EsinIslam
Ramadan
Ramadan Explorer
Description: Why Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan
Every year Muslims from all over the world and from all ethnic and economic
backgrounds begin fasting from dawn to sunset every day during a most blessed
month in the Islamic tradition, known as Ramadan. But what makes Ramadan a
blessed month? Why do Muslims fast during this month? What are the spiritual
benefits of fasting? All these questions and more are addressed in this
article that introduces you to a month long spiritual journey that over 1.4
billion Muslims engage in worldwide.
The Quran says what means:
{It was the month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed from on high as a
guidance for humanity and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and as the
standard by which to discern the true from the false.} [Quran 2:185]
{شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ
وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَىٰ وَالْفُرْقَانِ} [البقرة:١٨٥]
Transliteration: Shahru Ramađāna Al-Ladhī 'Unzila Fīhi Al-Qur'ānu
Hudáan Lilnnāsi Wa Bayyinātin Mina Al-Hudá Wa Al-Furqāni
The entire month of Ramadan is in essence a celebration of the Quran's
revelation, which is described as a {Guide and Mercy for those who do good.} [Quran
31:3].
{هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّلْمُحْسِنِينَ} [لقمان:٣]
Transliteration: Hudáan Wa Raĥmatan Lilmuĥsinīna
Ramadan celebrates God's Mercy by which He sent a guiding light in the Quran
that leads human life towards the path of good and virtue and protects the
human soul from evil and vice.
Muslims show their gratitude to God for this guidance by abstaining from
eating, drinking and sexual intimacy during Ramadan, as a way of coming closer
to God and developing a deep inner awareness of God's presence in life. This
internal mechanism of feeling God's presence leads the soul to do right even
under life's most difficult situations, and protects the soul against
wrongdoing even when it is the easier or more tempting path to take.
This is why the Quran switches to a most intimate relationship between God and
servant immediately following the passage on fasting in Ramadan [Quran
2:183-185].
{When My servants ask you about Me, I am close indeed—I hearken to the prayer
of the supplicant when one calls on Me; so let them hearken to Me, and let
them believe in Me, that they may go the right way.} [Quran 2:186]
{وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ
إِذَا دَعَانِ ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ
يَرْشُدُونَ} [البقرة:١٨٦]
Transliteration: Wa 'Idhā Sa'alaka Ibādī Annī Fa'innī Qarībun 'Ujību Dawata
Ad-Dāi 'Idhā Daāni Falyastajībū Lī Wa Līu'uminū Bī Laallahum Yarshudūna
When the soul enters into a station of gratitude and submission to its Lord,
through fasting, there is a recognition that life has been given by God as a
gift and trust to be used for good works that reflect God's mercy, compassion,
love, generosity and so on. In fact, the Quran says that the natural
inclination of our souls is to submit to God's Will by having sincere belief
in One God and doing righteous acts of worship [Quran 30:30]. As such, the
very concept of sin, in the Islamic tradition, is known as an act of
oppression against one's own soul for forcing it into a state that is
antithetical to its very nature and created purpose (Quran 3:117, among many
other verses). When a soul persists in sinning, it becomes a slave to its own
lower desires, a prisoner of its own passions [Quran 25:43].
Fasting, then, seeks to free the soul from these shackles by suppressing the
lower self of desire and raising the God-conscious soul of giving that
naturally aspires towards good. By depriving the soul of life's basic
necessities for some hours, one is able to teach the soul self-restraint and
self-control from such evils as anger, revenge, lying, stealing, sexual
immorality and so on. This is why Prophet Muhammad said that «When anyone of
you is fasting on a day, he should neither indulge in obscene language nor
should he raise his voice; and if anyone insults him or tries to quarrel with
him, he should say: 'I am fasting.'»
«إذا أصبح أحدكم يوما صائماً، فلا يرفث ولا يجهل. فإن امرؤ شاتمه أو قاتله، فليقل:
إني صائم» مسلم
The Prophet also warned Muslims not
to make fasting an uneventful ritual that has no affect on the character and
habits of a person: «If anyone does not refrain from lies and false conduct,
God has no need for him to abstain from his food and drink.»
«من لم يدع قول الزور والعمل به والجهل، فليس لله حاجة أن يدع طعامه وشرابه»
البخاري
One of the most important qualities fasting seeks to develop within an
individual is humility before God and God's creation. Hunger and thirst cause
one to realize that if it were not for God's Mercy and Sustenance, one would
be in a most difficult and undesirable state of affairs. Fasting is a humbling
experience, which is an important characteristic of a righteous soul, for
false pride and arrogance can never live side-by-side with sincere piety.
The act of fasting, therefore, also provides the fortunate, wealthy members of
society to experience for a time the pain and suffering which millions of
people go through everyday without food, water and other basic necessities of
life. Fasting bridges the gap between rich and poor, sustained and
impoverished, fulfilled and needy. This experience should then inspire
compassion and mercy, which is manifest by generosity of wealth and time to
help those in need. Muslims are encouraged especially during this month to go
out and feed the hungry and to spend their wealth on good causes, such as
building schools, hospitals, soup kitchens and so on, in the tradition of
Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, whose
generosity would increase ten-folds during Ramadan. In the Islamic tradition,
God promises to return all acts of goodness and generosity in this blessed
month by ten-times, both in this world and in the hereafter.
Due to the blessings and rewards associated with Ramadan, Muslims are
encouraged to share their food with their neighbors and to invite guests to
their home to begin the fast at sunrise and for breaking of the fast at
sunset. Muslims are also encouraged to significantly increase their worship to
God during this month, and therefore special prayers are offered in every
Mosque well into the night, with most Mosques packed with worshippers. As
such, Ramadan always brings with it a strong communal atmosphere and ties
between the community are strengthened greatly as a result. Most Muslims are
therefore very sad to see the month of Ramadan go and its return is highly
anticipated well in advance of its arrival.
In conclusion, Ramadan is a celebration of God's guidance to humanity, through
the Quran, which is a guide for doing good and a warning against evil. In
order to bring the soul into harmony with the Quranic ideals of belief and
virtue, fasting is prescribed as a way for individuals to come closer to God
and to lift their souls to new heights of piety. In doing so, the entire human
body is able to transform itself into an agent of positive moral and social
change that seeks to replace miserliness with generosity, anger with patience,
revenge with love, and war with peace—in effect, replacing good with evil in
the world.
A saying by God transmitted through Prophet Muhammad, known as a hadith qudsi,
best explains the transformation that takes place in an individual through
good acts, which in part are inspired by fasting. «And the most beloved thing
with which My servant comes nearer to Me is what I have enjoined upon him; and
My servant keeps on coming closer to Me through performing extra righteous
deeds till I love him. When I love him, I become the hearing with which he
hears, seeing with which he sees, hands with he acts, and legs with which he
walks; and if he asks of Me, I give him, and if he asks My protection, I
protect him.»
«وما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه، وما يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي
بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته: كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به، وبصره الذي يبصر به،
ويده التي يبطش بها، ورجله التي يمشي بها، وإن سألني لأعطينه، ولئن استعاذني
لأعيذنه» البخاري
By Sohaib N. Sultan
Islamreligion.com
EsinIslam
Ramadan
Team
©
EsinIslam.Com
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