The objective of Fasting is to achieve ’Taqwa’
By: Mudasir Ahmad
Allah says in the holy Quran- ‘Oh, my slaves- come back to me; I am your ‘lord’. Don’t turn away from me as you have no other way to get succeeded in your life. Do worship and achieve Taqwa (God consciousness) that I want from you’. ‘Taqwa’ cleans you internally when you come out from the ignorance by abandoning foul practices and adopting a just and kind life. Islam frequently insists us in the holy Quran to resist ill practices that harm our Emaan (faith). These become the hindrances that stop us from seeking the divine path to enlighten our inner soul.
The month of Ramadan conveys the same message for the entire Muslim Umma and guides us to achieve Taqwa by discovering the righteous path. The blessed month of Ramadan can truly change us when we worship and perform good deeds just for the sake of Allah. Indeed our heart is tainted by foul deeds and the scar constantly grows to further darken our souls and numb our hearts.
Evil deeds turn our hearts into stones; worthless, insignificant objects that permit no light inside and keep them dark. This is the month to cleanse our hearts and minds and prepare ourselves to receive the great mercy of Allah that has been promised especially during this month and gain back the spiritual shine by washing away the sins.
In order to refresh our devotion to almighty and our belief in the creator, we must forsake all such ill practices and seek our shelter in the mercy of Almighty and what better time than Ramadan for which Allah promises us great rewards of forgiveness. Even if we have committed infinite sins, Allah promises us that no sins are bigger that his mercy. So, his mercy and forgiveness cannot be measured by any measuring scale as it is limitless. Allah has kept the doors of repentance open especially during this blessed month and one must not lose the opportunity.
Fasting in the holy month of Ramadan is a way to get very close to Allah. There is a verse in Surat al-Baqarah in relation to this month of fasting wherein Allah addresses to us: ‘O you believers, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you that you may become righteous’. We perform this practice physically in which we forsake all those things which could break our fast and by doing so we are obviously enlightening our spirits and our souls. Allah merely wants Taqwa from us and the month of Ramadan in itself is a reward for Muslims in which we shun all those activities which keep on darkening our heart and absenting the soul from the remembering of Allah.
The writer is a science student.
