For Muslims, Ramadhan is a great favour from Almighty Allah but it can only be considered as such if they observe it properly. Otherwise the month of Ramadhan will arrive with all its virtues and blessing and then pass by without us gaining anything from it.
Ramadhan is the most blessed month of Islamic calendar in which Allah S.W.T. guides us to the good deeds. It is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed, as clear guidance and judgment to all people. It is the month in which good deeds are multiplied and sins are forgiven. Allah S.W.T. has enjoined fasting during the day as a pillar of Islam and made the extra prayers during the night voluntary. If anyone observes fasting believing in its obligation and anticipating its rewards, all his previous sins are forgiven. In this month, the gates of paradise are opened and faithful increase good deeds. The gates of Hell are shut and sinful acts reduced. Devils are chained, so they are no longer able to affect faithful people as they do in other times.
It is stated in a Hadith of prophet Mohammad (SAW):“If my nation realises what Ramadhan really is, they would wish that the whole year should be converted into Ramadan.” Such is the value of this month of fasting.
The Arabic word for fasting is ‘sawm.’ Its original meaning is to abstain fromsomething, if for example one refrains from speaking or eating, this will be termed ‘saaim.’
But in Islamic terminology it relates to the abstention from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn until sunset with the intention of fasting.
According to history, fasting was widely observed by almost all religions and nations. In fact, the origin of fasting stems from the time of Adam, as it is mentioned in a prophetic tradition that fasting in Ayyam-e-Beez, the 13th Islamic month was obligatory in his Sharia (law).
It was a very significant part of Prophet Musa’s Sharia, and observed by Jews on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and on a number of less important fast days. It was also observed in Christianity and in ancient Greece. In certain eastern religions, the practice of abstinence is connected with the doctrine of reincarnation. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the term ‘Barat’, which means fasting is used and considered a very special form of worship for the development of spiritual discipline. In short, ‘sawm’ (fasting) was well known to virtually all the major religions and nations and was considered an excellent method of attaining physical and spiritual discipline.
Fasting was prescribed purposefully and in a positive manner as it has significant physical and spiritual benefits. From the medical point of view fasting is a very good method of maintaining good health.
From a spiritual perspective fasting generates patience, tolerance, kindness and sympathy which helps to create a powerful community whose goal is to work hard for the betterment of Islam, Muslims and the world around them. And at the same time, it also gives us a true realization of the needs of the poor - those who suffer from hunger and starvation and shortage of food the whole year long. But the most important and significant objective of fasting is to create an environment where there is no difference between the rich and the poor, a slave and a master, all live equally within a particular atmosphere and environment, and all suffer equally from thirst and hunger. This is the most unique example of the equality and unity which Islam tries to establish amongst people.