Day 3: Counting The Benefit (Part 1 of 3)

There is the goal and there are the benefits derived from attaining the goal. For the Muslims, the benefits of fasting are different from its main goals. The obvious goal of fasting in Ramadan is two sided. One side is acquiring self-restraints through constant consciousness of Allah (taqwah) as stated in the Qur'an: “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint.” (Qur'an 2 verse 183)

The other side is to gain nearness and closeness to Allah thus becoming His friend. The implication of this relationship with the Creator is such that, as Allah stated in a hadith qudsi, “Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I shall be at war with him. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than the obligatory duties that I have placed upon him. My servant continues to draw nearer to Me with optional deeds so that I shall love him.” (Bukhari)

However, the benefits of Ramadan are numerous. For starters, you get all your sins forgiven. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stated that “Whoever prayed at night in it (the month of Ramadan) out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Bukhari)

So let us imagine coming out of the other end of Ramadan sinless, with a clean slate, purified like a newborn baby. Sins are like the debt you carry about like a burden. You can’t pass it to others. Now imagine all your debt wiped off completely. Imagine the liberty and freedom from the burden of debt. How light and happy would your heart and head be? Part of the benefit of Ramadan is to shed off those burdensome weights of fatty sins. During this Ramadan, seek forgiveness a lot particularly at the point of breaking the fast, after each salaah (prayer-worship), after each recitation of the Qur'an, etc. Also, seek forgiveness for others; perchance others may seek Allah’s forgiven and mercies for you.

Of course there is the benefit of acquiring knowledge and friendship. During the month of Ramadan, there are a lot of activities centred on knowledge about Islam or the verses of the Qur'an. You are also encouraged to read up about Ramadan, the rules of fasting and other things related to fasting. It is said that more books are written, more speeches are made, more programmes are organised during Ramadan more than at all other times put together. And this is the same all over the world. Indeed, Ramadan is unique. There is greater efforts to perform the salaah in the mosque, this regular fellowship in the mosque will surely bring us in contact with people whom we would otherwise have not met. Our circles of friends are thus increased. We invite families and friends to our home for iftar, and we accept invitations from others.  We compete healthily to satisfy each other’s needs and hoping for Allah’s rewards alone. Therefore, Ramadan creates the opportunity to expand our knowledge and our network of friends.

- Contributed by Shamsideen AbuSuad, UK. ©RamadanMessage 2007.