Ramadan - A Time of Reflection

Don’t eat from sun up till sun down.  That’s what I learned when I was a kid. I began fasting at the ripe age of 6 years old. I clearly remembering begging my parents to let me join them while they withheld from eating or drinking anything.   That’s what I saw.  The only change I saw was that they would stop eating and drinking.  I always wanted to join in on things my parents did and this was no exception.  In school, I proudly told my classmates and teacher at lunchtime that I was fasting. The other six year olds would look at me with gawking, disbelieving eyes.  “You don’t eat all day?” I looked at them with this smugly superior smile and nodded my head knowingly, as if they were all beneath me.

But as a six year old, I just wanted to make sure I wasted as much time as possible to get me to maghrib.  There were days I would monitor the clock as it inched minute by minute towards iftaar. Ramadan to my six year old being was merely a time where I felt hunger and thirst.  My worship towards Allah (swt) did not change nor did my daily habits.  And I think that so many Muslims today continue to pass each Ramadan not knowing its value.

Alhamdulillah each one of us was blessed to live and experience this Ramadan.  A month where the blessed Qur’an was revealed to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S).  It is a month in which all the devils are locked up in the hell-fire, and we, as humans, are merely left to battle with our nafs.  We are left to battle the temptations and desires stemming from our very being and instead attempt to replace them with purities.  Ramadan is a month where Muslims should dedicate towards cleansing and purifying themselves.  We need to build new habits and break the bad.  Learn more about our beautiful religion for it truly has something remarkable and unique to offer in every sense.  It appeals to the mind rationally and the heart spiritually.

Ramadan is a month where our hearts need to fast, and this fasting is just as important as the physical abstinence we put our bodies through every year.   Understand that Ramadan is not a month of hunger and thirst, but a time of reflection and understanding.  It is a month dedicated towards giving the Muslim ummah a chance.  Allah (swt) has decided to grant you this opportunity this Ramadan.  He has invited you to partake in the best of months.

Seize each moment because God knows if we will be alive for the next Ramadan.  

-Anonymous