Ramadan - What Does It Mean?

This is the first of 31 readings from the book "The Call of Allah" by Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi where we share different aspects of Ramadan for each day of the month. This is a summary of what Ramadan is about for the Muslim community.

Transcript

Welcome to the University of Sufism's Ramadan Reading of Rosina Fawzia Al-Rawi's book,

The Call of Allah,

A Companion to the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Each day we will share a reading from this book for the 30 days of Ramadan.

Today I will be sharing the preface of the book to give you an understanding of what Ramadan is and why Muslims celebrate it.

The Prophet,

Alayhi wa salam,

Said,

There is a gate in Paradise called Ar-Reham,

And those who observe fasts will enter through it on the Day of Resurrection,

And none except them will enter through it.

It will be said,

Where are those who used to observe fasts?

They will get up,

And none except them will enter through it.

After their entry,

The gate will be closed,

And nobody will enter through it.

The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic root,

R-m-d,

Which means heated through the intensity of the sun,

Burning.

This reminds us that the aim of the month of Ramadan is to burn the veils which prevent us from experiencing Allah's omnipresence.

Allah has set this month as a clear,

Bubbling source so that we can purify our life and the state of our soul and set off towards a divine light.

Ramadan is a month of spiritual development.

It is a month of generosity and sharing.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah was the most generous of people in charity,

But that he was generous to the utmost during the month of Ramadan.

The angel Gabriel,

Peace be with him,

Would meet him every year during Ramadan until it ended,

And the Messenger of Allah would recite the Quran to him.

And when Gabriel met him,

The Messenger of Allah was more generous in giving charity than the blowing wind,

Touching everything and everyone.

The month of Ramadan is not meant to be a burden or to make your life more difficult.

It is a divine gift meant to inspire and transform you.

This month is about freeing yourself from the influence and the burden of your ego,

Your nafs.

Allah tells us,

Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you,

So that you might remain conscious of God.

Quran 2,

Verse 183.

The most beautiful aspect of this month is to serve Allah,

The All-Merciful,

Our Rahman,

And to strengthen our bond of love with Him.

The Messenger of Allah,

Alayhi wasalam,

Said,

There has come to you Ramadan,

A blessed month,

Which Allah,

The Mighty and Sublime,

Has enjoined you to fast.

During it the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of hell are closed,

And every devil is chained up.

In it Allah has a night which is better than a thousand months.

Ramadan is a month of mercy and glory,

In which every day is the best day,

Every night is the best night and every moment the best moment.

This month in particularly,

Precious in view of its spiritual value and the high place it has for Allah.

O Allah,

Open my heart to you in love and gratefulness.

In Arabic,

The word for fasting is siyam.

It comes from the root s-w-m,

Which means self-control and abstinence.

The most beneficial aspect of fasting is self-knowledge.

When we are asked to restrain our ego,

Our addictions,

Our weaknesses,

Our carelessness,

They all come to the fore and we are given the awareness required to free ourselves from them.

The aim of fasting is to fight lower instincts and attain positive qualities.

Thus,

If we give up outer distractions,

Such as phone,

Television,

Computer games,

And other pleasures,

If we pay attention to our words and refrain from unnecessary talk,

If we perform our deeds carefully,

If we observe how we think about self and others and resist our inner prejudices,

If we deal with nature and our environment more thoughtfully,

If we pray sincerely and go deeper into the Holy Qur'an,

If we fill our homes with the healing sounds of the Qur'an,

We create a space of self-knowledge where we can experience Allah's mercy and love.

Ramadan is at the same time a taxing and a joyful time.

During this month,

The tension of abstinence and social celebration alternate 30 times.

As the whole Islamic world fasts,

We experience an increased spiritual connection with the Muslim community,

Ummah.

Through the movements of abstinence during the day,

Celebration at sunset,

And retreat at night,

We experience ourselves in all the shapes of life.

O Allah,

Let me follow my heart's longing.

Do not let the worries of this world be my strongest concern,

And protect me from the distractions of the world so that I may remember you at all times.

The month of Ramadan enables us to reach a level of awareness where all our deeds turn into an act of worship.

To experience our nothingness,

Our poverty opens a space within us which spreads the fragrance of gratefulness and opens our eyes to all the wonders that surround us.

And God is the East and the West,

And wherever you turn,

There is God's countenance.

Quran 2,

Verse 115.

Fasting slows us down,

And so we find ourselves becoming more persevering.

According to the Arabic proverb,

Restlessness and rush come from the shaitan.

They come from the shaitan because they rob us of beauty.

The nafs loves speed and change,

And it will avoid boredom and extended reflection at all costs.

Answers must come at once,

Things must be completed fast,

And pleasures be varied.

As our fasts slows us down,

Touching an object,

Walking to a certain destination,

Breathing consciously can all grow into contemplating the beauty of Allah's creation and awaken in our heart grateful thanks to the Creator.

Alhamdulillah.

The Prophet Muhammad,

Alayhi wa salam,

Said,

Allah said,

All the deeds of Adam's sons,

People,

Are for them,

Except fasting,

Which is for me,

And I will give the reward for it.

I am the reward for it.

These touching words of the Prophet,

Alayhi wa salam,

Show us how very much Allah loves us.

My fast is the only thing which I can hold up to Allah in love and surrender.

Allah acknowledges that I take willpower,

Abstinence,

And conscious effort upon myself in order to please Him.

To fast during this holy month is to offer all our weaknesses.

It is to experience and to praise our surrender and our attachment to Allah,

Our utter dependence on Him.

It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was first bestowed from on high as a guidance unto man and a self-evident proof of that guidance,

And as the standard by which to discern the true from the false.

Hence,

Whoever of you lives to see this month shall fast throughout it.

Qur'an 2,

185.

Allah describes Ramadan as the month in which the Qur'an was revealed,

Thus showing us that when we fast from the world,

This helps us to a deeper experience of the guidance of the Qur'an.

By experiencing our weaknesses through fasting,

By experiencing how much we depend on Allah's gifts,

We experience His love,

His closeness,

And His care.

The words of the Qur'an touch every seeker just where they find themselves on their spiritual journey.

The Qur'an prepares our soul and our spirit to the forthcoming endless journey to our return to Him.

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad,

Alayhi wa salam,

Describes it as follows.

There are two pleasures for the fasting person.

One at the time of his breaking his fast,

And the other at the time when he will meet his Lord on Judgment Day.

Then he will be pleased because of his fasting.

The Qur'an is the miracle which Allah has bestowed upon us through His Messenger,

Alayhi wa salam.

We read and hear about the miracles of the Prophets.

Allah's peace be with them.

But we are the only ones who are now holding the miracle of the Qur'an in our hands and can now drink from it.

What an honor and what a responsibility.

May your pure hands hold the Qur'an,

May your loving lips touch it,

And may your whole being drink from this spring.

Thus,

Fasting helps us in this process of mastering ourself.

When we are being asked to leave everything that distracts us and everything that nourishes us from the outside,

To a certain extent,

We find ourselves forced to look inside for our longing.

We start our journey by turning inwards,

Fasting from the creation and turning to the Creator.

It is the beginning of our fast that we can feel most strongly Allah's mercy and help.

When our heart opens,

We experience Allah's mercy and our plea for forgiveness grows.

Forgiveness helps us enter the next deeper state of consciousness and free all our senses from everything which does not bring us closer to Allah.

O Allah,

Take us closer to the best we can be.

Let my spirit grow from self-centeredness until it embraces all of your creation in mercy,

Forgiveness,

And delight.

The next level of fasting is to see that it is our thoughts are not fed by our ego,

Our nafs.

It is fasting from arrogance and complacency so as to experience how completely we depend upon him.

This helps us free ourselves from the fires because fire arises when we put up resistance,

When we are afraid to let go and to surrender in deep trust and devotion.

God is enough for us and how excellent a guardian he is.

Quran 3,

173.

May Allah raise us above the state which the beloved of Allah,

Alayhi wasalam,

Was concerned about and described as follows.

How few are those who truly fast and how many those who merely go hungry.

When humility touches our nafs and shakes the walls of resistance,

We overcome isolation and are ready to enter Allah's kingdom of mercy and peace.

Experiencing our humility and Allah's love opens our hearts and makes them more generous towards those in need.

Allah puts generosity,

Serenity,

And peace in our hearts.

The worries of the past vanish,

The fear of the future leaves us,

And we remain in the moment,

In the presence of the divine.

Now verily,

It is we who have created man and we know what his innermost self whispers within him,

For we are closer to him than his neck vein.

Quran 50,

16.

Thank you for joining us for this.

Please tune in tomorrow for day one of Ramadan above fasting.

Have a blessed day.