Eid-ul-Fitr: The day of thanksgiving
M. Hamza Haniffa
The recital of the 'Takbeer' heralds the end of the month of fasting
in the month of Ramadan and the dawn of the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.To
the Muslim, Eid-ul-Fitr or the Ramadan festival is the day of
thanksgiving and rejoicing on the successful completion of a month of
fasting. The time of joy should be shared by everyone, rich and poor,
and this is why we have been ordered to pay Zakat-ul-Fitr before the Eid
so that the needy could also participate in the festival.
Muslims revise their approach to the Divine Book AFP |
In the life of a Muslim, fasting occupies a very important place as
one of the five pillars of Islam - the others being the Kalima, by which
the Muslim bears witness that there is no god but Allah, none worthy of
being worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger; the obligatory
five-times-a-day prayer; the annual obligatory poor-rate or Zakat; and
the pilgrimage to Mecca.
By these practices, satisfactorily carried out, the individual of no
worth is made worthy, and is enabled to conquer his self, the appetitive
or animalistic self. With his personality thus fortified he is endowed
with the opportunity as a Muslim poet said "of becoming the master of
the sun and stars, of rising higher than even the angels".
Ramadan may come and go but it does not end for the true Muslim. It
needs not, and must not end with the end of the month for the spirit of
Ramadan with all its spiritual virtues should be maintained throughout
the year.
The restraint decreed on food and rink and conjugal relations can be
relaxed but love towards fellow beings, understanding how the
less-fortunate people live, charity in abundance and continuation of
religious practices can help us to live a good life winning the pleasure
of the Most Compassionate Allah.
The deep effect on a Muslim's entire life that Ramadan has had should
give us a new concept of life and outlook. If the true spirit of Ramadan
has been absorbed and maintained, then we Muslims could well accept
Ramadan as his or her future guide rather than as a month of restraint
that is over.
As Ramadan is also the month which the Holy Quran was revealed, it's
important that we also revise our approach to the Divine Book. For those
who heard it for the first time from the lips of the Prophet the Quran
was a living reality. They had absolutely no doubt that, through him,
Allah was speaking to them. Their hearts and minds were therefore seized
by it. Their eyes overflowed with tears and their bodies shivered. They
were completely transformed by it into a new life and totally
life-giving entity.
Those who grazed sheep, hearded camels and traded petty merchandise
became the leaders of mankind.
We still have the same Quran, millions of copies of it are in
circulation day and night it is ceselessly recited, words pour out
incessantly to explain its teachings and to exhort us to live by it.
Yet, eyes remain dry, hearts remain unmoved, minds stay untouched and
lives remain unchanged.
Let us on this Eid-ul-Fitr, reinvigorated by the fasting, resolve to
make ourselves live by the Quran, and become worthy of the description
Allah gives in His Book by calling the believers the 'Khaira Ummah' -
the best community evolved for mankind. Eid Mubarak.
The writer is Chairman, Al Islam Foundation |