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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

What is the ruling on using the *subḥah* (prayer beads) to count during *tasbīḥ* and *dhikr*?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is recommended to use the ordinary or electronic subḥah (prayer beads or counter) to count tasbīḥ, dhikr, and istighfār, because it helps one to remember Allah. Many reports have been transmitted from the Companions and the Followers (tābiʿūn) showing that they continued to use strings of date pits as an aid to dhikr and tasbīḥ.
It is one of the lawful means of worship. Indeed, what is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), namely that he counted tasbīḥ on his right hand, shows that it is permissible to count tasbīḥ with whatever helps a Muslim keep track of the number. There is therefore no basis for calling it an innovation (bidʿah), and we know of no jurist who said so.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Suyūṭī (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote a dedicated treatise on the subject titled al-Minḥah fī al-Subḥah, printed within al-Ḥāwī li’l-Fatāwī (vol. 4–6).
Shaykh al-Islām Imam Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Does the subḥah have a basis in the Sunnah? He replied: “Yes, and al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Suyūṭī wrote on this. Among the evidence is what is authentically reported from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both): ‘I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) counting tasbīḥ on his hand.’ Ibn Abī Shaybah, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī also narrated: ‘Hold fast to tasbīḥ, tahlīl, and taqdīs, and do not be heedless, lest you forget the affirmation of Allah’s oneness (tawḥīd). Count them on the fingertips, for they will be questioned and made to speak.’ Counting tasbīḥ with pebbles, date pits, and a knotted string has also been reported from a group of the Companions and those after them. Some scholars held that counting on the fingertips is better than the subḥah, based on the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar. Others distinguished, saying: if the one reciting is safe from miscounting, counting on the fingertips is better; otherwise the subḥah is better.” [al-Fatāwā al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubrā, Vol.1/p.152]. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law regarding one who slaughters a ewe and it turns out to have been pregnant, and is it permissible to slaughter the ewe if one knows it is pregnant?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
If a person slaughters a ewe and it turns out to have been pregnant, the fetus becomes lawful (ḥalāl) by virtue of its mother's slaughter (tabaʿan li-ummihā).
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vol.6/P.158): "A fetus found dead [after the mother's slaughter], or found alive but in a state resembling that of a slaughtered animal [i.e., dying shortly after], becomes lawful — whether or not it had grown fur — provided it is found in the womb of a mother that was lawfully slaughtered, whether her slaughter was by cutting the throat, or by an arrow or hunting dog sent after her. This is based on the ḥadīth: 'The slaughtering of the fetus is [effected by] the slaughtering of its mother' [narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who graded it ḥasan, and by Ibn Ḥibbān, who graded it ṣaḥīḥ] — meaning that the slaughter which rendered the mother lawful renders the fetus lawful as well, by virtue of following her; and because the fetus is one of her constituent parts, and her slaughter renders lawful all of her parts."
This ruling differs, however, from the case of one who knows from the outset that the ewe is pregnant [and intends to sacrifice her specifically as the udḥiyah while pregnant] — in which case, according to the Shāfi'ī school, she does not fulfill the requirement of a valid sacrifice.
It is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī 'alā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.4/P.335): "A pregnant animal does not fulfill the requirement [of a valid sacrifice], and this is the authoritative position (al-mu'tamad), because pregnancy diminishes the quality of the meat. As for why such an animal is nevertheless counted as complete [i.e., fully valid] in matters of zakāh, that is because the intent there is reproduction (nasl), not the quality of the meat.". And Allah, the Most High, knows best.

Is the niṣāb calculated based on the price of 21-karat gold, or 24-karat gold?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Zakāh is obligatory on cash and on gold designated for saving or for trade, provided the total reaches the niṣāb (minimum threshold liable for zakah), and a full ḥawl (lunar year) has elapsed over it. The niṣāb is (85) grams of 24-karat gold; for 21-karat gold, the niṣāb equals (97) grams; and for 18-karat gold, it equals (113) grams.
The relied-upon position is to calculate the zakāh based on the buying price [i.e., the price the gold merchant would pay the owner to purchase the gold from him] on the day the zakāh obligation is due.
The one paying zakāh may assess/calculate the niṣāb using any of the aforementioned gold karats [i.e., he may choose whichever karat standard he wishes for the purpose of the calculation]. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

Is it permissible for a woman to perform the obligatory prayer immediately after the adhan and before the Iqamah is performed in the mosque?

 

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Yes, it is permissible for a woman to perform the obligatory (Fard) prayer immediately after the Adhan (call to prayer) and before the Iqamah (call to commence prayer) is performed in the mosque. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

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