Special Session The Best way to welcome Ramadan
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Ramadan Mubarak!
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 reﬂect. (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? Now let's consider the proper way Allah intended
for you to spend Ramadan: You would fast during the day, and then have a light and simple
meal at Iftar. A meal that gives you energy, not causes you to crash on the couch. Then
you would spend part of the night in tranquil worship and prayer and give the Quran its
due right. By practicing self-control, while properly nourishing both your body and spirit,
you achieve balance in your life. You would no longer allow the material desires of your
body to smother the needs of your spirit. This is how you can experience a month full
of peace; a month that encourages you to spend less, lose weight, give your body a break,
and your soul a boost. Allah, the All-Wise, wants you to experience life that is balanced
in its beauty, both material and spiritual. Just as Allah wants you to experience a beautifully
balanced life, He wants the Muslim society to be kind and harmonious. If you look at
how today's Muslim societies welcome Ramadan, you see vast celebrations that often outshine
the celebrations of the prior year. You see celebrations flaunting the new restaurant
and entertainment venue, and the premiere of ten TV series. In other words, societies
are welcoming Ramadan by promoting greed! It is no surprise then that this attitude
extends to the rest of the year. Muslim countries are constantly fighting each other. They rarely
cooperate and then try to outdo one another in materialism. What saddens me the most is
the total absence of any righteous Muslim nation to reconcile these conflicts. God says:
If two groups of the believers fight, you should try to reconcile them; if one of them
is oppressing the other, fight the oppressors until they submit to God's command, then make
a just and even-handed reconciliation between the two of them: God loves those who are even-handed.
(49:9) 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.