Ramadan: Month of Fasting and Feasting
Cont’d from page 1
So God gives us all that we need to perform this important practice of our religion, this spiritual feast for our souls.
In Muslim communities around the world Ramadan is a time for both fasting and feasting. For many it is a very social time—a month long holiday of cooking special foods, inviting friends and relatives over and special functions in the mosques. In fact often it is called the Ramadan Feast rather than the Ramadan Fast. Indeed, for some this holy month is not very spiritual at all. For them Ramadan means painful deprivation during the day followed by painful gluttony at night…not much help growing the soul.
Several wonderful articles about Ramadan from years past report that there are many health benefits to fasting (for example, see the Submitters Perspective September 2008 issue). However, such benefits are negated by gorging on rich food and staying up all hours of the night socializing.
Much more importantly, what spiritual gain is there from focusing on our stomachs all day and all night? Where is God in that? Perhaps we might feast spiritually during the day and fast from distractions during the nights…
Actually you are probably already doing a lot of this automatically. Every time our stomachs growl or we feel parched during Ramadan it reminds us of why we are fasting, of God, our only Lord and Master. It can focus us back on God so that we can be conscious of Him throughout the day, rather than being totally caught up in our daily affairs. This focus is a spiritual feast.
As a bonus you may be amazed to find that you do some of your very best work while you are fasting for |
Ramadan. And you are feeding your soul tremendously at the same time!
For me that part did come fairly automatically when I first began doing the Ramadan fast. But then I found myself being totally distracted in the evenings, even though God tells us in various ways that we should be meditating on Him at night (17:79, 25:64, 39:9, 50:40, 73:2, 6 & 20) even when it is not Ramadan. Fortunately we can always read and study the Quran, and the Masjid Tucson web site can help with suggestions on meditation and wonderful articles on the greatness of God. Once I got into the habit of reading the Quran or about God, thinking about Him, or commemorating His name, I found it much easier not to be distracted in the evening. Though I am not nearly as good at it as I wish I were!
God also provides two additional and especially wonderful ways to focus on Him specifically during Ramadan:
- The practice of retreating to the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan (2:187 & 89:2).
- Commemorating Him on the Night of Destiny (97:1-7).
So not only does God tell us all we need in order to fast, but He provides the spiritual feast as well.
May this Ramadan provide the best nutrition ever for the real you—your soul!
Blessed Ramadan everyone
Lisa
[25:64] In the privacy of the night, they meditate on their Lord, and fall prostrate.
[39:9] Is it not better to be one of those who meditate in the night, prostrating and staying up, being aware of the Hereafter, and seeking the mercy of their Lord? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Only those who possess intelligence will take heed.
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Comments from a striving Submitter
Salam Alaikum Brothers and Sisters,
Thank you for the kind comments about the quranaloneislam.org website. I have been very busy which was why I took so long to write back to you. I am so sorry that I waited one week before responding. I am here in Tampa Florida ready to serve God for the Praise and the Worship of God Alone.
I really would like to see a mosque here in Tampa that preaches and teaches true Islam, also where we could come together to study the “Quran: The Final Testament” by Rashad Khalifa, which is simply the very best Quran translation available for people to study. I came into the truth of pure monotheism actually years ago while a Christian and Bishop in the Orthodox Church.
I left the church, converted to Islam, and saw where traditional Islam had been totally corrupted. I began my search of the true and straight path, the creed of Abraham. I felt then as I still do today that I found the truth that I was looking for through the Masjid Tucson website. I knew then and there that I was a submitter, and I needed to go into fellowship with other submitters.
I simply absorbed the information on the Masjid Tucson website, and the Submission.org website, purchased a true Quran translation in English by Rashad Khalifa, and I began to study the Quran with a renewed interest. I am deeply appreciative for the work that all of my brothers and sisters are doing at Masjid Tucson, as well as other websites of submitters throughout the world.
Write back to me whenever you can, and I will be awaiting your soon and quick reply. I pray that God continues to bless all of my brothers and sisters at Masjid Tucson and that God continues to let all of you grow in numbers there as well inshallah (God willing).
If anyone would like to correspond with me then you may go to the website quranaloneislam.org and complete our contact form on the contact us page, and inshallah (God willing) I will respond back to you as soon as possible. If anyone would like to become an author at our website, register as a subscriber, then let me know who you are and inshallah (God willing) I will upgrade you to full author status.
Salam Alaikum
Paul D. Ph.D |