BY our Almighty Lord’s leave, we have once again attained the month of Ramadan, so excitedly awaited during the year by the entire Islamic world. With its own unique spirituality, importance and holiness, its joy and peace, we Muslims will all embrace one another in love and brotherhood as we fast through the month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is the month of the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, which leads people from the darkness into the light and to the path of our Merciful and Almighty Lord, as a guide and a reminder. It also has an importance on its own for Muslims because it contains the Night of Power, which is ‘more auspicious than a thousand months.’ On the other hand, this holy month is also exceedingly valuable as an instrument that brings believers together and enhances the solidarity among them. The spirit of mutual aid, solidarity and brotherhood are always strengthened still further in the month of Ramadan, as Muslims who meet together at iftar and sahur and at the tarawih prayers bind themselves together with a joyous love.
The month of Ramadan, which brings health and well-being to the whole Islamic world, every day of which bestows a festival air, is an important means of earning the approval of God. Indeed, as our Prophet (PBUH) says in a hadith, ‘How happy are those who spend this month fasting, worshiping and spending on good deeds!’ Thus he reminds them of the importance in the Sight of God of spending the month of Ramadan in acts of worship. Fasting and all the other acts of observance during the month of Ramadan bestow enormous spiritual benefits on believers, and is an instrument by which they train their lower selves and improve their moral values and enhance and maintain their purity and religious maturity. By fasting, believers learn to control their lower selves and rein in their desires. On the other hand, during the month of Ramadan they also refrain from vice, speaking evil, backbiting, lying, being offensive to others, anger and intolerance, and always strive to behave well. They exhibit the consideration with which to better understand the plight of the hungry, to remember that they need help, and to grasp the importance of assisting them as their means allow. Therefore, Ramadan is an exceptional month because it is a tool whereby many deficiencies in a person’s lower self can be rectified. Moreover, in these respects, Ramadan is also proof that the schemes and desires of the lower self can be overcome through a profound fear of God and spirituality. Believers who fast and do good works by turning to God with a sincere heart during this month thus actively demonstrate their determination to fulfill God’s commandments, their sincere submission to Him and their moral virtues.
There is no doubt that this spiritual awareness attained during the month of Ramadan, the purity acquired, the determination to train the lower self and the scrupulousness displayed in always remembering God must not dwindle away with the end of the month of Ramadan. A believer of good conscience will display the moral virtues he exhibits during Ramadan at all moments of his life, heed the voice of his conscience at all times, strive to earn the approval of God and turn to Him alone. Worshiping during Ramadan alone and then abandoning the moral values of the Holy Qur’an is behavior strictly prohibited by God and incompatible with proper moral virtues.
We hope that the holy month of Ramadan will be instrumental in much goodness, that it will bring peace and plenty to all Muslims, that our Lord will accept all the observances performed and that our brothers in faith who are oppressed, under attack and struggling for survival all over the world will enjoy bright and peace-filled days ahead. We also hope that during this holy month, people will remember that our religion is one of peace and brotherhood, and divisions and rancor between believers will be set aside and that divisions, fighting and conflict deriving from differences will come to an end and the Muslims of the world will embrace one another as brothers as God commands.
Adnan Oktar's piece in Arab Times & The Gulf Today:
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/back-to-spirituality/
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/2eaab644-0ab4-433d-88a8-1b46a452b73c.aspx
