The Fasting Woman’s Need for Repentance and Making the Most of Ramadan

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Question:
And we ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to grant us all success in taking advantage of these great opportunities that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, prepares for His servants. Honorable Shaykh, what do you say at the beginning of these episodes to a fasting woman who, this month, may have been negligent in some of the rights of Allah, such as delaying the prayer, failing to maintain family ties, being lax about the hijab, or the rights of her husband, or the like?

Answer:
We say to ourselves first, and to this woman and other of our Muslim brothers, that it is obligatory for all of us to turn to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). He, the Exalted and Majestic, said:

So flee to Allah. Indeed, I am to you from Him a clear warner.

فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ إِنِّي لَكُم مِّنْهُ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ

[Adh-Dhariyat 51:50]

So it is obligatory for all of us to turn to Allah at all times and in every state. When a sin or disobedience occurs from us, we must hasten to repent, in Ramadan and in other times. He, the Exalted and Exalted, said:

The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance [or carelessness] and then repent soon after. It is those to whom Allah will turn in forgiveness

إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ

[An-Nisa 4:17]

And He, the Exalted and Exalted, said:

And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah?

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

[Ali 'Imran 3:135]

and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.

وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

[Ali 'Imran 3:135]

So it is obligatory for the woman in this month to remember her standing before Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), to hold herself to account, to repent from her sins, and to increase in righteous deeds. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, said:

And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night.

وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ طَرَفَيِ النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ

[Hud 11:114]

"Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds. That is a reminder for those who remember." So we are all sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent. This month has an increase in alertness, an increase in awareness, and a great secret. The state of the believer in this month differs from his state in the other months, and this is something every Muslim perceives and feels. So upon the woman, and upon every Muslim by way of generality, and upon the woman specifically, it is upon all of them to repent to Allah and to be conscious of the greatness of this month. Perhaps it will be a starting point for good in what follows, for perhaps the Muslim man or the Muslim woman will repent in this month and become aware, and that will be a wake-up call for him in the rest of his life. And his life will be concluded with good, so this month will be a starting point for good, and this month will be a training for obedience, and this month will be a warning for the heedless. So the woman should make the most of this month by repenting and seeking forgiveness from all sins and all evil deeds, and by turning to the obedience of her Lord (Mighty and Majestic) in its noble times, and not being heedless with the heedless. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah bless you, Honorable Shaykh. Honorable Shaykh

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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