RAMADAN:
A MONTH OF CONTEMPLATION
Ramadan is a month of contemplation, restraint and worship, of caring and thanksgiving, repentance and piety. The multitude of benefits of Ramadan inspired the Prophet of Islam to exclaim: “Welcome to the one who purifies!” (Kanzul Ummal, Hadith No. 23692)
There is a very special connection between the Quran and Ramadan, for Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was revealed. The Quran makes special mention of this, while making the fast obligatory for its followers. In the words of the Quran:
“The month of Ramadan is the month when the Quran was sent down as guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance and the criterion by which to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, whoever of you is present in that month, let him fast; but he who is ill or on a journey shall fast a similar number of days later on.” (The Quran, 2:185)
The Quran is specially recited during this month so that believers may reflect upon it, understand its deeper meaning and make it a guiding force in their lives. At night the Quran is also recited during the tarawih (extra prayers during Ramadan) prayer.
In the month of Ramadan, the fasting person abstains from food and drink from dawn till dusk. It is only after sunset that he satisfies his hunger and quenches his thirst. In this way he learns the art of desire management and so builds up his self-control. By exercising restraint for one month in a year, he is able to lead a life of self-discipline in all matters for the rest of the year.
The main aim of fasting is to lessen a person’s dependence on material things and strengthen his spiritual resolve, so that he may enter the higher realms of piety. Fasting is thus a stimulus for spiritual and intellectual development. Once made aware of his own helplessness, he connects to God with sincere prayer.
The practice of fasting is also largely aimed at saving a person from distractions. It produces sincerity in him. It draws a person’s attention away from the external world and into the internal world. Hence fasting prepares him for the study of the Quran. And when a person studies the Quran with a well-prepared mind, he can understand the teachings of the Quran in greater depth.
The equivalent of spirituality in the Quran is rabbaniyah, that is, a God oriented life. This expresses what the Quran means when it refers to spirituality. Spirituality (rabbaniyah), according to the Quran, is that mental state in which God-oriented thinking can develop in the individual.
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.
