Ramadan - A Chance to Unite in Diversity

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

شهر رمضان الذي أنزل فيه القرآن هدى للناس وبينات من الهدى والفرقان

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Faith

As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum (Peace and Blessings be Upon You)

Indeed all Praise is due to Allah, our Fashioner and Creator.  We Praise Him and we seek His Forgiveness.  Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide and whomever Allah leaves astray, none can guide aright.  May Peace and Blessings be upon His Final, Most Noble Messenger, Mohamed (Peace Be Upon Him- PBUH), his family, his companions and the true believers throughout the ages.

As the month of Ramadan is just around the corner, I would like to congratulate you on this Holy Month.

All of us are on a journey.  Though our methods of transportation maybe different, we are all travellers on the same path towards spiritual enlightenment and happiness. 

The ultimate and most difficult lesson to learn on this journey is to understand our destination. For those of you who have read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the understanding of this destination is very simple: ‘Go; travel the world, look for the truth and the secret of life – every road will lead you to this sense of initiation: the secret is hidden in the place from which you set out’.  Thus you find God only by rediscovering the essence of your own nature. The essence of your own nature is the ‘return to oneself’ with a consciousness of the other.

This is the apparent paradox of spiritual experience whereby the constant effort that we make to purify, to control and liberate our hearts is in the end, reconciliation with the deepest level of our being.  That spark that the Creator breathed into our heart (the fitra) is the spark of humility, the awareness of fragility, the consciousness of limitation, the shoulder of responsibility.

To develop this state is the very essence of Ramadan, something that is often missed in the superficial celebrations of this most blessed month. At the heart of our consumer society, where materialism and individualism drive our daily lives, this Blessed Month of Ramadan reinforces our personal effort and commitment, invites us towards the deep horizons of introspection and meaning, reminds us of silence, restraint and remembrance, and inculcates the importance of detail, precision, rigour and discipline of practice.  It is one we expect with relish.

Two months before Ramadan, i.e., in the month of Rajab, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to pray to Allah to make him witness the month of Ramadan. He used to say: “O Allah, bestow Your blessings on us during the months of Rajab and Sha`ban, and make us witness Ramadan.” The Prophet said that out of his deep love and appreciation for the rank of the holy month of Ramadan in the Sight of Allah.

The question that is often asked is what is the significance of Ramadhan?  By answering this question, we might understand its importance for the Muslims.

A poet says about the merit of Ramadan: “Ramadan is the farm where soul-purifying seeds are sown. So water such seeds by good deeds. Bad deeds will cause you loss.’’

Ramadan is a reminder of the essence of time: Ibn Abbas (RA) heard the Prophet (SAW) advising someone, saying, “Take advantage of five before five: You’re youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you become occupied, and your life before your death.”

Al Fudayl ibn Iyaadh (RA) once sat with a senior and asked him, “How old are you?” The man replied, “60 years old.” “Did you know,” said Al Fudayl, “that for 60 years you have been traveling towards your Lord, and that you have almost arrived.” The man was reduced to silence. He whispered, “Inna lillahi wa Inna Ilayhi Raaji’oon (To Allah we belong and to Him we return).” Al Fudayl asked, “Do you know the meaning of that statement.

You are saying that you are Allah’s slave and that to Him you are returning. Whoever knows that he is the slave of Allah, and that to Him he shall return, should know that he shall be stopped on the Day of Judgment. And whoever knows that he will be stopped, let him also know that he will be responsible for what he did in life. And whoever knows that he will be responsible for what he did, let him know that he will be questioned. And whoever knows that he will be questioned, let him prepare an answer now!” “What then shall I do,” asked the man.

“It is simple,” said Al Fudayl. “Do good in what is left of your life, forgiven shall be your past. If not, you shall be taken to account for the past and what is to come.”

This is the essence of the concept of God Consciousness or Taqwa which is what Ramadan is supposed to reinforce.  It is about being aware of the choices to make.

 A wise man once said, ‘Between every stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response.  In those choices lie our growth and happiness.’

Such is the meaning of profound spirituality requiring man to acquire a force of being and doing Hence within this space everyone is asked to take up a dialogue with The Most-High and The Most-Close, a dialogue of intimacy, of sincerity, of love.  Within this space is the horizon of all spirituality requiring man to acquire a force of being and doing, rather than to undergo despotic relentlessness of a life reduced to mere instinct.  Within this space, we marry the purpose of our existence with the purpose of our subsistence.   Close to the Quran’s light, its words and inspirations, we must comprehend the message: You are indeed what you do with yourself. You are responsible for the actions you take.

Hence you ask yourself, ‘Am I here by chance?’  The response you will get is ‘No, I am here for a purpose’.  That purpose is to serve humanity, those in need; those without! That purpose is to awaken our conscience in the proximity of the wounds and the injustices people face! That purpose is to move away from selfishness / greed and waste; to distance our selves from the darkest dimensions of our being, our violence, our jealousies, our superficialities.  That purpose is to face our responsibilities with confidence and assurance

Thus Ramadan reinforces our sense of purpose and responsibility whilst nurturing the inspiration from the Qur’an that ‘God will not change anything for the good if you change nothing’!!

The Blessed Month of Ramadan is not a feast of food as it is now commonly practised but a feast of the faith of fraternal atmosphere that is shared with all brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, the concept of a fraternal atmosphere has been denigrated to a single notion within the mindset of the Muslim community, who have gradually entrenched themselves into an ideological box.  This ideological comfort zone is an intellectual arrogance leading to an isolationist mentality and cultural ghetto, which world over, Muslim communities; especially those that live under minority situations, place themselves in.  This isolationist mentality imbibes an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ attitude and has meant that the Muslim community has always been worried about ‘us’ rather than taking an all encompassing ‘we’. 

This assumption of singularity is the weapon of sectarian activists who want people to ignore all affiliation and loyalties in support of one specific identity.  This is deeply delusive, divisive and is one that leads to social tension and violence for there is a sense of injustice and intolerance that is created from potential misunderstandings and misperceptions.

As the blessed month of Ramadan teaches us, we share the burdens of others (especially those less fortunate than us) and we remember our responsibilities towards them.  Identifying with others in different ways is important in our role of living in society.   Thus we should remember that we are much more than a label, that our plurality and diversity are not divisive elements but are a cause for celebration but within that celebration is an understanding of common humanity and universal principles.  This is the call for unity of the Muslim community and society as a whole that is made during this blessed time. 

This call for unity is founded upon a universal humanitarian principle based on the following verse from the Holy Qur’an “…If anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind…” (Q5:32).    

Thus responsibility is placed upon the shoulder of the individual to take the lead in becoming a true citizen of the country and of the world, where he / she rise above their narrow confines of individualistic concerns to face the broader concerns of all humanity and to redress the contradiction of society enabling people and their communities to live in dignity, peace and independence with social justice.

This contradiction of society will be redressed when all citizens come together confident in their universal principles; strengthened by their common values; they will be defenders of pluralism in their society and respectful of identities of others; they will take up the challenge of joining forces in a revolution of trust and confidence against the tide of discrimination and intolerance and poverty.
Ramadan should inculcate this feeling that there is a need to create a society where there is a feeling of brotherhood and love of one’s neighbours.  The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said that ‘no one is a believer if you go to bed whilst your neighbour is hungry’.  Islamic scholars debate that feeding the hungry neighbour is equivalent to feeding the empty stomachs 40 doors to the right and left.

This is the Prophetic vision which demonstrates how we must work, together, with others, with our neighbours. So a world which makes sense, is a world in which we connect with other people, often beyond our immediate communities and experience, and show them compassion and love.  

The Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) said “You shall not enter Paradise until you have faith, and you cannot have faith until you love one another. Have compassion on those you can see, and He Whom you cannot see will have compassion on you”  Thus we learn  our purpose of existence to stand by justice and equity; to portray the humility and compassion of the Prophet (upon whom be peace) towards the downtrodden, the distressed and the oppressed regardless of who they are.

How can we make use of this month of Mercy? 

We can prepare for Ramadan by taking stock of ourselves and recognizing our shortcomings. Our acts of worship such as praying in congregation; remembering Allah (dhikr); paying attention to the rights of neighbors, relatives, and the Muslims; spreading the greeting of salam; enjoining good and forbidding evil; urging one another to follow the truth and be patient and steadfast in doing so all discipline us in this process.

Use Ramadan to reconcile disputes between families and friends as a sign of the remembrance of God. This Ramadan, strive to reinforce this remembrance of God and to remember our duties with the people, for to be with God is to be with the people.  This Ramadan inculcate our responsibility as creations of God to serve humanity.

This Ramadan re-learn the universal values of peace, compassion and justice as articulated by Islam, reinforced by Ramadan and binding in the brotherhood of humanity.  Develop a greater social policy that empowers people, recognizes their plurality and that searches for commonalities within this pluralism that will lead to greater respect and ultimately greater understanding.

May Allah accept our worship during His Holy Month, may He accept our prayers, supplications and sacrifices and save it for us on the final Day as deeds that will help us attain the most nobles of causes, the highest level of Paradise, Jannat-ul-Firdous.  Ameen

Ramadhan Mubarak!!!