People have various ideas and ways of receiving the blessed month of Ramadan and invest this occasion in fulfilling their favorite actions and activities. Some of them make this an occasion for laziness, idleness, sleep and neglecting the different acts of obedience that they could otherwise be doing. Others find this a good opportunity for watching shows on satellite television while others stay up late at night and use this precious time to pay visits, go to markets, relax, make trips and the like while others make it an occasion for exaggeration in eating, drinking and doing whatever they like, as if Ramadan is the month of food and drink, and not the month of fasting.

However, there are some other people for whom Allah The Almighty wants good for and thus guides them to the right way so that they became able to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. Such people receive this blessed month warmly and happily since they believe that it is a golden opportunity to attain forgiveness for sins and make a new start that would be sin-free. In fact, the blessed month of Ramadan is the month of forgiveness, mercy and emancipation from Hell. The Prophet, , used to give his Companions glad tidings on the arrival of Ramadan saying: “There has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month which Allah has enjoined you to fast, during which the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are closed, and the rebellious devils are chained up. In it there is a night which is better than a thousand months - whoever is deprived of its goodness is indeed deprived.” [An-Nasaa’i, Al-Albaani: Saheeh (Authentic)]

Allah The Almighty forgives all sins: He spreads out His Hand at night to accept the repentance of the one who has sinned during the day, and He spreads out His Hand by day to accept the repentance of the one who has sinned during the night. Allah The Almighty rejoices over those who turn to Him in repentance and over the regret of the sinful people. Therefore, He opens a door from the direction of the west for seventy years for the purpose of repentance, and it will not be closed until the sun rises from the west as the Prophet, , said. [Ahmad and At-Tirmithi]

One concept should be very clear to all from the onset: If your acts lack sincerity, then do not bother exhausting yourself because no action will be accepted without sincerity. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):{So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.}[Quran 18: 110] It was narrated that the Prophet, , said: “Allah The Almighty Says: ‘I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus whoever does an action for someone else’s sake as well as mine, I will leave him to whom he has associated with Me.’”[Muslim]

3.     Receiving Ramadan by adhering strictly to the Sunnah of the Prophet,

No act can be accepted unless it meets two conditions: that it is accompanied by a sincere intention, which is that one should do it only for the sake of Allah The Almighty, and in that it is in accordance with the guidance of the Prophet, .

*{So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work} refers to following the guidance of the Prophet, , and

Indeed the Prophet, , clarified everything about the matter of fasting such as when to start and stop fasting, its pillars, its obligations, its recommended acts, its manners, its virtues and its benefits, things that break the fast, what cannot affect the fast, excuses that allow one to break the fast, and everything else that is related to the fast.