This is the month of Ramadan, the 'Dean' of all lunar months. It comes into the world once in a year. Its arrival is always with fanfare. Its splendour is shrouded in the divine blessing that often heralds its readiness to come. Unlike all other months of the year, Ramadan keeps humanity in a curious suspense even as it sends a harbinger ahead of its coming. That harbinger is the crescent of hope, which millions of Muslims globally await before commencing the annual obligatory fast in the month.
From its name alone, Ramadan can be called the key with which to open the door to eternal pleasure. Ramadan is the solid ground upon which the formidable edifice of Islam is built. It is the month in which Islam came into the world of mankind through the revelation of the Qur’an. Without the revelation of the Qur'an which started in the sacred month of Ramadan, perhaps the world would have remained oblivious of the five pillars of Islam today. Ramadan is the great light that comes annually to illuminate the dark world of man and wakes up the snoring humanity from their deep sleep. Ramadan is a major yardstick with which to measure discipline in the life of Muslims individually and collectively.To wake up in the night and observe spiritual genuflexions (Nawafil); to take an early breakfast (Sahur) before dawn and abstain from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse as well as other pleasurable activities of life throughout the days of Ramadan is a collection of obligations which only the spiritual phenomenon called Ramadan can impose on man as an act of discipline with which to succeed here in life and in the Hereafter.
It is only with Ramadan that the hardest heart can be softened and the wildest animal instinct in man can be tamed. No other pillar of Islam preaches patience, endurance, tolerance, sympathy and social welfare as effectively as Ramadan does. Ramadan is the month that levels the ground under the feet of the rich and the poor alike. This is the only month that comes into the world with heavy pregnancy inside which is a mystery night called the Night of Power (Laylatul Qadr) which turns every true believer into a new, fortunate innocent person. Without this month in the life of a Muslim, the world would have been meaningless spiritually. Welcome on board of this cruising spiritual Yacht that is once again commencing a spiritual voyage on the ocean of discipline towards the ‘Cape of Good Hope’.
Dr.Femi Abbas is a columist at Thenation and can be reached via:E-mail: femabbas756@gmail.com Tel: 08115708536 (Text only)
It is only with Ramadan that the hardest heart can be softened and the wildest animal instinct in man can be tamed. No other pillar of Islam preaches patience, endurance, tolerance, sympathy and social welfare as effectively as Ramadan does. Ramadan is the month that levels the ground under the feet of the rich and the poor alike. This is the only month that comes into the world with heavy pregnancy inside which is a mystery night called the Night of Power (Laylatul Qadr) which turns every true believer into a new, fortunate innocent person. Without this month in the life of a Muslim, the world would have been meaningless spiritually. Welcome on board of this cruising spiritual Yacht that is once again commencing a spiritual voyage on the ocean of discipline towards the ‘Cape of Good Hope’.
Dr.Femi Abbas is a columist at Thenation and can be reached via:E-mail: femabbas756@gmail.com Tel: 08115708536 (Text only)
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