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Saturday, July 21, 2012

No Time like Ramadan Time






Ramadan the 9th Month of Islamic Calendar began and the believers around the World has started fasting in day and offering Qiyam (Taraweeh) at night.  Lets analyse what impact Ramadan makes on lives of those who follow its course.

As the chapter Al Baqra verse 183 says

  2:183

O you who  believe, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.

To tame ourselves to Righteousness is not so easy we need to strive to achieve this task, our Nafs(soul) will not give up bad habits so easily and similarly will not do good things so easily. To tame an Elephant people lay a trap by digging a large tract and filling its top with green grass once Elephants falls into this trap they keep it hungry till a time when the Elephants becomes so weak that it says I will do as You say.

Similarly our Nafs can be tamed by keeping it hungry so that the natural desires gets secondary status (Eating ,other natural desires etc). One aspect this voluntary giving up of eating and drinking gives us a feel of how those underprivileged people who lack even basic needs are going through.

As whole day we kept our body hungry it is all but natural that we now put it to rest but wait now our nafs has to go through another training that of depriving it of Sleep and making it hear the divine verses which guide mankind of what is the purpose of life or in other words reality of this world.



If someone follows with full determination this whole month in the prescribed way then at the end of the month he comes out like a transformed man whose thinking ,whose actions all have a strong sense of responsibility (accountability on day of judgement).

This month is a month to share our resources with those who are deprived so muslims take out Zakath (all round the year ) specially in Ramadan (2.5 % of wealth) and give it to those who are needy.

Ramadan is more than just fasting it is a month if followed in the prescribed way can change the whole humanity and make them feel the needs of each other. In the present system 1% of the People possess 90% of the wealth and rest 99% possess the 10% of the wealth. Islam gives the message of sharing which does not make us poor but the same wealth we take out for the needy floats in the market making the market floating and keeps us out of things like recessions and depression as what Europe and US are as of now facing.


Suggested Reading


     
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Ü  The nature of fasting-  By Ibn Taymiyyah
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Ü  Fasts as ordained for you - By Muhammad Umar Chand

Ü  Road to Mecca- by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)
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Ü  Muhammad (Critical Lives)- by Yahiya Emerick, Yahiya J. Emerick
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Ü  Towards Understanding Islam- By A.A.Maududi


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