16 November 2001, 11:55pm IST
Mohammed Badrul Alam.
One of the important tenets of the islamic faith has been ramzan . it falls on the ninth month of the lunar calendar. in this month, muslims from all over the world devote themselves fully to the act of devotion or ibadaah full of love and reverence or taqwa towards allah, the creator. to a lay person, ramzan may simply mean mere abstinence from food or liquid or marital relations. there are, however, larger meanings as to why muslims observe ramzan righteously. ramzan is an auspicious month because it was in this month that allah revealed the holy book, al-qur’an, to prophet muhammad through angel jibrail, and which later was transmitted to the rest of mankind. as stated in surahal-baqarah , ‘‘the qur’an which was revealed by allah provides a comprehensive guidance for mankind and a clear criterion to distinguish right from wrong’’. it was during the month of ramzan, the famous battle of bad’r took place on the outskirts of the city of medina between the forces of prophet muhammad and the army of the quraish tribe. although the muslim army in this historic battle comprised only 313 people as opposed to over 1,000 heavily armed soldiers from the opposing side, it was the muhammad’s army that eventually triumphed in this decisive battle which marked a turning point for the eventual victory of islam in the arabian peninsula in the years after prophet muhammad’s death. ramzan is observed as a month of forgiveness when muslims seek allah’s countless blessings or rahmah . it is the only month in which allah opens all the gates to the heaven and orders closed all the gates to hell. allah accepts repentance from those who ask for it with all sincerity and steadfastness of purpose, along with true dedication to the cause of islam and in its basic teachings, including belief in sunanh al-hadith or the sayings of prophet muhammad. although there are rigid procedures for the observance of ramzan from sunrise to sunset by able-bodied muslims, there are exceptions and waivers based on individual situations and circumstances. for example, if a person is travelling, he or she is not required to observe the fast lest it cause inconvenience and undue hardship. it is, however, required that as soon as the travel is completed, the person who has missed a certain number of fasting days should compensate by fasting for the same period as soon as possible in the month following ramzan. ramzan is not obligatory on old people, and those who are sick or convalescing. apart from the mandatory prayers five times daily, devotees are expected to do the additional taraweeh prayers at night in a mosque. the congregational nature of such prayer in the month of ramzan brings a sense of universal brotherhood, cutting across class lines and brings everyone under a common roof to share in the richness of their religion. some muslims do itikaf which requires spending the last 10 days of ramzan inside the premises of a mosque, devoting themselves exclusively to the study and remembrance of the qur’an and the teachings of prophet muhammad. ramzan, the ‘prescribed’ month by allah for muslims, is the month of mercy and self-restraint as well. it is a period of introspection on the part of a fasting person to evaluate himself or herself so as to ponder over one’s weaknesses, correct them accordingly and emerge stronger spiritually. as an act of piety, muslims develop a sense of empathy towards fellow human beings and extend the hand of cooperation to them in their hour of need. it is in the month of ramzan that muslims observe a special night of worship known as lailatul qadr . the muslims believe it to be one of those nights when devotion to allah, the creator, is equivalent to worshipping him for a thousand nights. the end of ramzan is celebrated with much festive gaiety on the day of id-ul-fitr , a day when muslims from all walks of life congregate in the mosque for the morning prayer, wearing new clothes and exchanging greetings, saying, id mubarak, as a form of congratulating a fellow muslim on the successful completion of fasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment