Ramadan mubarak everyone! Blessed Ramadan. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that during this month the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained. What a tremendous opportunity! What a wonderful time to pray not only for personal forgiveness and redemption, but for freedom from oppression and evil for all people.
Our Ummah is groaning under the burden of terrible suffering. In China, two million Muslims have been placed in concentration camps. In Burma, the Rohingya people are suffering an ongoing genocide against them by the army and the Buddhist majority. In Palestine, people are being steadily displaced from their land in an occupation that has gone on for over seventy years. In Syria, the entire situation is catastrophic. In the Central African Republic, Muslim villages are being wiped out by Christian militias.
We must remember these people and all suffering people in our dua – our supplication – every day and night, for this is the month of dua. The Prophet (sws) said,
“There are three whose supplication is not rejected: The fasting person when he breaks his fast, the just leader, and the supplication of the oppressed person; Allah raises it (the supplication) up above the clouds and opens the gates of heaven to it. And the Lord says: ‘By My might, I shall surely aid you, even if it should be after a while.’” (At-Tirmidhi)
If Allah delays in answering our prayers, it is not because of a lack of might on His part, for He is Omnipotent and Almighty. It’s because He knows what is best for us, which means He knows not only what to give us, but when to give it so that it will benefit us the most. When you don’t see your prayers answered immediately, be patient and know that God will always give you good, even if it’s not exactly what you asked for.
Pray for all. Pray for your family, yourself, your neighbor, and even your cat. Why not? Nothing is too great or small for Allah. “And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but is [written] in a clear record.” – Quran 6:59
We fast above all as an act of worship to God, to show our love and dedication to Him. It is a personal sacrifice for the pleasure of God, following the command He gave us in the Quran: “O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you so that you may be God conscious.” Quran 2:183
So here Allah tells us the purpose of Ramadan: to build God-consciousness. When fasting we must avoid all evil, so – not wanting to ruin out fast – we constantly ask ourselves: is this something I should be doing? Is this action pleasing to God? We do this until our taqwa – God-consciousness – becomes, as Umar ibn Al-Khattab (ra) said, a cloak that protects us against sin.
The Spirit Over the Body
This is the month when we break down our physical and material selves, and build up our spiritual selves. We give up food, water and intimate relations, and remove ourselves from all unnecessary sensual experiences and material pleasures. At the same time we devote ourselves as much as possible to prayer, supplication, reading the Quran, praising God, and using our resources to help the less fortunate.
As we grow tired and hungry yet persist in our work, worship and family life, we learn that our spirits are stronger than our bodies. We are spiritual beings temporarily inhabiting physical bodies. Our spirits are powerful and immense. In Ramadan we feed these spiritual selves and watch them shine. We see them grow strong and vibrant even as the body hungers.
But Islam is the middle path, the way of balance in all things, so when the sun goes down we eat and drink – within moderation – and when the month is over we celebrate, carrying with us the growth we experienced.
In my own personal experience, I’ve never been spiritually stronger than at the end of a difficult Ramadan. There was the year when I was a teenager and working in the fields at the height of summer. I spent all day in brutal heat walking up and down rows of orange trees, hanging insects traps. As I worked I’d look at the water running in the irrigation ditches and it looked like the tastiest thing in the world.
There was the year in my mid twenties when I was working full time but still didn’t have enough to eat. I was exhausted and hungry even after I broke my fast. But by the end of Ramadan I felt invincible.
There have been years when I was training intensively in martial arts and I’d grow lightheaded, but I continued to train.
At the end of Ramadan in those years I felt so close to God, as well as to my fellow spiritual warriors.
I’m not saying I wish for a difficult Ramadan. But it’s a fact that for a believer, hardship strengthens the soul. The same hardship that might cause some people to become bitter or discouraged only strengthens the stance of the believer, because as the hardship pushes down on the believer it causes her feet to root more firmly to the ground.
To Achieve Jannah
We fast as well to achieve Paradise, for the Prophet (sws) said, “Paradise has eight gates, and one of them is called Ar-Rayyaan, through which none will enter but those who fast.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
We believe in this and we value it, and we adhere to the covenant that God has made with us, which is that we worship none but Him, sincerely and purely, and He grants us Paradise. God has not promised us wealth, comfort, fame, or ease. He has promised us Paradise, the greatest reward of all. Our belief in this is a vital part of our motivation.
Ramadan holds many other lessons. It reminds us what it is to be hungry – and we would do well to remember that there are many in this world who don’t have the option of breaking their fast at the end of the day. For them, hunger is chronic and terrible.
Ramadan pulls us back from the bear traps of jealousy, anger and greed. It builds the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood. It offers sustenance to the poor. It proves to us that we don’t need as much food as we typically consume. It even helps our bodies in a way, as there is scientific evidence that intermittent fasting strengthens the immune system and promotes longevity. These are all personal lessons for each of us to learn according to our capacity and understanding.
God has given us a path to walk in this life. It is the path of righteousness, self-sacrifice, compassion, generosity and love. We all wander from this path to one degree or another, but Ramadan calls us back, steering us gently or with a firm hand. It reminds us who we are, and calls forth our best selves. It purifies us and puts us through the crucible of hardship in order to bring us from darkness into light.