Ramadhan -- The Month to Build Taqwa and Receive Guidance

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

The blessed month of Ramadhan is just around the corner. When we talked about Ramadhan, the first thing that comes to most minds is fasting for 29 or 30 days. We think of Ramadhan as the month of fasting but Allah wants us to think of it as the month of the Quran. The month of Ramadhan is a celebration of Muslim identity as people of Quran.

The purpose of fasting is taqwa (to protect oneself from Hellfire).

Allah Most High says,

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣

O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous - (183) [Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:183]

However, the purpose of Ramadhan is different than fasting. It is to make it easy for us to build taqwa with the guidance of the Quran.

Allah Most High says,

شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍ مِّنَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْفُرْقَانِ ۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُوا۟ ٱلْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿١٨٥

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. (185) [Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:185]

Allah wants ease for us and He does not want hardship for us. How come fasting got harder and Allah says He wants to make it easy? Fasting builds taqwa and taqwa is what will give us guidance. Allah Most High says in the Quran,

ذَ‌ٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿٢

This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah (people who have taqwa)- (2) .

The more you fast the more taqwa you have. The more taqwa you have the more ready you are to take in this guidance. Allah wants guidance to come to you easily but you need a lot of taqwa to get guidance easily. You have to fast a lot to have a lot of taqwa. So this Ramadhan, you fast during the day and build your taqwa, and listen to Quran at night to get guidance. You need a proper regimen to build relationship with the Quran.

Allah promises ease in this life and the next for people who have taqwa. He has made taqwa easier for us and through taqwa He has made the access of guidance easier for us in the month of the Quran.

And so we can declare the greatness of Allah based on how He guided us. This is how we declare Allah's greatness -- by fasting and committing ourselves to Quran. And so that, hopefully, we become grateful. Grateful for what? We should be grateful for having been given the gift of the Quran. On top of that we should be grateful that Allah gives us a month in which the one thing that we need most in life -- guidance.

Shaytan is dedicated to making sure that you don't get guidance. Allah chained up Shaytan in Ramadhan, and then Allah gives you something that builds your taqwa, which is fasting, so that you can get guidance from the Quran. How grateful can you be? When you start getting connected to the Quran then you can ask Allah properly. We are closest to Allah in Ramadhan.

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ ﴿١٨٦

And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided. (186) [Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:186]

May Allah bring us closer to Him this Ramadhan and make us of the people of taqwa and His elect people of the Quran. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam