Bismillaah ir Rahmaan ir Rahiim
In the name of Allah, The Merciful, The Compassionate
THE MONTH OF RAMADHAN
By Fleur Nassery Bonnin
Allah (swt) says "I am the reward of the one who is fasting in the month of Ramadhan"
For those who want to get close to Allah our Beloved, this month is full of opportunities.
The Holy month of Ramadhan and fasting is upon us. This month is the most revered month in the Islamic calendar and it is called the month of Allah. Ramadhan is also one of the names of Allah.
The Prophet of Islam (pbuh) has said about this month:
“Oh people, the month of Allah with all its Grace and Glory is moving towards you. The month that is the best of the months with Allah and its every day is the best day and its every night is the best night and its every moment is the best moment”.
One of the secrets of this month and the invitation of Allah is in the fasting. Exoterically, in fasting one breaks away from the ordinary way of life, the habits, and the automatic mode directed from ego, and the teachings of the society and the world we live in. Fasting makes one to experientially realise that there is another reality and way of living, certainly not the way that one's ego and bodily desire wants and dictates. In fasting and all the acts of worship in this month, one experiences connection with one's spirituality and consciousness of the Beloved.
It is a break which we would not make unless we were ordered as part of a devotional act, which gives us the chance to recognise how habit is leading us in life and how we are the servant of our habits. Sufi masters have said "habit worshipping is worse than idol worshipping", but in our usual daily life, we are in such an automatic habitual space that we do not notice it and this realisation is out of our consciousness.
Part of the cleansing of the ego during this month is to become mindful and take care of the needy and poor, paying ‘zakat’ (alms-giving), controlling one's thought and not allowing it to run wild as in other times and keeping us busy with itself, controlling one's tongue, by not saying negative things behind people’s back etc.
Esoterically, through these acts we try to get closer to the Divine attributes and distance ourselves from our usual ego driven attributes. In Sufism it is called ‘takhalogh’, meaning to become like, and to take on the colour and the attribute of Allah so that closeness and connectedness would be possible. The spiritual path is always from the outer to the inner. Without the exoteric dimension there will be no reaching to the esoteric dimension.
According to the Prophet of Islam (pbuh), during this month the doors of paradise are open and the doors of hell are closed. All the acts of worship in this month are equal to one year of that worship at other times.
Here are a list of some of the momentous events that have taken place during this lunar month:
3rd |
Ramadhan |
- Revelation of the Scriptures to Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) |
5th |
Ramadhan |
- Revelation of Torah to Prophet Moses (pbuh) |
11th |
Ramadhan |
- Revelation of Psalms to Prophet David (pbuh) |
16th |
Ramadhan |
- Spiritual Ascension of the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) |
19th |
Ramadhan |
- Assassination of Imam Ali (a.s) |
|
|
- Revelation of Gospel to Prophet Jesus (pbuh) |
|
|
- The Night of Qadr |
21st |
Ramadhan |
- Martyrdom of Imam Ali (a.s) |
|
|
- The Night of Qadr |
23rd |
Ramadhan |
- Revelation of the Quran to the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) |
|
|
- The Night of Qadr |
The Night of Qadr or ‘Laylat-al-Qadr’, translated as "The Night of Destiny" is one of the three odd nights of either the 19th, 21st or 23rd of this month.
In the Qur'an chapter 97 carrying the same title of "The Night of Destiny" Allah (swt) addresses us:
Verily, we sent down this divine writ, on the Night of Destiny.
And what makes you conceive what the Night of Destiny is?
The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months:
The Angels and The Holy Spirit descend, bearing divine inspiration,
by their Creator's order to proclaim the destiny of everything,
The night is secure with peace till the dawn.
The great Persian mystical poet, Moulana Rumi, says:
Fasting says (implicitly), “He has abstained from what is lawful: know (therefore) that he has no connection with what is unlawful” Masnavi, V:189
The Prophet said: “The acts of bowing and prostration (in the ritual prayer) are like knocking at the door of (mystical) attainment of the Divine Portal.
When any one continues to knock at that door, felicity peeps out for his sake” Masnavi, V:2048
May we all receive the blessings of this Holy month of Ramadhan. |
