Ramadan is regarded as the most highly esteemed & hallowed month of the Islamic calendar. It is the month which is full of eminence, excellence & virtues. According to a hadith, The first ten days of this month are mercy, the middle ten days are forgiveness & its last ten days are freedom from the fire of hell. During this whole month Muslims around the whole world adhere to fasting daily from dawn to sundown by abstaining themselves from food, drink, desires etc. Fasting in this month is an obligatory (Farz ) act for all adult ,physically fit & sane Muslims. Allah ( SWT) says in the holy Quran "O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become Allah-fearing[01:183].
Undoubtedly, Ramadhan Ul Mubarak is such a blessed month in which rain of mercies, bounties & blessings shower upon the Muslims. Its every moment is full of mercy & blessing. Books of Hadith [Corpus of sayings of the prophet (PBUH)] are full of virtues of Ramadhan, showing how blessed cum glorified this month is. "When it is the first night of the month of Ramadhan the evil devils are chained. The gates of hellfire are closed-not a single gate is opened, & the gates of paradise are opened-not a single gate is closed, and a caller calls out: O seeker of good come forward, and O seeker of evil withhold, and there are many whom Allah frees from the fire and the same ensues during every night of the Ramadhan"[Tirmidhi:682].
The Prophet [PBUH ] said "If you perform a good deed in this month ,it will be equivalent to carrying out an obligatory[Farz] act in other month & if you perform an obligatory act in this month it will be equivalent to carrying out 70 obligatory acts in other month"[Sahi,ibn Khuzymah].Likewise "the Umrah pilgrimage performed during this month is equal to performing Hajj"[Bukhari:1782].
In other narration the Prophet[PBUH] said" whoever fasts in the month of Ramadhan with sincere faith & with the intention of achieving the reward of Allah, all his previous sins are forgiven"[Sahi Bukhari: 1901].He [ PBUH] further stated that" Fasting is a shield(from the hellfire and committing sins).The Prophet added, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left his food, drink and desires for my sake, I shall reward for it. There are two pleasures for the fasting person: one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be delighted because of (reward he attained for) his fasting."[sahih bukhari:1904].It clearly implies blessed this month is .
Supplications (specially at the time of Sehri & Iftaar) in this month are answered. "There are 3 people whose supplications are not denied.one among them is the fasting person when he breaks his fast"[Tirmidhi:3598].There are special prayers at night called tarawih, the prophet(PBUH) said" whoever prayed at night in it[Ramadhan] out of sincere faith & hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven"[Bukhari: 2009]
Most of all, there is a night-the top most night of the Islamic calendar called Lailatul Qadr(the night of Power)in this month and as regards its excellence is better than a thousand months. It was during this beautiful night ,Allah Almighty favoured us with the great gift of Quran, a comprehensive guide for people to know the way that leads to Allah's pleasure and a cure for the believers. Allah (SWT ) says, "The month of Ramadhan is that in which the Quran was revealed as a guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance & discrimination(between right & wrong)"[2:186].In the another chapter of the holy Quran ,Allah( SWT) says," Surely we sent it down in Lailatul Qadr. The Lailatul Qadr is better than a thousand months"[97:1&3].Hence the Ramadhan & the Quran are linked together. In fact, fasting during the month of the revelation of the Quran is the most suitable condition to express our thankfulness to Allah for giving us this blessing of Quran.

Conclusion

The month of Ramadan is a high time in which Muslim engage ourselves in sincere and committed acts of worship, fulfilling both the rights of Allah and of our fellow human beings. This will cultivate self-discipline and generosity, and empathy with the suffering of the poor. Not only is the reward of such a believer increased in the Hereafter but his livelihood is also increased in this world. It is difficult to exaggerate the bounties of this month but suffice it to say that of the three persons that the Prophet cursed, one is the unfortunate Muslim who finds Ramadan in good health but does not use the opportunity to seek Allah's mercy.

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