Spirit of Ramadan pdf download

Spirit of Ramadan

SPIRIT OF RAMADAN

From the book

What is Zakat al-Fitr?

According to a Hadith reported by Ibn ‘Abbas: The Prophet made Zakat al-Fitr obligatory for the fasting person to keep him from idle talk and indecent conversation and to provide food for the needy.

Discharging the duty before the prayer is an accepted Zakat while discharging it after the prayer is just sadaqah (voluntary charity). (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith No. 1609)

Zakat al-Fitr is given before the special Eid prayer. Zakat al-Fitr perfects the fast of Ramadan and purifies the fast of any indecent act or speech.

 It is obligatory on all Muslims: young, old, male and female.

Every Muslim who possesses over and above what is needed as basic food for the duration of one day and night must pay Zakat al-Fitr for himself and his dependants and distribute it amongst the poor and needy.

The earlier it is given the easier it is for them to make arrangements, so that they may also take part in the celebrations of Eid without any difficulties.

Does Eid help in strengthening the social bonds among people?

The occasion of this festival provides, above all, a valuable opportunity to extend the hand of friendship to people from other communities and remove misunderstandings often prevalent in society.

Muslims should forge friendship with their neighbours, friends and colleagues to foster harmony and the spirit of sharing.

Eid provides a God-given opportunity for social interaction and dawah between different communities. By sharing our happiness with them we can go a long way in easing the tension existing between Muslims and non-Muslims.

 The establishment of cordial relations among different communities will definitely result in prosperity of the community and the nation at large.

In the book, Spirit of Ramadan, the author Maulana Wahiduddin Khan explains that fasting in the month of Ramadan is a living creative process.

 Fasting aims to make man’s life a roza-oriented life. The purpose of fasting is to make one cautious in life (2:183) and to make one thankful to God (2:185).

The spirit of Ramadan is abstinence, to put a curb on one’s desires.

During the month of Ramadan one abstains from one’s desires like thirst and hunger as per compulsion, to learn to put a curb on other desires as per our intention. A person trained in this way starts leading a disciplined life by one’s own decision.

Symbolically speaking, the position of fasting is akin to applying brakes to the engine in one’s life. Brakes keep the engine of a vehicle in control. Without brakes in the engine, the vehicle will not work properly.

 The same is the case of fasting in the life of a believer. The fasting of that person is real fasting for whom fasting becomes akin to applying brakes as far as forbidden things are concerned in the eyes of God.

Man should accord the place of brakes to fasting in his life so that he may travel successfully on the path of God.