The Month of Multiplying Mercy: Exploring Ramadan’s Exponential Blessings
We’re fast coming to the end of the first ten days of Ramadan.
These first 10 days are known as the days of rahmah (mercy). In these days, Allah is extra merciful and showers upon his Ummah blessing after blessing. Every single deed is multiplied many-fold. A single fard prayer gets 70 times the reward. The sunnah prayer gets rewarded like a fard. Just reciting Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi (Allah is free from imperfection and His is the praise) one hundred times a day will wipe away sins even if they are equal to the extent of the ocean. And so on.
The Prophet (saw) said to the Sahabah on the last day of Shaban:
“O people! A great month has come; a blessed month in which is a night better than a thousand months; a month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month), shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time; and whoever performs an obligatory deed in (this month), shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Paradise. It is the month of charity, and a month in which a believer’s sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Hell-Fire, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all.” (Ibn Khuzaimah)
As evidenced in this hadith, Ramadan in general is a time where the rewards compound exponentially by stacking up good deeds one after another. Let’s not forget the huge rewards on offer on the night of Lailatul Qadr, the night ‘better than 1000 months (equivalent to 83 years). Imagine you did one good deed on that night for 12 years straight — that’s equivalent to nearly 1000 years of worship!
But WHY has our Ummah been blessed so much in this month? What’s the purpose of so much blessing and mercy in this month?
1. Allah’s is Ar-Rahman — the MOST Merciful
Well, of course, the most simple answer is that Allah is the Lord of the Worlds, the all-powerful. His Mercy has no limit, and even then, He has kept 99 parts of His Mercy for the Day of Judgement.
Abu Hurairah (ra) reported: the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Allah has divided mercy into one hundred parts; and He retained with Him ninety-nine parts, and sent down to earth one part. Through this one part creatures deal with one another with compassion, so much so that an animal lifts its hoof over its young lest it should hurt it”. [Hadith in Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
2. Our Ummah has been specifically mentioned as being favoured
Another reason is it is said in the Quran that we are the MOST blessed Ummah and have been favoured accordingly:
“You are the best nation raised up for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and you believe in Allah. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them [though] among them are believers, but most of them are disobedient.” [3:110]
There was also the ayat:
“And thus we have made you a just nation (ummah) that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you…” (2:143)
This relates to a hadith in Bukhari where Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said,
“Nuh will be called on the Day of Resurrection and he will say, ‘I am here to serve you, O my Lord!’ Allah will say, ‘Did you convey the Message?’ Nuh will say, ‘Yes.’ His nation will then be asked, ‘Did he convey the Message to you?’ They will say, ‘No Warner came to us.’ Then Allah will say (to Nuh), ‘Who will bear witness in your favour?’ Nuh will reply, ‘Muhammad and his followers.’ So the Muslims will testify that he indeed conveyed the Message.
Our Ummah will also make up the majority of jannah (insha’allah):
Tirmidhi (2546) reported from Ibn Buraidah that the Prophet of Allah (saw) said:
“The people of Paradise are a hundred and twenty rows, eighty of them are from this nation, and forty are from the rest of the nations.”
Our Ummah is the last to appear but the first into Jannah. Ibn Mājah (4290) reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that Allah’s Messenger (saw) said:
“We are the last of the nations to appear and the first to be brought to account. It will be said on the Day of Resurrection: ‘Where is the unlettered nation and its Prophet?’ So we are the last and the first.”
3. Ramadan is the month of the Quran
Ramadan could also carry extra reward and blessings because it is the month in which the Quran was revealed and therefore contains extra barakah as a result.
“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Quran, 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.” [2:185]
4. Because we have very short lives
Here’s something I found interesting.
It is said by some scholars that one of the reasons we have been blessed so much, particularly in the month of Ramadan with so much mercy and barakah in our deeds is because of our relatively short lives compared to those who came before.
Today, we live to around 70–80, with a tiny minority getting beyond that.
But if you look at the earlier Prophets, particularly pre-flood, they were almost a different species in the sense they had long, long lives. It is said Adam (as) lived for 960 years, Nuh (as) for 950 years, Sheeth (as) for 912 years and Idris (as) for 865 years. That’s why Allah has blessed our Ummah with extra rewards to compensate for the shorter time.
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those who came before you, so that you may attain Taqwa (piety)’. [2:183]
Fasting was ordained for those that came before us, too. So we have a lot of catching up to do.
5. Ramadan reminds us of our true purpose
Having Taqwa means being conscious of Allah, fearing Allah or simply being pious. Another word could be purposeful. It has the profound meaning of being vigilant over our own lives as if constantly conscious that Allah can see us. This is a time we are living as we should be living, actively avoiding distraction and sin, mindful of what we consume and proactively doing extra worship and good deeds. Our soul is nourished and our ego is diminished. So it should incentivise us — this is how we’re supposed to live.
Our purpose overall is to please Allah. And fasting is one of the things that makes Allah most happy! And Allah has promised great things for the one who makes Him happy… Himself. What could be better reward than that?
“The Prophet (saw) said, ’Every action of the son of Adam is given manifold reward, each good deed receiving ten times its like, up to seven hundred times. Allah the Most High said, “Except for fasting, for it is for Me and I will give recompense for it, as he leaves off his desires and his food for Me”. For the fasting person there are two times of joy; a time when he breaks his fast and a time of joy when he meets his Lord, and the smell coming from the mouth of the fasting person is better with Allah than the smell of musk.” [Bukhari]
So, what does this all mean for us?
Allah in His infinite mercy forgives and overlooks this Ummah and pardons us so much, particularly when fasting. An-Nasā’i reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (saw) said:
“Allah, the Most High, has pardoned my Ummah for everything that enters the mind, so long as it is not spoken of or put into action.”
Muslim (1884) reported that Abu Sa’īd Al-Khudri said that Allah’s Messenger said to him:
“O Abu Sa’īd, whoever is pleased with Allah as his Lord, with Islam as his religion and with Muhammad as his Prophet, then Paradise is obligated for him.” So Abu Sa’īd was amazed at these words and said: “Repeat them to me O Messenger of Allah.” So he did.
It is also said:
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘A worshipper does not fast a day for the sake of Allah except that that day (of fasting) distances the Fire from his face by seventy autumns’. [Tirmidhi]
Be Grateful, always
With all this mercy that has been bestowed upon us, it should first and foremost make us grateful. Yes, we may be going through our own trials and tribulations, but the bigger picture is that we have so much to be grateful for. How much do we practise it?
Maximise and take advantage of these times
Secondly, we must make effort to maximise and take advantage of all of these blessings available to us. It would be the ultimate missed opportunity if we didn’t level up even just a little.
Be of the ones that show mercy
Finally, when we’ve been given so much mercy, it’s important to show it too.
Mercy is all about keeping good relations and ties with your loved ones, friends and neighbours. Being forgiving, being gracious, being mindful of their feelings and avoiding any words or actions that could hurt them emotionally or physically. We have a duty to mankind, not just to Allah (swt).
So don’t forget the mercy we have been given and take action to use it for good in our own lives. It will be an investment with no regrets, insha’allah.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ’The merciful are shown mercy by Ar-Rahman. Be merciful on the earth, and you will be shown mercy from Who is above the heavens. The womb is named after Ar-Rahman, so whoever connects it, Allah connects him, and whoever severs it, Allah severs him’. (Tirmidhi)
May Allah allow us to be mindful, merciful, grateful and benefit from Allah’s immense rahmah for this month and beyond, ameen!
Ramadan is a time we’re closer than ever to our purpose. We feel good, energised and our iman is raised. If you want to sustain this feeling all year round and discover your true purpose in life, then check out the free. training and we can support you todo this insha’allah.
