Ramadan is Almost Here!

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 by Ramjan Mubarak




Ramadan is fast approaching where almost 2 billion Muslims around the globe will be fasting from next week for 29 to 30 days. This means refraining from food, drink (even water!) & sexual relations everyday from dawn, then they will break their fast after the sun has set. Before putting on the fast, Muslims are encouraged to have a simple & light pre-dawn meal called Suhur.

Some people have the misconception that Muslims fast to empathise with those who are less fortunate. Whilst that is undoubtedly an effect of fasting, the reasons Muslims fast is to gain Taqwa (roughly translated as God consciousness, so we become closer to Allah), to be forgiven for any past sins and to become more disciplined. 

There are many ways Muslims may wish to improve themselves. Most of these things we should be doing anyway, but Muslims will do extra to gain as much reward as possible because reward is multiplied immensely during the month of Ramadan: 

* Seeking forgiveness: Repenting to Allah for your past sins. But also seeking forgiveness of those you may have personally wronged
* Having mercy towards others and forgiving them, because everyone makes mistakes!
* Praying more: Muslims will either pray the special night prayer, Taraweeh, at home or at the mosque. Muslims may hope to finish reciting the whole Qur'an before the end of Ramadan by reciting it bit by bit at each prayer!
* Reading the Qur'an more and learning more about Islam. What is even more special, is that the Qur'an was revealed in this month. Muslims generally have the aim to read the whole Qur'an by the end of the month, during the prayers or outside of these, but we should be careful not to rush and ensure we understand the beautiful message and implement these into our daily lives. 
* Helping/giving to others: for example, donating money to charities. Every year in the UK, we see millions being donated by Muslims in the month of Ramadan alone!
* Refraining from bad actions, such as: the use of foul language, gossiping, arguing, becoming angry
* Simply feeling grateful for what we have and praising Allah for it. For example, after a long day of fasting, we should be grateful to know we will be able to break our fast with food and drink. We can show this by praising Allah, but one of the best ways to show gratitude is through our actions. An example is giving in charity to those who are less fortunate, so they may enjoy food and drink as we have been blessed with. 
* Having the intention to continue these good works after the month has passed too!

There are some people who are exempt from fasting, for example, those with certain medical conditions. However, for some conditions, fasting may be beneficial. There are many benefits of fasting:

* (Disclaimer: Fasting may not be suitable for people with some conditions, so it's best to seek professional advice for this). Health: studies have shown that fasting can help with blood sugar management, it may help with preventing certain diseases (e.g. heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis) and may positively impact your brain health! Fasting may also help with weight management (1). However, to really reap the benefits from this, there are a lot of factors to consider and one of the main factors is to maintain a well-balanced diet throughout. 
* Self-awareness: being more aware of what you say and do as it will affect the rewards you will obtain during the month.
* Self-improvement, in terms of your character, as Ramadan helps you to avoid bad habits and replace them with good habits to continue after the month has ended too. For example, if we struggle with using foul language, then it is time to replace these with good words such as SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah) or Alhamdulillah (All Praise be to Allah). 
* Practising self-control, making you more disciplined.
* Gratitude: being grateful for having our religion for guidance, our families and friends, and knowing we have our basic needs met every day, etc.

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