Ramadan is the 9th Month of the Muslim calendar. It is the month in which the Holy Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Ramadan is the holiest month in Islam and it is a month of fasting, prayer, and reflection. Most Muslims spend the daylight hours fasting during the holy month of Ramadan from dawn to sunset. At the end of Ramadan the first day of the next month is spent in a 3 day celebration and is observed as the "Festival of Breaking Fast" (Eid ul-Fitr).

Ramadan is a time not only for fasting but also for a month long struggle towards a higher spiritual state for Muslims. It is a time for focus on purifying our souls through prayer and self-sacrifice. By observing the month long fast Muslims are observing one of the 5 Pillars of Faith, that is, Fasting. Traditionally, Muslims age 12 and older observe the fast. The Arabic term for "fasting" literally means "to retrain." And this, in fact, is what is prescribed for the Faithful, that they not simply not eat and drink but that they retrain every part of their physical body. For instance, the mouth should be retrained to NOT engage in idle gossip while one's ears should be retrained NOT to listen to obscenities. Ideally, a Muslim should engage his or her entire body in the physical observance of Ramadan by retraining it and making every effort possible to become whole and more holy and faithful to Allah.

The Holy Month of Ramadan is also a time for re-evaluating your own convictions and deeds. Thus it is a time of personal reflection. It is a time to make amends in troubled relationships, to give to charity, to find within yourself forgiveness for others, and it is a time to refocus on truly beginning to worship God (Allah).

To honor the revelation of the Qur'an to the blessed Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) each night 1/13 of the Qur'an is read during Ramadan and during evening prayers so that by the end of the Holy Month the entire Qur'an has been recited by the faithful.

 During the Holy Month, Muslims are to rise before dawn and eat a pre-fast meal known as a "Suhoor." Each night after sunset they break the fast by partaking of a post-fast meal known as the "Iftar." At the end of Ramadan there is a 3 day feast known as the Eid al-Fitr (Breaking of the Fast) during which families celebrate with elaborate feasts dressed in their finest clothes. They also increase their efforts to give to charity and to the poor and make contributions to their mosque.

Ramadan is important and one of the reasons it is important is because it is a time for increasing our devotion to Allah (God) and for personal reflection. It is a time in which Muslims strive to become better Muslims and increase their Faith in Allah (God). It is a time for reciting of the Holy Qur'an and for reflection and contemplating upon it so that we might become stronger in our Faith and submit ourselves even more to Allah (God). It is a time for forgiveness and the world we live in right now is badly in need of such forgiveness. Our personal and collective grudges have done nothing to improve the world or the state of our lives. Only forgiveness can do that. All of our little arguements over the past year have done nothing to build peace in the world or in our daily lives. Only forgiveness can do that.

God (Allah) is compassionate, forgiving, and merciful and He calls upon the Faithful to be forgiving of each other, to show compassion to one another, and to be merciful upon each other. Ramadan is a time for taking up this challenge and applying it to every moment of our daily lives not only in our families but in our communities, nations, and the whole world.

It is my hope that with this coming Ramadan that Muslims all around the world will begin to set a new example and knock down the gross stereotypes of Muslims and Islam that the world holds at present. There is no better teacher than by one's own personal and daily example and what better way to teach the world Islam? What better way to help bring the world of humanity to a place of glorifying Allah instead of continuing all the humanism and false glorification of man? Muslims have the opportunity to be shining living examples of wisdom, forgiveness, sanity, and compassion and what better time than Ramadan to start showing the world that their stereotypes are wrong? What better way to teach the world that submission to Allah is the only way the human race is going to survive and become something greater and more?

Let we who stand amid the truly Faithful become examples of wisdom, of compassion, of forgiveness, and of mercy! Let each of us this Ramadan make the conscious choice to be MORE than we are right now! Let us make the choice to be lights and living examples to the world around us so that people will look upon Muslims with respect but NOT for our own glory, rather for the glory of Allah!

Sa'laam