Striving Hard, Competing for Good Deeds in Ramadan

all praise is due to allah, and may the peace and blessings be upon his messenger muhammad.

it is legislated for all the muslims to strive hard in the various types of worship during this noble month. they should strive to pray voluntary prayers and recite the qur'an with reflection and thinking. they should increase the glorification of allah [saying "subhanallaah"], declaring his right to be worshiped alone [saying "la illaaha il allaah"], praising him [saying "al-hamdulillaah"], declaring his greatness [saying "allaahu akbar"] and seeking his forgiveness.

they should say legislated supplications, command the good, forbid the evil, invite to allah, be generous to the poor and needy, strive to be kind to parents, keep good family ties, honor the neighbor, visit the sick, and other types of good deeds.

this is also due to the prophet’s  statement in the authentic hadith: "an 'umrah performed during ramadan is equal to a performance of hajj - or he said - a hajj with me." [al-bukhari (no. 1863) and muslim (no. 1256)]

«فعمرة في رمضان تقضي حجة، أو حجة معي»

رواه البخاري ومسلم

the hadiths and narrations that prove the sanctioning of competing and being aggressive in performing the various acts of goodness in this noble month are numerous.

allah is the one who is asked to help us and the rest of the muslims to do all that contains his pleasure and to accept our fast and standing for night prayer. we ask him to correct our situations and protect us all from the deviations of trials and temptations. likewise, we ask him to make the leaders of the muslims righteous, and unite their word upon the truth. verily, allah is the guardian of that, and he is capable of doing it.