The virtue of Ramadhan

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

Narrated Talha bin 'Ubaid-Ullah (may Allah be pleased with him):

A bedouin with unkempt hair came to Muhammad S.A.W. and said,

"O Allah's Apostle! Inform me what Allah has made compulsory for me as regards the prayers."

He replied: "You have to offer perfectly the five compulsory prayers in a day and night (24 hours), unless you want to pray Nawafil."

The bedouin further asked, "Inform me what Allah has made compulsory for me as regards fasting."

He replied, "You have to fast during the whole month of Ramadan, unless you want to fast more as Nawafil."

The Bedouin further asked, "Tell me how much Zakat Allah has enjoined on me."

Thus, Muhammad S.A.W. informed him about all the rules (i.e. fundamentals) of Islam.

The bedouin then said, "By Him Who has honoured you, I will neither perform any Nawafil nor will I decrease what Allah has enjoined on me".

Muhammad S.A.W. said, "If he is saying the truth, he will succeed (or he will be granted Paradise)."

Saheeh Bukhaari, Volume 3, Book 31, Number 115; Saheeh Muslim, Book 001, Number 0007

Narrated Aboo Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):

Muhammad S.A.W. said,

"Allah said, 'All the deeds of Adam's sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.' Fasting is a shield or protection from the fire and from committing sins. If one of you is fasting, he should avoid sexual relation with his wife and quarrelling, and if somebody should fight or quarrel with him, he should say, 'I am fasting.' By Him in Whose Hands my soul is' The unpleasant smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. There are two pleasures for the fasting person, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be pleased because of his fasting"

(Agreed Upon); Saheeh Bukhaari, Volume 3, Book 31, Number 128; Saheeh Muslim, Book 006, Number 2566

Narrated Aboo Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him):

Allah's Apostle S.A.W. said,

"By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allaah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times."

Saheeh Bukhaari, Volume 3, Book 31, Number 118

*Pictures all taken from Microsoft