The following is a compilation of excerpts of Prophet Muḥammad’s (ṣ) sermon in welcoming the month of Ramaḍān:
“O people, indeed the month of Allah has approached you with blessings, mercy and forgiveness. In the eyes of Allah, it is the best of all months, its days are the best of all days, its nights are the best of all nights, and its hours are the best of all hours. It is a month in which you have been invited to be the honored guests of Allah. Your breathing in the month is tasbīḥ (reciting the praise of Allah), your sleep in it is an act of ʿibādah (worship), your deeds are accepted, and your prayers are answered. Therefore, ask your Lord with sincere intentions and pure hearts to help you fast during this month and recite His book, for the most unfortunate is one who is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this great month.
By your thirst and hunger, remember the hunger of the Day of Judgment and its thirst. Give charity to the poor and needy among you, lower your glances from what is not permissible for you to see, and refrain [from hearing] what is not permissible for you to hear. Show sympathy to the orphans of the people, and sympathy will be shown to your orphans.
O people, your souls are dependent on your deeds; therefore, release them [from the Hellfire] by asking for forgiveness. Your backs are burdened with your weight [of sins], so lighten their burden by lengthening your sujūd (prostrations), and He shall not threaten with fire when people will stand [in prayers] for the Lord of the universe.
O people, whosoever among you improves his khūlq (character) during this month shall pass over the ṣirāṭ (the bridge) on the Day of Judgment when otherwise their feet would slip.
O people, the doors of Paradise are open during this month, so ask your Lord not to close them on you; the doors of Hell are closed, so ask your Lord not to open them up for you. The satans are in chains, so ask Allah not to impose them upon you.”
Imām ʿAlī (ʿa) stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah, what is the best of deeds during this month?”
The Prophet (ṣ) said, “O Abū Ḥasan (ʿa)! The best of deeds during this month is to refrain from what Allah has prohibited.”
Then, the Prophet (ṣ) began to weep. Imām ʿAlī (ʿa) asked, “O Messenger of Allah (ṣ), what has made you cry?”
The Prophet (ṣ) said, “O ʿAlī (ʿa), I am crying for the injustice that will be done against you this month. It is as if I see you while you are praying to your Lord, and the most wretched of the mankind…struck you [with his sword] on your head so that its blood colored your beard.”
Imām ʿAlī (ʿa) asked, “O Messenger of Allah (ṣ), will this happen while I am at peace with my faith?
The Prophet (ṣ) replied, “You will be at peace with your faith. O ʿAlī (ʿa), whoever kills you, it is as if he has killed me; whoever hates you, it is as if he hates me; whoever curses you, it is as if he has cursed me because you are to me like my own soul. Your soul is from my soul, and your nature is from my nature. Verily, All-Mighty Allah created me and you, then He selected me and you, and chose me for Prophethood and chose you for Imāmah; so whoever rejects your Imāmah has indeed rejected my Prophethood. O ʿAlī (ʿa), you are my heir (ṣ), the father of my descendants (ʿa), the husband of my daughter (ʿa), and the successor of my community in my life as well as in my death. Your command is my command, and your prohibition is my prohibition. I swear by the One who raised me as the Prophet (ṣ) and made me the best of creation, you indeed are the proof of Allah upon His creation, the trustee of His secret, and His vicegerent towards His servants.”
(Translated by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, ʿUyūn Akhbār ar-Riḍā, Vol. 2, P. 265)
DAILY DUA FOR RAMADAN
By Imam at-Taqi (a)
