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Author: Muhammad Hashim Bastawi 

First Day Of Ramadan 2024

In 2024, If the month of Sha’ban is 29 days long and the moon rises, then Ramadan will begin on ¹² March  and if the month of Sha’ban is 30 days long, then Ramadan will begin on ¹³ March.

Why does Ramadan start from the Hijri Calendar?

All our Islamic festivals are celebrated according to the Hijri calendar, and the Hijri calendar starts with the moon, the day the moon rises is the first date of the Hijri calendar.

In keeping with the Hijri calendar, the biggest benefit is that Ramadan comes in every season in the whole world, A few years ago, Ramadan used to come in summer in India, now it is slowly coming towards winter, and in the country where it used to come in winter, now it will be coming in summer.

If the calculation of Ramadan Mubarak is kept from the Gregorian Calendar then there can be a lot of difference, in this case, the country where Ramadan comes in summer, it always comes in summer and where it comes in winter, it always will come there in winter season, This will cause a lot of trouble to people, and people may get tired of it. For this reason, Islam has made such a system in which no one has any problem.

The Hijri calendar is 10 days shorter per year than the Gregorian Calendar, and there is a month difference in 3 years, according to which Ramadan cycles through each season in 36 years.

The merits of the month of Ramadan In Holy Quran

Translation: The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion (of right and wrong) . And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, (let him fast the same) number of other days. Allah desireth for you ease; He desireth not hardship for you; and (He desireth) that ye should complete the period, and that ye should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that peradventure ye may be thankful.

Allah Almighty has chosen this month to reveal Scriptures. Consequently, the Holy Qur’an was revealed in this very month. According to a narration from the blessed Companion Wathilah ibn Asga’ appearing in the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said that Abrahamic scriptures were revealed on the first of Ramadan, the Torah on the sixth, the Evangel on the thirteenth and the Qur’an on the twenty fourth of Ramadan. In another narration from the blessed Companion Sayyidna Jabir (رض) ، it appears that Zabur (the Book of Psalms) was revealed on the twelfth of Ramadan and the Evangel on the eighteenth. (Ibn Kathir)

All previous Books mentioned in the hadith cited above were revealed on dates given in their entirety. It is a peculiarity of the Holy Qur’an that it was sent from the Preserved Tablet down to the Firmament of the Earth in one night of the month of Ramadan, all of it. But, it was revealed to the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) gradually during a period of twenty three years.

The night of Ramadan when the Qur’an was revealed was the Night of Power as mentioned by the Qur’an itself when it said: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ‌ (We have revealed it in the Laylatul ‘Qadr, the Night of Power). The hadith cited above places it on the twenty fourth of Ramadan and according to Sayyidna Hasan, the Night of Power falls on the night of twenty fourth which aligns this hadith with the statement of the Qur’an. Should this alignment be unacceptable, the fact remains that the statement of the Qur’an is above everything else, in which case, whatever night is the Night of Power that shall be regarded to be what the Qur’an intends.

The merits of the month of Ramadan In Hadith

Explanation this Hadith

There is a narration from Hazrat Salman Farsi (R Z) that Nabi Kareem (S A W) delivered a speech to us on the last date of Shaban: “O people! The month (i.e. the month of Ramza) has come to you with a blessing and a blessing, the virtues of this month are many:

There is one night in this month, which is better than the nights of a thousand months, that is, Shab Qadr.

This month’s fasting has been made obligatory by Allah, and waking up in the nights of us has been given the status of worship.

In this month, the reward of doing one good deed is equal to one fard.

And the reward of one fard (duty) is equal to that of 70 fard (duties),

This is the month of patience and the reward of patience is paradise.

This is the month of brotherhood.

The Sahaba (Companions) asked the Prophet (SAW): O Messenger of Allah, people often do not have enough money with us to provide iftar to a fasting person, how will we get any reward?

The Prophet (SAW) replied: “The reward of Iftar will also be given to the person who fed a date to a fasting person, or made him drink a glass of water or milk.

It is a month whose first part is Rahmat, and the second part is Forgiveness, the last part is freedom from Hell,

Whoever gives relaxation and ease in work to his worker Rojedars because of fasting, Allah Ta’ala has spared him, granted him the license of freedom from Hell.

The Prophet (SAW) have also said that: “Do 4 more tasks in this month.

1. Read Kalma Shahada as much as possible.
2. and ASTAGHFIRULLAH RABBI MIN KULLI ZAMNIB AZNABTUHU W ATUBU ILAIHI as much as possible, Allah will be pleased with you.
3. Ask Allah Ta’ala for heaven.
4. And seek refuge in Allah from hell.

In this blessed month, the sustenance of the believer is increased.

The one who gives Iftar to a fasting person in this month, Allah forgives his sins, and he is saved from the fire of hell, and there is no reduction in the reward of the fasting person who does Iftar.

Translation: Abu Hurairah (RA) reported Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as saying: Every (good) deed of the son of Adam علیہ السلامعلیہ السلامwould be multiplied, a good deed receiving a tenfold to seven hundredfold reward. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, has said: With the exception of fasting, for it is done for Me and I will give a reward for it, for one abandons his passion and food for My sake. There are two occasions of joy for one who fasts, joy when he breaks it, and joy when he meets his Lord, and the breath (of an observer of fast) is sweeter to Allah than the fragrance of musk. [Saheeh Muslim: 1151]

Translation: Abu Hurairah (RA) reported Allah’s Messenger (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) as saying: When there comes the month of Ramadan, the gates of mercy are opened, and the gates of Hell are locked and the devils are chained.

What do Muslims do in Ramadan?

Muslims fast during Ramadan, not eating or drinking anything from morning till evening. According to them this month is very blessed, There are many virtues of this month in the Holy Quran and Hadith and there is a great reward from Allah Almighty for those who fast.

On whom is fasting obligatory?

The next sentence مَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ‌ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ‘ (those of you who witness the month must fast therein) carries many pointers to injunctions relating to fasting. The word, shahida is derived from shuhud شُهود which means presence. The word, al-shahr الشَّهْرَ‌means the month. It denotes the month of Ramadan here which has been identified above.

As for the ‘witnessing’ of the month or being ‘present’ in the month of Ramadan, it simply means that a person finds the blessed month of Ramadan with ability to fast. In other words, he or she should be a Muslim, sane, pubert, resident and well-purified from all impurities including those of menstruation and childbed.

Therefore, the persons who lacked the initial ability to fast throughout the month, such as, the disbelievers, the minor, the insane, they are not subject to the obligation of fasting, because the verse obligating the fasts did not intend them. As for those who did have the personal ability but were compelled at some time by a legally acceptable excuse, such as, a woman in menstruation or childbed, or a sick person or one on a journey, these have, in a way, found the month of Ramadan in a state of ability, therefore, the injunction in the verse applies to them. However, because of temporal compulsion, relief from fasting has been granted at that particular time, but qada’ قضاء will be necessary later on.

Ramadan’s blessings and our condition

From what we have just told about the month of Ramadan, it is clearly known that there are blessings in the whole month of Ramadan. this can be easily guessed by everyone from Iftari and food, whether a man is poor or rich, everyone has a lot of items on his dining table, Many people have this saying: Because of Ramadan, Allah feeds us such things that we cannot think of eating in other months. In reality, all this is the blessings of Ramadan only, and it always remains in Ramadan.

Despite this blessing, mercy and grace, there are many of our brothers who are deprived of the blessings and mercy of allah. Because in this season and in this environment of fasting, they do not get the opportunity to fast, More regret is on our young generation . It has been revealed from the survey that nowadays 80% of the youth do not keep fast, which is very bad news for the future of Muslims, because if the trend continues like this, then one day it will come that there will be no one to keep fast in Ramzan.

I pray to Allah that every Muslim in the world fasts in Ramadan, and we are blessed with the blessings of Ramadan

Because it came in a narration of Sahih Al-Bukhari:

Narrated Abu Hurairah (RA): Allah’s Apostle (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) said: “Whoever establishes prayers during the nights of Ramadan faithfully out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards (not for showing off), all his past sins will be forgiven.” [Sahih Bukhari: 37]