The months of blessing and the virtue of the month of Ramadan

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: At the beginning of Rajab, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "O Allah! Bless us in Rajab and Sha'ban, and let us reach Ramadan."
Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat recorded this narration. Its chain contains a narrator, Za'idah bin Abi al-Ruqad; he has been criticised, and he has also been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The chief of all months is the month of Ramadan, and the most sacred of all months is Dhu al-Hijjah."
Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration. Its chain contains a narrator, Yazid bin Abd al-Malik al-Nawfali.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not tell you about the best of the angels? He is Jibril. The best of the prophets is Sayyiduna Adam (peace be upon him); the best of days is Friday; the best of months is the month of Ramadan; the best of nights is the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr); and the best of women is Maryam, the daughter of Imran."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Nafi' Abu Hurmuz, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The chief of all months is the month of Ramadan, and the chief of all days is Friday.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. The narrator named Abu Ubaydah did not hear from his father (that is, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In Ramadan my Ummah has been given five special qualities which were not given to any Ummah before them: the smell of the fasting person's mouth is purer in the sight of Allah Almighty than the fragrance of musk; the fish seek forgiveness for them until they break their fast; Allah Almighty adorns Paradise every day and then says: Soon My righteous servants will have hardship and harm removed from them, and they will come to you; in Ramadan the devils are chained, and in this month they are not left free as they are in other months; and on the last night of Ramadan the people are forgiven." It was said: O Messenger of Allah! Is that the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr)? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: No, but when the worker completes his work, he is given his wage.
Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration. Its chain contains a narrator, Hisham bin Ziyad Abu al-Miqdam, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) swore an oath on this) that no time has come upon the Muslims that is better for them than Ramadan, and no month comes upon the hypocrites that is worse for them than the month of Ramadan. The reason is that in this month the believer prepares strength for worship, while in this month the hypocrite prepares (to exploit) the heedlessness and hidden affairs of people. So this month is a gain for the believers, and the wicked person is deceived with regard to it."

In one narration the words are: "Indeed, Allah Almighty records his (the believer's) reward and his voluntary deeds even before this month enters, and He records his (the hypocrite's) reward and his wretchedness even before this month enters."
Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat recorded this narration through Tamim, the freed slave of Ibn Rummanah. I have not found anyone who has given his biography.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say, at a time when the crescent of Ramadan had been sighted. He said: "If the servants knew what (reward, merit and excellence) there is in Ramadan, my Ummah would wish that the whole year were Ramadan." A man from the tribe of Khuza'ah said: Tell us about it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Paradise is adorned for Ramadan from the beginning of the year until the next year, until, when the first day of Ramadan comes, a wind blows from beneath the Throne, which makes the leaves of Paradise move. The Hur al-'In (wide-eyed maidens of Paradise) look at them and say: O our Lord! In this month appoint for us husbands from among Your servants, through whom (our) eyes will be cooled and whose eyes will be cooled through us. (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:) So every servant who fasts in Ramadan is married to a wife from among the Hur al-'In, who is in a tent made of a hollow pearl, whose description Allah Almighty has given in these words: 'Maidens secluded in pavilions.' Each of them wears seventy robes, no robe of which matches the colour of another; and she has been given seventy different kinds of fragrance, no fragrance of which resembles another. For each of these women there are seventy couches made of red ruby, adorned with precious stones; on each couch there are seventy beds whose linings are of brocade (istabraq), and above the seventy beds there are seventy cushions. Each of these women has seventy thousand servants assigned to her needs, and each of the seventy thousand servants has a bowl made of gold, each containing a different kind of food, and it is such that a person finds in its last morsel a delight which he had not found in the first. Her husband is also given couches of red ruby, and her husband will be adorned with bracelets made of gold, decorated with red ruby. And this is for that person for every day of Ramadan on which he fasted, besides the good deeds he has done, which are separate from this."
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded this narration. Its chain contains a narrator, Jarir bin Ayyub, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Mas'ud al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say, at a time when the crescent of Ramadan had been sighted (the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said): "If the servants knew what (reward, merit and blessings) is attained in the month of Ramadan, the servants would wish that the whole year were Ramadan." A man from the tribe of Khuza'ah said: O Messenger of Allah! Tell us. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Paradise is adorned for the month of Ramadan from the beginning of the year until the beginning of the next year, until, when the first night (of Ramadan) comes, a wind blows from beneath the Throne, which makes the leaves of Paradise begin to move. The Hur al-'In (wide-eyed maidens of Paradise) look at them and say: O our Lord! In this month appoint for us husbands from among Your servants such that our eyes are cooled through them and their eyes are cooled through us. (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:) Every servant who fasts the month of Ramadan, Allah Almighty marries him, for every day, to a wife who is from among the Hur al-'In, and she lives in a tent made of a hollow pearl, whose description Allah Almighty has given thus: 'They are the Hur al-'In, secluded in pavilions.' Each of these women wears seventy robes, each robe differing in colour from the other; and this woman has been given seventy different kinds of fragrance, each differing in scent from the other. Each of these women is on a couch made of ruby, which is adorned with precious stones, and on it there are seventy beds whose linings are of brocade (istabraq), and on those seventy beds there are seventy cushions. Each of these women has seventy servants assigned to serve her, and seventy assigned to serve her husband. Each of these servants has a bowl made of gold, containing a different kind of food; a person finds in its last morsel the same delight as in its first. Her husband will likewise be given a couch made of red ruby, and he will be adorned with bracelets made of gold, decorated with red ruby. This happens for every day of the month of Ramadan on which the person fasted; the reward of the other good deeds he has done is separate."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, al-Hayyaj bin Bistam, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: One day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, on a day when Ramadan had arrived: "Ramadan has come to you, a month of blessing in which Allah Almighty will make you self-sufficient. He sends down mercy, wipes away sins, and in this month He answers supplication. Allah Almighty looks at your eagerness (in competing in good deeds) and boasts about you before the angels. So show Allah Almighty goodness from yourselves, for the wretched one is he who remains deprived of the mercy of Allah in it."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin Abi Qays; I have not found anyone who has given his biography.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Paradise is adorned for Ramadan from the beginning of the year until the next year. When the first day of the month of Ramadan comes, a wind blows from beneath the Throne, which moves the leaves of Paradise. Then the Hur al-'In (wide-eyed maidens of Paradise) come and say: O our Lord! Appoint for us husbands from among Your servants through whom our eyes will be cooled and whose eyes will be cooled through us."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and he recorded it in abridged form in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a narrator, al-Walid bin al-Walid al-Qalanisi, whom Imam Abu Hatim declared "thiqah (trustworthy)", while a group called him da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever keeps one fast in the month of Ramadan hoping for reward receives in return for it such that, if all the people of the world, from the time the world came into being until it comes to an end, were to gather together, he could provide food and drink for them all; and he will not ask anyone from the people of Paradise for anything in this regard."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, al-Walid bin al-Walid al-Qalanisi, whom Abu Hatim declared "thiqah (trustworthy)", while a group declared him "da'if (weak)".

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The fasts of Ramadan are an expiation for the sins in between, until the next Ramadan."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Abdullah bin Qurayz, whom Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned; he says: Yahya bin Ayyub narrated from him. The remaining narrators of it are the narrators of the "Sahih".

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said one day: "The gates of the heaven are opened on the first night of the month of Ramadan, and they are not closed until its last night."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir. Its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin Marwan al-Suddi, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) states: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "This is Ramadan, which has come. In it the gates of Paradise are opened, in it the gates of Hell are closed, and in it the devils are locked up. So may that person be far removed who finds the month of Ramadan and is then not forgiven. If he is not forgiven in this month, then when will he be?"
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a narrator, al-Fadl bin Isa al-Raqashi, who is da'if (weak).