The Importance of Ramadan
“When you are a Muslim during the month of Ramadan, you are around other Muslims, and it brings us closer together. There is this pure, authentic feeling in the air that I can’t seem to express, one that brings us such joy.”
Assalamu Alaikum, my brothers and sisters. This is the beautiful Islamic way of greeting others when walking into a space. What does it mean? It means “peace be upon you.”
What is peace? Peace is the opposite of war; it means I won’t harm you, if anything happens we are in it together. When you are a Muslim during the month of Ramadan, you are around other Muslims, and it brings us closer together. There is this pure, authentic feeling in the air that I can’t seem to express, one that brings us such joy. Surrounding yourself with other Muslims and always speaking about Islam, helping each other become better and closer to your deen is the best feeling.
We pray together, fast together, break fast together, laugh and engage together. All the while, people that you may have not known before, you are now interacting and laughing with. All our problems feel washed away because no problem is ever that big when you are kneeling down in front of Allah. When the five daily prayers call, not only us, but Muslims from all over the world come together to pray, whether it’s at home with your family, the masjid, school, or work. When a prayer calls, you attend, because this is the only thing that’s going to help you in this Dunya. Sometimes there's judgemental people but when you have good friends and a community that will encourage you towards the deen, it makes it all better.
What is Ramadan?
People say “we are fasting,” but that’s only a part of it. It’s the month of peace, the month of tranquility, the month of cure, the month of mercy, the month of goodness, the month of comfort, the month of spirituality, the month of trust, the month of forgiveness,the month of inner growth, the month of discipline, the month of purification, the month of happiness, the month of giving, the month of humility, the month of attaining paradise, the month of the Quran, the month of revolution, the month of celebration. We practice self restraint; we don't just do what we want – we do what the almighty has ordained.
What is witnessed during this month?
Ramadan is the time to spread joy, and to give back to the people that are not as fortunate as you are. It is a time to fast and self reflect. It is the time to clear your head of hurt and pain and embrace forgiveness. We fast as a private act of worship to the almighty Allah as well as a form of spiritual discipline and a means to empathize with those who are less fortunate. This is able to give people the power to give back to those who cannot afford what we can. Reflection is a time to be more reserved and to yourself and to grow into a better version than the one before.
What is forbidden?
The Prophet Muhammed warned us, and he said whoever does not give up lying, bad deeds, speaking bad about others during the month of Ramadan – then Allah is not in need of their fasting. If you want to get the full reward and you want your fasting to be accepted, try your best to leave those sins during the month of Ramadan and do as many good deeds as you can.
Intimacy and sexual intercourse are not allowed, as they will break your fast. If you are intentionally bringing these thoughts in your mind and looking at things that you shouldn't, that will break your fast. As a Muslim you are taught to lower your gaze. Your gaze shouldn’t be so strong to the point you want to do something sexual with someone else; it should be an act of self control.
Intentionally drinking or eating while thinking nobody saw will also break your fast, because Allah knows your true intentions. Chewing gum, taking medication, vaping or smoking, or vomiting if it’s intentional will also lead to your fast being voided.
A woman during her menstrual cycle will break her fast because, during her menstrual cycle, she can not pray, and for a fast to be accepted all prayers should be done. When women lose blood, it can lead to fatigue, which is why it is forbidden for them to fast during that time period.
Some things that should be avoided are swearing, sleeping all day, not fasting because of school, work or exams, getting angry, and listening to haram music that can tempt one's desires and fasting without your five daily prayers.
Islam also clearly exempts fasting in Ramadan during sickness, pregnancy, or while traveling, as fasting would be a strain on them.
How does it feel to observe Ramadan as a Muslim?
Being a Muslim comes with a lot of different aspects and viewpoints of the religion. Here are what some of our fellow brothers and sisters had to say.
Maty, a senior, says observing is a way to help her get back on her deen and become a better Muslim. She also reflects on things she needs to work towards getting to heaven, and she will do that by connecting to spirit and the purpose of Ramadan.
Djenabou, a senior, says the month of Ramadan is the month of peace and forgiveness where she can sit and think about life and block out anything negative and non beneficial.
Humu, a senior, says observing Ramadan is a way for her to find peace and get closer with Allah to in the future find a better, peaceful path for herself.
Morlaye, a senior, says observing Ramadan is a month of reconciliation (a month to build yourself), cleansing yourself of whatever prior sins. It's a checkpoint in your life to prove yourself spiritually, mentally, and physically. It’s also a test in faith, devotion, and respect in yourself.
Fathima, a senior, says growing up she was close with her religion but somewhere along the lines she fell off based on a hard situation that occurred and from that point on it was hard to get back into. She thinks Ramadan is a joyful month, and that when it comes around she feels like this is another opportunity to give Islam another try and get closer to Allah.
Abdulahaqq, one of our freshmen, says when he is observing Ramadan he feels empty, like the missing feeling of food in his stomach. He takes this time to focus more on himself and not the temptations like what can be shown on apps like TikTok, so he removed those apps for the month. He’s also tapped into leading prayers and getting closer to Allah. He says this is the best time for purity because the devil is chained up, so there is no one whispering sins into his ears.
Omar Abdoulaye, one of our seniors that I can call one of our future Imam (inshallah), has been a big blessing. He has been able to lead us through our prayers in school during the month of Ramadan. He says when it comes to lead prayers during Ramadan, it's like a unique experience compared to other times of the year cause people haven't really seen side of me so it's a lot of pressure leading prayers in the school setting because after the Quran is recited, he is trying to be able to help people stay on their deen, more spiritually connected and created a special feeling of community as a Muslim so this also teaches us how to be together, have good memories, showing love and kindness aside from fasting, giving charity to the poor and also like being careful be grateful for whatever you having your life basically
How does it feel to participate alongside Muslims?
This year a group of people who respect and admire the Islamic religion decided to partake in aspects of Ramadan, such as fasting, alongside us Muslims as a kind of solidarity, and here were some of their takes on it.
MadysonLove, a senior, says it’s very nice but challenging. This is her first time doing it so she was trying to do it to her fullest extent. Participating with us pushed her to stop listening to music and self control. It also opened her eyes to her dropping habits like cursing and her temper of yelling and spazzing out quickly. Participating in Ramadan made her calmer and controlled her emotions better. To her it was easy to wake up in the morning to eat before the cut off time but then it became harder alongside the temptations of eating.
Tyshawn, a senior, says he was very excited because a lot of his friends are Muslim and he felt a part of a community. For him it was hard at first but then it got easier as the days passed. He learned to manage self control, and he grew the connections and bonds with people around him.
Coach Johnson says she commends us Muslims for participating in this month. She ended up trying to fast one day. She didn’t finish the effort, but she says it was worth it because she was doing it for us and it was something to keep her going. She says hours on hours without eating takes a lot of willpower and discipline. Her being able to learn about the religion more showed her that not only adults can lead but students can lead too. She didn’t even know too much about Ramadan until she was surrounded by a bunch of Muslims that were teaching her something new everyday. Watching us take on Ramadan really pushed her to think that one year she would be able to do the full 30 days.
This month not only shows how we are fasting, but how we are testing ourselves as people. How we treat others, how we show respect, and kindness towards others. How we lower our gaze and temptations. How to become a better version of ourselves. This is part of what’s witnessed within this month, and the takeaway of this is spiritual discipline of deep contemplation of one’s relationship with God, extra prayer, increased generosity, and intense study of Quran.