From Imam Al-Ridha, from his forefathers, from Imam Ali, peace be upon him, who said that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, delivered a sermon to us one day, saying:
“O people! The month of Allah has come towards you with blessings, mercy, and forgiveness, a month that is, in the sight of Allah, the best of months. Its days are the best of days, its nights the best of nights, its hours the best of hours.
It is a month in which you have been invited to the banquet of Allah, and you have been made in this month among those who are the recipients of the honor of Allah. Your breaths in it are considered glorification, and your sleep in it worship. Your deeds are accepted, and your supplications answered. So ask your Lord with sincere intentions and pure hearts to aid you in fasting during it and in reciting His Book.
For the unfortunate one is he who is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this great month. And remember, by your hunger and thirst in it, the hunger and thirst of the Day of Resurrection. Give alms to your poor and pay respect to your elders. Show kindness to your youngsters and maintain relations with your kin.
Guard your tongues and lower your gaze from what it is not lawful to look at, and do not listen to what it is not lawful to hear. Be kind to orphans so others will be kind to your orphans. Repent to Allah for your sins.
Raise your hands to Him in prayer during these times, for they are the best of hours. Allah looks upon His servants with mercy; He answers them when they speak and grants them when they ask, and He accepts their prayers when they pray.
O people! Your souls are pawned by your deeds, release them by seeking His forgiveness. Your backs are burdened by the weight of your sins, so lighten them by lengthening your prostrations. Know that Allah has sworn by His majesty that He will not punish those who pray and prostrate, and He will not terrify them with the fire on the day when people stand before the Lord of the worlds.
O people! Whoever among you feeds a fasting person in this month will have the reward of freeing a soul and forgiveness for his past sins. They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, not all of us can do that.’So he said, ‘Protect yourselves from the fire even with half a date; protect yourselves from the fire even with a drink of water.’
O people! Whoever improves his character in this month, Allah will grant him passage across the Siraat on the day when feet will slip. And whoever lightens the work of those under his authority, Allah will make his accounting easy and whoever prevents his evil from people, Allah will hold His wrath from him on the day he meets Him.
And whoever honors an orphan, Allah will honor him on the day he meets Him. And whoever connects his kinship, Allah will connect him with His mercy on the day he meets Him. And whoever cuts off his kinship, Allah will cut him off from His mercy on the day he meets Him.
And whoever offers a voluntary prayer, Allah will write for him freedom from the fire. And whoever performs a mandatory act, it will be like the one who performed seventy obligations in other months.
And whoever increases his prayers on me, Allah will weigh his scales heavily when the scales are light. And whoever recites a verse from the Quran, it will be like reciting the entire Quran in other months.
O people! The gates of paradise are open in this month, ask your Lord not to close them for you. And the gates of Hell are closed, so ask your Lord not to open them for you. And the devils are chained, so ask your Lord not to let them dominate you.
Amir al-Mu’minin Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said: I stood up and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is the best action in this month?’ He said, ‘O Aba al-Hasan, the best of deeds in this month is extra caution in matters prohibited by Allah.’
Then he wept, and I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what makes you weep?’ He said, ‘O Ali, I weep for what will be violated from you in this month as if I am with you, and you are praying to your Lord, and the most wretched of the wretched, the killer of the camel of Thamud, strikes you on your head, and your beard becomes dyed with the blood from your head.’
I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, will that be in the safety of my faith?’ He said, ‘In the safety of your faith.’
Then he said, ‘O Ali, whoever kills you has killed me, and whoever hates you has hated me, and whoever insults you has insulted me because you are to me like my own soul. Your spirit is from my spirit, and your nature is from my nature. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, created me and you, chose me for Prophethood and chose you for the Imamate. Whoever denies your Imamate denies my Prophethood. O Ali, you are my successor, the father of my descendants, the husband of my daughter, and my caliph over my nation after me. Your command is my command, and your prohibition is my prohibition. I swear by the one who sent me as a prophet and made me the best of creation, you are the proof of Allah against His creation, the trustee of His secret, and His vicegerent on His servants.'”