Glorified. And most desirous for what is with Allah Almighty. And the most merciful to His creation.

Be conscious of Allah and obey Him. And sincerely preform your deeds only for His sake. And turn to Him with your hearts. And safeguard your tongues, sight and hearing. And protect your fasting and night prayers. For in these times there are many things that compromise the fast. And it could be that one who fasts and prays at night concludes Ramadan as bankrupt by losing his good deeds. From what he incurs of sins in these great nights. For in these times filled with doubts and vain desires, concern over safeguarding the good deeds is greater than earning them. So safeguard your fasting and night prayers and your righteous deeds from what vanishes or reduces them. For indeed our Prophet Mohammad ﷺ said:
Whoever does not leave false speech and acting according to it, Allah is not in any need of him leaving his food and his drink. [alBukhari 1903]

Indeed Allah Almighty wants to rectify hearts, purify souls and improve conditions through what He has mandated and ordained.

The rectification of the hearts through worship is more important than the action of the limbs. And sincerity and seeking the reward are necessary for performing a deed correctly. And for this reason it is necessary to have Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward) to attain forgiveness in Ramadan through fasting and night prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Whoever fasts during Ramadan out of faith and anticipation (of the reward from Allah), his previous sins will be forgiven. And whoever prays in the night of the decree (laylat al-qadr) out of faith and anticipation (of the reward from Allah) his previous sins will be forgiven. [Abu Dawood 1372]

And in another hadith:
Whoever performs night prayer in Ramadan out of faith and anticipation (of the reward from Allah), his previous sins will be forgiven. [alBukhari 37, Muslim 759]

And Iman (faith) is affirmation, obedience and submission. Thus one fasts affirming that indeed Allah Almighty is the worshipped Lord and that he is a created servant of Allah. And that his servitude to Allah Almighty is mandatory with no escape. And that he is honored by this servitude, is satisfied by it, loves it and joyous of it. And fasting Ramadan and praying at night during it and during Laylatual Qadr (the night of decree) is a manifestation of this servitude.

However, affirmation alone is not sufficient. For there may be someone who affirms all of this but does not act. Either abstaining from performing the symbols of Islam out of arrogance from submission to Allah or being burdened by fasting. So obedience is imperative for realizing Iman (faith) in fasting and performing night prayers in Ramadan. And it is acting according to what one has affirmed.

Accordingly, he neither fasts or performs the night prayer emulating his father or forefathers. Also, not to follow his family or society. Also, not to please someone he loves or fears or hopes to gain something from. And he does not fast to safeguard his body from excessive eating. Rather he fasts and performs the night prayer purely for the sake of Allah Almighty. If he had traveled to a place where no one knows him, he would continue fasting and praying at night. And if Ramadan came upon him and he was in a place where there was no one other than him, he would have fasted and prayed at night alone. Because he affirmed, submitted and complied. For this is the fasting and night prayer with Iman (faith). And for this reason the intention is a condition for the validity of the fast. For if he refrained from the items that break the fast without making an intention, his fasting would not be valid. Because he did not fast out of Iman (faith), submission and compliance.

And as far as anticipation (for the reward) from fasting and night prayer he desires the reward for performing it and salvation from the punishment for deficiencies in it or leaving it. That is he fasts with hope and fear. Hoping for the mercy of Allah Almighty and His forgiveness, pardoning and pleasure. And out of fear of his wrath, punishment and retribution.

So he does not say that he is fasting and performing night prayers only out of love and glorification of Allah and not out of fear of his punishment or hoping for his reward. For whoever does that is not correctly anticipating. Because whoever worships Allah only out of love for Him is a heretic. And whoever worships Him only out of fear has also deviated. And whoever worships Him only out of hope has also deviated. And whoever worships Him with love, hope and fear is a believer. And this is because Allah Almighty described the believers with descriptions of fear and hope, along with love and glorification.

Al Israa (17) 57: And they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment.

And Allah said in praising some of His messengers (peace be upon them):
Al Anbiya 90: And supplicate Us in hope and fear.

Hoping for the mercy and fearing from the fire, respectively. So requesting paradise is loved by the Lord and is pleasing to Him. And requesting it is servitude to the Lord. And establishing all of servitude is better than leaving parts of it.

Oh Muslims: And whoever fasts and safeguards his fasting from sins, it is hoped that he will achieve Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward) in his fasting. And whoever performs the night prayer in the best manner and does not leave until the Imam leaves from the Taraweeh, it is hoped that he performed night prayer with Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward). So do not deny yourselves this great goodness. And take your share from the graces of Allah Almighty. For the denied is whoever is denied the grace of Allah Almighty, His mercy, pardoning and forgiveness.

It is from the mercy of Allah Almighty upon us and from the advice of the Prophet ﷺto us is that he alerted us to the matter of Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward) in fasting and voluntary night prayer.

And any deed will not be accepted if it does not have Iman (faith) and anticipation (of the reward). But caution in this regard was given for the matters in which people may overlook Iman (faith) and anticipation (of the reward). Therefore the command came to have patience and anticipation (of the reward) for afflictions that are out of a person’s hand. Because he may neglect to have Iman (faith) and anticipation (of the reward) which lead to contentment and patience and not being anxious and displeased.

Also, Iman (faith) and anticipation (of the reward) are not be overlooked even during a Muslim’s funeral procession and burial. Because he may not have Iman (faith) and anticipation (of the reward) for various reasons such as love of the deceased. That was indicated in the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Whoever follows the funeral procession of a Muslim out of Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward), then offers the funeral prayer for him and waits until he is placed in his grave, then he will have two Qirats, each of which is like Mount Uhud. Whoever offers the funeral prayer for him then returns, he will have one Qirat. [alBukhari 47]

And attention was called for the intention of anticipation (of reward) while spending on one’s wife and children. Since people are neglectful of this expense because it is a social duty upheld by all people whether Muslim or non-Muslim and whether righteous or corrupt. The familiarity with it and getting used to it may do away with anticipating (the reward). So a believer should be cautious of it such that he is not neglectful of it and misses out on the reward.

Also, Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward) is a requirement for fasting and voluntary night prayers and observing layatul Qadr (night of decree) during Ramadan. Because fasting is a private matter between Allah and a person and a person flows with the people wherever they go. And since fasting and voluntary night prayer are aspects of Ramadan in all Muslim communities, a person may be neglectful of the intention and anticipation (of reward). And he overlooks it in the Ramadan atmosphere that makes it difficult for someone to depart from the customs of fasting and voluntary night prayers. So a person falls into error whereby he fasts because the people are fasting and he joins the voluntary night prayer because people are praying and he feels obliged to join them. And thus he does not consciously make an intention and anticipate (the reward)

We ask Allah Almighty to grant us Iman (faith) and anticipation (of reward) in our fasting and voluntary night prayers and in all of our deeds. Oh Allah make us among those who fast with (faith) and anticipation (of reward). And make us among those who perform the voluntary night prayer with (faith) and anticipation (of reward). And grant us much reward and increase our reward. And raise our rank. And forgive us and have mercy on us and our parents, our spouses, children and all the Muslims and all the believers, those whom are alive and those who have passed. Indeed, You are close and answering of the supplications.

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