Ramadan is the holiest festival of the Muslim Umah. It is a month dedicated to spiritual rejuvenation through fasting. Ibrahim Mohammed explores the many ways Ramadan benefits Muslims all over the world
The yearly observance of Ramadan as one of the Five Pillars of Islam has been adjudged by scholars to be of spiritual, health and other benefits. The numerous benefits of inherent the worldwide event transcend reward for those engaged in fasting during the month of Ramadan.
For adult Muslims observing this obligatory religious duty, it is time for self-accountability as well as engaging in acts of charity. The Thawab (rewards) for fasting are numerous but in this holy month they are believed to be multiplied.
Sometime last year, American scientists observed that fasting for regular periods could help protect the brain against degenerative illness. Also, researchers at the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore, USA, found evidence that a severe reduction of calorie intake for one or two days a week could protect the brain from the most detrimental effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
In a world where excessive in-take of food has become a regular middle-class pastime, thus resulting in associated health condition such as obesity, the period of Ramadan offers an opportunity to shed some weight, according to medical experts. Although, hours of abstinence from food may not be a magic pill for overweight persons, it is a way of restating our collective sense of self-restrain.
However, the worldwide occasion offers world leaders an opportunity to call for peace and unity, especially at this point in which the level of instability in some part of the world has attained mind bugging proportion.
In Nigeria, members of the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, with regards to Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, according to the chairman, Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, who also doubles as Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, ‘‘… now they have agreed in principle that they have declared a ceasefire which we commended as it will bring a way forward to solving the problem.”
For Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, a man whose state has become a theatre of death, the time to sue for peace could not have come at a better time, as he enjoined Muslim faithful to use the season to offer prayers for peace, unity and a quick resolution of security problems facing Nigerians.
His Niger State counterpart, Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu in a Ramadan message called on Muslims in the country to leverage on the holy month to pray against the insecurity in the country.
“Muslim scholars should instead educate their audience of what is expected of Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan to earn Allah’s blessings”, Dr. Aliyu said.
The month is regarded as the most venerated and blessed month of the Islamic calendar. It stands out as the month in which the Qur’an was revealed (Laylat al-Qadr or Night of Majesty), when Allah gave him the teachings of the Qur’an and set him on his path to becoming a prophet and the founder of the Islamic faith.
Interestingly all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence believe that the Night of Majesty or Night of Power happened in the month of Ramadan, although scholars opined that there is some disagreement as to the specific date.
Observance of Ramadan fast is obligatory for adult Muslims, except in the circumstance of illness, the elderly, travellers, breast feeding mothers, pregnant or women under their menstrual period.
An activity for Muslims during Ramadan includes increased offering of Salat (prayers) and recitation of the holy Qur’an. After 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr on the first day of the new month of Shawwal.
The celebration of Eid al-Fitr, above all fortifies the Muslims’ faith in God. It starts with the Eid Prayer often observed in open air congregational prayers of Eid Al-Fitr.
Scholars urge that the feast should not be seen as a time of showing off of opulence before one’s neighbours or associates. Furthermore, the event is not about arrogance and selfishness. A true Muslim is supposed to maintain good virtue after Ramadan; this will no doubt lay the foundation for positive traits such as empathy, altruism and love.