Ramadan is a month of contemplation and reflection. The Quran is specially recited during this month so that believers may reflect upon it, understand its deeper meaning and make it a guiding force in their lives. At night the Quran is also recited during the tarawih prayers.
The practice of fasting aims at saving a person from distractions. It produces sincerity in him. It draws a person’s attention away from the external world and into the internal world. Hence fasting prepares him for the study of the Quran. And when a person studies the Quran with a well-prepared mind, he can understand the teachings of the Quran in greater depth.
The equivalent of spirituality in the Quran is rabbaniyah, that is, a God oriented life or Quranic spirituality. Spirituality (rabbaniyah), according to the Quran, is that mental state in which God-oriented thinking can develop in the individual.
Such God-oriented thinking reflects in his overall personality; his behaviour with others becomes Godoriented and his daily life becomes infused with divine hues. Thus Ramadan provides a framework within which devotees may improve themselves. Ramadan thus becomes a month of spiritual activism.
The fasting person repeatedly reads in the Quran that God is the Sustainer, that is, while man is the taker, God is the Giver. Everything that a person receives in this world, right from his existence and the oxygen he inhales to stay alive to the sunlight necessary for his survival, everything is God’s gift. Thinking this way, he experiences a tremendous change within. He begins living in society as a giver-member.
By seriously studying and contemplating on the Quran, one discovers its deeper meaning and those principles by which one may develop one’s personality and become a positive thinker in the full sense. Then one is able to live a God-oriented life.
