What is Ramadan and why is it celebrated?
More than a billion of Muslims acknowledge Ramadan as more than a month. It is an occasion of spiritual change, communal attachment and divine closeness for them. Some people think that it’s just a month of fasting, but it's full of frequent worship, self-discipline and heartfelt charity. During this month, Muslims do different good deeds like reciting the Quran and giving the charity to the poor to get closer to Allah. So, in this case, many Muslims go to Mecca for Umrah in Ramadan to earn more rewards from the God because doing Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj in (reward).
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic Hijri calendar. In this month, the first verses of the Holy Quran were sent to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The word “Ramadan” has been derived from the Arabic word “Al-Ramad”, which means extreme heat or dryness. It has two purposes: the first one is divine closeness by worshipping him and disciplining yourself and the second one is to be kind to the poor and deserving people by helping them. Muslims fast in this month from the start of Fajr to sunset.
Celebration
Unlike other months, Ramadan is celebrated with joy and courage. Every Muslim tries his best to obtain the sake of Allah through worship, fasting, discipline and helping the deserving people. The cause of such a celebration is to be happy in the sake of Allah by doing what He ordered us to do. Allah closes the doors of Hell-fire, ties the devils with chains and forgives the sinners in this month.
Here is the explanation of the celebrations during Ramadan:
Sawm
Sawm means fasting. Fasting in Islam includes avoiding food, drink, smoking, sexual activities and sex provoking acts from the break of dawn to sunset. The quality of Sawm can be improved by avoiding other sins like lies, stealing, harassment, gossiping, abusing, etc. The importance of fasting is beautifully captured in the Quran:
"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous" (2:183).
The purpose of fasting is explained in the following lines:
Pillar of Islam: It’s a pillar of Islam and a Muslim must has to fast if he can.
Kind Feelings for the deserving: As per Allah’s order, it is necessary to give the poor and deserving their right from your money. When we practice hunger and thirst, we can feel what they feel during their poverty, hunger and thirst. Then we must help them instead of ignoring them.
Spiritual Purification: Practising a sin-free duration during the fast, we can easily do it after Ramadan and get more chances to Paradise. This practice can make a man pure-hearted and kind too. Most of all, he will be liked by his Creator, Allah.
I’tikaf
I’tiikaf is a typical isolation in which men bind themselves in a mosque while women stay in their houses, just for the worship and the sake of Allah Almighty. During I’tikaf, they often avoid being engaged in regular social and personal activities and meeting people. Muslims engage in different types of worship more often than in their regular life. I’ttikaf can either be performed during the whole Ramadan or the last 9 or 10 days of Ramadan, starting from the lunar date 21st of Ramadan to the end of the month.
Lailat Ul Qadr
Lailat Ul Qadr means the Night of Decree. It is hidden in the odds of the last ten nights of Ramadan. This night is better than thousands of months according to the Quran, which means if a man does worship in these odd nights, he will definitely get more the he performed, equaling the rewards of worship of thousands of months. So, Muslims try their best to be woken and find this night to worship Allah.
Charity
Rich and middle-class people help poor and deserving people with money or goods of regular use. They help them through Sadaqa (voluntary charity) or Zakat.
Zakat: Zakat is a necessary annual donation applied to the owner of the reserves of 87.48 grams of gold or 612.36 grams of Silver, or any other equivalent asset. Zakat is the fourth pillar of Islam. Zakat is not necessarily to be paid in Ramadan, but it's important to pay Zakat when your reserve reaches the mentioned amount and completes the duration of a single lunar year.
Zakat al Fitr: Zakat al Fitr is an important obligation to pay for every Muslim till the day of Eid ul Fitr.
Other types of Worship
Salah, recitation of the Quran and avoiding small and big sins are other types of regular and necessary worship, but Muslims perform these acts of worship in Ramadan more than they do during other months. It’s because they expect extra rewards in return from The Creator.
Umrah in Ramadan
Umrah in Ramadan has significant value. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Perform Umrah in the month of Ramadan, it's equivalent to Hajj in reward”. So Muslims try their best to set their plans for Umrah in Ramadan. A large number of Muslims in Masjid Al-Haram or Masjid Al Nabawi indicates unity among them. When Muslims spend their last ten days in the Grand Mosque or the Prophet’s Mosque, they can perform I’tikaf in these mosques and they also have the opportunity to spend their Eid joys in Haramain Shareefain.
Eid ul Fitr
Eid ul Fitr comes once a year on the 1st of Shawwal ul Mukarram, right after Ramadan. People celebrate this day with excitement and joy. Muslims also pay Zakat al Fitr so poor and deserving people may also celebrate the joys of this beautiful occasion. People wear new apparel and go to parks and other public places on this day. So this day is remarkable for people to celebrate after celebrating the joys of Ramadan.
Conclusion
Ramadan is not just a month of joys, intense worship, Suhoor and Iftar but also a hope for people to be stayed away from sins and get more chances from Allah to be forgiven. If they perform additional worship like Sadaqa and Umrah, they may get extra rewards. Ramadan is a message of unity and faith. Eid after Ramadan is one of the rewards for the people who fast for the sake of Allah.
FAQs
Q1. Who can skip fasting?
Ans. Fasting is “farz” (obligatory) for every Muslim, but if someone has serious health issues, if someone is having menses or if someone is travelling more than 92 kilometres, he/she may skip the Sawm (fasting).
Q2. What invalidates a fast?
Ans. If someone intentionally eats, drinks, smokes, gets involved in any sexual activity or masturbates, this will immediately invalidate his fast and requires Kaffarah for this invalidation. But if someone do these act unintentionally and stops immediately when his fast comes into his mind, his fast doesn’t get invalidate and no Kaffarah is applied on him.
Q3. What is the Kaffarah of invalidating a fast?
Ans. There are three ways to pay Kaffarah:
- Freeing a believing slave.
- Fast for 60 consecutive days. If a single day is missed, the Kaffarah will be restarted from the beginning.
Feeding 60 persons (each person must get an average amount of a regular required meal to feed a single person.