Reports on Recitation and Devotion
It is reported from Wāṣil ibn Sulaym that he said:
صحبت عطاء بن السائب إلى مكة، فكان يختم القرآن في كل ليلتين.
“I accompanied ʿAṭāʾ ibn as-Sāʾib (d. 136 AH/753 CE) to Makkah, and he would complete the recitation of the Qurʾān every two nights.” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
The Illumination of the Mosques in Ramaḍān
From Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī (d. 127 AH/744 CE) who said:
خرج علي بن أبي طالب في أول ليلة من شهر رمضان والقناديل تزهر، وكتاب الله يتلا في المساجد، فقال: نوَّر الله لك يا عمر بن الخطاب في قبرك، كما نورت مساجد الله بالقرآن.
“ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40 AH/661 CE) went out on the first night of the month of Ramaḍān while the lamps were lit and the Book of Allah was being recited in the mosques. He said: ‘May Allah illuminate your grave, O ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 23 AH/644 CE), just as you illuminated the mosques of Allah with the Qurʾān.’” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
Preparing for the Day of Reckoning
It is reported that al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays (al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays al-Tamīmī, d. c. 67 AH/686 CE) intended to fast, and when he was spoken to about it he said:
إني أعده ليوم شره طويل
“I prepare it for a day whose evil is long,” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
then he recited:
فَوَقَىٰهُمُ اللَّهُ شَرَّ ذَٰلِكَ الْيَوْمِ
“So Allah will protect them from the evil of that Day.” [Q 76:11, excerpt]
Completion of the Qurʾān in Ramaḍān
From Mujāhid ibn Jabr (d. 104 AH/722 CE), who said:
كان علي الأزدي يختم القرآن في رمضان في كل ليلة، وينام بين المغرب والعشاء.
“ʿAlī al-Azdī would complete the Qurʾān every night in Ramaḍān, and he would sleep between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ.” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
It is reported from al-Aswad ibn Yazīd an-Nakhaʿī (d. 75 AH/694 CE) that he would complete the Qurʾān every two nights in Ramaḍān, and he would sleep between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ.
The Virtue of Dhikr in Ramaḍān
From Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihāb az-Zuhrī (d. 124 AH/742 CE), who said:
تسبيحة في رمضان أفضل من ألف تسبيحة في غيره.
“One tasbīḥah in Ramaḍān is better than a thousand tasbīḥāt outside it.” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
From Abū Bakr ibn Abī Maryam (d. 156 AH/773 CE), who said:
سمعت مشيختنا يقولون إذا حضر شهر رمضان: قد حضر مطهِّر، ويقولون: انبسطوا بالنفقة فيه، فإنها تضاعف كالنفقة في سبيل الله – عزَّ وجلَّ – ويقولون: التسبيحة فيه أفضل من ألف تسبيحة في غيره.
“I heard our elders say, when the month of Ramaḍān arrives: ‘A purifier has arrived.’ They would say: ‘Be generous in spending during it, for it is multiplied like spending in the path of Allah .’ And they would say: ‘One tasbīḥah in it is better than a thousand outside it.’” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
The True Meaning of Fasting
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah (d. 81 AH/700 CE) said:
ليصم سمعك وبصرك ولسانك وبدنك، فلا تجعل يوم فطرك مثل يوم صومك، واتق أذى الخادم.
“Let your hearing, your sight, your tongue, and your body fast. Do not make the day of breaking the fast like the day of fasting, and beware of harming others.” [Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir aṭ-Ṭayyār, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.]
References
Al-Qurʾān, [Q 76:11], translation adapted from Taqī ad-Dīn al-Hilālī.
Aṭ-Ṭayyār, Aḥmad ibn Nāṣir, Ḥayāt as-Salaf bayna al-Qawl wa-l-ʿAmal, p. 193.
