Spirit of Ramadan

That is why God has ordained a month of fasting each year. During fasting, a believer has to temporarily eschew even lawful things, such as the basic necessities of food and drink, without which he cannot survive. This is a very important training course designed to inculcate in a person the thinking that, over and above unlawful things, he should also be able to abstain from lawful things in order to fulfil God’s commands. Moreover, according to a saying of the Prophet, fasting does not just mean abstaining from food and drink: fasting is, in reality, the act of abstinence from all inappropriate speech and action. It is desired that one should lead a life of thankfulness to God. The very first verse of the Quran reads: ‘Al hamdulillah’. Those who utter these words mean to say: “We are grateful to God who is the Lord of the Universe.” Man is only a taker, whereas God is the Giver. But when people continue to receive all kinds of blessings uninterruptedly in this world, they become so accustomed to them that they take everything for granted as a matter of right. They unconsciously come to feel that they are getting everything not from God but from material sources and are therefore unable to become truly grateful servants of God. For this reason, one is temporarily stopped from partaking of these blessings, so that he may be made to feel how precious these blessings are! RAMADAN: A MONTH OF SPIRITUAL ACTIVISM Ramadan is a month of spiritual activism when devotees try to awaken their spirituality. It is a scheme to improve human beings. Roza is for personality and intellectual development. This is done by desire-management, experiencing helplessness and connecting to God with true prayers. This should become the way of life for