The blessings of Ramazan
By Muhammad Rafi
Friday, Aug 12, 2011
RAMAZAN is a special time of year, a time when Muslims take a step back from their daily routines and focus on community, charity, fasting and prayers. But at times it is felt that the true spirit of the month is lost in the rush for iftar and the daylong expression of anger, intolerance and indifference that we notice around us.
The spirit of Ramazan goes far beyond mere fasting. It is an occasion for deep introspection and building capacities for self-actualisation. It is not only a month of fasting, but abstinence from all things that have a negative influence on one’s personality.
Since character-building is a long, hard and continuous process, Ramazan comes back every year as a reminder and re-enforcer. We should not be under the false impression that our spiritual development is taking place while our life goes on as usual. The Quranic term for the Ramazan fast is ‘soum’, which means to control one’s desires and discipline life within the
limits prescribed by Allah. ‘Saim’ is the person who stops himself from treading the wrong path by controlling himself.
Every year, in this month, the Quran is recited at a rapid pace to acquire the reward of a virtuous act. It is obvious that the way the words of the Quran are repeated and heard without being understood, cannot make the exposition of the Holy Book understandable. Ramazan is a continuation of the long history of fasting in the Abrahamic faiths. Jews, Christians and Muslims all enjoin fasting. Moses observed a fast of 40 days at Mount Sinai at the time of the revelation of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:18). Ramazan sets up a momentary abolition of man’s dependence on his link with the world of matter, and thereby strengthens the connection with God.
By breaking the routine of daily life, it provides an opportunity to control one’s instincts. The fast is not without social impact since it submits both rich and poor to the same limitations and opportunities to be closer to Allah. Muslims habitually bear the intense pangs of hunger and thirst all day so that they are accustomed to pass smilingly and steadfastly through the extremely difficult stages of life.
Ramazan is an annual training period in which provisions are made to revitalise new inspirations in life. It is a refresher course to reinvigorate the memorandum — one in which the direct link between Allah and man is renewed to consolidate the law of requital and, of course, the development of personality. This month provides us an opportunity to evaluate the sum total of our deeds and consequences spread over the whole year.
This should help us in assessing as to what extent we have marched ahead in the preceding year and to renew our pledge for improvement in our attitude, behaviour and deeds in the coming year. The Quran tells us that if humanity follows divine guidance in letter and spirit, it will rediscover the paradise that was lost by man as a result of disobedience to God’s instructions.
Today, Muslims, directed by the Quran to work towards solving the problems of humanity, are unable to solve even their own problems. In the 21st century, we see that a very large number of Muslims pray, fast, give zakat, perform Haj; yet they do not receive the same benefits and success as Muslims in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did. Nations where there is rampant social injustice and exploitation can never expect help from God.
As a deen, or system of life, Islam cannot be confined to a personal affair of seeking salvation, an affair between the individual and God. Such compartmentalisation of Islam has resulted in a people who are satisfied after performing only the ritualistic aspects of Islam. That is why positive results are rarely seen in Muslim societies today.
A close study of the Quran makes it clear that a people who are satisfied with their state of indignity, dependence, hopelessness and insecurity are one nation experiencing Allah’s wrath (‘maghdoob-i-alaihim’ 1:6). Such people cannot declare themselves as being the recipients of Allah’s blessings by simply going through soulless prayers and customary fasts.
Allah promises that He will give power in this world in return for iman and good deeds. In other words, if Muslims are not practically applying the injunctions of the Quran in their lives, they cannot expect to receive Allah’s blessings. According to the Quran, if one’s supposed iman and good deeds do not result in dignity, self-respect, power, authority and independence, then that iman cannot be true and those good deeds cannot be truly good.
During the days of the Prophet, was it not the same fasting and prayers that transformed Arabian society in a very short period of time? Those people, whose subsistence mainly depended on dates and simple food, completely overpowered the Persian and Byzantine empires and became the inheritors of their power on earth.
It is said that Satan and all evil forces are chained during this month; but it is also sadly true for our society that crime, thefts, robberies, murders, hoarding and profiteering assume very high proportions. Perhaps our good deeds and intentions are not righteous enough to defeat the forces of evil and vice.
During this month and at all times, Muslims should strive to protect themselves from evil and adopt the divine laws as a habit.
If Muslims can fast during Ramazan because it is an injunction of the Quran, then they should also submit to all the other injunctions of the Holy Book all year round.
The writer is a retired professor.