What is Ramadan? People say, we’re fasting; that’s only a part of It

BY KAHA G. – 15 YEARS OLD

Ramadan is fast approaching! It’s said to be on either Sunday, March 10^th, 2024, or Monday, March 11^th, 2024, based on the sighting of the crescent moon. However, what is Ramadan? In Islam, Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar (we use the lunar calendar) and is the holy month of fasting.

Like I said earlier, it starts and ends with the sighting of the crescent moon. This calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar because “Ramadan begins 10–12 days earlier each year, allowing it to fall in every season throughout a 33-year cycle,” according to Brittanica. This is why, in some cases, Eid (the celebration after Ramadan), can fall on the same day as Christmas.

Additionally, Ramadan is a period where Muslims practice self-restraint, from dawn to dusk from food, drink, sexual activity, and all forms of immoral behaviour. This includes bad deeds as a whole, like swearing, disrespecting your parents, music, etc. Keep in mind that these should be stopped no matter if it is Ramadan, or not. In addition to that, we are encouraged to do many good deeds during this month because the reward for it is multiplied immensely. So, we would partake in good acts like charity, reading the Qur’an (the holy book for Muslims), prayer, and so on.

Before the dawn prayer known as Fajr, we wake up for suhoor which translates to the meal eaten before dawn. We wake up one hour before dawn prayer, eat our suhoor, and read the Qur’an. On the other hand, after the sunset prayer, we have something called iftar, which is the meal we break our fast with.

Now, here is the amazing part of Ramadan. During Ramadan, in the last ten nights, there is a day called Laylat al-Qadr (Arabic word for the night of power). Allah (God) revealed the Qur’an to the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. This day is so special to the point where all of our supplications are answered, and the angels descend giving the day a sense of tranquility.

According to zakat.org, there is a hadith (a statement, or action from the prophet Muhammed peace be upon him) from An-Nasa’i (a scholar who collects the hadith and puts it into a book) that states the following. “There has come to you the blessed month of Ramadan, in which God, the Mighty and Sublime, has enjoined you to fast. In it, the gates of heaven are opened, and the gates of Hell are closed, and every single devil is chained. In it, God has made a night whose value is greater than a thousand months (Laylat al-Qadr), and whoever is deprived of its goodness will indeed have lost.”

I would like to end with a quote from Mufti Menk, an Islamic scholar. “What is Ramadan? People say, we’re fasting; that’s only a part of it. It is the month of peace, the month of tranquility, the month of cure, the month of goodness, the month of forgiveness, the month of mercy, the month of attaining paradise, the month of the Qur’an, the month of revelation, the month of celebration of being a Muslim. “We don’t just do what we want, we do what the Almighty has ordained.”