Ramadan and Spiritual Purification

Human being has been gifted with special qualities. The most important gift of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) is the spiritual faculty of human being.

He is required to develop this side of his personality so that the persons of strong character can be developed and social order based on spiritual and moral principles can be established.

Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) has not left human being alone in this regard. Along with his inner ability, He has provided external guidance in the form of His revealed message and His Messengers.

Islam, being the last divine message, and the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him), being the last Prophet in the chain of Prophets, provided complete guidance for the spiritual purification and refinement. One aspect of this guidance is the fasting in the month of Ramdan.

This is a methodology for the strengthening of the inner dimensions of human personality. The followers of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) have been specially commanded to observe fasting to achieve piety and righteousness.

If a person observes this practice with diligence, sincerity and determination, he will definitely find his reward in this world and in the life Hereafter.

The Qur’an says; “O you who believe, Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn self-restraint).”

The month of Ramdan is approaching with His mercy; it is the month that is the best of all months in the estimation of Allah. Its days are the best among the days; its nights are the best among the nights.

Its hours are the best among the hours. We have been invited and selected in this month as the recipients of the honours and blessings of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He).

It provides an environment of piety and righteousness. It creates a spiritual environment which encourages a Muslim to be a part of it.

If a person fasts for the sake of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) and observe self-restraint and control, he is able to over-haul his personality completely.

It is not only to restrain oneself from eating and drinking but help a Muslim to refresh himself into a balanced personality in which the physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of personality are developed simultaneously and our good deeds are accepted in this month.

So are our invocations. Therefore, we must invoke our Lord, in right earnest, with hearts that are free from sins and evils and at the end of Ramadan a spiritual person is born again.

It was narrated by Salman the Persian (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) delivered a khutba on the last day of Sha’ban. The Prophet said: “O you people! A great and a blessed month have arrived for you, therein a Night which is better than one thousand months. The fasting during this month is an obligation (fareedh), and the extra prayers during its nights are voluntary. Anyone who comes closer to Allah through a good deed during this month is as if he performed on obligatory duty during times other than Ramdan, and he who fulfils an obligatory duty in it will be like one who fulfils seventy obligatory duties in another month. It is the month of patience, and the reward of patience is Paradise. It is the month of visiting of the poor, the sick and the needy so as to share their sorrows. It is the month where the nourishment, the sustenance and the income of the believing Muslim increase and they are blessed”.

“Anyone who invites others to break their fast or iftar will be provided with forgiveness of his sins be saved from hell, and will receive reward equal to the fasting without reducing his own reward in any respect.” Some of the followers of the Prophet said: “Not all of us may find food to share with one so that he could break his fast.”

The Prophet said: “Allah will reward you even if you help the fasting Muslim to break his fast with a date, a sip of water or a drink of milk...”

“It is a month: its beginning is Mercy, and its last part is freedom from hellfire. Anyone who helps a slave to be freed, Allah will forgive him and free him from Hell”.

“Verily ! The person who may not receive the mercy and benevolence of Allah in this month must be very unfortunate having an end as bad (in the Hereafter). While fasting, remember the hunger and thirst of tomorrow. Give alms to the poor and the needy”.

“O People! You have made your conscience the slave of your desires; make it free by invoking Him for Istighfar (repentance/forgiveness). Our backs are breaking under the heavy load of our sins, so prostrate before Him for long intervals and make it lighter”.

Increase in yourselves four characteristics: two by which you will please your Lord, and two others by which you cannot live without.

The first two qualities to please Allah are to bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah, and to ask forgiveness from Allah… However, the other two things that you cannot live without are: to ask Allah for Paradise and to ask Him to protect you from Hell and fire…

Pay respects to your elders. Have pity on those younger than you and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen.

Guard your tongues against unworthy words, and your eyes from such scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from such sounds that should not be heard by you.

Be kind to orphans so that when your children become orphans they also may be treated with kindness.

Do invoke that Allah may forgive our sins. Do raise your hands at the time of Salat (Prayers), as it is the best time for asking His mercy. When we invoke at such times, we are answered by Him, when we call Him, He responds, and when we ask for anything, it is accepted by Him.

Anybody who in this month may take light work from his servants (male or female), Allah will make easy his accounting on the Day of Judgment.

Anybody who does not tease others in this month, Allah will keep him safe from His wrath at the Day of Judgment.

Anybody, who respects and treats an orphan with kindness in this month, Allah shall look at him with dignity at the Day of Judgment. Anybody who treats well his kinsmen, in this month, Allah will bestow His mercy on him at the day of resurrection.

Whosoever recites in this month only one 'Ayat' (verse of the Holy Qur'an), he will be rewarded in a manner as if he had recited the full Qur'an in the other months.

“O People! The Gates of Paradise remain opened in this month. Do invoke that the gates may not be closed on you, while the Gates of Hell are closed. Do invoke that these gates may never be opened. During this month Devil (Shaytan) is imprisoned so ask your Lord not to let him have power over you”.