When Ramadan Steps in...

A couple of weeks or say few days before the onset of Ramadan, perhaps, every Muslim is eager to welcome Ramadan. Ugh... as if rest of eleven months were meant for to keep oneself busy in this (temporal) world.

When Ramadan steps in, we will find a crescendo in our faith, and with more attention we plan for preparations and make ‘Ramadan resolutions’. Why not goodly resolutions for the whole year? Doesn’t it make sense to be an upright, righteous Muslim every day and night of passing years?

Definitely, the month of Ramadan is full of blessings, mercy and sanctity. It, in fact, inspires every Muslim how excellence it is to persevere, and lessons, at large, the beauty of true Islamic teachings. 

Sadly, we spend all the eleven months in a weird manner. That’s so true! We oft miss congregational prayers, and then we pray individually at delayed time; when it comes to recitation of Qur’an, we feel burdensome to take it from bookshelves; no serious contemplation or reflections upon good things; when we see mosques, we will, surely, find few worshippers. Utterly, by the scale of human nature, we no longer resemble human beings; but, in the race for earning our livelihood and becoming worldly-wise, our lives have become insensitive and harsh while we live by our own disruptive wits and fake notions.

O, thanks to Ramadan! What a bounty from the Almighty Lord! When it is near approaching, we start thinking about it. We chart out what elements, what ingredients, what necessities and what commitments has to be made during the month of Ramadan. You know, why such hustle?

The fact is that we measure the month of Ramadan differently—as if a ‘prized month’, with big offers. What if we are reckless and lethargic the whole eleven months! So what? We have this one month—that’s enough—so why miss it? Then, for this specific month alone, we make some timely precautions related to faith, a lot thorough arrangements for selective food and culinary items, and to a lesser degree, we briefly follow prescriptions for fasting. Are we just Muslims of Ramadan?

I am sure, this question, does hurt the very ligaments of our hearts. But, after all, this is the truth. When Ramadan finishes, even the bent of our minds toward religious teachings declines; mosques gives a deserted look, with no more presence of those worshippers who were ardently praying and reciting the Quran during Ramadan; charities and good acts around diminishes. When Ramadan is over, that unique seasonal zeal among Muslims too gets lost somewhere, and then they revert to their former states. Ay, so much done in a month, and then we negligently abandon all the good things as Ramadan ends.

Amazingly, how well we find mosques flickering with glow, worshippers assembling in unison, after prayers some engulfed in deep remembering Almighty Lord for spiritual gains, some reciting the Quran with pace and pause, some performing supererogatory prayers, and some reading books of knowledge for vivid understanding.

Shouldn’t we contemplate that besides Ramadan, when we embrace same determination and enthusiasm in rest eleven months, then we definitely gain closeness to the Almighty Lord. That way, we become true, successful Muslims, by constancy in upright faith and righteous deeds.