The Guidance of the Salaf in Spending the Times of Ramadan.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: It has been the custom of the Salaf, or many of them, that when Ramadan enters, they devote themselves to reading the Qur'an. This is because the month passes, and it is the month of the Qur'an. People should devote themselves to reading the Qur'an in it. However, in light of the request from the brothers at the Da'wah Center in Unaizah for this occasional meeting to take place, and in light of the benefit I hope for in it from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, I agreed to hold this meeting on this night, the night of Sunday, the eleventh of the blessed month of Ramadan, in the year 1420. This is the night of Sunday, the first day of the week. This is the night of Sunday, the first of the middle ten days of Ramadan. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to rectify for us and for you the first part and the last part of our lives.
On this night, I wish to remind myself and you of seizing the time before it is lost, for the days pass quickly, especially in our time. A person is on a Friday, and then the next Friday comes as if only one day had passed between them. This is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2332Sahih (Darussalam). As for his saying: . Some scholars said that the meaning is that cities grow, so the distance between two cities that was ten days becomes less than that when they grow. Thus, time becomes close. But what appears to be the case is that it is interpreted by what we are experiencing today. Time is very, very close. Try yourself; Ramadan last year seems as if it did not pass except in Sha'ban. This is what I find in myself, and I do not know if you find it in yourselves or not? Yes? You find this!! It is as if this year's Ramadan entered last night. And now a third of it has passed, and a third is a lot. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to forgive what has passed and to help us with righteous deeds in what remains.
The middle ten days are better than the first ten, and the last ten are better than the middle ten. You will also find that this is generally consistent: that the noble times, their end is better than their beginning. The afternoon of Friday is better than its beginning. The afternoon of the Day of 'Arafah is better than its beginning. And the wisdom in this—and Allah knows best—is that when souls begin working, they become tired and weary, so they are encouraged. They are encouraged by the virtue of the end of times over the beginning, so they become active in the last time, so they become active in the last time and do the righteous deed.
As for what follows: It has been the custom of the Salaf, or many of them, that when Ramadan enters, they devote themselves to reading the Qur'an. This is because the month passes, and it is the month of the Qur'an. People should devote themselves to reading the Qur'an in it. However, in light of the request from the brothers at the Da'wah Center in Unaizah for this occasional meeting to take place, and in light of the benefit I hope for in it from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, I agreed to hold this meeting on this night, the night of Sunday, the eleventh of the blessed month of Ramadan, in the year 1420. This is the night of Sunday, the first day of the week. This is the night of Sunday, the first of the middle ten days of Ramadan. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to rectify for us and for you the first part and the last part of our lives.
On this night, I wish to remind myself and you of seizing the time before it is lost, for the days pass quickly, especially in our time. A person is on a Friday, and then the next Friday comes as if only one day had passed between them. This is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The hour shall not be established until time is constricted
لا تقوم الساعة حتى يتقارب الزمانuntil time becomes close
حتى يتقارب الزمانThe middle ten days are better than the first ten, and the last ten are better than the middle ten. You will also find that this is generally consistent: that the noble times, their end is better than their beginning. The afternoon of Friday is better than its beginning. The afternoon of the Day of 'Arafah is better than its beginning. And the wisdom in this—and Allah knows best—is that when souls begin working, they become tired and weary, so they are encouraged. They are encouraged by the virtue of the end of times over the beginning, so they become active in the last time, so they become active in the last time and do the righteous deed.