بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Q: The Messenger’s -sallahu alayhi wa salaam- statement, “when Ramadan comes the gates to paradise are opened, the gates to the fire are closed, and the devils are shackled.” So does this mean that whomever dies during Ramadan will enter paradise without any reckoning? We hope to receive clarity from you in this matter, may Allah reward you.
A: The affair is not like this. On the contrary, the meaning is that the gates of paradise are opened as encouragement for the workers, in order to make easy for them the entering of paradise. The gates of the Fire are closed is for the purpose of the people of faith abstaining from sin so that they will not enter these gates. What is not intended is that whoever dies in Ramadan will enter paradise without reckoning, as the only ones who will enter paradise without reckoning are those whom the Messenger -sallahu alayhi wa salaam- described in his statement: “They are those who did not request ruqya (performed on them), cauterization, nor did they rely on omens. In their Lord they were truly relied upon.” That is along with executing what is binding upon them from righteous actions.
Translated by Abu Abdil Waahid Najeeb Al Anjelesi
Source: فتاوى في احكام الصيام