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Reflections on
Ramadan
"A person who can restrain
himself, for the love and pleasure of God, deserves a reward from the Creator
Himself. The hardship of fasting brings the glad tidings that the fasting
undertaken for the sole purpose of pleasing God is sure to be accepted by the
Most Merciful Lord."
By Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D
In the name of God the most
Beneficent, the Most Merciful
O ye who believe!
Fasting is prescribed to you
As it was prescribed
To those before you,
That ye may (learn)
Self -restraint
(Fasting) for a fixed
Number of days;
But if any of you is ill,
Or on a journey,
The prescribed number
(Should be made up)
From days later,
For those who can do it
(With hardship), is a ransom,
The feeding of one
That is indigent.
But he that will give
More, of his own free will
It is better for him.
And it is better for you
That ye fast
If ye only knew.
(Surah 2: Al Baqarah, 183-184)
Islam proceeded step by step and
by degrees in the imposition of most of its obligatory duties and Fasting was no
exception. The Noble Prophet (pbuh) advised Muslims to observe fasts for three
days in a month but this was not obligatory. Then in the second year of Hijra,
the Command(2:183) about fasting in the month of Ramadan was revealed. Verse 185
in Surah Al Baqarah was revealed next year. The first Commandment about
fasting contained in verses. 183-184 was revealed in the second year of Hijrah
before the battle of Badr. The subsequent verse which superseded it was
revealed a year later but was inserted here because it dealt with the same
matter.
Siyam or Fasting during the
month of Ramadan is Third Pillar of Islam. Muslims wait all year long for the
arrival of this month of Ramadan. Fasting means that from dawn until sunset
eating, drinking and sexual intercourse are forbidden. Ramadan is the month of
patience. A person who is ready to be patient, not to eat while he is
hungry, not to drink while he is thirsty, not to lean to his lusts, such a
person is a noble individual. Such a person will be given paradise by God
as a gift, as a merit of award.
To train yourself to abstain from
the essentials of life is not an easy act. It needs a strong personality
to dictate self-control, self-discipline and self-restraint. Fasting develops
self-control and helps Muslims overcome selfishness, greed, laziness and other
faults. It is an annual training program to refresh us for carrying out our
duties towards God. A person who can restrain himself, for the love and
pleasure of God, deserves a reward from the Creator Himself. The hardship of
fasting brings the glad tidings that the fasting undertaken for the sole purpose
of pleasing God is sure to be accepted by the Most Merciful Lord.
Fast in which the spirit of
Fasting is not observed is only an exercise in starvation but not really a Fast
at all. The prophet (pubh) said “ whosoever does not give up telling lies,
or acting in a false manner, God has no
need for his giving up his eating or drinking.”
The basic purpose of Fasting is to
suffuse us with the quality of taqwa. The term “taqwa”
implies fear and precaution and in Islamic terminology it means fear of God
or God Consciousness and avoidance of disobedience to Him. Literally, taqwa
means: Godliness, devotees or piety. According to the scientific
meaning, it signifies a screen between two things. Thus, if the servant submits
himself to God’s will by carrying out all obligatory duties with which he
has been commanded and abstains from that which God has prohibited, then his
obedient actions have placed a screen between himself and God’s
punishment. That is called taqwa.
In our life journey we face
innumerable temptations and we must shun them and stick scrupulously to the path
of righteousness and truth- that is what constitutes taqwa, and for
generating this taqwa. Taqwa is attained through knowledge
which is coupled with true faith (iman). If we do not possess knowledge,
we cannot really show piety. To obey the commands of God and to carry out His
laws constitutes taqwa. Fasting has been made obligatory on us. We
are made conscious about the needs and deprivation of those who are more in need
than ourselves. This heightening of one’s sense of sacrifice is the
opposite of selfishness and of a desire to exploit or oppress someone for the
sake of gain. God does not need our hunger, but fasting helps us to
develop and refine our reflex about right and wrong, our sense of love and
gratitude. Ramadan teaches us how to control our animal passions, how to
bring them under discipline. The end result is manifestation of a human
personality that loves God and loves His creation, that fears none but God, that
draws all its strength from God and God alone.
Ramadan is also the month of the
Qur’an, the month in which the Qur’an was revealed. The moral and
spiritual climate of Ramadan helps the flourishing of the Qur’anic message
which the ambiance is of goodness, humility, righteousness, love for good and
aversion for evil.
Benefits of Siyaam
Besides the feeling of hunger and
thirst, fasting teaches us to control the love of comfort. It helps us to
keep our sexual desires within control. Siyaam builds and nourishes
the soul of the fasting Muslim. The fasting person enriches his fasting by the
remembrance of God, the recitation of the Qur’an, the night prayers, Zakah,
Sadaqah (charity), and by refraining from sins and obscenity. The fasting
person lowers his gaze and suppresses his desires. He guards his tongue
from vain talk and obscenities. He guards his hands and legs from the
prohibitions of God. He employs his hands and legs in the good and various
deeds. Siyaam is not the mere refraining from eating and drinking, it is
also refraining from vanity and obscenity. Siyaam builds a strong
will and nourishes the truthful zeal in the soul. This is achieved when the
fasting person struggles to work for his livelihood and resists his desires and
temptations. Siyaam builds the strength to bear difficulties
and hardship and instills the character of perseverance. The fasting person by
depriving himself from food and drink, and other necessities of life becomes
capable of controlling his desires, capricious whims, and temptations. The
purpose of fasting is to enable a Muslim to control his passions, so that he
becomes a person of good deeds and intentions. If one fasts from dawn to sunset,
but continues to be abusive to one’s spouse and children, tell lies,
swears wrongly under oath, commits zina (fornication), cheats
one’s children by not giving them what is duly theirs of nafaqah in
the form of care and love and indulges in other wrongful acts, then the
objective of fasting has not been achieved. Anger, a common human
weakness, can also be brought under control by fasting. A Muslim should
keep away from all bad actions during his fast. He should not lie, break a
promise or do any deceitful act. Fasting in Ramadan helps one to develop
good habits and suppress or eliminate bad habits such as smoking, drinking
coffee, tea, etc. One can avoid or cut down on excessive consumption
of food.
A fasting person has feelings of
sympathy for the poor. The sense of compassion springs from the feeling of pain.
Fasting is a practical means to develop compassion for other people’s
sufferings. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself was very generous during
Ramadan.
Ramadan instills unity and
equality among all the members of the Muslim ummah. The Muslims fast during the
same month, perform qiyaam al lail during the nights of this month and
all seek the night of Qadr. They offer zakat-ul-fitr
at the end of the month and celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr together. By doing this
together during this month of Ramadan, the ummah becomes like one body living in
harmony. The fasting person is alert and cautious not to fall into something
that might spoil his or her fasting or seek the wrath of God.
Fasting elevates the person from
the material life to a higher spiritual life and helps him or her to approach a
spiritual level that of angels who worship God day and night without tiredness.
Fasting builds important Islamic
values, such as compassion, cooperation, diligence, firmness, affection, fear of
God, trust in God, and many other qualities. Fasting establishes equality
among the rich and the poor. It is a compulsory experience of poverty in
that it makes all people share an quality, of feeling and to sympathize with one
another through a collective sense of pain. Fasting Muslims can really
sympathize with the starving people everywhere in the world and see the hardship
that they go through every day of their lives. This compassion increases the
practical aspect of the unity of Muslims and will reduce the idea of nationality
and geographical identity. God is pleased with his servants and answers
the duaa of the fasting person, when he supplicates to Him.
During the month of Ramadan, one
should visit and offer prayers more frequently in the local mosques. Ramadan is
a special time for visiting friends and family and sharing meals with the less
fortunate.
The Prophet (pbuh) said, “ O
people! The month of Ramadan has come with His mercy, blessing and
forgiveness. God has decreed this month the best of all months. Its days
are the best among days, its nights best among nights, and its hours best among
hours. This is a month in which you have been invited by Him to fast and
pray. God has honored you in it. Every breath you take in this
month has the reward of praise of God. Your sleep in worship, your good deeds
are accepted and your invocations answered.
Therefore you must invoke your
Lord in earnest, with hearts that are free from sin and evil, and pray that God
helps you fast, and recite the Qur’an. Give alms to the poor and the
needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind
toward your relatives and kinsfolk. Guard your tongue against unworthy words,
and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing and your ears from sounds
that should not be heard. Understand well that God has promised in the Name of
His Majesty and Honor that He will not take to task such people who perform Salaat
and Sajda and that He will guard their bodies against the fire of
hell on the Day of Judgment.
O’ people! If anyone among
you arranges Iftar for any believer, then God will reward him and forgive him
his previous sins. (A companion of the prophet (pbuh) asked: “But not
everyone among us have the means to do so.” The prophet replied: “Do
it even if it be with half a date or some water if you have nothing
else.”)
O’ people! Anyone who
cultivates in this month good manners will walk over the bridge leading to
paradise on the day when feet will tend to slip. Anyone who treats his
kinsfolk well in it, God will bestow His mercy on him on the Day of Judgment
while anyone who mistreats his kinsfolk, God will keep him away from His
mercy. Whoever recites a verse of the Qur’an in this month, his
reward will be that of reciting the whole Qur’an in other months.
O’ people! The gates of
paradise remain open in this month: pray to your Lord that they may not be
closed for you. The gates of hell are closed during this month: pray that
they may never be opened for you. Satan has been handcuffed: invoke your
Lord not to let him dominate you.”
May God make us become kinder
people, better neighbors and set good examples of the teachings of Islam which
we present. Ameen!
This RAMADAN KHUTBAH
(sermon) was delivered by Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed, President of the Islamic Research
Foundation of Louisville, KY on JAN. 16, 1998 at the Islamic Center
of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Read other articles by Dr. Ibrahim B.
Syed, Ph.D here.
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