On the eve of Ramadhan, the Prophet (PBUH) giving a sermon said, “O people! A great and blessed month is coming upon you, a month containing a night better than a thousand months. Allah has made fasting in the days an obligation and observing prayer in its nights a voluntary act. Anyone who seeks nearness to Allah in this month through any virtuous act will be like one who carried out an obligation at another time, and anyone who performs an obligatory act of worship in this month will be like one who performed seventy such acts at another time. It is the month of patience, and the reward for patience is paradise.” (Sahih Ibn Khuzamah)
The month of Ramadhan has arrived once again. It is the month of fasting and prayer and it is the month that provides the opportunity for forgiveness from Allah and emancipation from our sins. It is the month for practising good deeds and giving wealth in charity. In this month the gates of the Heavens are opened and the rewards for our deeds magnified many times over. It is the month in which our prayers are answered and the status of the worshippers is elevated. It is the month that has a night superior to a thousand months.
This month provides us with many opportunities of purification and purgation, and strengthens our hearts. It reinforces our good traits like fortitude, clemency and generosity and rids us of our weak tendencies like jealousy, arrogance and hatred. It also shows how weak we are and how truly dependent we are upon our Lord. It also shows us how much Allah has blessed us.
The main object of fasting is to provide us with a golden opportunity of self restraint. Allah draws our attention in the Holy Qur’ān, “O, you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it had been prescribed for those who are before you, that you may learn self restraint.” (Al-Baquara – 183)
In this verse Allah makes it clear that fasting has been prescribed for us in order to purify and restrain. It means to learn self-restraint and develop our piety. Piety is to observe the commandments and prohibition of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) sincerely out of our love for and reverence to Allah, and to avoid His punishment and anger by doing only good deeds that can please Him.
It is truly said that we are a soul with a body not a body with a soul. Fasting is the most important source to purify our soul and to make our body healthy as well. During Ramadhan we deprive the body to uplift the soul. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) said, “There is a Zakah of everything and the Zakah of the body is fasting.”
In fact fasting gives the body a chance to purify it from accumulated poisons; it is a fact confirmed by numerous doctors.
In a hadith Ramadhan has been called “Month of Sabr”. Sabr is translated as patience. But ‘sabr’ is not mere patience but it also means perseverance and steadfastness in the face of difficulty. It also means to avoid sin in the face of temptation. Overcoming hunger and thirst during the fast is a part of it. But protecting our eyes, ears, minds, tongues and hands, etc. from all sins is also part of it. Ramadhan requires ‘sabr’ in its fullest sense and provides ground training for that very important quality to be developed and nurtured.
Ramadhan has also been called the month of kindness and charity. It is well-known that to experience hunger and to check the desire in order to know the condition of the poor and reinforce the soul is one of the main objects of Ramadhan.
Ramadhan comes every year to remind us that it is the month to re-assess our commitment to Almighty Allah for upholding and practising His directives as revealed in the Holy Qur’ān. It is not the month to finish (reading or reciting of) the Qur’ān in three, six, ten or more than ten days. In fact, this month is the annual anniversary of the Qur’ān. It was revealed as guidance for human beings. Allah says in the Holy Qur’ān, “Ramadhan is the (Month) in which was sent down the Holy Qur’ān as a guidance to mankind.”
The Holy Qur’ān is revealed for guidance; therefore, it should be read with rapt attention. We should not only comprehend the message of the Qur’ān but also apply it practically in our daily life, for a peaceful, contented and harmonious living. We must not only ponder over the verses of the Qur’ān but also call the people towards its message for a peaceful and harmonious society.
Muslims generally take this month in a routine manner. They consider that by keeping fast and performing Tarawih all the obligations are fulfilled. Little do they realise that Islam is the complete way of life. It has the affairs round the clock to follow. It is not confined to rituals, but encompasses all their activities. Rituals are easy to perform but practical application of divine laws is a hard nut to crack. To apply the divine laws is the most important object of the revelation of the Qur’ān and it demands practice and training.
The Qur’ān says that this month has been chosen for collective training to establish Allah’s supremacy. (2:685) It is not revealed only for reciting and to acquire the reward or ‘Sawab’. The Qur’ān, no doubt, is the most widely read and recited book in the world. But alas! Its readers are not aware of its meaning. This is sheer injustice with this book and this type of injustice is not done to any other book in the world. Ramadhan has come again to provide an opportunity to refresh our attitude. Therefore, we must ponder over the basic objectives of the revelation of the Holy Qur’ān, especially in this Holy month so that we might follow it in our daily life.
In the light of the greatness of Ramadhan, we must welcome it and embrace it with happiness and joy. We must have the true resolve to keep fasts and offer prayers. We must seize the opportunity presented to us in this blessed month and absorb the greatness of this month by engaging in all the worships that we can. We must hasten to perform good deeds as this month has been made for worship and competing with one another in righteousness. We must hasten spending in charity to help the poor, the needy and the orphans. The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was the most generous of all the people but he would be even more generous in this month.
We also must safeguard the blessing of our fasts from sins and short comings. The prophet said, “Whoever does not leave off false speech and false conduct, Allah has no need of his leaving of food and drink.”
At another time, he said, “When anyone of you keeps the fast for the day, he should neither indulge in obscene language nor raise his voice. If someone abuses him or quarrels with him, he should say, ‘I am fasting’.”
Therefore we must avoid committing any offence against the fast that will diminish its blessings and invoke Allah’s anger. We must avoid backbiting and slander of anyone. We must eschew wanton activities.
These sins are forbidden throughout the year, but in Ramadhan they are even more forbidden. So we must practise to avoid all the sins so that we might lead our life pleasantly and make our society pleasant. We must beseech Allah for forgiveness in this month and do all that we can.