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Ramadan’s Indispensable Blessings
Author : Dr. Abdallah Rabab'ah
Date Added : 09-11-2026

Ramadan’s Indispensable Blessings

Every year Ramadan arrives, and the sincere believer and the devoted Muslim greet it with high resolve and overflowing joy. In the hearts of the righteous, it holds a special place and a distinguished rank. It is the most blessed of months, the richest in goodness, the widest in benefit, and the highest in station. Allah honored it with the goodness He placed in it, and His Messenger magnified and blessed it, calling it “the month of Allah.” It is the month of obedience and worship, of goodness and blessing, the month in which Allah revealed the Qur’an as guidance for mankind and as clear proofs of guidance and criterion. If only Muslims would give it its due, honor its rank, and seize its hours and moments.

-The believer welcomes it with sincere repentance, by which Allah erases sins, raises ranks, and turns evil deeds into good ones: “O you who believe, turn to Allah in sincere repentance” [al-Taḥrīm/8].

-The believer welcomes Ramadan by guarding the prayers and their times and keeping up the congregation. One prayer to the next is an expiation for what lies between them, and whoever guards the prayer will find in it light, deliverance, and proof on the Day of Resurrection.

-The Muslim welcomes Ramadan with the resolve to fast. Fasting purifies souls of their wrongdoing, frees them from sins, and trains them in patience, which is half of faith, the secret of a person’s happiness, and the believer’s provision when trials grow severe and distress deepens.

-The believer welcomes Ramadan with the resolve to recite the Qur’an, to reflect on its verses, and to learn its rulings on the lawful and the unlawful. The Qur’an is what sets right people’s beliefs, straightens their character, purifies their souls, and refines their minds, as Allah says {what means}: “There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book” [al-Māʾidah/15].

-The Muslim welcomes Ramadan with the resolve to keep up the Tarāwīḥ prayer and the night prayer, for this is the habit of the righteous and the way of the God-conscious. Allah says {what means}: “They used to sleep but little of the night, and before dawn they would seek forgiveness” [al-Dhāriyāt/17-18]. He also says of the believers {what means}: “Their sides forsake their beds, calling upon their Lord in fear and hope” [al-Sajdah/16]. The commentators said this refers to the night prayer, in which the worshipper leaves his bed and his family, forgoes sleep and comfort, and turns to Allah the Exalted in fear and hope, out of faith and seeking reward. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward will have his previous sins forgiven.” {Related by Bukhari & Muslim}. The Muslim should therefore prepare himself to receive this noble guest and great month.

-Allah made the fast of this noble month obligatory upon Muslims, made it a pillar of the religion, and recorded its obligation in several verses of the Qur’an, so that its ruling would endure as long as the Qur’an endures. Allah the Exalted says {what means}: “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain God-consciousness” [al-Baqarah/183]. In addition, He says {what means}: “The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for mankind and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever witnesses the month, let him fast it” [al-Baqarah/185]. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) counted the fast of Ramadan as a pillar of Islam, a foundation of the religion, and one of the greatest means of drawing near to the Lord of the worlds. He said: “Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah, establishing the prayer, giving zakāh, Ḥajj to the House, and fasting Ramadan.” In another ḥadīth: “The bonds of Islam and the foundations of the religion are three, upon which Islam is established. Whoever abandons one of them is a disbeliever on that account, his blood lawful: the testimony that there is no god but Allah, the obligatory prayer, and the fast of Ramadan.” [Musnad Abī Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī]

-The Muslims are unanimously agreed on the obligation of fasting Ramadan and regard it as known from the religion by necessity (Basics of the religion of Islam known to everyone). The worker in his factory, the merchant in his shop, and the soldier in his barracks all know it, and its obligation is known to everyone.

-Allah gathered a great deal of goodness in the month of Ramadan. It is reported of its virtue: “Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward will have his previous sins forgiven, and whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward will have his previous sins forgiven.” It is a month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness, and whose end is emancipation from the Fire. It is reported that Allah the Exalted frees a number of people from the Fire every night at the time of breaking the fast, and on the last night He frees as many as He freed on all the other nights. We ask Allah the Exalted to let us reach Ramadan, to grant us success in making the most of it, and to free our necks from the Fire.

-Ramadan in the minds of Muslims is not Ramadan in the lives of Muslims. In the lives of Muslims it is bloated stomachs and endless TV serials. In their minds, it is bound to momentous events that changed the course of history and left the deepest mark on the history of humanity. The greatest of these Ramadan events is the descent of revelation upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). While he was worshipping in the cave of Ḥirāʾ, the trustworthy Jibrīl came down to him with the first verses of the Noble Qur’an: “Read in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clinging clot” [al-ʿAlaq/1-2]. The days passed until Ramadan of the second year after the Hijrah arrived, and in it occurred the Great Battle of Badr, the first battle in which Allah gave Islam honor and the Muslims victory, and defeated the disbelievers and polytheists. He reminded the believers of this favor, saying: “And Allah had already given you victory at Badr while you were weak, so fear Allah that you may be grateful” [Āl ʿImrān/123]. The days passed again until Ramadan of the eighth year after the Hijrah arrived, when Allah gave the believers a far greater victory and defeated idolatry and the idolaters.

-Every Ramadan, Muslims enter the school of fasting, where they learn the foundations of noble character, refined manners, and honorable conduct. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Ramadan, a month of blessing, has come to you. In it, there is goodness with which Allah envelops you: He sends down mercy, wipes away sins, and answers prayers. Allah looks upon your striving with one another and boasts of you before His angels. So show Allah good from yourselves, for the wretched one is he who is deprived of Allah’s mercy in it.” Narrated by al-Ṭabarānī.

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Summarized Fatawaa

If someone starts the day sick or traveling while fasting, is it permissible for them to break their fast?

● A sick person who finds fasting difficult is allowed to break their fast, whether they began the day fasting or not.
● As for a traveler:
○ If they were still at home at dawn and then traveled after Fajr (dawn), they must continue fasting unless they experience extreme hardship, in which case they may break their fast.
○ However, if they were already traveling when dawn broke—meaning they had left their town before Fajr—then they are permitted to break their fast. This is what the Prophetﷺ did during the year of the conquest (of Makkah).

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on working in hotels?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is permissible to work in hotels, restaurants, and shops in jobs that involve no direct handling of forbidden things and do not assist in them, such as administrative work.
As for jobs in which one directly handles forbidden things or assists in them, such as serving, transporting, or purchasing alcohol, receiving payment for it, or agreeing to buy it, working in them is forbidden, based on the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.” [al-Māʾidah/2]
The basic nature of the work of hotels and restaurants is permissible, and the sin of any forbidden element that arises incidentally in some of what takes place in a hotel or restaurant is borne by those who run it.
The scholars have also permitted dealing with one whose lawful wealth is mixed with unlawful wealth, as previously explained in Fatwa no. (2697). And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on the ablution of one who touches women prohibited to him by a temporary prohibition (mahram bi-hurma mu'aqqata)?

It is prohibited to touch a woman who is temporarily prohibited (meaning one whom it becomes permissible to marry after the impediment is removed, such as the wife of a brother or paternal uncle). Touching her without a barrier invalidates ablution. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

There are olive trees within the precincts of the mosque, and my father covers the costs of electricity, water, and other needs of the mosque. Is it permissible for him to take the olive harvest?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
If trees and fruit-bearing crops are planted in a mosque for the mosque itself, they may only be spent on the mosque’s interests. If they were planted for the public way (musabbalah), that is, for the general public, then any Muslim who enters the mosque may eat from them. If the planter’s intention is unknown, they are treated like those dedicated for public use, wherever custom has so run.
It is stated in Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj (Vol.6/p.295): “The fruit of a tree planted for the mosque within it is not freely permitted without compensation. Rather, the imam spends its equivalent value on the mosque’s interests. The tree left its planter’s ownership here without any verbal declaration because of the evident indication. The case of planting it for the mosque excludes planting it as musabbalah, in which case eating from it without compensation is permissible, and likewise if his intention is unknown, where custom has so run. The tree may be uprooted from the mosque if the imam sees fit. Indeed, if he makes the plot a mosque while a tree stands in it, the imam may uproot it, even if the endower included it within the endowment (waqf).”
The father is a donor (mutabarriʿ), so he is not entitled to take anything in return for his donation to the mosque.
The Ministry of Awqāf is the body that supervises the affairs of endowments, so it must be consulted and the Sharīʿah and administrative instructions regulating such matters must be considered. And Allah Almighty knows best.