Lessons from Ramadan

As a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, we are told to place much emphasis on learning to do more for the needy and disadvantaged, whether it be through giving or providing assistance. As a community we are focused on humanitarian outreach and community development, and Ramadan only gives us a chance to double up on these qualities.

Of the lessons learned during the month of Ramadan, or the everyday aspects of our own lives that we become more acutely aware of, one of the most important is patience- the patience to put our needs second, to make more of an effort to help people during this month as well as after Ramadan. Ideally spending most of our time during these 30 days in the remembrance of God and patiently letting the worldly matters take a backseat for a bit, and most importantly the patience to acknowledge, hold back, and eventually get rid of those aspects of our characters that need reform. We work on our spiritual cleansing by bringing into focus and improving those aspects of our personality which may need further development. We work on gaining greater control of our eyes, our ears, and our tongues.

We hope to strengthen our bond with God, by asking for forgiveness at a time when we believe we are most likely to be granted forgiveness.
The goal is to focus less on our self-gratification, our own needs, on blindly chasing after our worldly wealth at the expense of the spiritual health of ourselves and our families. We take advantage of the opportunities and resources at our disposal to espouse the teaching of Islam and to serve mankind.

Ramadan is one of the most effective ways to be reminded about and literally feel the suffering of those who do without or not enough, who do not have the advantages of living with the basic comforts which we take for granted.

And the most obvious lesson of all is to remember and honor the revelation of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him). We spend more time delving into the Quran, to learn the history of those who have contributed to the dissemination and development of God’s guidance and law for mankind up until the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him).