Ramzan is the day of fraternal get together. It is the festival of love and sharing. It is the feast of embrace. It is the day of tasting heaven on this earth!
Sometime back I attended in the service conducted on a Ramzan day in a South Indian mosque. On that auspicious day of Id- ul- Fitr, all the faithful of that area gathered in the mosque to thank Allah. All voiced rose in unison:
Allah (God) is the greatest
No one is worthy of worship except Allah
All praise is for Allah alone
After the praise and worship all embraced one another and exchanged greetings. I extended them the affectionate greetings of the Christian friends in my area. They requested me take part in the delicious Kurbani (Holy dinner of sacrifice) that followed the greetings.
The Festival of Joyful Embrace
Moslems all over the world celebrate Id- ul- Fitr, the festival of Ramzan, with great joy. This is also termed as Mithi Id, the festival of embrace. According to Islamic tradition there are only two noteworthy feasts: they are Id-ul- Fitr and Bakrit. The former is celebrated at the end of the fast of Ramzan(Ramadan), and the latter is in commemoration of Abraham's obedience and readiness to sacrifice his son as per Allah's command. Ramzan is the festival of continuous thanks giving to Allah's divine providence.
A Month-Long Preparation
Id-ul-Fitr is preceded by the month long fast of Ramadan, which is of course rigorous, demanding great sacrifice of not eating or drinking from dawn to dark. The purpose of this austere practice is to acquire purity of body and peace of soul. Apart from this one needs to fast to acquire a sort of integrity in life. This exercise of theological and moral practice is to make the faithful experience immense joy in the depth of soul.
Fasting to Foster Up Love
Fasting bring all closer to God and other humans and also it carries with it a number of benefits. Some of them are: the expiation of sins, the breaking of ones desire and lusts, the increase of charitable deeds, the multiplication of actions of obedience to Allah, giving thanks to the one who knows the hidden matters, and preventing oneself from even contemplating the committing of sin.
Swami Chidananda, commenting on the fasting during Ramadan, says, “When one is fasting and feels hunger and thirst he has to remember other people in the world who do not have food and water. Charity is one of the extremely recommended acts during fasting.”
Muslims are required to give minimum of 2.5% of their annual savings as charity to poor and needy people. Also there are various sayings of the Prophet where he has said that any charity made in Ramadan is multiplied up to 70 times. If some people are poor and cannot afford to give money then even a smile is an act of charity.
Ramadan as a Time of Establishing the Spirit of Brotherhood
Ramzan and Id-ul-Fitr are to establish family spirit and brotherhood, which is the true proof of devotion to Allah. This is to lead to universal brotherhood which is the lofty idea of Islam. Being seekers, all of us belong to a universal brotherhood which is gathered under the common flag of the unity of all faiths.
Let Us All Embrace One Another
While celebrating this festival of brotherhood, let us also become children of one universal family. On this extremely auspicious day of the first of the Ramzan month, let us earnestly pray to Allah or the God we worship to bring us all into one family of love without any feeling of hatred.
Into One Family and Fraternity
On this day of Id-ul-Fitr or the festival of Ramzan , as it is generally called, we are called to a life enlightened with love casting away the darkness of hatred. Thus may we with great faith and with sustained exertion proceed upon the path of Love and may we be blessed with spiritual illumination, the culmination of all worships.
