Indeed it is time for looking back and reviewing our deeds during the past days of our life to see if we have benefited from those days or  whether God-forbid, we have been neglectful. Undoubtedly, blessed are those who have passed the days and years successfully and are going to go through the remaining days and years of life with greater determination and enthusiasm. Blessed are those who are preparing themselves for reaping the benefits of the magnificent month of Ramadan and the night of Qadr. Let us pray for each other and beseech our Gracious Creator to lead us all to the path of salvation. Prayers and supplications to The Merciful God draw us – the needy creatures – nearer to our Gracious God. We hope for His Forgiveness of our sins, we hope for His fulfillment of our needs, we hope for His benevolence, for His unending Mercy, and what an splendid hope indeed! If you wish to enjoy excellent spiritual pleasures, devote part of your time to praying to God and supplicating to Him. This way the material aspects of your life will be illuminated through the rays of divine light. Hafiz – the great Persian poet – says: “My heart is overflowing with pain and I need an ointment, and my heart is bored to death with loneliness, O my God, be my Companion.” “Who but God is that Worthy Companion who can turn this terrible loneliness of ours to warm feelings of comfort, tranquility and love?

“Truly prayer to God and supplication to Him is the only way of turning our deadly loneliness and isolation to familiarity with love in the world of existence.”Sharhe Mathnaviye Ma’navi (authored by Professor Muhammad Taqi Jaf’ari).O Allah, I see the roads of imploring You to be open and paved. I see the fountains of hope in You to be overflowing. I see seeking assistance from Your Grace and Favor to be the most beneficial. I see the doors of prayer open and I have certainty that you are ready to answer the supplication of the supplicants, and to grant refuge to those who seek it.And I am convinced that he who migrates toward you does not have to go far to reach You. I am certain that Your attributes are not hidden, rather it is the unworthy desires and deeds of thy servants that cover their sight. (Imam Sajjad (AS) in Dua Abi Hamza, recited at pre-dawn during Ramadan). “O you who have faith! Prescribed for you is fasting as it was prescribed for those who were before you, so that you may be Godwary.”  [The Holy Qur’an, 2:183].Islam, the final code for human salvation, commemorates each year the revelation of its main corpus of laws in a unique manner. When one ponders on a matter, the effectiveness of his meditation is dependent on the conceptual framework of his thought, but thought itself is concentration minus distraction. It is with this specific insight that Islam prescribes a spiritual refurbishing and replenishing of the ‘inner garrison’. Whatever enters our consciousness is either through inspiration or temptation. In the battle between the angelic forces and the demonic, man has influence on the outcome.

He must strengthen the divine forces if he wishes to be saved from being cursed. He must follow Allah’s prescription. Allah in His infinite mercy has given us Ramadan to renew our treatment. He has recommended fasting and other supererogatory acts of devotion, charitableness and benignity, fasting not in isolation but as complimented by and complimentary to other acts of submission. But why fasting? So that you may become fortified! That is those who are on guard against evil (Taqwa). “….by the soul and Him Who fashioned it, and inspired it with[discernment between] its virtues and vices: one who purifies it is felicitous and one who betrays it fails.” [The Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Shams, verses 7-9]

 This does not make fasting and the acquisition of Taqwa a means and an end. Taqwa is not a static ‘air of piety’ rather it is armour for our soul’s fortress to ward off Satan and an inner sharpness for us to smell the sweet fragrance of guidance which we must implement. Implementation of divine laws is not to be limited to individuals but one should ensure an environment which will not conflict with our inner values. Any strong person can abstain from food and other basics from pre-dawn to post-sunset, but it takes a Muslim to realize that his hunger is only the first stage of his climbing off the wheel of everyday life which like the earth spins so fast we can’t even detect it. All those deeds of ours which the Satan makes fair seeming, here comes Ramadan, a time for introspection and evaluation. Here is a time to pause and be reminded that you have paused, by your hunger. If one does not reflect on his lapses, not only is one in danger but he may even become oblivious of his lapses. This very oblivion is the antithetical state to Taqwa [piety]. Allah wants to make you cognizant. He wants you to be cognizant of your ‘you’ in relation to the circumstances. This cognition is also Taqwa. He who is cognizant will be on guard. God says in the Qur’an:“... and to fast is better for you, should you know.”  [The Holy Quran, surah Al-Baqarah, verse 184].Would you fast this year conscious of its true perspective? If you do then when you strengthen your armor, use it as the early Muslims did and as our committed Muslim sisters and brothers are doing.

O my only worshipped One, O my Beloved! I am Your guest who has come to Your house. O the Benevolent and the Merciful, now I as an indebted one have come to Your presence. O the Gracious God forgives me .