Ramadan 2025 and its uniqueness

This weekend, the Muslim faithful, globally, will commence the yearly Ramadan fasting for 30 or 29 days as the fourth fundamental pillar of Islam. The month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is regarded as a unique month of spiritual examination and rejuvenation. Its uniqueness is about incorporating elements of all other pillars of Islam.

For instance, the fundamental essence of fasting as stipulated in Qur’an 2V183 is to attain piety, which is interpreted to be the first pillar, bearing witness that none deserves to be worshipped except Allah (SWT). In addition to the observation of specific forms of solah (prayer) and overwhelming acts of charity (zakat) during Ramadan, the reward of performing lesser hajj during the holy month is equated to performing the real hajj. It is a month of high social and communal value in which fasting, unlike in the other months, is mandatory for all healthy Muslims.
 
Ramadan helps the faithful to discover the human in them, in the same way it awakens their spiritual potential. Ramadan comes to bond the individual to and with his community; it functions in waking the community up to its strength in the individual. Ramadan frees Muslims from their appetitive and vegetative bondages; it raises them to such heights as are open only to the angels and the chosen ones among the servants of the Almighty. If humanity gets to know of its huge blessings, so goes the prophetic saying, they would request that Allah (SWT) makes fasting a whole year mandate, not just a month or 29 days, as is presently the case. 
 
Indeed, for Muslims, the most important consideration in embarking on fasting, as is the case with other acts of devotion in Islam, is to seek nearness to Allah; to seek His pleasure and forgiveness. Thus, a Muslim who fasts conscientiously during Ramadan would ultimately attain a status of piety. He would walk “with” and work “in” Allah; in which event, he becomes the beloved of Allah. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says that when a servant of Allah becomes the beloved of Allah, He, Allah becomes his hand with which he holds onto things. Thus, whatever he holds becomes strong; what he does becomes sanctioned by the Almighty. When a Muslim observes fasting and other extra acts of worship like Nawafil, he becomes the beloved of Allah such that He, the Almighty becomes the tongue with which he talks. Thus, whatever he says becomes encoded with divine gravitas; his wishes become the wish of Allah. 
 
Thus, fasting during the month of Ramadan provides the opportunity to examine our spiritual status. A Muslim who forsakes the pleasure of food and drinks and embarks on this fasting, a Muslim who creates the conditions of hunger and thirst for him/herself, simply in obeisance to Allah is actually and indirectly sharpening his/her weapon of survival on the terrestrial earth where survival has become simply difficult if not impossible.