The beautiful month of Ramadan 1431 H is over. It is the month which full of privileges . Muslims all over the world have just performed one-month fasting as an annual obligation and ended with idul fitri. Those having performed the fast then have right to celebrate idul fitri which means ‘back to the pure condition of life as newly born babies’. It is believed that those having performed the fast truly due to Allah the Almighty have been freed from any sins since Allah has forgiven all their mistakes and any wrong deeds. It is the peak of happiness. No other happiness can be felt except when all sins have been forgiven by Allah, the Almighty. It is also the month when Allah distributes all His bless to human beings. It is the month when all muslims become so generous, patient, hosting the fast meals and drinks, donating food and money to those in need. Such situations are hardly seen in the months outside Ramadan.
No such months except Ramadan when people are so generous to each other and perform all divine obligations with high spirit and truth, hoping the bless of Allah. Those who have a privilege in wealth and property even pay ‘zakat’ and distributed to those in need as a tax to purify their wealth. The have and have-not all can enjoy the blessed Ramadan with joy and charity. No other months during the year has such beauty.
In some areas, muslims complete their joy with the so-called “halal bi halal’ where muslim brothers and sisters meet and each asks for apology for any mistakes already performed intentionally or unintentionally. It is indeed strange because in other occasions it is not easy for people to ask for apology even when they are wrong. Naturally people try to do any effort to defense themselves from being considered to have done something guilty. It becomes a tradition and people do not feel their fasting activities complete unless they hold and attend this cultural tradition with varieties of meals and drinks are provided.
Ramadan is the golden opportunity for those who believe that Allah rewards with merits of tens times of any single goodness compared to the one performed in any other months of the year. Why is Ramadan very special ? Because it is the month when the holy qur’an is first introduced to the Prophet Muhammad SAW, through which muslims use as a guidance for their lives. Besides, fasting is considered as a hard obligation since muslims are not only forbidden to have meals and drink during in the daytime, but also supposed to be good hearted, generous, helping those in need. Avoiding meals and drinks is not easy, but being good hearted is a big question whether all muslims can perform it.
Therefore, the Prophet once stated through a hadits that “many muslims have performed fasting during Ramadan month. But they do not get anything, except hunger and thirst only, because they fail to control their behavior from any unuseful things”. So it is understandable that Allah rewards with merits of that much because fasting is indeed not a simple obligation. It is, therefore, the call to perform fasting is only for those who have been true believers of Islam. Fasting is not provided for anybody, but only for those who have deep and true belief of Islamic teachings.
All muslims are now returning to their routine and daily activities. The questions is “Does the fasting in one full Ramadan month reflect their behavior and are all good deeds such as generosity, patience, well-controlled behavior and the like also over? ” It seems there is a misconception of understanding the values behind the Ramadan. Many think that only during the Ramadan month all goodness is deposited, so that after Ramadan no goodness is left. It is , of course, a serious misconception. Ramadan is the moment when muslims are trained and taught to be good and well behaved human beings not only during Ramadan, but also in the rest of the year. Put in a simple sentence “Ramadan is the month that shines the rest of the year. So, Ramadan is not a separated month which stands alone out of the rest of the year. It is within the circulation of other months.
Successful muslims having performed the fast are those who are committed to control themselves to obey all religious regulations after Ramadan both stated in the holly Qur’an and hadits. Truly good muslims can be seen from their everyday relationship with Allah and other human beings. Only those who are having relationship with Allah and other human creatures will they be successful in their lives today and hereafter. When people are close to Allah, Allah will be much closer to them or the other way around. On the other sides, what is the use of having much wealth, knowledge, power, and other privileges if one has no good relationship with others. Fasting in the month of Ramadan teaches muslims such behavior.
The charity, generosity, patience and other goodness performed during Ramadan should not be over as Ramadan ends. All must continue either for the benefit of himself or herself or all human kinds. Ramadan must give values not only to muslims but also to all other human beings as Islam is the religion of bless to all creatures. In essence Ramadan is the beginning of life, that is the beginning to have and conduct better and more meaningful life, for himself and others as well.
Realizing the full privileges provided by Allah in this very special month, it is not wrong if all muslims are longing to return to having the blessed Ramadan. As mentioned in the hadits, that if men are conscious the privileges provided by Allah in the month of Ramadan, they will surely ask Allah to make the whole year as Ramadan. So, wishing to meet Ramadan every year is reasonable. However, nobody knows whether he still has a longer life to meet the next Ramadan as life and death are absolutely on the hand and right of Allah. However, we are assigned to pray “ May Allah give us a longer life, so that we could meet the next Ramadan with better performance”.
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Malang, 1 October 2010
