The Importance of Giving in Ramadan

Fasting from sunrise to sunset not only teaches us to control our unruly bodies, making them aware that we control them rather than the other way around, but it is also helps us to think of others who are less fortunate than ourselves, and it teaches us to give thanks to Allah for all the blessings we have that we so often take for granted.

When the Adhan calls each day for the Sunset Prayer, telling us all that the day's fast is over, there are many in the world whose fast will not end. In fact , many thousands will starve to death because they have no food.

clipped from www.islamonline.net Muslims fast because Almighty Allah has commanded them to do so. In the Qur'an, we read,[O you who believe, fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may (learn) self-restraint.]Al-Baqarah 2:183 Those who are not Muslim could not possibly imagine the joy that Muslims feel as Ramadan approaches. If you have ever been to the cinema, for example, and seen a really good film, you know just how difficult it is to describe how good the film was to someone who has not seen it. Talking about Ramadan is a bit like that. No amount of words can describe how important Ramadan is or the blessings and the benefits we, as Muslims, take from it. No words can describe how good it feels to complete a day's fast or the joy and the feeling of festivity when the day's fasting is over. As Muslims, we fast for the sake of Allah. Even amid the feasting and the celebrating, we should never forget this.