Preamble
To most pious Muslims around the world, the month of Ramadan is Allah’s special blessing with which to rescue mankind from the dragnet of Satan.
This blessed month has always come to the earth annually for the past 1438 years or thereabout. And its mission has invariably been to liberate all willing Muslims from the scourge of Satan.
Repackaging life
Whenever Ramadan comes, all Muslims and non-Muslims alike repackage their lives in a way suitable for the sacred month even as Muslims welcome it with the best spiritual hospitality while chanting a sprcialn chorus of blessing. Ramadan Karim!
Nigerian Muslim preachers
It is quite unfortunate that this great month of Allah’s unsurpassable blessings has become the choice of some Nigerian Muslim clerics/preachers to feather the hat of Satan through abuses, curses and counter curses on radio and television stations sometimes using vulgar languages. By such preaching, most of those clerics often strip themselves of Allah’s bounteous blessings as much as they smear the religion of Allah on a platter of sheer whim.
Warning
The Message column hereby warns such preachers to desist from such satanic acts and fear Allah if they are truly Muslims. Otherwise, they may face the wrath of Allah. A Muslim without piety, particularly in the month of Ramadan is like a snail without shell.
Status of Ramdan
Ordinarily, Ramadan is one of the twelve Islamic months. But spiritually and psychologically, it transcends the status of a month having become the custodian of a whole pillar of Islam. Thus, from all indications it has assumed the posture and characteristics of a season.
Characteristics of seasons
Seasons are like the tides of an ocean. They roll out spirally in quick succession and reshape the world’s environment from time to time. They come in multiples of months as no one can measure a season in the absence of months.
Seasons in the West
The people of the West have so much respect for seasons that whenever they have an important guest they call him an ‘August visitor’. The month of August is the peak of summer season in Europe where the season called Summer contains the most comfortable months of the year. In that season, the Caucasian race of Europe do treat their guests with maximum hospitality.
Venerable guest
In Islam, the most venerable guest is Ramadan. Its visiting time is not restricted to any particular season of the year. It may arrive in the world in any season. That is why it is called a guest of all seasons in this article.
With Ramadan as a dignified guest, not only the Muslims but also, the entire humanity are consciously or unconsciously engaged in non-such hospitable activities in the sacred month. Those who do not fast in the month because they are not Muslims do take advantage of its blessed presence to engage in one business or the other. Farmers, manufacturers and service providers, all prepare their products for the arrival of the month thereby confirming that there can be no indifference to the awful presence of the sacred month in any part of the world. Perhaps nothing else is as captivating as this unique month.
Ramadan’s voyage
Although Ramadan perches on the earth every year, no one knows its port of embarkation. No one knows its destination. All we know of it is that of a guest that is so vividly present in our world and yet so invisible. It is through the Qur’an that we came to know ‘RAMADAN’ as the name by which the sacred month is divinely christened.
Ramadan’s coming is often heralded by a retinue of envoys.
Ramadan’s Entourage
The months of ‘Rajab’ and ‘Sha’ban’ are the immediate signals that alert mankind of Ramadan’s imminent arrival. Thus, like the sun in the midst of stars, Ramadan ascends the throne in full regalia and all other months, (lunar and solar) quickly take their bow.
If you call Ramadan the king where other months are mere chiefs you will be quite right. If you call it the medical doctor in a world of sick people you will not be wrong. If you call it the compass in the wilderness of straying humanity you will be speaking the absolute truth. If you call it the reformer of human soul or the sterilizer of human spirit or the purifier of human body you will not be disputed.
In its entourage also are invisible ministers such as piety, knowledge, truth, justice and peace all of which usher it into the world with splendour.
Meaning of Ramadan
The name Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramad meaning hot ashes. The name had evolved since the time before the establishment of Islamic calendar. But it was not attached to any religion. And due to ignorance, humanity did not know the benefit of this month until the arrival of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who opened the eyes of the world to it.
The Sacredness of Ramadan
With the advent of Islam, the entire month of Ramadan is spent in fasting from dawn to dusk. Such fasting is not only an abstinence from foods and drinks alone. It is also about self-restraint from all sinful acts and repackaging of one’s destiny through a new but sincere resolution.
Fasting during this month is believed to figuratively burn away all sins.
Ramadan’s relationship with the Qur’an
It was in the glorious month called Ramadan that the revelations of the Glorious Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first began. It was in this month that all the previous divine revelations to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) were divinely renewed and repackaged not only as a reminder but also as a reconfirmation of the authenticity of the Qur’an as Allah’s anchor message to mankind.
In this month, all gates of paradise, (according to a Prophetic Hadith), are open while those of hell are closed.
Segments of Ramadan
Ramadan is divided into three main segments of ten days each. But the third segment may sometimes be limited to nine days. The first ten days in this sacred month are blessings galore for those of the Muslim Ummah who need Allah’s blessings and seek them. The second ten days personify forgiveness for those who realize the gravity of their sinful acts, repent on them and resolve never to return to such acts again. The last ten or nine days are meant for the liberation of mankind from the manacles of Satan. Whoever is so liberated automatically becomes like a newly born baby arriving in a new world with a clean slate (tabularasa).
The Night of Power
In the last ten days is a particular night called Laylatul Qadr in which the secret of human destiny is encapsulated. It is otherwise known as the ‘Night of power’. Meeting that night consciously and spiritually is like securing the key to one’s own apartment in Paradise. But one needs to remain awake throughout those nights to be fortunate to receive the blessings of the night.
Searching for the Night
Allah did not disclose the particular night called Laylatul Qadr even to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), But by asking the Muslims to look for it in the odd nights of the last ten days, the Prophet had assisted us tremendously. However, who can be so sure of the odd nights when the issue of sighting the crescent before starting Ramadan remains a subject of heated controversy?
That is why some willing Muslims, in accordance with the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), go for Umrah in Makkah or take to I’tikaf (spiritual seclusion) locally, in the month of Ramadan to reaffirm their total submission to the will of Allah.
Zakatul Fitr
Within the last ten days of Ramadan is also a common charity made compulsory for all Muslims irrespective of age, gender and status, to be given to the poor and the needy. This is called Zakatul Fitr or Sadaqatul Fitr. It is given out in the very early morning of Ramadan Festival Day or the night before it to enable the poor and the needy celebrate the festival with the rest of the Ummah.
Vital questions
Ramadan never perches on earth without certain vital questions such as the question of sighting the crescent before commencing the fast in it; the question of how to prepare for it socially, physically and spiritually; the question of what to do and what not to do in it; the question of who should fast and who may not fast in it; the question of how its days and nights can be spent; the question of what to benefit from Tafsir and how to observe Tarawih; The question of I’tikaf (seclusion) and what to do therein; the question of Laylatul Qadr that is said to be more beneficial to genuine Muslims than 1000 months; the question of Zakatul Fitr, Eidul Fitr and the features that characterize them as well as many other questions including marriage, divorce and sexual intercourse in this sacred month.
Conclusion
Where else can a guest like Ramadan be found? Where else can one meet a guest that hosts his host and heals him of his ailment of ignorance and other diseases? It was probably more to Ramadan than to man that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) referred when he said: “whoever believes in Allah and the ‘Last Day’ should venerate his guest” That guest is Ramadan. That is why Muslims often say in this unique month: ‘RAMADAN KARIM’. Read the details of the features of Ramadan in a dauly column called ‘RAMADAN GUIDE’. It is written daily in The Nation newspaper by yours sincerely.
