Of the errors done in Ramadan is abandoning the Qur'an

Praise be to Allah (may He be Exalted). We praise Him, seek His help, and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah against the evils of our own selves and our bad deeds. Whom Allah guides, there is no one can mislead and whoever has been misled no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

"O you who believe! Fear Allâh (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islâm [as Muslims (with complete submission to Allâh)]." [Surat Al `Imran: 102].

"O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwâ' (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allâh through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allâh is Ever an All-Watcher over you." [Surat An-Nisa': 1].

"O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. * He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh and His Messenger (peace be upon him), he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and will be admitted to Paradise)." [Surat Al Ahzab: 70 - 71].

The most truthful speech is the Book of Allah (may He be Exalted) the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The worst matters are the innovated, and every innovated is a heresy and every heresy is a deviation and every aberrance is in Hell-Fire.

Of the virtues of this blessed month -the Month of Ramadan- is that Allah (may He be Exalted) revealed the Qur'an therein. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'ân, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong)." [Surat Al Baqarah: 185].

So, Ramadan is the month of the Qur'an therefore Gabriel (Peace be upon him) used to study the Qur'an with the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Ramadan.

Al Bukhari and Muslim reported on the authority of Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the most generous amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel visited him, and Gabriel used to meet him on every night of Ramadan till the end of the month. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to recite the Glorious Qur'an to Gabriel, and when Gabriel met him, he used to be more generous than a fast wind (which causes rain and welfare)."

Ibn Rajab (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: The Hadith denotes the desirability of studying the Qur'an in Ramadan, gathering to recite it, and reciting the Qur'an to someone more memorizing. It also contains a proof to the desirability of reciting the Qur'an frequently in the month of Ramadan.

* The following are the conditions of the Predecessors with the Qur'an during Ramadan:

Imam Malik (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul):

Whenever Ramadan came, he would abandon the reading of the Hadith and sitting in the knowledge sessions and would recite the Qur'an from the Mushaf.

Whenever Ramadan came, Az-Zuhry (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) used to say: Ramadan is for reciting the Qur'an and serving the food [to the needy].

Sufyan Ath-Thawry (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul):

Whenever Ramadan came, he used to abandon other acts of worship and focus on the recitation of the Qur'an.

Qatadah (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) used to recite the entire volume of the Qur'an every seven days, but in Ramadan, he used to finish it in three nights and once each night in the last ten days of Ramadan.

Al Shafi`y (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) used to finish reciting the Qur'an sixty times in Ramadan.

Thus were the conditions of the Predecessors with the Qur'an in Ramadan, but we abandoned the Qur'an even in Ramadan, so there is no time for listening to, reciting, or memorizing it. If we recite or listen to it, we do not ponder over its Ayahs. And if we ponder over its Ayahs, we do not act accordingly and do not resort to it in arbitration, but we only recite it to the dead and decorate our walls with it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was truthful when he said: "And the Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) will say: O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur'ân (neither listened to it, nor acted on its laws and teachings)." [Surat Al Furqan: 30].

Mu`adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said as was reported at Ad-Darimy: "The Qur'an shall wear out in the chests of some people as a garment is worn out, so some people will recite it and shall not find a desire or pleasure in reciting it."

Mu`adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) has said the truth because now we are reciting or listening to the Qur'an without having the desire to recite it or the pleasure to recite it. The matter is getting worse when we see the abandonment of the Qur'an in Ramadan which is the month of the Qur'an during which the Qur'an was revealed. Some people do not open the Qur'an and when the imam prolongs the Salah, he feels tight and gets bored.

`Uthman ibn `Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) was truthful when he said: "If your hearts are purified, you shall never get bored of the words of your Lord."