“Ramadan” The Month For All Seasons

By Hussein Rashid, PhD

Founder of Islamicate, L3C

Ramadan is the month of fasting for Muslims that impacts our spiritual practice every day, 365 days of every year. This year, the blessed month was observed from May 6 to June 3. Ramadan is when we are supposed to physically restrain ourselves. The most well-known part of the month is fasting from food and drink, during daylight hours. However, fasting also includes giving up vices like smoking, the use of harsh language, and a modesty of gaze.

There is also a mental and spiritual component, beyond the physical component. A believer should think of God more frequently, and should ask of themselves, “is this good? Is there a better way?” The month of a Ramadan is a physical rupture with our daily lives, with our physical activity, to rethink and commit to the ways in which we wish to act in the world, based on what we wish to manifest of our beliefs.

This rupture makes sense, as the word “Ramadan” is related to the idea of burning; a type of purifying heat that cleanses of us our impurities. You become aware of how much you eat. It may not qualify as gluttony, but it is easy and casual. You do not think of how much you eat, the ease with which you get it, and thus are not thankful for it. You realize how dependent you are on your caffeine fix to get through the day. You stop to think about the amount of TV you watch, or the envy you have your co-workers.

As the month progresses, your physical energy is more limited, so you become more economical with your actions and your words. What has been burned away is your excess. What is left is what you think is necessary to be who you are. You are crafting yourself in this heat. Hopefully, as you withdraw from the attachments of the world, you become more attached to God. As you shape yourself over this month, it is to manifest the Divine qualities present in all of us.

The physical fast may only last for a month, but it is a catalyst to lifelong change. That fast is 365 days of the year.

I think a lot about the individual change that Ramadan demands of us. I think about how it is not just about the transformation of the individual, but about how society is structured to allow us to manifest Divine qualities, like Mercy and Compassion. If we have structured a society that encourages us to forget God and be trapped by the attractions of the world – to see the world as the destination, instead of as a Divine Mercy to get to know God – than how can we improve ourselves?

The just society can be adorned, but when the adornments are removed, we have to see the core of the community we have created. In that space, we should see the systems that allow us to be vehicles of God’s qualities on earth. To paraphrase Imam Ali (peace be upon him), the successor to the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him and his family) authority, we should see a society that allows us to be just, because God is just with us; we should see a society that is merciful, because God is merciful to us; we should see a society that is generous, because God is generous to us.

At the end of Ramadan, I ask how I have brought myself closer to God, how I manifest Divine qualities, and how I work to create a society that allows all people the same possibilities. If I choose only my spiritual growth, it is only ego I expand. My success is your success is our success. What burns always is the idea that I am approaching God, because God was never distant. Rather, I am making room for God in the middle of all things in my life, so that I remember we are all in relationship to one another, through the Divine, because we are all from the same source.