Ramadan and Spiritual Purification.?

By
G.N.Falahi,
Human being has been gifted with special qualities. The most important gift of
Allah (SWT) is the spiritual faculty of human being. He is required to develop
this side of his personality so that the persons of strong character can be
developed and social order based on spiritual and moral principles can be
established. Allah (SWT) has not left human being alone in this regard. Along
with his inner ability, He has provided external guidance in the form of His
revealed message and His Messengers. Islam, being the last divine message,
and the Prophet of Islam (SAW), being the last Prophet in the chain of
Prophets, provided complete guidance for the spiritual purification and
refinement. One aspect of this guidance is the fasting in the month of Ramdan.
This is a methodology for the strengthening of the inner dimensions of human
personality. The followers of the Prophet of Islam (SAW) have been specially
commanded to observe fasting to achieve piety and righteousness. If a person
observes this practice with diligence, sincerity and determination, he will
definitely find his reward in this world and in the life hereafter. The Qur’an
says; “O you who believe, Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to
those before you, that ye may (learn self-restraint”.

The month of Ramdan is approaching with His mercy; it is the month that is
the best of all months in the estimation of Allah. Its days are the best among the
days; its nights are the best among the nights. Its hours are the best among the
hours. We have been invited and selected in this month as the recipients of the
honours and blessings of Allah. (SWT).

It provides an environment of piety and righteousness. It creates a spiritual

environment which encourages a Muslim to be a part of it. If a person fasts for
the sake of Allah (SWT) and observe self-restraint and control, he is able to
over-haul his personality completely. It is not only to restrain oneself from
eating and drinking but help a Muslim to refresh himself into a balanced
personality in which the physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of
personality are developed simultaneously and our good deeds are accepted in
this month. So are our invocations. Therefore, we must invoke our Lord, in
right earnest, with hearts that are free from sins and evils and at the end of
Ramadan a spiritual person is born again.

It was narrated by Salman the Persian (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) delivered a khutba on the last day o
Sha’ban. The Prophet said: “O you people! A great and a blessed month have
arrived for you, therein a Night which is better than one thousand months. The
fasting during this month is an obligation (fareedh), and the extra prayers
during its nights are voluntary. Anyone who comes closer to Allah through a
good deed during this month is as if he performed on obligatory duty during
times other than Ramdan, and he who fulfils an obligatory duty in it will be like
one who fulfils seventy obligatory duties in another month. It is the month of
patience, and the reward of patience is Paradise. It is the month of visiting of
the poor, the sick and the needy so as to share their sorrows. It is the month
where the nourishment, the sustenance and the income of the believing Muslim
increase and they are blessed”.

“Anyone who invites others to break their fast or iftar will be provided with
forgiveness of his sins be saved from hell, and will receive reward equal to the
fasting without reducing his own reward in any respect. Some of the followers
of the prophet said: “Not all of us may find food to share with one so that he
could break his fast.” The Prophet said: ‘Allah will reward you even if you help
the fasting Muslim to break his fast with a date, a sip of water or a drink of
milk”...

“It is a month: its beginning is Mercy, and its last part is freedom from hellfire.
Anyone who helps a slave to be freed, Allah will forgive him and free him
from Hell”.

“Verily! The person who may not receive the mercy and benevolence of Allah
in this month must be very unfortunate having an end as bad (in the Hereafter).
While fasting, remember the hunger and thirst of tomorrow. Give alms to the
poor and the needy”.

“O People! You have made your conscience the slave of your desires; make it
free by invoking Him for Istighfar (repentance/forgiveness). Our backs are
breaking under the heavy load of our sins, so prostrate before Him for long
intervals and make it lighter”.

Increase in yourselves four characteristics: two by which you will please your
Lord, and two others by which you cannot live without. The first two qualities
to please Allah are to bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship
except Allah, and to ask forgiveness from Allah… However, the other two
things that you cannot live without are: to ask Allah for Paradise and to ask
Him to protect you from Hell and fire…

Pay respects to your elders. Have pity on those younger than you and be kind
towards your relatives and kinsmen. Guard your tongues against unworthy
words, and your eyes from such scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden)
and your ears from such sounds that should not be heard by you.

Be kind to orphans so that when your children become orphans they also may
be treated with kindness. Do invoke that Allah may forgive our sins. Do raise
your hands at the time of Salat (Prayers), as it is the best time for asking His
mercy. When we invoke at such times, we are answered by Him, when we call
Him, He responds, and when we ask for anything, it is accepted by Him.
Anybody who in this month may take light work from his servants (male or
female), Allah will make easy his accounting on the Day of Judgment.

Anybody who does not tease others in this month, Allah will keep him safe
from His wrath at the Day of Judgment. Anybody, who respects and treats an
orphan with kindness in this month, Allah shall look at him with dignity at the
Day of Judgment. Anybody who treats well his kinsmen, in this month, Allah
will bestow His mercy on him at the day of resurrection.

Whosoever recites in this month only one 'Ayat' (verse of the Holy Qur'an), he
will be rewarded in a manner as if he had recited the full Qur'an in the other
months.
“O People! The Gates of Paradise remain opened in this month. Do invoke that
the gates may not be closed on you, while the Gates of Hell are closed. Do
invoke that these gates may never be opened. During this month Devil
(Shaytan) is imprisoned so ask your Lord not to let him have power over you”.