Welcome Ramadan

Once again we are about to enter the month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a month designed especially to purify the hearts and souls of believers, bringing us closer to our creator, helping to turn our human shortcomings into strengths and make our lives more beneficial.

In a hadith, narrated from the Prophet Muhammad, it is said that when Ramadan starts, a caller, in heaven, calls each night saying: ‘O seeker of good, come forth, and O seeker of evil, back away’.

This Prophetic guidance emphasises the purpose and importance of this month. There is an entry point to this month and at that entry point we are reminded of the purpose of this month. The search for goodness is a very generic concept, embracing any good that may enhance the value and quality of our lives, but also that which may bring goodness into the lives of others. We therefore need to remember the Quranic verse which says: ‘You are the best of nations raised to (serve) mankind, enjoining what is good and prohibiting what is evil’.

To serve this purpose, we need to go, once every year, through this very tough training procedure, Ramadan, to prepare us to receive and understand the teachings and guidance of Islam. We need to acquire patience and to strengthen our resolve to serve others. We need to reinforce our spiritual base and identify and admit our faults so that we can correct them.

Ramadan helps us to do this, and Allah, the Almighty, provides us with the means to do it. The Prophet says: ‘When Ramadan starts, the gates of Paradise are opened wide and the gates of Hell are shut firmly, and the Shaytans are put in chains’.

The road to Paradise is shortened to make it easier for us to reach it. Indeed entry to it is encouraged and no hurdles remain between a person and Paradise except their determination to attain it.

The gates of Hell are closed and only those people who continue knocking on them will enter.

The month of Ramadan is so blessed and important within Islamic obligations that the Quran offers some detailed guidance about it. It says: ‘O believers! Fasting is prescribed (as an obligation) upon you as was prescribed upon those who were before you (the nations of other prophets before) in order for you to attain self-restraint’.

Yes, learning and training in ‘self-restraint’ is a practical goal which will help us all achieve a meaningful life in this world.

The Prophet, may the peace and mercy of Allah be upon him, would especially speak to people on the eve of Ramadan, greeting the month, and reminding the people about its blessings. At one such greeting sermon, welcoming the month, the Prophet spoke to the people saying:

‘O people! A blessed and great month has extended its shadow upon you. It is a month which has a night which is more excellent than the (nights of) thousand months (in devotion and submission to God).

Then the Prophet listed some of its blessed characteristics to the people:

a-                  Whoever offers therein one act of (voluntary) goodness it would equal offering an obligatory act.

b-                  Whoever would offer an obligatory duty, their act would equal offering of seventy obligatory acts.

c-                   It is a month of patience and endeavour. The fruit of being patient is only the Paradise

d-                  It is a month of compassion, kindness and showing of solidarity

e-                  It is a month in which the provision of a believer increases.

 He placed emphasis on the sublime purpose of this month so that everyone should enter it resolving to change, and remember that they are seekers of good and not of evil; a change that may bring a person closer to Allah, the Creator, the Almighty; a change that may enhance the quality of the life of a believer and increase his value in society. In other words, finding a beneficial purpose in life and reconnecting oneself with it.

It is a month of complete devotion and dedication to good purposes. If people can multiply their spiritual deeds, and fortify their Islamic framework of morality and ethics, they will be best placed to serve their neighbours, their community, and society at large. Remember, goodness is not in what we retain but in what we offer and give, and that is what Ramadan is all about.

May Allah grant us a blessed entry into the month of Ramadan and a fruitful ending to the month, so that we may all be extremely proud of our achievements. Ameen

Please also read my previous blog about Ramadan with the title Ramadan: Its true benefits and blessings written on 31 July 2011