Ramadan and the Relationship With Allah

Ramadan is the blessed month that comes into our lives every year like a spiritual spring. The vibrancy of this month, the arrangement of worship, the liveliness of mosques, and the special feeling that arises in hearts all testify to the fact that Ramadan is not merely a collection of days; rather, it is a great opportunity—an opportunity to understand anew, strengthen, and bring positive change into our lives by renewing our relationship with our Lord.

As human beings, when we open the eye of awareness, the first thing we reflect upon is our own existence and the universe around us. Any person who reflects on this existential reality in the light of a sound nature (fitrat-e-salima), without external bias, clearly realizes that I am a creation, and my existence and the universe around me testify to that. The natural result of this reflection is that we ourselves are created beings, and this entire universe is also the creation of some Creator. This reality becomes clear in the light of both reason and knowledge: we have been created; we did not come into existence on our own. From here, an unavoidable question arises: if we are created, then who is our Creator?

In this journey of searching for the Creator, a person becomes perplexed. When he looks around, he finds different answers: some people declare the universe itself to be the creator of this creation; some, after wandering in this quest, regard the satisfaction of their spiritual journey and inner experience as the answer; and some become bearers of a tradition that comes into existence as a result of a divine call and introduces us to the existence of God. That is, some accept the universe itself as the creator, some consider their inner experiences and spiritual states as the answer, and some encounter a tradition that presents a clear, coherent, and rational introduction to God. This third source is, in fact, the source of the Prophets, peace be upon them. These are the chosen people who claim that God has selected us; we have come with guidance for humanity from the Creator of the universe; we want to convey His message to you; and the questions of your nature, the plausible results of existential realities, we convey to you directly from the Creator.

It is this very message of the Prophets, peace be upon them, that introduces us to the true understanding of God. When we accept this message with faith and certainty, it necessarily gives rise to certain essential relationships, bonds, and demands between the Creator and the creation. If one reflects, the relationships and demands that arise between a conscious servant and the Creator, by virtue of being a creation, are of only three types:

1. Worship

2. Obedience

3. Vow (sacrifice)

The first relationship is that of worship. When we accept someone as our Creator, its necessary demand is that we worship Him alone, bow before Him alone, and express our servitude solely for Him. This is to affirm that on the face of the earth we do not establish this kind of relationship with any being other than Him. From here emerges the entire concept of acts of worship. Prayer is a symbol of this worship. A believing servant, a slave, expresses his relationship with his Lord, his Master. Standing, bowing, and prostration are symbolic expressions of the fact that there is no being on earth worthy of worship except Allah. He has no equal, no partner, no associate in creation or in the management of affairs. He is alone, unique, incomparable, singular. Thus, this is the first relationship that arises between a believing servant and his Creator, between a servant and his Lord: the worship of the Creator.

The second relationship is that of obedience. If He is the Creator, then obviously He is the Living and Self-Subsisting Creator. He has intentions, wishes, commands, guidance, limits, and restrictions according to which He wants His servants to live. The Creator of the universe says: I have sent you into the world for a test; the result of this test and reward and punishment will also be determined. For success in this reward and punishment, there are certain demands of His Shariah upon me; those demands are His commands and prohibitions. Now, if I am a servant, then a necessary demand of faith in my Lord is that I obey Him—meaning that I submit to His commands and accept His authority and decisive position in my life. The light present in my nature, the spark of vice and piety, if He has shaped its details into Shariah through the Messenger and the Quran and Sunnah, then obedience to it is obligatory upon me. The commands, guidance, and limits given by Him are the criteria for us. Thus, for a believing servant, a necessary demand of faith is that he submit before the commands of Allah.

The third relationship is that of vow and sacrifice. When something from one’s existence is offered as a vow or sacrifice, it can only be for that One Being alone, not for anyone else. When something is vowed purely for God, sacrifice comes into existence; from the spirit of obedience comes fasting; and similarly, from the spirit of worship comes prayer. Thus, when a person offers something purely for Allah, it is an expression that he is ready to sacrifice even his life, wealth, and desires for the pleasure of Allah. Sacrifice is a symbol of this spirit, fasting is a manifestation of this obedience, and prayer is a practical expression of this worship.

Thus, as a believing servant, these are the dimensions through which we relate to the Creator. Allah tells us that the real purpose of all these acts of worship is purification (tazkiyah), that is, the purification of the human being. This purification has three dimensions:

1. Purification of knowledge and action

2. Purification of food and drink

3. Purification of the body

Acts of worship motivate us to remain steadfast upon this purification and to increase it. The Quran makes it clear that prayer restrains a person from indecencies and evils;⁷⁷ fasting has been prescribed to become conscious of limits;⁷⁸ and regarding sacrifice it is said that neither the flesh nor the blood reaches Allah, but rather the piety and the inner feeling reach Him—that if the occasion arose to sacrifice life by Allah’s command, we would not withhold even that.⁷⁹ Symbolically, we offer the life of an animal in God’s name. Thus, the entire system of worship aims at the purification and refinement of our knowledge and actions, morals, attitudes, dealings, food and drink, and body.

Religion seeks this purification from us because Allah, after testing His servants, has devised a plan of reward and punishment in which He wants to make the purified people the eternal citizens of His Paradise. Allah has prepared a great reward for His servants: eternal Paradise, everlasting life, and an existence free from fear and grief. Allah wants to include the believing servant, as a reward, in His kingdom. Now, since God is free from all defects and possesses perfect attributes, how can He include in it those whose hearts do not even have a trace of purity? Thus, religion and acts of worship seek that we become pure. If we practice all of this and the desired result is not achieved, it means that worship has become mere rituals and formalities—and such worship has no benefit in the court of Allah. If the effect of these acts of worship does not appear in our lives, they become weightless before Allah.

The past history of religious and divine tradition shows that when the religious mindset changes the original orientation of religion—the Hereafter—and turns it toward tangible worldly objectives, such as establishing a system, striving for the dominance of Islam, or reviving an Islamic caliphate, then the entire system of worship becomes detached from its essence and lifeless. The result is that devotion disappears from worship. In the modern era, the founder of a movement that emerged in this context expressed his theory poetically as follows:

میری زندگی کا مقصد تیرے دیں کی سرفرازی
میں اسی لیے مسلماں میں اسی لیے نمازی

“The purpose of my life is the supremacy of Your religion; That is why I am a Muslim; that is why I am a worshipper.”

That is, I was supposed to be a worshipper to establish a relationship with Allah and attain purification, but the orientation of that worship completely changed: I am a worshipper for the supremacy of religion; the worship itself has no inherent purpose. Thus, the objective of worship was lost. When the objective of worship is lost, then despite millions performing Hajj, offering sacrifices, praying, and performing Tarawih in Ramadan—when in Ramadan the entire Muslim world, in a sense, becomes a manifestation of servitude to God—no change is seen in society. Knowledge and morals continue to decline. The reason is that the objective and reality of worship, and the destination to which worship was meant to take us, have been changed. The result is that acts of worship are performed in abundance, but society continues to suffer moral decay.

If we practice these acts of worship with awareness of their true objective, then their effects will begin to manifest in the intervals between acts of worship. We pray so that it reminds us of God. The Quran says, aqim al-salata li dhikri — “Establish prayer for My remembrance.”⁸⁰ This reminder means that when I leave after praying and my car is wrongly parked, I should feel ashamed; or if I have placed my shoes in the wrong place, I should feel ashamed that I forgot the reminder of meeting Allah; or if I used the mosque’s washroom and did not clean it, I should feel reminded that I am not achieving the purpose of meeting Allah. Then I go to my shop, and if I do not speak the truth, give short measure; if I backbite or find faults; if my heart harbors jealousy, malice, and hatred toward Muslims; if I speak harshly and bitterly to my wife, use sharp words, and when criticized, try to expose others’ faults—then it means that the objective of worship has not been achieved.

Thus, in Ramadan, Muslims have a special zeal; God’s help also accompanies us; Satan is chained.⁸¹ This is the opportunity for all of us to reflect: is the objective of worship being achieved? If it is not, then what we are doing is merely ritual actions. Their reality does not reach God. Thus, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said in a narration:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ وَالْجَهْلَ، فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ حَاجَةٌ أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ .

طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَه‘‘. Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: Whoever does not abandon false speech and acting upon it, and ignorant behavior, then Allah has no need for him to abandon his food and drink. (Bukhari, No. 6057)

That is, if even while fasting you engage in vain talk, then Allah gains nothing from your hunger and thirst. What we need to deeply reflect upon is that the orientation of religion is the Hereafter. Our religion wants to take us toward a purpose; when worship is performed while striving toward that purpose, it becomes conscious worship. The heart finds delight in it, and its objective is achieved.

Ramadan reminds us that the true orientation of religion is the Hereafter and the real objective of worship is the purification of the soul (tazkiyat al-nafs). If we worship with this awareness, not only will worship become pleasurable, but our lives, our morals, and our society will also begin to change.