Ramadan’s drawing ever closer, and for Muslims around the globe, this marks the start of the month of fasting and one of the most important spiritual times of the year for Muslims. It is the month when the devils are chained up, the month in which the Qur’an (the holy book of Islam) was revealed, and it is the month which contains a night better than 1000 months.

 

Muslims fast, which means they do not consume drink nor do they consume food, in order to gain taqwa (God-consciousness). However, it’s not simply this avoidance of food that is done during Ramadan, but it is a time where it is encouraged even more to avoid sins and to do more good deeds - some even being as little as smiling more than usual, praying more than just the obligatory prayers or even giving to charity. Indeed, during fasting, Muslims are encouraged, if someone abuses or fights them, to say, “I am fasting, I am fasting” and to control themselves from lashing out in kind, due to fear that their fast may not be accepted by their Lord.

 

Ramadan is a time that is looked forward to by many Muslims around the world. It develops one spiritually and mentally, and brings one closer to God. It is a time where many Muslims make goals to stop sinning a certain sin, to increase their memorisation of the Qur’an, or to do more of a good deed consistently, and to take this change of character, which was achieved within Ramadan, to the rest of one’s life. Muslims strive to, after every year where Ramadan has been passed, to be purified spiritually in some way and to work to keep improving each year and to keep getting closer to their Lord, and so go to Heaven and avoid Hell.

 

As one student from Wilson’s School, Muhammad Abdul-Gafoor, aptly said “It’s an opportunity to connect with your Lord and become a better person.”

 

This is what Ramadan means to Muslims.