Ramadan purifies our souls

Aminul Islam: It is always good to ponder the true meaning of our religious practices. The holy month of Ramadan has started and almost 1.5 billion Muslims around the world are fasting, taking part in an individual and spiritual journey as well as a communal religious celebration.

This month of Ramadan was brought to us to come to Allah with our sins, repenting to him, admitting our sins, and Allah forgives us. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said in a number of authentic narrations, “Whoever fasts this month of Ramadan with faith in Allah and hope in Allah’s forgiveness, his previous sins will be forgiven”. (Al-Bukhari)

Ramadan is a time to come back to our selves; to come back to our families, our communities, and our societies. It is time for meditating on and for assessing our lives. Beyond being a religious obligation—and often a family tradition—fasting is a school with different levels of knowledge, understanding and commitment.

We take one important lesson quickly from this month, the lesson that we are not asked to be utopian. This is the danger as I alluded to earlier, coming out of a colonial-religious understanding where a massive inferiority complex was ingrained in us, which we still have, we cannot deal with the drama in our community.

For every single believer, fasting is an opportunity to think deeply about the meaning of life, its priorities and objectives. We stop eating and drinking during the day, the better to master ourselves to hold in check the human features of our being while we attempt to touch the positive aspiration within us, like a divine spark in our hearts.

Thus, the main objective is to reform and purify ourselves, our bodies, our minds, our hearts through demanding exercises, such as praying, fasting and paying zakat (the purifying social tax). It is not enough not to eat, not to drink and to avoid sex: to fast is to rediscover a philosophy of life that demands constant effort to improve, and to reconcile ourselves with the values and the objectives we have set for our lives.

Ramadan is the time when the search for life’s meaning, for self-restraint and discipline should prevail over superficial desires, illusions and artificial appetites. It is time to eat less; to meditate and give more. Unfortunately, the statistics are cause for concern: Muslims tend to eat more during the month of Ramadan, ending the fasting days with large and festive meals, or even banquets, turning the month of spiritual restraint into a month of material opulence and excessive consumption.

Ramadan is also a month of human solidarity. While we may experience hunger until sunset, people are starving to death in many countries till now for lack of foods. We have a chance to learn about the reality during the month. The spiritual quality of our giving depends on our personal struggle to be better and more dignified individuals. Our personal self-discipline during Ramadan teaches us that the way we give is as important in the sight of God as what we give.

Fasting also involves justice, as we pay attention to our heart’s rights and to our spiritual needs. To fast is an act of justice towards the self. It should also be an act of justice towards human beings around the world, those who are oppressed and unjustly treated. Allah is the Just and He commands justice, as the Qur`an tells us.

It is extremely important for us to learn lessons to lead a peaceful life in the earth from this month of Ramadan. This is the month of purifying our souls from all evils and bad. So, we should not lose the time in negligence as it is the high time to achieve almighty Allah`s blessings.   

 
risingbd/July 13, 2015/Aminul/Augustin Sujan