RAMADAN AND SELF-PURIFICATION

Ramadan, the month of fasting and self-purification, is a blessed spiritual period for believers, for it is during this month that they do their utmost to awaken and enhance their spirituality and purify themselves.

A tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, “There is purification for all things, and purification of the body is fasting.” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 1745) Just as bathing purifies the body, so does fasting purify the soul.

It must be borne in mind that Ramadan entails much more than fasting; it is the fostering of a culture of abstinence aimed at purification of thought, speech and general behaviour and inculcating humility, truth and honesty in
oneself.

Ramadan, the month of fasting and self-purification, is a blessed spiritual period for believers as it enhances their spirituality and helps them purify themselves.

Two things make up a human being—the body and the soul. While the material part of a person, the body is indispensable for the performance of mundane tasks, it is his soul which will raise him to higher realities. The mind, or soul, must be preserved in a state of purity. Just as the body requires physical nourishment, so also must the soul be spiritually nourished.

Fasting entails cutting oneself off from the world and turning to God. This turning to God is not in a physical sense, but having one’s heart and mind continually directed towards God, whatever bodily activity one may be engaged in.

When a person has elevated himself from the world, God endows him with wisdom, which emanates from his lips in the form of dua. This helps him to purify himself.