RAMADAN: THE MONTH OF OPPORTUNITY

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Ramadan is a month for Muslims to gain and seek for more rewards to bring us to the best ending of our lives, which is Jannah. Some might not realise how important Ramadan is as a way to enrich our deen and increase our iman towards the only One. We all know that Ramadan is a fasting month, but if we look deeper into it, fasting itself has a purpose. Yasmin Mogahed, in her book Reclaim Your Heart, has mentioned that fasting is all about detachment. It is the detachment from food, drink, sexual intimacy and also vain speech. By restraining our physical self, we ennoble, purify and exalt our spiritual self. Through fasting, we are forced to detach ourselves from physical needs, desires, and pleasures.

        

Every Ramadan is supposed to be a new Ramadan for us to improve ourselves both physically and spiritually. We must set goals of what we want to improve this Ramadan and make that as a drive to do more deeds such as charity, doing the sunnah prayers and read more of the Quran. It is such a waste for those who might not know or not aware of the magnificent rewards waiting for us in the month of Ramadan. We should see Ramadan as a step towards Jannah for Allah SWT has told us that, “Verily, in the creation of heavens and the earth are the signs for those who reflect” (Quran, 3:190).

          

All Muslims need to take Ramadan as a chance to come back to where we came from and forget the dunya for a while. We are all drowning in this worldly life, and we tend to forget that there is a better life in the hereafter, that is Paradise. Enough with the dunya and all of us shall come back to the purpose of our creation as an abid and khalifah, especially in this holy month of Ramadan. We should take this chance to prepare for the life in the hereafter which none of us know what will our ending be like. “What is life of this world but amusement and play? But verily the Home in the Hereafter, that is life indeed, if they knew” (Quran, 29:64).

Ramadhan could also be the turning point of our lives as we can choose to be a better Muslim during this month. Some may start to “change” as what we call hijrah towards becoming better. Indeed, Ramadan is a month of opportunity to improve ourselves as a Muslim and becoming a better person.

Now that Ramadan is approaching its end, we should push ourselves to make the best out of the remaining days, by enhancing our ibadah performance as well as making sincere prayers to Allah. We surely do not want to end up regretting the fact that we are not making full use of this golden opportunity while we are still on it. Let’s invest out time and effort in ourselves and the hereafter, for the reward promised by Allah is beyond imagination. May all of us be under His blessings, and may Allah accept our good deeds and intentions.

Written by: 
Nurul Izzati Abdul Rahman