The Significance Of Ramadan
By: Kashif Chaudhry

"If a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during fasting, then Allah does not care if he abstains from food and drink" ~ Muhammad, Prophet and Founder of Islam

Ramadan is the name of the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, a lunar calendar, and so the start of this month falls on different dates of the Gregorian calendar each year.

This year, Ramadan in the United States starts today and will continue for 30 days until Sept. 9.

Ramadan is the most venerated of the Islamic months. In it, Muslims fast each day from dawn until the end of sunset. The Quran states: "O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil." Exceptions are made for people who are sick or on a journey.

The practice of fasting dates back to prehistory. All world religions have made mention of fasting as a practice vital to one's physical and spiritual health. During the Muslim fast, one is expected to abstain from all forms of eating or drinking.

The typical day starts hours before dawn when Muslims wake up to remember God and spend time in meditation. This predawn prayer is called the tahajjud prayer. The Quran is also recited more during this time, as well as at other times during the day.

The primary essence of the fast is not to experience hunger and thirst. Muhammad, Islam's prophet and founder, said, "Many people who fast get nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst, and many people who pray at night get nothing from it except wakefulness."

During the fast, Muslims are required to abstain from all evils, as petty as they may be. Indulging in immoral talk, abusing, cursing and fighting are strictly prohibited. The idea is to spend maximum time and attention toward improving one's spiritual self and striving to attain the love of God. To ensure maximum attention toward one's spiritual development, all physical pleasures are best avoided during the day while fasting. Conjugal relationships between husband and wife are permitted at night only.

"If a person does not avoid false talk and false conduct during fasting, then Allah does not care if he abstains from food and drink," Muhammad said.

The month of Ramadan is also special for its particular emphasis on alms giving. In Islam, the institution of zakat — one of the faith's five pillars — ensures the circulation of wealth between the rich and the poor. During Ramadan, the expectation is to spend beyond this routine charity. Spending generously for social welfare by helping the poor and needy and by partaking in other community welfare projects is encouraged.

Fasting has health benefits. Fasting as an institution is also extremely important in cultivating almost every area of spiritual life. Among other things, the one who fasts learns through personal experience about what hunger, poverty, uneasiness and discomfort mean to the sections of society that suffer the same. This training helps build empathy and love. Abstention from practices during Ramadan that are totally permissible in daily life plays a constructive role in refining the human character.

The end of Ramadan is marked by the Muslim festival called the Eid. This can best be understood as a thanksgiving ceremony, where gratitude to God is expressed for having enabled the Muslims to advance in physical and spiritual endurance. The Eid in the United States this year will fall on Sept. 10.

Where the world is torn apart by differences today, we should strive to appreciate the enormous commonalities we share. Fasting is another of the many forms of worship found in almost all world religions, be it Christianity, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism or Islam. Native Americans have traditionally used fasting as a sacred ritual. Respecting that human connection and that bond of unity, let us wish a Happy Ramadan to all of America — the land of the free.