Ramadan is a great opportunity to tell the world what Islam is all about. For a whole month, there is a special focus on faith. Even the least religious of people can't help noticing that their neighbours are doing something different. Unfortunately, though, what they see is not always the best advertisement for Islam. Sometimes, as Muslims, we talk so much to others about what we believe and do, without thinking too carefully about what they are hearing. In other words, what we say is not always the message that other people hear, because we are not prepared to take people as they are. Often, we talk to them from the point of view of where we would like them to be, rather than where they actually are at the moment. It is no good blaming half the world for not being Muslim or not understanding Islam. For example, if someone is only interested in football or fashion, we should begin talking to them first about football and fashion. Explaining to them the finer points of Shari`ah law is getting a bit ahead of ourselves, if they are actually struggling with the idea of whether or not God exists. Talking about Ramadan is a wonderful way of talking about Islam, but we must remember that those who are not Muslim will be carrying with them all the baggage that the television and news media have loaded on their shoulders. Television images of suicide bombs and terror attacks have a powerful way of clouding over the real message we want to present. So in talking about Ramadan we need to proceed slowly. If you have ever read a really good novel or been to see a really good film at the cinema, it is difficult to convey how much you enjoyed it to someone who didn't read the book or see the film. No matter how much you describe the action and the characters, you need to have experienced them at first hand to fully appreciate how good they are. In a way, Ramadan is a bit like that. Telling someone who hasn't experienced the joy of Ramadan exactly what it is like is just like telling them about a film they haven't seen. The idea of fasting for a whole month is quite alien to most people in the world. Cutting down on food for a while to lose weight is perhaps the nearest they have ever got to fasting. Doing it for God's sake will be quite outside their experience. And yet, as Muslims we know that Ramadan is about far much more than giving up food and drink during the hours of daylight. We know that with the right intention we can actually come closer to Allah during this holy month and we can feel both uplifted and content by the very fasting that seems to others so odd. The first thing we need to tell others is that we fast for Allah's sake alone. This, itself, may come as a very strange idea. Most people, especially those with no religion or belief in God, do things for themselves alone or for the ones they love. Translating the meaning of the words in the holy Qur'an we read that Allah tells us: “O Ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you As it was prescribed to those before you, That ye may learn piety." 2:183 In other words, Muslims fast to please Allah. Even if there is no other outward benefit or effect, their fast is for Allah's sake. He has asked it of us and we do it in response to His command. This, alone, is quite a shock to the belief system of many. Muslims are not fasting because of anything they will gain; they are fasting because Allah wants them to. This, though, is maybe one of the greatest secrets of Islam. The word Islam comes from an Arabic root word that means both “submission" and “peace." A Muslim is one who submits to Allah. When his or head touches the ground in prayer there is the realisation that Allah Alone is in charge of all things in this world – even us. He not only created the heavens and the earth and everything in between, but He also knows every leaf that falls from every tree. Submitting to Allah is the key. By submitting we then experience the second word: peace. Muslims find their total peace, fulfillment and happiness by doing what Allah wants. Fasting, then, is done for His sake, but we in return gain so much and feel so much better because of it. Maybe this is the key. Another useful idea when talking to those who are not Muslim about Ramadan is to remind everyone just how wonderful it would be if everyone in the world was given the chance to start over again, to forget the mistakes of the past and to begin anew. There are not many people who would turn down such an opportunity. All of us make mistakes. We also deliberately do things we know to be wrong. Ramadan is a chance for Muslims to re-examine the way they have lived their lives over the past year and to resolve to live in a better way in the year to come. It is like a spiritual Spring-cleaning, where we dust everything down and throw out everything that is not important and essential in our lives. Seen in these two ways, then, fasting during Ramadan brings us so many blessings, not least the blessing of seeing how fortunate we really are. True enough, we fast for Allah's sake during the hours of daylight, but when the Call to Prayer sounds at the end of the day we are able to eat our fill. There are many in the world, though, whose fast will not end with the Call to Prayer. They will starve to death because they have no food. Our fasting in Ramadan gives us the chance to remember all of those who are less fortunate than we are. It helps us to give thanks for all the thinks we take for granted. We take for granted things like food and water, but we also take for granted the love of our family and friends, the good health we enjoy and the fact that most us will have somewhere to sleep tonight. So Ramadan is such a special time for Muslims, or at least it should be. Lanterns and tents and special food and drink is all a part of the cultural background, but it isn't really what Ramadan is about. Ramadan is about returning to Allah. We fast for His sake and we try by our prayers and recitation of the Qur'an to call Him to mind throughout the day. In doing this, we find peace and contentment. Better than any film we have seen or any novel we have read, Ramadan speaks directly to our hearts of the One who created all things. What a pity it would be if our fasting during the holy month gives to others an altogether different impression to the one we should be giving. If all people see are busy queues of traffic and people who are bad tempered because they cannot smoke during the hours of daylight, we will have misled them about Ramadan's meaning. Inshallah, with the right intention we can tell the world about Islam. In the process, we might even make the world a little better. Ramadan Kareem. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University . The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
