Allahu Teala says in the Quran al-karim “shehru Ramadzan elledziy unzila fiyhil Quran.”  The holy Quran, the true life for a muslim, nay, for all humankind, was bestowed upon us in the month of Ramadzan.  Even the letters of this holy month which the beloved of Allah, s.a.s., says is the month of his ummah, have spiritual meaning.  The Ra stands for the ridzah, the approval and pleasure of Allahu Teala upon mankind.  Mim stands for muhabba, the love and care of Allahu Teala. Dzad stands for the guidance.  Alif; ulfa stands for the closeness and Nun stands for nur, the divine light which enters the hearts of the believers who honor the holy month of Ramadzan.

In a hadith related by Hz. Selman Farsi, r.a., Resullulah, s.a.s. gave a sermon on the last Friday of the month of Shaban and said:

“The holy month of Ramadzan now is upon us.  It is a blessed month.  It is the month of my ummah.  Amongst months, its honor is like mine compared to other men, like the heart in the body of humankind, like Harem al-sharif compared to other places. 

In this month there is a night which is worth more than a thousand months.

Allah orders us to fast the days and pray the nights in this month.  For each of the obligatory worship you do with a pure body and soul you receive seventy rewards instead of one for worship done in other months.

This month is the month of Sabr, patience.  The reward of patience is janna, the Paradise.

This month is the month of Baraka, of blessings when the Rizq, sustenance of the true servant of Allah will certainly increase.

If you give an iftar and feed a mu’min, a believer, you will be cleansed of your sins, and you will receive the benefit of the fast of your brother whom you fed, while his reward for fasting will not decrease.  Even those who cannot afford a feast, one date, a glass of milk or a glass of water will do for you the same.

It is such a month during which you receive the Rahmah, the love and compassion of Allah at its beginning.  In its middle Allah forgives your sins, at its end you are totally saved from the punishment of hellfire.

During this month if you reduce the duties of the ones who work for you, Allah cleanses you of your sins.

During this month, make four things a habit for you during your daily lives.  With the first two, you will receive Allah’s ridza, his approval and pleasure.  The last two you certainly need in this world and in the hereafter.

            1.         Remember Allah often by repeating and believing with all your heart that there is no God,                        there is nothing but Allah: La illaha illalah.

            2.         Repent and beg Allah’s forgiveness for your sins and your errors.

            3.         Beg Allah to let you enter paradise in this world and in the hereafter.

            4.         Take refuge in Allah from the hellfire.

When you feed the hungry and help the poor during Ramadzan Allah promises to quench your thirst by giving you a drink from the fountain of Kawther on the day of last judgement, and you will be quenched of thirst for all eternity.”

Sadaqa Rasullalah sallallahu alayhi wa-sallam.

In this hadith the beloved of Allah, s.a.s., gives us all we need to do during the blessed month of Ramadzan.  But we must realize that there are some conditions, such as “with pure body and soul,” ” true mu’min”, “with belief with all your heart.”  That is why some of us tried to cleanse ourselves during the previous months of Rajab and Shaban.  On the subject of being a true muslim, pure at heart and soul and body, I would like to tell you the story of our imam,  Hz. Abu Hanifa, k.s.

Hz. Thabit k.s., the father of Hz. Abu Hanifa, k.s., when he was yet young and a bachelor, stopped at the banks of a river and took ablution. He saw a beautiful apple floating in front of him and without thinking, he picked it up and bit into it.  He realized that apple was not his and felt terribly guilty that he may have indulged in haram.  He walked upstream seeking the orchard where that apple may have come from.  Finally he found it.  He looked for the owner and found Hz. Salih, k.s., and asked him if he may pay for an apple which he found down the stream and bit into, or may he please make it lawful to him.  Hz. Salih wanted to test the young man, whether he was showing off to be so pure and so keen upon helal and haram, or whether he was sincere.  He said  “No.  You have eaten something which did not belong to you and the price of that is very dear.  You will have to work for me for a whole year to pay for it.”  Hz. Thabit accepted his condition and worked for him a whole year.  At the end of that period Hz. Salih told him that he had one last condition which he had to fulfill to make this apple lawful.  He would have to marry his daughter who is blind and deaf and dumb, whose hands cannot hold, and whose feet cannot walk.  Hz. Thabit accepted that condition also.  On the night of the wedding Hz. Thabit found in his room a most beautiful girl, who can see and hear and talk and walk.  He immediately left the room and went to his father-in-law and said:  “This marriage is not right.  You did not tell me the truth about your daughter.”  Hz. Salih responded:  “Indeed I told you the truth.  Her eyes did not look at haram, her ears did not hear the haram, her tongue did not speak the haram, nor did she hold or go to anyplace where there was haram.”

From this marriage Hz. Abu Hanifa was born.  In his childhood he made hatim (read the whole Quran) in three days and came to report to his mother, that pure woman who was called Abidetu al-azhar and said, "Mother, I completed reading the thirty juz sections of the Quran by reading ten juz a day.”  She responded, “My child, you could have done it in one day if your father would not have bit into that apple.”

May Allah have mercy upon us.  We count only on His mercy and the shefaat of the One whom He has sent as His mercy upon the universe.

Subbana rabbika rabil izzeti ammah yasifun wa salamun alal mursaliyn wal humdullilahi rabil alamin.  Al Fatiha.