Every year the Month of Ramadhan comes and goes; every year we fast, yet without proper appreciation of the potentials of character building that the fasts hold for us.

Once, on the last Friday of Sha’ban, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) delivered a sermon about the significant of the Month of Ramadhan to prepare his companions for receiving this sacred month. In that great sermon he said:

“O’ people! Allah’s (SWT) Month has approached you laden with blessing, mercy and forgiveness. It is a month which Allah (SWT) regards as the best of all months. Its days, in the sight of Allah (SWT), are the best of days; its nights are the best of nights; and its hours are the best of hours. It is a month in which you are invited to be the guests of Allah (SWT), and you are regarded during it as worthy of Allah’s Grace.

In this month, your breathing praises Allah (SWT), and your sleeping adores God. Your deeds (of worship) are accepted, and your pleas are answered therein. Therefore, ask Allah (SWT), your Lord, in sincere intentions and pure hearts to enable you to observe the fast and to recite God’s Book (the Quran) during this month, only the unfortunate one is deprived of Allah’s (SWT) Forgiveness.”

-Laws and practices: what is the fast of the Month of Ramadhan, compiled by unknown

-The Merits of Fasting and the Month of Ramadhan, Mohammad Ali Shomali

-Fasting and the Holy Month of Ramadhan, Mansour Leghaei

– Fast, Sayyid Sa’eed Akhtar Rizvi

-God’s Mercy through Fasting, Hussain Ansariyan

Source: en.shafaqna.com