Du’a at the Beginning of the Holy Month of Ramazan
Imam Zainul Abedin used to invoke the following Du’a at the beginning of the holy month of Ramazan:
Prayer No. 44, Sahifa-i Kamilah.
“All praise is due to God who guided us to praise Him and made us worthy in order that we may be grateful for his goodness, and that He may thereupon, confer on us the reward of the righteous.”
“And all praise be to God, who showed us the path of Islam in order that, through His Grace we may walk along the right road to win His approbation and earn His good pleasure.”
“And praise be to God who ordained this month, the month of Ramazan, the month of fasts, the month of Islam, the month of purity, the month of purification and the month of intense prayers. In this month the Quran was made to descend, as a guidance to mankind and contains clear instructions and distinctions (between right and wrong).”
“And He gave this month superiority over all the other months by allotting to it abundant honour and dignity; therefore, He prohibited in it what He had allowed in other months in order to exalt it; and forbade in it food and drink, in order to honour it.”
“He gave excellence to one of its nights and declared it to be better than a thousand months and named it “Lailatul-Qadr” the night of Qadr (Power), wherin descend the angels and the spirit by permission of their Lord, with every decree; peace and everlasting blessing till the dawn of the morning to His deserving servants.”
“O Lord bless Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny) and inspire us to know this month’s excellence, and to honour its dignity, and to abstain from whatever Thou hast forbidden in it; and help us to observe its fast, by restraining our limbs from disobeying Thee and by employing them in that which would please Thee, so that we may not lend our ears to any vain speech and may not direct our eyes, hands and feet towards anything forbidden, and so that nothing may fill our bellies but what thou hast made lawful and our tongues may not utter anything save what Thou hast permitted; and we may cease to exert ourselves except in that which would bring us nearer to thy reward, and may stop doing everything save that which would protect us from Thy torment.
“O Lord, free us from ostentation and notoriety desired by seekers of fame and O Lord, let our worship be of Thee alone.”
“O Lord, bless Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny), and give us grace to perform timely the five prayers with due regard to their limits which Thou hast enjoined, and the rites which Thou hast prescribed, and in this respect raise us to the rank of those who performed them (i.e. the five daily prayers) with success, who duly observe their essential points, who always performed them at (proper) times, in most perfect and complete purity and most evident and touching humility (according to the rules laid down by Thy servant and Thy apostle, Thy favours be on him and his Aal (progeny).”
“And O Lord, give us grace, in this month to show favour to our relations and do good to them, and to take care of our neighbours with kindness and benevolence, and to purge our property of obligations, and purify it by giving the legal alms, and to call back those who have left us, and be just to those who were unjust to us, and make peace with those who were hostile to us- far be it from us to reconcile those who are abhorred on account of Thee and for Thy sake; for, verily, Thy enemies shall ever be our enemies.”
“And give us grace in this month to approach Thee by means of pure deeds, whereby Thou mayest purify us of our sins,”
“And guard us from relapsing into blemishes, so that none of Thy angels may have occasion to report unto Thee except such conduct as would fall under the heads of obedience to Thee and the means of approaching Thee.”
“O Lord, I beg of Thee for the sake of this month, and for thesake of him who adored Thee in it, from its beginning to the time of its closing, whether he belonged to the class of the angels whom Thou hast permitted to be near Thee, or of prophets whom Thou hast sent, or of pious servants whom Thou hast raised in rank, to bless Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny) and to make us, in this month, worthy of that which Thou hast promised to Thy friends out of Thy bounty; and make us worthy to be of that which thou hast promised to confer on those who are most diligent in Thy service; and place us in the class of those who are high and exalted by Thy mercy.”
“O Lord, bless Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny) and restrain us from disbelief in Thy unity and insufficiency in glorifying Thee, and entertaining doubt in the religion sent by Thee, and being blind to Thy path, and neglecting to honour Thee, and being deceived by Satan, Thy enemy, the outcast.”
“O Lord, bless Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny) and since, in every night of this month, there are men whom Thy pardon doth liberate, or whom Thy forbearance doth forgive therefore, let us be of these men; and let us be in this month amongst the best.”
“O Lord, bless Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny) and obliterate our sins along with the disappearance of this month’s crescent, and free us from our penalties with the expiration of its days; so that the month may pass from us, while Thou hast cleansed us of our guilts, and freed us of our sins.”
“O Lord, fill this month with our worship of Thee alone, and adorn its moments with our service to Thee; and help us in the day-time to observe fast, and at night to pray and beseech Thee, and help humble (ourselves) before Thee, and abase (ourselves) in Thy presence; so that neither its day nor its night may bear witness against us of negligence or default.”
“O Lord, and let us be like this in all the months and days, as long as Thou keepest us alive; and let us be of Thy righteous servants, who will inherit paradise, wherein they shall live forever; and who do give what they give for the love of Thee, for verily, they shall return to Thee! and let us be of those who are prompt in charity and excel therein.”
“O Lord confer belssings on Muhammad(S.A.W.) and his Aal (progeny), in every time and every moment, and in every condition, greater in number to the blessings Thou didst confer on whomsoever Thou didst bless: Verily, Thou art the doer of what Thou willeth.”