Many people spend this month like other months due to unawareness and lack of knowledge about its virtues. Whereas Allah Almighty has given such a virtue to this month that, for instance, it is quoted in the Hadith, that as soon as you see the moon of Ramadhan, the devils and rebellious jinns are captured and imprisoned.
Ramadhan is the month of blessings and bliss, sympathy and brotherhood. In this month every night an announcement is made on behalf of Allah Almighty, that is there anyone who seeks forgiveness, whose repentance I should accept. Is there someone who seeks anything so that I should give him what he seeks. Is there someone who seeks forgiveness so that I should forgive him. In this month Allah Almighty gave us a night such as Qadar in which Allah almighty bestows endless blessings. Now we should think that in this month of blessings and forgiveness should we keep on playing around like malingerers and useless activities. Meaning that we are abandoning this yearly gift of Allah almighty with our own hands and we loose it with carelessness and unthankfulness. We don't know that whether we would be able to see the next ramadhan. My brothers! The mistakes follies and sins that we commit in this month we would like to discuss a little bit about them over here briefly so that in this virtuous month we can save ourselves. And we should race to perform pious deeds while saving ourselves from these.
Unawareness With The virtues of Ramadhan: Many people spend this month like other months due to unawareness and lack of knowledge about its virtues. Whereas Allah Almighty has given such a virtue to this month that, for instance, it is quoted in the Hadith, that as soon as you see the moon of Ramadhan, the devils and rebellious jinns are captured and imprisoned. All the doors of the hell are closed. And all the doors of the heaven are opened, none is left closed. And an announcer makes an announcement, o wisher of the good, move ahead, and o wisher of the bad, move behind. And Allah almighty frees many people from the hell in this month. And this keeps on happening on every night of this month. (tirmidhi)
That is why it is obligatory upon us that we consider this month to be a precious gift. And we spend each and every moment of life in attaining the proximity of Allah almighty. So that we obtain highest possible rewards from Allah almighty and achieve forgiveness for sins and freedom from hell.
The Problem Due to Arrival of This Month: A few people feel troubled due to arrival of this month. Specially the one's who smoke and chew pans. Because in the month of Ramadhan one would have to refrain from usage of these things during the days. Or they would have to use them as they hide. This is something problematic for them. My brother! If you have this much courage that you can refrain from cigarettes and pans for half a day then have patience for the rest of the half day as well and fast. As a result of this you will quit these habits and you would have the blessing to respect this virtuous month.
Clumsiness and Drowsiness: During the ramadhan often people become clumsy and drowsy. Specially they spend the whole day while sleeping. A few people wake up just before the iftaar. Obligatory prayers and dhikr of Allah and recitation of Quran have no value in their eyes.
Staying up Late At Night: During the ramadhan a few people stay awake without any purpose or need till late at night. So much so that Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) used to go to bed early at night after offering Isha prayers. It has been seen that a few people offer taraaweeh and spend their time in nafal prayers and worship. Otherwise most people offer taraaweeh and waste their time in gossiping and needlessly staying awake at night. They waste this valuable month in useless activities. Due to staying awake at night sometimes people miss their ajar prayers, which is a big sin. It must be remembered that friends of Allah have written that just as the rewards for pious deeds are increased in this month, meaning that every pious deed has 70 times more rewards, in a similar fashion the potential punishments for bad deeds are also manifold in this month.
Eating Too Much: This is a big mistake. Often people understand that the month of Ramadhan is probably a month of eating and resting. These people are completely oblivious about fasting, worship and other physical and spiritual benefits of this month. Often they adorn their mosques and houses with so many types of foods and drinks that a person becomes anxious as he sees them wondering if the month of ramadhan was for these things? Is fasting been prescribed for these activities? Did hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions (RA) adorn their dining like this?
The Illness of Being Unveiled: It has been seen that in ramadhan people go to their relatives and friends with the intention of meeting them, or iftaar parties are conducted in which often there is no regard for veil. Young lads go with the excuse of meeting their aunts and talk to their daughters who are unknown and ghair-mehram to them. It is difficult to stay safe from the mischiefs of the devil. And there is definitely some lack of proper veil there. Lack of veil is a grave sin. But in ramadhan it is an even bigger sin. A man of Allah has earnestly and humbly said that my brothers and sisters, save yourself from the illness of being unveiled in this month of blessings. So much so that in this sacred month the most kind Lord may get displeased with you.
A Few Fasts: A few people only keep a special fast of friday in this month. This is an act of great lack of courage. Allah has obliged us to keep all the fasts. Any day of ramadhan is not difficult that any ordinary day of fasting, so have courage and observe all the fasts. Taraaveeh prayers: Often young men go away after offering obligatory prayers due to personal business. This is also one type of sluggishness and clumsiness, because in this month the taraaveeh is sunnat Mokida and it is not good to not offer them.
Quiting the Congregation Prayers: A few people take too long to eat the iftaar. Due to this they miss the takbeer-r-oola of the maghrib prayers. A few even miss the whole congregation prayer. Or they miss one or two rackets. Due to the fact that some people miss their jamaat in the mosque a few people conduct jamaat right in their homes. This is of course better than praying alone, but this is obviously not the same as praying in the mosque in terms of rewards. Specially in this month of rewards and blessings you should definitely not be lazy about offering your prayers in the mosque. You should try as much as possible that you do not miss the congregation prayer. This would be a great loss that in this special month of rewards and blessings a person misses to pray with a congregation. Praying in a congregation is not only a matter of great rewards, rather without any excuse ot praying with the congregations there are strong statements in the Hadith.
