﷽
الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين
اللهم اجعلنا منهم
We begin by mentioning the Name of The One True God, Allāh, The Infinitely Caring, Eternally Compassionate. We sincerely praise and thank God to the highest extent, and ask Him to bless, protect, honor, and compliment our Prophet and Messenger Muḥammad, his family, his companions, and those that diligently follow them until the end of times. Dear God, please include us from amongst them.
A common duʿāʾ (prayer and supplication) that is made and heard in Ramaḍān is, “اَللَّهُمَّ أَعْتِقْ رِقَابَنَا مِنَ النَّارِ - O Allāh! Free our necks from the fire!” It has been one my top 3 duʿāʾ this Ramaḍān.[1] May Allāh accept this prayer (duʿāʾ) from us! Although the wording of this prayer is not one that the Prophet ﷺ[2] explicitly taught, it stems from numerous related prayers Allāh ﷻ[3] and the Prophet ﷺ did teach us about seeking protection from The Fire/Hell.
First, in The Qurʾān, Allāh ﷻ repeatedly quotes the duʿāʾ of believers, and many of them explicitly include a mention of asking Allāh ﷻ to protect them from the punishment of Hell, “قِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ - (Our Master!) Protect us from the punishment of Hell!”[4] Allāh ﷻ also quotes the Angels making a similar duʿāʾ for the believers, “قِهِمْ عَذَابَ الْجَحِيمِ - Our Master! Protect them (the believers) from the punishment of the raging fire (of Hell)!”[5]
Second, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for refuge and protection from Hell in his daily adʿiyah[6]. He ﷺ would regularly say as he got ready to sleep, placing his right hand under his right cheek, “اللَّهُمَّ قِنِي عَذَابَكَ يَوْمَ تَجْمَعُ عِبَادَكَ - O Allāh! Protect me from Your Punishment on the day You resurrect Your servants (meaning the day of judgment).”[7] He ﷺ would make a similar prayer every morning and evening, “اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ فِي النَّارِ - O Allāh! I take refuge with You from the punishment of Hell!”[8] He ﷺ also taught others to make similar duʿāʾ, “وَلَوْ كُنْتِ سَأَلْتِ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُعِيذَكِ مِنْ عَذَابٍ فِي النَّارِ أَوْ عَذَابٍ فِي الْقَبْرِ كَانَ خَيْرًا وَأَفْضَلَ - If you ask Allāh to protect you from the punishment of Hell and the punishment of the grave, that would be better.”[9] Also from a daily routine mindset, we see in a weak narration that the Prophet ﷺ said, “إِذَا صَلَّيْتَ الصُّبْحَ فَقُلْ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَتَكَلَّمَ اللهُمَّ أَجِرْنِي مِنَ النَّارِ سَبْعَ مَرَّاتٍ فَإِنَّكَ إنْ مُتَّ مِنْ يَوْمِكَ ذَلِكَ كَتَبَ اللهُ لَكَ جِوَارًا مِنَ النَّارِ فَإِذَا صَلَّيْتَ الْمَغْرِبَ فَقُلْ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَتَكَلَّمَ اللهُمَّ أَجِرْنِي مِنَ النَّارِ سَبْعَ مَرَّاتٍ فَإِنَّكَ إنْ مُتَّ مِنْ لَيْلَتِكَ كَتَبَ اللهُ لَكَ جِوَارًا مِنَ النَّارِ - When you are done praying Fajr, say the following seven times before speaking to anyone, ‘O Allāh! Save me from The Fire!’ If you happen to die that day, Allāh will mandate your protection from The Fire. And similarly, when you are done praying Maghrib, say the following seven times before speaking to anyone, ‘O Allāh! Save me from The Fire!’ If you happen to die that night, Allāh will mandate your protection from The Fire.”[10] In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said, “مَنْ سَأَلَ اللَّهَ الْجَنَّةَ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ قَالَتِ الْجَنَّةُ اللَّهُمَّ أَدْخِلْهُ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَنِ اسْتَجَارَ مِنَ النَّارِ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ قَالَتِ النَّارُ اللَّهُمَّ أَجِرْهُ مِنَ النَّارِ - If someone asks Allāh for Jannah (Heaven) 3 times, Jannah will say, ‘O Allāh, enter this person into Jannah!’ If someone asks Allāh to save them from Hell 3 times, Hell will say, ‘O Allāh, save this person from Hell!’”[11]
Third, and specific to Ramaḍān, the Prophet ﷺ said, “إِذَا جَاءَ رَمَضَانُ فُتِّحَتْ أَبْوَابُ الْجَنَّةِ وَغُلِّقَتْ أَبْوَابُ النَّارِ وَصُفِّدَتِ الشَّيَاطِينُ - When Ramaḍān arrives, the gates of Heaven are wide open, the gates of Hell are locked shut, and the devils and evil spirits are chained.”[12] In a weaker version, he ﷺ is said to have added on, “وَيُنَادِي مُنَادٍ يَا بَاغِيَ الْخَيْرِ أَقْبِلْ وَيَا بَاغِيَ الشَّرِّ أَقْصِرْ - And a caller[13] will announce: ‘O Seeker of good, Come! O Seeker of bad, stop and cut it out!’”[14] And in another weak version, the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ is narrated to have concluded by saying, “وَلِلَّهِ عُتَقَاءُ مِنَ النَّارِ وَذَلِكَ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ - Allāh frees people from the Fire (i.e, Allāh grants people salvation from Hell because of their efforts in Ramaḍān). That happens every single night of Ramaḍān.”[15] When we put all of these together — that is, Allāh saving people from Hell in Ramaḍān and a daily litany of seeking protection from The Fire — it is clear why a believer would be constant in saying this prayer of, “اَللَّهُمَّ أَعْتِقْ رِقَابَنَا مِنَ النَّارِ - O Allāh! Free our necks from the fire!”
This month - Ramaḍān - is such a blessed month. These last 10 nights are such special nights. These odd nights from the last 10 nights are such wondrous nights. These are nights that, if utilized properly, can be the means of our freedom, salvation, protection, and distancing from Hell! What more can we ask for in these last few nights? What more can we hope for? If we have been freed from Hell, the only other place for us to go is Heaven - Jannah. Which one of us does not want to go to Heaven? The Prophet ﷺ himself implicitly taught this. When his wife — our mother — ʿĀʾishah (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhā[16]) asked him what she should say if she thinks it is Laylah Al-Qadr[17], he ﷺ replied, “قُولِي اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي - Say, ‘O Allāh! You are The Forgiver. You love to forgive. So please forgive me!’”[18] Being forgiven, and having our sins totally erased and wiped away is the required step to not enter Hell, thus, allowing us to enter Jannah through Allāh ﷻ’s Grace. So we can imagine that our prayer of, “O Allāh! Free our necks from The Fire!” is essentially saying, “O Allāh! Free our necks from The Fire by forgiving us and accepting our good deeds!”
That ḥadīth of our mother, ʿĀʾishah (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhā), clearly highlights the importance of duʿāʾ in the last 10 nights. We often (rightfully) focus on the recitation (tilāwah) of Qurʾān, night prayer (tarāwīḥ or qiyām al-layl or tahajjud), and charity (ṣadaqah) in these nights, but we need to teach ourselves to pause from the “actions” and focus on “simply” coming to Allāh ﷻ and begging Him. Yes, duʿāʾ itself is such a great action of worship (ʿibādah). So great actually that Allāh ﷻ used duʿāʾ and ʿibādah interchangeably when He ﷻ said, “وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ - Your Master said, ‘supplicate to Me (duʿāʾ) and I will respond to you. Without a doubt, those who are too arrogant to worship and enslave (ʿibādah) themselves to Me will soon enter Hell in a humiliated manner.’”[19] Expanding on that, the Prophet ﷺ said, “الدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ - Supplication (duʿāʾ) is worship (ʿibādah)”, after which he ﷺ recited the āyah above.[20] In a weaker version, the Prophet ﷺ also said, “الدُّعَاءُ مُخُّ الْعِبَادَةِ - Supplication (duʿāʾ) is the core and essence of worship (ʿibādah).”[21] But not only that, Allāh ﷻ mentioned an entire āyah about supplication (duʿāʾ) in the section of Ramaḍān in The Qurʾān.[22] There are only five āyāt in the section, Sūrah Al-Baqarah 2:183-187, and right in the middle of that discussion, Allāh ﷻ brings up duʿāʾ. He ﷻ says, “وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِی عَنِّی فَإِنِّی قَرِیبٌ أُجِیبُ دَعۡوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلۡیَسۡتَجِیبُوا۟ لِی وَلۡیُؤۡمِنُوا۟ بِی لَعَلَّهُمۡ یَرۡشُدُونَ - When My slaves ask you (O Prophet Muḥammad) about Me, I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when they call. So they should respond to me (by trying to obey Me) and believe in Me so that they can find clarity and guidance.”[23] This is mentioned right after Allāh talks about Ramaḍān being the month in which The Qurʾān was revealed, fasting for the entire month, and making up missed days due to illness or travel. And it is right before Allāh teaches us the rules of fasting and spiritual retreat (iʿtikāf). Subḥān-Allāh - How far beyond perfection is Allāh! It is as if, no it actually is, something He ﷻ put in the middle of that discussion: supplication (duʿāʾ) must be the central core of Ramaḍān and fasting. There is also a huge emphasis placed on making duʿāʾ before opening the fast.[24] There is a huge emphasis placed on praying Witr in congregation (jamāʿah)[25] which includes an entire portion dedicated to making duʿāʾ to Allāh (qunūt). We are encouraged to engage in worship the entire night, and the last third of the night as a bare minimum, begging Allāh in duʿāʾ.[26]
As Ramaḍān comes to a close, we may feel sad. Some of us are on track to complete the goals we set out at the start of the month. Others among us realize we will fall short. But regardless of which group we fall into, we are all going to miss the blessings and sweetness of this month. And so we should ask ourselves, what can I put my full energy and focus into? What do I have to accomplish before Ramaḍān ends? What is on my “bucket list”? The greatest thing we can achieve is being freed from Hell and entering Heaven. So let us all have that goal in mind. Although we will not know if we actually got that until the Hereafter, let us work for it like we have never worked for anything in our entire life. Every goal in life is finite. The success of salvation from Hell is eternal. Your future self will undoubtedly thank you.
This phrase means, “يا الله - O Allāh!” It is of the many ways we address our God, Allāh. We are calling out to Him, speaking to Him, and in this context, begging Him.
This verb aʿtaqa refers to freeing a slave. As a rule of thumb, whenever “slavery” is mentioned in Qurʾān, Aḥādīth, and other Islamic works, be sure to divorce that concept from the unimaginable levels of white supremacy, oppression, and evil associated to Western European Slavery, and especially American Slavery.[27] If a slave is owned by so-and-so, the act of removing that slave from slavehood and from the possession of so-and-so is through iʿtāq - our word in question. It is to no longer be subject to those circumstances of slavehood and to be free from bondage. We as Muslims are no doubt the slaves of Allāh. Whether we like it or not, He is our Master, and we are His slaves. The best human beings are those wear their slavehood to Allāh ﷻ as a badge of honor and dignity. Thus, we never ask (nor is it even possible) for someone to ask to be “free from Allāh”. But, Hell is the worst possible place imaginable, and we do not want to be chained and shackled in Hell. Allāh often describes the people of Hell as captives and prisoners (mujrim) in shackles undergoing punishment.[28] Our hope is to have nothing to do with Hell, punishment, or any kind of captivity in the Hereafter.
This is the plural of raqabah, meaning neck. This is a term often used to refer to an entire human being, specifically a slave. That is because it is common in Arabic to refer to a whole by a part. For example, in English we say, “your face” but we actually intend “your entire being”. So “neck” refers to an “entire individual”, and is then used for someone whose neck is owned via slavery. Within the Qurʾān, Allāh always uses the term raqabah when referring to slaves that are supposed to be freed.[29] This is in contrast to the word unuq (pl. aʿnāq) which also means neck, but has a connotation of punishment and evil.[30] We can imagine someone taking full control over us if they have control over our necks. It is a human weak point. We do not want to ever have shackles around our necks, let alone in Hell. And we also do not want our necks, let alone our entire bodies in Hell.
The name Al-Nār literally means “the fire”, but refers to Hell. Its heat, terrors, and blazing flames are things we want nothing to do with. We want absolutely nothing to do with Hell. We do not want to be in it, be close to it, smell it, feel it, or even see it. May Allāh ﷻ save us from it completely, always and forever, āmīn.
As the days and nights of Ramaḍān 1445, have a mindset of, “O Allāh! I want to be free from Hell!” and proceed to live such a life.
One of the judges of Makkah from the tabʿ al-tābiʿīn[31], Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān (raḥimahu Allāh[32]) was known to have a very short neck. One day, he was making the said duʿāʾ[33], when a woman passed by him and jokingly remarked, “Hah, what neck?”[34] I mention this to highlight that this prayer - despite not having been taught by the Prophet ﷺ - was still said by the scholars of the earliest and best generations. Also, there are some people who think it is not appropriate to use this duʿāʾ since they assume it implies that we are already in Hell. This is an incorrect assumption, and multiple reasons for saying this duʿāʾ have been mentioned earlier.[35]
اللهم فهمنا
ربنا زدنا علما
اللهم فقهنا في الدين وعلمنا التأويل
اللهم معلم آدم وإبراهيم ومحمد علمنا مما علمتهم
اللهم ارزقنا علما نافعا وحكمة بالغة
اللهم افتح علينا فتوح العارفين
يا فتاح يا عليم
اللهم صل وسلم على رسولك المصطفى الكريم
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين
اللهم اجعلنا منهم
Written primarily on the 26th of Ramaḍān 1445 AH.
May Allāh ﷻ reward those who helped write and edit this, including, but not limited to, Shaykhah Ayesha Syed Hussain.
