Salman Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Holy Messenger (may Allah bless and greet him) delivered a sermon on the last day of Shaa’ban in which he said, “O people! You are on the threshold of a month of great solemnity and blessings. It is a month during which one night is better than a thousand months. God has prescribed fasting in this month and made Taraweeh prayers optional, but it is pleasing to God. Whosoever willingly and with good intentions does one good act in this month will have the merit of having done an obligatory act in other months and who does a prescribed act in this month, it will be equal to seventy prescribed acts of other months. This is the month of endurance and the reward of endurance is Paradise and this is the month of sympathy with and care of the poor and needy men of the community.
(Mishkat)
This is part of a long hadith in which the merits of the holy month of Ramadhan have been explained. That this is ‘a month of endurance’ implies that in this month man undergoes a training in self-discipline as a preparation for the rest eleven months and a zest for obedience to God is engendered in him. A believing man or woman is like a soldier in the battlefield; he or she has to fight against Satanic temptations and forces of evil. Hence it is necessary for him to nourish self-restraint and endurance. And the holy month of Ramadhan paves the way for the believers to develop these much desired qualities.
That this is ‘a month of sympathy’ means that those fasting people who have resources should let their poorer brethren participate in the God-given blessing, and make arrangements for their Iftar (sunset breakfast) and Sahr (pre-dawn meals). The word muwasaat in the Arabic text includes soothing words along with monetary help. And once again this holy month provides the believers with the opportunities to be kind and caring to the poor and the needy.
