Special Session
The Best way to welcome Ramadan
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This is a wonderfully blessed time of the year. If you want to appreciate the true majesty of the
month of Ramadan, you do not have to look any further than the following verse in the Quran.
God says in the 185th Aya of Sura Al-Baqarah:
Ramadan is the month in which the Qur'an was revealed as guidance to man
and clear proof of the guidance and a criterion between truth and falsehood
Allah blessed this beautiful month with the most beautiful heavenly revelation.
Every year, we welcome Ramadan with more celebrations and fanfare than the year before.
Yet, I continue to see, year after year, the decline of Muslim Ummah.
So maybe we should pause and examine the traditional ways we have been celebrating Ramadan.
These traditions of food, entertainment, and social plans are superficial, and they are a
far cry from the true spirit of Ramadan. We do not only wish to experience true joy during Ramadan,
but we also wish for the month of Ramadan to experience true joy with us.
And for Ramadan to celebrate us, we must live it as God intended it to be lived. Ramadan,
after all, is a training camp that should spill over to the rest of the year.
So in order to restore the essence of Ramadan,
let's look into God's book. He says in Surah Al-Rahman:
It is the Lord of Mercy, who taught the Quran. He created man,
and taught him articulate speech (55:1-4)
Take a moment to ponder how Allah created this universe; more specifically,
the order of creation. Before God brought man into existence, He created the elements that
guaranteed his survival. Allah created the Quran first, alerting us that moral values are more
important than tangible matter. Take the example of a chief engineer who oversees a bridge project.
Wouldn't he or she have a clear purpose for this bridge before drawing the first blueprint?
Wouldn't he or she have a clear rationale for where the bridge has to go before making the first
calculation? Of course, the purpose behind any product comes before that product is made.
The same goes for humankind. Allah, the All-Wise, All-Knowledgeable,
created us starting from Adam only after our goals and purposes were laid out in the Quran.
This marvelous book -which maps our way to paradise-, was then revealed during
the month of Ramadan to remind us to put values before matter, and faith before food.
Thus, during the days of Ramadan, Allah asked you to fast by temporarily forgoing
the two necessities of life: The necessity of food and drink –which sustains you-,
and the necessity of sexual relations –which sustains humankind-.
You forgo these essentials of material life from sunrise to sunset in order to focus on the higher
necessities of values and faith. And when you take time to study the Quran with a pure heart,
its impact would be felt throughout your entire being. God says:
Had We revealed this Quran down to a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and split
apart in its awe of God: We offer people such illustrations so that they may re?ect. (59:21)
Is that how we receive the Quran? or are our hearts harder than stone? Is that
how we experience Ramadan? Sadly, the answer for most of us is no.
Nowadays, we welcome the month of Ramadan with all the wrong actions and attitudes.
That is why you hardly see any positive effects remaining after the month passes.
When Allah asked you to deny yourself food, drink, and sex during the days of Ramadan,
He was well aware that He created you with plenty of reserves to withstand hunger.
Unlike a car that stops the minute fuel runs out, the human body can go on for many days
without food and drink. More importantly, when you are truly hungry, any food will do.
A piece of bread would be as satisfying and delicious as the fanciest cut of meat. A saying
goes: "the food of the hungry is delicious, and the bed of the fatigued is comfortable."
Yet, most of us ignore these facts in Ramadan. Rather than being satisfied with the simplest
of foods, we go on a binge. When you are hungry and you walk through the market,
you see fish and feel hungry for fish, then you see vegetables and feel hungry for a salad,
and you see chicken and feel hungry for meat. Anything and everything looks good! You fool
yourself into thinking that all these foods are now necessary to satisfy your hunger,
so you prepare a large table with five or six different types of food. But when you sit down
to eat at the time of Iftar, whatever you choose first is usually enough to quiet your hunger.
Let me tell you a secret: after fasting, even if you eat the simplest meal, you will be satisfied.
That is what Allah had intended for you and me in Ramadan.
Ramadan is meant to be the month of intimacy with Allah.
But in our time, especially towards the end of the month, most people complain about the symptoms of
gluttony and weight gain. They worry about their debts and the money they overspent on food;
Because people ignore the wisdom of our Lord, life becomes very stressful.
Allah intended for Ramadan to be the month of ease:
Ease on the body and digestive system, ease on the pocketbook, and tranquillity for the soul.
Ramadan is the perfect trainer for tough times. In the future, you may be in a situation where you
cannot afford three meals a day, or where food is scarce. You may be tempted to have illicit
sex with a person unlawful to you. If you had a reserve of willpower from your Ramadan training,
you would be able to pass these hardships easily. More importantly, by controlling your
sexual desire, you would be able to choose your husband or wife with a clear vision. When you
welcome the month with plans of overeating, overspending, and non-stop socializing,
you have missed the entire point. You will end up resenting Ramadan, and Ramadan will resent you.
So let's commit today to welcome Ramadan in the right frame of mind:
to properly fast its days, worship its nights, and to properly live the Quran,
and Ramadan will recharge us with peace and beauty for the entire year.
Is that what you see around you? Are we gentler and more caring during Ramadan?
Sadly, the answer in most Muslim societies is No. When you see an angry person lashing
at people in the market, you often say, 'well, he is fasting!' We ask:
Is this the type of behaviour Ramadan came to promote? Or did Allah ask us to fast in order to
have better self-control? Listen to the teachings of our beloved Muhammad. He said: "When one of you
welcomes a day of fasting, he should not lie or act ignorant. If a person insults or fights him,
let him say: 'I am fasting…..I'm fasting'" This is the kind of effect Ramadan should have on us.
Here, I would like to ask you a question: Do you think that the anger and the rude
behaviors you see during Ramadan are really the results of skipping a meal or two?
Of course not; such behaviors are the direct result of going against the wisdom of our Lord.
Let me run you through the typical day of a fasting Muslim in our modern times:
this typical Muslim would fast during the day, and then, at the time of Iftar, a huge meal is served;
a meal large enough to cause discomfort and tiredness. In fact, this person would not
only overeat during Iftar, but he or she would also spend most of the night trying to cram
in water and sweets 'in preparation' for the next day. But let's not forget the 'entertainment'
where this person spends the vast majority of Ramadan nights in front of the television.
Hours are wasted watching movies and TV series with objectionable content. This person would
stay up late, robbing him or herself of sleep and tranquillity. How do think this exhausted person,
who is overburdened with food, would act the next day when he or she goes to work?
How many people do you personally know who follow this exact schedule during Ramadan?
I ask Allah to help us welcome the month of Ramadan according to what He likes. I
ask Him to make this month a month of worship and tranquillity for all Muslims and Muslim societies.
I pray for all Muslims to experience the true blessings of Ramadan because I am sure that if
we properly practice Ramadan, we would change our life for the better for decades to come.
May Allah bless you and your families.