The Last Messenger of God Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) addressed his companions on the last day of Shaban (the month before Ramadhan ), saying, “O people! A great month has come to you. A blessed month, a month in which is a night better than thousand months; a month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day and voluntary to pray by night. Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in this month shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time and whoever discharges an obligatory deed (in this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience and the reward of patience is heaven. It is the month of charity and a month in which a believer’s sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast shall have his sins forgiven and he will be saved from the fire of hell, and he shall have the same reward as the fasting person without his reward being diminished at all.”
(Bukhari)
The above tradition of the Prophet lays stress on the importance of Ramadhan and its benefits. Blessings of this month are enormous and the reward for one good deed in this month is manifold.
Further the Prophet said that it is the month of patience and this patience is achieved through fasting which teaches us to control our hunger, thirst as well as desires and vices. Self-control is something much difficult for most of human beings to achieve and hence one who attains this status is promised the reward of heaven with all its bounties and beauties. Life is a test wherein each day we are tested by the level of our belief and deeds which include our loyalty and duty towards our Creator and loyalty and duty towards all human beings. To face this test, it becomes utmost important to inculcate such high qualities in oneself as will grant success and fetch a good result in the hereafter when the judgement will be established. This quality is obtained through Fasting and hence Fasting is an act of worship observed since olden times.
The Quran says: “Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain taqwaa.” (Quran 2:183)
It is this Taqwa or quality of Piety attained through the consciousness and love and fear of God which the fast instils in an individual to strengthen the foundation of faith and distances oneself from disobeying God. Due to lack of this consciousness with our Creator we tend to be fearless of our acts, failing to realise that we are being watched and observed by the One from whom nothing can remain hidden. Ramadhan is the time to awaken this consciousness, cast away the remoteness with God and tighten the bond with Him by way of Fasting which keeps us conscious of the watchful God and refrains us from eating, drinking and fulfilment of other desires and thus from disobeying Him.
This Consciousness, if applied in daily life, can lead us to the highest form of civilized living, preventing us from all sorts of hatred, hard-heartedness, money-worship, violence, conflicts, persecution, pain, social injustices, lovelessness and immoral conduct, thus making the world a better place to live in. Today, as the world is developing as a materialistic model, the concept of God and accountability of our deeds before Him is slowly diminishing, thus paving the way for wreck of spiritual values and a grave depression both in individual and in social spheres.
There is abandonment of virtues such as goodness, honesty, unselfishness, justice, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. The world is seen in clear chaos and danger with lies, cheating, dishonesty spread everywhere. The rate of crimes is increasing each day. There is competition in matters of worldly gains at the cost of humanity and values. Villains are emerging as heroes and heroes are portrayed as villains, the voice of truth is subdued and evil is rising disguised as welfare and development. Self-centred and business-oriented minds cannot give a selfless service to humanity, thus making the rich richer and the poor poorer. To such a world, Ramadhan is the time to uplift all virtues in oneself and in the society and eliminate vices. It is thus a training period to bring these values in our daily life and the whole of our life so as to fulfil our duty towards our Creator as well as our fellow beings.
Further the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) says: This is a month of distributing Zakat (Charity). Zakat is a system of circulation of wealth from the rich to the poor so that all are brought to one social status. An obligatory payment of 2.5% from one’s surplus wealth is ordained for this cause. This helps in social and economic development of the society as well as promotes moral and spiritual uplift in an individual by eliminating greed, selfishness, parsimony, narrow-mindedness and hardheartedness which wealth tends to nurture in an individual. The separation of extra wealth from a person thus eradicates its love and fosters generosity, sympathy, broad-mindedness and large-heartedness in oneself as well as promotes humanity by showing selfless concern towards others who are in need of our help, love and care.
When a person shows such approach towards fellow beings just to please his Lord without a tinge of selfishness, the Merciful Lord showers His blessings on such a person and his sustenance increases. It’s difficult for many to understand this concept of increase in provisions by the act of giving and not by abstaining or saving it. The explanation to this is given in the Quran in the following words:
“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed (of grain) which grows seven spikes; in each spike are hundred grains. And Allah multiplies (his reward) for whom He wills. And Allah is All Encompassing and All knowing.” (Quran 2:261)
The Giver of Sustenance – the Almighty God has allotted each one his share in more or less quantity and has commanded the rich to share their sustenance with the poor to fulfil their needs and maintain the bond between human beings and uplift humanity. If this is not done, the Sustainer has the power and authority to reverse the situation which we can see through decrease in wealth due to loss incurred in business or expenditure on illnesses. Whereas averting a bad fate saves our wealth and flourishes it and brings positive signs in our sustenance.
When all these aspects of Ramadhan are understood and a person repents and amends his way to follow Patience, Self-control, Sacrifice, Obedience to God and Selfless service to others, taught by the acts of Fasting and Zakat, his sins are forgiven and the reward for each good deed increases manifold.
The reason why Ramadhan is the month chosen for Fasting and increased Blessings is due to the revelation of the Holy Quran in this month. As was the rule of the Lord to send Holy Books along with His Messengers to guide people in each era like in case of Prophet Moosa who was given Holy Tourah, Prophet David who was given Holy Zuboor, Prophet Jesus who was given Holy Bible, so was the Holy Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad and the night in which it was revealed is called the Laylatul Qadr- the Powerful night wherein the first verse of the Quran was revealed and thereafter the revelation was completed in a period of 23 years with each verse revealed with the occurrence of events during the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) and was ordained to be followed as the Final Guidance for the whole of mankind till the end of the world.
Prophet Muhammad showed the practical implementation of the commandments of the Quran which we can see in his teachings through books of Hadith.
The Quran is a book of deep meaning, enjoining us to ponder on the existence of God and His uniqueness. It strengthens our foundation of faith by reminding us about our accountability on the Day of Judgement and with this prompts us to avoid sins and do good deeds. It contains narrations of the Prophets and peoples of the past and insists to believe in all the Prophets, scriptures and the same common message contained in all the scriptures. Besides it has the final complete code of civil and criminal law, economics, sociology and politics.
Moreover, the Quran encourages people to Contemplate and Think for themselves and on the commands without simply following blindly any information.
“You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.” (Quran, 17:36)
The profound statement, “Will you, then, not think?” appears numerous times in the Quran, and at regular intervals compelling oneself to ponder on the deep meaning of the word of God and using one’s intellect to differentiate and judge between right and wrong and virtue and vice.
Hence the Lord says:
“Ramadhan is the month in which the Quran was sent down: this Book is a perfect Guidance for mankind and consists of clear teachings which show the right way and are a criterion of Truth and falsehood.” (Quran 2:185)
It is a great Mercy of the Lord that he showed the right Guidance to mankind through the Quran and as a thanksgiving Fasting is observed in this month.
Ramadhan thus is an overall complete package of blessings – blessings of Mercy, Forgiveness and Guidance in the form of the Quran to give worth and meaning to our life.
[The writer is an engineer and social worker based in St Cruz Panaji, Goa]