Deconstructing The Enigma Called Ramadan -

The first Jumu’ah in the holy month of Ramadan, the month of Divine manifestations has come and gone.

You have surely read or heard many things about this month, but however much you know, Ramadan remains an enigma.

Its vast ideational connotation and symbolism make it the subject matter of different kinds of analysis- theological, literary, philosophical, ethical, and mystical.

To the early Muslim mystics, Ramadan is the Month of Return (Shahru’l-Rujū‘).

It is a return to the Primordial covenant of man with his Creator. It is not merely a month of abstaining from food and drink; it is a sacred journey of return; a return from dispersion to unity, from heedlessness (ghaflah) to remembrance (dhikr), from the world to the Lord of the worlds.

For the mystic therefore, hunger is not deprivation, it is purification. Thirst is not discomfort, it is awakening. When the body is weakened, the spirit is strengthened.

The outer fast becomes a means to awaken the inner fast: fasting from ego, pride, anger, and worldly attachments.

As the great mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi suggests, emptiness creates space for Divine fullness. When the stomach is empty, the heart becomes receptive. Ramadan, therefore, is the art of becoming empty so that one may be filled with Allah.

The Levels of Fasting

Muslim mystics also teach that fasting has levels:

1. The fast of the common people: refraining from food, drink, and physical desires.

2. The fast of the elect: guarding the eyes, ears, tongue, and limbs from sin.

3. The fast of the elect among the elect: fasting the heart from all that distracts it from Allah.

Al-Ghazali explained that true fasting is not simply hunger; it is the protection of every faculty from disobedience. The tongue fasts from gossip. The eyes fast from envy. The heart fasts from arrogance.

To a true Muslim therefore, Ramadan is not about reducing meals; it is about reducing the ego, subduing the low desires, and purifying the soul.

At this level of thought, hunger is seen as a teacher. When one feels weakness, one realizes dependence. And dependence is the doorway to true *ikhlas (sincerity).

On ordinary days, man imagines himself to be self-sufficient. Ramadan shatters that illusion. A few hours without food reminds the servant that survival is not in his hands.

The mystic, Muhy- id din Ibn Arabi viewed human need as a mirror reflecting Divine Richness (al-Ghaniyy). The more aware we become of our poverty, the more we witness Allah’s generosity. Thus, when the believers feel the pangs of hunger, they do not complain of hunger, they listen to its message.

Ramadan Typical Night

A typical night, particularly in Ramadan, holds a very important position in Islamic spirituality. It is the hour of intimacy. When the world sleeps, lovers stay awake. Tahajjud becomes not an obligation, but a conversation. Tears become a language. Silence becomes remembrance. In the stillness of the night: the Qur’an descends upon the heart, the ego weakens, and the soul whispers its longing.

The mystic understands Laylat al-Qadr not only as a historical event, but as a state of illumination that can occur whenever the heart becomes fully surrendered.

This state of surrender presents Ramadan as a summer school of love. Abstinence from physical pleasures and unlawful things during the day in Ramadan is in itself a sign of the submission of the lover to the beloved. The act of charity toward the poor and less- privileged folks also brings out the virtues of love, empathy, and compassion in the believer, and calms the tempestuous fury of selfishness.

Fasting in Ramadan trains discipline in the believer, but its goal is affection. It cultivates God – consciousness (taqwa), but its fruit is intimacy with the Divine.

Ramadan does end with Eid; it marks the beginning of a new life. If the ego is weakened and the heart is polished, then the servant exits Ramadan purer, clearer, and closer to the Divine. For the true believer, Ramadan is not just a calendar month, it is a spiritual state. It is the stripping away of everything that stands between the servant and the Beloved.

May our fast move from the tongue to the limbs, from the limbs to the heart, and from the heart to Divine proximity.