The month of piousness

The month of Ramadan is about to dawn upon us yet again. It is the 9th month of the year according to Islamic calendar in which fasting is prescribed for Muslims. It is a month which is resembled as the spiritual spring season for the believers.
It is a distinctive feature of Islamic teachings that every ordinance is prescribed with its philosophy and ultimate objective. The Arabic word ‘saum’ used in the sense of fasting literally means ‘to abstain’ and Muslims abstain from taking any food or drink from dawn to dusk and refrain from intimacy and indulgence in any foul pursuits. The Holy Qur’an mentions that it is prescribed for you so that you may become ‘Muttaqi’ (generally means ‘righteous’). The Arabic word used here literally means to be guarded and protected. The Holy Prophet of Islam (on whom be peace and blessings of Allah) also described fasting as a shield to purport to the reality of fasting that it should shield a believer against every harm, Satanic onslaughts and sinful insinuations. To abstain from any food or drink during the day is not the real purpose of fasting. The real purpose lies in winning Almighty God’s pleasure by sacrificing one’s basic physical needs like food and drink and thus coming in His protection.
Fasting, as the Holy Qur’an states [2:184], is a form of worship found universally in the world religions. Although, among the religions, there are vast differences regarding the mode of fasting and the conditions applied to it, the central idea of fasting is present everywhere. Fasting in Islam is a highly developed institution. As mentioned above, there is one full month, Ramadan, in every year in which fasting is prescribed for Muslims all over the world.
As the month is a lunar month, so it keeps changing around the year in relation to the solar months. This creates a universal balance for the worshippers.
As the lunar months keep rotating around the year, so Muslims in all parts of the world have some periods of easy fasting and some of arduous fasting. It is not just physical hunger and thirst that constitute the Muslim fast, but the nights prior to the beginning of the fast acquire a far more important character and play a central role in the institution of fasting. The Muslims wake up many hours before dawn for individual prayer and the remembrance of God. Also the Holy Quran is recited in every Muslim house much more than in ordinary days. A greater part of the night is thus spent in spiritual exercises which make up the very essence of fasting.
During the day, apart from restraining from food and water, all Muslims are particularly exhorted from vain talk, quarrels and fights, or from any such occupation as is below the dignity of a true believer. No indulgence in carnal pleasure is allowed; even husband and wife during the day lead separate lives, except for the formal human relationship common to all people.
In Islam, alms-giving and care for the destitute is so highly emphasised that it becomes part of a Muslim’s daily life. However when it comes to Ramadan, the month of fasting, Muslims are required to redouble their efforts in this field following the noble practice of the Holy Prophet. In short, the institution of fasting is extremely important because it cultivates the believer in almost every area of his spiritual life. Among other things, he learns through personal experience about what hunger, poverty, loneliness and discomforts mean to the less fortunate sections of society. Abstention from even such practices during the month of Ramadhan are permissible in everyday life plays a constructive role in refining the human character.
- Maulana Shafiq ur Rehman is the Central Missionary at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in New Zealand