A Month of Endurance

Guidance - II

Salman Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that the Holy Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) delivered a sermon on the last day of Sha’aban 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 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 in 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 hadīth in which the merits of the month of fasting have been explained in great detail. The Holy Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) calls the month of Ramadhan a Month of Endurance. It implies that in this month people undergo training in self-discipline as preparation for the rest of the year, and develop a zest for obedience to God. A believer is very much like a soldier in the battlefield. He has to fight against Satanic temptations and forces of evil. Hence it is necessary for him to nourish self-restraint and endurance.

The Holy Messenger also calls Ramadhan a Month of Sympathy. It means that the believers who have resources should let their poor brethren participate in the God-given blessing, and make arrangements for their iftar and sehr. The word muwasat in the Arabic text of the hadīth includes soothing words as well as monetary help.

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