When Ramadan arrives
The playbook
In Sunan al-Tirmidhi, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet ﷺ said: «إذا كان أول ليلة من ليالي رمضان صُفِّدَت الشياطين ومردة الجن، وفُتِّحَت أبواب الجنة فلم يُغلَق منها باب، وغُلِّقَت أبواب النار فلم يُفتَح منها باب، وينادي منادٍ: يا باغي الخير أقبِل، ويا باغي الشر أقصِر، ولله عتقاء من النار وذلك كل ليلة» “When the first night of Ramadan comes, the devils and rebellious jinn are chained, the gates of paradise are opened and not a single gate is closed, the gates of hellfire are closed and not a single gate is opened, and a caller cries out: O seeker of good, come forward! O seeker of evil, stop! And Allah has people He frees from the fire, and that happens every night.”
This is what happens when Ramadan starts. Not gradually, not after we prove ourselves. From the very first night.
The first night
Pay attention to the hadith. The Prophet ﷺ said “when the first night of Ramadan comes” to show us that the blessings of this month start immediately. From the first moment Ramadan enters, everything changes.
The devils are chained, but this doesn’t mean temptation disappears completely. We still have our nafs, our lower self that inclines toward wrong. We still have bad companions and negative influences. But the shayateen who normally have free access to whisper and scheme are locked up. They can’t get to us the way they usually do.
This is real relief. One of the unique mercies of this month.
The gates of paradise open wide and stay open. All of them. The gates of hellfire slam shut and stay shut. And every single night, an angel calls out: “O seeker of good, come forward! O seeker of evil, stop!”
We don’t hear this call with our ears, but we know it’s happening because the Prophet ﷺ told us. The one who doesn’t speak from his own desire, the one who only conveys what Allah reveals to him, told us this is real.
So we should live like we hear it. Every single night of Ramadan, imagine that call. “O seeker of good, come forward!” Is your soul seeking good? Then the angel is calling you forward into this massive season of mercy and blessing and opportunity. “O seeker of evil, stop!” Is your soul still chasing the wrong things? Then the angel is telling you to knock it off, to wake up, to realize what month this is.
Two types of people
The hadith tells us something hard to accept. Even in Ramadan, people are divided into two categories. Those whose souls seek good, and those whose souls seek evil.
We’d like to think everyone becomes righteous in Ramadan, that the whole ummah transforms together. But the reality is some people enter Ramadan and their hearts are still chasing the same garbage they chased all year.
This is why the angel calls out both messages. “O seeker of good, come forward” for those whose souls are awake and reaching for Allah’s mercy. “O seeker of evil, stop” for those who are still asleep, still distracted, still wasting precious time, still chained to life pleasures, or worse, still chained to their sins.
Which one are we? That’s the question we need to ask ourselves every single day of Ramadan. Is my soul seeking good today, or am I just going through the motions? Am I really here, or am I somewhere else?
The Prophet ﷺ said that Jibreel made a dua and he said ameen to it: that whoever reaches Ramadan and doesn’t get forgiven should be thrown far from Allah’s mercy and entered into the fire. This is serious. Reaching Ramadan and leaving it unchanged is one of the greatest losses a person can experience.
If we don’t turn to Allah in Ramadan, when will we turn to Him? If our souls don’t move toward goodness while the gates of paradise are open and the devils are chained and the angel is calling us forward, when will they move?
Every night, freedom
The hadith ends with something incredible: «ولله عتقاء من النار وذلك كل ليلة» “And Allah has people He frees from the fire, and that happens every night.”
Every single night of Ramadan, Allah frees people from hellfire. Not just on Laylatul Qadr. Not just on the odd nights of the last ten days. Every night.
This should fill us with hope and urgency. Hope because the opportunity is there every single night. Urgency because we need to be among those who are freed.
What gets someone freed? What makes Allah choose to write your name on the list of the freed that night? We should be doing everything we can to qualify. Praying with presence. Reading the Quran with our hearts, not just our tongues. Feeding people. Giving charity. Seeking forgiveness.
Every night is a chance. Thirty chances to be freed from the fire. We can’t waste them.
Two types of fasting
Allah prescribed fasting for us in Ramadan from dawn to sunset. No food, no drink, no intimacy. Everyone knows this part. But there’s another type of fasting that most people don’t think about, and it’s actually more important.
The fasting of our limbs from sin.
The Prophet ﷺ said: «من لم يدع قول الزور والعمل به فليس لله حاجة في أن يدع طعامه وشرابه» “Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need for him to give up his food and drink.”
Our tongues need to fast from lying, backbiting, slander, vulgarity. Our eyes need to fast from looking at what Allah forbade. Our ears from listening to it. Our hands from taking what isn’t ours or doing what shouldn’t be done. Our feet from walking toward sin.
This type of fasting isn’t limited to Ramadan. It’s required from us our entire lives. But Ramadan trains us for it. If we can stop ourselves from drinking water on a hot afternoon just because Allah said so, we can stop ourselves from gossip. From watching things we shouldn’t. From all of it.
The goal of Ramadan is to build this muscle so strong that it stays with us after the month ends. The taqwah we develop through fasting from food should translate into taqwah that keeps us from sin all year round.
Not all fasting is equal
The Prophet ﷺ was asked: which of the fasting people has the greatest reward? He said: «أكثرهم لله ذكراً» “The one who remembers Allah the most.”
Two people can both fast the entire month. Both abstain from food and drink from dawn to sunset every single day. But one leaves Ramadan with mountains of reward and the other leaves with barely anything. The difference? Dhikr, or remembrance of Allah.
The one who fills their fasting with remembrance of Allah, with Quran, with supplication, with presence and consciousness of Allah gets the greatest reward. The one who fasts but spends the day sleeping, scrolling, watching shows, just killing time until breaking the fast gets almost nothing.
Some of the salaf (righteous predecessors) would spend their Ramadan days immersed in Quran. Some would finish the entire Quran every single day. Others every two days. Others every three. The standard practice among the companions was to complete it every seven days.
We don’t all need to match that. But we do need to have a real relationship with Quran this month. This is the month the Quran was revealed. This is when Jibreel would come to the Prophet ﷺ every night to review the Quran with him. When the Prophet ﷺ would recite to Jibreel what had been revealed, and Jibreel would recite it back to him.
Abdullah ibn Abbas said: «كان رسول الله ﷺ أجود بالخير من الريح المرسلة، وكان أجود ما يكون في رمضان حين يلقاه جبريل فيدارسه القرآن» “The Prophet ﷺ was more generous than the blowing wind, and he was most generous during Ramadan when Jibreel would meet him to study the Quran.”
In Ramadan, his generosity increased. His time with Quran increased. His worship intensified. This is the model.
A Quran program
We need a plan for Quran this Ramadan. Not just “I’ll try to read more.” But an actual plan that we stick to.
Make a program that includes both recitation and understanding. Read slowly enough to comprehend what we’re reading. Use a tafseer if we need help with the meanings. Let the Quran affect us.
Allah says: «كِتَابٌ أَنزَلنَاهُ إِلَيكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ» “A blessed Book which We have revealed to you, that they might reflect upon its verses.”
And: «أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ القُرآنَ» “Then do they not reflect upon the Quran?”
Reflection. Understanding. Letting the words sink in and change us. That’s the point. Racing through pages just to say we finished isn’t the point.
Some of the salaf would stop everything else in Ramadan except Quran and prayer. They’d say: this is the month of Quran. This is the time to be with Allah’s words.
We should protect time for this every day. Morning after fajr. Afternoon. After maghrib. Before sleeping. Whenever works, but make it consistent and guard it.
Iman and ihtisab
The Prophet ﷺ said: «من صام رمضان إيماناً واحتساباً غُفِر له ما تقدم من ذنبه، ومن قام رمضان إيماناً واحتساباً غُفِر له ما تقدم من ذنبه» “Whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins are forgiven. And whoever prays during Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins are forgiven.”
Two conditions for forgiveness: iman and ihtisab. Faith and seeking reward.
Iman means we’re fasting and praying because we believe in Allah, because we’re conscious of Him, because we want to please Him. Not out of habit. Not because everyone else is doing it. Not to impress anyone or because we’d feel guilty if we didn’t.
Ihtisab means we’re doing it for the reward Allah promised. We believe He’ll reward us, and we want that reward. We’re investing in our akhirah (life after death) through these actions.
Some people go to taraweeh (evening congregational prayers) out of habit. Some go because their father expects them to or their friends are going. That’s not ihtisab. That’s not seeking reward from Allah.
We need to check our intentions constantly. Why am I fasting today? Why am I standing in this prayer? Is it really for Allah, or am I just going through motions?
When we correct the intention, when we fast and pray with real iman and ihtisab, then forgiveness comes.
What we’re really after
The goal of all this, the fasting and the praying and the Quran and the dhikr, is taqwah. Allah said: «كُتِبَ عَلَيكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبلِكُم لَعَلَّكُم تَتَّقُونَ» “Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become righteous.”
God-consciousness that stays with us after Ramadan. Hearts that are more sensitive to Allah’s commands and more afraid of His displeasure. Limbs that are trained to avoid sin because we spent thirty days training them.
This is why Ramadan is called a school. It’s tarbiyah, education and training for the soul. We come in one way and leave different. More patient. More generous. More connected to Allah. Better people.
When those first night comes and the angel calls out “O seeker of good, come forward,” let’s actually come forward. Let’s be people whose souls are seeking good, who are racing toward Allah’s mercy, who make the most of every single day and night of this blessed month.