Ramadan Muburak to all Muslims!!!

On Sunday, Muslims in the country began the Ramadan and are supposed to follow the fast for 30 days at the end of which they will mark the Eid-ul-Fitr.

Ramadan in simple terms is a month of prayer and fasting, otherwise known as sawm, is the fourth of the five pillars of Islam.

The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam and they are Profession of Faith (shahada) that “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God” and this is central to Islam; Prayer (salat); Alms (zakat); Fasting (sawm)’ and Pilgrimage (hajj).

Each of these can be discussed by the clerics in an endless manner but the focus of this piece is Ramadan.

To start with, the Ghanaian Times is happy to have once again the opportunity to wish Muslims “Ramadan Mubarak!” and encourage them to be guided by all that the Holy Quran and Hadiths expects them to do in this holy month of 30 days of fasting.

All capable Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk for 30 days.

 The paper says capable because it knows that children who have not reached puberty, the elderly, those who are physically or mentally incapable of fasting, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and travelers are exempt.

It must be noted that in spite of its spiritual focus, fasting also has health benefits as well as side effects for some people, hence the exemption for some categories of adherents.

For its spiritual focus, Ramadan is supposed to remind Muslims of or strengthen their belief in Allah and the kind of life He expects of them.

Thus, fasting is a form of religious obligation for overcoming lust and negative desires to boost closeness to Allah.

The Ghanaian Times, therefore, wishes to encourage all Muslims, including even those exempted from the 30-day fasting and particular those fasting for the first time, that they should bear in mind that the demands of Ramadan are daily obligations on all Muslims.

Ramadan is just a moment of reminder and that reminder should principally go to young and new adherents; the mature ones should regard the presence of Allah in their lives on daily basis.

We live in a country where majority of the people claim to worship God as Muslims and Christians yet all manner of misbehaviour and crimes, including dishonesty, fraud and corruption, are commonplace.

It is the hope of the Ghanaian Times the month of Ramadan would cause a change in all Muslims to lead lives that have no place for anything spoken against by the Quran, Hadith and for that matter Allah.

May all Muslims have both the spiritual and the physical strength to go through and come of their fast stronger in health and in spirit?

Happy Ramadan! Ramadan Muburak!