Thursday, May 24, 2018

Taqwa...& Ramadaan

Have you ever wondered what the true purpose of Ramadaan is? Why do we really fast? What are we meant to gain from fasting?

Allah says in the Quraan: "O you who have believed, fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that you may attain Taqwa" [2:183].

But what is Taqwa?

Various translations of this aayah define Taqwa as: righteousness/piety, self restraint, fearing Allah and guarding oneself against evil.

If we think about this we do all of this in Ramadaan. We attain piety by increasing in ibaadat, making more dhikr, reading more Quraan etc. We restrain ourselves from eating even though the act of eating is halaal at other times of the year. Therefore we learn self restraint. We increase in ibaadat therefore we have a heightened awareness of Allah. People make a greater effort in Ramadaan, by wearing scarf, abstaining from watching TV and listening to music etc. thereby guarding ourselves against evil.

In this way we attain Taqwa, the true purpose of Ramadaan. So don't laugh and mock at those who practice more in Ramadaan. They actually have the right idea. The only thing is that we've got to carry these changes with us even after Ramadaan.

May Allah accept from us the efforts we make for His pleasure. Aameen

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