Now what if I tell you that there is a very special guest coming.. and he is coming within a matter of days. This guest is so unique that by the will of God, it causes the gates of Heaven to open up and the devils to be gathered and shackled. This guest has a name and his name is Ramadan. So, are you happy to see him? Or do you complain that you gonna get hungry and thirsty? Or you don’t care whether he is coming or not?

Ramadan is like an employer telling you that you are going to get double pay doing the same job just for this month. It is like a bonus round. Whatever good deed you do in any ordinary month you will get rewarded by God accordingly but Ramadan is special; a good deed done in Ramadan will be worth 70 times more! 70 times? Yup, and that is no typo.

Let’s do it mathematically. The verse “Bismillahir'rahman'nir-rahim” which means (In the name of God the most Gracious the most Merciful) alone has 19 letters. On a regular day you will get 19x10= 190 good deeds. In Ramadan you will get (19x10)x70= 13300 good deeds. If you want to get 13,300 good deed in any ordinary month you have to say “Bismillahir'rahman'nir-rahim” 70 times!

But that’s not the best news. The biggest thing you can get ever in Ramadan is forgiveness from God. In an authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:” Whomever gets up in the nights of Ramadan (to pray Terawih), God will forgive all his prior sins.”But then you might say....

Fine. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: ”Whomever fast 30 days in Ramadan for the sake of God alone, God will forgive all his prior sins.” But then you might say....

Fine. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: ”Whomever gets up for the night of Lailatul Qadr, God will forgive all his prior sins.”

It’s like as if God wants to forgive you but you keep dodging Him. And some of you may ask, what is Lailatul Qadr. Lailatul Qadr.. a bonus within a bonus! Lailatul Qadr, which means “The Night of Power”, is better than 1000 months… 1000 months is equals to 83 years. This means, if you pray on Lailatul Qadr, you will get the reward of 83 years worth of worship! Imagine that!

1 tiny night for 83 years! Look at the mercy of God. We are probably not even gonna live for 83 years.. Lailatul Qadr happens at the odd nights of the last 10 days of Ramadan so don’t spend the last 10 days in Geylang haggling for socks to wear for Hari Raya. Most of us are haphazard with our prayers; we don’t pray on time, and when we do pray, we don’t focus, some don’t pray at all etc.. now here’s a chance to take advantage of Ramadan and Lailatul Qadr to tip the scale on Judgement Day in our favour. What does the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) calls someone who does not take advantage of Ramadan? “May his face be smothered in dirt for the one who sees Ramadan and lives during Ramadan and not have his sins forgiven.” That means, you must be the lowest of the low for not taking advantage of Ramadan.

So are you telling me that God is giving you every opportunity to save yourself and you don’t want to take that chance? What if you say, you are still young.. perhaps you will do all this “religious stuff” when you get older but how can you say that, when even babies die.What if this month of Ramadan is the last Ramadan you gonna see? When the Angel of Death comes, he’s not gonna sit with you and talk to you about repentance and fasting and whatever. He just takes your soul without any question and that’s it. Mr Dooba and me know of a friend and he is a drummer and one day he just lied down to take a nap on a sofa in a jamming studio and he did not wake up. This guy is in his early 20s and he was a life guard. He is dead just like that. If it’s time for you to go, it’s time for you to go.

So how do you greet Ramadan? Like the special guest that is coming, you have to be busy preparing for its arrival by dusting off that Quran that was sitting at the corner of the book shelf. Can’t read the Quran like me? Get a small English translation at the Islamic Centre (near Haig Road) for $11 bucks. You don’t have to read for hours.. just 1 page a day will do. When you walk to school, instead of whistling, do your dzikir. Say “Alhamdulliah” (Thanks be to God), “Subahanallah” (Glory be to God) and Allahuakbar (God is Great) again and again.