Observing Ramadan

IMRAN ALI

THE most common reaction of non-Muslims during the month of Ramadan is one of admiration that their Muslin friends or acquaintances are able to stay away from all food and drink for an entire month.

True, abstinence from sustenance is what the holy month entails, but for Muslims, the month means so much more. The fast is just the platform to achieve the true purpose of God’s injunction to all members of the faith: that the fast is prescribed so that the believer may attain a state of “taqwa” (Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2, verse 183).

The Arabic term “taqwa” is used deliberately, as, like many expressions used in the Qur’an, it has no precise meaning in English. Linguistically, it translates to “a shield” or “a protective barrier”, and it has commonly been regarded as reaching a state of piety where one is God-conscious”. There are a number of more philosophical interpretations of the term – too many to be explored here – but they all transcend the physical act of avoiding eating and drinking.

Indeed, Islamic scholars all agree that God has no need for a person to leave aside his food and drink if the person does not try to attain “taqwa”. That person is regarded as gaining nothing from the fast but hunger.

For those who observe the fast, it is, firstly, an exercise in self-restraint. During the fast, the Muslim is expected to be more conscious of his thoughts, words, and even what one looks at to avoid sins. Intimate relations with spouses are also forbidden during the fast. And there are even deeper levels to observing the month.

One of the greatest Islamic scholars, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, described the levels of fasting in the following terms in his 11th-century text, The Revival of the Religious Sciences:

“Know that there are three degrees of fasting: the fasting of common people, the fasting of the elite, and the fasting of the elite. As for the fasting of the common people, it is restraining the stomach from fulfilling its desires as has been mentioned. As for the fasting of the elite, it is restraining one’s hearing, sight, tongue, hands, feet, and all limbs from sin. As for the fasting of the elite, it is the fasting of the heart from unworthy concerns and worldly thoughts and to restrain it entirely from everything besides Allah Almighty.”

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims also increase their acts of charity and observance of prayer. In addition to the five daily obligatory prayers, many mosques host “taraweh” prayer sessions, at which the entire Qur’an is recited incrementally on every night during the month.

The month is also of special significance for the faith itself, as it is the month in which God revealed the Qur’an itself, but opinion is divided on precisely how this was revealed. One school of thought is that God sent the Qur’an from the highest to the lowest heaven, for transmission to mankind through the angel Gabriel. Another theory is that it was in this month that Gabriel first began transmitting the Qur’an to the prophet Muhammed (peace be unto him). Whichever is true, both events are believed to have taken place on a special night in the month of Ramadan, referred to as “Laylat al-Qadr”, or “the Night of Power”. For this reason, Muslims strive to spend the night in prayer and repentance.

Also of significance in this month is that the prophet Muhammed (upon whom be peace) said that during the month, God opens the gates of heaven and shuts the gates of hell, chaining up the devils. Muslims must, therefore, counter their innate inclinations to sinful acts, free from the influence of Satan himself.

Modern science has confirmed the wide array of health benefits of the fast, but as set out above, this is not the aim of the Muslim who wishes to observe the month.

While some may regard it as an exercise in physical exertion, austerity and difficulty, a true appreciation of the significance and potential of this holy month often leaves believers with sadness when the month is over, as one is never certain to be able to observe another month.

It is the ideal period for spiritual re-alignment, re-commitment and cleansing, again all with the intention of attaining the elusive state of “taqwa”. With the month now at a close, it is expected that the period of introspection will fuel a renewed practice of the tenets of the faith and a gradual increase in piousness from one Ramadan to the next.

Imran Ali is an attorney and a former journalist at Newsday

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