The month of Rajab is in effect the month of yearning for Ramadaan, while the month of Sha’baan is the month of welcoming Ramadaan. Allah’s messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) welcomed Ramadaan by means of Salaah. An abundance of Nawaafil are to be found in the daily practices of Allah’s messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) during the month of Sha’baan. The mothers of the Ummah also state that he (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to fast continuously for the better part of Sha’baan. From this we learn that Allah’s messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) welcomed the month of Ramadaan with abundant Nawaafil and fasting during Sha’baan. For us, the advice of Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifa, who is our learned predecessor, is appropriate, wherein he says that one can fast for the first fifteen days of Sha’baan and thereafter desist from fasting for the balance of the month. For one should eat and drink well in preparation for Ramadaan.

What should be done in order to welcome Ramadaan? One should give up all forms of sins. One should abstain from all forms of disobedience and act upon all injunctions. Upon the oath of Allah! These are actions to be practiced upon. It is the immense Grace of Allah Ta’ala in informing us what to do and what not to do. It is therefore His great Favour that He informed us of those actions which benefit us as well as those that harm us. The true welcoming of Ramadaan is therefore the giving up of all forms of disobedience. It is a truly lofty month. It appears in the Hadeeth Shareef,

• Jannah is beatified all the year through and is also wafting with sweet fragrances. Punishment too, is put on hold during this month. The unruly Shayaateen are also chained and cast into the depths of the oceans so that the fasts of my servants are not compromised.”

Allah Ta’ala has granted us amazing forms of worship. Allah’s messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says, “My Allah has made fasting compulsory while I have made Taraweeh Sunnah.” Taraweeh is a Sunnah Muakkadah, an emphasised Sunnah. To listen to a complete rendition of the Quran in Taraweeh and not to perform Taraweeh thereafter is incorrect for these are accepted as two separate Sunnahs:

• To perform Taraweeh during the entire month of Ramadaan.

• To complete the entire Quran in Taraweeh, whether this is completed over three nights, ten or fifteen nights.

Some people perform the Taraweeh where the Quran is completed over three nights and thereafter and consider themselves absolved of the responsibility. This is incorrect for it is Sunnah Muakkadah to perform Taraweeh the entire month. One should therefore be vigilant about this the entire month.

Some women are of the opinion that Taraweeh is only for the menfolk while women are excused therefrom. This too, is incorrect. Just as Taraweeh is to be performed by men, so too is it to be performed by women. There are twenty Rakaats to Taraweeh. The Akaabir Auliya, both men and women, have been truly vigilant regarding the performance of Nawaafil. Hazrat Rabiyah Basriyah used to perform a thousand Rakaats daily. This was over and above the enjoined Salaah. Whenever she was ill, she performed an additional three hundred Rakaats saying, “My Beloved Allah has thought of me even more than usual today.” We on the other hand keep splitting hairs and breaking our feet when it comes to standing for twenty Rakaats of Taraweeh.

It appears in the Hadeeth Shareef that more than 1.6 million people are granted salvation at the time of Iftaar (breaking fast). Yes! The figure reached after calculations based on different narrations is 1.6 million; such people whose entry into Jahannum had become incumbent. This amount of people are granted salvation by Allah Ta’ala daily at the time of Iftaar. This is the time wherein one should be occupied with Duas for it is a time of acceptance thereof. “O Allah! Include me, my parents, my family, relatives and associates among these people to whom you are granting salvation.” On the final Iftaar the figure is multiplied by thirty. What is the figure reached? Calculators available today have made it easy to reach the total figure. On this single night people equal to the number of people set free from Jahannum throughout the month are set free.

When my Hazrat had come to Sukkur during the month of Ramadaan, it was probably the ninth fast—one year he spent the month of Sha’baan in Sukkur as well—during that Ramadaan he said,

“A fasting person while in his state of fasting is a Wali and a Wali is Mustajaab ud Da’waat. (One whose Duas are accepted by Allah.) According to this principle, it is deduced that every fasting person in this Ummah is a Wali, therefore, every Dua of every fasting person is accepted.”

What an amazing point he brings to the fore. Great insight into Deen did that great healer of hearts have. He had the capacity to draw pearls of wisdom from the sea of knowledge. The prudence and power of deduction granted to him could not be located far and wide. He was the epitome of moderation, the personification of affection and softness! What more can be said! He used to reach such depths from which he used to draw gems of inestimable worth. Upon the oath of Allah! Between the east and west there was no example of knowledge which he was endowed with. We beseech Allah Ta'ala to grant him a highly elevated stage in paradise. We are unable to repay him for the Deeni favours he bestowed on us. Only Allah Ta’ala can adequately reward him for that. Such an amazing point he mentioned, that a fasting person, a person while fasting is a Wali and a Wali is Mustajaab ud Dua. Consider the logical sequence of his deductions.

Brothers! I subscribe to the fact that one should abstain from all forms of sin during the month of Ramadaan even it means doing so by spending one’s day sleeping. Together with fasting add sleeping while ensuring that one’s Salaah is performed on time with Jamaa’at. Endeavour to avoid sins. If one succeeds in abstaining from sins along with fasting in the month of Ramadaan, one will by the blessings thereof be made into such a Muttaqi whereby entrance into Jannah without reckoning will take place.

Abbaajee used to say, “For a Muttaqi to be subjected to questioning? I fail to understand how this can be?” What did he mean by this? If an individual is a Muttaqi on the plane of excellence, on the level of completion, he will, Insha-Allah, not be subjected to questioning.

He also used to say, “Ramadaan in one’s home is best and if one has the opportunity to spend it with one’s Shaykh with the intention of reformation, even better!” Brothers! Do not go elsewhere. He used to say, “Become an ascetic at his threshold and do not budge from there.” For how long? As long as the Shaykh is not satisfied. The satisfaction of the patient has no merit. The satisfaction of the physician is valued as opposed to the satisfaction of the patient. What an amazing point, become an ascetic at his threshold and do not depart from there until he is satisfied with your condition. Spend the month of Ramadaan in the Khanqah on the pattern of Thana Bhowan, on the pattern of Raipur and on the pattern of the Khanqah of Deoband. Spend a Ramadaan the way our Akaabireen have spent it.

What a gathering assembled at Silhat with Hazrat Madani! The same was the case in the Khanqah Imdadiyah of Hazrat Thanwi. In Raipur all correspondences and meetings came to a close. Amazingly did Hazrat Abdul Qaadir Sahib serve the elder Hazrat Raipuri. The entire Khanqah used to be filled to capacity during Ramadaan. He used to survive on dry bread, on the simplest of food available. Hazrat Abdul Qaadir Sahib used to eat the pieces of bread leftover by the visitors along with the tea leaves left over after brewing tea of Hazrat Abdur Raheem Raipuri Sahib and thrown away. People do not reach these elevated levels without sacrifices and endeavour. Today, the Ummah is increasing in numbers by leaps and bounds but that calibre of individuals is not being produced who succeeded in redirecting the course of other’s lives.

This is a month of purification, a month of change and a month of moral rectitude. This month of Ramadaan, the month of fasting is one whereby steadfastness in Deen is endowed. A month wherein one fosters self discipline. The evil habits one has fallen prey to, should be bade farewell and replaced with good habits. Insha-Allah, by the blessings of this endeavour, one will be granted the ability to abstain from these evils even after the month of Ramadaan has passed. To the extent that safeguards the tongue and eyes, ones ears and heart, to the extent that one reforms one’s character, will one be endowed with the Taufeeq to maintain the fruits of one’s efforts thereafter as well. One’s tongue will be held in check for the rest of the year with ease as will one’s eyes, ears and heart. For Allah’s sake protect these organs whereby one’s Deen is plundered. Perform the Taraweeh Salaah with joy and pleasure. Resort to Duas at the time of Iftaar and Sehri. Adopt the Sunnah way of life. If one is unable to enhance one’s fasting by varied forms of obedience then resort to sleeping as a last resort. Better still will it be to resort to courage and succeed each act of obedience with another. Make excessive Tilaawat of the Quran for it is the month wherein the Quran was revealed.

Allah’s messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to revise the memorisation of the Quran with Hazrat Jibra’eel Ameen. During his last year he revised the Quran twice and he also made a double Etikaaf. Why this doubling of these two activities he demonstrated two points, that one should not give up these activities and also that this was his last Ramadaan being spent after which he will depart. Tell me gentlemen! Where will one find such an affectionate prophet? He (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said:

Continued living in this world was a point wherein he was given choice. He had not even truly aged yet. Hazrat Ali explains that at the time of bathing him, there were only nineteen white hair. This of course, is a different age wherein people age much faster. I remember a time when it was famously said that a person only reaches his prime at the age of seventy.