Allah imposes fasting on Muslims to get closer to HIM. It shows He loves us and wants us around Him all the time. Out of the 12 lunar months, He chose Ramadan as a month of fasting. A month in which His glorious words were packaged and revealed to Prophet Muhammad. (s.a.w) He chose to forgive all our sins, no matter how weighty they are.
Not only that after cleansing us from our iniquities, he shrouds us with his blessings and redirects our destiny according to our wishes. It means, after you have been cleansed, Allah is giving you a blank cheque to name your wants and desires at lailatul-Qadr and He is ready to grant them in no time.
All you need is to jettison food and drink, sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk and follow up with good attitude, righteousness, charity among others all through the month.
Allah’s (SWT) most favoured quality in humans is taqwa merely because He wants us to gain the Hereafter and fasting is an act of worship through which Muslims can gain taqwa. He reminds us of the importance of taqwa in several verses of the Quran. In Surah Al-Imran (3:102), ‘’Keep from disobedience to God in reverent piety with all the reverence that is due to Him’’.
Fasting suppresses lusts, remove the veil of negligence from your heart, return you to the real purpose of creation, of brotherliness, of compassion, of mercy, of kindness, of unity, and since this is one of the special purposes of Prophethood and the Shari’ah, fasting has been prescribed in all the first Shari’ahs, to seek forgiveness for the sins committed in the last eleven months and cleanse you as a newborn.
The purpose of fasting is to keep the soul hungry and to prevent it from exercising its material and sexual needs so that the urge to sin is substantially suppressed. In essence, the main purpose of this month is to remove the veil of negligence from the heart, to return to the real purpose of creation.
We can gain taqwa as a fasting Muslim by increasing all acts of worship during this month. Apart from the fact that we gain taqwa by observing these ibadah, we gain multiple rewards on any acts of worship done in this month. Do not miss Tarawih and Tahjud. So, it is better you carry out all the supererogatory prayers to the best of your ability.
Pay great attention to the recitation of the Holy Quran. Study it, attend where the explanation of the verses is being made; internalise the meaning and lessons for self-development. Make dua for yourself, family, and the country as a whole.
Remember that fasting is not complete without taqwa, just as taqwa cannot stand alone especially in this month without fasting except there are cogent reasons for a Muslim not to fast in Ramadan.
It is incumbent on you to be tranquil, humble, and submissive as a servant afraid of his master, or like hopeful ones, who have purified their hearts from vices and observe openly and secretly what Allah has forbidden. Entrust yourselves completely to God while you are fasting. It is only then that you have observed fasting for the sake of Allah and have fulfilled your duties to Allah.
Source | Vanguard
