What Ramadan Means for Muslim

What Ramadan Means for Muslim
It was in the second year of Hijra that fasting during the holy month of Ramadan was made obligatory for Muslims.

It came after the institution of prayer and is the third of the five pillars of Islam (the other four are: faith in the oneness of God and the last Prophethood of Muhammad [pece be upon him], prayer, zakat and Haj).

The glory of the holy month is manifest in the fact that God chose it for the revelation of His scripture. It was, therefore, in Ramadan that the first ray of Divine light fell on the holy Prophet’s mind, and Gabriel made his appearance with the greatest Divine message. The holy month, which witnessed the greatest spiritual experience of the holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was, thus, considered to be the most suitable time for the spiritual discipline of the Muslim community, which was to be effected through fasting.

Fasting in Islam is primarily a spiritual discipline in that it aims at attaining nearness to God. Fasting awakens in man a new consciousness of a higher life, a life above that which is maintained by eating and drinking, and this is the spiritual life.

The benefits of the blessed month are deep and wide. The abstention from food, drink and other material pleasures for the long hours between dawn to dusk is an act of self discipline by which an individual asserts his or her ability to gain control over material pleasures and habits. The act of fasting also help break such habits and make it possible for the individual to conceive of adopting the most suitable course of action, undeflected by the fear that force of habit or the strength of material attraction will prevent its implementation. Full story