We are in the end of this holy month. Some of us are indeed turning into veritable zombies from the long fasting hours and lack of sleep as we race to get the most from Ramadan. The holy month usually turns people into better versions of themselves, but for the majority of us, we tend to revert back to our old ways when the month folds up!
What a waste.
Note that the real change that Ramadan challenges us to achieve s the internal change – a change that positively transforms our lifestyle, character, attitudes, conversations, and habits for good. Allah has described this type of change in the month of Ramadan as follows: “O you who believe, fasting has been ordained on you as it was decreed upon those before you so that you may acquire Taqwa” [Quran 2:183]
If our change is limited to the outer physical practices of fasting then we become slaves to Ramadan, instead of being servants to Allah.
Prophet Muhammad has warned us about those who don’t ‘fast’ from bad conduct : “Allah has no interest in any person’s abstention from eating and drinking, if that person does not give up lying and dishonest actions” (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Even though the real purpose of instituting fasting in Ramadan is to discipline our soul and moral behavior, and to develop sympathy for the less fortunate, it is also a comprehensive tool of change in various spheres of our lives be they social, economic, intellectual, humanitarian, spiritual, physical, private, public, personal, common, inner and external.
During Ramadan, we are doing our best to make positive changes. From the early hours of the morning as dawn breaks until the later hours of the evening, we carefully schedule our eating, praying and performing other tasks. We are more conscious of time and of our behavior. Some people have even started to be efficient with time management and know the time of Maghrib down to the minute or second, even though they used to be heedless of that before Ramadan. Muslims generally harness their ibadah to reap the rewards, increase their Quran recitation, increase their solah quality, and increase their charity.
So let’s not just waste away what we have learned in the school of Ramadan but strive to make them last our entire life!
May Allah accept your prayers and good deeds this Ramadan and enrich our lives henceforth.
