How do I make the most of Ramadan?
The classical scholars treated Ramadan as an annual training cycle. Their daily rhythm — qiyām, Qur'an, charity, restraint of the tongue — scales to any believer willing to try it.
10 passages from 5 books in the library
The classical scholars treated Ramadan as a season of intensified worship, generosity, and self-restraint. Al-Ghazali, in his Iḥyāʾ, notes the Prophet's example of being "most generous during Ramadan, withholding nothing," and that "prayer to prayer is expiation, Ramadan to Ramadan is expiation" — except for grave sins like associating partners with Allah. He counts Ramadan among the noble times for supplication, alongside the day of ʿArafah, and teaches that the month's best portion is its last ten nights. Even the name carries reverence: he relates that some said say "the month of Ramadan."
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 5 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Do not call it Ramadan, for it is one of the names of Allah, but say the month of Ramadan."
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"The best days of Ramadan are the last ten nights, and the best days in Dhu al-Hijjah are the first ten days."
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"The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was most generous during Ramadan, withholding nothing."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The hadith, prayer to prayer is expiation, Ramadan to Ramadan is expiation, except for"
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"Ramadan to Ramadan is expiation, except for three, associating partners with Allah,"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"During the night of the 27th of Ramadan, I saw nearly a hundred servant girls leaving his palace with food, all naked,"
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"I completed the fast of the month of Ramadan in Mecca and performed Umrah every day following the Shafi'i school."
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"and other items. We arrived in their lands during Ramadan, when they do not raid or assault caravans."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The first is to choose noble times for supplication, such as the day of Arafah, the month of Ramadan,"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"Ramadan, the Quran is completed. The ceremony is attended by the judge, jurists, and dignitaries,"
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