Spirit of Ramadan

Such God-oriented thinking reflects in his overall personality; his behaviour with others becomes God-oriented and his daily life becomes infused with divine hues. Thus Ramadan provides a framework within which devotees may improve themselves. Ramadan thus becomes a month of spiritual activism. The fasting person repeatedly reads in the Quran that God is the Sustainer, that is, while man is the taker, God is the Giver. Everything that a person receives in this world, right from his existence and the oxygen he inhales to stay alive to the sunlight necessary for his survival, everything is God’s gift. When a person starts to think in this way, he experiences a tremendous change within. He begins living in society as a giver-member. He becomes a creative member of society. Ramadan is the month of contemplation. Saving oneself from all forms of distractions, fasting inclines one to become a student of the Quran. By seriously studying and contemplating on the Quran, one discovers those principles by which one may develop one’s personality and become a positive thinker in the full sense. Then one is able to live a God-oriented life. FASTING A TRAINING IN THANKSGIVING AND TAQWA The Quran states: “Believers, fasting has been prescribed for you, just as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard yourself against evil. … so that you may glorify Him for His having guided you and so that you may be grateful to Him.” (The Quran, 2:183, 185)